UK news
fromwww.independent.co.uk
2 days agoNot an act of patriotism': Readers divided over England flag displays
The England flag debate reveals divisions over its symbolism and usage in modern Britain.
The dedication ceremony will begin with the first speaker at 1:30 p.m. and end with a 2:33 p.m. flyover by the West Coast Ravens that perform at air shows.
Coun. Michael Thompson stated that the motion is a way to prevent the city from becoming a divisive place, aiming to reduce tensions stemming from global issues affecting local communities.
In Italy, the most common topic mentioned as a source of national pride was culture and the arts. These were cited by 38 percent of respondents, more than any other place. An Italian woman who took part in the survey said she was proud of 'the works in the churches, paintings, sculpture ... most places in Italy have something beautiful.' An Italian man said that 'Italy is an open-air museum.'
Have a look at a photograph taken this past December in the Kennedy Center. There is Donald Trump, grinning from ear to ear, with a flashy gold medal around his neck. In front of him is a large, phallic gold (or perhaps gilded) trophy depicting hands holding up the globe (or perhaps a soccer ball). It was Trump's very own " FIFA Peace Prize."
After beating Canada 3-1 during group play of the Four Nations Faceoff, you could make an argument for the United States to be considered the favourite to win gold in the final. But just five days later, in that same game, the United States could not get the job done, ultimately succumbing to Canada 3-2 in overtime. Almost a year later, that loss still stings. A lot.
A new campaign is aiming to collect 50 objects that sum up Englishness in an effort to move the conversation away from reductive arguments over whether to hang a St George's flag or not. Supported by the Green party politician Caroline Lucas, the musician and campaigner Billy Bragg, and Kojo Koram, a law professor, the A Very English Chat campaign hopes to tackle England's growing social divisions and political polarisation.
The Stasi, the secret police, were legendary for their data files. Their work was based on instilling fear, and they induced stunningly amazing numbers of East Germans into informing on their neighbors. Something along the lines of 1 in 6 East Germans were informants, whether out of fear or out of approval of what the East German government was doing.
Observed on February 22, George Washington's birthday, Presidents' Day became a holiday in 1885. In 1971, the day evolved to recognize all presidents, namely Abraham Lincoln, who was born on February 12. Still a federal holiday 140 years later, Presidents' Day is a time to reflect on the nation's leaders, who have shaped life for its citizens and affected the world in immeasurable ways-for better or worse.
President Donald Trump's MAGA movement suffers from an excess of morality. On no issue is that more apparent, and more self-damaging, than immigration. That claim likely would strike both the right and the left as absurd. The former sees itself as hard-nosed realists who will do whatever necessary to take back their nation. And the latter doesn't see much MAGA morality in Minneapolis, where this weekend immigration officers again shot dead a disruptive protester, the second this month.
As authoritarianism accelerates - as government-sanctioned violence becomes more overt in immigration enforcement, in policing, in the open deployment of federal force against civilians, and in the steady erosion of civil rights - people are scrambling for reference points. But instead of reckoning with the long and violent architecture of U.S. history, much of this searching collapses into racialized tropes and xenophobic reassurance: This isn't Afghanistan. This isn't Iran or China. This is America. We have rights. This is a democracy. This isn't who we are.
"It is not the critic who counts," President Theodore Roosevelt once said. "The credit belongs to the man who is in the arena." The Heritage Foundation has been in the arena for many years, fighting many battles, so it's no surprise that it has attracted many critics as well. And while Heritage cannot claim perfection, this much is certain: We have stayed true to our mission despite the critics;
A record high of adults—80 percent—believes that Americans are divided on the most important values. National pride, trust in government, and confidence in institutions are near record lows. The Princeton University historian Sean Wilentz says the United States hasn't been this divided since the Civil War. Nearly half of Americans think another civil war is likely in their lifetime.