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HOCKEY Coffs Coast President Dean Herbert is calling on all levels of government to assist in saving the Stadium Drive synthetic hockey field after it was closed last month due to safety concerns over an unstable playing surface. The closure has left the 500-plus strong association without a viable playing ground. Advertise with News of...

The post Urgent funds sought for hockey field upgrade appeared first on News Of The Area.

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Trump is blatantly tampering with witnesses. Nobody cares. Pro-Publica with another expose that nobody notices: Nine witnesses in the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump have received significant financial benefits, including large raises from his campaign, severance packages, new jobs, and a grant of shares and cash from Trump’s media company. The benefits have flowed from Trump’s businesses and campaign committees, according to a ProPublica analysis of public disclosures, court records and securities filings. One campaign aide had his average monthly pay double, from $26,000 to $53,500. Another employee got a $2 million severance package barring him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement. And one of the campaign’s top officials had her daughter hired onto the campaign staff, where she is now the fourth-highest-paid employee. These pay increases and other benefits often came at delicate moments in the legal proceedings against Trump. One aide who was given a plum position on the board of Trump’s social media company, for example, got the seat after he was subpoenaed but before he testified.

The right’s attack on Gov. Walz for his extremely normal school policy is disgusting. The Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial Board sets the record straight on the “Tampon Tim” slam: On Tuesday, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. By Wednesday, the opposition had mobilized with lightning speed for its one of its first political attacks, dubbing Walz “Tampon Tim” in reference to a new state law providing free menstrual products to school students. The nickname was trending nationally this week on Twitter, an indicator of its political currency. Chaya Raichik, whose scurrilous “Libs of TikTok” account on X (formerly Twitter) has more than 3 million followers, was one of the first to amplify it. Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly added to the momentum, endorsing the nickname via tweet. Former First Lady Hillary Clinton weighed in from a different angle, with a tweet supporting the Minnesota measure.

And that’s the problem… He’s really not doing well: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called Kamala Harris a “b—-” in private, according to a report by The New York Times, as the former president’s polling numbers plunge, and his campaign struggles to stick to an attack strategy against the sitting vice president. In a statement to NYT, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said “that is not language President Trump has used to describe Kamala, and it’s not how the campaign would characterize her.” However, sources close to Trump told NYTthat he has called Harris out of her name on multiple occasions—frustrated by her campaign’s control of the news cycle over the last three weeks. On July 25,Trump sent angry texts to Miriam Adelson, widow of right-wing magnate Sheldon Andelson, complaining that the people running the super PAC, Preserve America, weren’t real Republicans, reported NYT. Sources said Trump called them “RINOS” or Republicans In Name Only. “The texts were particularly jarring because Mrs. Adelson and Mr.

The green transition needs copper but how do poor copper-rich countries reap the rewards? The hydrogen-energy balloon is floating away. Underground tanks help to manage flash floods. Big cats become the prey.  Zambia’s copper. Who will benefit? An article in the New York Times was headed: ‘A.I. Needs Copper. It Just Helped to Find Millions Continue reading »

Has the ALP read the Voice referendum loss as indicating limited voter support for First Nations rights, with an election soon? The Voice Referendum failed, and with that failure First Nations Australians lost the hopes embodied in their proposed plans to add them to the constitution with power to develop policies that dealt with issues Continue reading »

“I really value P & I, for its individualistic and thoughtful commentary at this difficult time – and its provision of a platform to experienced commentators with no connection to business or political bias. I do not subscribe or buy mainstream newspapers”. This is what our readers tell us time and time again. Pearls and Continue reading »

The new school funding agreement between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments brings a much needed boost to public schools funding. However, the claims by the Federal Education Minister, the NT Chief Minister and the NT Education Minister that Territory public schools will be fully funded by 2029 is a deliberate falsehood, that is, a Continue reading »

George Yeo Yong-Boon, a distinguished former Foreign Minister of Singapore, offers a compelling narrative on the resilience and enduring legacy of Chinese civilisation. His reflections span China’s adept handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to its ancient water management systems, revealing a civilisation rooted in wisdom and adaptability. Watch the full speech here: Yeo praises China’s Continue reading »

Isn’t it time that the western ruling structures raised their eyes from their reverie, and read the runes that manifest all around them? The signposts are there for all to read: The West – in deliberately overlooking such explicit markers – cannot then complain, or escape, the ensuing consequences. No, the ‘tin ear’ is not Continue reading »

Trump’s biggest fans are worried he’s going to lose: White supremacist, Hitler fan, and far-right political pundit Nick Fuentes shockingly revoked his support from Donald Trump’s campaign early Friday, announcing on social media that he and his allies believed that the presidential bid is headed for a “catastrophic loss.” “Tonight I declared a new Groyper War against the Trump campaign,” Fuentes wrote on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after midnight, referring to a group of far-right activists known as groypers. Fuentes explained that he and his far-right squad of online trolls “support Trump” but that they view his 2024 campaign as being “hijacked” by lobbyists, consultants, and donors that had aided Trump’s 2016 Republican opponents. All in all, Fuentes believed they were “blowing it.” “Without serious changes we are headed for a catastrophic loss,” Fuentes wrote. “This is NOT a purity spiral, this is about living up to the AMERICA FIRST credo put forth by Trump in 2016 which will ensure VICTORY in 2024,” Fuentes continued.

From LGBTQ nation: Jesse Watters, the unapologetically unfunny “funny guy” on Fox News, is at it again with weird commentary concerning Kamala Harris’ pick for vice president, Tim Walz. Watters trained his well-known obsession with masculinity onto the Minnesota governor following Tuesday’s rally in Philadelphia rolling out the Dems’ new Harris-Walz ticket. “The ‘Great Walz of China’ has a lot of red flags, but one is glaring. His body language,” Watters intoned. “Here’s twitchy Tim on stage, waving profusely in a very unsettling matter, very unsettling. Men should not move this way. It’s not the way we move,” Watters said of all self-loathing men like himself (who’ve had exactly one job since they graduated from college: working at Fox News). “And the handshake, probably the most telling. This is Walz and his wife shaking hands like business associates, followed by a weird hug,” Watters continued with more video “evidence” in search of an accusation.

The Wikipedia article on antipopes can be pretty confusing! If you’d like to be even more confused, it can help with that!

The Dark Tower’s foundations are cracking A friend registered voters with HeadCount Thursday night at a Cake concert. He called yesterday to report he’d not seen this mood among volunteers and concertgoers since 2008. He had the names of a couple of eager, new volunteers to pass along. One woman, especially, could be a star. Anand Giridharadas comments this morning on the phenomenon. With the joy-filled Harris-Walz campaign taking off like a rocket and the Trump campaign sinking like the Titanic, there are elements of both hope and relief going unnoticed. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota embodies the dads and uncles who might have gone the way of loved ones lost to Fox News and right-wing propaganda but did not. In Walz, we see “an older white guy who is just happy and can’t wait for the future.” Mourning in America has turned into morning in America (emphasis mine): It’s going to make people feel rage at what was stolen from them. And it’s going to show them, not tell them but show, what might yet be possible. There are years that could still be reclaimed. Yes, the Trump tax cuts were bad. The immigration policy a catastrophe.

Plus, Google takes a hit, an electric utility compensates wildfire victims, homeowners get thousands to use less energy, and Ohio touches grass.

Before and after FKA Twitter exploded on Friday after another of those inexplicable New York Times headlines for which the paper has become known of late. The digital din was such that editors have since altered it. Here’s the before: And now the after: James Fallows responded: Imagine Tocqueville-style visitor to US of 2024 who travels around the country and concludes, “This is a nation consumed by war.” —In comparison w times that *was* true: eg 1968 (and 1964-1975), 2001-2005 (and onward), Nov 1962, Feb 1991 (Gulf War), etc. Not to mention 1940s, early 1950s, etc. —In comparison to what dominates airwaves + news cycles + campaign speeches: Immigration, inflation, abortion, voting and justice systems, “culture wars” + DEI, future of both parties, climate, taxes, etc. This era’s wars are of profound importance. But “nation consumed”? (As so often the case, hed oversells the actual story. But headlines are all that most people ever see.) David Simon, producer of The Wire (2002–08): Ukraine is a nation consumed by war; Russia as well to a very real extent.

Before Doctor Who returned in 2005, there was an odd A-List audio drama in 2001 that was supposed to be the Seventh Doctor's "grand finale."

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Agatha All Along, Skeleton Crew, The Rookie, Doctor Who, Netflix, and more!

Trump’s popularity with his base isn’t the result of economic anxiety, as many claimed in 2016. It’s about race and demographics.

The post Racism Is Why Trump Is So Popular appeared first on The Intercept.

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Often on a Friday evening, we order a curry from our local “Indian” takeaway. They deliver, but it is easier and quicker for me to walk round and collect, and, anyway, I enjoy chatting to the guy behind the counter. He’s a Man United fan, I’m Liverpool, so we have some banter with a bit […]