Dear America,
Hi there! My name is Brian Joyce. I'm a member of the media. Specifically, I'm a talk radio host. And as a member of the media, I owe you an apology.
In case you didn't notice -- and let's face it, the hope was that you wouldn't -- the long-awaited House Intelligence Report on Benghazi was released late Friday afternoon.
After two years of investigations, endless hours of hearings, and at least one concussion, the Republican-led Intelligence Committee has finally admitted what many of us knew all along: that the Obama administration did nothing wrong in Benghazi; that the White House, CIA and State Department did not deliberately mislead the American people on Benghazi; and that the Obama administration did everything it could to respond to Benghazi in a timely and...
Politics
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister:
Many Americans love Canada and the specific benefits that have come to our country from our northern neighbor’s many achievements (see Canada Firsts by Nader, Conacher and Milleron). Unfortunately, your latest proposed legislation—the new anti-terrorism act—is being described by leading Canadian civil liberties scholars as hazardous to Canadian democracy.
A central criticism was ably summarized in a February 2015 Globe and Mail editorial titled “Parliament Must Reject Harper’s Secret Policeman Bill,” to wit:
“Prime Minister Stephen Harper never tires of telling Canadians that we are at war with the Islamic State. Under the cloud of fear produced by his repeated...
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Dear World Leaders,
Cc: Everyone else
There are moments in history that become turning points. In our view, 2015 will be such a moment. It is the
most important year for global decision-making since the start of the new millennium.
We believe it’s just possible that we could end 2015 with a new global compact – an agreed pathway to a better,
safer future for people and planet that will inspire all the citizens of the world. We can choose the path of
sustainable development. Or we might not – and regret it for generations to come. Which side of history will you
be on?
There are millions of voices you can’t afford to ignore – the voices of the people you represent. They are voices of
all ages from every corner of the planet – the voice of a young girl currently deprived an...
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Hi Russell
I want to say something about voting.
Wait…. WAIT!! Gimme a min before you go, OK?!
I've heard a lot of anti-voting arguments from yourself and friends and they can be extremely compelling: our ridiculous first past the post system; that a centralised government can never work and we must take back control at community level; that by voting you are implicitly supporting a system that is totally fucked, where politicians are lying creeps who worship at the altar of money and seem to think that the Earth has infinite resources and that the poor and vulnerable are some sort of scourge on society that must be systematically eradicated. *aaaaaand breathe.* Politics is full of hateful people and we want nothing to do with them.
I actually agree with these points. But...
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Note: Originally published by theDepartment for Communities and Local Government
By:
Penny Mordaunt MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Further to my letter of 9 January, I would like to update you on a number of issues which I
think will be of interest to you and the fire and rescue service generally.
Partnership Working
One of the recognised strengths of the fire and rescue service is the way it engages with its
partners and utilises data. A major development in this field has been that the Chief Fire
Officers Association has developed a National Older Persons Strategy, designed to put older
people at the heart of fire and rescue service activities and interventions. They did this in
partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, Age UK, RNIB and Action...
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Dear Mr Abbott,
We deplore all forms of school bullying. But we are deeply concerned about the controversial Safe Schools Coalition
Australia (SSCA) program, launched on 13 June 2014 for use by schools throughout Australia.
This program claims to be an anti-bullying program, to make “schools safer and more inclusive”.
However,
it does not address the problems experienced by the vast majority of school children who are regularly bullied
because of their body shape or size, school grades, race or ethnic background, religious beliefs or family income
– as shown by a study of 105,000 students.
The SSCA program focuses only on the small minority of “same sex attracted, intersex and gender diverse young
people”.
It provides free resources, but only to help staff respond to “...
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Dear Mr. Asif Ali Zardari Sahab.
AoA.
The reported death (due to the non availability of food and medicines) of more than 120 kids, in the draught stricken Tharparkar area of Sindh province, is an unpardonable crime, committed by the negligent officials of the PPP government in Sindh.
Now, the CM Sindh government, has transferred and suspended some officials, for dereliction of their duties, in this sad saga of poor and hapless residents of Tharparkar, which is absolutely an insufficient punishment, compared with the magnitude of their crimes.
As such, before the divine justice takes its course, necessary orders may be issued for registration of cases and arresting the responsible officials, who failed to stop this absolutely avoidable tragedy.
Best regards.
Syed Nayyar...
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Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
Greetings.
Pakistan is extremely grateful for your visit, particularly for being the chief guest at our Independence Day celebrations, on 14th August 2013.
As it may be already very well in your knowledge that UN has described the 8,00,000 Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, being tortured, displaced, faced travel and trade limitations, murders, now Rohingya Muslims face child-limitation policies as well.
Similarly, over 10 million Kashmiri Muslim population living since 1947 under Indian occupation forces, are the most persecuted MAJORITY in the world. The list of humanly unimaginable atrocities perpetrated for the last almost seven decades, is so long that its compilation will be more voluminous,...
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Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to you today to ask for your help.
It’s been just over a year since some of us first wrote to you to ask you to offer resettlement places to refugees fleeing Syria.
We were delighted when you responded and the Government’s Vulnerable Person’s Relocation (VPR) scheme was established.
You promised to resettle some of the most vulnerable people fleeing conflict in the region, a promise the UK is well placed to deliver, given our decade long programme of resettling 750 people in similar situations from around the world every year under our fantastic Gateway Protection Programme.
Given your promise and the UK’s proud tradition of offering protection to those who desperately need it, we couldn’t have been more disappointed when we discovered...
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We, a group of concerned citizens of Malaysia, would like to express how disturbed and deeply dismayed we are over the continuing unresolved disputes on the position and application of Islamic laws in this country.
The ongoing debate over these matters displays a lack of clarity and understanding on the place of Islam within our constitutional democracy. Moreover, they reflect a serious breakdown of federal-state division of powers, both in the areas of civil and criminal jurisdictions.
We refer specifically to the current situation where religious bodies seem to be asserting authority beyond their jurisdiction; where issuance of various fatwa violate the Federal Constitution and breach the democratic and consultative process of shura; where the rise of supremacist NGOs accusing...
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