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Inside Musk's plan for an "everything app."

The right's Quackery Quotas.

In view of the apparent end of what passed for democracy in Israel, it’s time for me to repost my comprehensive proposal for US policy covering all aspects of relationships between the US and the Middle East. It’s over the fold.

Today (July 26, 2023), the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the latest – Consumer Price Index, Australia – for the June-quarter 2023. It showed that the CPI rose 0.8 per cent in the quarter (down 0.6 points) and over the 12 months by 6.1 per cent (down 0.9 points). The annual inflation rate in Australia…

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

House Republicans are helping their fossil fuel donors with legislative fine print that would block climate action.

A report by the Commons' Public Accounts Committee says more should be done to help young adults trace their funds

Physicists have yet to pinpoint the hypothetical matter that keeps galaxies from flying apart. Now they have a new focus.

The post Have We Gotten Dark Matter All Wrong? appeared first on Nautilus.

The 2023 Paul Bourke Lecture presented by Dr Sophie Webber, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney

‘Climate finance: Taking a position on climate futures’

Climate change is increasingly conceptualised in financial terms. In policy and politics, climate change is viewed as a problem of bridging ‘financing’ gaps between the anticipated costs of climate change and available public and private finance, between developed and developing countries, and between mitigation and adaptation activities. These categorisations tend to frame climate finance as a neutral and technical tool for meeting shared goals for responding to climate change.

In this presentation, hear an alternative geographical perspective that is focused on how the ideas, instruments and institutions of climate finance are reshaping the relationships between our economies and climate change. Illustrated with examples of adaptation finance from the Asia-Pacific region, I outline different configurations of climate finance and demonstrate their potentials for more democratic and just climate futures.

Plus Q&A, followed by a cocktail reception.

I’s sure you’ve heard by now that Florida’s new school curriculum says that enslaved people in the United States may have had a rough time in some respects but they got some benefits from slavery too! (This isn’t a new thing, I’ve heard right wingers suggest for years that Black people thank white people for bringing their ancestors to America.) Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis was clearly not sure if it may have gone too far and didn’t claim credit for it but defended it anyway. Philip Bump at the Washington Post took a look at why he would do that: Asked about it, DeSantis offered that the curriculum — which he insisted wasn’t something he produced — would probably “show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life.” Needless to say, this is not generally how historians view the institution of slavery. But DeSantis’s argument isn’t offered solely as a governor of a large state.

Beleaguered Opposition leader Peter Dutton has defended his time in office as head of home affairs, including his controversial decision to hire death eaters to guard Manus Island. ”My record as head of home affairs was beyond reproach,” cried the... Read More ›

A better way to secure digital payments.

The post Venmo, Meet Quantum Mechanics appeared first on Nautilus.

Nobody works for DeSantis for long Ron DeSantis is apparently in the process of “re-tooling” his campaign in light of the miserable failure it’s been so far. He’s been burning through money using private planes and using the Four Seasons as his stomping grounds. Now he’s firing staff. None of this comes as any surprise to people who’ve been watching his career from the beginning: [T]he latest staff shakeup isn’t an anomaly within the arc of DeSantis’ career. It’s part of a larger pattern of a politician who has struggled to maintain a core group of trusted advisers or loyal employees. During his five years in Congress, his office had one of the highest turnover rates in the House. No employed member from his victorious 2018 gubernatorial campaign team is working in a senior role on his 2024 presidential race. And things didn’t change when he became governor. In his first term, he fired staffers with enough regularity that some formed an emotional support group, according to a 2021 Politico report.

The criminal former president is so far ahead of his closest GOP rival that the...