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Rally for Socialism 2016, photo Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge)

Socialism 2017 takes place on 11 and 12 November. It is a weekend of discussion and debate with a choice of over 40 workshops and rallies.

Keynote speakers include Socialist Party general secretary Peter Taaffe, author of From Militant to the Socialist Party; Corbynista MP Ian Mearns; Seattle socialist Kshama Sawant who led the US's first successful battle for a $15 an hour minimum wage; Irish socialist MP Paul Murphy fresh from an attempt to criminalise him for effective protesting; and Hannah Sell, Socialist Party deputy general secretary and regular contributor to the Socialist Party's monthly magazine Socialism Today.

There will be time during every workshop for everyone to have a say, to raise questions, propose points of difference, or expand on aspects of the discussion.

We welcome this as discussion and debate brings clarification for all our understanding of the complex world we live in, the lessons from past struggles and the programme we need to fight for socialism today.

At Socialism 2017 we will discuss the Russian Revolution 100 years ago. 1917 provides a powerful example of how it is possible for the working class and poor to take their destiny into their own hands and transform the world.

We will be discussing the impact of the revolution and why the Soviet Union degenerated into dictatorship. But Socialism 2017 will not be a history lesson! It is focused on the burning questions our movements face.

Socialism 2017 will bring together working class fighters, trade unionists and youth and student activists, anti-cuts campaigners, those who want to find out about socialism and Marxism, and people who want to change the world, for a weekend of discussion and debate on the alternative to capitalist crisis.

How can we get rid of the Tories? When will police and institutional racism end? Will a Jeremy Corbyn government be undermined by the Blairites? Can workers fight low pay? What about the trade union leaders who don't want to fight?

What happened to the socialist movement in Venezuela? How can we prevent Trump from delivering World War III? What really happened in the 1917 Russian Revolution?

What do we do about media bias? After Grenfell, how can we end the scandal of private profiteering? Can we win the right to free education?

If these are the questions you are asking then, a) you are not alone, and b) Socialism 2017 is the event for you.

It will be the political event of the year, celebrating the anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, hearing from workers and socialists in struggle around the world

Continued here:
Come to Socialism 2017 - Socialist Party

WINCHESTER Shak Hill, who plans to challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock for the GOP nomination in the 10th Congressional District in the November 2018 election, will address the Apple Valley Tea Party tonight.

The event will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Frederick County Public Safety Building, 1080 Coverstone Drive. It is open to the public.

Hill, 52, of Centreville, has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run in a Republican primary against Comstock, who he has criticized for out-of-state fundraising and voting against GOP attempts to overhaul former President Barack Obamas health care law also known as the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.

If Hill meets all federal requirements, he will appear on the ballot in a primary next June.

A Louisiana native, Hill made an unsuccessful bid in 2014 for the Republican nomination against Ed Gillespie, who narrowly lost to Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner. Gillespie is now the Republican nominee for governor, running against Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam.

Hill, a former Air Force combat pilot and financial services professional, is the principal of GuidingLightBooks.com a multimedia publishing services website.

[Hill] has contributed to his community ... in unbelievable ways, said Dody Stottlemyer, president of the Apple Valley Tea Party, adding that she appreciates his military service and volunteer efforts. Hes big on helping his community.

Stottlemyer said she believes Hill is more genuinely aligned with Republican values than Comstock is. She said Hill and his wife, Robin, fostered 46 children in addition to raising their own six children, one of whom was born while his wife had cancer. Theyre a remarkable family.

Eight Democrats also have begun efforts to win their partys nomination in the 10th Congressional District race in 2018.

The 10th Congressional District stretches from Northern Virginia to the West Virginia border and includes the cities of Winchester, Manassas and Manassas Park, the counties of Frederick, Clarke and Loudoun, and part of Fairfax and Prince William counties

Here is the original post:
Comstock challenger speaking to tea party - The Winchester Star

OTTAWA La Salle County TEA Party invited two candidates challenging Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon) to speak Tuesday at the groups monthly meeting.

Democrat Nathan Arroyave from Rockford and Republican Jason Haskell of Peru introduced themselves to the group and then took questions from the audience. Arroyave is one of three Democrats vying for their partys nomination while Haskell is currently the only candidate challenging Kinzinger in the March primary.

Arroyave: I believe that it should be legal and the reason why it should be legal, for me we have bigger battles to fight. We have to make sure we live in a prosperous America, and battling about who can marry whom, we have bigger battles to fight. The biggest reason is theres a moral issue, theres a religious issue and I want to have more of a conversation about it.

Haskell: This is 2017. Its more and more socially acceptable. Ive got several homosexual friends that are outstanding members of the community, that are making a difference, theyre employing people and if they dont have the right to get married, like I said, its 2017. Its more and more acceptable and Im all for it. No one should be discriminated on their sexual orientation. Thats how I feel.

Haskell: I believe that life begins at conception. I also believe that the government doesnt have the right to tell a woman what she can and cant do with her body. Now, in the event, controversial, in the event of sexual assault, it should not be that the victim, if the victim is impregnated by a sexual assault, why should she have to carry the burden of that constant reminder of her attack? She should have the option to choose whether or not she wants to keep that baby. That is her choice.

Arroyave: I strongly support a womans decision to choose on what she can do with her body. Can we help counsel, pray and counsel? Yes. Thats what we can do But I do strongly strongly believe that a female has the right to do with her own healthcare and her own decisions on her body.

Arroyave: If we can get big money out of politics, Im all for it. The reason why thats why: lobbyists do not have term limits Were all aware that Adam (Kinzinger) takes big money but those lobbyists dont have term limits, right? Its their job. So if we could have a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United or we could get back to grassroots funding, yes. But until that happens, lobbyists dont have them. They dont have term limits (Lobbyists) are just going to pay the next person.

Haskell: I absolutely agree with term limits, but theres gotta be some sort of exception to it. If you have somebody that is doing a stand-out job, listening to the people, actually making change, why would you want to limit that person in office? If the approval rating from the voters is showing this person is making a difference, I absolutely agree with term limits Congressmen serve two-year terms, I can see a 20-year span, 10 terms for congressmen. Six years for a senator I can see three or four terms for a senator.

Arroyave: I think we should have automatic registration. There are corruptions, but its very, very minimal You go apply for your drivers license, you have the opportunity to register Most people when you get the drivers license you have to have documentation.

Haskell: I believe that we have our voter ID card and a photo ID to prove who we are When there are more votes tallied than there are voters, thats a problem.

Haskell: I love guns. I love guns There is too much violence against our police officers these days. We have gun legislation right now, what good is it doing in Chicago? How many illegal guns are killing people on a weekly basis? We have to protect our servicemen.

Arroyave: Ive been a FOID card member since I was 18. Ive shot AR-15s, Ive shot long rifles Our gun issue in this country, in my opinion, is not if it has a 30 mag, if its 10 or if its 15. If its a .352, a 9 mil, or a .45. Its how guns come from the legal market to the illegal market. That is the issue. Im not going to challenge or take your guns away because Im taking my own away. Im not taking your AR-15 away because Im taking my friends away. What I want to do is make sure guns and rightful gun owners have that right That is going to have to take some slack from the right side and from the left.

Kevin Solari can be reached at (815) 220-6931 or countyreporter@newstrib.com. Follow him on Twitter @NT_County.

See more here:
Congress hopefuls address La Salle County TEA Party - LaSalle News Tribune

This article first appeared on The Daily Signal.

In May 2015, Russia began constructing a planned 11.8-mile bridge across the Kerch Strait, a body of water that sits between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

The Russian bridge project is meant to connect the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula, the region of Ukraine that Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

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Two weeks ago, Russia announced temporary closures of the Kerch Strait to accommodate bridge construction. The closures have cut off Ukraines southeast coast, including Berdiansk and the strategically important Mariupol, Ukraines 10th-largest city and a key port for exports like Ukrainian steel.

Currently, Russia can only access the Crimean Peninsula by air and sea. The bridge project would create a rail and road link, and further entrench Russias position on the annexed peninsula.

Part of a December 2003 bilateral agreement signed between Russia and Ukraine is a stipulation that mercantile vessels and other state non-commercial vessels flying the flags of the Russian Federation and Ukraine have free navigation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.

Ukraines Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yuriy Lavrenyuk recently stated that Ukraine would sue Russia over the closure of the Kerch Strait pursuant to the agreement.

People fish on a pier at the port of Mariupol, on the north of the Sea of Azov in eastern Ukraine March 26, 2014. Yannis Behrakis/reuters

While this is not the first time Russias navy has closed the Kerch Strait, it is the latest example of Russias ongoing illegal aggression against Ukraine.

Last September, the U.S. Treasury expanded sanctions on Russia for its illegal annexation of Crimea and specifically targeted companies and individuals associated with the Kerch bridge project. U.S. policymakers should now condemn Russias closure of the Kerch Strait, as well as its ongoing occupation of Crimea.

Working conditions for construction workers employed on the bridge project have been described as slave-like. Some residents of the Ukrainian town of Kerch in Crimea were reportedly expelled from their homes and moved to shabbily built apartments to make way for construction of the bridge and an adjoining highway project.

Despite significant doubts about the economic viability of the bridge, which may cost as much as $5 billion to build, the aggressive timeline to completion (currently scheduled for the end of 2018), as well as the geological suitability of the strait as a site for a bridge, Russia continues to build.

For Russian President Vladimir Putin the geopolitical symbolism of the bridge far outweighs its bloated price tag.

Since the time of Crimeas annexation, almost 5 percent of Ukraines landmass and more than half of its coastline have been under illegal Russian occupation. In addition, Russia has also claimed rights to valuable underwater resources off the peninsula.

Militarily, Russia greatly expanded its military footprint in occupied Crimea, allocating $1 billion to modernize the Black Sea fleet by 2020 and stationed warships equipped with Caliber-NK long-range cruise missiles in Sevastopol. Last August, Russia deployed S-400 air defense systems to Crimea.

Recent reports that the Trump administration is considering sending lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine are promising. Every country has the right to self-defense, and the U.S. should supply these weapons to Ukraine.

However, such a move should be incorporated within a larger strategy for assisting Ukraine. This larger strategy should include the issuance of a nonrecognition statement on Crimea, as well as the condemnation of Russias ongoing illegal actions in Crimea and the Black Sea region, such as Russias closure of the Kerch Strait.

As with Russias 2008 invasion of Georgia, Putin has often found the lazy days of August when many Western leaders are on vacation a convenient month to initiate some new aggression against a neighboring state.

In the case of the closure of the Kerch Strait, American policymakers should make clear they are still watching.

Daniel Kochis is a policy analyst for European affairs at The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.

Read more:
Has Trump Noticed Putin Has Cut Off Ukraine's Black Sea Ports? - Newsweek

Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said they will honor a cease-fire beginning with the new school year on August 25.

Separatist leader Denis Pushilin was quoted on the separatists' main news site late on August 23 as saying that his fighters "supported a stable and universal cease-fire along the contact line" in Ukraine's Donbas region.

Martin Sajdik, the envoy for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the Ukraine crisis, had earlier confirmed reports that an "indefinite" cease-fire would commence at midnight on August 25.

The OSCE issued a statement saying it "welcomes the recommitment to cease-fire" and called the truce "an encouraging joint, political signal from all signatories" to the 2015 Minsk peace agreement.

The cease-fire was agreed late on August 22 during a phone call between the leaders of Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine -- the so-called "Normandy Four."

In the call, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and French President Emmanuel Macron all voiced strong support for a lasting cease-fire to allow children in eastern Ukraine to attend school at the start of the new term, the Kremlin and Poroshenko's press service said.

Kurt Volker, the U.S. special envoy for efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, had earlier expressed his support for the proposal in comments to the Baltic News Service as he visited Lithuania on August 22.

The cease-fire for the back-to-school season "seems like a very good idea. We would obviously fully support that and hope the sides could do that," Volker told the news service.

Several cease-fire deals announced as part of the 2015 Minsk accords have failed to hold since Russia-backed separatists seized parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which border Russia, in 2014.

The United Nations estimates that at least 10,090 people, including 2,777 civilians, have been killed, and at least 23,966 injured since the start of the conflict through May 15, 2017.

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Moscow for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and for its support of separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Volker was joined in Kyiv on August 23 by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. They will hold meetings with senior Ukrainian government officials to discuss "the next steps in diplomatic negotiations to restore Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," U.S. officials said.

Mattis is scheduled to attend a parade on August 24 to mark Ukraines Independence Day and to meet with Poroshenko.

Mattis is likely to vow continued nonlethal U.S. support, offering the potential for weaponry considered "defensive" in nature.

Kyiv is expected to push for more lethal weapons, including antitank and antiaircraft weapons, to battle the separatists.

Mattis arrived in Kyiv from Ankara, where he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials. He had earlier stopped in Jordan and made a surprise visit to Iraq.

Read more:
Russia-Backed Separatists In Eastern Ukraine Say Will Honor Cease-Fire - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty