Reading

I can’t say I’m surprised. Choosing Vance was very dumb and it’s the kind of dumb I didn’t expect from Trump whose feral instincts are usually better than this: MILWAUKEE — With the clock ticking to the Republican National Convention last week, Donald Trump met privately to discuss his running mate search with two of his closest advisers: his sons.  The conversation quickly turned tense when the former president indicated that he was leaning toward Doug Burgum, until recently the largely unknown governor of North Dakota — but someone whose low-maintenance, no-drama personality would never threaten to outshine Trump. That’s when Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump chimed in. “Don Jr. and Eric went bats— crazy: ‘Why would you do something so stupid? He offers us nothing,’” a longtime Republican operative familiar with the discussion told NBC News. “They were basically all like ‘JD, JD, JD,’” the operative said. Trump ratified his sons’ recommendation here Monday, selecting Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice presidential candidate.

Sex obsessed middle-aged creep, Kyle Sandilands, famous for once talking to a teenage rape victim on-air about her sex-life, has been appointed Australia’s official moral compass. In a move that’s been celebrated in Sydney but ignored in Melbourne. ”Kyle’s a... Read More ›

In 1941, Harper’s Magazine published a piece by Dorothy Thompson called “Who Goes Nazi?” It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi. By now, I think I know. I have gone through the experience many times—in Germany, in Austria, and in France. I have come to know the types: the born Nazis, the Nazis whom democracy itself has created, the certain-to-be fellow-travelers. And I also know those who never, under any conceivable circumstances, would become Nazis… Let us look round the room. It’s a fascinating piece, highly recommended, even if it shows its age in certain respects. I had not read it until someone on twitter pointed out that one character in particular describes J.D. Vance. “Mr A” is a pillar of the community, a WASPy type who doesn’t have money but is well educated and cultured. He would never in a million years become a Nazi. “Mr. B” is similar but would probably go along to get along if it meant power and money but he wouldn’t be a true believer. “Mr.

Amid questions about authorities’ actions and coordination, the local Butler Township cops had a leadership vacuum.

The post The Local Police Department Responding to Trump Shooting Has No Chief appeared first on The Intercept.

On the trail of a new understanding of invasive species.

The post I Heard the Wild Donkey Bray appeared first on Nautilus.

The author on writing his new book Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-Than-Human World.

The post The New Science of Animal Minds appeared first on Nautilus.

“What do they call that, an AR-15 or something. A pretty big gun…” Just listen to his ignorant rant on vaccines. I think he believes this, by the way. He was anti-vax for years blaming them for autism: From 2018: f there is one thing pro-vaccine campaigners and their opponents probably agree on, it is that Donald Trump has provided a major boost to the anti-vaccine cause. On more than 20 occasions, Mr Trump has tweeted about there being a link between vaccines and autism, something experts at the government’s leading public health institute say is not true. He also repeated the claim during a Republican primary debate, a remark that was immediately dismissed as false by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Prior the election, Mr Trump met with four prominent anti-vaccine campaigners at a fundraiser in Florida – disbarred British doctor Andrew Wakefield, Mark Blaxill, editor-at-large of the Age of Autism website, Gary Kompothecras, a chiropractor and Trump donor from Sarasota, and Jennifer Larson, an entrepreneur who has campaigned against the use of vaccines in her home state of Minnesota.

Mary Kostakidis is one of Australia’s finest journalists, but more than that, she also resolutely stands against oppression and injustice. I witnessed this first hand when I worked alongside Mary in the Australian Assange campaign. But now she finds herself on the receiving end of an extensive complaint by Alon Cassuto, the CEO of the Continue reading »

As the Israeli military obliterates Gaza, massacres refugees living in tents in so called “safe zones”, slaughters 38,000 people including at least 16,000 of these children, its government works to “finish off” UNRWA. Continue reading »

Albanese’s advisers must have been smoking something when they decided that Australia should have envoys against antisemitism and Islamophobia. The British elections showed the impact of disenchantment over Gaza among Muslim voters. Sir Keir Starmer, the new British Labour prime minister is totally on the side of Israel, and various Muslim lobbies made it clear Continue reading »

A famous US politician shot. Nuclear missiles positioned close to an enemy superpower. A nervous world wonders, ‘What next?”. It happened in the 1960s; it’s happening again today. We need a good song to wake us up. Continue reading »

Regarding recent social media posts by journalist, former SBS newsreader Mary Kostakidis, the CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) has lodged a complaint with the Australia Human Rights Commission. Under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, Mr. Alon Cassuto, a dual Australian Israeli citizen, claims that by sharing a speech by Hassan Continue reading »

The NATO logo dominated meetings at the anniversary conference in Washington. The logo includes a reversed rendition reading OTAN. The final communique at the anniversary conference had some wondering if OTAN was an acronym for Oriental Territory Attack Node. The final communique was unrestrained in its attack on China across a range of issues and Continue reading »

In recent weeks there has been talk of the prospect of a Muslim party being formed to contest the next federal election. The prime minister has responded by saying he did not want Australia to go down the road of faith-based political parties. Since then, several commentators have mentioned that Australia has been down that Continue reading »

With no formal constitutional provisions or bill of rights the right to protest in Australia relies upon common law judicial interpretations, is heavily politicised and proscribed by governments in legislation, and relies for administration in a highly discretionary manner by police. In my in depth conversation with Anastasia Radiewska, protest rights campaigner, Australian Democracy Network. Continue reading »

The Fijian Government has increased the retirement age from 60 to 62 years to counteract a ‘labour exodus’ to Australia and New Zealand. Over 50,000 Fijians emigrated between July 2022 and December 2023, mainly due to better education and employment opportunities abroad. The government has made several policy changes to mitigate the impact on the Continue reading »

On June 13, when the UK Labour Party issued its manifesto for the general election on July 4, its focus was domestic issues. This was understandable, as elections are won and lost on bread-and-butter issues. There were, however, some references to foreign policy, albeit nothing too beefy. Signed by the Labour Party leader (now prime Continue reading »

by Yingyao Wang* The technocratic project, which once captured political imagination with its potential to manage society and the economy could be managed with rationality and scientific knowledge, seems in decisive decline. Democracy has reasserted its dominant value, and recent populist attacks on expertise have sounded a death knell for technocraticism. If anything, the technocrats […]