1.
Question Time (TV series)
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Question Time is a BBC topical debate television programme in the United Kingdom, based on Any Questions. The independent production company Mentorn has made the programme for the BBC since 1998, Question Time is presented by David Dimbleby. It is usually recorded about two hours prior to transmission, but occasionally it has been broadcast live and it is now shown once a month on Tuesday night with Noel Thompson. Nowadays BBC One NI have their own show called The View, this is broadcast live from 10. 35pm to 11. 05pm, presented by Mark Carruthers. Although the show is intended for UK viewers, it is seen on BBC World News as news events warrant. Additionally, the episode originally aired just a week before the 2015 UK general election was seen on the US channel C-Span. Question Time began on Tuesday 25 September 1979, as a version of the BBC Radio 4 programme Any Questions. Originally intended to have only a run, the programme became very popular and was duly extended. The guests on the very first show were Edna OBrien, Teddy Taylor, Michael Foot and Derek Worlock, from 21 February 1980 the series moved to its current Thursday-night slot and became fully networked within BBC, with Scotland and Northern Ireland broadcasting the series from this point onwards. In 1998, the panel was enlarged to five, with another member or leading member of a fourth political party joining the panel. The chairman sits in the middle and chairs the debate, deciding who can speak on the panel, Questions are submitted by the audience before the programme goes on air. The programme makers select some to put to the panel, who never know the questions before recording begins, every audience member is asked to bring a question and those chosen are informed immediately prior to filming. Question Time audiences are not a sample of the public. Mandatory fields on the form include the applicant’s desired questions, voting intention, political party membership, occupation, ethnicity. Usually, filming takes place on the evening of broadcast, to ensure issues are as up-to-date as possible, during general election campaigns, the programme has taken a different format, with the party leaders appearing as single guests and fielding questions from the audience. In 2007 the BBC commissioned a new programme called The Big Questions and it is broadcast on BBC One on Sunday mornings between 10am and 11am. Both programmes are produced by Mentorn Media, veteran newsman Sir Robin Day was the programmes first chairman, presenting it for nearly 10 years until June 1989. The programme soon gained popularity under Days chairmanship, with his quick wit and his famous catchphrase when he had introduced the panel was, There they are, and here we go
2.
Parliament
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In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative, elected body of government. Generally a modern parliament has three functions, representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government, historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies. The term is derived from Anglo-Norman parlement, from the verb parler talk, the meaning evolved over time, originally any discussion, conversation, or negotiation, through various kinds of deliberative or judicial groups, often summoned by the monarch. By 1400, it had come to mean in Britain specifically the British supreme legislature, various parliaments are claimed to be the oldest in the world, under varying definitions. The Sicilian Parliament, whose first assembly was convened in 1097, the Icelandic Althing, year 930, but only including the main chiefs. Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders, some scholars suggest that in ancient Mesopotamia there was a primitive democratic government where the kings were assessed by council. The same has been said about ancient India, where some form of deliberative assemblies existed, however, these claims are not accepted by most scholars, who see these forms of government as oligarchies. Ancient Athens was the cradle of democracy, the Athenian assembly was the most important institution, and every citizen could take part in the discussions. However, Athenian democracy was not representative, but rather direct, the Roman Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy. Some Muslim scholars argue that the Islamic shura is analogous to the parliament, however, others highlight what they consider fundamental differences between the shura system and the parliamentary system. England has long had a tradition of a body of men who would assist, under the Anglo-Saxon kings, there was an advisory council, the Witenagemot. The name derives from the Old English ƿitena ȝemōt, or witena gemōt, the first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca. 600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose, however, the Witan, along with the folkmoots, is an important ancestor of the modern English parliament. As part of the Norman Conquest of England, the new king, William I, did away with the Witenagemot, membership of the Curia was largely restricted to the tenants in chief, the few nobles who rented great estates directly from the king, along with ecclesiastics. William brought to England the feudal system of his native Normandy and this is the original body from which the Parliament, the higher courts of law, and the Privy Council and Cabinet descend. Of these, the legislature is formally the High Court of Parliament, only the executive government is no longer conducted in a royal court. Most historians date the emergence of a parliament with some degree of power to which the throne had to defer no later than the rule of Edward I, like previous kings, Edward called leading nobles and church leaders to discuss government matters, especially finance. A meeting in 1295 became known as the Model Parliament because it set the pattern for later Parliaments, in 1307, Edward I agreed not to collect certain taxes without the consent of the realm
3.
Westminster system
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The Westminster system is a parliamentary system of government modelled after that which developed in the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British parliament, the system is a series of procedures for operating a legislature. However, some colonies have since adopted either the presidential system or a hybrid system as their form of government. Examples include Queen Elizabeth II, the governors-general in Commonwealth realms, or the presidents of many countries, exceptions to this are Ireland and Israel, whose presidents are de jure and de facto ceremonial, and the latter possesses no reserve powers whatsoever. A head of government, known as the minister, premier. While the head of state appoints the head of government, constitutional convention suggests that a majority of elected Members of Parliament must support the person appointed. If more than half of elected parliamentarians belong to the political party. An exception to this was Israel, in which direct prime-ministerial elections were made in 1996,1999 and 2001, an independent, non-partisan civil service which advises on, and implements, decisions of those ministers. Civil servants hold permanent appointments and can expect merit-based selection processes, a parliamentary opposition with an official Leader of the Opposition. A legislature, often bicameral, with at least one elected house – although unicameral systems also exist, a lower house of parliament with an ability to dismiss a government by withholding Supply, passing a motion of no confidence, or defeating a confidence motion. The Westminster system enables a government to be defeated or forced into a general election independently, a parliament which can be dissolved and snap elections called at any time. Another parallel system of principles also exists known as equity. Exceptions to this include India, Quebec in Canada, and Scotland in the UK amongst others which mix common law with legal systems. Unlike the uncodified British constitution, most countries use the Westminster system have codified the system, at least in part. The pattern of executive functions within a Westminster System is quite complex, in essence, the head of state, usually a monarch or president, is a ceremonial figurehead who is the theoretical, nominal or de jure source of executive power within the system. In practice, such a figure does not actively exercise executive powers, in the United Kingdom, the sovereign theoretically holds executive authority, even though the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Cabinet effectively implement executive powers. In a parliamentary republic like India, the President is the de jure executive, even though executive powers are essentially instituted by the Prime Minister of India and the Council of Ministers. In Israel, however, executive power is vested de jure and de facto in the cabinet, as an example, the Prime Minister and Cabinet generally must seek the permission of the head of state when carrying out executive functions
4.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
5.
Commonwealth of Nations
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The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as simply the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 52 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the states as free. The symbol of free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is also the monarch of 16 members of the Commonwealth, the other Commonwealth members have different heads of state,31 members are republics and five are monarchies with a different monarch. Member states have no obligation to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their values of democracy, free speech, human rights. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth covers more than 29,958,050 km2, 20% of the worlds land area, and spans all six inhabited continents. She declared, So, it marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations. As long ago as 1884, however, Lord Rosebery, while visiting Australia, had described the changing British Empire—as some of its colonies became more independent—as a Commonwealth of Nations. Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, the Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. Newfoundland never did, as on 16 February 1934, with the consent of its parliament, Newfoundland later joined Canada as its 10th province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively, after World War II ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, there remain the 14 British overseas territories still held by the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word British was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature, burma and Aden are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Hoped for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four minute mile in 1954, however, the humiliation of the Suez Crisis of 1956 badly hurt morale of Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole. More broadly, there was the loss of a role of the British Empire. That role was no longer militarily or financially feasible, as Britains withdrawal from Greece in 1947 painfully demonstrated, Britain itself was now just one part of the NATO military alliance in which the Commonwealth had no role apart from Canada
6.
Parliament of Australia
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It consists of three elements, the Queen of Australia, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General, through both Houses, however, there is a fused executive, drawn from the Westminster System. The upper house, the Senate, consists of 76 members, twelve for each state, Senators are elected using the single transferable vote proportional representation system and as a result, the chamber features a multitude of parties vying for power. The governing party or coalition rarely has a majority in the Senate and usually needs to negotiate with other parties and this tends to lead to the chamber being dominated by two major parties, the Liberal/National Coalition and the Labor Party. The government of the day must achieve the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power, although elections can be called early, each 3 years the full House of Representatives and half of the Senate is dissolved and goes up for reelection. The two Houses meet in separate chambers of Parliament House on Capital Hill in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, the Commonwealth of Australia came into being on 1 January 1901 with the federation of the six Australian colonies. The inaugural election took place on 29 and 30 March and the first Australian Parliament was opened on 9 May 1901 in Melbourne by Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York, later King George V. The only building in Melbourne that was enough to accommodate the 14,000 guests was the western annexe of the Royal Exhibition Building. After the official opening, from 1901 to 1927, the Parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne and it had always been intended that the national Parliament would sit in a new national capital. This was a compromise at Federation due to the rivalry between the two largest Australian cities, Sydney and Melbourne, which wished to become the new capital. The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the capital city in 1908. A competition was announced on 30 June 1914 to design Parliament House, however, due to the start of World War I the next month, the competition was cancelled. It was re-announced in August 1916, but again postponed indefinitely on 24 November 1916, in the meantime, John Smith Murdoch, the Commonwealths Chief Architect, worked on the design as part of his official duties. He had little enthusiasm for the project, as he felt it was a waste of money. Nevertheless, he designed the building by default, the construction of Old Parliament House, as it is called today, was commenced on 28 August 1923 and completed in early 1927. It was built by the Commonwealth Department of Works, using tradesmen, the final cost was about £600,000, which was more than three times the original estimate. It was designed to house the parliament for a maximum of 50 years until a permanent facility could be built, the building was opened on 9 May 1927 by the Duke and Duchess of York. The opening ceremonies were both splendid and incongruous, given the sparsely built nature of Canberra of the time and its small population, the building was extensively decorated with British Empire and Australian flags and bunting
7.
Australian House of Representatives
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The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Australia. It is referred to as the house, with the Senate being referred to as the upper house. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution of both Houses, a member of the House may be referred to as a Member of Parliament, while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a Senator. The government of the day and by extension the Prime Minister must achieve, the House of Representatives currently consists of 150 members, elected by and representing single member districts, known as electoral divisions. The number of members is not fixed, but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions, the most recent overall increase in the size of the House, which came into effect at the 1984 election, increased the number of members from 125 to 148. It reduced to 147 at the 1993 election, returned to 148 at the 1996 election, each division elects one member using full-preference Instant-runoff voting. This was put in place after the 1918 Swan by-election, which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote, the Nationalist government of the time changed the lower house voting system from first-past-the-post to full-preference preferential voting, effective from the 1919 general election. This system has remained in place since, allowing the Coalition parties to safely contest the same seats, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of 1900 established the House of Representatives as part of the new system of dominion government in newly federated Australia. The House is presided over by the Speaker, Members of the House are elected from single member electorates. One vote one value legislation requires all electorates to have approximately the number of voters with a maximum 10% variation. However, the quota for the number of voters in an electorate is determined by the number of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Meanwhile, all the states except Tasmania have electorates approximately within the same 10% tolerance, voting is by the preferential system, also known as instant-runoff voting. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal and this allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote. Under Section 24 of the Constitution, each state is entitled to members based on a quota determined from the latest statistics of the Commonwealth. These statistics arise from the census conducted under the auspices of section 51, the parliamentary entitlement of a state or territory is established by the Electoral Commissioner dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senators. This is known as the Nexus Provision, the reasons for this are twofold, to maintain a constant influence for the smaller states and to maintain a constant balance of the two Houses in case of a joint sitting after a double dissolution. The population of state and territory is then divided by this quota to determine the number of members to which each state. Under the Australian Constitution all original states are guaranteed at least five members, the Federal Parliament itself has decided that the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory should have at least one member each
8.
Order Paper
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The Order Paper is a daily publication in the Westminster system of government which lists the business of parliament for that days sitting. A separate paper is issued daily for each house of the legislature and it also gives details of when and where the standing committees and select committees will be meeting, and the list of debates to be held. Written questions tabled to ministers by members of the legislature on the day are listed at the back of the order paper. British parliamentarians often wave their Order Paper during debates in the House of Commons, online publication of UK Order Paper Order Paper BBC News
9.
Paul Keating
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Paul John Keating is an Australian politician who was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia and the Leader of the Labor Party from 1991 to 1996. Keating was appointed Treasurer by newly elected Prime Minister Hawke in 1983, although lacking any formal education in economics, Keating went on to become arguably one of the most reforming Treasurers in Australian history. In 1990 he was elected Deputy Leader of the Labor Party, Keating later challenged Hawke for the leadership in June 1991, and resigned from the ministry following defeat. Six months later he challenged Hawke again, this time successfully, Policy package, despite consistently poor government opinion polls following the effects of the early 1990s recession. After being resoundingly defeated by John Howard at the 1996 election, Keating resigned as Prime Minister, Keating grew up in Bankstown, a working-class suburb of Sydney. He was one of four born to Matthew Keating, a boilermaker and trade union representative of Irish Catholic descent. His siblings include Anne Keating, a director and businesswoman. He then worked as assistant for a trade union, having joined the Labor Party as soon as he was eligible. In 1966, he became president of NSW Young Labor, in the 1960s, Keating also managed rock band The Ramrods. Through his contacts in the unions and the NSW Young Labor Council, Keating met future senior Labor figures such as Laurie Brereton, Graham Richardson and he also developed a friendship with former New South Wales Premier Jack Lang. In 1971, he succeeded in having Lang re-admitted to the Labor Party, after Labors defeat in the election one month later, Keating was promoted to become an opposition spokesman, as an opposition spokesman, his parliamentary style was that of an aggressive debater. In 1981, he was elected president of the New South Wales Labor Party, however, by 1982, his faction had swung behind Hawke, and Keating endorsed his challenge. The formal announcement of Keatings support for Hawke was written by a fellow Labor politician, although Hayden survived the challenge, pressure continued to mount on him, and he eventually resigned in February 1983 after a poor by-election result. Hawke was elected to him, and he subsequently led Labor to a landslide victory in the election just six weeks later. Following Labors victory in the 1983 election, Keating was appointed Treasurer of Australia by Prime Minister Bob Hawke – he would go on to hold that post until 1991. That the deficit had increased in the lead up to the election had not been disclosed in pre-election documents released by the Fraser government. According to Hawke, the historically large $9.6 billion budget deficit left by the Coalition became a stick with which we were able to beat the Liberal National Opposition for many years. Keating was one of the driving forces behind the various extensive macro-
10.
Quorum
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A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised, the requirement for a quorum is protection against totally unrepresentative action in the name of the body by a small number of persons. The term quorum is from a Middle English wording of the commission formerly issued to justices of the peace, derived from Latin quorum, of whom, genitive plural of qui, as a result, quora as plural of quorum is not a valid Latin formation. Each assembly determines the number of members constitutes a quorum in its governing documents. The quorum may also be set by law, in the absence of such a provision, a quorum in an assembly whose membership can be determined is a majority of the entire membership. In the meetings of a convention, unless provided otherwise, a quorum is a majority of registered delegates, in a mass meeting or in an organization in which the membership cannot be accurately determined, the quorum consists of those who attend the meeting. In committees and boards, a quorum is a majority of the members of the board or committee unless provided otherwise, the board or committee cannot set its own quorum unless given such power. In a committee of the whole or its variants, a quorum is the same as the assembly unless otherwise provided, in online groups, a quorum has to be determined in a different manner since no one is actually present. The rules establishing such groups would have to prescribe this determination, an example is that a quorum in such groups could be established as present if enough members state that they are present at the designated meeting time. The chair of the group has the responsibility to determine if a quorum is present, in addition, any member can raise a point of order about an apparent absence of a quorum. When a quorum is not met, the assembly can only take limited procedural actions. These limited actions are to fix the time to which to adjourn, adjourn, recess, or take measures to obtain a quorum, any other business that is conducted is not valid unless it is ratified at a later meeting where a quorum is present. However, there is no obligation to ratify such action and those responsible may be punished for their actions, in legislatures and other assemblies that have the legal power to compel the attendance of their members, the call of the house procedure may be used to obtain a quorum. This procedure does not exist in ordinary societies, since voluntary associations have no coercive power, when a call of the house is ordered, the clerk calls the roll of members and then the names of absentees. Members who do not have an excused absence are arrested and brought in, the arrested members may be charged a fee. In the United States Senate, the procedure was used in the morning hours of February 25,1988. Byrds motion was approved 45-3 and arrest warrants were signed for all 46 Republicans, after a cleaning woman gave a tip that Senator Robert Packwood of Oregon was in his office, Giugni opened the door with a skeleton key. Packwood attempted to shove the door closed, but Giugni and two assistants pushed it open, Packwood was carried feet-first into the Senate chamber by three plainclothes officers and sustained bruised knuckles
11.
House of Commons of Canada
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The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons chamber is located in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the House of Commons is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Members of Parliament. There were 308 members in the last Parliament, but that number has risen to 338 following the election on Monday October 19,2015, Members are elected by simple plurality in each of the countrys electoral districts, which are colloquially known as ridings. MPs may hold office until Parliament is dissolved and serve for constitutionally limited terms of up to five years after an election, historically however, terms have ended before their expiry and the sitting government has typically dissolved parliament within four years of an election according to a long-standing convention. In any case, an Act of Parliament now limits each term to four years, seats in the House of Commons are distributed roughly in proportion to the population of each province and territory. However, some ridings are more populous than others, and the Canadian constitution contains some provisions regarding provincial representation. As a result, there is some interprovincial and regional malapportionment relative to population, the lower of the two houses making up the parliament, the House of Commons in practice holds far more power than the upper house, the Senate. Although the approval of both Houses is necessary for legislation, the Senate very rarely rejects bills passed by the Commons, moreover, the Government of Canada is responsible solely to the House of Commons. The Prime Minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support, or confidence, the term derives from the Anglo-Norman word communes, referring to the geographic and collective communities of their parliamentary representatives and not the third estate, the commonality. This distinction is clear in the official French name of the body. Canada and the United Kingdom remain the only countries to use the name House of Commons for a house of parliament. The new Parliament of Canada consisted of the Queen, the Senate, the Parliament of Canada was based on the Westminster model. Unlike the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the powers of the Parliament of Canada were limited in that other powers were assigned exclusively to the provincial legislatures, the Parliament of Canada also remained subordinate to the British Parliament, the supreme legislative authority for the entire British Empire. Greater autonomy was granted by the Statute of Westminster 1931, after which new Acts of the British Parliament did not apply to Canada and these exceptions were removed by the Canada Act 1982. From 1867, the Commons met in the chamber until that was destroyed by fire in 1916. It relocated to the amphitheatre of the Victoria Memorial Museum—what is today the Canadian Museum of Nature, since then, the Commons has sat in its current chamber. The House of Commons comprises 338 members, each of whom represents a electoral district. The constitution specifies a minimum of 295 electoral districts
12.
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
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The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is one of two components of the Legislature of Ontario, the other being the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. The Legislative Assembly is the second largest Canadian provincial deliberative assembly by number of members after the National Assembly of Quebec, the Assembly meets at the Ontario Legislative Building at Queens Park in the provincial capital of Toronto. The premier is Ontarios head of government, while the Lieutenant Governor, as representative of the Queen, the largest party not forming the government is known as the Official Opposition, its leader being recognized as Leader of the Opposition by the Speaker. The Ontario Legislature is sometimes referred to as the Ontario Provincial Parliament, Members of the assembly refer to themselves as Members of the Provincial Parliament as opposed to Members of the Legislative Assembly as in many other provinces. Ontario is the province to do so, in accordance with a resolution passed in the Assembly on April 7,1938. However, the Legislative Assembly Act refers only to members of the Assembly, the current assembly was elected on June 12,2014 as part of the 41st Parliament of Ontario. The first session of the 41st Parliament opened on July 2,2014, on Friday May 2,2014, the 40th Parliament of Ontario was dissolved by Lieutenant Governor David C. Onley on the advice of Premier Kathleen Wynne after the NDP, the election was held on June 12,2014, as a result of which Kathleen Wynnes Liberal Party formed a majority government. Queens Park is a metonym for the Legislative Assembly, in accordance with the traditions of the Westminster System, most laws originate with the cabinet, and are passed by the legislature after stages of debate and decision-making. Ordinary Members of the Legislature may introduce privately, play an role in scrutinizing bills in debate and committee. Members are expected to be loyal to both their parliamentary party and to the interests of their constituents, in the Ontario legislature this confrontation provides much of the material for Oral Questions and Members Statements. Legislative scrutiny of the executive is also at the heart of much of the carried out by the Legislatures Standing Committees. Finally, it is the task of the legislature to provide the personnel of the executive, as already noted, under responsible government, ministers of the Crown are expected to be Members of the Assembly. The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is the first and the legislature in Canada to have a Coat of Arms separate from the provincial coat of arms. Green and gold are the colours in the shield of arms of the province. The Mace is the symbol of the authority of the Speaker. Shown on the left is the current Mace, on the right is the original Mace from the time of the first parliament in 1792. The crossed Maces are joined by the shield of arms of Ontario, the crown on the wreath represents national and provincial loyalties, its rim is studded with the provincial gemstone, the amethyst
13.
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
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The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, while the other is the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. Members are elected from provincial ridings and are referred to as Members of the Legislative Assembly, the current Parliament is the 40th Parliament. The most recent general election was the British Columbia general election held on May 14,2013, proceedings of the Legislative Assembly are broadcast to cable viewers in the province by Hansard Broadcasting Services
14.
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
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The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the Lieutenant Governor form the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in general elections. The Manitoba Legislative Building is located in central Winnipeg, at the point of the Wolseley. The Premier of Manitoba is Brian Pallister and the current Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba is Myrna Driedger, both of whom belong to the Progressive Conservative Party. Historically, the Legislature of Manitoba had another chamber, the Legislative Council of Manitoba, members in bold are in the Cabinet of Manitoba † Speaker of the Assembly The seating arrangement is viewable at the official website
15.
National Assembly of Quebec
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The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec in Canada. The Lieutenant Governor, and the National Assembly compose the Legislature of Quebec, the National Assembly was formerly the lower house of Quebecs legislature and was then called the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. In 1968, the house, the Legislative Council, was abolished. The current President of the National Assembly is Liberal MNA Jacques Chagnon, the Legislative Assembly was created in Lower Canada by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was abolished from 1841 to 1867 under the 1840 Act of Union which merged Upper Canada, the Constitution Act,1867, which created Canada, split the Province of Canada into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was thus restored as the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, the original Quebec legislature was bicameral, consisting of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. Before 1968, there had been unsuccessful attempts at abolishing the Legislative Council. In 1978, television cameras were brought in for the first time to televise parliamentary debates, the colour of the walls was changed to suit the needs of television and the salon vert became the salon bleu. Its facade presents a pantheon representing significant events and people of the history of Quebec, additional buildings were added next to the Parliament Buildings, Édifice André-Laurendeau was added from 1935 to 1937 to house the Ministry of Transport. Édifice Honoré-Mercier was added from 1922 to 1925 to house the Ministries of the Treasury, the Attorney General, Édifice Jean-Antoine-Panet was added from 1931 to 1932 for the Ministry of Agriculture. Édifice Pamphile-Le May added from 1910 to 1915 for the Library of the National Assembly, various government offices. General elections are held five years or less. Any person holding Canadian citizenship and who has resided in Quebec for at least six months qualifies to be on the electoral list. Normally, the leader of the party with the largest number of elected candidates is asked by the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec to form the government as premier. Quebecs territory is divided into 125 electoral districts, in each riding, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected and becomes a Member of the National Assembly. This is known as the first-past-the-post voting system and it tends to produce strong disparities in the number of seats won compared to the popular vote, perhaps best exemplified by the 1966,1970,1973, and 1998 elections. Quebec elections have tended to be volatile since the 1970s. Consequently, existing political parties often lose more than half their seats with the rise of new or opposition political parties, for instance, the 1970 and 1973 saw the demise of the Union Nationale and rise of the Parti Québécois which managed to take power in 1976
16.
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
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The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the unicameral parliamentary legislature of the Hong Kong special administrative region of the Peoples Republic of China. Under the constitutional reform package passed in 2010, there are five District Council new functional constituencies nominated by the District Councillors, the Legislative Council was first established in 1843 under the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong as an advisory council to the Governor. The powers and functions of the legislature expanded throughout its history, the PLC ceased to exist and was replaced after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997. Article 68 of the Hong Kong Basic Law states the aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. Together with the article for Chief Executive, The articles have made universal suffrage of the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule, the Council had four Official members including the Governor who was President and Member when it was first established. The Letters Patent of 1888, which replaced the 1843 Charter, added the significant words, the first ever elections to the Council were held in 1985, following by the first direct elections of the Legislative Council were held in 1991. The Legislative Council became an elected legislature for the first time in 1995. The Peoples Republic of China government did not agree with reforms to the Legislative Council enacted in 1994, instead, the Chinese government resolved to set up an alternative legislative council in preparation for the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to China. The Provisional Legislative Council, in operation from 25 January 1997 to 30 June 1998, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR was established on 1 October 1998 under The Basic Law of the HKSAR. The first meeting of the Council was held in July of the year in Hong Kong. Since the Basic Law came into effect, five Legislative Council elections have been held, the most recent constitutional reform proposal, which suggested the electoral method of the Legislative Council remained unchanged, was vetoed in 2015. The first meetings of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, from 1844 to 1846, were convened in the residence of Governor Pottinger. In 1985, LegCo moved down to the nearby Old Supreme Court building in Central Hong Kong where it remained until November 2011 and it took up residence in its present accommodation at the Legislative Block of the Central Government Complex, Tamar in December 2011. Unlike many other former and current Commonwealth legislatures, the Hong Kong Legislative Council does not have a ceremonial mace placed in its chambers, however, the high courts of Hong Kong use a mace to open sessions, and it represents the authority and powers of the court. The high block, which will be named as the Office Block, mainly houses offices for members, officially opened on 1 August 2011, administrative staff had already taken occupation on 15 January 2011. The Legislative Council consists of 70 elected members, the term of office of a member is four years, except for the first term when it was set to be two years. In both the 2008 and 2004 elections,30 members were elected by universal suffrage from geographical constituencies and 30 were elected from functional constituencies
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President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
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The President of the Legislative Council is the speaker of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. From the establishment of the council in 1843 to 1993, the President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong was the Governor, in 1991, a Deputy President, Sir John Joseph Swaine, was appointed by the governor from among the members to chair the sittings. The governor remained president and member, but systematically absented himself from most of the sittings, in February 1993, the governor ceased to be member and president of the council. The presidency was handed over to an elected from among the unofficial members. Under the Article 66 to 79 in the Basic Law, the Legislative Council Commission Ordinance Cap,443, the Legislative Council Ordinance Cap. In the absence of the President, the chairman of the House Committee serves as deputy to the President, the President determines the day and hours of the meetings. He or she may change agenda, suspend a meeting, and call a special meeting, the President shall call emergency meetings at the request of the Chief Executive. The President is responsible for the observance of the rules of order in the Legislative Council and he or she is the representative of the Legislative Council on ceremonial and formal occasions. Before 1993, the Legislative Council was presided by the Governor of Hong Kong, from 25 December 1941 to 30 August 1945, the office was suspended due to Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong. The representative advisory bodies during the time were Chinese Representative Council, before 1993, the Legislative Council was presided by the Governor of Hong Kong. The President was elected among members of the Legislative Council since 1993 家after the last Governor Chris Patten gave up the power of presidency. Politiical party, Nonpartisan Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai Politiical party, Nonpartisan Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong
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Speaker (politics)
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The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer. The title was first used in 1399 in England, the speakers official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to members who break the procedures of the chamber or house. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial, the title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerford in the Parliament of England. By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as Mister Speaker, if a man, or Madam Speaker, in other cultures other styles are used, mainly being equivalents of English chairman or president. Many bodies also have a pro tempore, designated to fill in when the speaker is not available. The Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives is the officer of the Australian House of Representatives. The President of the Australian Senate is the officer of the Australian Senate. Now constitutional community highlights changes also in this role, in Canada, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the individual elected to preside over the House of Commons, the elected lower house. The speaker is a Member of Parliament and is elected at the beginning of new parliament by fellow MPs. The Speakers role in presiding over Canadas House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in countries that use the Westminster system. The Speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie, by convention, if required to vote, the Speaker will vote in favour of continuing debate on a matter, but will not ultimately vote for a measure to be approved. The Speaker of the Senate of Canada is the officer of the Senate of Canada. The Speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of procedure and parliamentary privilege. The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the Governor General of Canada from amongst sitting senators upon the advice of the Prime Minister, the Speaker has a vote on all matters. In the event of a tie, the matter fails, at the provincial level, the presiding officer of the provincial legislatures is called the Speaker in all provinces except Quebec, where the term President is used. The presiding officer fulfills the role as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the elected to preside over the elected House of Commons
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Chief Executive of Hong Kong
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The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the head and representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the Governor of Hong Kong, the office, stipulated by the Hong Kong Basic Law, formally came into being on 1 July 1997 when the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the Peoples Republic of China. The Chief Executive holds the title The Honourable, and ranks first in the Hong Kong order of precedence, the current Chief Executive is Leung Chun-ying who took office on 1 July 2012. The official residence of the Chief Executive is Government House in Central, according to Article 44 of the Basic Law, the Chief Executive must be a Chinese citizen as defined by the HKSAR Passports Ordinance. Article 47 further requires that the Chief Executive be a person of integrity, in addition, since the 4th Chief Executive term, candidates may not stand for selection by the Election Committee without first obtaining 150 nominations from its members. In the first election of the Chief Executive, the Committee consisted of only 400 members and it was expanded to 800 for the second term. The functional constituencies correspond to various sectors of the economy and society, the elected Chief Executive must be appointed by the Premier of the Central Peoples Government before taking office. According to Article 46 the term of office of the Chief Executive is five years with a maximum of two consecutive terms, if a vacancy occurs mid-term, the new Chief Executives first term is for the remainder of the previous Chief Executives term only. The method of selecting the Chief Executive is provided under Article 45 and Annex I of the Basic Law, under the Basic Law the Chief Executive is the chief representative of the people of Hong Kong and is the head of the government of Hong Kong. The position is responsible for the policy address made to the public. The CEs powers and functions are established by Article 48 of the Basic Law, the Executive Council of Hong Kong is an organ for assisting the Chief Executive in policy-making. The council is consulted before making important policy decisions, introducing bills to the Legislative Council, Article 52 stipulates circumstances under which the Chief Executive must resign. Examples include the loss of ability to discharge his or her duties or refusal to sign a bill passed by a majority of the Legislative Council. The acting and succession line is spelled out in Article 53, in case the position becomes vacant, a new Chief Executive would have to be elected. The provisions of inability to exercise the powers come into force, prior to the handover in 1997, the office of the Chief Executive-designate was at the 7th floor of the Asia Pacific Finance Tower. When Tung Chee-hwa assumed duty on 1 July 1997, the office of the Chief Executive was located at the 5th floor of the Former Central Government Offices, in the past the governor had his office at Government House. Tung did not use Government House as the residence because he lived at his own residence at Grenville House. Donald Tsang decided to return to the renovated Government House during his first term, in 2011, the office of the Chief Executive moved to the low block of the new Central Government Complex in Tamar
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Policy address of Hong Kong
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Policy Address is the annual address by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. The practice of giving annual policy address is mandated under Article 64 of the Basic Law, the policy address was first introduced during the colonial period by Governor Sir Murray MacLehose in 1972 as Address by His Excellency the Governor. It was modelled after Queens Address in the United Kingdom and aimed to strengthen the communications with the Hong Kong residents after the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist riots and it used to be addressed in October, on the opening of the Legislative Council. In 2002, former Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa changed it unilaterally to January, after Leung Chun-ying succeeded Tsang in 2012, he changed the policy address back to January. Most people see the address as useful and a way of predicting how the Chief Executive will operate. There were no titles for the Policy Addresses before 1992, state of the Union address Official website
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National Diet
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The National Diet is Japans bicameral legislature. It is composed of a house called the House of Representatives. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under parallel voting systems, in addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for selecting the Prime Minister. The Diet was first convened as the Imperial Diet in 1889 as a result of adopting the Meiji Constitution, the Diet took its current form in 1947 upon the adoption of the post-war constitution and is considered by the Constitution to be the highest organ of state power. The National Diet Building is located in Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, the houses of the Diet are both elected under parallel voting systems. Voters are also asked to cast two votes, one for a candidate in a constituency, and one for a party list. Any national of Japan at least 18 years of age may vote in these elections, Japans parallel voting system is not to be confused with the Additional Member System used in many other nations. House of Councillors, Of 242 members,146 are elected from 47 prefectural constituencies by means of the Single Non-Transferable Vote, the remaining 96 are elected by open list PR from a single national list. However it does guarantee universal adult suffrage and a secret ballot and it also insists that the electoral law must not discriminate in terms of race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, education, property or income. Generally, the election of Diet members is controlled by statutes passed by the Diet and this is a source of contention concerning re-apportionment of prefectures seats in response to changes of population distribution. For example, the Liberal Democratic Party had controlled Japan for most of its post-war history, in recent elections the malapportionment ratio amounted to 4.8 in the House of Councillors and 2.3 in the House of Representatives. Candidates for the house must be 25 years old or older and 30 years or older for the upper house. All candidates must be Japanese nationals, under Article 49 of Japans Constitution, Diet members are paid about ¥1.3 million a month in salary. Article 41 of the Constitution describes the National Diet as the highest organ of State power and this statement is in forceful contrast to the Meiji Constitution, which described the Emperor as the one who exercised legislative power with the consent of the Diet. The Diets responsibilities include not only the making of laws but also the approval of the national budget that the government submits. It can also initiate draft constitutional amendments, which, if approved, the Diet may conduct investigations in relation to government. The Prime Minister must be designated by Diet resolution, establishing the principle of legislative supremacy over executive government agencies, the government can also be dissolved by the Diet if it passes a motion of no confidence introduced by fifty members of the House of Representatives. Government officials, including the Prime Minister and Cabinet members, are required to appear before Diet investigative committees, the Diet also has the power to impeach judges convicted of criminal or irregular conduct
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1999 in Japan
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Events in the year 1999 in Japan. March 3, The Bank of Japan announces its zero interest rate policy, april 11, Tokyo gubernatorial election,1999 - Shintaro Ishihara is elected governor of Tokyo. July 1, NTT is divided into a company, NTT. July 23, ANA Flight 61 survives an attempt and lands safely. July 31, Rock band Glay gathers about the audiences of 200,000 people at a specially installed pay parking lot of Makuhari Messe in Chiba, august 9, The Act on National Flag and Anthem is passed. September 8, Hiroshi Zota randomly attacks passers-by near Ikebukuro Station with a hammer and kitchen knife, september 29, Yasuaki Uwabe drives a car into Shimonoseki Station and then stabs people, killing five, before being arrested. November 10, Diet of Japan holds its first Question Time, december 4, Yamagata Shinkansen extension to Shinjō Station opens. February 3, Kanna Hashimoto, J-Pop singer and actress February 7, Tamaki Matsumoto, may 7, Masaki Sato, J-Pop singer. May 9, Nozomi Ōhashi, child actor and singer, october 28, Riko Yoshida, child actor
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Freeview (New Zealand)
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Freeview is a non-profit organisation providing free-to-air digital television and digital radio to New Zealand. Freeview uses the DVB-S and DVB-T standards on government provided spectrum, in 2014 it was estimated that Freeview makes up approximately 61. 7% of the digital television share in New Zealand. Freeview-certified set-top boxes and IDTVs, as well as PVRs, are available at most major New Zealand retailers, uncertified equipment can also be used to receive the service, which may have advantages and disadvantages over certified equipment. It was announced on 15 June 2006 that Freeviews free-to-air digital TV service would broadcast via satellite from mid-2007, since 2012, Māori comedian Pio Terei has been the advertising face of Freeview. Freeviews satellite service began on 2 May 2007 with five channels, TV One, TV2, TV3, C4. Freeviews first digital-only channel, TVNZ Sport Extra temporary channel from TVNZ, began on 18 May 2007, the channel has since ceased broadcasting. The Freeview terrestrial service, named Freeview|HD, officially launched on 14 April 2008, the service initially operated only from Kordia sites for areas surrounding Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier-Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. JDA sites were upgraded later with DVB-T QAM modulating multiplexers for non-metro areas, the Freeview ordering groups broadcasters by how much they pay for government owned Kordia transmission services. MHEG-IC channels are from LCN200 to 299, from 2011 it is mandatory for all TVs over 32inch and PVRs to include IP based MHEG Interaction Channel. Its optional on receivers to ensure that a lower cost option is available as New Zealand heads towards DSO. In October 2014, Worldnet TV launched the first commercial MHEG-IC channel in New Zealand and was added to JDA regional sites as an MHEG-IC application on LCN250 which includes seven live streams. As of 29 October 2014, live channels include NHK World, Arirang TV, MBC, Yonhap, MBN, HiTV+, Freeview has its own eight-day electronic programme guide, named Freeview EPG, TVNZs Teletext service was also available until it was discontinued in April 2013. This is more common on terrestrial than on satellite due to the differences in launch dates, receivers that do this make the traditional EIT function useless, which is why independent local broadcasters have to pay Freeview to include their scheduling details within the Freeview guide. The Huffman tables are being used to compress the EIT text used for terrestrial schedule event names, from March 2015, TVNZ began compressing the EIT schedule again. Compressing the EIT text in the schedule would not achieve the same receiver use given the terrestrial EIT only has limited programme details, receivers that dont use the BBC huffman tables will either display no details or display garbage characters. The assigned identifiers managed by TVNZ and Kordia on behalf of Freeview are as follows, DVB Transmission and Original Network ID for the satellite service is 47 and registered to TVNZ. DVB Transmission and Original Network ID for the Igloo terrestrial service is 11008, as of 2013 the Freeview platform has 30 television channels and 4 radio stations. For the satellite service, up to 18 channels will be available, with six each assigned to TVNZ and MediaWorks frequencies, given that TVNZs and MediaWorkss current free-to-air channels will be available on Freeview, there will be eight extra channels in total, between the two
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Legislature broadcasters in New Zealand
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Legislative broadcasters in New Zealand are broadcasters of the New Zealand Parliament House of Representatives. Television channel Parliament TV and radio network AM Network are funded by the New Zealand House of Representatives to broadcast full, the Office of the Clerk also funds a fully independent written, audio and video political reporting service of Parliamentary proceedings called Parliament Today. Sitting hours are seasonal and are generally within five weekly sessions. Normal sittings are 14,00 and 18,00 Tuesdays,19,30 and 22,00 Tuesday nights,14,00 and 18,00 Wednesdays,19,30 and 22,00 Wednesday nights, and 14,00 and 18,00 Thursdays. Special circumstances can allow Parliament to sit under urgency, usually between 09,00 Tuesday morning and 24,00 Saturday evening. Prior to the AM Network, Parliamentary broadcasts were carried on the Concert programme, veteran press gallery journalist and political commentator Charles Wheeler introduced the broadcast of the opening of the 25th Parliament, with Speaker-elect Barnard. He said New Zealand was blazing the trail in allowing parliamentary broadcasts, since the 1980s, the AM Network has used to broadcast all live Parliamentary proceedings in full. In 2007, Parliamentary coverage was expanded to television, Parliament TV is managed by Kordia under a long-term contract to the House of Representatives. And is made available to media companies. It broadcasts though media such as TVNZ and MediaWorks New Zealand, as streaming video on the Internet, programming on Parliament TV is limited to live coverage of Parliament and scheduled repeats of Question Time on Parliamentary sitting days. It closes down outside non-sitting hours, more than 22,000 videos have been uploaded, and the company claims the videos have received more than 3 million views. Several videos from the reading of the Marriage Amendment Act 2013 were redistributed by the New Zealand Herald. A video of one speech in favour of the Act, by National Party MP Maurice Williamson, went viral on YouTube, Huffington Post, Gawker, New York Times and Pink News. It was broadcast on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with Williamson later declining an invitation to appear on the show, the broadcasts are also available online, via live-streaming and through on-demand podcasts. The AM Networks Parliamentary broadcasts do not include continuity announcers or news bulletins, in total, Radio New Zealand produces an estimated 17 hours of live Parliamentary broadcasting and just over an hour of packaged extracts. The Radio New Zealand smartphone app allows listeners to follow individual Parliamentary sittings on Apple, the broadcaster claims its iPhone App has been downloaded more than 50,000 times since it was first introduced in 2011. The AM Networks closedown hours were used by Sports Roundup. Since 1997, Christian broadcaster Rhema Media has consistently leased this time to broadcast the low-budget easy listening Star radio network, despite AM Network being technically owned by Radio New Zealand, Star broadcasts Newstalk ZB Affiliates Unit hourly news bulletins during the air time it leases
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Prime Minister's Questions
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PMQs forms an important part of British political culture. In 1953, when Winston Churchill was prime minister, it was agreed that questions would be submitted on fixed days, a Procedure Committee report in 1959 recommended that questions to the prime minister be taken in two fixed-period, 15-minute slots on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. The recommendations were put into practice under Harold Macmillan during an experiment from 18 July 1961 to the end of the session. The very first question was delivered by Labour MP Fenner Brockway, PMQs were made permanent in the following parliamentary session, with the first of these on 24 October 1961. The style and culture of PMQs has changed gradually over time, one of Tony Blairs first acts as prime minister was to replace the two 15-minute sessions with a single 30-minute session on Wednesdays, initially at 3 p. m. but since 2003 at noon. The allocated number of questions in each session for the Leader of the Opposition was doubled from three to six, and the leader of the third-largest party in the Commons was given two questions, the first PMQs to use this new format took place on 21 May 1997. Speaker John Bercow has routinely allowed the session to overrun its allotted 30 minutes by 10 to 15 minutes to more questions. During the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government from 2010–2015, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, as a member of the government, backbench MPs wishing to ask a question must enter their names on the Order Paper. The names of entrants are then shuffled in a ballot to produce an order in which they will be called by the Speaker. The Speaker will then call on MPs to put their questions, usually in an alternating fashion, the Leader of the Opposition usually asks six questions at PMQs, either as a whole block or in two separate groups of three. If the first question is asked by a government backbencher, the Leader of the Opposition is the second MP to ask questions. If the first question is asked by an opposition MP, this will be followed by a question from a government MP, the leader of the third largest parliamentary party would then ask two questions. The first formal question on the Order Paper, posed by simply saying Number one, the Prime Minister usually replies, Before listing the days engagements, the Prime Minister sometimes extends condolences or offers congratulations after significant events. During the Iraq War, Tony Blair introduced the practice of naming any British military personnel who had killed in service since the last time he addressed the House. The practice has continued by Blairs successors as prime minister. After this, the MP may ask a question about any subject which might occupy the Prime Ministers time. Occasionally the first question tabled is on an area of policy. At times of national or personal tragedy or crisis, PMQs have been temporarily suspended, Prime Ministers Questions was also suspended after the sudden death of the leader of the Labour Party, John Smith, in 1994
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
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It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the boroughs of the British capital, the parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature, prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster in London, most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either House. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The UK parliament and its institutions have set the pattern for many throughout the world. However, John Bright – who coined the epithet – used it with reference to a rather than a parliament. In theory, the UKs supreme legislative power is vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801, by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union. The principle of responsibility to the lower House did not develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons were elected in an electoral system. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act 1832, No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive. The supremacy of the British House of Commons was established in the early 20th century, in 1909, the Commons passed the so-called Peoples Budget, which made numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners, on the basis of the Budgets popularity and the Lords consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in 1910. Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, in the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at Westminster
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Leader of House of Commons
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The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons. This office does not attract a ministerial salary, and as such it is held jointly with another ministerial position. The Leader is assisted in the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons by the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, at times the nominal leadership was held by the Prime Minister but the day-to-day work was done by a Deputy. At other times a Deputy was appointed merely to enhance an individual politicians standing within the government, however, since 2010 the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons has been a ministerial role at the level of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. The House of Commons devotes approximately three-quarters of its time to Government business, such as introduced by the government. The Leader of the House, with the chief whips, is responsible for organising Government business. The Leader of the House additionally announces the next weeks debate schedule in the Business Statement every Thursday, when there is either no Deputy Prime Minister or First Secretary of State, the Leader of the House may stand in for an absent Prime Minister at Prime Ministers Questions
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Hansard
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Hansard is the traditional name of the transcripts of Parliamentary Debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, a London printer and publisher, though the history of the Hansard began in the British parliament, each of Britains colonies developed a separate and distinctive history. Before 1771, the British Parliament had long been a highly secretive body, the official record of the actions of the House was publicly available, but there was no record of the debates. The publication of remarks made in the House became a breach of Parliamentary privilege, as the populace became interested in parliamentary debates, more independent newspapers began publishing unofficial accounts of them. Several editors used the device of veiling parliamentary debates as debates of fictitious societies or bodies, the names under which parliamentary debates were published include Proceedings of the Lower Room of the Robin Hood Society and Debates of the Senate of Magna Lilliputia. The Senate of Magna Lilliputia was printed in Edward Caves The Gentlemans Magazine, the names of the speakers were carefully filleted, for example, Sir Robert Walpole was thinly disguised as Sr. R―t W―le. In 1771 Brass Crosby, who was Lord Mayor of the City of London, had brought him a printer by the name of John Miller who dared publish reports of Parliamentary proceedings. He released the man, but was ordered to appear before the House to explain his actions. Crosby was committed to the Tower of London, but when he was brought to trial, several judges refused to hear the case and after protests from the public, Crosby was released. Parliament ceased to punish the publishing of its debates as harshly, partly due to the campaigns of John Wilkes on behalf of free speech, there then began several attempts to publish reports of debates. Among the early successes, the Parliamentary Register published by John Almon and John Debrett began in 1775, cobbetts avocation for the freedom of the press was severely punished by the British Government. On June 5,1810 William Cobbett stood trial for libel for an article he wrote against the British Government which was published by Thomas Curson Hansard. Cobbett was found guilty, upon the fullest and most satisfactory evidence, the sentence was described by J. C Trewin as vindictive. Cobbetts Parliamentary Debates became Hansard Parliamentary Debates, abbreviated over time to the now familiar Hansard, from 1829 the name Hansard appeared on the title page of each issue. Neither Cobbett nor Hansard ever employed anyone to take notes of the debates. For this reason, early editions of Hansard are not to be relied upon as a guide to everything discussed in Parliament. The last attempt at a rival was The Times which published debates in the 1880s. In 1878 a subsidy was granted to the Hansard press and at that point reporters were employed, despite hiring contract reporters there were still widespread complaints about the accuracy of the debates
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United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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Presidential system
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A presidential system is a system of government where a head of government is also head of state and leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch. The United States, for instance, has a presidential system, the executive is elected and often titled president and is not responsible to the legislature, which cannot in normal circumstances dismiss it. Presidential systems are numerous, but the following are true, The executive can veto legislative acts and, in turn. The veto is generally derived from the British tradition of royal assent in which an act of parliament can only be enacted with the assent of the monarch, the president has a fixed term of office. Members of the cabinet serve at the pleasure of the president, cabinet ministers or executive departmental chiefs are not members of the legislature. However, presidential systems often need legislative approval of executive nominations to the cabinet, judiciary, a president generally can direct members of the cabinet, military, or any officer or employee of the executive branch, but cannot direct or dismiss judges. The president can often pardon or commute sentences of convicted criminals, countries that feature a presidential system of government are not the exclusive users of the title of president. For example, a dictator, who may or may not have been popularly or legitimately elected may be, likewise, leaders of one-party states are often called presidents. Most parliamentary republics have presidents, but this position is ceremonial, notable examples include Germany, India, Ireland, Israel. The title is used in parliamentary republics with an executive presidency. In a full-fledged presidential system, a president is chosen directly by the people or indirectly by the party to be the head of the executive branch. Presidential governments make no distinction between the positions of head of state and head of government, both of which are held by the president, a few countries have powerful presidents who are elected by the legislature. These executives are titled president, whereas in practice they are similar to prime ministers, other countries with the same system include Botswana, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Suriname. By contrast, national presidents are figurehead heads of state, like constitutional monarchs, such symbolic presidents can be directly elected by the people or indirectly by a legislative vote. Only a few nations, such as Ireland, have a popularly elected ceremonial president, subnational governments, usually states, may be structured as presidential systems. All of the governments in the United States use the presidential system. On a local level, many cities use Council-manager government, which is equivalent to a parliamentary system, some countries without a presidential system at the national level use a form of this system at a subnational or local level. Supporters generally claim four basic advantages for presidential systems, Direct elections — in a presidential system and this makes the presidents power more legitimate than that of a leader appointed indirectly
31.
President of the United States
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The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
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United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government, Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure used by the thirteen States to ratify it. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, the majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures, Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages of the original U. S, according to the United States Senate, The Constitutions first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. From September 5,1774 to March 1,1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the government of the United States. The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in establishing a governing body. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States and it was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the governments power was quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers, implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was worthless, Congress could borrow money, but couldnt pay it back. No state paid all their U. S. taxes, some paid nothing, some few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their citizens, but no more. No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments, by 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due. Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little to enhance the United States ability to defend its sovereignty, most of the troops in the 625-man United States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British forts on American soil. They had not been paid, some were deserting and others threatening mutiny, spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, U. S. officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the Treasury had no funds to pay their ransom, if any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response. Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing to bring unity to the sentiments and interests of the various states
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State of the Union
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The State of the Union address is a speech presented by the President of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress, except in the first year of a new presidents term. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the President to outline his legislative agenda, during most of the countrys first century, the President primarily only submitted a written report to Congress. With the advent of radio and television, the address is now broadcast live across the country on most networks, although the language of this Section of the Constitution is not specific, by tradition, the President makes this report annually in late January or early February. Between 1934 and 2013 the date has been as early as January 3, before that time, most presidents delivered the State of the Union as a written report. When a presidential inauguration occurs in January, the date may be delayed until February, what began as a communication between president and Congress has become a communication between the president and the people of the United States. Since the advent of radio, and then television, the speech has been broadcast live on most networks, to reach the largest audience, the speech, once given during the day, is now typically given in the evening, after 9pm ET. George Washington delivered the first regular annual message before a joint session of Congress on January 8,1790, in New York City, in 1801, Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of delivering the address in person, regarding it as too monarchical. Instead, the address was written and then sent to Congress to be read by a clerk until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson re-established the practice despite some initial controversy, however, there have been exceptions to this rule. Presidents during the half of the 20th century have sent written State of the Union addresses. The last President to do this was Jimmy Carter in 1981, for many years, the speech was referred to as the Presidents Annual Message to Congress. The actual term State of the Union first emerged in 1934 when Franklin D. Roosevelt used the phrase, prior to 1934, the annual message was delivered at the end of the calendar year, in December. The ratification of the 20th Amendment on January 23,1933 changed the opening of Congress from early March to early January, since 1934, the message or address has been delivered to Congress in January or February. The Twentieth Amendment also established January 20 as the beginning of the presidential term, in years when a new president is inaugurated, the outgoing president may deliver a final State of the Union message, but none has done so since Jimmy Carter sent a written message in 1981. In 1953 and 1961, Congress received both a written State of the Union message from the president and a separate State of the Union speech by the incoming president. In 1936, President Roosevelt set a precedent when he delivered the address at night, only once before—when Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to order the U. S. into World War I—had a sitting president addressed Congress at night. Calvin Coolidges 1923 speech was the first to be broadcast on radio, harry S. Trumans 1947 address was the first to be broadcast on television. Johnsons address in 1965 was the first delivered in the evening, three years later, in 1968, television networks in the United States, for the first time, imposed no time limit for their coverage of a State of the Union address. Johnson, this address was followed by extensive televised commentary by, among others, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Ronald Reagans 1986 State of the Union Address is the only one to have been postponed
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George H. W. Bush
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George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who was the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and the 43rd Vice President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Republican Party, he was previously a congressman, ambassador, and he is the oldest living former President and Vice President. Prior to his sons presidency, he was referred to as George Bush or President Bush. Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bush postponed his university studies, enlisted in the U. S. Navy on his 18th birthday and he served until the end of the war, then attended Yale University. Graduating in 1948, he moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, Bush became involved in politics soon after founding his own oil company, serving as a member of the House of Representatives and Director of Central Intelligence, among other positions. He failed to win the Republican nomination for President in 1980, but was chosen as a mate by party nominee Ronald Reagan. During his tenure, Bush headed administration task forces on deregulation, in 1988, Bush ran a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as President, defeating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency, military operations were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise and, after a struggle with Congress and his presidential library was dedicated in 1997, and he has been active—often alongside Bill Clinton—in various humanitarian activities. Besides being the 43rd president, his son George also served as the 46th Governor of Texas and is one of only two other being John Quincy Adams—to be the son of a former president. His second son, Jeb Bush, served as the 43rd Governor of Florida, George Herbert Walker Bush was born at 173 Adams Street in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12,1924, to Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Bush. The Bush family moved from Milton to Greenwich, Connecticut, shortly after his birth, growing up, his nickname was Poppy. Bush began his education at the Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Bush decided to join the US, Navy, so after graduating from Phillips Academy in 1942, he became a naval aviator at the age of 18. He was assigned to Torpedo Squadron as the officer in September 1943. The following year, his squadron was based on USS San Jacinto as a member of Air Group 51, during this time, the task force was victorious in one of the largest air battles of World War II, the Battle of the Philippine Sea. After Bushs promotion to Lieutenant on August 1,1944, San Jacinto commenced operations against the Japanese in the Bonin Islands, Bush piloted one of four Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft from VT-51 that attacked the Japanese installations on Chichijima
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John Major
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Sir John Major, KG, CH, PC is a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. A cabinet minister from 1987, he served Margaret Thatcher in the Treasury, Major was Member of Parliament for Huntingdon from 1979 to 2001. He is currently the oldest living former Prime Minister, following the death of Thatcher on 8 April 2013, at the beginning of his premiership, Major presided over British participation in the Gulf War in March 1991 and negotiated the Maastricht Treaty in December 1991. Shortly after this, even though a supporter of the ERM. This event led to a loss of confidence in Conservative economic policies, Major went on to lose the 1997 general election months later, in one of the largest electoral defeats since the Great Reform Act of 1832. After defeat, Major resigned as Prime Minister and was succeeded as Leader of the Conservative Party by William Hague and he went on to retire from active politics, leaving the House of Commons at the 2001 general election. Major was born in 1943 at St Helier Hospital in Sutton, Surrey and he was christened John Roy Major but only John was recorded on his birth certificate. He used his name until the early 1980s. He attended primary school at Cheam Common and from 1954 he attended Rutlish School, in 1955, with his fathers garden ornaments business in decline, the family moved to Brixton. He also credited a chance meeting with former Prime Minister Clement Attlee on the Kings Road shortly afterwards, Major left school at the age of 16 in 1959 with three O-levels in History, English Language and English Literature. He later gained three more O-levels by correspondence course, in the British Constitution, Mathematics and Economics, Majors first job was as a clerk in the insurance brokerage firm Pratt & Sons in 1959. Major joined the Young Conservatives in Brixton at this time, Major was almost 19 years old when his father died at the age of 82 on 27 March 1962. His mother died eight and a years later in September 1970 at the age of 65. After Major became Prime Minister it was misreported that his failure to get a job as a bus conductor resulted from his failing to pass a maths test and he had in fact passed all of the necessary tests but had been passed over owing to his height. After a period of unemployment, Major started working at the London Electricity Board in 1963 which is incidentally his successor as Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He later decided to undertake a course in banking. Major took up a post as an executive at the Standard Chartered Bank in May 1965 and he was sent to work in Jos, Nigeria, by the bank in 1967 and he nearly died in a car accident there. Major was interested in politics from an early age, encouraged by fellow Conservative Derek Stone, he started giving speeches on a soap-box in Brixton Market
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John McCain
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John Sidney McCain III is an American politician who currently serves as the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for the 2008 U. S. presidential election, McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became an aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire, in October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973, McCain experienced episodes of torture, and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. His war wounds have left him with physical limitations. He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1982, McCain served two terms. He was first elected to the U. S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily five times, while generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain at times has had a media reputation as a maverick for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. He is also known for his work in the 1990s to restore relations with Vietnam. McCain ran for the Republican nomination in 2000 but lost a primary season contest to George W. Bush of Texas. He subsequently adopted more orthodox conservative stances and attitudes and largely opposed actions of the Obama administration, by 2013, however, he had become a key figure in the Senate for negotiating deals on certain issues in an otherwise partisan environment. In 2015, McCain became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain was born on August 29,1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, to naval officer John S. McCain Jr. and Roberta McCain. He has a brother named Joe and an elder sister named Sandy. At that time, the Panama Canal was under U. S. control, McCains family tree includes Scots-Irish and English ancestors. Both his father and his grandfather, John S. McCain Sr. became four-star United States Navy admirals. The McCain family followed his father to various postings in the United States. Altogether, he attended about 20 schools, in 1951, the family settled in Northern Virginia, and McCain attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria. He excelled at wrestling and graduated in 1954, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis
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