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The Canberra Press Gallery is not a homogenous group although its members do seem to suffer from a fair amount of groupthink; preference for gotchas and speculation about what might happen next in politics; and heavy dependence on leaks and drops for copy. One part of it – the Murdoch part – subsumes this into Continue reading »

With what passes for Australia’s population debate in the spotlight again, some history might prove illuminating, especially environmental history. The United Tasmania Group (UTG) formed on 23 March 1972 at Hobart Town Hall, under the leadership of botanist Richard Jones, as the threat to flood Lake Pedder reached a climax. The lake came under threat Continue reading »

This was the haunting title of a recent speech by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, at Chatham House in London. He speaks with knowledge, hoping to inspire faster action. The science is clear, as the latest IPCC report makes plain. We are now seeing what has been predicted. Simon speaks of “record-shattering heat Continue reading »

If convicted felon Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November 2024 it will probably herald the end of America as the world and as Americans know it. And maybe ignite the Second American Civil War. Taking Trump at his rhetoric (never a terribly safe thing) here are a few of the sweeping changes Continue reading »

The US government-backed Ukrainian outlet “Data Journalism Agency” has just released a report attacking Americans as enemies for opposing military aid to Ukraine. The Grayzone is included alongside hundreds of others from both the political right and left. The new Ukrainian report, titled “Roller Coaster: From Trumpists to Communists. The forces in the U.S. impeding aid to Ukraine and how they do it,” intends to smear American politicians, journalists, and social media influencers as tools of Russia, writing: “Most of […]

The post The Grayzone targeted in US govt-backed ‘enemies of Ukraine’ list first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post The Grayzone targeted in US govt-backed ‘enemies of Ukraine’ list appeared first on The Grayzone.

For the second time, the IFC is bucking recommendations to offer money as reparations to people hurt at a chain of schools it invested in, Bridge International Academies.

The post World Bank Financing Arm Rejects Calls to Directly Compensate Victims of Harm at Kenya Schools appeared first on The Intercept.

Plus, a simple fix for clean energy, how to save a half-trillion dollars, and banks repossessing wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.

Democrats overperform again Politico reported this morning:  If last night’s election returns were going to provide any surprises, they weren’t supposed to come out of Ohio’s 6th Congressional District. In a special election race that got basically zero national attention, Republican state Sen. MICHAEL RULLI was thought certain to rout Democrat MICHAEL KRIPCHAK, a former Air Force officer and once-aspiring actor who quit a Youngstown-area restaurant job to run for Congress. DONALD TRUMP, after all, had won the blue-collar, mostly rural district previously represented by GOP Rep. BILL JOHNSON by 29 points in 2022. Furthermore, Rulli raised nearly 30 times more than Kripchak’s shoestring budget.

“Justice Alito’s Wife, in Secretly Recorded Conversation, Complains About Pride Flag” — Headline from the New York Times, 6/10/24

Dear Martha-Ann,

I can’t say that I expected to hear from you during Pride month. So, imagine my surprise when, this week, you spilled to an undercover reporter that you’ve been feeling a little left out. It tugs at my heartstrings that you plan to stare wistfully “across the lagoon at the Pride flag for the next month” like some backward Jay Gatsby who has never been invited to a party and whose Daisy currently has her tongue down Jordan Baker’s throat.

American banana company Chiquita has been linked to civilian massacres in Colombia and ordered to pay $38 million in a historic judgment.

The post Chiquita Ordered to Pay $38 Million for Funding Colombian Death Squads appeared first on MintPress News.

Nearly 20 years after the Second Intifada, the Israeli military has resumed airstrikes in the West Bank — and killed 24 children.

The post Israel’s New Air War in the West Bank: Nearly Half of the Dead are Children appeared first on The Intercept.

Knee-jerk hysteria does not denote a confident party President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was found guilty in federal court of failing to properly fill out a form to buy a gun which he had in his possession for 11 days and never fired. Fair enough. What he did was against the law and a jury of his peers found him guilty. The case was solid. Biden was a drug addict back in 2018 at the time of his crime and he should have admitted it on that form. But people in the midst of an addiction crisis make bad decisions and often get on the wrong side of the law. Hunter Biden’s response to the verdict was to say that he was more grateful for the support of his family, friends and community than he was disappointed in the verdict. And he added “recovery is a gift from God and I am blessed to receive that gift one day at a time.” Joe Biden reiterated that he loves his son and always will and that he is proud of his recovery. He also said that he respects the outcome of the case and the judicial system. Both Bidens were restrained and solemn in the face of a serious legal outcome which, until recently, was simply expected from a president and his family.

Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call legislative elections in France, following a strong showing for the extreme-right-wing Rassemblement National of Marine Le Pen constitutes an extreme risk. No doubt he thinks that either the RN will fail to get as many seats as they hope under France’s two-stage election system or he calculates that since he […]

For the last three weeks, I’ve been talking to the incredible and diverse people of the Holborn and St Pancras constituency as part of my campaign to take on Keir Starmer and become their independent MP. Those conversations have shown that the current genocide in Gaza looms large in the minds of many, alongside the […]

The return of Sinclair’s Mighty Wurlitzer Public Notice and Judd Legum’s Popular Information assembled another stew of cookie-cutter commentaries from right-wing Sinclair Broadcasting’s local talking heads. Sinclair repackaged talking points from the Wall Street Journal’s widely panned June 4 article, “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Sipping,” questioning Joe Biden’s mental fitness. The sourcing is questionable. Conveniently, repetition obliterates questions: Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal piece was repackaged by Sinclair Broadcast Group and beamed into the homes of millions of Americans. Sinclair, which is controlled by right-wing media mogul David Smith, owns or operates 185 local television stations across 86 markets.  Sinclair repackaged the Wall Street Journal story through its centralized news team, known as The National Desk. The segment was then pushed to dozens of local news stations owned by Sinclair. Local anchors introduced the piece by reading from a nearly identical script.

Mozilla, the maker of the popular web browser Firefox, said it received government demands to block add-ons that circumvent censorship.

The post Firefox Browser Blocks Anti-Censorship Add-Ons at Russia’s Request appeared first on The Intercept.

Oreos, beer, snack food and sedition How gullible do Donald Trump’s footmen think his #MAGA base is? Pretty gullible, judging by their latest conspiracy theory regarding Hunter Biden’s three felony convictions. And conservatives claim it’s liberals looking down their noses at them. CNN: In the wake of Hunter Biden’s conviction on federal gun charges Tuesday, right-wing media personalities sought to downplay the jury’s decision, falsely claiming the case was a “fake trial” designed to “cover up” other supposed crimes committed by the president and his family. The reaction showcased how far to the fringes the right-wing and pro-Trump media ecosystem has drifted in recent years, with high-profile personalities defaulting to conspiracy theories and innuendo in response to inconvenient political news. Via Greg Sargent at The New Republic: “Hunter Biden guilty. Yawn,” tweeted MAGA thought leader Charlie Kirk. “The true crimes of the Biden Crime Family remain untouched.