Reading

Created
Sun, 16/07/2023 - 04:57
Australia’s energy transition pathways are piecemeal and incoherent and inconsistent with achieving the 1.5oC goal. Eliminating fluorocarbons helps the climate and the ozone layer. No future for CCS in the steel industry. Australia’s shambolic national energy pathways Australia’s current climate change commitments, targets and policies include: A commitment to limit global warming to 1.5oC Net Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 16/07/2023 - 04:56
Its mid-summer in Rome and last week there was a heat wave with a top temperature of 38° Celsius. Hot days in Rome are stifling, with the heat compounded by the over-whelming influx of tourists. Like most Italian institutions, the Vatican normally closes down in summer, with previous popes retiring to Castel Gandolfo on Lake Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 16/07/2023 - 04:53
Some might argue the appointment of Michele Bullock as RBA Governor renders irrelevant the slandering of two of our most senior public servants as “tainted”. Peter Dutton should not be let off the hook so lightly. Perhaps a product of the Fadden bye-election, Peter Dutton’s slur was misguided and mischievous. Two distinguished public servants, particularly Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 16/07/2023 - 04:51
The Israeli army’s recent attack on Jenin refugee camp resulted in 13 deaths (12 Palestinians, including four children, and one Israeli soldier killed by suspected friendly fire). An additional 143 Palestinians were injured, with 20 in critical condition, and up to 4,000 displaced. While this mass displacement has received less media attention than other aspects Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 16/07/2023 - 04:50
The Taliban has not once, but twice eradicated Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation, the world’s largest source of heroin. Despite western accusations, it has never been The Taliban behind the Afghan drug industry, but only ever the US and its allies, with billions in profits breezily laundered through the global financial system. First published in THE CRADLE Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 16/07/2023 - 04:30
Surprised? I would hope that this puts him in the category of Alex Jones and normal people stop dealing with him as if he’s a serious person. But I’m not getting my hopes up. This is on par with Donald Trump and the MAGA crazies so I think that’s just the way things are in our political culture: Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dished out wild COVID-19 conspiracy theories this week during a press event at an Upper East Side restaurant, claiming the bug was a genetically engineered bioweapon that may have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Kennedy floated the idea during a question-and-answer portion of raucous booze and fart-filled dinner at Tony’s Di Napoli on East 63d Street. “COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” Kennedy said. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people.
Created
Sun, 16/07/2023 - 03:00
Dems are winning swing voters From Nate Cohn at the NY Times on the 2022 election. Yes, the Republicans turned out as they always do. But something else happened: Ultimately, the Democratic performance depended on something that went far beyond turnout: A segment of swing voters decided to back Democratic candidates in many critical races. For all the talk about turnout, this is what distinguished the 2022 midterms from any other in recent memory. Looking back over 15 years, the party out of power has typically won independent voters by an average margin of 14 points, as a crucial segment of voters either has soured on the president or has acted as a check against the excesses of the party in power. This did not happen in 2022. Every major study — the exit polls, the AP/VoteCast study, the recent Pew study — showed Democrats narrowly won self-identified independent voters, despite an unfavorable national political environment and an older, whiter group of independent voters.
Created
Sun, 16/07/2023 - 00:30
They’re beyond being embarassed Shamelessness was just for warm-ups. Sometimes the gibberish is less offensive than what’s behind it: Robinson’s latest comments come as he has been the subject of national attention for his long history of racist, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQ+ comments. In February 2018, he penned an attack on the film “Black Panther” because the title character was created by Stan Lee, whom he called “an agnostic Jew,” and “put to film by a satanic marxist. How can this trash, that was only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets, invoke any pride?” He received bipartisan condemnation in October 2021 for a sermon in which he referred to “transgenderism” and homosexuality as “filth.” I’d like North Carolina to go blue in 2024. Even more, I’d like to keep the governor’s mansion out of Mark Robinson’s hands.
Created
Sat, 15/07/2023 - 23:00
Quick dispatch from Netroots-Chicago Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones related his experience with being expelled from the state House, reinstated by constituents, and returning to the state Capitol to encounter the white men who voted to expel him. “I walked in with the energy that they are in the ‘find out’ portion of our movement,” Jones said to applause. Later, the Rev. Jesse Jackson made a surprise appearance with Jones. Jackson announced his retirement from leadership of Rainbow PUSH (NPR): He announced in 2017 that he had begun outpatient care for Parkinson’s disease two years earlier. In early 2021, he had gallbladder surgery and later that year was treated for COVID-19 including a stint at a physical therapy-focused facility. He was hospitalized again in November 2021 for a fall that caused a head injury. Before another tornado blew through town last night, a few notables under 35 found each other at Netroots Nation. Jones, Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, NC Democrats’ state chair Anderson Clayton, David Hogg (A March For Our Lives) and other young activists shared dinner. Networking is why we come.
Created
Sat, 15/07/2023 - 21:24

No one wants to fall into debt. No one wants a boot in their door. No one likes bailiffs. The use of bailiffs to tackle council tax arrears is a violent, humiliating, and unnecessary practice. That’s why ACORN Haringey is organising to end the council’s use of this cruel and bullying industry. With the support […]

Created
Sat, 15/07/2023 - 21:17
Philosophy professor Kathleen Stock has been actively engaged in ongoing discussions about gender identity and transgender issues for a long time. In these discussions, she has expressed scepticism and concern about certain aspects of transgender ideology, particularly in relation to gender identity and its implications for women’s rights and spaces. Stock has argued that the […]
Created
Sat, 15/07/2023 - 10:00
As crews continue to search for an aggressive sea otter that’s been caught on video stealing surfboards, the Monterey Bay Aquarium speaks out on its “interesting history.” “This otter was born in captivity up at UC Santa Cruz. It was not bred in captivity, but its mother was in the wild and had to be re-captured. And when they captured the mother, she was pregnant,” said Kevin Connor with the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Subsequently, the sea otter pup — tagged 841 — and its mother were taken to the aquarium to be examined and cared for. The pup was released in June 2020 after it was found to be healthy and old enough to survive in the wild. “We have certain standards for release. They need to be a certain weight. They need to demonstrate they can feed themselves and that they can survive in the wild. Certainly, if an otter is displaying behavior when it’s with us, that says release may not be the best option that would get evaluated by Department of Fish and Wildlife,” said Connor. The mother was determined to be unfit to stay in the wild and was taken to another aquarium.
Created
Sat, 15/07/2023 - 09:00
They want to help airlines hide the true cost of their tickets again. This is just stupid: Price transparency on airline tickets could be a thing of the past, as House Republicans push to roll back Obama-era rules that prohibit airlines from advertising anything but their all-in prices, including all required taxes and fees. But Democrats and consumer watchdogs are sounding alarms, saying the change would be a gift to airlines, who could hide the true cost of airfare behind links or fine print — and increase their profits by getting consumers to spend more. “This is a bad idea,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League. “Price transparency makes it easier for consumers to comparison shop. … We don’t want to have to do algebra and advanced trigonometry to figure out what it costs.” The Republican provision was tucked into a huge Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization package, one of the few bills considered a must-pass this Congress, by members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.