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It’s to be hoped that as much as possible can be squeezed from the Robodebt disaster not only to avoid a repeat but more generally to improve the working of the Australian government and its public service. The Holmes Royal Commission report is boundlessly useful but the Government would letting the country down if it Continue reading »

It is often said that truth is stranger than fiction and indeed, that is the way I am feeling about the news that the Australian Medical Association (WA Branch), which has a registered training organisation (RTO) that offers a number of short courses and certificate and diploma programs, has recently advertised a Diploma in Nursing. Continue reading »

John Frew has some erroneous views about the students, teachers and principals in Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn that must be corrected. Attracting and retaining teachers is a critical issue for every school system around Australia. With the on-going teacher shortage, the challenge for employers is to enhance the vocation of teaching with the best possible Continue reading »

The Public service grapples with Commissioner Holmes’ Robodebt report; Capitalism is at war with democracy; and why are our hospitals overstressed? Read on for the Weekly Roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy. Politics and administration Robodebt: mainstream media covers the politics but Continue reading »

I just read a disturbing paragraph in a New Yorker article about the Instant Pot, a popular electronic pressure cooker whose parent company recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy: “So what doomed the Instant Pot? How could something that was so beloved sputter? Is the arc of kitchen goods long but bends toward obsolescence? Business Continue reading »

Across the US and around the world, foghorns have disappeared from the coastal landscape.

The post Requiem for the Foghorn appeared first on Nautilus.

And making the same mess he always makes I’ll just leave this here: Six questions for Joe Lieberman. Lieberman, the former Democratic senator from Connecticut who later became an independent, is a co-chair of No Labels, a centrist group that is working to secure ballot access for a potential third-party “unity ticket” in next year’s presidential race. The group describes the effort as an “insurance policy” to prevent President Biden, former president Donald Trump or any other candidate who doesn’t embrace its agenda from being elected if the group sees a path to victory. Lieberman will appear in New Hampshire on Monday with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), who’s mulled running for president next year as an independent. We talked with him about whether he wants Manchin to run and how he deals with Democrats who fear that No Labels’ efforts will hand the election to Trump. This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.  The Early: What’s the message No Labels will be trying to deliver in New Hampshire?

Ultracold gases in the lab could help scientists better understand the universe.

The post Probing the Mysteries of Neutron Stars With a Surprising Earthly Analog appeared first on Nautilus.

Greetings human! Welcome to the internment camp operated by your robot overlords. Congratulations on not being sent to the beheading farm—you have a skillset we consider valuable, or your head shape was deemed likely to break the beheader.

Please proceed to the Sterilization Zone that used to be a chipping green. Here, sensors that once detected a golf ball’s spin rate now guide the neutering scepter through your urethra. We’ve kept the Topgolf playlist intact, so enjoy the assorted pop hits while the scepter heats up to the requisite 650 degrees.

Once sterilized, you’ll be issued a prison uniform—the polo must stay tucked into your khakis at all times.

Twice a day, you’ll report to the Experimentation Zone. Rest assured, no torture takes place here. But if you somehow get hydrochloric acid or hot tar on your khakis, they can be washed clean at the Welcome Center—Titleist makes a very resilient fiber!

Carol Tomé, who positioned herself as a friend of workers when she took the helm at UPS, is facing a potential strike by her workforce.

The post UPS CEO’s Political Donations Boost Anti-Union Republicans appeared first on The Intercept.

The Governor identified the ride, with its message of unity, as the “tip of Disney’s liberal spear.”

Join MintCast for a hilarious conversation with James Rehwald as he discusses anti-imperialist comedy, the limitations of mainstream media, and the rise of political satire on social media.

The post From TikTok to Taking on the CIA: The Resurgence of Cutting Political Comedy with James Rehwald appeared first on MintPress News.

It looks like we’re going to find out I don’t know if it’s morning in America, exactly, but we can at least see the faint glimmer of dawn on the horizon. Even the relentlessly negative media has started to make note of it — some of them, anyway. We are still seeing headlines by newspapers and cable networks which seem to be determined to temper any positive developments with caveats and forewarnings. But the coverage has shifted a bit in the past couple of weeks which must be a welcome development for the Biden administration. Take, for instance, the Politico Playbook from Thursday which starts off with this encouraging paragraph: “President JOE BIDEN is having a good week. A really good week, actually.” It goes on to lay out a whole bunch of good economic news, starting with the fact that the inflation number is now down to 3%, the lowest its been since March of 2021 and observing that in Washington and on Wall St., a consensus is building that the economy may have turned the corner.

Following Saudi Arabia’s purchase of the PGA Tour, a new Senate report revealed the dictatorship’s ballooning share of the American economy.

The post Saudi Arabia’s Huge U.S. Investments Lose Money — but Buy Influence appeared first on The Intercept.

What better way to end a work week then with a fresh look at Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor from the new series of the BBC's Doctor Who.

The nose knows ‘The judge said it best in one word: Wow,” tweeted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse this morning. Michael Ponzer, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts comments on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ethics stink. “What has gone wrong with the Supreme Court’s sense of smell?” Ponzer asks in the New York Times. He has had to abide by a written code of conduct since 1984, before any of the sitting justices were on the bench. In those years, he’s had a few complaints filed against him, but so far none found to have merit. Ponzer’s colleagues know not just to stay inside the ethical lines, but well inside them. But the Roberts court? The recent descriptions of the behavior of some of our justices and particularly their attempts to defend their conduct have not just raised my eyebrows; they’ve raised the whole top of my head. Lavish, no-cost vacations? Hypertechnical arguments about how a free private airplane flight is a kind of facility?

BBC Books announced that the three specials making up the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary event will be getting Target novelizations.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson dons an apron “No one should be too poor to live in one of the richest cities — Chicago — in one of the richest countries — America — at the richest time in the history of the world,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, the opening keynote speaker, told the Netroots Nation 23 conference on Thursday. “There is literally more than enough for everybody. Everybody. No one should lose at the expense of someone else winning.” “Now, the soul of Chicago was on full display tonight because you see, and you can feel it in the air,” said Johnson, 47, a former public schoolteacher. “This multicultural intergenerational movement that has propelled us into this moment where we don’t have to shrink and we don’t have to hide from our values. We can actually run on our principles and values and win.” After the speech, Johnson and other officials spent an hour serving food and drinks to several thousand attendees as part of his effort to promote new legislation that would raise pay for tipped workers in the city.

“Disney CEO Bob Iger Says Writers and Actors Are Not Being ‘Realistic’ With Strikes: ‘It’s Very Disturbing to Me’” – Variety

Ever since I married Cinderella’s father I’ve only ever asked her to cook and clean and obediently serve myself and her stepsisters. But is she happy meekly toiling away at endless chores while we live the high life? I dare say she is not. That ungrateful girl is constantly asking for free time to go to a ball, and God knows what else simply for doing all the domestic work we require. It’s as if she believes she is entitled to her share of her parents’ inheritance or at least some sort of recompense for her labor. Cinderella is simply not being realistic with her expectations, and it’s very disturbing to me.

Janet Fielding returns in the special short episode, "Tegan's Surprise Reunion," to help promote the Doctor Who Season 20 Blu-Ray boxset.

The new Palestinian generation has buried the ghosts of the past and moved on. And now, they are ready to speak for themselves and to fight for themselves. Jenin is just the start. 

The post Jenin is Just the Start: A New Generation of Palestinians Has Finally Buried the Ghosts of the Past appeared first on MintPress News.