Essequibo: Guyana may “ask UN member states to take military action to force Venezuela to comply with the ICJ order”

Guyana to take Venezuela to UN Security Council after Maduro’s announcements about Essequibo; GDF contacts US Department of Defence

Dr Ali added that there was “nothing to fear” as Guyana’s international partners and international community “are ready to support us.” He said the Guyana Defence Force was “on full alert” and has contacted the Florida-based United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), one of the 11 unified combatant commands in the US Department of Defense. “The Guyana Defence Force is on full alert and has engaged its military counterparts including the US Southern Command,” he said, without elaborating. Dr Ali added that the US, United Kingdom, Brazil and France as well as the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guitteres have been contacted. “By defying the court. Venezuela has rejected international law, the rule of law generally fundamental justice and morality and the preservation of international peace and security. They have literally declared themselves an outlaw nation,” he said.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall earlier Tuesday said the UN Security Council could be asked to approve economic sanctions on Venezuela or ask UN member states to take military action to force Venezuela to comply with the ICJ order that Venezuela must not take any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby Guyana administers and exercises control over Essequibo.

Related:

Notes: Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Minister, Amery Browne, has said that it’s a violation of the Caribbean Community’s policy for them to mediate a solution. Guyana was a founding member of CARICOM. Their aim was “to use [CARICOM] as leverage against Venezuela” and to prohibit them “from pursuing its Essequibo territorial claim”. [source]

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Canadian statistics on government sponsored suicide mark cause of death as ailment patient suffered before they were euthanized

Canada plans to hide its skyrocketing euthanasia deaths as a result of its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program by listing fatalities on the basis of “the disease or injury that initiated the train of morbid events.”

Canadian statistics on government sponsored suicide mark cause of death as ailment patient suffered before they were euthanized

H/T: Redacted with Clayton Morris

Unions in Wisconsin sue to reverse collective bargaining restrictions on teachers, others

Seven unions representing teachers and other public workers in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit Thursday attempting to end the state’s near-total ban on collective bargaining for most public employees.

Unions in Wisconsin sue to reverse collective bargaining restrictions on teachers, others

Related:

Wisconsin’s Act 10 Is in Jeopardy (WSJ)

The law, signed by former Gov. Scott Walker, has saved the Badger State from turning into Illinois or New York, where public unions essentially run the state government for their own benefit. According to the MacIver Institute, Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers $16.8 billion since it was passed in 2011, making public finances more manageable at every level of government.

Progressive mayors who publicly rail against the law know that repealing it would wreak havoc on municipal budgets. According to Wisconsin Right Now, Milwaukee’s budget says it has saved about $345.4 million in health insurance since 2012 because of Act 10’s requirement that public employees contribute to their health plans.

The lawsuit by teachers and other public unions focuses on a narrow part of the law that exempts public-safety employees. The unions say this creates a “favored” class of workers and imposes “severe burdens on employees in the disfavored group.” Act 10’s “anti-democratic regime,” the unions continue, subjects “general” employees “to a panoply of burdens and deprives them of important rights,” while exempting police officers and firefighters from “all its injurious provisions.”

Attacks on Public-Sector Unions Harm States: How Act 10 Has Affected Education in Wisconsin

A Decade After Act 10, It’s A Different World For Wisconsin Unions

WSJ quotes MacIver Institute, from the Atlas Network via State Policy Network, Bradley Foundation, and Americans for Prosperity (Kochtopus). Former WI Governor Scott Walker, another Atlas/Koch tool, does not rule out intervening.