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BORN in Chatswood in 1924, World War Two veteran David Martin celebrated his 100th birthday on Sunday 21 July at the Sawtell RSL Club. “What a great 100th birthday celebration we had yesterday at Sawtell RSL, surrounded by loving family and friends from near and far,” said David’s son Greg Martin. Advertise with News of...

The post World War Two veteran David Martin celebrates 100th birthday appeared first on News Of The Area.

Do you all experience flow? Or rather, as I think everyone does at times, do you experience it often? Obviously I have written plenty of words in my life, but this is not generally something you experience when writing blog posts unless you are maybe excoriating someone in an unnecessarily profane way that is–fundamentally–unfair. Like, […]

THE Coffs Coast Safety Network (CCSN) will host a Psychological Safety at Work conference on August 7, unpacking where a worker’s self-care ends and an employer’s duty of care begins. Themed ‘Mind Matters – Navigating Psychosocial Risks in the Workplace’, the event will be offering insights and practical workshops on managing stress, enhancing workplace culture,...

The post Workplace safety conference comes to Coffs Harbour appeared first on News Of The Area.

Oh puleeze… With cameras rolling and flashing, the two men sought to repair what had been seen as one of the closest relationships between leaders when they were in office, now that Trump is once again the Republican presidential nominee three months out from a new election. At their talks, also attended by Sara Netanyahu, Trump declared that he could not understand how Jews could vote for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, referring to remarks she made on Thursday after she met with Netanyahu regarding the suffering of Gazans that Trump called “disrespectful to Israel.” Trump also charged that the world would see “major wars in the Middle East and maybe a third world war” if he didn’t win the election. As things stand, he further said, “You are closer to a third world war” than ever “because we have incompetent people running our country.” Netanyahu should be ashamed but, of course, he isn’t.

More evidence that JD Vance is shockingly un-moored from any principles — and may be literally unhinged: J.D. Vance’s long correspondence with a transgender friend who attended his wedding has been revealed—including how he spoke about hating cops and disparaged Donald Trump and conservative icon Antonin Scalia. Sofia Nelson, a Yale Law School contemporary of Trump’s running mate, revealed how they corresponded by text and email for years until falling out over his support for a ban on gender-affirming medical treatment for minors. The dossier of his emails and texts was revealed by the New York Times Saturday, with Nelson telling the paper the release was to highlight Vance’s shapeshifting from anti-Trump moderate Republican to MAGA culture warrior, accusing him of using his old position to amass money and his new one to amass power.

JV Last at the Bulwark explains what all this “single cat ladies” stuff is all about: Watching the JD Vance / New Right obsession with natalism, I’m struck by how racially coded it is. Because while Vance and his confederates are super-duper concerned about childless people who “have no stake in America’s future” I have also heard many conservatives/Republicans express a great deal of concern about brown people having too many babies. Here, for example, is the Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald in 2007: Pretty obvious what her problem is there, isn’t it? You may have forgotten, but back in the 1990s, conservatives were worried about African-American women having too many babies, so they pushed for a welfare “family cap” which denied extra benefits for low-income women (translation: African-American women) who had children while on public assistance. Sometimes the Republican pro-natalists let the mask slip. Last year in Texas Republicans pushed a bill that would give large property tax credits to households with four or more children.

The hole in the Antarctic’s ozone layer is recovering but very slowly. How to eat seafood sustainably, restoring our disappearing mangroves and cemeteries for the living. Has the hole in the ozone layer been fixed? I was puzzled by a headline in the New York Times that read ‘A Global Push Fixed the Ozone Hole. Continue reading »

It’s once you’re dead or out of the picture, unable to meaningfully contest the narrative, that institutions can appropriate the very struggles of those who once fought against them. This sort of co-option of movements is a consequence of how memory works in society. Writings from the ANU Gaza Solidarity Encampment – Part 5 This Continue reading »

In the theatre of politics, Trump has always upstaged. Whether cast as hero or villain he insatiably dominates the spotlight. A diviner of public sentiment, throughout his various professional iterations, Trump has elevated his unique gift for performance into an artform. In his incarnation as a politician, he has perfected the knack of cannibalising American Continue reading »

“Another world is not only possible, she’s on her way… On a quiet day, if I listen carefully, I can hear her breathing” – Arundhati Roy. Sitting on a beautiful Australian beach with his partner, my friend Graeme was reading St. Augustine. Not a usual beach practice but seemingly providential. Reading a section in which Continue reading »

When the spring finally came, we returned to our neighbourhood, and we found that wildflowers had grown amid the fallen buildings and the rubble. Wildflowers grew above it all, above all our people, and above all their dreams. December 2, 2023 We were together with my extended family in our grandparent’s ground floor apartment in Continue reading »

JD Vance’s wife seems to be a shape-shifter too: During her rise through America’s most prestigious schools, law firms and judicial clerkships, Usha Vance rarely— if ever — volunteered her opinions on the nation’s bitterly partisan politics to friends and colleagues. But she did express revulsion at former president Donald Trump’s actionson Jan. 6, 2021. Vance told friends she was outraged by Trump’s incitementofthe deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol and lamented the social breakdown that fueled his political support, according to one friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitiveconversations. Her view at the timecontrasts with the later pronouncements of her husband and Trump’s newly minted running mate, JD Vance, who has downplayed the storming of the Capitoland called participants who were jailed “political prisoners.” “Usha found the incursion on the Capitol and Trump’s role in it to be deeply disturbing,” the friend recalled.

Plus, it’s game over for noncompetes, farmers quit spraying around, people get a vote on progressive measures, and climate change measures score big bucks.

Lookee here: The US economy is on the verge of an extremely rare achievement. Economic growth in the first half of the year was solid, with the economy expanding a robust 2.8% annualized rate in the second quarter, according to fresh Commerce Department figures released Thursday, which are adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings. Stocks surged in the morning after the economy’s powerful show of resilience, but later lost steam and closed the day mixed. The Dow rose 81 points, or 0.2%, after jumping more than 500 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%. That comes after the benchmark index and tech-heavy Nasdaq on Wednesday logged their worst day since 2022. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, was much stronger in the second quarter than economists had predicted. The GDP report showed that businesses are continuing to invest and that consumers are still opening their wallets. That’s key, because consumer spending is America’s economic engine, accounting for about two-thirds of US economic output.

The Intercept has appealed to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records to obtain emergency dispatch calls from the July 13 Trump rally.

The post Why Won’t Authorities Release 911 Recordings From Trump Rally Shooting? appeared first on The Intercept.

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In the name of Orange Jesus “FWIW I think this is gibberish, rather than a vow to end democracy. But the fact that I’m not sure speaks volumes,” tweeted media critic Dan Froomkin Friday night. Donald Trump told the Turning Point USA Believers Summit on Friday that if only they would vote for him this time they would never have to vote again. He’d see to it, Trump promised. “We’ll have it fixed so good your not gonna have to vote.” Even if there are still elections, there will be no point to voting. That’s how his dictator buddies do it. They will be “fixed” for good after he’s implemented Project 2025. “Can you believe they put that thing in writing?” Vice President Kamala Harris asked a campaign rally crowd in Milwaukee this week. How many times must normal Americans hear Trump and his MAGA cult make their intentions plain before taking them seriously? It’s bad enough that there is an informal Caste system in this unperfected land with “created equal” in its charter.

Democrats follow for once The first week of Harris for President has been, as they say, lit. “DAMN. This is how you slam Donald Trump,” tweeted Victor Shi, a Gen Z phenom from the Harris Youth Engagement Team. Shi boosted a campaign statement on Trump’s remarks to Turning Point USA Believers Summit on Friday in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Tonight, Donald Trump couldn’t pronounce words, insulted the faith of Jewish and Catholic Americans, lied about the election (again), lied about other stuff, bragged about repealing Roe, proposed cutting billions in education funding, announced he would appoint more extremist judges, revealed he planned to fill a second Trump term with more criminals like himself, attacked lawful voting, went on and on and on, and generally sounded like someone you wouldn’t want to sit near at a restaurant — let alone be President of the United States,” said James Singer. “Someone you wouldn’t want to sit near at a restaurant” is evocative in a way seldom seen in Democratic statements. “Criminals like himself” too. The gloves are off.

Titan Comics flew out all the way from Southwark in South London to San Diego Comic-Con to show off their wares to the Diamond Retailer Lunch

Disney helps Doctor Who reassert itself as a pop culture phenomenon at SDCC 2024 while a BBC annual report shows its value to the UK economy.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Jensen Ackles/The Boys, Dexter, TWD: Dead City/DD: The Book of Carol, Creature Commandos, Doctor Who & more!

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