Ninth Anniversary of My Blog; Blog Hit Report

           I entered my tenth year of posting to my blog, as its ninth anniversary was yesterday.  Thank you for visiting, especially those who visit regularly and those who follow, comment or provide feedback offline.

            The dramatic increase in pageviews to my blog tracked by Blogger, the host of my blog, that first began in July of last year has continued into this year, despite a decrease in the number of posts.  Totals range from over 700 to more than 1,650 per month, not including my own visits, with an average of well over a thousand.  The less specificity about the hits than those tracked by StatCounter, however, make more detailed analysis difficult.  As usual, there is a substantial volume from Europe, in addition to the United States (from which hits are unspecified from which State), as well as pageviews from around the world, including from every inhabited continent.  Every post is viewed multiple times, with the homepage receiving the largest share of hits.

            Being able to exercise the freedom of the (printing) press, in electronic form, is especially appreciated and necessary in these challenging times.  

           Please continue to visit my blog regularly, or follow, comment, or provide feedback or ask questions offline.  Thank you for your patronage!

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank God for the Safeguards of the Blessings of Liberty

           Happy Thanksgiving!  As always, in addition to personal blessings, I am thankful for you who visit my blog.

A thanksgiving was first federally proclaimed, in commemoration of the one celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621 in Plymouth colony for the harvest and for amity with the Native Americans, by United States President George Washington, in thanks to God for the blessings of liberty. 

We Americans should be especially thankful that we have been able to keep those blessings to the extent we have, despite the increased threats to them from hostile foreign interference and authoritarianism, in addition the usual ones.  This year, I am especially grateful for the constitutional checks and balances established by the Framers of the Constitution that have safeguarded our freedoms.  In addition to divided government and the separation of powers, the principle of limited government through federalism, have proved at least somewhat effective, especially when bolstered by public pressure, as these principles have been proven only to be effective when Americans are willing to defend them.  All the public servants and fellow citizens who have been making use of them—often creatively to meet novel and unexpected threats—at a time when many public servants have failed to uphold their constitutional duties, have prevented Americans from losing sovereignty and freedom as much as was feared, but vigilance is the eternal price of liberty.  We can be thankful to them for doing their part to protect us from foreign and domestic enemies.

May God continue to bless America!

Foreign Digest: Bosnia: Ratko Mladic Conviction, Burma: Update on Ethnic Cleansing, North Korea: State Sponsor of Terrorism

Bosnia: Ratko Mladic Conviction

            The International Criminal Court late this week sentenced former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity for his responsibility for ethnic cleansing and genocide against Muslims in Bosnia Herzegovina in its war of independence from the former Yugoslavia from 1992-1995.  The crimes included the largest massacre of civilians in Europe since the Second World War.  The Serb-dominated Yugoslavia was led by a Communist dictator, Slobodan Milosevic, who was using nationalist demagoguery to maintain power in the fractious Balkan state, including backing ethnic Serbs in Bosnia against Muslims and Croats.  Milosevic died while being tried for crimes against humanity, while Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic had also been convicted, like Mladic, of similar crimes against Bosniaks and Croats in the attempt to unite the Serbian parts of Bosnia with Serbia.

Burma: Update on Ethnic Cleansing

            The United States yesterday declared the Burmese military suppression of a Muslim insurgency in its northeast “ethnic cleansing,” as many civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee to neighboring states.  It is hoped that the American statement will increase pressure on Burma’s democratic government to stop the abuses by the Burmese military.

North Korea: State Sponsor of Terrorism

            The U.S. yesterday placed North Korea on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.  The Communist state’s had been removed by President George W. Bush after a lengthy period of not engaging in terrorist attacks, as a goodwill gesture during negotiations about the Hermit Kingdom’s nuclear weapons program, but, as I had posted in July of 2010 in War on Terrorism Update: Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2010/07/war-on-terrorism-update-afghanistan.html, it continues to harbor terrorists and it threatened in 2014 to blow up movie theaters that played a film mocking the North Korean dictator, which I posted about afterward in January of 2015, A Consideration of Recent Alleged Instances of Terrorism and Related Observations, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-consideration-of-recent-alleged.html. 

           North Korea joins Iran, Syria and Sudan as the only state sponsors of terrorism on the State Department’s list.  Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Cuba had all been removed.  Cuba should also be placed back on the list, as it continues to harbor terrorists, while Venezuela and Russia should be added to it. Venezuela assists the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization, Hezbollah, which Russia trains while supporting Bashar Assad’s terrorist-sponsoring Syrian regime.  The designation triggers a series of specific economic sanctions and other restrictions.

Update: Zimbabwe’s Dictator Has Resigned

           The longtime tyrant of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has been forced to resign as president after being deposed as party leader by his own ruling socialist party, following the party-directed coup d’etat late last week that I had posted about. 

            The 93-year-old dictator, who had been placed under house arrest, had attempted to ensure his much younger wife would succeed him as president and party leader.  She was forced out as head of the party’s ladies auxiliary.  The Vice President will accede to Zimbabwe’s presidency amidst jubilation in the streets, as Mugabe can no longer oppress the people of Zimbabwe.

            The ruling Marxist-oriented party must, as the international community should insist, permit freedom of speech, press and assembly and conduct free and fair elections and accept the results if they are in favor of the democratic opposition.  It must not continue the same tyranny with which it was complicit under Mugabe, as the long-suffering Zimbabweans deserve liberty and representative government.  The last day of the dictator ought to be the last day of dictatorship.  

          The celebrations in Harare and elsewhere in Zimbabwe also ought to be heard clearly in South Africa, where the corrupt democratically-elected president has been protected by the most loyal core of his Marxist-oriented ruling party that has dominated electoral politics in Zimbabwe’s southern neighbor since blacks were granted the privilege to vote.

Conservative Analysis of the Pennsylvania 2017 General Election

           Now that the votes have been counted, it is possible to offer a brief analysis of the 2017 Pennsylvania General Election.  As I have noted previously, the vote totals published by the state and county election officials across the Commonwealth immediately after the election do not include absentee and provisional ballots, which can often change the outcome of a close contest, which there often are in statewide Pennsylvania elections.  The professional media lack authority to “declare” election winners and even concessions by losing candidates are not legally determinative. 

            Statewide, a Republican, who had been appointed to the state Supreme Court to fill a vacancy, was elected to Pennsylvania’s highest court, where Democrats hold a majority.  Democrats carried three of the four Superior Court seats in a close race, while the two parties each split the two seats on the Commonwealth Court.  Therefore, Democrats won a majority of the seven seats Republicans, but the GOP was victorious in the most important contest.           

            Although Republicans were competitive in the statewide judicial races, Donald Trump was a factor in the Pennsylvania election, as was apparent in Virginia and other American States, even in local races in the Keystone State.  The Trump effect was especially noticeable in the Philadelphia suburbs, where the election was viewed particularly as a referendum on the party of Trump.  Democrats there were motivated to turn out to vote and to vote against Republican candidates in southeast Pennsylvania, as elsewhere across the Union, which led to historic Democratic gains in county and municipal elections.

            The constitutional referendum to allow counties, municipalities and school districts to reduce real estate taxes for home owners was approved.  The amendment gives those taxing bodies the option of exempting up to 100% of the median value of a primary residence from real estate taxation.  Commercial properties would remain subject to real estate taxes.  It is uncertain how counties, municipalities and school districts would replace the lost revenue.  

           The referendum boosted turnout significantly in Berks County, where I reside, which is a hotbed of anti-real estate tax efforts, which, in turn, helped local Republican candidates.  The referendum likely helped offset somewhat the anti-Trump vote statewide. The absence of an equivalent to boost conservative turnout in the more ideological federal and state elections in 2018 will likely make it even harder for Republicans to be elected who do not break clearly with Trumpism.

Foreign Digest; Burma, China, Philippines, Zimbabwe, Syria

Burma

            Amidst a longtime Muslim insurgency in Burma, there has been ethnic cleansing of Muslims by the Burmese military.  Hundreds of thousands have been killed or forced to flee.  The democratic Burmese government has been slow to address the humanitarian needs of Muslim civilians, let alone to acknowledge genocide or ethnic cleansing.  World leaders have urged Burma to protect Muslim civilians.  The Trump Administration of the United States, however, has declined to describe the Burmese policy as “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.”

China and the Philippines

            In both China and the Philippines, Donald Trump failed to advocate for press freedoms on his recent Asian trip.  In China, he acquiesced to the demand of the Chinese Communist government not to permit questions from the press at the joint statement of the Chinese and U.S. Presidents, contrary to the practice of past American Presidents.  In the Philippines, Trump offered no response at the joint presidential press conference after the Filipino President called professional journalists “spies.”  Trump, who admires numerous authoritarians and has authoritarian proclivities himself, has praised the murderous Filipino leader for his policy of urging Filipinos to kill suspected drug dealers, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. 

Zimbabwe

            Zimbabwe’s socialist ruling party last week deposed longtime-dictator Robert Mugabe through a military coup led by the Vice President after Mugabe made plans for his much- younger wife to succeed him.  The nonagenarian strongman had ruled the former Rhodesia since 1980.  Mugabe has been forced out as the party’s leader and is being pressured to resign or face impeachment.

Taking over from a white minority government, Mugabe, instead of spreading liberty and representative government, as the Zimbabwean people had joyously hoped, became a tyrant and a thief.  After nationalizing industries and often violently stealing farms from whites, he plunged Zimbabwe into economic ruin, infamously causing the most extreme hyperinflation, necessitating the printing of notes with the record-high denomination of 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollars.  One of the last remaining “Big Men” of Africa, Mugabe and his party have held power by oppression and through rigging elections.  Mugabe had praised Donald Trump during the 2016 United States presidential election.  It is hoped that Zimbabweans will finally be free and that free and fair elections will be held soon, but the ruling party’s record of tyranny makes such an outcome doubtful. 

Syria 

           The Russian Federation again has vetoed the United Nations Security Council resolution, sponsored by the United States, to renew the authorization for the Joint Investigative Mechanism, the agency tasked with investigating the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction in Syria.  It is Russian’s tenth veto on the subject.  The agency has concluded that Syria’s Assad regime, which Russia supports, is culpable for using chemical WMDs in its civil war.  As with conventional weapons, Syria targets civilian populations.  The Baathist regime, which is also backed by Iran, is a state sponsor of terrorism.  Russia has a pattern of supporting terrorists under the guise of opposing terrorists and of labeling opponents “terrorists.”  It also has a policy, through propaganda and disinformation, to undermine confidence in the truth, in order to serve the sinister ends of its tyrant, Vladimir Putin, and the oligarchy that backs him.

2017 General Election Day in Pennsylvania and Across the American Union

           Tuesday, November 7 is General Election Day across the American Union, including in Pennsylvania.  The most important elections are the gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia and mayoral elections in many major American cities.   

           In Pennsylvania, the statewide offices on the ballot are for each of the three appellate level courts.  There is one Supreme, four Superior and two Commonwealth Court seats to which to elect candidates.  There are also two retentions on the ballot for Supreme Court Justices, one being conservative Republican Chief Justice Tom Saylor, the other a liberal Democrat. 

            Locally in the Keystone State, in this “municipal” election there are county courts of common pleas and countywide offices and judicial retentions.  There are also magisterial district judge, constable, municipal and school district elections.  Voters will also be electing their precinct Election boards.  These statewide, countywide, municipal and school district officeholders will affect the residents of their respective districts more directly on a wide range of issues than federal elected officials. 

            There are many conservative candidates for these offices.  Although some may be Trumpist, it is not easy to know if judicial candidates are, as they are guarded in expressing their views in order to maintain impartiality.  As for local candidates, because they often limit their expressions to local matters, it is also difficult to know their degree of agreement with Trumpism, unless they have publicly disassociated with Donald Trump or his views.  It is understandable that some conservatives would prefer to avoid voting for Republican candidates generally and perhaps skip contests or write in the names of more preferable candidates because the Party is being dominated by populists/protectionists/nativists/nationalists, but one must use one’s best judgment, guided by good conscience, in voting for the best candidate, meaning one whose character is sound and whose views are the most preferable, if possible.  And certainly it is even more critical at this time to vote for any Republican candidates who publicly reject Trumpism.

            There is also a ballot question in Pennsylvania: a constitutional referendum on real estate taxes which would allow counties, municipalities and school districts to have the option to establish a homestead exemption for up to 100% of the value of a home in that district.  Currently, there is only a homestead exemption on school real estate taxes, worth up to 50% of the median value of homes in that district.  The loss of revenue would be made up through other tax levies. 

           The polls in Pennsylvania are open Tuesday from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM.  Make plans today to vote in these important elections.

Foreign Digest: Spain: Catalonia Update; and Italy: Election Law Enactment

Update: Catalonia

            Last week, after dissolving the Catalan government following the referendum for independence for Catalonia in October, the Spanish Government established direct Spanish rule in Catalonia through the Vice President, with elections for a new provincial government scheduled in December.  The Catalan Parliament declared independence in the meantime.  Catalan leaders, facing arrest for violating the Spanish Constitution, have fled to Belgium, where they may be subjected to extradition. 

Many businesses addressed in the prosperous province have relocated to elsewhere in Spain.  There was another large pro-union rally in Barcelona last week.  A recent public opinion poll suggests a large plurality of Catalans favor greater autonomy over independence or maintaining the status quo.  Like the European Union, the United States is encouraging Spanish unity.

Italian election law enactment

Italy’s new election law was approved by the Italian Parliament and signed into law by the President at the end of last week.  Its main purpose was to make the elections for both the lower Chamber of Deputies and upper Senate chambers of Parliament similar.  Over one-third of the parliamentary seats will be directly elected first-past-the-post in single-member districts and nearly two thirds will be awarded proportionally in regional districts. 

The law, which is designed to encourage coalition-building, sets a threshold of 3% of the proportional vote for parties and 10% for blocks to hold any seats in Parliament.  Like the old law, the new one still uses party lists for proportional allocation, meaning voters do not have control over which party candidate is elected.  

The law was supported by the ruling center-left party, their center-right junior coalition partners and the main conservative and far-right parties.  It was opposed by the populists, the far-left and others.  The law is intended to prevent a victory for the anti-establishment populists, who insist upon ruling alone, which would be difficult without a governing majority.  The ruling party and the populists are about even in the public opinion polls for a plurality, but the combined conservative and far-right bloc would likely obtain the lead.  Elections are expected in the spring.

Pennsylvania’s 2017 Fiscal Authorization Enactment

           Several months after the approval of Pennsylvania’s fiscal 2017 budget, Governor Tom Wolfe, a Democrat, signed the Commonwealth’s fiscal authorization bill approved by the Republican-led state legislature into law last week.  The state had been borrowing since the beginning of July in the absence of the authorization to spend money. 

The fiscal authorization act includes no tax increases to cover Pennsylvania’s budget shortfall, but includes more borrowing from expected revenue from various funds and yet another significant expansion of gambling.  Commercial fireworks are legalized and will be taxed. 

There have been significant budget cuts over the last several years, but there will be no privatization of the wholesale of wine and spirits, which would have netted the Commonwealth a major increase in revenue from the sale of licenses and more volume of taxation through less illegal bootlegging.  The budget approved at the end of June did not include savings from any significant pension reform.  The increased cost of pensions is a major burden on the Commonwealth’s budget.  Other spending cuts, such as additional welfare reform, or the elimination of corporate welfare and tax credits for various favored industries would also help Pennsylvania’s budget significantly.