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The striking new plan to let voters reclaim democracy in a profoundly undemocratic system. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 26th July 2023 Trust no one, trust everyone: this paradox is the foundational principle of democracy. We should not trust any politician’s promises until they’ve been delivered. We should not trust anyone to represent […]

At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate target unchanged at 4.10 per cent and the interest rate paid on Exchange Settlement balances unchanged at 4.00 per cent.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

The Trump election interference case raises unique questions about the role of a free press in preserving democracy.

The post I Was Just Subpoenaed by Trump’s Georgia Grand Jury. Here’s What I’ll Tell Them. appeared first on The Intercept.

The Trump election interference case raises unique questions about the role of a free press in preserving democracy.

The post I Was Just Subpoenaed by Trump’s Georgia Grand Jury. Here’s What I’ll Tell Them. appeared first on The Intercept.

An old GOP hand on Ron DeSantis Oh my: Last year, longtime Republican strategist Ed Rollins was leading the Ready for Ron PAC, and announcing his plans to help DeSantis — then an undeclared 2024 candidate —  take on Trump in the primary. A longtime Trump supporter, Rollins wanted to turn the page on the twice-impeached former president, and he thought DeSantis was the candidate to do it. But in just a few months, that hope vanished. Today, Rollins says he is “not involved” anymore in the pro-DeSantis efforts. “I don’t think it’s the campaign’s fault at all; it’s his,” Rollins tells Rolling Stone. “I think he’s been a very flawed candidate. I know some of the people around him, and some of them are good, talented people. But every time he opens his mouth, he has a tendency to — shall we say — think out-loud, and he clearly doesn’t understand the game. … When you get into these culture wars the way that he has, the vast majority of people don’t understand what they are.

Former Australian Prime Minister (yep, really) Scotty from marketing, has taken to the socials to launch his new catch phrase: ”Don’t blame me, I didn’t do it.” ”People have a lot of expectations on a former Prime Minister,” said Scotty... Read More ›

The ABS is consulting on the topics to be included in the 2026 Census. Initial submissions are in, and there is now a list of suggested topics and changes for which the ABS is...

Update: The NY Times had this quote explaining why they love Donald Trump: “He might say mean things and make all the men cry because all the men are wearing your wife’s underpants and you can’t be a man anymore,” David Green, 69, a retail manager in Somersworth, N.H., said of Mr. Trump. “You got to be a little sissy and cry about everything. But at the end of the day, you want results. Donald Trump’s my guy. He’s proved it on a national level.” There is nobody, NOBODY, who is a bigger whiner and cryer that Donald J. Trump. Not even the world’s most spoiled five year old princes snivel as much as he. But they just want to feel good about saying things like “make all the men cry because all the men are wearing your wife’s underpants and you can’t be a man anymore” and Trump gives them permission. And, by the way, what results????

In my book, World Statehood: The Future of World Politics, I develop a new processual understanding of world statehood. I pose questions about world political integration, especially (1) whether and to what degree elements of world statehood exist today, (2) whether the development of further elements and functions of world statehood can be seen as a tendential direction of history, and (3) whether, and under what conditions, a world political community could be viable? These questions imply that the existence of a “world state” is not a categorical yes-or-no question, but rather we must carefully specify the elements and functions that can be associated with stateness.

The post World statehood: the future of world politics appeared first on Progress in Political Economy (PPE).

Turns out there can be a positive side to the psychopathic traits that may lurk inside all of us.

The post The Psychopathic Path to Success appeared first on Nautilus.

I think DeSantis and the gang see this as a feature not a bug. But it isn’t. There comes a point at which turning your state into an antediluvian hellscape starts costing real money: With the start of the 2023-24 academic year only six weeks away, senior officials at New College of Florida (NCF) made a startling announcement in mid-July: 36 of the small honors college’s approximately 100 full-time teaching positions were vacant. The provost, Bradley Thiessen, described the number of faculty openings as “ridiculously high”, and the disclosure was the latest evidence of a brain drain afflicting colleges and universities throughout the Sunshine state. Governor Ron DeSantis opened 2023 with the appointment of six political allies to the college’s 13-member board of trustees who vowed to drastically alter the supposedly “woke”-friendly learning environment on its Sarasota campus. At its first meeting in late January, the revamped panel voted to fire the college president, Patricia Okker, without cause and appoint a former Republican state legislator and education commissioner in her place.

While Australians pride themselves, for the most part, in having stricter gun laws than most and not being warlike in disposition, their governing officials have increasingly thought otherwise. War drums are beating. The chatter about acquiring and building armaments is getting more frenzied. As a client state of the US imperium, firmly enmeshed in the Continue reading »

But it needs your financial support to survive and grow. With the mainstream media handcuffed to the firewall, our governments self-censored by ‘freedom’ of information, and the national interest ignoring the public interest, Australians need an online opinion site that’s free, accessible, informative, uninhibited, and quick to read.  John Menadue and his young team give us this Continue reading »

At the end of a Retreat together on “Spiritual Leadership in Difficult Times”, a German social scientist asked me to help her to organise a Retreat for decision-makers at the next UNCOP – the annual UN Conference of Parties focused on preventing catastrophic climate change in ways that are just. Just, yes, especially towards those Continue reading »

Australia urgently needs a national plan to effectively address child and youth homelessness. In 1989, after a two year National Inquiry, the Human Rights Commission advised the Federal Government that Australia had nearly 25,000 homeless children and young people – some of whom were dying from neglect — while many others were living in squalid Continue reading »

Spare a thought for the National Anti-Corruption Committee which has so many juicy cases before it that there is a substantial chance that it might have to pass on investigating some of the serious sources of potential corruption around the nation. Not because it doubts the seriousness of allegations that have come to its notice, Continue reading »

The Australian Universities Accord Interim Report (the Report) was made publicly available on 20 July 2023. Since Labor regained office in May of last year and the Accord process was announced, hopes have not been high that either the process or the Minister would make any commitments to reforming what is widely perceived as Australia’s Continue reading »

China and the U.S. are not mates. These two massive nations bristle over Taiwan, snarling like dingoes protecting their territory, with China threatening “catastrophic consequences” in case of a dust up. Then there is the question of human rights, with the US accusing China of genocide in its treatment of the Uyghur people in the Continue reading »