Tenth Anniversary of My Blog; Blogger Pageview Report

Today is the tenth anniversary of the launch of my blog.  Thank you for visiting, following, commenting or providing positive feedback offline. 

Last month, I posted my 1,000^th post.  I plan to continue blogging to defend and advance liberty and representative government, as web journalism is an effective safeguard against authoritarianism.

The anniversary of the blog is the time when I always give an annual report of the pageviews of this blog logged by Blogger, the blog host.  Although Blogger is much less precise than StatCounter, it generally picks up more activity than the latter.  Since last year, the number of pageviews per month was typically more than 1,300 to 2,000, with a spike of 4,200 in January.  In addition to the many visits to the homepage, every post is viewed multiple times.  There have been visits from countries around the world, especially from Europe, in addition to the United States.  

Again, thank you for visiting.  

Update: The Enactment of More Pennsylvania Bills

           In addition to the bills signed into law I posted about last month in my post The Pennsylvania General Assembly Finished Its Session By Passing Several Major Bills, https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-pennsylvania-general-assembly.html, there were a few other noteworthy pieces of legislation approved this legislative session that were enacted when the liberal Democratic Governor signed the bills passed by the Republican-led state legislature.

There was finally some much-needed pension reform, as pensions are causing a crisis not only for the Commonwealth, but for every county, municipality and school district in Pennsylvania.  Under the new law, most newly hired public employees, including state legislators and judges, starting in 2019 will be provided less generous benefits that are more like those provided for in the private sector.  The act also raises the retirement age and requires longer service for eligibility.  However, a third of state employees, such as state troopers, prison guards and game wardens are exempt.

There was yet more expansion of gambling, as the Commonwealth continues to seek easy revenue without raising taxes.  There will now be more mini-casinos, slot-machines at truck stops, sports betting and Internet gambling, under new Pennsylvania law.  There has still been no privatization of alcohol to increase revenue.

Other laws increased penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, enacted various minor criminal justice reforms and addressed animal cruelty.

Foreign Digest: Italy, the United Kingdom and Taiwan

Italian budget update

            The European Union last week declared the populist Italian Government’s budget to be non-compliant with EU rules because it exceeds spending limits and is based on too much optimism of economic growth.  The breach will trigger punitive measures, unless the Government agrees to modify its fiscal plan to eliminate the excessive spending.  Discussions between the Italian Republic and the EU have begun.  With the third largest economy in the eurozone, Italy’s budget affects all the other members of the EU.  The unprecedented step of rejecting a budget was seen by the EU members as necessary to enforce the organization’s rules.

United Kingdom EU update: agreement on leaving

            An accord was reached today between the United Kingdom and the European Union for the former to leave the latter, as a result of the referendum approved by British voters in 2016 and subsequently ratified by Parliament.  The UK did not share the EU’s common currency, but was part of the common market, enjoying free trade and passport-free freedom of movement within the EU, as citizens of other EU member states could travel to the UK.  The difficult parts of the agreement were in regard to these EU citizens residing in the UK, Britons residing in EU states and the borders with the Republic of Ireland and between British-held Gibraltar and Spain.  Ireland and Spain are members of the EU.  The controversial deal, meant to avoid a disorderly divorce by 2019, must be approved by the British Parliament.  It risks bringing down the Conservative-led Government.

Taiwan: referendum against same-sex unions

           A non-binding referendum to deny public recognition of same-sex unions as “marriages” was rejected yesterday by Taiwanese voters.  The Supreme Court of the Republic of China two years ago had required their recognition, making Taiwan the only Asian state to recognize them.  The vote is expected to influence the next parliamentary elections.

Happy Thanksgiving! Give Thanks for the American People

           Every Thanksgiving, we Americans thank God for our blessings: our land of plenty, the pilgrims and other immigrants who continue to settle here and contribute to the greatness of our country, the friendship of the Native Americans who made the first Thanksgiving possible, and for our security and liberty and especially those who defend our freedom. 

            Last year, I focused on giving particular thanks to the checks and balances of our federal Constitution.  This year, I am particularly thankful for the ultimate check on power: the People.  It is the faith of the American people for our American Creed and their love of liberty and their knowledge and understanding of their founding that will continue to defend our freedom from all enemies foreign and domestic and allow America again to be the beacon of liberty for the rest of the world. 

           May God continue to bless America. 

Update: Conservatives and Republicans Are Organizing Against Trumpism

A new organization has been formed, Checks and Balances https://checks-and-balances.org/, of conservative and libertarian lawyers standing for the rule of law, the independence of the criminal justice system and the separation of powers. 

Checks and Balances is the latest organization which includes prominent conservatives and Republicans who are organizing against various aspects of Trumpism, as I have been posting since May.  See Conservative and Republicans Are Organizing against Trumpism, https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2018/05/conservatives-and-republicans-are.html, and follow-ups and updates of this post: https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2018/05/follow-up-to-conservatives-and.html, https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2018/06/another-follow-up-to-conservatives-and.html and https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2018/09/update-conservatives-and-republicans.html.

            The major anti-Trumpist organizations which include prominent conservatives and Republicans are the Committee to Investigate Russia; Securing Democracy; Stand Up Republic and its sister organization, Stand Up Ideas; Defending Democracy Together, which includes Republicans for the Rule of Law, Republicans Fighting Tariffs and the Becoming American Initiative; and Renew Democracy.       

Foreign Digest: Italy, Russia and Cambodia

Italy

            The populist Italian Government continues to attract warnings from international organizations, especially European ones, like the European Union.  A European human rights commission expressed concern about human rights violations because of the Government’s new hard-line policy against migrants.  In addition to the EU’s objection to the budget for the Italian Republic, which exceeds EU rules, the head of the European Central Bank has warned against such overspending.  The populist Government usually objects to any criticism from the European Union, even though it wants to maintain the benefits of membership in the EU and the euro and despite the fact that the President of the European Parliament and the head of the central bank chief are Italian.

Russia

The European Court of Human Rights ruled the Russian Federation’s repeated arrests of democratic opposition leader Alexei Navalny for peaceful protests violated human rights and limited political pluralism.  It imposed a fine on the authoritarian and kleptocratic regime of Vladimir Putin.  Over the last several months, the opposition has been protesting corruption, tyranny and Russian involvement in wars in Ukraine and Syria.  Thousands of peaceful protestors have been arrested across Russia.

Cambodia

           The last two surviving members of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Maoist tyrannical regime were sentenced to life imprisonment after their conviction by an international tribunal for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.  The Communist Khmer Rouge killed more than a million and a half people from 1975-1979, as well as committed various other gross human rights abuses, such as mass incarceration, slavery, torture and forced removal of the entire population of the capital city.  Cambodia became known as the “Killing Fields” as the regime targeted Vietnamese and Muslim minorities, as well as anyone suspected of being an intellectual (e.g. for wearing eyeglasses) out of suspicion of western influence in order to impose an agrarian socialist regime.  Others have also been convicted, although the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, died in captivity before his trial.  The kingdom is currently ruled by a relatively less repressive Communist despot.

Conservative Analysis of the 2018 Pennsylvania General Election

           Although the results of the 2018 General Election in Pennsylvania have not yet been certified, as the unusually large number of paper ballots have not yet been counted, an accurate analysis of the results may be done already because the final outcome will not alter the general observations I am making.

            Democrats were overall winners in the Keystone State, although the results generally did not alter the status quo in terms of control of state Branches of Government.  The Democratic Governor was easily re-elected and Democrats made relatively large gains in both houses of the General Assembly, although the Republicans maintain a significant majority, as they were nonetheless victorious in a majority of contests for the House of Representatives and despite suffering several losses among the half of the seats of the Senate on the ballot.  The Governor’s tax and spend policies had mostly been thwarted by the GOP-led General Assembly, thereby victimizing the Republican Party by its own success in terms of popular approval of the Governor.  The memory of earlier budget delays had faded by this year, after an on-time budget approval this year for the Commonwealth.

            For federal offices in Pennsylvania, Democrats won the only statewide contest, for United States Senate, with the re-election of the incumbent over a Trumpist.  They also picked up three seats in Pennsylvania’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.  Since last year’s special election, the composition of the House delegation has changed from 13-5 in favor of the Republicans to an even 9-9 split.  These Democratic increases were minimal, however, considering the redistricting by the Democratic-led state Supreme Court.

            Up and down the ballot, Democratic gains were mostly concentrated in southeastern Pennsylvania.  There were some Republican ones elsewhere.  The trend of suburban Philadelphia toward the Democrats and suburban Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania toward the Republicans continues.

            Donald Trump was a major factor in the Republicans’ electoral defeat in Pennsylvania.

           There was one noteworthy exception in the southeast to the Democratic tide there that was especially because of the Trump factor: U.S. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, who campaigned as an independent anti-Trump Republican and had a record of statements and bi-partisan legislative activity to back up his message, was re-elected.

The First World War Armistice 100th Anniversary

            The world commemorated the 100^th anniversary of the end of the First World War today.  As the armistice that ended the “Great War,” the “War to End All Wars,” was signed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in France, the anniversary of the end of what was until then the deadliest war in history was observed there with a large gathering of world leaders.

           The events were a reminder of the dangers of excessive nationalism.  Franco-German peace, the linchpin of Western European peace that was finally obtained only after the even bloodier Second World War that was caused by the First World War, was particularly poignant today, with the German Chancellor and French President leading the commemorations.  European peace is nowadays ensured by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and by various European organizations.  

The United States observes Veterans’ Day on this date, or on a Monday following, as this year.  All veterans of the First World War are now deceased, but although the holiday is to honor living veterans for their sacrifice for the security and liberty Americans now enjoy, it is appropriate especially today to remember with gratitude the sacrifices of those U.S. servicemen who helped to end the war and avert whatever ills may have ensued from victory by the empires of the Central Powers over the more representative Allied states.  

Foreign Digest: Turkey, Italy and Venezuela

Turkey

            There were more arrests earlier this month in Turkey of people the Islamist authoritarian government claims were associated with the leaders of the 2016 attempted military coup.  Tens of thousands of have been arrested or sacked.

Italy

            The foreign ministers of ten Northern European members of the European Union last week warned Italy against its excessive budget.  They warned that Italian bonds would be affected.  The budget exceeds EU spending rules, as that body has declared.  The International Monetary Fund has given similar warnings on the budget approved by the populist Italian Government.

Venezuela

            Three million people have reportedly become refugees from the Socialist tyranny of Venezuela.  They have mostly fled to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The 2018 General Election in Pennsylvania and Across the American Union

           Tuesday, November 6 is General Election Day in Pennsylvania and across the American Union.  There are critically important federal and state offices on the ballot.

            The federal offices are for Congress, including each seat in the United States House of Representatives and one third of the Senate, including one of Pennsylvania’s two seats.  The Legislative Branch is a co-equal Branch of Government to the Executive and Judicial.  Each branch is checked and balanced by the other two under the Constitution.

            State offices include governor and state legislative offices in the Keystone States, while there are other state offices on the ballot in other American States.  Some States also have referendums. 

            These offices affect the federal Union, States, communities and people in many ways.  Also, the candidates elected to lower offices can be promoted in the future to higher offices.

            There are relatively conservative candidates for many of these offices, some of whom are not Trumpist (populist, nativist, protectionist and isolationist), including in Pennsylvania. 

           With a lower voter turnout than in presidential election years, each vote is more significant.  

Freedom House Reports a Global Decline of Internet Freedom, Citing the Chinese Model

           For the eighth strait year around the world, freedom on the Internet has declined, as the Communist Chinese model has spread and authoritarian governments engage in censorship and even use the Internet to their own advantage, according to a report by Freedom House: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/freedom-net-2018.  

           Internet freedom declined in dozens of the 65 states that were analyzed.  Freedom has declined for twelve consecutive years, as I posted in January of this year in Freedom House Reports a Decline in Freedom for the Twelfth Strait Year; Russia, China and Donald Trump Are Cited https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2018/01/freedom-house-reports-decline-of.html.  There is a general correspondence between the level of overall freedom in states and that of Internet freedom.  China requires Internet service providers, in exchange for market access, to censor and is providing the technology and training it uses to other authoritarian states.  The report observes the spread of propaganda and disinformation by illiberal regimes on the Internet.  Internet service providers attempt to eliminate “fake news (news that is totally fabricated),” but, following the example of Donald Trump, the pretender to the presidency of the United States, authoritarian regimes are using the term broadly to censor critical independent journalism and all dissent.

           The Internet was originally thought to be another tool of spreading information, which would undermine the monopoly of information held by illiberal regimes, and of allowing dissidents to communicate better.  Instead, it is being used as another tool of authoritarianism. 

           The report validates the necessity of Internet journalism, including blogging, as well as of human rights organizations and freedom of the press associations.  It also reminds of the need for a return to American global leadership for liberty and of the application of greater public pressure on Internet service providers not to be complicit with authoritarianism, but instead to insist upon Internet freedom.