text:
Tagged 'Students for Liberty [Estudantes Pela Liberdade (EPL)]'
Foundations, Social Engineering
#PopulismovsRepública Atlas Network Azúcar de Guatemala Brazil Cato Institute CEDICE Libertad Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation Fábio Ostermann Free Brazil Movement (MBL) Friederich Naumann Institute Gloria Álvarez Ibero-American Youth Parliament Institute of Human Studies John Templeton Foundation Jorge Gerdau Juliano Torres Kim Kataguiri Liberty Forum Millennium Institute National Civic Movement (MCN) Renan Hass Renan [Haas] Students for Liberty [Estudantes Pela Liberdade (EPL)] Venezuela Yaoni Sánchez
The Right's New Clothes – Are the Latin American Youth
A network of Conservative Think-tanks & Foundations from the United States, such as Koch, Cato & Templeton, are financing young Latin Americans to fight Left Governments and defend old positions with a new language
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." – John Kenneth Galbraith.
Original version in Portuguese at Agência Pública. English Translation for Brasil Wire by Angela Milanese. Republished under Creative Commons license.
"Our body is the first private property we have. It is up to each of us to decide what to do with it," says a young blonde woman in Spanish with a firm voice while moving gracefully across the stage at the Liberty Forum, which is adorned with the logos of the event's official sponsors: Tobacco company Souza Cruz, Gerdau Group, Petróleo Ipiranga and the RBS Group (a local Globo TV affiliate). A sold out crowd at the 2000-seat auditorium of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre (PUC-RS) bursts into laughter and applause for Gloria Álvarez, a 30-year-old Guatemalan daughter of a Cuban father and a mother descended from Hungarian immigrants.
Glória Álvarez, a star of the Latin American youth. Photo: Fernando Conrado
Gloria, or @crazyglorita (55,000 followers on Twitter and 120,000 on Facebook) rose to stardom among Latin American rightwing youth at the end of last year, when a video shot at the Ibero-American Youth Parliament held in Zaragoza (Spain), in which she attacks Latin American "populism," went viral. At the Liberty Forum, the most high profile event promoted by Brazil's rightwing, Gloria and the former Republican governor of South Carolina, David Bensley, are the only two people – among the 22 Brazilian and foreign speakers – scheduled to deliver keynote speeches at the three-day event, called "Roads to Freedom."
A radio broadcaster for 10 years, now hosting her own TV show, Gloria is a captivating showoman. She addresses the audience with ease, which is mostly made up of PUC-RS students, one of the best and most expensive universities in southern Brazil. "Who here calls themselves conservative or libertarian, raise their hands," she asks the audience. When she sees a roomful of raised hands, she relaxes. "Ah, ok," she replies. Alvarez is the young leader of the National Civic Movement (MCN), a small Guatemalan organization that sprung up in 2009 in the wake of movements that unsuccessfully demanded the impeachment of the social democrat President Álvaro Colom. Her mission, she explains, is to teach her ideological peers how to "charm and seduce people on the left and how to defeat the bearded and beret-cladded Che Guevara crowd."
The first lesson is to use "#PopulismovsRepública," a hashtag she created to overcome the "obsolete division between right and left."
"An intellectually honest leftist must recognize that the only way out is employment and a modern, 21st century rightwinger must recognize that sexuality, morality and drugs are individual problems. He is not the moral authority of the universe," she continues, amid thunderous applause.
There should be no guilt, neither moral nor social, she teaches. The message is individual freedom, youth "empowerment," low taxes and a minimal state – the agenda of the neoliberal right (in economic terms) across the world. "Wealth is not transferred, ladies and gentlemen. Wealth is created, starting in each one of your little heads," she says. In the same vein, Gloria also criticizes social welfare programs for the poor, affirmative action programs for women, blacks, people with disabilities, even the very concept of minorities. "There are no minorities. The smallest minority is the individual and he is best served in a meritocracy."
"There is a truth that every human being must reach to find peace, if they don't want to live as a hypocrite. All of us, seven-and-a-half billion human beings inhabiting this planet, are selfish. This is the truth, my dear friends in Brazil. We are all selfish. Is this bad? Is this good? No, it's just the reality," she says categorically. "There are people who don't accept this truth and come up with this wonderful idea: 'No! [Gloria shouts, imitating a man's voice] I will build the first unselfish society!' Be careful, Brazilians, be careful, Latin America! Those wise guys are like Stalin in the Soviet Union, or Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un in North Korea, Fidel Castro in Cuba or Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. Why do we keep following those hypocrites like sheep? Because [Gloria grimaces and imitates a frail woman elderly voice] they teach us that it's wrong to be selfish and that to think of ourselves is a sin. How many of you haven't heard someone say we need a good man who doesn't care only for himself," she says, bending as she speaks, and then standing up to regain her proud upright posture.
"Look, gentlemen, unless it's a Martian, this man does not exist, never existed and never will exist."
Frantic applause.
But, she explains, the "champions of freedom" also bear their share of responsibility. They do not know how to communicate their ideas, or how to use technology to "empower citizens" and "liberate" Latin America. If you keep discussing macro-economics, GDP and so on, "we will lose the battle. We need to learn with the populists and talk in a way that people understand, make them identify with what we're saying," she explains. "And let me give you another piece of advice. Since they say that us, conservatives are damned exploiters," she quips ironically. "I've found a wonderful way to define the concept of private property, which makes the leftists go like 'wow!'"
"Private property is what we amass in our lifetime, starting with our first properties: body and mind." The past, she explains, isn't the same to everyone, so this amassing is personal. She continues, "This humanizes us, gives us, disgraceful conservatives, a bit of a heart." Laughter. Applause.
"There are people who want the right to health care, education, work, housing. The UN even wants to establish a human right to internet access," she scoffs disdainfully, even though she had just declared that technology is the key to changing the world. "Imagine that, in this auditorium, some of you want the right to education, others the right to health care, and others want the right to housing. So if I give you education, everyone here will pay for it, and you will be VIPs, while they will be second-class citizens. If I give them health care, everyone in this auditorium will pay for their health, and they will be VIPs. If I give them houses, I will take from you to provide houses for them, and they will be the VIPs. This isn't social justice, this is inequality before the law," she concludes, again amid laughter and applause.
"If everyone in Latin America is entitled to life, liberty and private property, then everyone goes after education, health care and the house they want, without the need of a super-Chávez, super-Morales and super-Correa." Ovation. Whistles. Before closing her 40-minute speech, Gloria invites the public to challenge the "victimization of Latin-Americans" and "blaming the Yankees" worldview, which undermines self-esteem and the courage to take risks, required by the entrepreneurial spirit. The audience gives her a standing ovation.
Neoliberals and Libertarians
Gloria Álvarez does not really represent anything new. The main difference is the language she uses. The MCN movement receives "funding from some of the largest companies in the traditional business elite," according to investigative journalist Martín Rodríguez Pellecer, who is the director of the Guatemalan online media site Nómada (an Agência Pública partner). "I came to know, from sources close to them, that one of the companies that support their public campaigns and congress lobbying is Azúcar de Guatemala, an extremely powerful cartel of 13 companies. (Guatemala is the world's fourth largest sugar exporter). Guatemalan companies, by the way, have investments in Brazilian plants."
The same can be said about her ideas. Despite their seductive title, libertarians are "a minority segment among the schools of thought that gained influence in the post-war era, in opposition to the Keynesian-inspired interventionist policies," explains the economist Luiz Carlos Prado, from the Rio de Janeiro Federal University.
After the 1970s oil crisis, pro-market economists such as Friedrich Hayek (Nobel Prize 1974), monetarists from the Chicago school of economics led by Milton Friedman (Nobel Prize 1976) and neoclassicists associated with Robert Lucas, Jr. (Nobel Prize 1995) came to dominate global economic thought, and became known to the public under the single label "neoliberal." Their concepts were brought to Latin America by the most conservative sectors of American society, represented mainly by think thanks with ties to Ronald Reagan. After losing Republican primaries in 1968 and 1976, Reagan was finally elected president in 1980, with Friedman as a major adviser. The same ideas also dominated the government of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1991) in the United Kingdom.
"The supporters of classical liberalism also supported political freedom, but this school of economic thought called 'neoliberalism' advocates non-intervention of the state in the economy, without demonstrating a particular concern for political freedom. In some cases, and without any shame, they allied themselves with dictatorships, such as the military regime of Pinochet in Chile," says Prado.
Gloria Álvarez's Guatemala is a good example of how libertarian ideas came to fruition in Latin America. In 1971, "a significant part of the Guatemalan economic elite embraced neoliberalism and adopted it as its political project. That was when they founded the Francisco Marroquin University (UFM)," explains Rodríguez.
"The University was founded by Manuel Ayau, known as El Muso, in allusion to Mussolini. Ayau adopted the fascist, anti-communist platform of the National Liberation Movement [MLN, a Guatemalan political party]. Since then, the UFM has been preparing political and academic cadres trained to discredit the very concepts of government and social justice."
As a result, Guatemala was transformed into the Latin American country that collects the least in taxes (11% to GDP) and the one that least redistributes them," he says.
Álvarez studied at UFM and "became a libertarian, but she is a little less conservative than her professors, who are a mix of neoliberalism and Opus Dei [a conservative religious institution]. She declares herself to be an atheist and a supporter of abortion rights. Although she has become a star on the Latin American right, she is a minor figure on the Guatemalan right. She has no political base and is not a political candidate for elected office. I see her more as a libertarian enfant terrible," concludes Rodríguez.
Libertarians resurfaced with full force in the United States after the 2008 financial crisis (and the subsequent clamor for market regulation) and as a reaction to the election of Barack Obama.
Libertarians preach the supremacy of the individual over the state, absolute market freedom and the unfettered defence of private property. Libertarians claim that the economic crisis, which threw 50 million people into poverty, was not caused by the lack of financial market regulation, but rather by government protectionist policies towards certain sectors of the economy. They also emphatically reject the social policies promoted by the Obama administration. However, a significant portion of libertarians distance themselves from traditional rightwing positions on social issues. In the name of individual freedom, they defend positions usually associated with the left, such as the legalization of drugs and a more tolerant approach towards homosexuals. GOP Senator Rand Paul, a presidential hopeful, is one of the best known faces of the libertarian movement.
"Libertarians that are Tea Party supporters (a radical rightwing faction of the Republican Party) are also associated with think thanks such as the Cato Institute. They make up the post-modern right, represented, for example, by David Cameron in the UK, who modernized the 'rolling back' of the welfare state agenda," says Prado.
"Who is John Galt?", "Less Marx More Mises". Photo: Instituto Liberal do Nordeste
Prado looks amused when I mention Brazilian libertarians, followers of the Austrian school of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. "The Austrian school is a very minor strain, even in academia," he declares. "Who are those libertarians? In Brazil, we have sophisticated economists who follow schools of economic thought, such as the neoclassical school of Nobel Prize winner Robert Lucas and other similar approaches. Rightwing politicians lacking depth, such as Ronaldo Caiado [a senator from the centre-western state of Goiás, affiliated with the Democratic Party (DEM)], and a conservative middle class that reads [popular rightwing columnist] Rodrigo Constantino of Veja magazine," he concludes.
Senator Ronaldo Caiado. Photo: Fernando Conrado
Caiado and Constantino are veteran participants of the Liberty Forum in Porto Alegre. The novelty is that the Tea Party's libertarians are at last able to present themselves, to Brazilian youth, as an attractive new face for the right.
Come to the Street, Citizen
On April 12, the eve of the Forum, Gloria Álvarez made a speech at the second round of nationwide demonstrations against President Dilma Rousseff. Dressed in a sequin shirt featuring the design of the Brazilian flag, in front of about 100,000 people at Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, Álvarez railed against "cursed populism." (see video of Gloria's speech here). From atop a truck, the leader of the Come to the Street movement (VPR), Rogério Chequer, introduced Álvarez as "one of the greatest representatives of the battle against the populism of the São Paulo Forum." [The Sao Paulo Forum (Foro de São Paulo) is an annual conference of leftist political parties, social movements and organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean.]
Among those who led the anti-government protests in March and April, Chequer's movement was one of the last to take up the cause of impeachment. That delay earned him a public rebuke from the elderly Olavo de Carvalho, a polemical rightwing pundit, who accused him of "toucan wimpiness." Toucan is the symbol of Brazil's main opposition party, the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB).
The Free Brazil Movement (MBL), mostly known through the figure of its leader, Kim Kataguiri, which adopted the cause of impeachment from the get-go, broke up with Chequer publicly, publishing pictures of him standing next to PSDB Senator José Serra at the Aécio Neves presidential campaign. PSDB Senator Neves was dubbed a "traitor" for his hesitation in demanding the impeachment of the elected president. They reconciled after a delegation led by Neves and Caiado made a controversial visit to Caracas, Venezuela.
Incidentally, Caiado participated in the opening night of the Liberty Forum. Lacking Glorita's irreverent grace, the conservative rural senator drew applause from the audience with sound bites against government corruption and references to the São Paulo Forum (video). Caiado also demanded the resignation of President Dilma Rousseff and attacked the Brazilian State Development Bank (BNDES).
Interestingly, his accusations were made under logos of the Gerdau Group and Ipiranga Petróleo (from the Ultra group), which are two of the largest borrowers of BNDES loans, according to data collected by one of Brazil's largest newspapers, Folha de São Paulo. Between 2008 and 2010, both companies individually obtained more than R$1 billion worth of bank loans.
The southern entrepreneur Jorge Gerdau is one of the creators of the Liberty Forum, established in 1988 with the aim of promoting a debate between various schools of thought. The most important conservative gathering in the country, it nevertheless included, in its first incarnations, guest speakers such as former President Lula of the Workers Party (PT), former Minister José Dirceu, a minister in the Lula administration, and the late Rio de Janeiro state governor and leftist Leonel Brizola.
It was there that, in 2006, the most prominent rightwing think tank in Brazil – the Millennium Institute – was officially launched. Armínio Fraga (who would have been finance minister if Aécio Neves had been elected) is its best-known figure in the field of economics. Its backers are the Gerdau Group, publishing company Editora Abril and Pottencial Insurance, which belongs to Salim Mattar, who also owns Localiza Rent a Car. Suzano Papel e Celulose [paper and cellulose], Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and the Évora group (from the Ling brothers) are also supporters. In 1984, William Ling helped create the Institute of Business Studies (IEE). Comprised of young business leaders, the IEE organized the Forum from the start. His brother Winston Ling founded the Liberty Institute in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, while William Ling's son Anthony Ling has ties to the group Students for Liberty [Estudantes Pela Liberdade (EPL)], which created the Free Brazil Movement. Hélio Beltrão of the Ultra Group is one of the founders of the Millennium Institute, though he has his own institute as well, the Mises Brazil.
Brazil's network of neoliberal and libertarian think tanks includes two more entities: The Open Order Institute, which holds youth seminars; and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Ethics and Human Economics (CIEEP) in Rio de Janeiro, linked to Opus Dei. The jurist Ives Gandra, who wrote a controversial opinion piece stating that there is legal basis for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, is a member of its board of advisers.
Like the Millennium Institute, the majority of these organizations have been created recently. The original seed was the Liberal Institute, established in 1983 by Donald Stewart Jr., a civil engineer from Rio de Janeiro, who passed away in 1999. According to "The dictatorship of contractors: (1964-1985)," a doctoral thesis written by the historian Pedro Henrique Pedreira Campos, from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), Donald Stewart Jr.'s company, Ecisa (Engineering, Commerce and Industry S.A.), was one of Brazil's largest construction firms during the military dictatorship. Stewart partnered with Leo A. Daly Company, a US construction business, to build schools in the northeast region of the country, funded by a regional government development agency, known as SUDENE. The participation of an American company in the project was a requirement to get financing from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which operated as a front for the CIA during the cold war era of Latin American dictatorships.
Donald Stewart was also an old friend of a crucial character in this story, Alejandro Chafuen, a 61-year-old Argentinian living in the US. Stewart and Chafuen are members of the exclusive Mont Pelèrin Society, founded by no other than the Guatemalan Hayek. Launched in 1947 in Switzerland, with headquarters in the US, the organization comprises the most committed libertarians. El Muso, the founder of Gloria Álvarez's alma mater, the Francisco Marroquín University, was the first Latin American to chair the Mont Pelèrin Society, while the University's current rector, Gabriel Calzada, is a board member, along with the Brazilian Margaret Tsé, the CEO of the Liberty Institute, which is the ideological backer of the Institute of Business Studies.
Meanwhile, the president of the Mont Pelèrin Society, the Spaniard Pedro Schwartz Girón, also actively fosters think tanks associated with the Foundation for Analysis and Social Studies (FAES), a foundation with ties to the Spanish Partido Popular (PP).
FAES, which is chaired by former Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar, promoted the Ibero-American Youth Parliament, the event that catapulted Álvarez into fame. Pedro Schwartz, Alejandro Chafuen and the Colombian Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, who co-authored the book "The Perfect Latin American Idiot, " a hit with rightwing youth, attended the Latin America' panel at the Liberty Forum. Chafuen also took part, discreetly, in the April 12 protests in Porto Alegre. He posted a photograph of the demonstration on his Facebook page. The photo shows Chafuen, dressed in the Brazilian national team shirt, hugging the young Brazilian political scientist Fábio Ostermann. Ostermann is the coordinator of the Free Brazil Moment, which is how the Students for Liberty (EPL) decided to call their anti-government movement.
Alejandro Chafuen & Fábio Ostermann
The southerners Fábio Ostermann and Anthony Ling, and the southeasterner Juliano Torres are the founders of the local chapter of Students for Liberty, an organization that plays a crucial role in the network between American conservative think tanks – especially those that define themselves as libertarians – and "anti-populist'' Latin American youth. Mr. Chafuen, who leads the Atlas Network since 1991, is their mentor.
The Atlas Network (the trade name for the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, adopted in 2013) is a type of meta think tank that specializes in promoting the establishment of libertarian organizations throughout the world. It receives funds from its partner libertarian foundations in the US, or from local entrepreneurial think tanks that are geared toward the fostering of young leaders, especially in Latin American and Eastern Europe. According to its Form 990, which all non-profit entities must file with the IRS, Atlas Network's revenue in 2013 totalled $ 11,459,000. Resources allocated to programs outside the US were US$6.1 million, of which US$2.8 million were directed to Central America and US$595,000 to South America.
With the exception of the Fernando Henrique Cardoso Institute, all the organizations mentioned in this article are part of the Atlas Network in Brazil, along with Gloria Álvarez's MCN, the Francisco Marroquin University and Students for Liberty (which was founded inside the Atlas Network in 2012). Furthermore, in addition to the aforementioned resources, there are much more sizeable programs operated by the Atlas Network, which are funded by other foundations.
The discreet charm of Mr. Chafuen
Sitting in the VIP room of the Liberty Forum, Mr. Chafuen rose to his feet to greet Kim Kataguiri, who made a surprise visit. The undisguised glee from this demure gentleman, a libertarian with ties to Opus Dei, was my cue to ask for an interview. The main parts are transcribed below.
Q: How did you get close to Brazil?
A: I started to work with my Brazilian friends of liberty in 1998 with Donald Stewart, and I always remember how lonely he felt in his quest for freedom. To arrive in Porto Alegre on the same day of the protest and see all these people, not all libertarians, but people from different social strata of Brazilian society, arguing things that are very consistent with the essence of a free society, it reminded me of these pioneers. Because, yes, there were so many people on the street, so many souls, it left me pleasantly surprised and wondering what will happen next, and how can we harness the enthusiasm of so many young people to produce lasting change in Brazil."
Q: What kind of changes?
A: Coming from the outside, it's difficult to say, it's unique to each country. Look at Spain today, in which political parties lost ground to new movements, such as Podemos from the left, or their opposite in Catalonia, the Ciudadanos. In the United States, for instance, we have the Tea Party, a spontaneous movement that instead of founding a new party, opted to become a trend within a party, and now all but one of the major Republican presidential candidates identify themselves with the Tea Party and seek its support. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, they all come from the Tea Party and are pretty much opposed to the traditional republicans. So this is not an answer that a foreigner can give, especially in Brazil, which is a world unto itself, with so many diverse cultures. We can offer some ideas, but it's up to them, the ones I saw on the streets, the young and the not so young, to attract more members of civil society, and to institutionalize all this."
I mention to him that, at the Forum, people speak a lot about freedom – without basis in reality – and that they actually compare Brazil to Venezuela.
A: Yes, the situation here is very different from Venezuela, but you must be vigilant. Freedom isn't lost just like that, from one day to another. Venezuela was one of the most prosperous countries and look what happened. Populism in Latin American weakens institutions. They let entrepreneurs feel free to invest for some time, allow freedom of expression, and then sooner or later they change the rules of the game. Chávez's first nationalizations and expropriations happened years after he took power. Yes, you have considerable freedom here. But there are some things that pervert freedom, which is the non-compliance with laws, privilege, corruption, and crony capitalism. It's a false freedom. It's like putting a fox in the chicken coop and telling them, 'you are free now.' Then the problems start [bribery allegations], business owners are required to enter the game, and they end up taking the blame. It takes two to dance a tango, as they say in Argentina.
Q: Are the guys from the Free Brazil Movement strong enough to promote social change?
A: I developed a model to explain how things happen, which has four elements: first – ideas, since human beings think before acting, or at least we should; second – motivation, because economy is motivation; third – action, because ideas without action are just ideas; the fourth is providence or, depending on what your beliefs are, luck. So you get to work with ideas, some leaders emerge, laws change, and that affects society's motivation…a typical change doesn't happen overnight. This pressure builds up and suddenly something happens. And then there is a scandal, another scandal, a magazine with courage, some young men from São Paulo decide, "I'll leave college and fight against it." [Kim Kataguiri and Renan Haas, from the MBL, recently announced the decision to leave college to devote themselves to the movement.] And then the movement is out there in the streets. It's a combination of factors that we have seen at other times in history.
Mr. William Waack [a Globo TV journalist], who got an award here, said to us at a luncheon, before the opening of the Forum, that the only movement he covered that was like this was the fall of the Berlin Wall. He exaggerated a bit, but we don't know yet what will happen with this movement.
Globo TV Journalist William Waack receiving award
Q: After the first anti-government protest in March of this year, the Atlas Network published a piece on its site celebrating the crucial role of its partner, Students for Liberty, in the protests against President Dilma Rousseff and the Workers Party in Brazil. Do you feel responsible for this movement?
A: Our role [in regard to Students for Liberty] is the power of nurturing. These human beings, we call them intellectual entrepreneurs, people with new ideas who see solutions and decide to invest their capital in them. It's like in business. So we offer them training programs, try to support them financially, encourage them to be committed, to not be too much of a partygoer. But Atlas does not support political parties. We withdraw our support if there is any partisan interest. We don't accept resources from the government but we can offer some guidelines, new ideas about a free society, from classical liberalism to libertarianism, from religious to atheists, but it's up to each person to choose. Many of us in our organization have a very negative view about the top-down approach. So we try to encourage people, help them meet each other. Now, for example, all over the world, people might be asking, 'can we emulate the Brazilians?' So we celebrate, but we're careful not to take credit for the results, for what happens locally.
Q: In Venezuela, an Atlas partner organization, the CEDICE Libertad, and the Cato Institute, which funds Atlas programs for students, allied with local businessmen. They were accused by the Chávez government of fomenting opposition among students.
A: I am vice president of CEDICE, and this is not true. Every so often, some CEDICE members might have engaged in some political activity. But one thing is political life, the polis; another is to work exclusively with one political party. We have worked with-and received at CEDICE-Leopoldo López [who is in jail] and his party, the Internacional Socialista; María Corina Machado [a former congresswoman] and Antonio Ledezma [the mayor of Caracas, arrested in March amid accusations that he was involved in a coup plot]. The answer is that we cannot give up the fight for freedom and some people get into politics. But the Atlas Network doesn't get involved in local politics. The battle is not between left and right but between right and wrong. And now if you excuse me, I have to go and get ready for my speech.
Q: One last question, please, to dispel rumours. The ties between the Koch foundation and Students for Liberty, through direct funding as well as funding from other foundations associated with the Koch brothers have aroused suspicions, since the Kochs own oil industries that could have interests in this country.
A: The Atlas Network receives 0.5% in funding from the Kochs. The Students for Liberty, I don't know. Goodbye.
Students for Liberty and the Free Brazil Movement
The executive director of Students for Liberty (EPL), Juliano Torres, was more forthcoming about the link between the EPL and the Free Brazil Movement, a brand name created by the EPL to participate in street demonstrations without compromising US organizations that are prevented, by IRS rules, from donating funds to political activists. He told me in a phone interview that "several members of the EPL wanted to participate in the 2013 'Free Pass' protests in Brazil but we receive funding from organizations such as the Atlas Networks and Students for Liberty, which are forbidden by IRS rules to get involved in political activities. So we said, 'members of the EPL can participate as individuals, but not as an organization, to avoid problems.' So we decided to create a brand name. It wasn't an organization, just a brand that we could use in the streets, called the Free Brazil Movement. Me, Fábio [Ostermann] and Felipe França, who are from Recife and São Paulo, plus four, five people – we created the logo and the Facebook campaign. Then the demonstrations ended and so did the project. So we were looking for someone to take over; we had more than 10,000 likes on our Facebook page, pamphlets. Then we found Kim [Kataguiri] and Renan [Haas], who made this incredible shift in the movement, with the marches against Dilma and things like that. Incidentally, Kim is a member of the EPL, so he was also trained by the EPL. Many of the local organizers are members of the EPL. They act as members of the Free Brazil Movement, but they were trained by us, through leadership courses. Kim, by the way, will participate in a charity poker tournament that Students for Liberty will organize in New York to raise funds. He'll be a speaker. He'll also be a speaker at the international conference in February."
Torres, who is paid by the EPL, tells me that he has two online meetings per week with American headquarters and that he and other Brazilians take part every year in an international conference, with expenses paid, and in a leadership meeting in Washington. The budget of the Students for Liberty for this year in Brazil should reach R$300,000.
"In the first year, we had approximately R$8,000. In the second year we had about R$20,000, and from 2014 to 2015 it grew considerably. We receive funding from other external organizations too, such as the Atlas Network. The Atlas, along with Students for Liberty, are our main donors. In Brazil, one of our major donors is the Friederich Naumann Institute, which is a German organization. They are not allowed to give money but they pay for our expenses. So there were meetings in the south, in Porto Alegre, and in the southeast, in Belo Horizonte. They rented the hotel, paid for the meeting room, lunch and dinner. There are also some individual donors who make donations to us."
The launching of the EPL in Brazil took place after Torres participated in a 2012 summer workshop for thirty students in Petropolis, sponsored by the Atlas Network. "Right there, we made a draft, a plan, and then we contacted Students for Liberty to officially join the network," he says.
After that, Torres went through several training programs at Atlas. "There is one they call MBA, there is a program in New York, and also online training. We recommend to all people who work in positions of a certain responsibility to also go through the Atlas Network training programs."
The US headquarters was impressed by the results obtained by Brazilians. "In 2004 and 2005, there were about 10 people in Brazil who identify themselves with the libertarian movement. Today, the results we have, within the global network of Students for Liberty, are very good. One way to measure the performance of a region is to look at the number of local coordinators. We have more coordinators than any region, including North America, Africa and Europe, individually. The organization has existed, in the United States, for eight years; in Europe, for four years; here, for three years. So we are getting better results in less time, which provides us with a greater influence in the organization."
There are two Brazilians (out of ten members) at the International Board of Students for Liberty. This year's report devotes a page to the protests from the MBL in Brazil. A Brazilian, Elisa Martins, who has a degree in economics from the Santa Maria University, is responsible for international scholarships and young leadership training programs at the Atlas Network.
The programs are carried out in partnership with other foundations, especially the Cato Institute, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Institute of Human Studies, all organizations linked with the Koch family, one of the richest in the world. In the last two decades, the 11 foundations tied with the Kochs poured US$800 million into the American network of conservative foundations. Another important partner is the John Templeton Foundation, another American billionaire. With considerably larger budgets than the Atlas Network, these organizations develop fellowship programs, funded by them and executed by Atlas. An example of these projects is the expansion of the Students for Liberty Network, financed by the John Templeton Foundation, which closed 2014 with over $ 1 million budget.
Thus, even though it appears in third place among the backers of Students for Liberty, the Atlas Network, through its partner, raises a considerably larger volume of funds. All major donors of Students for Liberty are also Atlas donors. It is not always possible to know the origin of the money, despite the legal obligation to fill the IRS 990 form. American conservative organizations distribute money through several different channels, making it impossible to know the original source of the money that reaches each the recipient.
Rightwing foundations have been under scrutiny by the media and groups such as Conservative Transparency.
These investigations have exposed questionable use of resources for lobbying in Congress and state governments, and financing controversial causes such as opposition to climate change legislation. In response, in 1999 the foundations created two philanthropic investment funds, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Management. These investment funds do not require donors to disclose their names in the IRS 990 forms. Thus, the Donors Trust is the largest backer of Donors Capital Management (and vice versa). The Koch foundations are the main suspect of pouring money into these funds.
The 2014-2015 Students for Liberty report shows an impressive amount of fundraising: US$3.1 million, compared with only US$35,768 raised when the organization was launched in 2008. US$1.7 million came from foundations, according to the report, which does not detail the amount donated by each institution.
The Charles Koch Institute is listed but according to the report, it provides grants to American students only, while the Charles Koch Foundation, which distributes grants to students through a number of foundations, is not mentioned in the report.
Another Koch family foundation, the Institute of Human Studies (IHS), is a major contributor to student fellowship programs. Only in 2012, it distributed US$900,000 in grants, according to a form submitted to the IRS.
The Atlas Network is one of the IHS' major partners. The MBL coordinator, Fabio Ostermann, for example, mentions in his résumé that he was a Koch Summer Fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Ostermann is an aid of Representative Marcel van Hattem, a politician from Rio Grande do Sul, affiliated with the Progressive Party (PP) and pointed out by Kim Kataguiri as the only Brazilian politician who fully embraces the MBL's ideas. The young representative was elected with the financial backing of the Gerdau and Évora groups, the latter belonging to the father of Anthony Ling, who is a founder of the EPL. Van Hattem also took courses at the Acton Institute University, the most religious of the organizations that are part of the Atlas and Koch Foundation fellowship network.
Acton lists combatting "sin" as one of its core principles, stating that the ubiquity of sin requires the limitation of the state.
Maté Party
The Liberty Forum ended in the same way the street demonstrations that preceded it did, with a chanting of "Dilma out," "PT out." [PT -Partido dos Trabalhadores, or Workers Party].
Representative van Hattem in a passionate speech, thanked the Forum for his election.
"If I am a representative today, I also owe it to the Liberty Forum," he said. He then made an interesting distinction between the 2013 demonstrations, which were spontaneous, disorganized and comprised multiple parties; and the 2015 protests, in which "we have an agenda."
The program was modified to include Kim Kataguiri, who was not initially listed as a speaker. Kataguiri was embraced by sponsors such as Jorge Gerdau and Hélio Beltrão, posed for pictures with several fans, as well as his friend Bene Barbosa, who was promoting a book defending the freedom to bear arms. He then went to the auditorium, once again full of students.
Sitting on the couch, Kataguiri waited for van Hattem to list the usual litany of accusations against the São Paulo Forum, the totalitarian power of the Workers Party and "the biggest corruption scandal of the universe." Every soundbite and rhetorical red meat was greeted with rousing applause. Van Hattem stirred up the audience, displaying the bond he had established with them, telling them "the avant-garde today isn't leftist, it's libertarian. Well-informed youth go to the streets and ask for less Marx and more Mises. They like Hayek not Lenin. They carry signs with the hashtag #Olavoisright," [referring to the aforementioned rightwing pundit Olavo de Carvalho].
Van Hattem then left the podium and, walking across the stage, walked towards Kataguiri. "The next step is up to you, but it's hard. The Brazilian system is averse to new ideas. Today, Kim, the communist congressman Juliano Roso called you a fascist," he said. And finally, "I just want to conclude by saying that the streets are saying: 'PT out!'" Applause, screams. The crowd sung in chorus, "'Ole, ole, ole, ole, we are on the street just to overthrow the PT'."
It was the cue for Kataguiri's entrance. Wearing sneakers and walking around the stage, Kataguiri urged the "neoliberal institutions" to get out of "our neoliberal bubble, our libertarian bubble, our conservative bubble and take the country," and asserted, "It is time for us to break the monopoly of the leftist youth. We have to change this image of the defender of the free market as an old uncle wearing boots who supports the military regime. We are the opposition. We want to privatize Petrobras. We want a minimal state. Brasília will not dictate the people; the people will dictate Brasília."
Kim Kataguiri, public figurehead of MBL
Three days after the Forum, Kim Kataguiri left for his March for Freedom toward Brasília, attracting a meager turnout of people, while Gloria Álvarez embarked on a tour that took her from Argentina to Venezuela, effusively reported on her social network. In Argentina, she visited Buenos Aires and Azul, after an invitation by the Argentina Rural Society. Her speeches at the National University in Tucumán were organized by the Federalism and Liberty Foundation, which includes on its international board, the Atlas Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the CEDICE Libertad, and the Ecuadorian Institute of Political Economy.
These organizations are all part of the Atlas Network, as are the other organizations that organized Álvarez's trip – Students for Liberty (Bolivia and Ecuador), the CEDICE (Venezuela), and the Foundation for Progress (Chile).
The most interesting thing about Álvarez's trip, however, was not mentioned on her social network, or even in Chilean newspapers. On April 23, she and dissident Cuban blogger Yaoni Sánchez met with the conservative former President Sebastián Piñera after they delivered speeches at the Adolfo Ibañez University in Viña del Mar.
The meeting with the ex-president was reported on twitter by a former minister of the Piñera administration, the economist Cristián Larroulet. He posted a photo – the only photo in which Álvarez and Sánchez appear together – with the caption, "President Piñera with Yoani Sánchez and Gloria Álvarez, two examples of Latin American women fighting for freedom." Larroulet is the founder of the think tank Liberty and Development, a natural partner of the Atlas Network.


text:
Orthaga roseiplaga is a species of snout moth in the genus Orthaga. It is found in India.

References

Moths described in 1896
Epipaschiinae
Endemic fauna of India

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Timeless ankle boots, cowboy boots and rider style boots are true NeroGiardini icons. The collection is also enriched by wedges, brogues, lace-up shoes, ballerinas, sneakers, sandals and an exclusive evening collections. Boots are the main characters: metal perforated or laser cut decorated.
Double platforms (internal and external) constitute the most original innovations.
Declined in the typical colours of bamboo, safari and sand they are made of leather, soft suede and special laminated materials. Ideal for the daily wear, the trendy wedges have always been the must of the summer: NeroGiardini revisits their design and offers a wide range of models that alternate cork, raffia and rope, otherwise blend them together.
The flat sandals are addressed to everyone. Embellished with chains and studs, they are vibrant and coloured.
Sneakers collection for the sporty woman NeroGiardini are shown with neutral tints and shades of the earth, combined with the most original blue jeans and scarlet colours.
Dynamism, charisma and metropolitan style are the basis of Man NeroGiardini.


text:
package de.hsbo.geo.simsamples.circuits;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Circuit description. Instances of this class might hold electric circuit
 * descriptions or descriptions suitable for other application domains such
 * as mechanics, hydraulic engineering etc.
 *
 * @author Benno Schmidt
 */
public class Circuit
{
    private ArrayList<Device> elems = null;
    private ArrayList<Integer> nodeNumbers;

    public Circuit() {
    	this.elems = new ArrayList<Device>();
    	this.nodeNumbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
    	this.nodeNumbers.add(new Integer(0)); // initially GND-node only
    }

    /**
     * gets the number of nodes of the circuit (without GND-node).
     */
    public int numberOfNodes() {
    	return this.numberOfRegisteredNodes() - 1;
    }

    /**
     * adds an device element to the circuit model.
     */
    public void addDevice(Device elem) {
    	this.elems.add(elem);
    	CircuitNode[] nodes = elem.getConnectionNodes();
    	if (nodes == null)
    	    return;
    	for (int i = 0; i < nodes.length; i++) {
    	    this.registerNodeNumber(nodes[i].index);
    	}
    }

    /**
     * gets the device elements that are part of the circuit model.
     *
     * @return Device element list
     */
    public List<Device> getDevices() {
    	return this.elems;
    }

    /**
     * @deprecated
     * gets the i-th device that is part of the circuit. Note that the
     * assertion <tt>0 <= i < <tt>this.numberOfDevices()</tt> always
     * must hold.
     *
     * @param i Index
     * @see Circuit#numberOfDevices
     */
    public Device getDevice(int i) {
    	return (Device) this.elems.get(i);
    }

    /**
     * @deprecated
     * gets the number of devices that are part of the circuit.
     */
    public int numberOfDevices() {
    	return this.elems.size();
    }

    private void registerNodeNumber(int number)
    {
    	if (this.nodeNumbers.size() <= number) {
    		// fill up:
    	    for (int i = this.nodeNumbers.size(); i <= number; i++)
    	    	this.nodeNumbers.add(new Integer(-1)); // "unused"-flag
    	}
    	if (number > 0) {
    	    // If referenced, the i-th element will be set:
    		this.nodeNumbers.set((int) number, new Integer(number));
    	}
    }

    private int numberOfRegisteredNodes() {
    	this.purgeNodeList();
    	return this.nodeNumbers.size();
    }

    private void purgeNodeList() {
    	// TODO Renumbering of node elements not implemented
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Search title & summary only
Mediagazer Search finds "items", i.e. blog posts and news stories, that have appeared as headlines on Mediagazer. Items listed only in the "Discussion" areas are excluded from results.
By default, only the title and first few sentences are searched. Unchecking "Search title & summary only" extends the search to the full body text.
Quoted phrases, wildcards, and standard search operators like + (plus), - (minus), AND, OR, NOT, and parenthesis are all supported.
Narrowing searches based on url, author, date, and other attributes is also possible. For instance, the query [ Conan sourcename:Poynter ] restricts searches for "Conan" to items from the blog "Poynter". Examples of other operators follow:
• sourceurl:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ items from the blog http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ • author:"Rupert Murdoch" items by author "Rupert Murdoch"
• sourcename:"E-Media Tidbits" items from blogs with "E-Media Tidbits" in the name • title:substantiated items with "substantiated" in the title
• date:01/28/10 items that appeared on 01/28/10 • body:"sharp gains" items with "sharp gains" in the body
• date:[01/28/10 TO 02/04/10] items appearing between 01/28/10 and 02/04/10 • link:http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/01/27ipad.html items linking to http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/01/27ipad.html
Note: all operators that take urls will accept simple domain names, which match any item at that domain, or complete item urls.
Results 1 - 10 of about 133:
Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:
A content analysis of mobile news alerts in 2018 shows their number and length rose since 2017; companion case study confirms shift from just breaking news — In 2017, we did a deep dive into mobile push alerts, publishing a report in collaboration with the Guardian Mobile Innovation Lab …
Dec 25, 2018, 7:25 AM - In context
USA Today:
Gannett President and CEO Robert Dickey announces he will retire in May 2019 as board initiates a succession plan — Robert J. Dickey announced his retirement and has agreed to remain with the company until May 7, 2019. If a successor is identified prior to that date, Dickey will stay on as an adviser.
Dec 6, 2018, 3:30 AM - In context
Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
Gannett to point print readers in its 109 markets to its digital sites for fresh election results, reduce midterm news in print, and drop paywalls for 48 hours — In cities across America, you won't be able to find even the most cursory election results in your Wednesday morning newspaper next week.
Nov 4, 2018, 1:00 PM - In context
Tiffany Stevens / Columbia Journalism Review:
Peer-support programs for journalists are rare and often unofficial despite the fact that exposure to traumatic events is an occupational hazard — Image via Dan Alcalde/Flickr. — In 2016, York Daily Record photographer Jason Plotkin saw a man throwing furniture out of the third-floor window of a house that had recently burned.
Sep 3, 2018, 4:05 PM - In context
Linda Kinstler / The Guardian:
Profile of TripAdvisor, which has become entangled in debates over free speech as it struggles to defend legitimate reviewers against litigious business owners — The world's biggest travel site has turned the industry upside down - but now it is struggling to deal with the same kinds …
Aug 20, 2018, 7:25 AM - In context
Susan Taylor Martin / Tampa Bay Times:
Mark Katches, currently editor and VP of content at The Oregonian, named executive editor of The Tampa Bay Times — ST. PETERSBURG The Tampa Bay Times today named Mark Katches, a veteran journalist who has led his teams to Pulitzer-Prize-winning work, as the next executive editor of Florida's largest newspaper.
Jul 24, 2018, 9:20 AM - In context
Douglas K. Smith / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at how participants in the Knight-Lenfest local news initiative applied its lessons of serving targeted content, diversifying revenue, and more — Image via Max Pixel. — If you work in local news, you know the misery numbers. Good things spiral down: more than a quarter million jobs lost …
Jun 17, 2018, 6:25 AM - In context
The GroundTruth Project:
Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms, announces its full 2018 class of 13 journalists — NEW YORK — Report for America, a non-partisan national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms, has announced its complete Class of 2018.
May 17, 2018, 5:35 PM - In context
Maria Bustillos / Columbia Journalism Review:
The Internet Archive and others look at blockchain tech to create tamper-proof archives resistant to meddling from governments and billionaires with agendas — When an online news outlet goes out of business, its archives can disappear as well. The new battle over journalism's digital legacy.
Feb 17, 2018, 11:55 AM - In context
Analysis of LA Times deal: factors that led to sale now, speculation on Soon-Shiong 's future strategy, a look at price, and a theory on a future Gannett role — Tronc is getting a big premium for its flagship asset, and the Times is getting a return to private, local ownership.
Feb 7, 2018, 3:30 PM - In context
About this service:
Mediagazer Search finds items that have appeared as headlines on Mediagazer. Results appear in reverse chronological order.
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Mini-Mediagazer: for simple mobiles
Techmeme: technology — "Tech Web, Page A1"
WeSmirch: celeb gossip — "Automatic Dirt Digger"
memeorandum: politics — "Political Web, Page A1"
Ballbug: baseball news — "MLB Buzz Bot"


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FAG NU206-E-M1A-C3 FAG NU206-E-M1-C3 FAG NU218-E-TVP2-C3 FAG NU219-E-M1 Now emphasizing on Roller Bearing for using on motor in our mill section.


text:
A Igreja Paroquial de Fão, construida entre os séc.s XVII / XIX e sob a invocação de S. Paio, é um templo que ao longo dos séculos sofreu uma série de arranjos, alguns dos quais devido à invasão das areias, como a que por volta de 1838 obrigou ao arranjo do telhado.

É uma construção de planta rectangular de fachada voltada a Nascente, com sacristia saliente no alçado sul e torre sineira encostada ao lado norte. A fachada, sóbria, provida de cinco janelas – quatro laterais e uma sobre a porta principal – remata em frontão contra-curvado. Este, apesar da singeleza das suas linhas, funciona como elemento decorativo ao acompanhar em semi-círculo o alteamento da janela central e ao rematar em pequeno frontão triangular, sobre o qual assenta o plinto com a cruz trilobada e os dois coruchéus.

Sobre os ângulos, em cantaria lavrada, apoiam-se dois pináculos de gosto oitocentista. A torre sineira, que se distribui por quatro corpos separados por platibandas de pedra moldurada, tem, ao nível do primeiro, a porta de entrada voltada ao largo e, sobre ela, um pequeno óculo. No segundo pontifica um relógio, com dois mostradores de mármore, e no terceiro está a sineira propriamente dita. Culmina o conjunto uma balaustrada decorada com coruchéus e um remate em forma de bolbo no cimo do qual se encontra um catavento com a forma de um anjo.

Sobre o lintel da porta principal há, epigrafada, a seguinte inscrição bíblica pintada a preto:

MAGNA ERIT GLORIA DOMVS ISTIVS
NOVISSIMAE PLVS QUAM / PRIMAE ET IN HOC LOCO DABO PACEM Aggeo, Cap. II, Vº 10'''

Fão
Igrejas de Esposende


text:
Bird-Brained Bike Helmet Coming This Summer
Inspired by the unique anatomy of woodpeckers, this British bike helmet lined with cardboard claims to be three times as effective as competitors.
By Rachel Feltman
Woodpeckers are uniquely unsusceptible to head trauma: Despite pecking 12,000 times per day at a speed of 23 feet per second for each peck (which they do to knock bugs out of trees for food, as well as to make hollow spaces for their nests), a healthy woodpecker won't experience any of the cracked skulls or brain damage that would befall a human who suffered so many hits to the head. A British industrial design student has used the woodpecker's natural shock absorbers as the inspiration for his new line of bike helmets.
Anirudha Surabhi, inspired by a minor bike accident that still left him with a cracked helmet and a concussion, decided to design the Kranium bike helmet for his senior project at the Royal College of Art. The key feature Surabhi wanted to copy from these resilient birds is the spongy bone that surrounds a woodpecker's brain. The region is made of trabeculae—small, beamlike bone structures that weave together into a sort of shock-absorbing scaffolding. Such structures are also present in smaller quantities within the beak, which keep it from pummeling the skull with the full force of hitting the tree.
In looking for a way to reproduce the spongy trabeculae of a woodpecker skull for the bike helmet's lining, he built prototypes from 150 different materials. He then smashed, crush, and pummeled the helmets prototypes in a homemade rig he built from an accelerometer and a plaster head, using an Arduino to record and interpret data.
The winner, to Surabhi's surprise, was cardboard. To use it in his bike helmet, he treats the material with a waterproofing agent to protect against rain and sweat and mimics the structure of woodpeck trabeculae by building a honeycomb structure. In an interview with the BBC, Surabhi said that the structure isn't exactly the same: Woodpecker cartilage has similar air pockets and spaces, but they're distributed in a way that's too complex for mass production. "Hexagonal elements exist all over nature," he said, "and they provide protection from impact in almost all directions" while still being easy to manufacture.
Like the cartilage, the air-pockets in the laser-cut ribs of cardboard collapse under force, which absorbs most of the impact of a crash. Lab tests show that the liner absorbs three times as much force as traditional polystyrene helmet liners. It's also as much as 15 lighter. Already available in the UK, it's expected to hit US shelves this summer.
Via BBC.
More From Gear
How to Waterproof a Watch in 10 Easy Steps
The Tiny Action Cam That Made Us All DIYers
Ditch Slow Internet With Amazon's Networking Sale
When Is the Best Time to Buy a Laptop?
The Best Trimmers for Taming Your Facial Hair
Why This Cow Is Wearing VR Goggles
Blue Light Lenses Are the Solution to Screen Time
Want a Smartphone Microscope? Now's Your Chance.
These Helmets Will Save the NFL from Itself
10 Steps in the High-Tech Evolution of Pro Football Helmets
How To Install A Motor On A Bike
Crash-Testing Helmets to Make Super Bowls Safer
The Bike That Can't Be Stolen
The Ultimate Off-Road Test: Bikes, Trucks & ATVs In the Moab Desert


The super-majors dominated the western GOM Lease Sale 207 as interest in deepwater exploration continues to be robust. Super-majors accounted for over half of all bidding. Lease Sale 207's $487 million in high bids translates to a record $267 per acre. This was the largest western GOM sale since 1998. Anadarko Petroleum Co. was the largest bidder among domestic oil and gas firms and was the sixth largest bidder overall. ExxonMobil Corp., BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips and Total SA dominated the sale, accounting for over half of all high bids. With over 130 high bids, ExxonMobil by itself comprised over a third of the total. Foreign firms were also active, primarily those from Europe. The highest bid belonged to StatoilHydro, which bid $61 million for Alaminos Canyon 380. Bidding by Asian firms was limited. With the exception of Anadarko, Hess Corp., and Devon Energy Corp., independents sat this sale out. Anadarko was also one of the most active bidders. This time it placed 28 bids (including one listed under Kerr-McGee) for $30 million. Twenty were high bids totalling $20 million. Most of the company's bidding centered around NW Nansen (EB 558, 602). The company was high bidder on a handful of blocks toward the southwestern corner of the Gulf, which is likely to be prospective for the lower tertiary trend. There were bids on 319 blocks out of 3,412 up for lease. Typically about 8% to 10% of the blocks up for lease receive bids. The bulk of the bidding occurred in the deepwater, especially around the southwestern corner of Garden Banks. Over 50 companies placed bids. The next lease sale is Central GOM Lease Sale 208, which is likely to be held in March 2009.


text:
Q: Pandas drop column in place and return it This seems clunky:
col = df['col']
df.drop(columns=['col'], inplace=True)

Is there a way to drop a columns and return it on the same line?

A: Looks like you need df.pop()
Ex:
df = pd.DataFrame(pd.np.random.randint(0, 10, (4,3)), columns=['a','b','c'])
a = df.pop("a")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Endodontics is a branch of dentistry dealing with treatment of the dental pulp or root nerves. Root canal therapy is one of the most common endodontic procedures. If the dental pulp containing the nerves becomes dead, diseased or injured, endodontic treatment is required to save the tooth that might otherwise require extraction. The presence of the teeth helps to maintain the overall structure of the jaw and stop undesirable movement of the teeth. If not treated, it leads to severe tooth pain, which is usually felt during biting, chewing or drinking hot and cold drinks. Root canal treatment may not be recommended if the tooth has a poor prognosis and cannot be restored. Post treatment, the tooth may have to be capped or crowned to avoid chipping, cracking or fracture.
Bristol Dental Clinic has a team of trained dentists specializing in endodontic therapy. They specialize in opening, treating, disinfecting and cleaning the root canals and filling it with special dental materials. We use state of art technology like a dental microscope, rotary instrumentation including ProTaper and WaveOne technology to perform painless root canal treatment.
Your dentist will discuss other treatment options before starting a root canal treatment. For more information, please click on Patient Resources.


The first interval signal of "Radio Bucharest" is the current, the second signal the older one. Have a little fun with the shortwave interval signals of "Radio Bucharest", Romania! ;) 1. Current Interval Signal 0:02 2. Old Interval Signal 0:37 ********************************************************************************************* Das erste Pausenzeichen von "Radio Bukarest" ist das aktuelle (existiert noch), das zweite das alte! Viel Spaß mit den Pausenzeichen von "Radio Bukarest", Rumänien! ;) 1. Aktuelles Pausenzeichen 0:02 (Radio Rumänien) 2. Altes Pausenzeichen 0:37 (Radio Bukarest) Best regards, Volker H.
Radio Bucharest broadcast on May 31, 1989. The contest "Do You Know Romania" at the end of the broadcast, I actually entered that contest and won a picture album about Romania, a lovely leather wallet and some folk souvenir (and I have no idea what the text is on the video, it just appeared there courtesy of the video conversion software).
Sala Radio (Romanian for "Radio Hall"; in full, Studioul de concerte "Mihail Jora" – Mihail Jora Concert Studio) is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest, Romania that plays an important role in the country's classical music life. Built in 1959 and opened in 1961, it is the country's largest symphonic concert hall and the only such structure there to offer the possibility of live digital-quality recording.
The building hosts Radiro - International Radio Orchestras Festival, the world's only international festival dedicated to radio symphony orchestras.
Big Band is a 1997 album by jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson, the fourth of the five albums he recorded with Verve Records during the end of his career.
RADIO INTERVAL SIGNALS - "Radio Bucharest"
The COOLsound 2018 national tour brought six young musicians studying all over Europe back home with full recitals in cities across the country. The six young musicians finally met on the stage of the Bucharest Radio Hall in a recital where they performed together. The six musicians came to Romania to share what they had learned abroad. They study in Berlin, Salzburg, London, Manchester, Saarbrücken and Bucharest and play violin, cello, piano or organ. Their names are Mălina Ciobanu – violin, Izabela Ghergu – violoncello, Cristian Sandrin – piano, Vlad Vişenescu – organ, Radu Prisada – piano, Mircea Dumitrescu – violin. They are accompanied by pianist Clementina Ciucu-Ristea. COOLsound - Tuneu National, Sala Radio, septembrie 2018 Turneul național COOLsound 2018 a adus șase tineri muzicieni care studiază în toate colțurile Europei înapoi acasă cu recitaluri integrale în orașe din toate colțurile țării, pentru ca toți să se întâlneasca pe scena Sălii Radio, într-un recital care i-a adunat pe aceeași scenă. Cei șase tineri muzicieni au venit în România ca să împărtăşească ceea ce au învăţat celor de acasă. Ei studiază Berlin, Salzburg, Londra, Manchester, Saarbrücken și București și cântă la vioară, violoncel, pian sau orgă. Numele lor sunt Mălina Ciobanu – vioară, Izabela Ghergu – violoncel, Cristian Sandrin – pian, Vlad Vișenescu – orgă, Radu Prisada – pian, Mircea Dumitrescu – vioară. Ei sunt acompaniați la pian Clementina Ciucu-Ristea.


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Mazda pursues rotary engines, eschews V6
The rotor housing for an old-school Mazda rotary engine. Image: Allshots Imaging/Flickr/CC BY-ND
Robert Davis, senior vice president of Mazda U.S. operations, met with Car and Driver recently to discuss the Japanese automaker's future research and development plans for its trademark rotary engines. He also talked about the phasing-out of V6 engines, among other topics.
Synonymous with rotary engines
Davis made it clear that the rotary engine is still integral to the company's dynamic and will continue to take a front-seat in its research and development. Mazda is seeking innovative ways to use the rotary technology to increase fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Two engines in development
Davis said the automaker is working on two new rotary engines; one to drive the car and one to move the electric generator, like the kind used in electric vehicles. The lightness and the smooth operation of a rotary engine would be advantageous in an EV.
Skyactiv banner
Besides the rotary engine, Mazda has been hitching its future to a series of technological developments it calls Skyactiv. The purpose of Skyactiv is to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency. The technology includes a lighter body weight, forced-induction gasoline engines and an automated transmission that combines a torque converter with a dual-clutch.
Good-bye V-6
The automaker, according to Davis, is not considering a V-6 under its new Skyactiv lineup. Currently, the V6 is standard for the CX-9 crossover and optional for the Mazda 6 sedan. Both models will all be running via a lighter-weight, forced-induction four-cylinder engine in future incarnations, as will the anticipated Mazda 6 hybrid.
US to say goodbye to CX-7
It has been previously announced that Mazda will discontinue the sales of its CX-7 crossover in the United States. Davis said the more fuel efficient 2012 CX-5 crossover, which was the first to be made under the Skyactiv scheme, was being considered as a permanent replacement for the CX-7. However, production contracts with certain territories made that impossible for the time being. The CX-7 will continue to be sold in Mexico and other markets.
[Find me a car to buy near my home.]
What about Miata?
When asked the plans for the next-generation Miata, Davis kept the details close to his vest, saying only that it will be produced using the principles of Skyactiv to make the car lighter weight.
Two exciting Miata concepts were unveiled in Las Vegas in November: the Miata Spyder and the Super 20. When asked if car lovers can look forward to more, Davis dangled a carrot:
"Pay attention. There are some special editions coming."
InAutoNews
Posted in Auto News | Tagged automotive technology, mazda, miata, rotary engine, skyactiv


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Karl Josef Silberbauer (21 de junho de 1911 – 2 de setembro de 1972) foi um sargento austro-húngaro. Ele ficou mais conhecido por trabalhar para a Schutzstaffel (SS), quando descobriu o Anexo Secreto e prendeu a família e os companheiros de Anne Frank na ocupação alemã nos Países Baixos, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Chegou a ficar desaparecido durante os anos 50, quando serviu como um espião para o Serviço Federal de Inteligência da Alemanha.

Membros da SS
Naturais de Viena
Anne Frank


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Case Study: A Night in a Midwestern Dive Bar. By Patrick Murphy.
By Patrick Murphy
Patrick Murphy likes to travel. He frequently drives from state to state. (U.S., continental, perhaps it should be mentioned. Driving to, say, Hawaii is difficult. He does not very often do this.)
Patrick feels funny talking about himself (a.k.a. Patrick, me, I, whatever) in the third person. But every once in a blue moon, it happens. (Reference: tonight. Give Patrick a break. He's had a feverish bout of writer's block lately.)
Patrick also likes to fly and travel overseas. But that's not what Patrick is doing tonight.
Patrick is digging the lower 48 at the moment, particularly states which begin with vowels; states that are traditionally "red." States that are neither West nor East. Middling sorts of states. And that's where Patrick finds himself now.
Patrick has stopped at a Midwestern dive. It's a low-class (hey, no judgment), rural, tiny-town little podunk bar. Patrick sits at a barstool and orders something. He does this while looking at the broken ceiling tiles above him, the dirty, cob-webbed lights in every fixture. He does this while double-checking his seat before sitting in it (carefully, of course; Patrick does not wish to offend the locals). The seat has cigarette burns but no recent condiment spills. Patrick is pleased. He proceeds to order his "drink" before visiting a bathroom with doors that do not shut, with floors that do not lay flat, and, in fact, before realizing that the bar is not actually in a real-live building but instead is comprised in some grand amalgam of pole-barn and double-wide trailer. You know, thinks Patrick, this is the kind of thing that routinely gets slammed by a tornado.
A momentary pause while Patrick does his deal in the restroom and then returns to the bar for, as it turns out, the world's absolute shittiest mixed cocktail. (Watery, lots of ice, heavy liquor, not heavy enough to compensate for what must be both under-syruped and moldy soft drink lines.)
Patrick sighs. (As any traveler would when accosted with such a clearly inferior drink.)
Patrick, being fond of Patrick, feels that he is intrepid and worldly, even in the lower 48. So he checks out the locals. Toothless man drinking nameless beer in plastic cup. Highly floral, perfumed, and permed middle-aged lady drinking something equally (probably) floral, perfumed, and permed in similar plastic cup. Bartender, also middle-aged (Patrick himself is also middle-aged so feels it is a fair thing to say), in black cut-off midriff t-shirt, painfully tight jeans, and non-glassed but obviously astigmatic eyes.
The bartender is not, as Patrick notes, herself inside of a plastic cup. But perhaps she should be. Not that she'd fit. (The plastic cups are not, as the kids would say, "party-sized.") Patrick believes he may be a wit. (He takes what he believes to be a thoughtful sip from his very own plastic cup.)
He keeps looking around, and checks his watch to make sure it is still, in fact, June. The discolored Jack o'Lantern paper cutout and the equally discolored Christmas lights have made him a little uncertain of time. Plus, there is that truly subpar drink in the plastic cup and the fact that the plastic clock behind ol' Astigmatic doesn't work.
Ol' Astigmatic stops "working" for a second to adjust, quite delicately, what might be termed as "her crack."
Patrick wishes his drink was stronger. (Seriously, what the hell? Patrick adjusts his wishes and expectations. In fact, it could be said that Patrick comes to his senses.)
Patrick, intrepid anthropologist as he's feeling he might be and/or become, orders another drink anyway and focuses, deliberately, away from Astigmatic's Lycra/Spandex/Poly crack.
Suddenly there is sudden, loud, aggressive, profanity-laden yelling 'round about the pool table.
Patrick looks at the moldy floor, the trailer environs, even at ol' Astigmatism and wonders how a pool table hasn't actually just fallen through what passes as a floor here. Patrick is glad it hasn't, yet. He gives a plastic cup "clink" to the mascara'd and hollow-cheeked apparition on the seat next to him.
The bartender has decided to lean over the bar and shout the melodic refrain of "Drink it, you pussy."
Patrick thinks that, were he the pussy, drinking would, of course, be the absolute safest course of action. He is glad he is not the object of Astigmatic's encouragement.
The door flings open. Patrick winces. "Who knows what dreams may come."
Patrick may or may not wish his plastic cup of inferior beverage were refilled with, well, who cares? He looks to the door.
She is, to be frank, disheveled. She has also, to be even franker, clearly pissed herself. Recently. There's a wet stain covering the front of her jorts. And still spreading; thus, still wet. She has a shriek like an eagle: "Okay, who stole the seat to my moped???" There are several F-words in the question, too, but Patrick decides not to record them because Patrick is a gentleman, even in a trailer, even with a plastic cup, even with his mouth open wide at the sight of a banshee who both has misplaced the seat to her moped (!) and has also, there is no good way to say it, wet herself.
She glowers towards the pool players, hitches a seat on a bar stool. Grunts, orders. Astigmatic hands her something in a (you guessed it) plastic cup.
To be fair, Patrick thinks (Patrick is always thinking. It's a curse.), she couldn't get very far away without the moped seat. Or at least, she couldn't do so comfortably.
Patrick decides a car is infinitely preferable to a seatless moped, to a ramshackle little Midwestern bar in an "I" state; infinitely to be preferred to the watery concoction he's been paying too much for.
Patrick is, as it were, quite grateful that his car has not had the seats stolen from him. But he gives a good, hard look at the pool players. Just in case.
And Patrick pays and walks out the door.
He doesn't even glance backward. Not even for effect.
There truly is a moped in the parking lot. It doesn't have a seat.
"Damn pool players," Patrick thinks.
And Patrick drives, mostly soberly, just far enough away.
There's more of the Midwest to explore tomorrow, after all.
Amos Staff September 29, 2019 September 29, 2019 Anthropology, Beer, Food & Drink, Indiana, Life, Midwest, Non-fiction, Travel
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Disney UK teams up with eBay and Clarks UK to celebrate the release of 'Avengers: Infinity War'
Disney UK has partnered with ecommerce brand eBay and shoe brand Clarks for the release of the highly-anticipated movie, Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War.
The film, which celebrates ten years since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began, sees much-loved superheroes Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, and the rest of the Avengers unite to fight their most powerful enemy yet. Avengers: Infinity War has already made history by earning £457m worldwide on its opening weekend.
Following on from the success of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi campaign, eBay and Disney have teamed up once again to bring innovative storytelling to consumers. The aim of the campaign is to celebrate the theatrical release of Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War, whilst showcasing the plethora of Marvel product available on eBay.
eBay has collaborated with YouTube stars Colin Furze and James Bruton to bring the film to life, with the YouTubers spending 6 weeks designing the Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War fan made HulkBuster. Furze focused on the physical build and engineering including the impressive hydraulic legs, whilst Bruton focused on the CAD design and electronic control system. All products used within the build were purchased from eBay.co.uk. The making of the Hulkbuster is being released in a three-part series on Colin Furze YouTube Channel.
This partnership allowed Disney to reach a growing set of consumers who retrieve large amounts of information through online platforms such as YouTube. The extensive Marvel product offering showcased on eBay combined with the unique humour brought by Furze and Bruton allowed for an engaging and effective partnership.
Clarks Kids have been inspired by Marvel's mightiest heroes to create an exclusive multi-gender collection that celebrates strength in unity. Launched with the UK theatrical release of Avengers: Infinity War on April 27th, the iconic collection includes four limited-edition pairs of shoes which are based on the characters Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow. This distinct range captures the spirit of each hero while providing children with liberated movement through comfort for everyday adventures.
Like every kid on the planet, the Avengers all have very different and distinct identities. When they join forces, their strengths combine and they become Earth's mightiest team of heroes. The campaign – Greater Together – will strive to encourage kids to celebrate their unique strengths and abilities and to stand together as one; empowering them to be fearless, to believe in themselves, and to support each other.
Anna Hill, CMO, The Walt Disney Company UK & Ireland said: "Avengers: Infinity War has not only captured the imagination of audiences around the world, but also the brands we are partnering with. Highlighting the innovation, creativity and diversity of the film and its characters, eBay and Clarks have created new and exciting ways to engage with a wide range of audiences."


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WAR OR PEACE. OR BOTH? WHICH IS BEST FOR DEMOCRACY?
Hilbert Morales EL OBSERVADOR
Hilbert Morales
EL OBSERVADOR
In this era of electronic information transmission, the hallmark of Information Technology (IT), too many newsworthy items come to our attention. Our President Trump, likes to take credit for all the good things that are happening: a) full employment; b) a domestic economy which is the envy of any and all global markets; and c) Mr. Trump is the very visible evidence that "Only in America could this earth's superpower, U.S.A. have an electorate that takes for granted many of the ideals embodied in our Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) along with its U.S. Constitution.
Too many citizens, who have the right to vote and to make a choice for their elected representatives, simply do not participate in that process. The last presidential election (2016) was an example of taking things for granted.
So, Mr. Donald J. Trump was elected by the slimmest of margins because his strategists gamed the Electoral College properly. As a result, Hillary Clinton did not become the very first female citizen to be elected as President of the United States of America.
The ultra-wealthy and corporate interests, using their DARK MONEY strategically, have managed to buy enough votes to bring their very conservative agenda front and center. The evidence is there for all to see: Only the Department of Defense (aka The Pentagon) has budget increases; all the others (Health & Human Services, Commerce, Justice, House & Urban Development, Dept. of Interior, etc.) are being asked to operate reduced budgets.
Is this all evidence that the "Military-Industrial Complex", which former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, warned the American people about, is alive and very influential? The use of war to keep the American domestic economy at a high-performance level has resulted in having the DOD have sufficient influence in all 50 states to enable America to be the world's policeman for the past 75 years since WW II ended.
The American Revolution was successful though many are never told that Mexico advanced the gold which arrived just in time to fund General George Washington's army (its payroll could be paid). The War of 1812 followed; the Mexican American War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) which transferred the entire Southwestern American lands from Mexican to American jurisdictions. That treaty states that Mexican Citizens who stayed put in their Southwestern homes were to be now considered American Citizens who could retain and use their Spanish language and culture.
The Civil War (1862-1865) saw the rebel Confederate States defeated by the Union Army with the loss of an estimated 600,000 American lives. The Spanish-American War preceded the American involvement in the First World War. Then came World War II against the Axis Powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan). America tried to stay out of that WW II, however, after the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, then President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on the Axis Powers. In a short time following that December 7, 1941 raid, America mobilized a military force of 13 million men and women.
Those remaining at home became the labor force for the "Arsenal of Democracy" which supplied all manner of material support to the United Kingdom, Russia, and many other nations who were America's Allies. During 1944-5, the meetings held in San Francisco, CA led to the establishment of the United Nations as an international assembly were the challenges of the establishment of international order could be deliberated and implemented with human rights as the basic issue.
Then followed the Korean Police Action where General Douglas MacArthur successfully repelled the invasion of South Korea (and may have reconquered North Korea to rejoin it with South Korea into the former Korean nation occupied by Japanese Imperial forces during WWII. The Viet Nam Conflict followed (52,000 casualties); Desert Storm (Kuwait) followed.
Then our efforts to constrain Communist expansion (Russia (Joseph Stalin) and Communist China, which were successful, were replaced by organized terrorism. Osama Bin Laden masterminded the destruction of New York City's Trade Center by using three high-jacked commercial airliners to crash into these buildings (including the Pentagon). A fourth high-jacked plane was thwarted in its mission by the American passenger patriots who quickly organized and caused that fourth airliner to crash in a field located in Pennsylvania. Its target was either the White House or the U.S. Congressional buildings. It was this event which was the basis for the bombing by the U.S. Air force of Terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.
The invasion of Iraq followed with the outcome that American military forces successfully defeated Saddam Hussein's military, and since then have used military force to go after the extremist Muslin Terrorist groups (Al Qaeda and Taliban) which continue to skirmish with Allied forces (Mainly American) in the Mid-East since 2001. The nature of war was now changed to one of fanatic ideologues who are being trained and organized by those who oppose Democratic governance wherein the resident population has a role in governance.
Our freedoms, all of which involve making choices by voting during elections, are being constantly challenged and undermined by those few ideologues who believe in oligarchy (governance by a few authoritarians). It is troubling today to witness our President Trump be friendly with dictators of North Korea, the Philippines, and Venezuela. And it is troubling that a few very wealthy billionaires continue to supply the DARK MONEY which paralyzes the U.S. Congressional legislative process. And it is troubling to know that some 33 states have Republican governors whose administrations have allowed voter suppression via gerrymandering.
It is essential that the 2020 Census population figures are not used to further undermine the idea of having One Citizen-One Vote election process. We all have witnessed the intrusion via electronic social media networks which were influenced by Russia and which helped Donald J. Trump defeat Hillary Clinton and become the current President of America.
I note that President Trump has always selected advisors and associates who are first loyal to him rather than to the democratic ideals embedded in our U.S. Constitution and its 28 Amendments. Former Secretary of State Albright warned this nation about a future Trump Fascist state because he undermined the Free Press and many institutions including the Supreme Court.
American citizens need to become aware that Democracy is based upon participatory governance requiring citizen voting participation which sustains those ideals.
Invariably, authoritarian dictators seek to close down the Free Press; constrain Free Speech and the right to assemble peaceably, plus the right to present their grievance to their government for resolution. No authoritarian government allows this to happen, certainly not Russia's Vladimir Putin whose associates are all supportive oligarchists.
Note that today populist movements toward democracy are being resisted by dictators. Today, resolve to dedicate a minute of meditation during which you give thanks to those who died fighting for the freedoms Americans enjoy. Resolve not to take these freedoms of choice for granted, but to do what it takes to sustain them in a democracy wherein even our President is subject to the laws of this land. Each of us must continue to support and sustain democracy wherein each of us has equal standing under the laws of this land along with full access to opportunity and creation of wealth while living in peace and security.
Next year, 2020, we all must speak up with our vote as our voice. That involvement is what sustains our nation as a super-power whose social and economic success is the envy of the rest of this earth. Freedom of choice requires defensive vigilance always. Do enjoy July 4th next Thursday and thank those whose sacrifice established and sustained our freedoms during all those past conflicts. Know and understand that Mexicans were involved at each and every stage.
You are not Mexican Americans (immigrants), but American residents whose heritage happens to be Mexican. You and your antecedents have always belonged here as primordial patriotic residents. PEACE IS BEST, BUT WE ARE WILLING TO GO TO WAR TO SUSTAIN OUR DEMOCRACY.
communitynationalopinion
Aerolínea mexicana ofrece a los inmigrantes indocumentados vuelos de repatriación de $1
by	ElObservador	- Jun 28, 2019
Calendar 7.05
by	ElObservador	- Jul 5, 2019
During a conversation about the American racist society which has been encouraged by President Donald Trump and his colleagues, Dr. Ramon J. Martinez, Ph.D., told me that Blanca Alvarado,...


I drew the first eight letter for this typeface designing a logo. The logo did not make the cut, but I did like the letters. I quickly designed the rest of the characters. I think it was a quiet day at work and I did most of them at Copeland.


Triathlon events will be organized in accordance with the latest regulations of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) and CISM Triathlon regulations.
The competition will consist of 5 disciplines, including: men individual, men team, women individual, women team, and mixed team. Both men and women events will have elite teams and senior teams. Senior teams will be awarded medals but not counted in the medal table. By Oct. 18, 2019, senior women athletes must be at least 35 years old while senior men athletes must be at least 40 years old.


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Resolution targeting Utah abortion law passes House, heads for final vote in Senate
By Bridger Beal-Cvetko, KSL.com | Posted - Jan. 23, 2023 at 4:19 p.m.
House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, gives his speech during the opening day of the 2023 Utah Legislature session at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A joint resolution that would make it easier to challenge the hold placed on Utah's abortion ban cleared the two-thirds majority threshold in the Utah House and will head to the Utah Senate for final approval.
The sponsor of HJR2, Rep. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, has said the resolution wasn't explicitly written to target Utah's abortion ban, but legal experts have said it would let the state ask the courts to review the preliminary injunction issued against the ban — and would likely increase legal fees for both the state and the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. PPAU filed to block Utah's trigger ban shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
Brammer told colleagues the resolution would raise the bar for judges to grant injunctions.
The injunction against the abortion ban was granted on the grounds that Planned Parenthood's case presented "serious issues" worth consideration on their merits. Under HJR2, judges would be required to grant injunctions only when there is a "substantial likelihood" of success, essentially "front-loading" the question of constitutionality in a trial, Brammer said.
The resolution would not automatically overturn the hold on Utah's trigger law,
Brammer called the serious issues standard "subjective" and "permissive," and said it is out of step with similar rules in federal courts.
"Injunctions are an extraordinary and drastic remedy and should not be granted lightly," he said.
Opponents of the resolution are frustrated by a clause making it retroactive, which they say could impact other litigation besides Planned Parenthood's lawsuit. Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, offered an amendment — the same one that failed during a committee hearing last week — to remove the retroactivity, but it failed again.
House representatives ultimately passed the resolution 59-13, clearing the two-thirds majority required for resolutions. The resolution will go into effect if two-thirds of senators approve. The governor does not need to sign resolutions and does not have the power to veto them.
State Democrats argued that by passing HJR2, lawmakers would be interfering in the judicial process in order to lift the hold on the trigger abortion ban.
"The Republican supermajority will stop at nothing to implement their extreme abortion ban," the Utah Democratic Party said in a news release. "Rather than respecting the judicial process and waiting for the lawsuit challenging the ban to move through the courts in a fair and balanced manner, they are taking the extraordinary step of retroactively changing the rules to get their way. This is yet another example of Republican government overreach, and the lengths that these politicians will go to to exert control over the private, intimate medical decisions of our families should concern every Utahn."
Utah resolution aimed at abortion trigger law passes committee despite public opposition
With Roe overturned, Utah lawmakers consider changes to abortion law
Planned Parenthood seeks to stop Utah's abortion 'trigger law'
Most recent Utah Legislature stories
Demand high for Utah driver's license tests in new languages; Legislature considers adding more
Utah LegislaturePoliticsUtah
Bridger Beal-Cvetko
Bridger Beal-Cvetko covers Utah politics, Salt Lake County communities and breaking news for KSL.com. He is a graduate of Utah Valley University.
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