Reading

Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 06:30
They have to ruin everything: The wife of an Arkansas Republican state lawmaker has expanded the culture wars to miniature free libraries that encourage passersby to take a book and maybe leave one. “I have been swapping out books in little free libraries for awhile,” Jennifer Meeks announced in a Facebook post. “From what I have seen a lot of these books and other things don’t align with Christian values.” The Aug. 1 post has since been either deleted or made private, but not before it was screenshot by the Faulkner County Social Justice Coalition, which displayed it on the group’s website. “Today, I saw a bunch of Pride stuff in one,” Meeks said in the post. “There’s a group of leftists, especially in Conway, who are very active in keeping little libraries well-stocked.” Meeks wrote that she had been doing some stocking of her own. “Recently I have been picking up free Bibles at flea markets and thrift stores,” she reported. “Sometimes I find good devotion books or kids’ Bible stories at a good price to add.
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Fri, 11/08/2023 - 05:00
Rolling Stone has the story: In May 2022, Willis empaneled a grand jury to investigate Trump and his allies’ efforts to interfere with Georgia’s 2020 election outcome, including the former president’s so-called “perfect” call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which he pressured him to “find” the votes necessary for him to win the election. Trump has repeatedly attempted to discredit prosecutors investigating him, and while it’s unclear what Trump was talking about when he accused Willis of having an affair with “gang member,”, recent social media posts indicate that he is wildly misrepresenting a case she handled in 2019.  In January, Rolling Stone spoke to rapper YSL Mondo, who co-founded the Young Stoner Life (YSL) music label with Young Thug.
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Fri, 11/08/2023 - 04:58
Whether Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit China in 2023 remains uncertain, but the odds are favourable. Beijing has issued an invitation and Albanese said that the trip remains ‘likely’. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed that Canberra ‘would look to make sure that a visit can occur’. But there remain two factors that might derail a visit. Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 04:56
It is becoming increasingly unlikely. Julian Assange is in prison; the dissenting voices of Seymour Hersh, John Pilger, Glen Greenwald and Tucker Carlson have been excluded from the mainstream, moving into self-publishing; and Mick Hall has resigned from Radio New Zealand after it tightened control to safeguard the pro-American narrative. “You haven’t been here long Continue reading »
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Fri, 11/08/2023 - 04:55
Pearls and Irritations (P&I) is a tremendous addition to an Australian publishing scene in which propaganda is increasingly replacing accurate news and analysis. P&I’s large pool of experienced analysts, including many former high-ranking public servants, gives a growing band of readers a rare perspective on the big issues facing Australia. Because it relies solely on Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 04:54
The Productivity Commission has released a draft report on its review of progress on closing the gap. The review arises from the terms of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, in particular, clauses 121 to 124. There are a number of problematic issues with the draft review, and most particularly with its proposed solutions. Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 04:53
The Australian Energy Market Operator has made a rare foray into the mainstream media debate around the green energy transition, saying claims that its cost assessment of renewables does not include transmission and storage are “wrong.” Conservative media, led by the Murdoch press but also including others, has been seeking to suggest that AEMO’s 30-year Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 04:52
Like his mentor Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein is effectively banned from entering the Palestinian territories by Israeli authorities. This constitutes a very exclusive club: Jews welcome in Ramallah but not in Tel Aviv. The day the City appointed a rat Czar was a good time to leave Manhattan, at least for a few hours. The Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 04:50
Arguably the single most egregious display of war propaganda in the 21st century occurred last year, when the entire western political/media class began uniformly bleating the word “unprovoked” in reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On February 23 of last year, the day before the invasion began, the New York Times editorial board wrote that Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 03:30
Arizona was deadly hot during the month of July. We know this. But it didn’t convince the climate deniers that maybe, just maybe, it might be smart to consider that climate change could be responsible. Every single day of July had reached 110 degrees or hotter, demolishing the previous record for the longest 110-plus-degree streak that Phoenix — nicknamed the Valley of the Sun for a reason — had ever seen. Most of those days were above 115 degrees, and most nights, the low stayed above 90 degrees, setting records on both fronts. All told, the average daily temperature — the average of the high and low — was 102 degrees, or more than 7 degrees above normal for July, which is also a record, according to the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, dozens of people have died amid the extreme heat. Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, recently brought in new refrigerated storage containers to hold all the dead bodies, a tactic it first employed during the peak of the pandemic.
Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 02:40

“Large school districts across Florida are dropping plans to offer Advanced Placement Psychology, heeding a warning from state officials that the course’s discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity violates state law.”
Washington Post

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Despite media reports to the contrary, we here at the Florida Department of Education are committed to offering AP Psychology to high school students in our state. However, there are several concepts within the course that will need to be handled delicately in the classroom. It is our hope that a few careful revisions, reflected in the following student handouts, will enable teachers to deliver all course content in full while still reflecting the values, beliefs, and moral principles that we as Floridians hold dear.

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Created
Fri, 11/08/2023 - 02:00
If you have a chance, listen to this whole thing. It is astonishing: Now take a look at Trump hedging: Eastman says they were trying to save the Republic from “the mob” — and prepared to sic the military on anyone who protested. That’s right, they prepared for a military coup. Now Trump is hedging. I hope Eastman enjoys being underneath the bus.