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Gladys Berejiklian may have been heartened by the "extremely positive" reception she received from voters on Saturday, but her gastronomical choices certainly left a lot to be desired - namely, a bun and sauce.

The NSW Premier was snapped eating a democracy sausage sans bread on the campaign trail with Liberal candidate James Griffin at Manly West Primary School, in a move that drew the attention of state opposition leader Luke Foley.

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Opposition Leader Bill Shorten takes a 'sideways' bite of a sausage sizzle while visiting the polling booth at Strathfield North Public School.

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Malcolm Turnbull has declared that dictator Bashar al-Assad has disqualified himself from any role in a political settlement in Syria and should be placed on trial for his "horrendous" war crimes. Vision courtesy ABC News 24.

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Matt Davidson's take on India's infamous bureaucracy.

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The US attacks have been limited, but they send some powerful messages, says David Wroe

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US cruise missile strikes on Syrian government positions were proportionate, says Malcolm Turnbull.

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The Federal Treasurer on the issue of Western Australia's GST share. Audio: 6PR.

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As military threats come from multiple quarters, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the Syria chemical attack "cries out for a strong response".

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When he challenged Tony Abbott for the leadership, bad polls were one reason why. Hear what Malcolm Turnbull thinks about polls now.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten takes a 'sideways' bite of a sausage sizzle while visiting the polling booth at Strathfield North Public School.

"Unlike Gladys, I prefer my sausage sandwich with bread," Foley gleefully tweeted.

Ms Berejiklian's peculiar choice was reminiscent of another key sausage moment during the 2016 federal election campaign, when a seemingly confused Bill Shorten tucked into his roll in a manner that left onlookers stunned.

Last July, Mr Shorten infamously took a 'sideways' bite of his sausage sandwich at Strathfield North Public School, before turning away from cameras to tackle the remainder.

"The taste of democracy," the Labor leader then declared.

Perhaps the only constant amid a tumultuous string of election days, the humble sausage sizzle has continued to rise in prominence, with 'democracy sausage' being crowned Australia's Word of the Year by the Australian National Dictionary Centre in 2016.

However, Ms Berejiklian may well have been practising what she preached, after the premier in February announced plans to overhaul school canteens, ditching Space Food Sticks in favour of freshly-made lunchbox options, including more fruit and vegetables.

"I had too many sausage rolls and cream buns and Zooper Doopers [at school]," she told the ABC.

The Liberal Party was expecting large swings against it after a campaign marred by questions over the integrity of two candidates, James Griffin and Felicity Wilson, and pressure over issues including traffic and council amalgamations.

Originally posted here:
Gladys Berejiklian feels heat over democracy sausage faux pas - The Sydney Morning Herald

Tomorrow, Judge Neil Gorsuch will become a justice on the bench of the United States Supreme Court. For him, and for the Republicans, his appointment will be a victory, a time for celebration. But for many, his appointment, and the process which will have gotten him there, feels like one more notch in the dismantling of our democratic republic.

Sen. Mitch McConnell invoked the so-called nuclear option, which means that judicial nominees can be declared victorious by a simple majority instead of needing to have 60 votes. That rule was put in place to prevent or at least lessen, partisanship in the appointment of these most important public servants.

Judge Gorsuch, a staunch Conservative supported by what some call dirty money seems a nice enough person, but his judicial record caused some Democrats deep concern. Justices judges are supposed to be impartial, though history has shown that not to be the case, but there was something sacrosanct in residing in the myth of judicial objectivity. With that myth in place, there was always the hope that justice for the least of these would and could be attained.

The Democrats were determined that Gorsuch would not be the next Supreme Court justice. They were justifiably angry that Sen. McConnell would not even let President Obamas nominee, Merrick Garland, have a hearing. That seemed mean-spirited; it seemed anti-constitutional; it seemed deeply partisan and yes, it seemed racist.

But their anger was not enough to stop this train from its careening downhill. There seems to be a bitter, lingering spirit of resentment over the Obama presidency and all it stood for, accompanied by a determination to undo everything that Obama did. This nomination and the coming confirmation of Gorsuch feels like it is a part of that pot of boiling, seething resentment.

Sen. Harry Reid invoked this nuclear option in 2013. Exasperated by what he felt was unreasonable obstruction by Republicans of every appointment or nominee Obama put forth, he changed the parliamentary rules for the confirmation of judges. There is always wrangling or there had been wrangling between Congress and their respective presidents for decades, but Reid felt the wrangling during the Obama administration went over the top. He changed the rules, something that Obama said he felt would have dire consequences for the country. Its not what our founders intended, he said. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-poised-to-limit-filibusters-in-party-line-vote-that-would-alter-centuries-of-precedent/2013/11/21/d065cfe8-52b6-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html?utm_term=.f53d453be447)

By now, we have all heard of some of the decisions made by Gorsuch in his work as a judge. They are not encouraging. He seems to be hand-in-glove with corporations and big money. That just does not feel good.

But neither do many of the members of this administrations cabinet. We have an Attorney General who apparently lied to the committee during his confirmation hearings, a man who has a history of being against immigration, (http://www.npr.org/2017/02/09/514365597/jeff-sessions-takes-strong-anti-immigration-views-to-justice-department) , who has a fear of Muslim immigrants, and who recently strongly encouraged American cities to forego the idea of being sanctuary cities, or face losing federal funds.

Sessions has not been a friend to those who fight racial oppression. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jeff-sessions-race-civil-rights/story?id=43633501) Supporters of Sessions say he is a good man, and he probably is in the eyes of those who are not black, brown, Muslim, LGBTQ. He has not supported the fight against voter suppression. He is not a fan of affirmative action, and he thinks the complaints by blacks against police departments are overblown.

We could go on; all of the persons in this administration seem friendly enough but not to democracy as it has been practiced. The people in the administration are wealthy and largely disconnected to the masses of American people. The disregard for the lives and well-being of Americans as the GOP has sought to repeal and replace Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, has been disheartening.

We grew up believing in the Bible and in the Constitution. The Bible taught us that we should love each other and take care of each other. The Constitution taught us that a democracy was one where the people mattered. But as the governing body becomes smaller and smaller, and more and more wealthy, the ideals of the Founding Fathers, and the tenets of the Bible seem to be slipping into obscurity.

Timothy Snyder wrote in his book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, that the Founding Fathers constructed the American democratic republic with the express purpose of preventing tyranny from ever developing here. The three branches of government, with the promise of them providing checks and balances so that no one branch had complete control and power, was called brilliant. But the three branches of government, controlled by the GOP, are failing in their function laid out by the Constitution. Snyder writes, the good news is that we can draw upon more recent relevant examples than ancient Greece and Rome when studying political order. The bad news, he writes, is that the history of modern democracy is also one of decline and fall.

It feels like our beloved country is falling, and the lessons of the Bible are being all but forgotten. The coldness this Congress has for the poor is mind-boggling; it is hard to believe that anyone would believe that the poor dont want health care and wont take care of themselves. (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/08/kansas-congressman-under-fire-over-poor-dont-want-health-care-comment.html)

No government is perfect; the fight for justice and equality for the masses has always been a reality. But this was our country, with a government we held to be above all others.

It no longer feels that way. It feels like our government is in hospice. It feels like we are about to have to recite a requiem for our beloved democracy.

See the article here:
Requiem for a Democracy - Huffington Post

Voters in eight Wisconsin communities cast ballots April 4 for a constitutional amendment to reclaim democracy from moneyed interests and overturn the Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling.

The non-binding referendums asked voters whether the U.S. Constitution should be amended to establish that:

n Rights recognized under the Constitution belong to human beings and not to government-created entities such as corporations or limited liability companies.

n Political campaign spending is not a form of free speech protected under the First Amendment.

Early returns showed voters approved referendums in Racine, Monona, Fox Crossing, Crystal Lake, the town and village of Blue Mounds, Jordan and Caledonia.

More than 100 communities in Wisconsin have approved referendums or resolutions, according to Wisconsin United to Amend.

We cannot solve any of the pressing issues in front of our country as long as our politicians do not represent us and they wont until we get the big money out of politics, said Racine activist Bill Earley.

The vast majority of voters know their voices arent being heard by their representatives. Politicians take their orders from the moneyed interests that keep them in office, said Karen Ingvoldstat, an activist in Marquette County.

The first such ballot question in Wisconsin was approved in Madison in 2011, a year after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

In that 5-4 decision, the court said the First Amendment prohibited restrictions on political expenditures by corporations.

The ruling, as Barack Obama said a week later in a State of the Union address, reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests including foreign corporations to spend without limit in our elections.

Nationwide, 18 state legislatures and 730 communities have called for passage of a constitutional amendment.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, DFL-Minnesota, has introduced the We the People Amendment in Congress.

Its time to establish once and for all that corporations are not people, money is not free speech and our elections and public policymaking process are not for sale to the highest corporate bidders, Nolan said.

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, is among the co-sponsors.

The amendment essentially has two provisions, Pocan said. It says that money is not free speech and that corporations are not people. A simple but vital premise that would even out the playing field by reversing the deeply corrosive impact of corporate interests on our democracy.

Read more:
Balloting boosts campaign to reclaim democracy from corporate interests - Wisconsin Gazette

We all know about reading, writing and arithmetic, but have you ever thought about the importance of our children learning civics? Arizona is leading a push to make sure civics is a part of our curricula. In 2015, Governor Ducey and legislators made sure students had to pass a civics test to graduate from high school. That begins with this years senior class. Arizona was the first state in the nation to make this requirement.

But years before that, in 2009, an Arizona legend began another effort to bring civics into the classroom. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor founded iCivics to restore civic education in our nations schools. As Justice OConnor said, The practice of democracy is not passed down through the gene pool. It must be taught and learned anew by each generation of citizens.

Sen. Kimberly Yee

I had the honor of standing alongside Justice OConnor a couple weeks ago in the Arizona Senate, as I read SCR 1026, a resolution I authored to express our continuing commitment to the promotion of civics education in Arizona schools. Coincidentally, in addition to our interest in civics education, Justice OConnor and I are the only female Senate Majority Leaders in state history.

So how concerned should we be about a lack of civics education? The National Assessment of Educational Progress found only 23 percent of 8th Graders performed at proficient level in civics. A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found only 36 percent of adults could name all three branches of government. More than one in three individuals couldnt even name one branch. More than half of Americans do not know which party controls the U.S. House and Senate.

The success of our Republic depends on the active participation of its citizens. As it says in the Resolution, the lack of an educational foundation regarding the fundamentals of the democracy established by this countrys founders and defended by generations of American soldiers increases the potential for incivility and threatens the sustainability of our American democracy.

Civics education helps teach children the principles and history of constitutional democracy. I encourage parents to join me in promoting enhanced civics education in our schools. Civics education is vital to our nations future. Lets make this happen together.

Sen. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, is the Senate Majority Leader.

___________________________________________________________

The views expressed in guest commentaries are those of the author and are not the views of the Arizona Capitol Times.

Read more:
Civics education a building block of American Democracy - Arizona Capitol Times

The private sector had mixed reactions to the new constitution, expressing satisfaction about the upcoming general election but also worried about the prospects for political reconciliation.

Diplomatic corps in Bangkok told The Nation that they will continue to monitor the political situation in Thailand closely, as the country was considered for years a model of democratic achievement in the region.

We note that the promulgation of the new Constitution is a step along the governments road map towards a return to elected government, said US Embassy spokesperson Melissa Sweeney.

The US, since the 2014 coup that toppled an elected civilian government, has not minced words in criticising the juntas suppression of democracy and human rights. Washington, however, has lowered its critical tone since the new administration under President Donald Trump took office this year.

Like other European countries, Belgiums Ambassador to Thailand Philippe Kridelka said the international community was closely following the situation in Thailand as the country was a model in the region for not only economic development but also democratic achievements, freedom of media and a creative and independent-minded civil society.

As friends of Thailand, we hope the promulgation of the new Constitution will speed up the process towards democratic elections, including the adoption of the needed bylaws, he said.

Portuguese Ambassador to Thailand Francisco Vaz Patto expressed hope that the promulgation of the new constitution will help Thailand return to full democracy. With a new constitution, we now have more clarity regarding the road map that we hope will lead to elections as soon as possible, he said.

International scholars and civic groups were, however, spoke plainly about new developments in Thai politics and the promulgation of the new charter will not change the political atmosphere in the country.

Foreigners, notably investors, would view the promulgation of the new charter as a belated, nonetheless important, step forward to political normalcy, said Yasuhito Asami, a lecturer of Thai studies at the Department of Global Politics, Hosei University in Tokyo. However, the promulgation of the Constitution alone will not do much to improve their confidence in Thailands investment climate, he said.

Political stability

The continuation of a ban on political activities even after the enforcement of the new Constitution will be viewed as evidence that Thailand remains many steps away from true political stability, Asami said in an e-mail interview.

While the new Constitution set the stage for general elections and offered a wide range of rights and liberties, it did little to correct the dire human rights situation in the country, said Champa Patel, Amnesty Internationals director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

The new constitution keeps in place the full gamut of orders and decrees imposed by the military government since the 2014 coup, which have facilitated widespread human rights violations, from muzzling freedom of expression and peaceful assembly to torture and other ill-treatment, Patel said in a statement.

Stanley Kang, chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce, yesterday welcomed the new Constitution. Its alright. Were comfortable with Thailands political road map after [promulgation of the] new Constitution, he said.

Politics may not count much in investment decision-making, but other factors like public investment in infrastructure and the streamlining of regulations are important parts of the picture, he said.

There are still impediments to private investment such as restrictions on work permits, issuance of visas and the high cost of setting up a company here. Foreign investors have proposed many revisions to regulations to make it easier to do business here but nothing much has changed so far, he said.

Tanit Sorat, a businessman and vice chairman of the Employers Confederation of Thai Trade and Industry, expressed confidence in the juntas road map. It has become much clearer about the general election, which will be held in the middle of next year, he said.

That does not mean investors will rush to build factories here, as they have to look at other variables, such as production costs, profitability and the availability of skilled labour. He also expressed concern about the prospects for political reconciliation. The election may not necessarily lead to reconciliation, as Thailand has been deeply divided. Many issues remain unresolved, he said.

Kobsithi Silapachai, head of capital-markets research at Kasikornbank, said it would have a limited positive impact on financial markets stocks and foreign exchange because the next general election remains many months away.

The timeline for drafting organic laws is still uncertain and political parties have not yet been allowed to hold political activities.

Read more:
Diplomats and businesses mix hope with caution on return of democracy - The Nation