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Economic growth, documentation and accountability dont have a recently formed connection. The process of international trade and the period of coming of the corporations such as Dutch VOC, and British EIC, had begotten the cash-catching middlemen. They ride the waves of protectionism and globalization alike, with equal equanimity and ease; mastering the art of profiteering.

The famous Boston Tea party mistakenly associated with increases in taxes by the British and resulting anger in the Americas wasnt about that. Rather the Townshend Act, implemented in 1767, had already placed a 10 percent import duty on tea coming in what is now U. S. However, it did hurt the middlemen there as the tea from Britain wasnt sent directly to the Americas. Rather it was sold to men there who then sell it to men at the other continent which was then distributed to retailers, finally making its way to consumers. What the 1773 Act did was to slash off the profits of these middlemen. The people disguised as EIC men, casting the tea off the ships docked at America, werent the consumers but those middlemen incensed at this bill.

This entire historical context is highly relevant to what is going on in Pakistan lately. We hear the ideological descendants of these middlemen grumbling about the recent efforts by the PTI government to increase accountability and ensure documentation of the economy. We now know that the reaction isnt new. And that it wouldnt change too.

What we do know is that the efforts and reforms at this end should not wane. These so called unpopular decisions go beyond a partys repute and should be viewed in regards to our countrys future.

NABs work is commendable and its contributions significant in setting the stage and helping government in its accountability agenda.

Cases related to profiles of influential people have been not only opened but also followed up and have been brought to trial/NAB courts.

What we do know is that the efforts and reforms at this end should not wane. These so called unpopular decisions go beyond a partys repute and should be viewed in regards to our countrys future

NABs Lahore branch added Rs. 4 billion recently, quite a jump from Rs. 270 million in 2016. The best recovery on record. According to Mian Mannan Javaid, an Advocate High Court with more than a decade of experience, NABs work is commendable, he said that ever since Justice Javaid Iqbal has come to the helm, he started what is called internal accountability in NAB and then set in course a wave of accountability which has so far been unprecedented. Further commenting on legal aspects he added:

While there are multiple advantages to this exercise and practice which I hope will continue, this will directly relate to and have an effect on our FATF status highly important for the country at this moment. According to statistics, the recovery for both private and public sector from NAB has been the most during this tenure. While investigation vis-a-viz white-collar crimes have improved but the prosecution remains a weak link and we need improvement on this front. A continuation of this reform is dire for the country to have well-functioning and efficient institutions.

Here we may also mention what is called the institutional theory and its link to a countrys diplomatic and economic development. A country without strong institutions can never progress. We might tweak and manage all the symptoms (BoP, inflation, slow growth etcetera) but until or less the core problem (lack of active and effective institutions) is resolved.

Our undocumented or shadow economy amounts to almost 35 to 40 percent of our GDP. If our GDP is around $315 bn (figures from 2018) then this makes the undocumented sector at $126 bn! We can therefore realize how significant it is for our country to set in place a system where everything is documented in what would be self-reinforcing system.

While we talk about accountability and the resulting backlash it is also relevant to mention areas of improvement. Take for instance the recent wheat crisis. Prices have soared too high and now we have an unofficial trading system in place. Such incidents may sabotage the overall performance of the government and the institutions therein (more on this in another article). Therefore, while NAB has given a laudable performance it is also incumbent on other institutions to continue to work in liaison with each other and put in place what is called an inclusive system of institutions.

Oh and the backlashwell, it has always been there and will be.

The writer is an economic and geopolitical analyst

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Accountability and backlash - Daily Times

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) - Sunday marks the second day of the 15 day long Chinese New Year celebration.

Tiffany Alexandria, a Taiwanese food blogger, taught community members about the tea ceremony that's practiced during the holiday.

"The tea that we're tasting today are all from Taiwan. And we are tasting tea ranges from live fermentation to slightly more fermented and all the way up to black tea," Alexandria said.

Alexandria said tea plays a daily role in Chinese culture.

"So tea is more like an everyday lifestyle. There is a tea ceremony but we just drink tea everyday. And during Chinese New Year, it's often visiting family every single day and as soon as you get to each family relatives house you sit down and drink tea with them," she said.

Alexandria's family is currently in Tawain, she said her uncle played a huge role in her love for tea.

"My uncle's a tea maker. He's a master tea maker in Taiwan actually. So, when I was little growing up I would actually visit him on the tea mountain and watch him make tea," she said.

Although Alexandra can't be with her family this Chinese New Year, those who attended the tea party felt grateful she shared a big part of her life with them."

"I've learned a lot about the tea leaf. I've learned the different types of tea and the process of making it and the process of enjoying it," Julie Herrera- Lemar, said.

Alexandria said on Thursday she will be teaching people how to make dumplings.

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Blogger hosts tea ceremony on Day 2 of Chinese New Year - KTTC

Jan 22, 2020 11:49 AM By: St. Albert Gazette

If youre a fan of Canadian rock, the Saints and Sinners Tour 2020 is for you.

Four iconic bands Big Wreck, Headstones, Moist and The Tea Party have formed a coast-to-coast tour that promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza.

During their 17-stop tour, the four bands will perform atthe Edmonton Convention Centre on July 4.

Fronted by founding member Ian Thornley, Big Wreck boasts a variety of hit singles and released its 6th album, but for the sun, in 2019.

Headstones has spread the rock and roll gospel since 1987. Ferocious as ever, it remains one of Canadas most vital rock and roll outlaws.

Multi-platinum selling Moist has enjoyed a stream of hits from the 1990s that rivals their grunge era peers south of the border; and The Tea Party, with their larger-than-life presence, celebrates their 30th year together.

Weve been on festivals and tours together over the years, but this unique shared bill with all four acts in a different order every night is going to be a killer. We cant wait to get this rolling," said David Usher of Moist.

Public tickets for the Saints and Sinners Tour go on sale Friday, Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.ca.

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Saints and Sinners Tour comes to Edmonton - St. Albert Today

Is it a death grip or a limp handshake? President Donald Trumps grasp on the Republican Party grassroots will get its first big test of 2020 next month in Iowa.

Iowa Republicans attending the Feb. 3 caucuses will have the opportunity to cast their preference for the partys presidential nomination. Thats different from other recent election cycles, when parties with incumbent presidents have not held true contests or reported accurate results.

Iowa political parties have peculiar history with uncontested presidential caucuses

For true small-government conservatives, there are many reasons to oppose Trumps reelection bid.

Competitive GOP caucuses in 2020 would be good for America

Actually, we need more candidates running for president in Iowa

Former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld are campaigning against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump is favored, to say the least. Polls show nearly 90 percent of Republicans approve of Trumps job performance, while around 80 percent support his renomination.

For true small-government conservatives, though, there are many reasons to oppose Trumps reelection bid: He has let the national debt balloon uninhibited, failed to replace Obamacare, largely reneged on his promise to wind down our unwinnable wars and regularly bucked the limits of his executive power (not least of which was withholding Congressionally approved aid from Ukraine, the subject of the ongoing impeachment trial).

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The two Republican challengers are simultaneously contemptuous of Trumps enablers in Washington, D.C., and sympathetic to the voters who put them in power. They are convinced there is hunger in the Republican base for an alternative to Trump, never mind the polls.

Walsh one-term Tea Party congressman from Illinois and a former talk radio host spent much of last week watching Trumps impeachment trial in the Senate and firing off spicy takes on Twitter, including calling out Republican senators by name. He has little hope the current crop of GOP legislators can be redeemed.

I think theyre too far gone. You gotta be on the record right now about Trump and Trumpism. These people like (U.S. Sen. Marco) Rubio and some who are trying to stay quiet, you cant do that. You either support him or you dont, Walsh told me last week.

GOP politicians redemption tour comes to Iowa

On the issues, Walsh takes libertarian and fiscally conservative stances. He seems less concerned nowadays with many of the divisive culture war issues he discussed in his talk radio career.

Walsh has made increasingly frequent trips to Iowa in the past couple of months, and plans to be here every day until the caucuses.

I want people to wake up after the caucuses and be surprised and say, Wow, there is a primary going on on the Republican side. Ive gotta do well, and Im staking a lot on Iowa, Walsh said.

Weld a former two-term Republican governor from left-leaning Massachusetts holds out hope that some Republican legislators will snap out of blindly supporting the president, but time is running out.

Ive been predicting for some time that its not going to go well for Republicans in the legislative elections in 2020. Well have a Democratic Senate if they just roll over and play dead, so Im hopeful they wont, Weld told me.

Are Republicans willing to disagree? Caucus challenger wants to find out

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Weld also has a broad libertarian streak, balanced with an old-school pro-business conservatism. He even ran with the Libertarian Party for vice president in 2016. At the partys nominating convention that year, he promised members he was a Libertarian for life, and wouldnt go back to any other party.

But in a guest column published last week by the conservative blog the Bulwark, Weld gives an impassioned defense of Republican values, and doesnt mention his Libertarian Party stint.

Ive been a libertarian since I was in law school and took up Friedrich Hayek and The Constitution of Liberty, Weld told me.

The reason I decided to run as a Republican this time is that someone needed to stand up and plant a flag against Trumps misdeeds, and I didnt see anyone else doing it.

Trump challenger is part of great American party-switching tradition

Its hard to say what a bad night for Trump in Iowa would look like. Assuming the president wins a clear majority of Iowa Republicans support, how many points would his challengers have to siphon off to make a statement?

Theres only one modern election that offers a comparison. In 2012, Iowa Democrats reported the full delegate counts from the caucuses, which they did not do in 1996: 98.4 percent for President Barack Obama, 1.5 percent uncommitted.

It looked like a total blowout for Obama, but his figures may have been inflated by party loyalists maneuvering. The caucus agenda included time for a livestream webcast from Obama, but preference groups to pick a candidate were only held if 15 percent of attendees agreed to it.

Under those rules, only Democrats with a little bit of confidence and knowledge of the process were able to have their preferences counted, as independent journalist and Democratic activist Laura Belin reported at the time.

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The Iowa Democratic Partys caucus rules and procedures put many obstacles before Democrats who arent satisfied with the presidents performance, Belin wrote on her Bleeding Heartland website.

Disgruntled Republicans will face somewhat different challenges this February. There is no viability threshold, so all the votes will be counted. But the party infrastructure is all-in for Trump the Republican National Committee voted last year to commit undivided support to the Trump campaign and caucus chairs might resist efforts to speak in support of other candidates.

The hope is that a lackluster tally for Trump in Iowa would generate momentum and national attention for the opposition candidates. Both Weld and Walsh told me they are committed to staying in the race past Iowa and New Hampshire, when several Democrats will likely be dropping out.

Perhaps some unforeseen crisis will change minds and trigger massive turnout to late GOP primaries. Trumps removal from office or a battle at the party convention are extremely unlikely, but maybe not impossible.

Assuming Trump is on the general election ballot, both Walsh and Weld reserve the right to endorse an opposing candidate or even launch a third-party campaign of their own. The ultimate goal, theyre both adamant, is to end Trumps presidency.

Im dedicating my life to stopping Trump. If it doesnt work out through a Republican challenge in the Republican primary, I dont know what Ill do next. ... I would do anything if I thought it would help stop him, Walsh said.

Comments: (319) 339-3156; adam.sullivan@thegazette.com

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Unstoppable? Iowa GOP caucuses will measure depth of Trump's support - The Gazette

LAFAYETTE It was a roaring good time inside the Lafayette House as supporters of the nonprofit Family Promise of Sussex County donned their best 1920s outfits and hit the dance floor.

Family Promise, an organization that offers a number of programs and service options for individuals and their families, has hosted a Tea Party fundraiser over the past two years but being 2020, event organizer Nichole Reed wanted to celebrate the new year fashionably.

So this year, in celebration of the 20s, Family Promise hosted its first Great Gatsby Fundraiser, complete with, of course, the best outfits of the 1920s.

Women wore embellished flapper dresses, elbow-length satin gloves and feathered headbands and men were attired in checkered vests, fedora or newsboy caps and suspenders.

Joseph Young, Family Promises board president, said that he was glad the event had transitioned to one that men would feel more comfortable attending.

It started with a small tea party that eventually grew bigger and bigger, Young said of Saturdays event, adding that he ended up being the only male to actually attend.

The Tea Party fundraiser began in 2018 and served as a way to raise funds but also spread the word to the community about what the organization does.

Family Promise was incorporated in 1997 and works to assist families and single men and women find housing stability and self-sufficiency. The program has expanded exponentially over the years, with additional services offered including emergency shelter, intensive case management services, homeless prevention and rapid rehousing programs.

Five years ago, according to Chris Butto, Family Promise executive director, the organization had just three employees and has since expanded to nine, which include housing specialists and coordinators.

Back then, we had very limited resources in the county to be able to address the needs of the homeless, Butto said. Over the years, we have researched a lot of opportunities for grant funding, and as the numbers have increased, the funding opportunities have increased and we have been able to secure federal grants.

Young described what Family Promise does as helping homeless families and single individuals go from finding a shelter to finding their independence.

Nationwide, in 2018, Family Promise served over 126,000 individuals, and 88% of families secured housing due to the organizations intensive care programs, according to their website. Of those served, 60% are children.

Family Promise has several volunteer opportunities. For more information about the programs offered, various ways to help or donate funds, visit familypromise.org.

Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.

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Family Promise celebrates the Roaring 20s - New Jersey Herald