Proposals aimed at protecting children could force tech platforms to choose between freedom of speech and the right to privacy, a new briefing by digital rights campaigners, Open Rights Group and EFF has warned. The Online Safety Bill requires sites that allow user generated content, such as Facebook, Tik Tok, and even Wikipedia, to prevent […]
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Australian novelist Yang Hengjun has been awaiting the verdict on his case in China for more than two years after being accused of spying. Now he fears he may die in detention
I’m not going to go into why that is a load of bullshit. The economy hummed along, no thanks to him but rather the recovery from 2008 finally reaching its stride. Our relationship with the world was nearing catastrophic. The border was a nightmare under him. We were still mired in Afghanistan and every day was some kind of chaotic catastrophe because this miscreant didn’t know what he was doing. This really takes some chutzpah: Not really. There are many more jobs now, manufacturing is coming back and the world is no longer terrified that the president is going to do something really stupid. But really, let’s take a look at where we were exactly three years ago today, shall we? When the pandemic hit he and his band of losers couldn’t even get masks and gowns to NY City while the morgues were filling up because he put his son-in-law in charge of “logistics” and he was clueless. Trump, meanwhile, was saying it was no big deal and if we got it we should take snake oil cures and inject disinfectant. On September 3, 2020: Trump’s answer to all that? On September 3, 2020 he had a rally in Pennsylvania.
The federal Opposition has condemned the Government over their decision to implement 60 day prescriptions, a move which will drop the price of medication, helping pensioners, but affecting chemists. ”Where does Anthony Albanese get off,” fumed Opposition leader Peter Dutton.... Read More ›
The demagogue liar Vivek is the future of the GOP, god help us. But AOC is the future of the Dems — and they are very lucky to have her: Ocasio-Cortez, who at 29 became the youngest woman and youngest Latina to serve in the House of Representatives, is now 33, twice re-elected and comfortable in her political skin. She could hardly be described as an old hand but nor does she channel the shock of the new. She deploys social media with enviable authenticity; she grills congressional witnesses like a seasoned interrogator; she is an object of perverse fascination for Fox News and rightwing trolls; she has been around Washington long enough to draw charges of “co-option” and “selling out”. “AOC Is Just a Regular Old Democrat Now,” ran a headline on New York magazine’s Intelligencer website in July.
There seems to be quite the competition developing between two of the worst Repub licans in the country for the exalted position of Trump’s VP: MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE and Kari Lake have been locked in what one source close to Donald Trump describes to Rolling Stone as a “death race” to become his 2024 vice presidential pick. In public, the far-right congresswoman from Georgia and the failed Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate are happy to present an image of calm unity in their cause to return Trump to the White House. But behind the scenes, the two view one another with intense distrust and disdain, each seeing the other as direct competition for Trump’s political affections, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. Exacerbating the situation is the fact that Greene and Lake are the two leading contenders in a very narrow lane in the race to secure Trump’s VP slot, should he win the 2024 Republican nomination next year.
‘EU and Mercosur leaders ignore the voice of the people to push forward with toxic deal’ declared the Stop EU – Mercosur campaign alliance, a coalition of more than 450 organisations from Latin America and Europe, including trade unions, farmers organisations, social movements, animal activists and environmentalists. The alliance held a two-day meeting in Brussels on 17 and 18 July in parallel to the summit of EU leaders and leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), at which a conclusion of the highly controversial EU – Mercosur ‘free’ trade agreement was also discussed. Around 80 representatives of Stop EU – Mercosur members from Latin America and Europe gathered in Brussels to discuss the problems with the proposed treaty, explore alternatives as well as co-ordinate their strategies to stop that treaty to be concluded, ratified and implemented. In this blog post, I will report on several key conclusions by the Stop EU – Mercosur alliance.
Michael Luttig makes the case that the question of whether the 14th Amendment precludes Trump from running again will be decided shortly by the Supreme Court: I don’t doubt the Supreme Court will decide this. I do doubt that they will uphold the idea that Trump is disqualified from running. It would be the most shocking decision ever. And I don’t think anyone can even guess what it might mean politically. I have my doubts that it would end well but who knows?
In the last few months events have occurred globally which indicate an astonishing, but not unexpected, acceleration in the pace of climate change. The world has now entered a new era of extremely dangerous climate impacts which are already proving catastrophic in many parts of the world. The factors which hitherto have constrained warming, such Continue reading »
The major barrier to health reform is the power of providers or at least their assumed power. Recently the Australian Pharmacy Guild told us that 665 pharmacies would close if the Government proceeded with its 60 day dispensing policy. It was all widely exaggerated doom. Fortunately the Minister for Health stood his ground. It was Continue reading »
The Australian government has reneged on its 1984 commitment to the UN “that it had no intention of making the Cocos (Keeling) Islands into a strategic military base or of using the Territory for that purpose.” Will the Labor government ignore the warnings of the late Richard Woolcott and make the Cocos Islands a militarised Continue reading »
With the date of the Voice referendum now having been set for 14 October, all households will have received a pamphlet outlining the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ case. Australians should understand that these pamphlets have not been officially fact checked. An attempt at fact checking the two cases by The Guardian is worth reading but I Continue reading »
With the escalation of natural disasters in the last five years due to climate change it is now obvious – all too painfully obvious – that we have let our kids down, that we have robbed them of a decent future. The world is on track in our lifetimes – even in the lifetimes of Continue reading »
When governments first assume the reins of power, an air of optimism accompanies them. They will be different from their erring predecessors, adopt a more conciliatory approach to opponents, listen to various positions and develop policy with mild sagacity. Within a few months, the air palls. Old practices reaffirm themselves. When it was elected in Continue reading »
When Labor next loses state office in NSW, it will almost certainly be entirely its own fault. One might have expected that the party’s twelve years in the wilderness would have taught it something about restraint, and about the risks of reverting to its ancient, and traditional ways. Not a bit of it. Not yet Continue reading »
How the US has used its dollar privilege for its own interests, without regard to the damage it causes others, has not gone down well with developing countries. The BRICS’ formation and expansion must be seen for what it is: a rallying cry for a fairer world order. In January next year, six more countries – Continue reading »
Cooking time: 30-35 min. Ingredients: (4 pers.)¾ kg falukorv (sausage)1 tbsp. butter or margarine2 yellow onions½ tbsp. flour1 can peeled tomatoesdiced leftover meatsaltwhite pepperpaprika¾ kg potatoes1½ dl milk, boiling2 tbsp. butter or margarinesaltpeppernutmeg Preparation:
Back in the day, presidential campaigns started on Labor Day — in the election year! And it wasn’t that long ago. I remember George Bush Sr saying, “I’ll get into on labor day” when asked when he was going to hit the trail in 1988. Sure, you have the conventions in the summer but the barnstorming and advertising didn’t really kick in until then. I’m not nostalgic about much but that’s one thing that was better in the good old days. The permanent campaign is exhausting. Well, it looks as though Joe Biden is keeping with the tradition, sort of. he appears to have kicked off his presidential campaign in earnest today. He went after Trump directly: Maybe it’s just that everyone has accepted the fact that barring some unusual circumstance that knocks him out, Trump is the nominee and he has a record that needs to be attacked since he’s been out there saying his term was heaven on earth and people are starting to believe it. Good. As much as I wish we could ignore all this for a while, it’s time to engage and engage seriously.
Outside the California State Capitol last month, a fitness trainer turned school board president fired up the crowd at a parental rights rally, telling them they were all fighters in “a spiritual battle” for their kids and must answer the call from God. Sonja Shaw, who was elected to the Chino Valley Unified School District board of education last November with an assist from a local megachurch and its Christian nationalist pastor, didn’t equivocate in naming the enemy: state Democratic officials who are challenging her right-leaning policies—and drafting laws that hinder book bans and protect teachers from harassment. “Today we stand here and declare in his almighty name that it’s only a matter of time before we take your seats and we be a God-fearing example to the nation, how God is using California to lead the way,” Shaw crowed, adding, “We already know who has won this battle. You will be removed in Jesus’s name!
Nowadays there is almost no place whatsoever in economics education for courses in the history of economic thought and economic methodology. The standard view among mainstream economists is that students shouldn’t think about what they are doing, but just do it. This is deeply worrying. A science that doesn’t self-reflect and asks important methodological and […]
On this Labor day it seems like a good time to discuss what labor in general and unions in specific have to look forward to.
There’s been some very good labor news recently, for example, the UPS strike:
UPS Teamsters have won their biggest wage boost in decades: at least $7.50 an hour over five years for every current UPSer, and more for the lowest-paid. Even the 1997 strike only boosted part-time wages 50 cents (equivalent to 95 cents today) over five years.
The agreement would also end the forced sixth workday for drivers, create seventy-five hundred new full-time inside jobs, and eliminate the second tier of drivers — reversing the infamous concession in the 2018 contract.