The history of liberalism is entwined with racism, wrote Imraan Buccus in these pages, drawing parallels between Hitler and the liberal tradition.

One should probably dismiss such a crude attempt at reductio ad Hitlerum out of hand, but lest anyone think there might be a grain of truth in this piece of historical revisionism, I will spend some time critiquing it.

Classical liberalism, to put it clearly, was racism, he asserts, aiming his venom not only at modern apartheid apologists, but also at a liberal and often English-speaking version of white denialism, which he believes can be found at classical liberal think tanks like the Institute for Race Relations.

This is patently absurd. Buccus confuses the early development of liberal thought in an era that was deeply racist with the belief that those liberal principles actually supported racism then, and still do so now. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Liberal thought emerged in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment of the 17th to 19th centuries. Racism and slavery, however, had been ingrained in societies across the globe since time immemorial. They were not products of the Enlightenment or of liberalism. They were not even products of pre-Enlightenment Europe.

Africans themselves engaged in slavery long before the Atlantic slave trade began. Many Africans became wealthy not only by selling other Africans into slavery, but also by expropriating their properties. Taking conquered peoples into slavery was as routine in Africa as it was everywhere else in the world.

North Africans took slaves in England. There were white, British and Irish slaves in America in the 18th century. The Ottomans took Christian slaves for centuries. Slavery was common in China, Japan, Korea and South-East Asia. Slavery dates back to the very first civilisations, such as the Sumerians in Mesopotamia.

Although slavery is technically illegal everywhere in the world now, the practice persists in places like West Africa, India, Myanmar and the Middle East, without needing any help from white racists.

Buccus argues that early pioneers of liberal thought, such as John Locke, John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant, were racists and slavers. Of course, they were a product of their age, in which slavery was normal, not only in Europe, but around the world.

It is true that Locke was invested in the slave trade. However, his writings did not endorse slavery. Let me quote academic research on exactly this point:

Locke owned stock in slave trading companies and was secretary of the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas, where slavery was constitutionally permitted. He had two notions of slavery: legitimate slavery was captivity with forced labor imposed by the just winning side in a war; illegitimate slavery was an authoritarian deprivation of natural rights. Locke did not try to justify either black slavery or the oppression of Amerindians. In The Two Treatises of Government, Locke argued against the advocates of absolute monarchy. The arguments for absolute monarchy and colonial slavery turn out to be the same. So in arguing against the one, Locke could not help but argue against the other. Examining the natural rights tradition to which Lockes work belongs confirms this. Locke could have defended colonial slavery by building on popular ideas of his colleagues and predecessors, but there is no textual evidence that he did that or that he advocated seizing Indian agricultural land.

To put it clearly, classical liberalism, as a historical reality, meant rights for whites and genocide, slavery and colonisation for everyone else, Buccus writes. But the idea that Lockes writing somehow supported or advanced racism and slavery, instead of laying the intellectual foundations against them, is simply wrong. In fact, Lockes philosophy contradicted his own actions. At worst, he could be accused of hypocrisy.

(As an aside, the adjective classical is used to distinguish a philosophy premised on economic liberalism and individual liberty from the more left-wing social liberalism that Americans would call simply liberal.)

John Stuart Mill explicitly argued against slavery and against the idea that race determined the nature of human beings. Again, we go to the academic literature:

It is shown that Mill although he did indulge himself in the discourse based on race, geography or climate to a minor extent made strenuous efforts to discredit the deterministic implications of racial theories and to promote the idea that human effort and education could alter beyond recognition what were supposed to be the racially inherited characteristics of various human groups.

Immanuel Kant really was racist, and expressed many deeply offensive prejudices about race in his anthropological studies. His place in the classical liberal pantheon, however, is a point of considerable dispute. Some of his views were substantially liberal, but many were distinctly illiberal. His ideas about social order and duty to the state are in no way liberal. It is in Kant that one can make the best argument for the idea that liberalism and racism coexisted in a single persons philosophy.

However, one cannot attribute all of Kants ideas to classical liberalism. He also influenced Marxism and critical theory, yet neither of those philosophies can take the blame for everything Kant wrote.

That some early liberal philosophers, living in a racist age, held ideas about race that conflicted with their political philosophy does not change the fact that liberal principles inherently preclude racism.

A core tenet of the liberal school of thought is that individuals are born equal, are free to act, within the law, as they see fit, and ought to be judged according to their own thoughts and deeds. This anti-collectivist conception of liberty logically precludes the group categorisations that are essential to racism or nationalism.

Liberal ideas took time to develop into a more coherent political philosophy. Societies, in turn, took time to adopt these ideas into their political organisation. That illiberal features of society, or authoritarian tendencies in government, remained while liberalism began to spread is not the fault of liberal ideas.

Buccus provides no source for his claim that only tiny minorities of liberals opposed slavery. Thats because he cannot. The movement to abolish slavery began in Britain and France, in the 18th century, as a direct consequence of the evolution of Enlightenment ideas and liberal thought. In this respect, the liberal democracies of Europe were far ahead of their slave-owning peers in the rest of the world.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, which explicitly grants equal rights to all and prohibits slavery, is a direct descendant of the early liberal manifestos such as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789.

Liberals were also at the forefront of other human rights struggles, such as the movements for the universal franchise, gender equality and gay rights.

The Liberal Party of South Africa was founded in 1953 by Alan Paton. It was multiracial and opposed to apartheid right from the start. Does Buccus propose to call Alan Paton or the old Liberal Party racist?

During the apartheid years, the only outspoken critic of the regime inside Parliament was its lone liberal member, Helen Suzman. Was she, too, a racist?

If so, why did the racist establishment routinely deride liberals? Why, if liberalism was racism, as Buccus claims, would liberals oppose the racial discrimination of apartheid?

Buccus expresses the laughable view that Hitler was inspired by liberal ideas and figures. Everything about Hitlers totalitarian, nationalist, collectivist, dehumanising and genocidal approach to government contradicts the liberal ethos of individual liberty, the consent of the governed, and equality before the law.

Everything he did contradicts the liberal principles of peace, democracy, tolerance, limited government, individual civil and human rights, gender and racial equality, free markets and trade, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion.

Assuming Buccus is neither monumentally stupid nor historically illiterate, one can only conclude that he intends a heinous smear by suggesting that Hitler either admired, or was admired by, liberals.

In trying to re-appropriate non-racialism for the radical left, he runs headlong into the preposterous claim that the Black Consciousness movement was non-racial. It explicitly defines itself by reference to race and racial solidarity! How can one possibly describe it as non-racial?

The new liberal zealots are trying to appropriate non-racialism from its radical roots in order to misuse the concept to oppose attempts at anti-racism, Buccus writes. Yet the term non-racialism not only rejects racism and racialism. It also, as an ideology, positively affirms liberal democratic ideals.

His suggestion that one can support non-racialism but oppose attempts at anti-racism makes no sense, unless one assumes that by anti-racism he means policies aimed at racial redresses such as affirmative action and black economic empowerment. Whatever their good intentions, these policies are explicitly racial in nature. They are not the same thing as anti-racism. It is entirely defensible to oppose racial redress on purely anti-racist grounds.

One might wish to argue whether one ought to oppose racial redress policies, but it is certainly not grounds to declare classical liberalism to be racist.

It is worth conceding that some of those who identify as classical liberals today might indeed be racist, but that is not because classical liberal principles are racist. This is a consequence of the fact that those people, who used to benefit from racial policies that favoured white people, now profess to prefer non-racism to racial policies that favour black people and disadvantage them.

Tarring all classical liberals with that brush, however, is not justified. This phenomenon cannot reflect negatively on classical liberal principles, any more than it reflects negatively on the African National Congress that the New National Party, the successor to the architect of apartheid, ended up merging with it.

The history of liberalism, as theory and as a practice, coexisted with racism, but was never deeply enmeshed with it, as Buccus argues. It certainly never advocated, justified, supported or condoned racism, genocide or slavery.

On the contrary, its fundamental philosophical principles always professed that people by nature are equal, have inherent natural rights that include the right to life, liberty and property, and that individual rights trump group identity. Racism, racial discrimination, slavery and indeed genocide inherently contradict all these liberal principles.

Buccus does not present historical fact, as he claims, but a crude attempt at historical revisionism that appears to be designed to defame and discredit the classical liberal movement as being associated with the radical, racist right.

What his motives might be one can only speculate, but the entire basis of his argument is riddled with flaws, inventions and absurdities. His attack on classical liberals and its modern supporters as racist simply cannot be sustained, and should be rejected out of hand. DM

Full disclosure: the author recently became a member of the Institute for Race Relations, and was elected to the Council, which directs the organisations policy and ideology.

Ivo Vegter is a columnist and the author of Extreme Environment, a book on environmental exaggeration and how it harms emerging economies. He writes on this and many other matters, from the perspective of individual liberty and free markets.

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Continued here:
Painting classical liberalism as inherently racist is a revisionist smear - Daily Maverick

In 2008, the world successfully pulled together with Britain playing a catalytic role when faced with the threat of financial collapse. In 2020, confronted with the threat of a global pandemic, it is every country for itself. There has been no international health summit of national leaders supported by the World Health Organization although the World Bank has announced a $12bn package of assistance. There are frantic national efforts to create a vaccine and no effort to ensure that, when found and produced in sufficient scale, it will go to the places of need in all our interests. Britain, with no vaccine production capacity of its own, is especially vulnerable.

Instead there are national bans on exports of key products such as medical supplies, with countries falling back on their own analysis of the crisis amid localised shortages and haphazard, primitive approaches to containment. The standards on isolation, quarantine and contact tracing medieval approaches to disease control in any case, according to Prof Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine vary hugely between countries.

The WHO, underfunded for decades, with the threat of further draconian loss of funds made only last month by Donald Trump, struggles to make itself relevant, undermined and ignored by its own members. China applies immense pressure so that its manipulated data or effectiveness are not challenged. Trump has airily dismissed the WHOs warnings of an imminent pandemic because they do not conform to his hunch that the health risks have been wildly overstated. In short, if you want to create a pandemic with wholesale abdication of global leadership, do what is happening now.

The approach extends to the economy. Stock markets rightly worry about an approaching global recession flagged by collapsing air passenger revenues and the parallel collapse of seaborne trade signalled by the lowest freight rates since 2008. However, government and central banks are not coordinating their economic response to the threat. When the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point, no others followed suit. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is preparing his budget under the close direction of Boris Johnsons malign amanuensis Dominic Cummings rather than as part of an international economic response.

It is the triumph of nationalism and anti-Enlightenment values across the world. So of course Johnson, leader of the supremely anti-Enlightenment and nationalist Brexit project, complete with its disdain for experts, gave a press conference last week in which he could not call for an internationally coordinated response and the rebuilding of European and international public health capacity. Gordon Brown, in parallel circumstances during the financial crisis, did call for such coordination. Britain would contain, delay, research and mitigate on its own, Johnson declared fighting Covid-19 metaphorically on the beaches. There would be no surrender. Britain alone would beat this foreign incubus.

Yet Covid-19 spares neither Leave nor Remain, neither imam nor Chinese doctor, and respects no national border. So even as national leaders fall back on atavistic national responses, the dictates of science and reason have to surface there is no other way forward.

The awfulness of Johnsons sub-Churchillian press-conference rhetoric was mitigated by him being flanked by two representatives of the best of Enlightenment thinking the governments chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, and chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance. They at least talk sense based on evidence and reason. That is cause for hope, for all the babble that Covid-19 has fatally killed globalisation and that the new era will be all about competing populist nationalisms. Whitty and Vallance were sobering at Tuesdays press conference, counterbalancing Johnsons breeziness with recognition of the policy trade-offs, the potential for economic dislocation, and the imminence of the disease becoming a pandemic.

Covid-19 spares neither Leave nor Remain, neither Imam nor Chinese doctor, and respects no national border

But then they are part of a global scientific community talking to each other even if national leaders are not. A reliable test was established within days as Covid-19s gene sequence was fast decoded. Vaccine prototypes exist and will soon be trialled on humans. Antiviral treatments are already being clinically trialled. There is an emerging consensus about the risks of infection, the mortality rate and the effectiveness of varying containment strategies. This can and will be beaten.

The only questions are how long will it take and at what cumulative cost. The lack of global public health capacity, standards and enforcement are crippling. The USs problem is not only that it is led by a fool and a knave, but that its hugely expensive private healthcare system does not invest in public health capacity such as isolation beds for patients stricken with a contagious virus.

Yet Americas problem just like Chinas problem over unregulated markets for wild animal meat is our problem, too. One of the foundations of the rise of the left in the 19th and early 20th centuries was the growing recognition that no individual, however wealthy, was insulated from disease epidemics. Sanitation, clean water and immunisation were public goods necessary for everyone to stay alive. The left was their champion.

Now, one form of unregulated, free-market globalisation with its propensity for crises and pandemics is certainly dying. But another form that recognises interdependence and the primacy of evidence-based collective action is being born. There will be more pandemics that will force governments to invest in public health institutions and respect the science they represent with parallel moves on climate change, the oceans, finance and cybersecurity. Because we cant do without globalisation, the imperative will be to find ways of managing and governing it.

Todays Brexiters are of a mindset that is certain to wither. No more Britain alone. Faced with a deadly virus, working with others is a matter of life or death. This emergency will open the way for more, not less, international governance.

Will Hutton is an Observer columnist

Read the original here:
Coronavirus wont end globalisation, but change it hugely for the better - The Guardian

CBSE 10th History board exam is scheduled to be on 18th March 2020. Students who have started their last-minute revision must check the important set of questions & answers of Chapter 5 (Print Culture and the Modern World). The given questions are from the latest Social Science sample paper and CBSE prescribed NCERT book. These questions are also expected in CBSE class 10 Board Exam 2020.

Q1- Why theeffect of easily available printed booksfeared some people?

Ans- The availability of the printed books feared some of the people because they were worried about the consciousness and enlightenment that the print culture will bring among the people. The voice of reason will rise giving way to the social reforms.

CBSE 10th Social Science Board Exam 2020: Important Questions & Answers of History - All Chapters

Q2- Discuss the way in which theprint culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India.

Ans- The growth of nationalism in India was assisted by the print culture as it gave easy access to nationalist ideas. The idea of freedom was communicated to the masses. Social reformers started putting their views through newspapers and encouraged the idea of public debates and struggle.

Q3- In what way the spreading of print culture of India in nineteenth-century affected women?

Ans- There were major educational reforms in India for women due to the print culture. Women were encouraged to be educated by their liberal husbands and fathersat home.Some even sent women to school. They also began to write in journals or newspapers.

Q4- Why Gandhijisaidthatthe fight for Swaraj is a fight for theliberty of the press,liberty of speech and freedom of association?

Ans- Gandhi believed that the fight for Swaraj is a fight for the liberty of the press, liberty of speech and freedom of association because he considered them to be the powerful mode of expression. These forms of freedom were important for self-rule and independence.

CBSE Class 10 Social Science Board Exam 2020: Check Important Questions & Answers of Civics (All Chapters)

Q5- Why Martin Luther was in favour of print and why he spoke out in praise of it.

Ans- Martin Luther spoke in favour of print and praised it because print media gave him a platform of spreading his ideas and popularizing it.

Q6- How the poor were impacted with the spread of print culture in the nineteenth century?

Ans- The poor were benefitted from the spread of print culture in India because it made the low priced books available, there were also libraries with the essays and books which talked about caste discrimination and social injustices.

CBSE Class 10 Social Science Previous Years' Question Papers (2012-2019)

Q7- Why some people in eighteenth-century Europethoughtthat print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism?

Ans- Some people in eighteenth-century thought that the print culture will bring enlightenment and end despotism because the easy availability of literacy will mean that it is not only limited to the upper class. They feared the awareness and questioning that will rise against the set ideologies.

Q8- Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.

Ans- Woodblock print was invented in China around the sixth century.In 1295, Woodblock print came to Europe with Marco Polo. He travelledto Italy after many years of exploration in Chinaandbrought the knowledge of woodblock print with him on his return.

CBSE Class 10 Social Science Syllabus for Board Exam 2020

Q9- What was The Vernacular Press Act?

Ans- The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878. With this law, the government got the tyrannical rights to censor editorials in the vernacular press. In case a seditious report was published and the newspaper did not pay attention to an initial warning, then the press was seized. This law was an example of a violation of the freedom of expression.

Q10- Write a short note on The Gutenberg Press.

Ans- Johann Gutenbergestablished The Gutenberg Press.By 1448, Gutenberg hadperfected theprinting systemwith olive and wine presseswhile also using contemporary technological innovations. Biblewas the first book that he printed and made180 copies in 3 years.The Gutenberg Press was the first-ever knownprinting press in the 1430s.

See the article here:
CBSE 10th Social Science Board Exam 2020: Check Important Question & Answers of History Chapter 5 (Print Culture and the Modern World) - Jagran...

International Womens Day has existed to promote the rights of women for well over 100 years. This year the theme was equality based on the belief that an equal world is an enabled world. But what does equality really mean in a gendered world?

If you bring a group of women together and ask them what equality means (and I have done this, so I know), the conversation, and ultimately the consensus collects around well-documented and much-discussed issues such as female visibility in the workplace, stereotyping, gender bias, and equal opportunities. All very real issues, which years of discussion and associated actions have done little to resolve.

But heres my challenge in a global culture where binary definitions of gender are rapidly losing traction, should we even have a day dedicated solely to women?

Its a complicated question, because to answer it first you need to define what it is to be a woman. Is our definition based on the biological concept (sex) or the societal one (gender)? And what happens when the two concepts overlap?

The reality is that we are living in an increasingly fluid world. How we define sex and gender is changing. More than ever, people do not believe in gender as a binary construct.

In the UK, NHS figures show that the number of young people with gender dysphoria (the belief that your emotional and psychological gender identity does not match your biological sex) referred for gender treatment has increased by over 4,000% in just ten years.

A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre in the US found that almost 60% of Gen Z (those aged between 13 and 20) believe that the terms man and woman are not enough to describe the full range of gender identities in society. Half of Millennials (22-37) and just over 30% of Baby Boomers (54 to 72) agree.

These findings are hugely significant for two reasons. Firstly, because of the speed in which opinions have changed, and secondly, because of the scale of these opinions in society. Generations are not equal in size which makes them not equal in the impact they have in shaping the society in which we live. Millennials and Gen Z together represent nearly 50% of the UK population with over 50% of spending power which will only increase as the younger generation comes of age. The way these generations think and behave has the power to change our social, cultural and commercial future forever.

There is no doubt the world is changing and change is seductive. Whether worrying or wonderful, the newness of change has a tendency to steal attention away from what went before. Its true that we are living in an increasingly gender-fluid world but its also true that the female collective (however you define it) remains a social underclass.

Research from the American Psychology Association found that a persons gender has little to no bearing on their personality, cognition and leadership abilities and yet women are still less visible in many of the most respected industries and in the best paid jobs. Women still dont get equal pay for equal work, and dont even have total ownership of their own bodies.

Whatever your biological or social identity, if you identify as a woman, it is likely that the world does not look equal from where you are standing right now.

So, going back to the question in a global culture where binary definitions of gender are rapidly losing traction should we even have a day dedicated solely to women?

The answer is undoubtedly yes. Women represent half of the worlds population.

Whether cisgender, transgender, heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, pansexual or any other identities, discrimination is in our wake, but the ambition must surely be to eliminate it from our future for the widest possible definition of womanhood.

As marketers we have a responsibility to help make that happen, but an even greater responsibility to ensure that our actions are based on fundamentally held beliefs and not a cynical attempt to joyride the wave of cultural enlightenment.

Here are three actions marketers can take next International Womens Day to help create an inclusive and equal world for all women.

Challenge yourself: Ask yourself what you believe in. Does your purpose align with an open belief system that supports and promotes equality? If it doesnt align how truly committed are you to change and how do you plan to do so?

Look into your past: Look at what you have. Products, services and messages may have been created in a different time. Explore how relevant these are in todays world and how they might need to change.

Plan for the future: Look ahead. Align your purpose with new actions and put your best corporate and cultural foot forward to become an instrumental force for a more equal and enabling world.

Erminia Blackden is strategy director at Engine

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Reflections on IWD: is it still relevant in a non-binary world? - The Drum

In line with its objectives to reawaken the consciousness of tax payers, the Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AiRS) recently embarked on tax education with a view to boosting the state internally generated revenue through voluntary tax payment. OKECHUKWU ONUEGBU reports.

There is no doubt that tax is one major medium through which governments all over the world generate revenue for their day-to-day activities including prompt payment of workers salaries and provisions of basic amenities to the entire populace. Therefore, Nigeria is not an exception.Likewise, the constitution of the country, Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007, the Tax Administration(Self Assessment) Regulations 2011, the Company Income Tax Act 2007, the Personal Income Tax Act 2011, the Petroleum Profit Tax Act 2007, the Value Added Tax Act 2007, among others, uphold taxations with reasons and procedures. That is why civil servants and public servants and workers at private sectors have theirs deducted from their monthly emoluments in what is known as Pay-As-You-earn (PAYEE).

Constraints to tax payment

But available records show that citizens especially those in non-formal sector such as barbing, hairdressing, taxi business, etc. have little or zero compliance to tax payment probably due to lack of tax education and ignorance.In Anambra state specifically, Mrs Sylvia Tochukwu-Ngige, the deputy director/head, Taxpayer Education and Enlightenment Team (TEET) of Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) believes that low level of tax awareness in the state is responsible for poor compliance in tax payment among the citizenry. The enlightenment campaignTo bridge this gap, AIRS in partnership with Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) last week embarked on a week public enlightenment campaign entitled Anambra 2020 Tax Awareness Week under the theme: Voluntary Compliance to Tax Payment.The exercise, which was aimed at sensitising the citizenry on the whole process of taxation and why they should pay, featured other activities like breakfast meeting with stakeholders in tax administration including the civil societies and media, road show, visitation and engagements of people across the 21 local government areas with the aim of intimating the people about filling of Tax Returns, Anambra Revenue Stamps, Anambra State Social Identity (ANSSID) number, Whitholding Tax, Capital Gain Tax, Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), Direct Assessment, among others.

Stakeholders speak

Speaking at the occasion, the president of CITN, Dame Gladys Simplice, said tax is the civic responsibility of every Nigerian to comply with and backed by law. She said, Whatever we are enjoying today are provided by the government. Have you asked yourself how the road youre driving on were constructed? The government was able to carryon those projects through tax.Simplice, who inaugurated a District Society of the Institute at Onitsha, equally charged the government not to relent in its duty of providing services to the populace.Chronicling the challenges and prospects of taxation of the informal sector, the chairman/chief executive of AiRS, Dr David Nzekwu revealed that there were an estimated 1.2 million people trading in the state but only 7,150 of them pay tax via Direct Tax. He identified non keeping of proper records by most businesses operating in the informal sector as the biggest challenge. According to him, unavailability of data makes it difficult for an independent party to accurately evaluate the financial position of the businesses in order to determine the amount of tax payable.Tax administrators face major operational difficulties in trying to tax informal sector due to its transient in nature of operations, lack of proper book keeping and the large number of unregistered businesses. However, the informal sector tax payers are able to pay taxes when they are assured of tangible benefits and where there is an effective institutional mechanism for enrolment and administration. The most straight-forward administrative strategy for improving informal sector taxation is simply to reorganise tax administration so as to strengthen monitoring and provide more focused incentives for administrators to target at the informal sector, Nzekwu added.

He, however, disclosed that the state has created an avenue for effective capturing of tax payers in both formal and informal sectors via Anambra Social Service Identity Number (ANSSID), a unique identification number for every transaction with the state government, which according to him, has captured over 300,000 tax payers, even as the state has started deploying Community Revenue Officers (CROs) charged to effectively relate with tax payers across 181 communities in the state. But Professor E Nwadialor, who spoke on Tax Education: Stakeholders Engagement, urged more engagement and continuous sensitisation of the populace on why they must pay tax and what had been achieved with the tax already paid. He argued that majority would be inspired to fulfill the civic responsibility when the government improves on welfare especially on infrastructural development.People need to know what tax is all about and the type of tax they need to pay. The AIRS and FIRS should not relent in educating the tax payers on tax laws why they must pay, who to pay to and how to pay. They should see them as those not knowledgeable about tax and should be educated to comply. You dont need to employ force. Identify their critical stakeholders and educate and motivate them to pay tax. The government should also provide for their plights; good road network, electricity and others. This would inspire them to comply, Nwadialor echoed.

Another speaker, Prince Ikpo Okereke, while speaking on Managing Self-Assessment and Voluntary Compliance in a Growing Tax System, advocated for what he termed self assessment method and voluntary tax compliance, as according to him, they were essential ingredients for effective and efficient tax administration and by extension, the realisation of government revenue objectives.

Okereke emphasised that, Self assessment enhances voluntary compliance and the net effect would be increased revenue generation, decrease in compliance cost, a more satisfied tax payer and better nation. When people voluntarily carry out an action, the resultant effect is that it would be cheaper and easier and at the same time likely to yield more satisfaction to all the stakeholders.Two major ways of achieving such a win-win situation is the term self assessment in the context of taxation refers to the responsibility bestowed on the individual taxpayer to compute his tax liabilities and make the tax returns accordingly to the relevant tax authority. The FIRS circular- Understanding Self-Assessment, the term self-assessment was described as a method whereby a tax payer is required to correctly compute own tax liability, properly complete the tax return, pay the self-assessed tax and submit the tax returns together with the accompanying documents on or before the due date according to the relevant tax law.To achieve this, the scholar listed procedures to achieving it as tax payer education, equity and fairness in treating tax payers, impartial and speedy judicial process, simplicity of tax laws, efficient tax payer services, effective tax payer complaint management procedure, tax incentives accountability and transparency and low compliance cost.But Prince Chris Azor, the chairman, Anambra Civil Society Network, urged the government and her agencies to do more in tax administration and management as according to him, the task for tax administrators is majorly to drag more big businesses into the tax net rather than focusing mainly on the informal sector, especially, the micro and small businesses.Azor maintained that, Again and more importantly, sensitisation, enlightenment is very key and imperative. There is need for partnerships with the civil society, the media and all citizens/stakeholders. Citizens should know why they pay taxes, who are authorised to collect and what their taxes do for them (dividends) in terms of development. There must be referrals and feed-back mechanisms to engender buy-in and ownership. Authorities must eschew all forms of double/multiple taxation and malpractices in collection, transparency and accountability.

Link:
Taking tax awareness campaign to the grass roots in Anambra - Blueprint newspapers Limited

With the 2020 Census beginning in just a few weeks, hundreds of workers are still needed in Marion County.

Census officials said that just over 900 short-term, part-time workers are needed for the job, and only about 400 of those positions having been filled as of press time. Dreama Pritt, media specialist for the Census Bureau in West Virginia, said the county still has a great need in that area.

Marion County is one of the counties where we need a few more applications, so were giving people the opportunity to do that, Pritt said. Its a great part-time job with flexible hours. You get paid mileage, and here in Marion County, you get paid $17 per hour, so thats a pretty good deal.

The bureau held a hiring event at the Marion County Board of Education last week in hopes to raise the number of workers, although many more are still needed.

For the first time ever, citizens can now complete their census forms online or over the phone, but the need for door-to-door workers is as important as ever, according to Brett White, executive director of the United Way of Marion and Taylor Counties.

Without the people being able to go door-to-door, it leaves a huge gap in the census, White said. It starts with the people who fill it out online and the people who return it through the mail. But for every person who didnt do it through one of those two, we have to go visit their homes. Thats why the numerators become such a crucial part of it. They have to go visit every home that hasnt filled out the form to try to keep our numbers accurate and counted.

Pritt said taking part in the census, which takes place nationwide at the start of every decade, is an important part of ones responsibilities as an American citizen, and the numbers mean much more than most people realize.

The census is mandated by the Constitution, which says that every 10 years, we will count every person who lives in the United States, Pritt said.

It affects so many things. Every part of your life is touched by census numbers from roads and schools and hospitals to nonprofit grants and political redistricting and the local, state and federal levels.

Its so important. Our main goal as the Census Bureau is to count everyone once, only once and at the right place. There are $675 billion annually of federal monies that are distributed entirely based on census numbers, so if you miss just one person, its a significant impact to the community, Pritt said.

White shared her sentiment.

It derives over $6 billion of funding that comes into West Virginia, White said. Without an accurate count, we lose money for daycares, libraries and highways. Every aspect of our lives is tied to census numbers. Our representation in Washington is tied to the census, so were already on the cusp of losing a House seat. If our census numbers are inaccurate and go down, we could lose a member of Congress. People dont realize that its tied to everything the government brings back into West Virginia.

Both Pritt and White encouraged those willing and able to reach out to the bureau to apply for a position, saying that not only is the work done on ones own terms, but its crucial to helping ones community.

Its a fantastic opportunity if youre looking for part-time, short-term work, White said. Its a great opportunity to work your own hours. You get to work by yourself and youll be doing a lot of traveling. Its just a great opportunity to do something larger while also have an employment option.

Fairmont News Editor John Mark Shaver can be reached at 304-844-8485 or jshaver@theet.com.

Fairmont News Editor John Mark Shaver can be reached at 304-844-8485 or jshaver@theet.com.

Read more:

Marion Co. WV, still in great need of census workers - WV News

South Korean soldiers in protective gears sanitize shacks at Guryong village in Seoul, South Korea, March 3, 2020. (Heo Ran/Reuters)

On the menu today: how the coronavirus is both more deadly and more contagious than the seasonal flu, wondering about the track record of old warhorse presidential candidates, and Mike Bloomberg breaks some more promises.

Why We Fear the Coronavirus More Than the Seasonal Flu

There have only been [insert current number here] coronavirus cases, way fewer cases and deaths than the flu!

As mentioned a few days ago, the term going viral means something that spreads rapidly through a population by being frequently shared with a number of individuals. This means numbers dont grow steadily and gradually. They grow quickly and exponentially.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the coronavirus primarily spreads when someone coughs or sneezes and the droplets get on someone else. The secondary way of spreading is by touching contaminated surfaces or objects.

There is some research from Chinese epidemiologists indicating that the virus may spread much easier than originally thought:

The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 can linger in the air for at least 30 minutes and travel up to 4.5 metres further than the safe distance advised by health authorities around the world, according to a study by a team of Chinese government epidemiologists.

The researchers also found that it can last for days on a surface where respiratory droplets land, raising the risk of transmission if unsuspecting people touch it and then rub their face.

The length of time it lasts on the surface depends on factors such as temperature and the type of surface, for example at around 37C (98F), it can survive for two to three days on glass, fabric, metal, plastic or paper.

This research is fascinating and ominous. On January 22, an infected passenger boarded a fully booked long-distance coach and settled down on the second row from the back. He stayed on the bus for four hours and the windows remained closed. Reviewing security camera footage, the researchers found the passenger did not interact with anyone else. The person next to him was not infected, but he did infect two people behind him, one person three rows ahead of him, four people who were six to seven rows ahead of him, and one person who got on the bus after the initial passenger disembarked.

Scientists are still getting a handle on how contagious the coronavirus is, but the current estimate of the R0 (reproduction number) is between 2 and 2.5 meaning that the average infected person spreads it to two or two-and-a-half people. For the seasonal flu, the R0 is about 1.3 people.

Coronavirus cases in the United States and broader world are not going to stay level; they may eventually level off, but we are probably a ways away from anything resembling herd immunity that is, when a significant enough portion of a population is immune to a disease, making it more difficult for a disease to spread. In the absence of dramatic steps to reduce peoples interaction with each other, the number of cases will continue to increase.

Scientists are still calculating the death rate from the coronavirus, and the death rate is probably going to continue to vary from country to country depending upon the countrys quality of medical care and preparedness. But it is already clear that the coronavirus is much more deadly than the usual seasonal flu.

The CDCs current estimate of the death rate for the flu in the 20182019 flu season is 35.5 million cases, and about 34,000 deaths. That is a death rate just shy of 0.1 percent, or one out of every 1,044 people.

Many doctors and public-health officials strongly suspect that there are a lot of Americans walking around who have already caught the coronavirus and are asymptomatic and they either will not show symptoms, or they will suffer such mild symptoms that they wont even realize they have it. As of this writing, the United States has 729 cases and 26 deaths. That comes out to a 3.5 percent death rate. Thats 35 out of 1,000 people.

Because there are people walking around who have it and who arent tested, it is possible that when all is said and done, the U.S. death rate will be significantly lower. But any way you slice it, the death rate for the coronavirus is significantly higher than the death rate for the seasonal flu. And with both coronavirus and seasonal flu, those most at risk are the elderly and the immunocompromised.

There is an odd tone to some of the commentary around the virus. Ann Coulter declares, Average age of the coronavirus dead in Italy (the country theyre using to scare Americans since its European): 81.

What the hell is this, Logans Run? I guess your perspective on the coronavirus being particularly dangerous to octogenarians depends upon how many people you know who are in their eighties or approaching it. Weve got about 13 million Americans over age 80. About 1.5 million Floridians are in their eighties. Sure, a death toll among the elderly, who have hopefully lived full lives, is somewhat less tragic than a virus that cuts people down in their prime or children. But that doesnt make it any less sad or worth attempting to prevent or mitigate. A virus that has even a 2 percent death toll among elderly Americans is going to mean a lot of funerals.

But wait, theres another factor to take into account. It is surprisingly difficult to get a reliable and recent figure for the number of Americans who are immunodeficient, immunocompromised, or otherwise have immune systems that wouldnt be able to fight off the coronavirus. A 2008 estimate puts it at ten million Americans and thats only counting those with HIV/AIDS (diagnosed and undiagnosed), organ transplant recipients, and cancer patients.

Secondly, the elderly and immunocompromised who are infected but survive are going to use up a lot of beds and time in intensive care units, and that will have far-reaching effects for those who are well under age 80. As Christopher Mims puts it, If we dont collectively slow the rate of spread of this virus, what he called suppression, it endangers everyone else because of the capacity crunch: People who need surgery. People who have accidents. Cancer patients. Everyone who would normally use our healthcare system. Every resource put towards controlling coronavirus is a resource that cant be used towards other health problems.

Some good news is that South Korean health officials have found that so far, only about 10 percent of coronavirus patients required hospitalization, while the rest had strong enough immune systems to fight the virus on their own.

When people ask, Why isnt there this kind of panic over the seasonal flu? the answer is, Because the coronavirus is both more deadly and more contagious than the seasonal flu. As noted above, the death rate for the seasonal flu is one in a thousand; the current coronavirus figure is roughly 35 in a thousand. Even if thats elevated because were not testing enough, if the figure is cut in half, youre at 17 in a thousand or nearly one out of every fifty.

For what its worth, the death rate in Italy is currently at 5 percent one in 20!

Italy is more or less in lockdown. Japan is preparing steps to instruct residents to remain indoors. Major countries do not shut down their populations because of media hype or a desire to make the American president look bad.

This is why we have to flatten the curve. We ordinary citizens have to take those basic steps of washing hands frequently and avoiding big gatherings, to reduce the rate of increase in cases, delay the peak of cases, and ensure that the hospital systems dont get overwhelmed.

The number of people who are currently insisting that preparedness is panic is amazing. None of us want a public-health disaster, but part of being responsible is being ready for the worst-case scenarios and taking action to ensure the worst-case scenarios dont come to pass. We have a lot of mayors of Amity and Chip Dillers among us.

If You Need to Beat an Incumbent, Is an Old War Horse Candidate the Best Choice?

An astute observation from Dan McLaughlin: Parties looking to unseat an incumbent have settled before on Biden-style old warhorse candidates, and lost. John Kerry in 2004, Bob Dole in 1996, and Walter Mondale in 1984 are the classic examples of this type of campaign. Adlai Stevenson in 1956 and Tom Dewey in 1948 were rerun candidates who lost to an incumbent, as was Bryan in 1900. John McCain in 2008 and Hubert Humphrey in 1968 were both old warhorses who failed to hold the White House a third time for their parties. The most encouraging parallels for Biden in modern elections would be the two former vice presidents to win the big job: George H. W. Bush in 1988 and Richard Nixon in 1968. The 1988 election, however, was a choice for continuity.

Yesterday I noticed that Biden campaign sources were mentioning both Senator Elizabeth Warren and Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, as a potential Treasury Secretary. Those two dont agree on much in economic policy. The fact that Biden could conceivably pick either suggests his economic policies are currently something of a blank slate, to be decided, or at least forged in greater detail, later.

The nomination of Biden represents the Democrats preferring to not have to choose a particular ideological or policy path.

Bloomberg: Hey, Never Mind about Those Guarantees I Made

Mike Bloomberg may never be president, but he can break promises like one: Mike Bloombergs shuttered presidential campaign is dismissing staffers across the country and inviting them to reapply for jobs on his new independent committee despite extending guarantees of being paid through the November election when they were hired. The consolation prize: They get to keep their Bloomberg-issued iPhones and MacBooks.

This is not surprising Bloomberg just wasnt going to need all of these people for his post-campaign Elect the Democrat effort. Judging from their own stories about their work ethic, he was wasting his money on them anyway.

ADDENDUM: Yesterday I chatted about coronavirus, the giant stock market drop, and the state of the presidential race with Brady Leonard.

Go here to read the rest:

Yes, Coronavirus Is Worse Than the Flu - National Review

When I first heard that Michelle Malkin was going to speak to a bunch of anti-Semitic, racist, and homophobic groypers, I thought (1) Oh, thats where shes been and (2) What happened to her? So I did some digging and what I found was even more disturbing than you might have guessed.

Those who have followed Malkin over the years know that she has always beenhow to put this politelyan immigration restrictionist. Though maybe thats too polite, since over the years shes championed not only racial profiling, but roundups of minorities, too. In 2004, she wrote a book titled In Defense of Internment. One of the websites she founded, Hot Air, thrived touting her anti-immigration cause through the mid-2000s and she considers the defeat of the McCain-Kennedy 2006 amnesty bill one of her great accomplishments. During those years, Malkin was put on a pedestal by mainstream conservative organizations such as CPAC, Regnery Publishing, and the Young Americas Foundation as a leading voice for the movement. She had a Fox News contract and appeared on the networks highest-rated shows.

And she now seems to have turned her back on all of that in order to link arms with the most vocal elements of the white nationalist movement. Oh, Im sorry. They insist on being called America Firsters. Same difference.

If the name Nick Fuentes sounds unfamiliar to you, consider yourself lucky. Think of him as a younger, Catholic fundamentalist version of Milo Yiannopoulos. Only more militant and irresponsible. The only reason to mention Fuentes is that he turns out to have been a key figure in Malkins spiral into the world of online extremism.

While Yiannopoulos paraded around in flamboyant costumes, Fuentes marched alongside aspiring Nazis in the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville and praised it as a tidal wave of white identity. Yiannopoulos mocked the mainstream media. Fuentes has said, I want the people to run CNN to be arrested and deported or hanged. Where Milo tried to be droll, Fuentes doesnt really do jokes, aside from making anti-Semitic noises about how long it takes to bake cookies in the oven because look how it triggers people who think the Holocaust was a bad thing.

You get the gist, Milo turns out to have just been a gateway drug to Fuentesism because the alt-rights red pills come in different strengths and flavors.

Fuentes and his followers loathe what they call Conservative Inc.a group of fake conservative establishmentarians who are insufficiently observant of traditional values. One of those values is severely restrictionist immigration policy, which at some point, began to tickle Malkins ears. So, too, has she adopted the anti-Conservative Inc. language, even though her entire career had beenif we are being honesta product of the actual Conservative Inc. Which is to say, CPAC, Regnery, YAF, Fox, and all the rest.

Malkins break with this main body of movement conservatism came last fall, amid a series of competing lectures on college campuses delivered by Malkin, Turning Point USAs Charlie Kirk, and the Daily Wires Ben Shapiro. During that time Fuentes and his followerswho see Kirk and Shapiro as avatars for Conservative Inc.began plotting ways to attend the events and embarrass them.

These followers of Fuentes werent students looking for a vigorous policy debate over green cards. Shapiros speaking schedule, for example, was posted on the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, and circulated among white nationalists. The motivation was sinister and the goal was disruption.

Strangely, as they started harassing Kirk, Shapiro, and Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw at various events, Malkin began giving cover to Fuentes and his groypers, tracking the drama on her Twitter account and in her syndicated column. She was quick to adopt their lingo, too. Cringe.

Then, on November 7, it was apparent that Shapiro, who happens to be an Orthodox Jew, felt compelled to say something about the anti-Semites who were trying to hijack the conservative mantle.

Hiding behind the lulz, Fuentes had recorded himself playing Grand Theft Auto and chasing down an Orthodox Jewish man wearing a business suit. He laughed about killing Ben Shapiro. In other videos criticizing Shapiro, Fuentes fondled a switchblade, opening and closing it dramatically, and flourishing it to emphasize his points. Needless to say, hostile signals were being sent. Only a very unwell person would find them funny.

In a YAF-sponsored speech at Stanford University, Shapiro devoted his remarks to condemning the alt-right, saying its members were playing a dangerous game. At one point he was booed. I have one question, Shapiro asked. Are you protesting the part where Im condemning the Nazis? You hear what Im doing right now. Do you have ears? Im literally condemning Nazis and youre telling me to leave. Do you hear yourselves?

Which is what finally sent Malkin over the edge. In the days after Shapiros speech, Malkin ran to the defense of the groypers. She used a November 14 YAF-sponsored speech of her own at UCLA, which she titled The Torch Is Being Passed, to burn every last bridge with her former friends and supporters.

She began by saying that usually her YAF speeches are intended to show how wrong or evil Democrats are, but that that evening she would be speaking to America First conservatives.

She criticized Shapiro for denigrating an entire movement of young men who watch a YouTuber named Nick Fuentes and said, Heres my message to the new generation of America Firsters exposing the big lies of the anti-American open borders establishment and its controlled opposition operatives: If I was your mom, Id be proud as hell.

Malkin went on to express solidarity with Fuentes, as well as the Proud Boys, Laura Loomer, and Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King (who was stripped of committee assignments by his fellow House Republicans for making racist remarks in January 2019).

This was too much even for YAF. Malkin had used her YAF-sponsored UCLA event to attack YAFs most in-demand speaker and to stand with bigots. YAF severed ties with her on November 18, issuing a statement that said, Immigration is a vital issue that deserves robust debate. But there is no room in mainstream conservatism or at YAF for holocaust deniers, white nationalists, street brawlers, or racists.

Later that week organizers at Bentley University in Massachusetts, who had planned to host an event promoting Malkins book Open Borders, Inc., canceled their event. Malkin went apoplectic. She tweeted and tweeted, doubling down on her new alliance. In one radio interview, she called for a widening of the Overton window and said that these are good kids who didnt deserve to be spurned.

She wrote a column titled Cancel Culture Hypocrites on the Left and Right in which she blasted the Keepers of the Gate who called on me to be de-platformed and cast out of the conservative mainstream.

I cancel you, she huffed.

All of that transpired during the fall of 2019. Last month, Malkins wayward progression continued. For years she had been a star at CPAC. But on February 28, instead of going to CPAC, where she was now banned from the stage, Malkin stood before a crowd at a new event organized by Fuentes. In that speech, she opened her remarks by saying, Thank you. Thank you. Mommys in the house.

It seemed a little odd that Malkin would again describe herself as a mom to these bigots. But it turns out that her imagery was deliberate. This is Malkins new identity: Mother of groypers.

In her speech, she addressed accusations of anti-Semitism with the same sort of mocking I talked about it, but didnt say ittone that is so common on the alt-right:

Already right out of the gate, before I even knew who Nick Fuentes was, before I knew who Groypers were, I was being tarred as an anti-Semite. Its become a useless, meaningless term and everybody knows it. And thats why theyre so desperate to tar all of us as that. Its anti-Semitic to mention George Soros billions. Its anti-Semitic to criticize the Anti-Defamation League. Its anti-Semitic to question whatever the precise number is of people who perished in World War II. It is anti-Semitic for me, being married to a 100 percent Ashkenazi Jew, to question dual loyalties of people who are working here as agents of a foreign country.

Oh, and it is an unacceptably anti-Semitic to point out the rank hypocrisy of people who are fiercely protective of an ethno-state and an immigration enforcement system that workswho turn around and call those of us who believe, whatever our backgrounds are, who only have one homeland that theyve ever known, to call uswhat is it now?white majoritarianism I believe is the term. Thats me. Thank you.

Moreover, Malkin sees herself following in the footsteps of one of her matriarchal heroines. There was a time when CPAC did at least give the grassroots nationalists a seat at the table, Malkin said. And Ill never forget this, because this was a very pivotal moment for me in my young career. Seventeen years ago, when I had the privilege of teaming up with the original Godmother of America First, the Catholic author, lawyer, and social conservative, mom of six and grandmother of 16, Phyllis Schlafly.

Today, Malkin seems to see herself as the figure to bridge the gap between Schlafly and the groypers. She spoke affectionately about the affinity she has for kids who do video from their basement, given her past experience developing online videos for Hot Air. Then, she turned serious and returned to the torch theme of her UCLA speech:

I really do believe that my role as a mother informs the choices that I have made and at some point, there will be a passing of the torch. I will not be doing what Ive done for 25 plus years. I had always woken up, especially in the last couple of years, thinking before I knew all of you, that I would have to do it until I was 70 or 80 or 90 because there was no one else to take up the legacy. I feel very confident that you, the Light Brigade, the America First Brigade, are well positioned to do what so few other grassroots revolts and rebellions have succeeded in doing. I believe in you. I honor your charge. I honor your mission. You may not have finances, but you have faith in this country and you have many more friends than you know.

The Daily Stormers Andrew Anglin described Malkins speech as beautiful.

In that same speech Malkin helpfully talked about others she considers part of the family. Among them were Fuentes, Yiannopoulos, Identity Evropa director Patrick Casey, VDARE president Peter Brimelow, VDARE writer (and former National Review writer) John Derbyshire, National Review contributing editor Dinesh DSouza, Ann Coulter, the Canadian white nationalist Faith Goldy, Frank Gaffney, and Pamela Geller. (Not all of them were thrilled by the honor. Geller posted the video of Malkins speech, calling it unconscionable and breathtakingand linked to an open letter posted on Robert Spencers Jihad Watch website asking Malkin to rethink her defense of a Jew-hater and Holocaust-denier.)

The great irony is that even now, Malkin still has friends in Conservative, Inc.

The Trump administrations senior official performing the duties of the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, gave Malkin a shoutout from the same CPAC stage she was banned from. Although many outlets, such as National Review and the Daily Wire, stopped carrying her syndicated columns, the Salem Media-owned Townhall.com still does. (When I emailed a Townhall.com executive asking why the site continued to publish her column, I received no reply.)

And Malkins columns continue to be carried by Creators Syndicate, which has placed more than 1,500 of her columns over various outlets over the last 20 yearsa record Malkin celebrates.

In fairness, its difficult to tell which newspapers are actually carrying her Creators column these days. A Lexis-Nexis search of her recent columns turned up only a handful of regional print publications, several of which are based in Louisiana, that run her.

When I reached out to Malkin to ask where her columns are now published she said I should contact Creators Syndicate. She added:

I look forward to your morally courageous call to continue lying, purging, and gatekeeping in the name of responsible conservative journalism. LOL

(After receiving no response from Creators, I circled back to Malkin to ask if she had a specific point of contact she would like me to use. She declined, and thenshe took to Twitter to say Creators Syndicate has proudly stood by her for 20 years and to tell her followers I was trying to cancel her. Rasmussen Reports tweeted it was proud to carry her columns every week.)

From the outside, it can certainly look as though Malkin tanked her career and is on the way to days filled with crocheting, hot yoga, and pickleball. But, her fierce commitment to this new crowd seems like something more, though.

So, why does the Joker smile?

Malkin is, if nothing else, a successful businesswoman. In 2006, as the blog revolution was remaking digital journalism, Malkin founded Hot Air. Four years later, she sold the enterprise to Salem Communications, a conservative media company. As the social and mobile revolutions sped up in the early 2010s, Malkin saw another opportunity, and founded the site Twitchy.com, which aggregates Tweets on a blog-style platform. A year later she sold this enterprise to Salem as well.

Its possible, of course, that by embracing the groypers, Malkin is just finally deciding to let her freak flag fly. Or its possible that her new views really do differ in kind from her old viewsthat some precipitating event changed her basic outlook on the world.

But it seems just as possible that Malkin may be positioning to build a new platform. The old trifecta of column writing, dead-tree book publishing, and cable news contracts is a dying model and whatever else you want to say about Malkin, shes always been entrepreneurial.

Lots of people seem to think that the alt-right is a phenomenon that will disappear when the Trump administration ends. It seems equally likely that the alt-right is waiting to be monetized by someone able to look past the bigotry and see it as an asset ready to be put to work. Why couldnt Alt-Right, Inc. be the new Conservative, Inc.?

If so, then it makes sense that Malkin is courting Fuentes and his young, loyal audience. Especially if they are all cancelled and cant find any other basement to dwell in. Because it sure seems like Mommy wants to give them a home.

Correction, 3/9/20, 8:01 a.m.: The article originally identified the head of the blog Jihad Watch as Richard Spencer. Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch.

Correction, 3/9/20 1:20 p.m.:A previous version of this article mistakenly identified Ken Cuccinelli as the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, rather than as the senior official performing the duties of the director.

See more here:

Michelle Malkin: Mother of Groypers - The Bulwark

Cape Cod Times Monday Mar9,2020at5:22PM Mar9,2020at5:22PM

The RAIN Group, a global sales training company, announced that it was presented with four gold Stevie Awards in the 14th annual ceremony in Las Vegas in February.

For achieving outstanding client results, the firm received top honors in the categories of sales training program of the year with SAGE Publishing and business development achievement of the year with Chatham Financial. The company also won awards for sales training practice of the year, and Bob Croston, company vice president, was named sales training professional of the year.

With more than 25 years of experience, Croston won the award his successful career as a sales consultant. Croston's clients worldwide include Toyota, Hitachi, Fidelity Investments and Harvard Business School.

The Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service honor outstanding customer service, business development and successful sales professionals.

Email business news and high-resolution photos to biz@capecodonline.com. Please include a contact phone number.

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Osterville Resident Bob Croston named sales training professional of the year - Cape Cod Times

Today with great excitement the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) announces the creation of theTrusted Local Directory, a national online business directory.

ADP recognized the need for an online business directory that offers consumers a higher level of trust. Through a united effort by directory publishers across the United States, the Trusted Local Directory was developed.

The Trusted Local Directory is enhanced by the ADP Trusted Local Certification Program. This program identifies and certifies Publishers, Partners and businesses that exemplify trust.

Companies that apply for the Trusted Local Business Seal must pass a thorough certification process. The Business Seal, combined with innovative presence management and local trust factor tools, strengthens a business credibility and helps it stand out among its competitors where consumers are searching for products and services in print and online.

Businesses can only obtain the Trusted Local Business Seal from aTrusted Local Publisher. Each Trusted Local Application varies in requirements. For Publishers and Partners these stringent requirements include a priority on business integrity and ethical standards; customer service standards and accountability; contract transparency; sales training practices; and data integrity, including security and privacy of information.

ADP President and CEO Cindi Aldrich said, Consumers are more skeptical than ever, so its important to have this trusted national online directory. Not only is it critical to have this national online directory, but for it to be supported by Publishers and Partners that also meet high standards. Creating the Trusted Local Certification Program and Trusted Local Directory was a logical addendum for ADP.

Publishers and/or Partners interested in the Trusted Local Certification Program shouldvisit ADP.org. Those that would like to learn more about the Business Seal should visitTrustedLocalDirectory.com.

For press inquiries, please contact Cindi Aldrich at info@adp.org or by calling 404-444-0127.

About Association of Directory Publishers (ADP)

The Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) is an international trade association serving the directory publishing industry since 1898. ADP membership includes online and print publishers, app developers and designers, advertising agencies and suppliers to the online, mobile and print publishing industry.

The directory publishing industry is the original local search engine, widely known as the medium that brings buyers to sellers at the exact moment they are ready to buy.

As this ever-evolving world of search expands, whether it is print, online, social networks or mobile devices, ADP will continue to be at the forefront to assist its members in connecting buyers to sellers.

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ADP Announces Trusted Local Directory and Invites Publishers, Partners and Businesses to Join - PRUnderground