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Created
Wed, 30/10/2024 - 04:53
The Canberra community decided on 19 October to remove from its parliament the two most recent ministers for corrections, Mick Gentleman (Labor) and Emma Davidson (Green). In mid-2023, Minister Gentleman chose not to act on the findings of the second and final report of Neil McAllister, the then independent inspector of correctional services. Instead, Gentleman Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 30/10/2024 - 04:52
In a speech at the Australian Education International (AEI) conference, Education Minister Jason Clare is reported to have told the audience that student caps will help with “the government’s ambitions to get immigration levels back to pre-pandemic levels, including international student numbers”. The latest Treasury forecast of net migration in 2024-25 at 260,000, to the Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 30/10/2024 - 04:51
Journalists around the world were once inspired by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to commit to significant investigative journalism. The pair, with significant help from a Deep Throat source, brought down a US President, Richard Nixon, over the Watergate break in and cover up. But now the once great newspaper they worked for, The Washington Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 30/10/2024 - 04:50
Earlier this week I pointed to a Ukrainian (South Korean, U.S.) propaganda campaign which claims that thousands of North Korean soldiers will soon fight with on the Russian side against Ukraine: To have North Koreans fighting in Russia against the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk would make little sense. That incursion is for one already mostly defeated.Besides Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 30/10/2024 - 04:07
Seven Days Till The US Federal Election

And Trump is very slightly ahead in the polls.

As is usually the case in modern American elections, much that is important isn’t at stake in this election: most notably whether or not the genocide in Palestine will continue. Both candidates and both parties are under the thumb of the Israeli lobby. Nor is an end to the terminal decline of the American Empire on the ballot, though Trump pretends it is.

That isn’t to say the election doesn’t matter, but it’s a choice between two terrible candidates. Trump is clearly senile and mercurial is the kindest word one can use to describe him. Harris is not that bright, and appears to fall into the Bush Jr. category: something happened to damage her. Plenty of rumors of alcohol problems, though I don’t know if they’re valid.

Created
Wed, 30/10/2024 - 04:00

Listen, I get it. You’ve been lurking in this creaky old house for centuries. It’s your time to shine—Halloween is your Super Bowl. But could we maybe hold off on the supernatural terror until after the election?

I’m barely keeping it together. You’ve been doing a stellar job with the whole “creepy footsteps in the hallway” routine and the bloodcurdling screams at 3 a.m. Chef’s kiss. But I live in a swing state, and between the ad blitz, campaign flyers, and the fifteen daily texts from Tommy with Democracy Matters, I just don’t have the emotional bandwidth for your spooky nonsense right now.

Created
Wed, 30/10/2024 - 00:34

If you’re like many of my friends, I know what you’re thinking: OMG, how is it even possible that half the country is going to vote for that guy? And there’s a slightly less common corollary to that: I mean, really, who are these people who say that they’re undecided? Who doesn’t know enough to know which way they’re going to vote? Well, it turns out that I’ve met a fair number of those undecided voters in person, going door to door canvassing in eastern Pennsylvania, where, it’s fair to say, the 2024 election may be decided. They’re real people, with perfectly real everyday concerns. They have families living in pleasant suburbs in and around Easton, Bethlehem, and Allentown, their... Read more

Source: Pennsylvania’s Undecideds appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Wed, 30/10/2024 - 00:00

Our friends at 270 Reasons are gathering a polyphonic orchestra of brilliant writers, teachers, doctors, filmmakers, artists, and citizens of all kinds to weigh in about their plans to vote this November. These opinion essays run the gamut from advocacy for basic human rights to acutely personal mini-manifestoes. Read the rest over at 270 Reasons.

Created
Tue, 29/10/2024 - 23:30

With apologies to Edgar Allan Poe.

- - -

Once upon a midnight dreary,
While I slumbered, weak and weary,
In a cozy townhouse
In the suburbs of Cleveland,

While I dozed off, nearly snoring,
Suddenly there came a roaring
From the baby monitor
That lay on my nightstand.

“’Tis just the wind,” I murmured then,
“That howls like the damned.”

And quoth the baby: “Waah. Waah. Waah.”

- - -

Quietly, so quietly,
My eyes flew open, wildly.
I prayed that my young child, he
Did not need a helping hand.

I did not want to rouse, you see…
(The clock had just struck twelve, you see.)
And still I hoped that I’d receive
The REM sleep I had planned.

“’Tis just a rainstorm,” I demurred.
“There’s no reason to stand.”

And quoth the baby: “Waah. Waah. Waah.”