Reading

Workers at a pharmaceutical warehouse in Melbourne that employs 190 people have been on strike for three weeks fighting for pay rises to match inflation and equal rates for casual workers.

The post API still on strike after three weeks in fight for a cost of living pay rise appeared first on Solidarity Online.

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.

SAG-AFTRA and the WGA’s strike is happening in LA and NY and it does my heart good to see that all the showbiz unions are showing solidarity on the picket lines today. And it’s not just IATSE and the others, it’s also the Teamsters and the Teachers unions picketing with them. We need more of this. As we await the impending UPS strike which could happen any time now (and severely impact the economy) maybe the Big Money Boyz on Wall Street and the rest of the 1% should take stock and recognize that the pay structure in America’s business is fucked up. In a time of big profits and full employment, workers are going to flex their muscles and it’s long overdue. If business and industry are smart they’ll recognize that they are going to have to share the wealth — these massive CEO salaries are a disgrace. Everyone knows that the world is changing with new technology and nobody is quite sure where it’s going. But that’s no excuse for these rich assholes to pocket vast sums of money in the meantime while crying poor to the people who produce their product. Workers are getting fed up with that kind of bad faith.

Oh Gov. DeSantis? While you are conducting a “war on woke” your state has a serious problem: In places like California, Louisiana and Florida, insurers are balking at covering problems made worse by the climate crisis. The problem got worse for the Sunshine State this week, as Farmers Insurance Group served notice it would no longer be in the business of home, auto or umbrella coverage there, per the Orlando Sentinel’s Jeffrey Schweers. This affects 100,000 Florida homeowners. Ten other companies had already left “in the midst of the state’s relentless insurance crisis, which has caused premiums to skyrocket by 100% or more in some cases. Property owners are bracing for a 40% increase this year,” Schweers reported. California, at least, is doing everything it can to deal with climate change.

.

He still had no legal right to overturn the election Raw Story caught legal expert Ryan Goodman on CNN last night making a very important point: One of the most important elements for special counsel Jack Smith to establish in order to charge former President Donald Trump in connection with the plots to overturn the 2020 presidential election, is to establish his intent — something he is attempting to do with his new interviews with Hope Hicks and Jared Kushner. But crucially, New York University law professor and former Pentagon special counsel Ryan Goodman told a CNN panel on Thursday, that does not mean Smith has to prove Trump didn’t truly believe that the election was stolen from him. “The best possible evidence they can get — and we don’t know exactly whether Jared Kushner or Hope Hicks gave them this — is Donald Trump acknowledging that he knows he lost,” said former federal prosecutor Elie Honig. “It’s one thing to be told by certain people that he lost, because there were other people telling him he did not lose.

I have yet to meet an Australian voter willing to go to war over Taiwan. Further, I haven’t heard of any Australian military leader with a clear idea of Australia’s role in a showdown between China and the US. Earlier this year, NASA’s survey satellite discovered an Earth-sized world within the habitable zone of a Continue reading »

In Asian media this week: Junta’s system thwarts Thai election victor. Plus: Modi ignores brutal war in Indian State; North Korea to treat South as a foreign country; Japan embraces NATO but China hits back; China’s unstated economic strategy – muddling through; Indonesia’s EV plans for Australia. Thailand’s progressive Move Forward Party won the national Continue reading »

Around a week ago the Financial Review confirmed what many observers had taken for granted: the US offered nuclear propulsion technology to Australia under the AUKUS arrangements in order to lock it into the anti-China coalition. Reporting on comments made at a public forum by White House strategic adviser Kurt Campbell, the article highlights his Continue reading »

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.