#345676
An Idaho man who told police he identifies as a woman was arrested Tuesday after allegedly taking photos of a woman in a Target fitting room, officials said.
#345677
Leadership elections, much like Presidential primaries, are usually a great
opportunity to showcase the ideological variety hidden beneath the veneer
of party unity. Asides from entertainment, this is valuable as it allows
differences to be expressed, battles to be fought, and new consensuses to
be developed.
The Parliamentary Conservative Party decided to buck this trend, even
before the contest ground to an unceremonious halt when Andrea Leadsom, the
last obstacle to Theresa May’s coronation, pulled out. Superficially, there
was a significant divide between the candidates: May (and Stephen Crabb)
supported remaining in the EU, Leadsom supported leaving (as did Michael
Gove and Liam Fox). Likewise, May seems to support retaining a greater
level of access to the EU’s Single Market than Leadsom, who prioritised
curtailing migration to a greater degree.
However, along with the other candidates, May views ending free movement of
labour into the UK as enough of a priority to compromise access to the
Single Market. In the best-case scenario, this would amount to the EU
conceding the loss of freedom of movement in exchange for the UK losing
certain benefits. Most worrying is the risk this poses for financial
services. In particular there is a significant threat to passporting rights
, which allow global financial institutions based in the UK to ‘passport’
into the rest of the EU.
This is terrible policy. Immigration is beneficial to the UK economy: it
increases output, does not increase unemployment, offsets an ageing
population, and does not create a burden on the welfare state. And, even if
it were detrimental, reducing it would not be a price worth paying for
compromising finance.
Admittedly, you would be forgiven (though not necessarily correct) for
thinking that maintaining freedom of movement was politically impossible in
post-Brexit Britain. The problem is that this stance reflects a more
general perspective and outlook that looks set to dominate and define the
Conservatives: nationalism, authoritarianism, and populism are trumping
economics, markets, and trade.
May, the purported establishment-continuity candidate and ‘safe pair of
hands’, exemplifies this by taking the most hard-line and wrongheaded
attitude towards EU citizens currently residing in the UK. She also has a
particularly ugly record of vindictive anti-migrant policies as Home
Secretary.
The problem goes beyond migration. May is perhaps best known for her
devotion to the surveillance state, and was instrumental in perhaps the
worst piece of drugs legislation to have ever been written. Crabb, the
other ‘moderate’ candidate, is associated with a church that claims it can
‘cure’ homosexuality and has a very poor voting record on social issues.
Libertarian support for Leadsom was misguided. She supported much of the
current government’s most authoritarian agendas, and consistently opposed
more liberal legislation. Furthermore, pro-business rhetoric aside, her
enthusiastic championing of curbing migration suggests her consideration of
business and financial issues is limited. The same is true of May, who has
also started spouting vapid anti-business populism.
Simply put, free market libertarianism and internationally inclined
liberal-conservatism have been marginalised and neutered. The worrying
implication is that this is no longer a party of either Thatcherite Whigs
or of anti-utopian Tories, but increasingly one of populist, nativist
anti-intellectuals.
It may seem odd to find anything positive in the Labour Party’s recent bout
of self-destruction. However, given the increasingly apparent political
realignment (away from ‘left-right’ and towards ‘open-closed’) it is
probably healthy that Labour is likely to split into an internationalist
left-liberal party and an anti-globalisation neo-socialist movement.
What is missing from all these perspectives is uncompromised support for
free markets, free trade, and economic globalisation: in other words, the
right’s contribution to ‘open’ politics. This is supposed to be at least
one of the functions of the Conservative Party. And without this, the
chances of pursuing an intelligent post-Brexit option, whether that is EEA
membership or something more radical, look increasingly diminished.
#345678
The nexus between the right to keep and bear arms and affirming the right to life is the right to self-defense.
#345680
The U.S. State Department sent nearly $350,000 to an advocacy group that worked to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a Senate report released Tuesday.
#345681
Some Muslim leaders in the Chicago area are calling foul on an editorial cartoon published by the Chicago Tribune on Saturday.
#345682
In an OkCupid survey, a quarter of respondents who are “looking for love” now say that having similar political beliefs is more important in making a good match than physical compatibility.
#345683
It takes Bill Whittle 93 seconds to show Hillary Clinton guilty of violating three separate Federal Statutes. It takes another three minutes to explain why s...
#345684
'You would have to ask the Highway Patrol.'
#345685
A new set of Quinnipiac University polls show Donald Trump leading or tied with Hillary Clinton in three key swing states.
#345686
Everyone on the Texas Department of Public Safety's "10 Most Wanted Fugitives" list is identified as white, though based on their mugshots, names & gang affiliations, nine out of 10 of them
#345687
The 9News Investigators obtained a police report that details a previous arrest of Alton Sterling that is eerily similar to the incident that ultimately led to his death.
#345688
In the intro to the Dallas Police Memorial, CNN's Don Lemon listed 10 mass shootings that occurred in gun-free zones under Obama's watch.
#345689
President Obama referred to himself 45 times over the course of the speech he delivered Tuesday at the memorial service for the five police officers killed in Dallas last week. Obama referred to hi
#345690
#345691
Out today: Robert Spencer's The Complete Infidel's Guide to Iran Raymond Ibrahim: Are Catholic Molesters and Islamic Terrorists “Abusing” Their Religions?
#345692
Farage said he won’t be endorsing a candidate, but wants to hear Donald Trump’s speech and share Brexit lessons.
#345693
The Freedom Challenge grassroots campaign was created by Rock Island Auction Company to raise awareness and financial support for NRA-ILA, an organization that has stalwartly defended the Second Amendment for decades. 2016 is the most important year we’ve seen in a generation or more.
#345694
Whatever their reservations about the presidential field, Supreme Court justices and the court benefit from remaining silent.
#345695
America's police will be safer when they admit they have a problem, Pres. Obama declared on Sunday.
#345696
#345697
Joshua Nash is facing severe blow-back from a Facebook post criticizing BLM.
#345698
He was applauded after saying he would be willing the whole House of Commons on from the back benches
#345699
We’ve hit a point in the election cycle where polarization is hitting it’s peak, as we now know what the general election will look like. Despite the last stand of the Never Trump crowd coming, it’s highly improbable that they will successfully stop the coronation in Cleveland. As for Democrats, ...
#345700
Unswayed by his endorsement, progressives continue to stockpile beans for the Democratic convention.