World

Quiz Time on the Campaign Trail

Published

3 years ago

April 15, 2022

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In the course of the first week of the federal election marketing campaign, politicians have been requested about: the value of bread, milk and petrol; the JobSeeker fee; the wage value index; the money fee; the unemployment fee, and extra.

We nonetheless have 5 weeks to go, and I’m already exhausted.

When the opposition chief, Anthony Albanese didn’t accurately identify the money fee and unemployment fee on the primary day of the marketing campaign, it prompted widespread media protection, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison seized on the chance to label his opponent as weak on the economic system. Different politicians acquired pop quizzes on varied different costs and statistics over the following two days, earlier than all of it screeched to a halt on Wednesday, when the Greens chief, Adam Bandt, excoriated the information media after being requested for the wage value index.

“Google it,” he responded, including: “Politics ought to be about reaching for the celebs and providing a greater society. And as an alternative, there’s these questions which can be requested about — are you able to inform us this specific stat or are you able to inform us that individual stat.”

In an election marketing campaign that thus far appears missing in big-picture imaginative and prescient, the episode has fueled debate concerning the worth of so-called gotcha questions. Ought to any aspiring prime minister be capable to recite these figures to point out they’ve a very good understanding of the nation they need to lead, or do such questions simply get in the way in which of higher, higher-level political debate?

Talking about Albanese’s blunder on Monday, Andrea Carson, a political scientist at La Trobe College and the creator of the Under the Line election podcast, put it in a unique class than a gotcha query devised to catch a politician out. As an alternative, it spoke to an absence of preparedness on the a part of Labor to anticipate assaults from an opposition keen to color it as weak on the economic system, she mentioned.

“It wasn’t a lot concerning the gotcha second, it was the shortage of pre-emption,” she mentioned. “In a single second Albanese undid any good work they might have executed in that house by feeding into the narrative that Labor can’t be trusted on the economic system.”

Elections have been misplaced up to now due to such own-goal blunders earlier than, she added. In 1993, when Liberal opposition chief John Hewson wasn’t capable of clarify whether or not his proposed items and companies tax coverage would enhance or lower the value of a birthday cake, it “made it appear like he didn’t perceive the coverage he was campaigning on — and that was his election to lose.”

Extra not too long ago, the Labor opposition chief Mark Latham’s notorious handshake in 2004 turned voters off with its aggression, she added.

These had been each “a seminal second within the marketing campaign that kind of sums up how that election marketing campaign went,” mentioned Carson, the political scientist. It’s but to be seen whether or not Albanese’s second can have the identical impression.

“Each election, there’s no less than one gotcha fail,” mentioned Paul Williams, an affiliate professor and political professional at Griffith College. Although they normally have fairly a brief life, he added, Invoice Shorten’s gaffe through the 2019 election marketing campaign, when he mistakenly dominated out introducing new taxes on superannuation, in contradiction to his celebration’s coverage, “did have a tendency to border his marketing campaign. It did injure his marketing campaign fairly considerably.”

Whereas it was comprehensible that swing voters can be crucial of Albanese’s blunder, he mentioned, they need to additionally know that “this doesn’t outline the celebration or his potential to be a main minister, as a result of prime ministers are chairs of cupboards and are accountable for coverage. Prime ministers have turn out to be big-picture guardians.”

And as a lot because the episode reveals that Labor ought to have been higher ready, he mentioned, there’s additionally one thing to be mentioned for the concept we should always aspire to a greater high quality of political debate.

All of us contribute to it, he says: the journalists who ask the gotcha questions, as a result of they’re brief on time or know that’s what’s going to entice clicks and views; the politicians and their spin docs who shield “themselves so rigorously with garrisons of PR that journalists must ask these types of questions to interrupt via”; and voters who reply to gotcha questions and horse-race framing and see the election as a persona contest relatively than a contest between two events’ insurance policies.

“We’re all accountable,” Williams mentioned. “All of us have to elevate the political debate.”

Now for this week’s tales.

World

Jackie Farry, Nirvana Associate, Veteran Tour Manager and Frances Bean Cobain’s Former Nanny, Dies at 58

Published

2 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

Jackie Farry, Nirvana Associate, Veteran Tour Manager and Frances Bean Cobain’s Former Nanny, Dies at 58

Jackie Farry, an industry veteran who worked closely with Nirvana — becoming Frances Bean Cobain’s first nanny — and then was tour manager for Elliott Smith, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Lemonheads and others, died Sunday of complications from a lung disease. Farry, who had battled cancer for more than 20 years, was 58.

Farry’s industry career began at Homestead Records, where she was a receptionist for the influential indie label that was a precursor to Matador Records. She moved quickly into radio-promotion roles at Atlantic and Epic, but she quickly became a familiar and popular presence on the New York music scene and a friend to many of the bands of the era. After working with Nirvana until Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, she was briefly host of a short-lived MTV show called “Super Rock” that was intended to replace the metal show “Headbangers’ Ball.” Later in the ’90s, Farry became a tour manager for bands like the Lemonheads, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Elliott Smith, Quasi, Stereolab and Quintron.

A native of New York, Farry was raised in the controversial Synanon community before relocating to Long Island. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and her friends in the music industry rallied for her, with benefits headlined by such artists as the Breeders, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Liars and Guided by Voices.

Her longtime friend and associate Janet Billig Rich told the Hollywood Reporter, “Jackie’s love for music was matched only by her sharp wit, humor, and magnetic personality. She was a beacon for friends and strangers alike, drawing people in with her infectious energy.”

Donations in her honor can be made to LovePaws, Farry’s charity of choice.

World

Incoming Trump administration given new blueprint on ways to weaken Iran: 'unique opportunity'

Published

3 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

Incoming Trump administration given new blueprint on ways to weaken Iran: 'unique opportunity'

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A new report shared with the Trump transition team and shown to Fox News Digital recommends drastic steps to curtail the Iranian regime just days away from the start of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in office.

“President-elect Trump now has the unique opportunity to push back on the regime in a moment of its significant decline. By using diplomatic, informational, military, and economic means to hold Tehran accountable, he can promote regional stability and a new Middle East,” Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, CEO and founder of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital.

The UANI report, titled “A 100 Day Plan for the Incoming Trump Administration on Iran” is a blueprint for the administration to employ against Iran and has been shared with the Trump transition team, according to its authors.

Heavy weapons, including ballistic missiles, air defense systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, are displayed during the 44th anniversary of the 8-year war with Iraq, which is known as “Holy Defense Week”, at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 25, 2024. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

INSIDE ISRAEL’S DARING RAID THAT DESTROYED IRAN-FUNDED UNDERGROUND MISSILE FACTORY IN SYRIA

“Since 1979, Iran has been the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, the major cause of instability in the Middle East, and has brutally repressed its people with impunity,” Wallace said.

The report recommends that the incoming Trump administration take a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach across, as Ambassador Wallace said, the diplomatic, informational, military and economic sectors alongside allies to properly hold Iran accountable for its regional destabilization efforts.

Iranian protesters carry flowers while standing in front of a giant banner depicting a portrait of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah during a protest gathering to condemn an Israeli air strike against Hezbollah’s headquarters in the suburb of Beirut and the killing of Hassan Nasrallah and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force commander, General Abbas Nilforoushan, in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 30, 2024. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Iran fears the incoming Trump administration, said co-author of the report Jason Brodsky, adding he believes there is a strategic opportunity for Washington and its allies to capitalize on that fear to advance U.S. interests.

“Rushing into premature diplomacy risks undermining that dynamic,” Brodsky, policy director of UANI, told Fox News Digital.

The report outlines several specific policy prescriptions in order to weaken Iran and argues that the U.S. government should first build a pressure campaign against Iran which will sharpen the regime’s choices.

IRAN EXECUTES OVER 1K PRISONERS IN 2024, HIGHEST TOTAL IN 30 YEARS, REPORT SAYS

In this new policy approach, the United States should learn from Israel’s experience since Oct. 7 about how to strike the Islamic Republic militarily without triggering a wider war.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, left, and President-elect Donald Trump. (AP)

“If the Israelis can do so without triggering a wider war, so can the U.S. government,” Brodsky said.

The authors assert that President-elect Trump should deliver a major policy address to warn Tehran that the U.S. would not hesitate to use military force to destroy Iran’s nuclear program if it takes steps to further advance its capabilities. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in early December enriched uranium to weapons-grade levels. French President Emmanuel Macron said Iran’s nuclear program is nearing the “point of no return” with many seeing it as a method to build leverage against the incoming Trump administration.

Additionally, the report’s authors say the incoming Republican administration could also use targeted strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, Quds Force and Intelligence Ministry assets inside Iran if Iran or its proxies harm Americans. Targeted strikes should also hit Iran’s repressive apparatus through cyber and kinetic means if security forces violently suppress innocent protesters, as happened in 2009 after the disputed presidential election and in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the morality police for not covering her hair with a hijab.

Demonstrators in Iran protesting the regime in 2022. (Credit: NCRI)

U.S. strikes or retaliations against the regime, the report notes, have been non-existent or focused on the Islamic Republic’s proxies.

“That dynamic only emboldens Iranian decision-making to calculate the benefits of these operations against Americans outweigh the costs and to doubt the U.S. resolve to defend its interests. The incoming Trump administration should reverse that calculus and one way to do so is to start holding Iran’s regime responsible on Iranian soil for the terrorism of its proxies,” Brodsky explained. The U.S. should also build a military defector program and encourage political and military actors across the Islamic Republic, including within the Revolutionary Guard and other security forces, to defect from the regime.

IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM IS NEARING ‘THE POINT OF NO RETURN,’ FRANCE’S MACRON SAYS

A key source of Iranian revenue is provided by its vast oil exports and allows Iran to sustain its terror across the Middle East through its “Axis of Resistance” proxy networks. In 2024, Iran exported 587 million barrels of oil, an increase of 10.75% compared to the previous year due to OPEC cuts and lack of sanctions enforcement.

Claire Jungman, co-author and director of the Tanker Tracking Program and chief of staff of UANI, told Fox News Digital that Iran’s oil exports have surged to nearly 2 million barrels per day—the highest in five years—under President Biden’s administration, reflecting weakened sanctions enforcement and the impact of billions in unfrozen assets.

The Simorgh, or “Phoenix,” rocket launches at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province, Iran, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

“The incoming Trump administration has a critical opportunity to halt Tehran’s illicit revenue streams and restore maximum pressure on the regime,” Jungman added.

Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and is a key source of regional Islamist terror groups including Hezbollah and Hamas, the group responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel. The State Department estimates that Iran provides some $100 million annually to Hamas and helps fund Hezbollah with about $700 million a year.

UANI cautions against some in Western capitals who wish to seek negotiation with Tehran and views this flawed approach of endless negotiations as a way Iran can buy time and avert pressure. Ambassador Wallace said the previous maximum pressure campaign worked, and it’s time to reapply this policy as the regime faces setback after setback as it became embroiled in regional conflict with Israel after October 7th.

“With the loss of its proxies and the support of the Iranian people … the Iranian regime’s days are numbered and, inevitably, the brave Iranian people will rise against the weakened corrupt mullahs,” Wallace said.

World

Lebanon President Joseph Aoun starts consultations for PM selection

Published

4 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

Lebanon President Joseph Aoun starts consultations for PM selection

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and top ICJ judge Nawaf Salam seen as frontrunners.

Lebanon’s new President Joseph Aoun has begun binding consultations with members of parliament to nominate a prime minister.

Aoun’s consultations got under way at 8:15am (06:15 GMT) on Monday with a meeting with Elias Abu Saab, the deputy parliament speaker, according to the official National News Agency.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who is backed by the Hezbollah-led alliance, and Nawaf Salam, a favourite of anti-Hezbollah legislators who is the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, are seen as the frontrunners.

The consultations follow Aoun’s election last week amid foreign pressure to form a government desperately needed to tackle major challenges in the country.

Lebanon had been without a president since October 2022, run by a caretaker government amid a crushing economic crisis compounded by all-out war between Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel.

The outcome of the parliamentary consultations is expected to emerge by the end of the day. Once the prime minister is selected, it is their job to form a new government, a process that could take months.

“The newly elected President Aoun said that he hopes the next prime minister will be a partner and not an opponent,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from the Lebanese capital, Beirut. “A man who has the support of the international community, and a man who is ready to carry out much-needed reforms.”

Big challenges

Lebanon has a unique power-sharing system, designed to balance power among the nation’s different communities.

The president, who must be a Maronite Christian, serves as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Meanwhile, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim and has significantly more executive power than the president.

The speaker of parliament, who leads parliamentary debates as well as playing the role of political mediator, has to be a Shia Muslim.

One of the country’s richest men, Mikati has headed the country in a caretaker capacity throughout the presidential vacuum.

Mikati said on the sidelines of the presidential vote on Thursday that he was ready to serve Lebanon “if needed”.

However, Hezbollah’s opponents see Mikati as part of an old political system that the group has within its grip.

Whoever heads Lebanon’s new government will face major challenges, including implementing reforms to satisfy international donors amid the country’s worst economic crisis in its history.

They will also face the daunting task of reconstructing swaths of the country after the Israel-Hezbollah war and implementing the November 27 ceasefire agreement, which includes the thorny issue of disarming the Lebanese armed group.