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Created
Tue, 10/01/2023 - 04:55
The farce occurring in the US House of Representatives, where a small group of far-right Republicans are seeking to veto the overwhelming choice of their colleagues for the party’s congressional leadership, may well be resolved by the weekend in the traditional American parliamentary way, with bribes, deals, committee placements and stiff-arming. It is not the Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 10/01/2023 - 04:54
Treasury’s December 2022 Population Statement has received more media attention than any of its previous statements. This is predominantly due to Treasurer Jim Chalmers promoting the statement extensively in contrast to his predecessor who largely treated these statements as business as usual. Chalmers is reported to have said “the news that Australia’s population would be Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 10/01/2023 - 04:54
Anzac Parade in Canberra is Australia’s major ceremonial avenue, a grand boulevard commemorating (heroic) service and sacrifice. Yet at least one of its monuments represents war crimes, racism, torture and murder. Few nations are as strident about their military history as Australia. There is no more admired symbol in our national psyche than that of Continue reading »
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Tue, 10/01/2023 - 04:50
“If we don’t confront Christian nationalism then we are leaving ourselves open to future attacks, like what we saw on January 6,” said one critic. In an effort to fill in what they say are critical gaps in the U.S. House select committee’s report on the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, faith Continue reading »
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Tue, 10/01/2023 - 04:49
Exclusive: American neocons helped destabilise Ukraine and engineer the overthrow of its elected government, a “regime change” on Russia’s western border. But the coup and the neo-Nazi militias at the forefront also reveal divisions within the Obama administration, reports Robert Parry. More than five years into his presidency, Barack Obama has failed to take full Continue reading »
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Tue, 10/01/2023 - 04:34
Council Motion on Stopping Data Discrimination:Council Notes: – That UK GDPR, and the Data Protection Act 2018 protects individuals from harmful or discriminatory uses of their data. It does so by imposing a duty on organizations to use people’s data in a legal, transparent, and fair way. – That without GDPR students couldn’t stop unfair […]
Created
Tue, 10/01/2023 - 04:30
Last Friday night and into the wee hours of Saturday morning, sleepless souls around the nation suffered through the spectacle of sad-sack Kevin McCarthy finally capturing his Holy Grail, the speakership of the House of Representatives. It was a uniquely unedifying spectacle. By the end it became downright uncomfortable watching McCarthy ritually humiliated hour after hour by members of his own party before they finally deigned to give him the gavel he has so desperately coveted for so long. But then, this is a common practice among Republicans these days. Just look at the way former President Trump treated his own vice president, Mike Pence, a man who ostentatiously abased himself for four long years only to be thrown to a slavering mob (at least metaphorically) when he refused to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power. Like McCarthy, Pence also keeps coming back for more, and apparently plans to launch an extremely quest for the presidential nomination in a party that holds him in total contempt. As Salon’s Amanda Marcotte writes on Monday morning, the Republican display over the past week was only a preview of what’s likely to come.
Created
Tue, 10/01/2023 - 04:29
Luciano Floridi, currently Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford and Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at the University of Bologna, has accepted an offer from Yale University to become the founding director of its Digital Ethics Center and professor in its Cognitive Science Program.   Professor Floridi is known for his work in philosophy of information, digital ethics, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and philosophy of technology, publishing several books and hundreds of articles on these topics, which you learn more about here. He has also consulted for Google, advised the European Commission on artificial intellligence, chaired a Parliamentary commission on technology ethics, to name just some of his non-academic work and service. Last year, he was awarded the highest honor the Italian government bestows, the Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.
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Tue, 10/01/2023 - 02:50

Last night, thousands of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court in Brasilia. Descending on the country’s capital, the far-right mob called for the resignation of the newly elected President, Lula Inacio da Silva, and for the intervention of the military to halt the peaceful and democratic transfer of […]

Created
Tue, 10/01/2023 - 02:30
I think it is wrong to give too much credit to the last incarnation of the House Republican Clown Caucus - the Tea Party - but I think they could probably mumble some explanation of what they wanted.

"More Hunter Biden Dick Pics" seems to be all they have, now.
Created
Tue, 10/01/2023 - 02:14
Why The American Radical Right Is Powerful And The American Left Is Meaningless

Watching “left wing” reactions to the Speaker’s election in the US House was instructive. Too many people were appalled when I pointed out that the left, the “Squad” specifically, could have done the same thing to get concessions in 2024.

If you were appalled at the idea then you are not a member of the left in any useful way.

(That statement and this post will occasion another torrent of abuse in the comments for me to throw into spam, and laugh about. If you think that after 30 years online, most of it moderating comments, you can insult me in a way I haven’t heard before, you are a fool as well as a piece of human garbage.)

You have power in electoral politics when you can deliver or deny votes and money and get people elected or un-elected. That’s the bottom line.