Reading

Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 09:30
Baby penguin! There are few certainties in life, but alongside death, taxes, and the arrival of hot weather in July, at least one other thing is inarguable: baby penguins are almost impossibly cute.  Guests visiting the Tennessee Aquarium during the Fourth of July holiday can join Aquarium staffers in excitedly welcoming the newest addition to the Penguins’ Rock gallery — a fluffy (and shockingly fast-growing) Macaroni Penguin chick. The chick hatched on June 2 from an egg laid in late April by parents Bacon and Merlin. This baby bird is the first offspring ever produced by Bacon, who hatched in 2015 to two other Aquarium penguins, Hercules and Little Debbie. Though Little Debbie now lives at another facility, the newest chick’s grandsire, Hercules, still calls Penguins’ Rock home. With this latest arrival, the Aquarium is home for the first time ever to three generations of Macaroni Penguins.  The new chick is the Aquarium’s first hatchling since the 2021 arrival of Carla, a Gentoo Penguin. This latest baby is the first Macaroni Penguin chick since Pedro hatched in 2019.
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 08:00
The innocent exchange led to a total Republican meltdown. “Why is Kamala the expert on tacos?” asked Fox & Friends co-host Will Cain. “Did she say white guy tacos are tuna in mayonnaise?” Conservative provocateur Mike Cernovich took it further, accusing Walz of lying about skipping seasoning. “Tim Walz is such a compulsive liar, and deployment dodger, that I decided to see if he lied about not seasoning his food.” Cernovich pointed to a 2016 award-winning recipe by the Minnesota governor for “Turkey Taco Tot Hotdish,” which included the spices paprika, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder.  “Tim Walz is such a compulsive liar, and deployment dodger, that I decided to see if he lied about not seasoning his food.” Apparently, Cernovich, who is s moron in most ways, thinks that a “tot hot dish” is spicy. Here is an example of a taco tot hot dish: That’s “white guy” mexican food. So, by the way, is most of what they serve at Taco Bell if you don’t add the hot salsa.
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 05:00
Highlights of the “press conference” Trump is apparently afraid of campaigning so now he’s just calling “press conferences” and rambling for an hour or so and then taking a handful of questions which he doesn’t really answer. Speaking of intelligence… He just can’t stop trashing the military. Here he is saying that giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to his top donor Miriam Adelman is better than the medal of honor because only broken down or dead soldiers get that one. “They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead. She gets it and she’s a healthy beautiful woman.”
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 04:59
Defence Minister Marles’s love for the the US is so dewy-eyed as to defy parody. Foreign Minister Wong is far more beady-eyed, and instinctively wary of over-commitment to America’s view of itself, but has been unwilling to rock the boat. Politics played a significant part in the birth of AUKUS in Australia, and politics both Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 04:57
Ukraine’s invasion (of Kursk) was a major strategic blunder, which will accelerate its defeat. The key determinant of success in a war of attrition is the casualty-exchange ratio, not capturing territory, which Western commentators obsess over. The casualty-exchange ratio in the Kursk offensive decisively favours Russia for two reasons. First, it has caused relatively few Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 04:56
While Western nations often celebrate private ownership as a driver of innovation, China’s traditional focus has been on how intellectual property can best serve the collective needs of the nation, particularly in economic development and technological self-reliance. In recent decades, however, China’s approach has undergone a significant transformation. It has shifted from imitation and adaptation Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 04:55
In Asian media this week: Another Shinawatra becomes PM in Thailand. Plus: Kishida ‘lost people’s trust’; Big losses as Asian Muslims shun KFC over Gaza; Manila reshapes its superpower ties; Gen Z revolution in Bangladesh; Racism a factor in Olympics row. The lawfare that afflicts government and politics in Thailand continues, with the Constitutional Court Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 04:54
Australia bears ultimate responsibility for how Australian weapons are being used in conflict zones around the world. Republished from DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA, August 02, 2024 It is almost literally true that Australia cannot go to war without the consent and support of the US.’ This statement, made in 2001, is key to understanding the deceit and Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 04:53
The most recent Climate Analytics Report indicates that Australia is playing a major role in sustaining elevated global emissions, threatening the goals of the Paris Agreement. We have not set targets for the phase-out of fossil fuel exploration, production and export and we continue to approve new gas and coal developments. I express my dismay. Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 04:50
Mutual economic quandaries as both try to reshape their economies may force the two bitter rivals to learn to live with each other again. All is not well with Joe Biden’s attempt to reindustrialise the American economy. A new Financial Times report claims that 40 per cent of major manufacturing investments subsidised by his signature Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 03:31
The Narrative Noise To Signal Ratio Is Deliberately Out Of Control

When I saw SPK blogging here, I couldn’t resist the Auld Lang Syne and asked Ian for permission to post sometimes. I wrote for the Agonist in the 2000s.

I’ve followed Whitney Webb since she wrote for MintPress News and find her to be an extremely informative and critical voice, especially about the nexus of tech and finance. Her work frequently frightens me and if I were a Titan of Silicon Valley I would certainly want her silenced.

Her post on Twitter earlier this week caught my eye because it revealed a sort of fuckery that was new to me:

Whitney Webb

Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 03:30
Check this out: NEW We went undercover in Project 2025. Our investigation uncovered details of the secretive second phase of Project 2025 being led by a Trump insider, with plans to feed hundreds of highly-confidential battle plans directly into the Trump transition team. Watch here. NEW We went undercover in Project 2025. Our investigation uncovered details of the secretive second phase of Project 2025 being led by a Trump insider, with plans to feed hundreds of highly-confidential battle plans directly into the Trump transition team. Watch here. pic.twitter.com/je9qHpjAns — Centre for Climate Reporting (@ClimateReport_) August 15, 2024 I wrote about Russell Vought a while back. He’s quite the piece of work. I can’t imagine that Trump is happy about this one bit — assuming he is aware of anything at this point but his grievance that Joe Biden unfairly dropped out and made it harder for him to win. The 900 page Project 2025 is a shocking manifesto. But it’s always been this secret transition and first hundred days plan by Vought that we needed to see.
Created
Sat, 17/08/2024 - 03:00

Welcome to motherhood. It’s the hardest job on earth but also FUN and not hard. It’s the longest, shortest time. It’s organic but also Doritos. The rules are simple, not contradictory, but also not rules, because we are play-based.

1. You must never be boring, but also don’t be fun, or else they won’t respect you as a parent.

2. You must curate a schedule of sports, academics, and whimsy, but don’t curate it so it will be child-led.

3. Infants must learn to swim with you holding them, or they could drown in a bucket, but also not rely on you to swim.

4. Cribs should contain one twenty-thread count sheet and be free of comfort items in a way only monastic monks could understand, but also make it cozy.

5. You must sleep-train your baby before the four-month regression, the six-month regression, and learning leaps.But also don’t pressure them or they will have abandonment issues and form a goth band.

6. You must create a curriculum of brain-stimulating activities—a box of old-timey keys, brick bits from a pueblo in New Mexico, or rain in a jar.But also don’t focus on academics.