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Never did If it was not clear before, it is clear now. The Republican Party, fueled since the Newt Gingrich revolution by the insecurities and grievances of white, Christian males in a changing world is reduced at long last to its essence (New York Times): After two days of chaos and confusion on the House floor, Republicans have made it abundantly clear who is leading their party: absolutely no one. From the halls of Congress to the Ohio Statehouse to the back-room dealings of the Republican National Committee, the party is confronting an identity crisis unseen in decades. With no unified legislative agenda, clear leadership or shared vision for the country, Republicans find themselves mired in intraparty warfare, defined by a fringe element that seems more eager to tear down the House than to rebuild the foundation of a political party that has faced disappointment in the past three national elections. Revanchism is all that’s left. There is no positive GOP agenda. No vision of a better tomorrow. No city on a hill. Just power for power’s sake, power enough to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.

I suppose one has to be way too into the twittersphere to explain/understand this, but Elon Musk's reply guy bullying him is hilarious.

In this Sanctions Watch, covering December 2022: Seized Afghan assets languish in US-backed trust fund while Afghans prepare for a grueling winter; US lawmakers meet with the president of Cuba and denounce the US embargo; UN experts denounce environmental degradation and loss of life as a result of sanctions against Iran; US, Japan, South Korea […]

The post CEPR Sanctions Watch, January 2022 appeared first on Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Law professor Mary Wood breaks describes how the public trust can protect rights to clean air, water, and land.

They are going to put CO2 monitors in all classrooms, with a limit of 800ppm.

An American woman visiting Australia for the first time has vented her frustrations over the difference between shopping trolleys here and in the US. (Thanks to Ralph)

Anticipating Winter Waterfowl Webinar with Dave Barry (Thanks to pharmaross)

Montreal's Poutine Week Festival Is Coming Back This Winter & It Can Get Pretty Wild (Thanks to The Perts)

Hong Kong to lift year-long ban on hamster imports (Thanks to Steve Bradford)

The Stone Watch is not a smartwatch, it’s just designed to look like one. Created by Japanese capsule toy maker Tama-Kyu, the low-tech accessory doesn’t even tell time, let alone feature advanced tech like heart rate measurement, or smartphone connectivity....

Let me start 2023 with a glance back at a December news moment that caught my eye. To do so, however, I have to offer a bit of explanation. First, the obvious: I’m an old guy and, though I spend significant parts of any day scrolling through endless websites covering aspects of our ever-changing world, I have a subscription — yes, it’s still possible! — to the New York Times. That’s the paper New York Times. For those of you too young to know, once long ago, in an era when TVs were still black and white and the Internet, at best, a figment of some sci-fi novelist’s imagination, all papers and magazines were printed and sold on actual paper.... Read more

Source: Old News in a New Year appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Big issues face our award-winning editorial cartoonists here on the DMZ podcast. Ted Rall and Scott Stantis analyze the deadlock in the race to choose the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. They beg President Biden not to run for reelection. Lastly, Scott and Ted debate whether football should be banned following the near-fatal...

The post DMZ America Podcast #82: McCarthy Loses Again, “Don’t Run, Joe!” and Is It Time to Ban Football? first appeared on Ted Rall's Rallblog.

NEW Year’s Resolutions are getting down to earth in 2023 as more people are working from home, connecting with nature and making the weekly/monthly farmers markets a must for stocking up on fruit, veggies, homemade pickles, sauces, potted herbs and spices. With local community food swaps, and flourishing food stalls selling seasonal pickings, the seeds...

The post Growing your own New Year resolutions appeared first on News Of The Area.

THE team at The Big Banana Fun Park are preparing to open the long-awaited expansion of their Water Park! The construction process experienced many setbacks and delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Mother Nature, but the team from Australian Water Slides and Leisure are now completing the finishing touches on the development, in preparation...

The post The Big Banana Fun Park gets ready to open Water Park expansion appeared first on News Of The Area.

A whole lotta unitin’ goin’ on … or something Amidst the chaos of the first days of Republican “control” in the House, none of the members have yet been sworn into office. Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) appeared last night with Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC’s 11th Hour. Boebert and her fringiest Republican pals want Rep.-elect Kevin McCarthy to withdraw from the Speaker’s race. Who would she accept instead? Who would her faction accept who could possibly win the support of 218 Republicans? She can’t say. Boebert insists she and her bloc want to unite the American people, etc., etc., and address the border, energy, and inflation, but not until they get their way first, whatever that is. “We will handle these issues and conduct real oversight real soon …” The line recalls a motivational speech from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984). John Lithgow plays a Mussolini-esque “Red Lectroid” from another dimension. Lord John Whorfin: Where are we going? Red Lectroids: Planet Ten. Lord John Whorfin: When? Red Lectroids: Real soon. They might as well be from another dimension.

Tapper has his very bad sides but he does occasionally let out some truths that his colleagues are desperate to overlook.

The clip in question for people asking pic.twitter.com/CnvvP3x5ca

— jannat m. (@jannatesq) January 4, 2023

Essentially (these are not quotes): 

CINEMA Under the Stars, a favourite community event, returns to Coffs Harbour Showground on Saturday 21 January 2023. The outdoor cinema event takes the format of an evening of family-friendly activities starting at 5.30pm, and a night-time film once the sun goes down. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your...

The post Cinema Under The Stars is back appeared first on News Of The Area.

ALMOST 50 people gathered in Sawtell recently for the first meeting of Sawtell 2030, an inclusive, grassroots network to connect, share knowledge and inspire local actions on major issues. The initial focus area for the group is ‘Small Steps Together to address the climate crisis’. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it...

The post Sawtell 2030 Urges Individual And Collective Climate Action Now appeared first on News Of The Area.

Sometimes my Twitter timeline is me thinking out loud. These posts were me thinking about how Labour's 'big idea' on localism might impact the way
Read the full article...

by Gary Gardner

The recent news that scientists moved a step closer to fusion energy was greeted with enthusiasm and awe in much of the media, a bright spot of cheer amid the ongoing drumbeat of existential global threats. Only the most cynical of curmudgeons could pooh-pooh this hopeful development—right?

After all, energy is the foundation of human development. Civilizational advance is a tale of ongoing successes in shaping energy for human ends.

The post Fusion Energy: A Different Take appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

I enjoyed this mere two minute critique of Sunak’s recent speech – and every bit is true:... Read more

Last month, something unusual happened to an academic philosophy article. The news media reported on it. Shortly after the article was published in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, stories about it showed up in variety of venues, including: The Guardian The Telegraph The Times The Age The South China Morning Post The Independent (picked up by Yahoo News) Japan Today Radio France Internationale France 24 Barron’s Fatherly (picked up by MSN) The Swaddle  Al Arabiya News Stylist Báo Hải Dương The Financial The Daily Mail The Philippine Star among others. How did this happen? It’s no mystery: Cambridge University’s Office of External Affairs and Communication wrote and distributed a press release for it. Granted, the article, “Gendered Affordance Perception and Unequal Domestic Labour” by Tom McClelland (Cambridge) and Paulina Sliwa (Vienna) seems more likely to hook a broader audience than the typical PPR output. Here’s the abstract: The inequitable distribution of domestic and caring labour in different-sex couples has been a longstanding feminist concern.

Sam Bright examines the contribution of Brexit to our current healthcare crisis