Archive for the ‘Progressives’ Category

Pakatan needs to act if PAS harps on hudud

The issue in the party is the deep divide between the ulama and the progressives.

KUALA LUMPUR: Klang MP Charles Santiago has expressed surprise that the Kelantan Government, under PAS, is at odds with what the majority of the people in the state want viz. better management of the economy in the face of rising prices and the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST), poor infrastructure and uncertainty following the worst floods in living memory in December.

The people of Kelantan have spoken up loud and clear, attempting to knock some sense into PAS, said Santiago. Yet all PAS can think about is the hudud law.

PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang, he noted, has always been at odds with Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and even foolishly tried to entice Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali into forming a unity government with Umno. If PAS, under Hadi, goes ahead with the hudud law in the Kelantan Assembly and Parliament, PR cannot just keep quiet.

The issue in the party is the deep divide between the ulama and the progressives.

The ulama, he noted, want to form a unity government with Umno despite the latters corrupt and unIslamic image, while the progressives subscribe to Pakatans Common Policy Framework (CPF) which the ulama also accepted in 2008 in the wake of the political tsunami on March 8 that year when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in Putrajaya lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time since 1969.

He urged Pakatan Rakyat, the opposition alliance, to take a tough stand on PAS on a number of issues including its open defiance of the CPF. Our pledge to the people was the CPF which again brought victory in 2013 when PR won the popular vote with 53 per cent of the votes counted and the BNs share of the seat count in Parliament dived further to 133 seats, said Santiago.

PAS stand, he added, was a betrayal of the people. Umno is the enemy and not to be trusted.

He referred to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Scandal and other issues of abuse of power, conflict of interest, and criminal breach of trust in Umno and yet the ulama want to team up with such an unIslamic and corrupt party.

The people, he reiterated, want better economic growth than the sluggish 3.6 per cent in 2013, and they need help to get back on their feet after the devastating floods. The Orang Asli in particular have been suffering.

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Pakatan needs to act if PAS harps on hudud

San Francisco Progressives Push For Lowering Minimum Voter Age To 16 For Local Elections

You can hear Phil Matiers comments Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) They can drive, they can work, and now a group of San Francisco city officials, including two supervisors want 16-and 17-year-olds to be eligible to vote.

San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos will introduce a measurethe first of its kind in a major U.S. city on Tuesday to do just that.

Avalos, Supervisor Eric Mar and other supporters say it will encourage civic engagement among youths and instill lifelong voting habits.

While two small cities in Maryland already have such voting laws where the teen turnout is four times of that of adults, the measure here should make interesting fodder for talk shows and web blogs because this is San Francisco after all.

But in order to pass, the Board of Supervisors would have to approve a charter amendment which would then go on the ballot for all currently eligible voters to decide. This November would be the earliest that such vote could be decided on.

This push comes from a combination of some city teens who want to take part in the voting system and the citys progressives.

The San Francisco Youth Commission recently passed a resolution asking for the expansion of voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds. But there is also the assumption that they will make choices that will lean liberal. Thats why the measure is being pushed by the progressivesincluding Public Defender Jeff Adachiwho have lost ground in recent elections due to the growing moderate movement represented by Mayor Ed Lee.

Having teens vote is not going to move mountains and change presidential elections; however, it may have an effect on smaller local items such as school bonds in which swing votes by one or two percent could make a difference.

So where could this new dynamic lead? Could high school civics teacher become ward bosses who sit down with politicians and promise deliveries of votes?

More here:
San Francisco Progressives Push For Lowering Minimum Voter Age To 16 For Local Elections

Jonathan to organise anti-Tinubu protests soon APC

National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed | credits: File copy

The All Progressives Congress says having failed to discredit a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, through hate documentaries, which have been barred by a Lagos High Court, President Goodluck Jonathan has given money to groups to hold protests against Tinubu.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Tuesday, said the groups are expected to carry placards calling for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to arrest Tinubu.

The APC said it was sure of the planned protests just as it had predicted the violent protests of the Odua Peoples Congress as well as the postponement of the elections.

The statement read, During the forthcoming demonstrations, the protesters have been told to carry placards asking the EFCC to probe the allegations made against Tinubu in the deceitful, ill-intentioned and irresponsible documentary that was sponsored by the same Jonathan administration.

Such is the level of President Jonathans desperation for re-election that a man who is not on the ballot in the forthcoming elections has become a target of unprecedented mudslinging by his (Presidents) administration.

It said it was ironic that the same Jonathan who said his victory at the polls was not worth the blood of any Nigerian went ahead to sponsor the OPC to wreak havoc in Lagos on Monday.

The APC said the intention of the protests backfired as all-well meaning Nigerians have since condemned it. The party added that Jonathans electoral chances were declining due to acts of desperation.

The statement added, Taking into consideration the sponsored protests by MASSOB and the OPC, the unprovoked and virulent attacks on the presidential candidate of the APC, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the sponsored documentary of lies as well as the planned demonstrations against Tinubu, and the inciting statements by First Lady Patience Jonathan, who has asked her supporters to stone APC members and supporters, there is undisputed evidence that President Jonathan himself is leading the campaign to make the elections violent and Nigeria ungovernable.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the APC says the destruction of its outdoor adverts by OPC members on Monday must not go unpunished.

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Jonathan to organise anti-Tinubu protests soon APC

US History Lesson 6 The Progressives & Teddy Roosevelt – Video


US History Lesson 6 The Progressives Teddy Roosevelt
Description.

By: NJ Chadwell

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US History Lesson 6 The Progressives & Teddy Roosevelt - Video

San Francisco Progressives Push For Lowering Minimum Voter Age To 16

You can hear Phil Matiers comments Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) They can drive, they can work, and now a group of San Francisco city officials, including two supervisors want 16-and 17-year-olds to be eligible to vote.

San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos will introduce a measurethe first of its kind in a major U.S. city on Tuesday to do just that.

Avalos, Supervisor Eric Mar and other supporters say it will encourage civic engagement among youths and instill lifelong voting habits.

While two small cities in Maryland already have such voting laws where the teen turnout is four times of that of adults, the measure here should make interesting fodder for talk shows and web blogs because this is San Francisco after all.

But in order to pass, the Board of Supervisors would have to approve a charter amendment which would then go on the ballot for all currently eligible voters to decide. This November would be the earliest that such vote could be decided on.

This push comes from a combination of some city teens who want to take part in the voting system and the citys progressives.

The San Francisco Youth Commission recently passed a resolution asking for the expansion of voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds. But there is also the assumption that they will make choices that will lean liberal. Thats why the measure is being pushed by the progressivesincluding Public Defender Jeff Adachiwho have lost ground in recent elections due to the growing moderate movement represented by Mayor Ed Lee.

Having teens vote is not going to move mountains and change presidential elections; however, it may have an effect on smaller local items such as school bonds in which swing votes by one or two percent could make a difference.

So where could this new dynamic lead? Could high school civics teacher become ward bosses who sit down with politicians and promise deliveries of votes?

See the original post:
San Francisco Progressives Push For Lowering Minimum Voter Age To 16