Tag Archives: WorldNews

Alaska’s governor is trying to destroy its universities. The state may never recover | Cas Mudde

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Mike Dunleavy wants to cut the Alaskan university system by $130m – a staggering 41% of its budget

We rarely devote much attention to what happens in the largest state of the US. No, not Texas – Alaska, which is bigger, geographically, than the next three states combined (Texas, California and Montana). Separated from the mainland by Canada, Alaska is the biggest state yet has fewer inhabitants than the smallest (Rhode Island). This creates enormous challenges for governance, including in higher education. And Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy’s new budget will make these challenges far, far worse.

In a shocking example of political overreach, Dunleavy announced 182 line-item vetoes to his state’s 2020 budget last week. He thereby cut the budget proposed by the Alaska legislature by almost $410m in general funds. Almost one-third of the cuts will come from the University of Alaska system, which will see its budget cut by $130m – a staggering 41%.

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Johnson pledges to make all immigrants learn English

Liar and pimping to bigots!

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Tory leadership contender says English is not first language in ‘too many parts of our country’

Boris Johnson has said there are “too many parts of our country” where English is not spoken as a first language and that he would require all immigrants to Britain to learn English.

At a hustings event for the Conservative leadership race in Darlington on Friday, the former mayor of London praised the capital’s diversity but suggested some communities were not doing enough to integrate into society.

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Facebook ads funded by ‘dark money’ are the right’s weapon for 2020

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The right and conservative media are using the untraceable ads to push a rightwing agenda and get Donald Trump re-elected

In the weeks leading up to a tightly contested 2018 midterm election in Virginia, a Facebook page called “Wacky Wexton Not” ran an ad that pictured Democratic congressional candidate Jennifer Wexton next to Nazi troops. Another labeled her an “evil socialist”. Yet another referenced Nazi uniforms, stating, “Wexton and her modern day brown shirts. They Are Evil. They Hate America. They Hate You.”

You can still have a huge impact by spending very little.

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Planting 1 trillion trees could stop climate change, argues study

Not so true – think about it. If 1 trillion palm oil trees were planted, new diseases would develop to deal with the imbalance. If current industrialized areas were simply allowed to return to nature that would enable 1 trillion trees to plant themselves, it would help. Man deciding to plant trees liked by humans will more than likely make things worse. Forests depend on natural diversity, not man-made interventions. Planting a massive number of trees is the most effective way to combat global warming, scientists have said. Reforesting an area the size of the United States could capture two-thirds of manmade carbon emissions.

North Korea says US ‘hell-bent’ on sanctions despite Trump-Kim talks

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Mission to the UN complains after US sent letter urging other countries to send back its North Korean workers

North Korea has complained after the United States sent a letter urging countries to send back workers from the Stalinist state as President Donald Trump was inviting Kim Jong-un to hold talks.

The North Korean mission to the United Nations said on Wednesday that the letter sent to all UN member-states showed that Washington was “practically more and more hell-bent on the hostile acts” against Pyongyang, even though it is seeking dialogue.

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