British PM gives key cabinet posts to libertarians

Leader: The tyranny of the free-market right | The New Statesman:

July 31, 2019 - "Boris Johnson’s ruthlessly efficient cabinet reshuffle was marked by the ascension of the libertarians in the modern Conservative Party.

"In 2012, a group of five recently elected Tory MPs published Britannia Unchained, a hymn to deregulation, tax cuts and privatisation. Two of its co-authors, Priti Patel and Dominic Raab, now hold two of the great offices of state (the Home Office and the Foreign Office). A further two, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and business minister Kwasi Kwarteng, are also cabinet members.

"As prime minister, Theresa May wanted to rehabilitate the state as an economic actor and denounced the 'libertarian right' as well as the 'socialist left'. But for Britannia Unchained’s authors, Brexit is a means further to roll back the frontiers of government. In May 2016, Ms Patel, the then employment minister, declared: 'If we could just halve the burdens of the EU social and employment legislation we could deliver a £4.3bn boost to our economy and 60,000 new jobs.'

"The appeal of leaving the EU without an agreement, as Mr Johnson has threatened, is precisely that it could create the conditions to impose policies unachievable in normal times. Libertarians are fond of recalling the words of Milton Friedman, who wrote in Capitalism and Freedom (1962), 'Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around'....

"Mr Johnson’s government is more ideologically heterogeneous than it may first appear. The Prime Minister is a political magpie who embraces or discards policies based on his own advancement....  As Mr Johnson is pragmatic enough to recognise, public support for higher government spending (funded by increased taxes) is at a 15-year high of 60 per cent, according to the most recent British Social Attitudes survey.

"Yet Mr Johnson, a career opportunist, does not represent a coherent alternative to his party’s libertarian wing. The predominance of the free-market right among his cabinet is another symptom of the closing of the conservative mind. Should the Prime Minister falter, Conservative MPs and their outriders will clamour for a 'true believer'. Mr Johnson’s premiership, then, may not mark the end of the great moving right show but yet another staging post along the route ... to becoming a fully Americanised market society."

Read more: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/07/leader-tyranny-free-market-right

Canadian copyright term extension on hold

Canada Introduces USMCA Implementation Bill…Without a General Copyright Term Extension Provision - Michael Geist, MichaelGeist.ca:

May 30, 2019 - The Canadian government tabled Bill C-100 yesterday, the bill to implement the Canada-US-Mexico Trade Agreement.... [K]ey provisions ... include new criminal provisions on trade secrets and tampering with rights management information. The bill also features several provisions related to copyright term but notably does not touch the current general copyright term of life of the author plus an additional 50 years. There are several new terms included in the bill with extensions for anonymous works, performances in sound recordings, sound recordings, and cinematographic works. The bill expressly states that none of the extensions are retroactive which means that the works that are currently in the public domain will remain there even after the new terms are established.

Yet the big story is that Section 6 of the Copyright Act, which states that the general term of copyright is life of the author plus 50 years, remains unchanged despite a USMCA requirement of life plus 70 years. Why unchanged?

I am advised that the reason is that the Canadian government negotiated a 2 1/2 year transition period for the USMCA and it intends to use the time to consult with the public on the best way to meet the copyright term obligation. That holds the promise of the making the best of a bad situation given that few (other than the embarrassingly one-sided Heritage committee study) think that extending the term of copyright benefits Canadians.

For example, there has been some thought given to establishing a registration requirement for the additional 20 years. That approach would allow rights holders that want the extension to get it, while ensuring that many other works enter the public domain at the international standard of life plus 50 years. By providing for life plus 50 and the option for an additional 20 years, Canadian law would be consistent with Berne Convention formalities requirements and with its new trade treaty obligations. Copyright registration would not eliminate all the harm to the public domain, but it would mean that only those that desire the extension would take the positive steps to get it, thereby reducing the costs of the USMCA’s unnecessary copyright term extension.

Read more: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/2019/05/canada-introduces-usmca-implementation-bill-without-a-general-copyright-term-extension-provision/

Article copyright Michael Geist. Licensed Creative Commons BY 2.5.

Canadian government monitoring social media

Government monitoring social media for posts critical of Trudeau’s immigration record – True North News - Andrew Lawton:

July 23, 2019 - 'Bureaucrats in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada were 'monitoring' social media posts and Reddit threads for 'misconceptions' about immigration last summer.

"Internal emails obtained exclusively by True North under Access to Information [law] reveal a team of 12 communications and social media staffers reporting and conducting 'detailed analysis' on tweets posted not only by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel and People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, but also ordinary Canadians. The documents date to August 2018, when Bernier took aim at 'extreme multiculturalism,' sparking a national discussion....

"One of the key issues from the emails involved a Reddit thread discussing a Toronto Sun article about refugee housing at a Radisson hotel. The 'social care' team lead with IRCC said in an email that the thread 'had become bigoted in nature'.... 'The comments are unfavorable to the Prime Minister and government, and are also very un-sympathetic (sic) to those claiming asylum,' he wrote.

"In another email in the chain, a staffer says her department will 'continue to monitor' the Reddit thread, which is still online though closed for commenting by moderators in the r/Canada subreddit.... She directed one colleague to share the information with the Privy Council Office, which is the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister’s Office. She also assigned someone to prepare notes to brief the deputy minister, the highest ranking bureaucrat in Canada’s immigration department.

"The document also contains a two-page chart of tweets from Canadians critical of the government on immigration, labeled by whomever compiled them with descriptions such as 'Condemnation of the Trudeau government' and 'Commends (Maxime Bernier) for standing up for Canada/rails against diversity and irregular migration.' All of the tweets tagged Bernier and the department’s official Twitter handle, the report noted. It’s not known how the government is storing or using the database of tweets it’s amassing through this....

"These emails prove the public service is monitoring private citizens’ social media comments critical of the government – and sharing them with the Privy Council Office. They also show that Rempel’s and Bernier’s tweets about immigration last summer triggered enough backlash that the government needed a dozen people to work to address 'misconceptions,' suggesting they believe anyone criticizing the government’s ham-fisted approach to running immigration by virtue signalling is wrong, and in need of a dose of the state narrative."

Read more: https://tnc.news/2019/07/23/government-monitoring-social-media-for-posts-critical-of-trudeaus-immigration-record/
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Ex-Muslim speaks out on "Islamophobia"

Op-ed: Ex-Muslims – a community in protest | mnamazie - Maryam Namazie, The Free Thinker, Patheos blog:

July 21, 2019 - "When the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) started ... in June 2007, we were hard pressed to find 25 people who would come out publicly to break the apostasy taboo.... Today, we are witness to an international ex-Muslim 'community' – a tsunami of atheism.

"For me, though, this has never been about community as identity politics (people boxed into homogenised, segregated communities with culturally-relative rights managed by 'community leaders'). But rather, a community in protest: insisting on freedom from religion and the right to conscience ... a movement that insists on our common humanity and equality – not difference or superiority. A movement of people who refuse to live in fear and in the shadows. And who are speaking out for social change in unprecedented ways, particularly via social media.

"This movement matters because thirteen states punish atheism with the death penalty – all Islamic.... Because a series of laws in Saudi Arabia define atheism as terrorism with Ahmad Al-Shamri being sentenced to death for atheism.... Because Sina Dehghan has been sentenced to death in Iran for 'insulting Islam'.... Because a Pakistani High Court Judge has said that blasphemers are terrorists with Ayaz Nizami and Rana Noman facing the death penalty. This movement matters because you can be killed for leaving or criticising Islam....

"Yet when CEMB took to the streets of London Pride last year, the East London Mosque filed a complaint against our 'Islamophobic' placards.... when #ExMuslimBecause became viral overnight with over 120,000 Tweets from 65 countries with so many realising they were not alone for the first time in their lives, BBC Trending said it was an excuse for 'Muslim-bashing' and 'Islamophobia' ... when we showed our solidarity with those persecuted in Saudi Arabia for eating or drinking during Ramadan, armed metropolitan police came to the Saudi Embassy’s rescue saying our 'eat-in' and fast-defying solidarity action was “offending” those at the embassy …

"In my opinion, accusations of 'Islamophobia' are less about opposing bigotry (after all you cannot stop racism by outlawing blasphemy and apostasy) and more about defending religious privilege and the status quo. It is used to scaremonger ex-Muslims into silence and impose de facto apostasy and blasphemy laws where none exist. Where they do, we are accused of blasphemy and apostasy and persecuted without any such 'niceties'....

"The charge of 'Islamophobia' protects religion and the religious-Right, not believers.... Conflating criticism of Islam and Islamism with 'Muslim-bashing' sees dissent as bigotry rather than for what it is – a defence of blasphemy and apostasy when one can be killed for it.

"That doesn’t mean that bigotry against Muslims, migrants, minorities doesn’t exist. Of course it does..... And, yes of course, there are ex-Muslims who are bigoted against Muslims just as there are Muslims who are bigoted against ex-Muslims.... But individuals – not a 'community' –  must be held accountable for their choices. We are not extensions of our 'communities' to be defended or condemned depending on which 'tribe' we belong to....

"Whilst touted as progressive, identity politics is a politics of difference AND superiority – these are two sides of the same double-edged sword. The politics of difference has always been the fundamental principle of a racist agenda, not the other way around – whether it is Nazism, the biological theory of difference and racial superiority or expressions of difference in cultural and religious terms. Identity politics is the corruption of the fight for social justice by degrading it to a mere defence of culture and the homogenous 'community' – no matter what.

"In an age of regressive identity politics and cultural relativism, an ex-Muslim community in protest matters because it reaffirms universal values, anti-racism, secularism, the fight for equality, social justice and our common humanity. A movement that is about equality not privilege. Rights without permission. And gives no apologies."

Read more: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thefreethinker/2019/07/op-ed-ex-muslims-a-community-in-protest/
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PPC scraps liberty for pragmatism, says Moen

The tragedy of Mad Max - The Post Millennial - Tim Moen:

June 14, 2019 - "When Stephen Harper resigned, I, and many of my libertarian colleagues, saw an opportunity for a Canadian Ron Paul to emerge. We wanted a mainstream libertarian conservative who was against foreign interventionism, central banking, corporate bailouts, government-issued marriage permits, the income tax and the war on drugs ... who supported property rights, free trade, freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, sound money, laissez-faire, and a strictly limited government.

"We immediately thought of Maxime Bernier. He had written prolifically about free market economics and criticized the central banking cartel from an Austrian economics perspective. He regularly quoted Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard who are highly regarded in libertarian circles. We reached out to Max and invited him to Calgary to introduce him to a number of individuals and groups and show him that he’d have western support if he threw his name in the ring to run as Leader of the CPC....

"The fact that Max nearly won the CPC leadership on a fairly economically libertarian platform was a testament to the work libertarians have done to popularize liberty. Turns out there are many people that think these ideas matter and Max promised to be their champion, but he lost....

"Immediately after his loss I reached out to him to thank him for running. I also publicly invited him to make history and take my spot as Leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada.... This was an opportunity to take his place in the pantheon of libertarian icons like Ron Paul and take Canada’s liberty movement to the next level....

"Now I’m not so sure.... Pragmatism informs much of Max’s policy. His policy completely avoids drug legalization even though criminality and the opiate crisis is clearly driven by prohibition. There is nothing on monetary and banking reform even though central banking robs us and drives a harmful business cycle. His foreign policy position entails sending troops to the middle east to fight terrorism even though this policy has done nothing but nurture terrorism, open slave markets, a migrant crisis and made the world more dangerous for Canadians. He continually says he respects our constitution which codifies equalization payments, has weak free speech protection, enumerates no right to bear arms, and doesn’t codify property rights. These are all issues that principled libertarians care deeply about that he either gets wrong or avoids....

"This is one of the problems with pragmatism. It paints you into a corner. Now that Max has secured support from populists who see immigration, cheap labour and automation as existential threats, how is he going to be able to speak like the economically literate leader Canada needs?

"Populists tend to be economic protectionists. He is going to have to tone down talk on free trade and appease collective economic ignorance. If he achieves conventional success, eventually his policies will look no different [from] the CPC running polls to figure out what they believe."

Read more: https://www.thepostmillennial.com/the-tragedy-of-mad-max/
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Civil asset forfeiture ended in Arkansas

Arkansas Halts Civil Asset Forfeiture and Closes Federal Loophole - Steve Byas, The New American:

July 24, 2019 - "'There shall be no civil judgment under this subchapter and no property shall be forfeited unless the person from whom the property is seized is convicted of a felony offense that [is] related to the property being seized and that permits the forfeiture of the property,' said State Senator Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs), the sponsor of a bill that went into effect July 24 to abolish civil asset forfeiture in practically all cases in the state of Arkansas.

"The vote was unanimous in both houses of the Arkansas Legislature, and Governor Asa Hutchinson signed the bill into law back in March. According to the new law, the state is prohibited from taking a person’s property unless there is a criminal conviction first.

"Previously, the state had already taken action to withdraw from a federal program known as 'equitable sharing' [under which] state and local police, and prosecutors, were able to essentially ignore state restrictions on the practice known as civil asset forfeiture (CAF) by passing cases off to the federal government via what is known as adoption....

"CAF is a legal process by which law-enforcement agencies take assets from persons they suspect of having committed a crime, without necessarily even charging the owners of the property with any crime.... This is contrasted with criminal asset forfeiture, where the accused is afforded all of the constitutional and statutory procedural safeguards available under criminal law, and must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before any property is forfeited.

"Some states, recognizing the inherent injustice involved in civil forfeiture, have passed laws to rein in the practice....  Enter adoption forfeiture, or 'equitable sharing,' the practice by which local law enforcement can circumvent state laws against CAF by 'sharing' part of their seized cash or property with federal authorities.

"The Arkansas Legislature has moved to curtail this effort to circumvent state sovereignty. Under their law, ... No state or local law-enforcement agency may transfer any property seized by the state or a local agency to any federal entity for forfeiture unless the circuit court having jurisdiction ... enters an order, upon petition by the prosecuting attorney, authorizing the transfer.... [T]he transfer shall not be approved unless it reasonably appears that the activity is giving rise to the investigation or the seizure involves more than one state, or if the nature of the investigation or seizure would be better pursued under federal law.

"Unfortunately, a compliant judge could still circumvent state law by, as the Tenth Amendment Center warns, simply becoming a 'rubber stamp' to the requests of law enforcement. The Tenth Amendment Center suggests that Arkansas needs to tighten up this loophole by withdrawing from the federal equitable sharing program completely."

Read more: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/32950-arkansas-halts-civil-asset-forfeiture-and-closes-federal-loophole
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Second Michigan congressman bails on GOP

Another Mich. GOP congressman has bailed because of Trump | News Hits - Lee DeVito, Detroit Metro-Times: 

July 24, 2019 - "Rep. Paul Mitchell is the latest Michigan Republican congressman in recent months to have bailed on the congressional GOP because of President Donald Trump. The second-term Republican ... announced on Wednesday that he will not run for re-election — surprising news considering it is only months after he won re-election and his district is not at political risk.

"The news comes just days after Mitchell condemned Trump for his racist tweets, in which Trump told four congresswomen of color, including Detroit's Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, to 'go back' to their own countries. All are American citizens.

@RealDonaldTrump, we must be better than comments like these. I share the political frustrations with some members of the other party, but these comments are beneath leaders.

"Later, after Trump followers at a rally began chanting 'send her back' in reference to Omar, Mitchell had reportedly requested a meeting with Trump to discuss the issue....

"Regarding his decision not to seek re-election, Mitchell told Politico he was frustrated with Congress and the party: 'You look at the rhetoric and vitriol, it overwhelms policy, politics becomes the norm,' he said. 'Everything’s about politics. Everything’s about an election. And at some point of time, that’s not why I came here'....

"Earlier this month, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash ... announced in an op-ed published in The Washington Post that he was leaving the Republican Party, citing a 'partisan death spiral.' He is now an independent. Although he did not mention Trump by name, Amash blasted the two-party system, which he says has become bound by loyalty to party over duty to the American people or the Constitution.

"'The parties value winning for its own sake, and at whatever cost,' he wrote. 'Instead of acting as an independent branch of government and serving as a check on the executive branch, congressional leaders of both parties expect the House and Senate to act in obedience or opposition to the president and their colleagues on a partisan basis.'"

Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2019/07/24/another-mich-gop-congressman-has-bailed-because-of-trump

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