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We’ve raised something over $5,400 since the fundraiser started, meaning we’ve reached the first goal of $4K and our $2,500 out from $7,000 tier, at which point I’ll do 3 reviews of important books. At 10K, which is $4,600 out, I’ll write an article on:

…the fundamental process which keeps society together, how it fails and renews and under what conditions it fails to renew.

And at $13,000, I’ll write:

an article on the weaknesses of North American style police, and how a determined and ruthless opponent could take advantage of those weaknesses to rip them a new one.

I really appreciate everyone who’s given. Donations and subscriptions from readers which have kept this blog alive and running. Times are hard, since Covid each fundraiser has become more difficult, because people are hurting, in particular from inflation.

There are many processes now subsumed under the term “Artificial Intelligence.” The reason we’re talking about it now, though, is that the websites are doing things we never thought websites could do. The pixels of our devices light up like never before. Techno-optimists believe that we’re nowhere close to the limit, that websites will continue […]

An evidence-led, long-called for, but under-used programme of checks for people with a learning disability has the potential to help ease health inequalities more widely, Saba Salman reports

Politics, Inequality and the Australian Welfare State After Liberalisation

Speaker: Ben Spies-Butcher

Thursday 7 November 2024, 12-1:30pm

Room 441, Social Sciences Building (A02), The University of Sydney

Neoliberalism has transformed work, welfare and democracy. However, its impacts, and its future, are more complex than we often imagine. Alongside growing inequality, social spending has been rising. This seminar draws on Ben’s recent book to ask how we understand this contradictory politics and what opportunities exist to create a more equal society. It argues an older welfare state politics, driven by the power of industrial labour, is giving way to political contests led by workers within the welfare state itself. Advancing more equal social policy, though, requires new forms of statecraft, or ways of doing policy, as well as new models of organising.

Amid mounting authoritarianism and widespread allegations of election-rigging, will Georgia’s democracy survive parliamentary polls scheduled for 26 October?

Why you should pay attention to California's Proposition 6 this election.

The recent wave of far-right fuelled rioting has hit our country’s most deprived area the hardest, but despite Salford sitting as one of the most deprived local authorities, we thankfully did not see any disorder. It’s debatable why rioting didn’t arrive here; in recent years, Tommy Robinson has held several rallies in Salford. But one […]

A Bible, a piece of wood, a song – a poignant portrait of the everyday family keepsakes that can bridge generations

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Losing Black voters to Donald Trump, the Harris campaign has an idea for helping Black men. But what does it mean?

The post After Major Industry Donor Pops Up, Harris Makes Bizarre Proposal: Crypto for Black Men appeared first on The Intercept.

Our culture works hard to keep sex and death separate but recharging the libido might provide the release that grief needs

- by Cody Delistraty

Read at Aeon

Our team explored who is considered wise in cultures with contrasting philosophical traditions. The results surprised us

- by Maksim Rudnev & Igor Grossmann

Read at Psyche

"Bilbies are one of Australia’s most popular native marsupial species, but sadly also one of its most threatened, so those that look after bilbies are very important."

Förhoppningarna var stora om att den parlamentariska kommittén som vart åttonde år ser över ramverket skulle ta Sveriges investeringsbehov i beaktande och reformera ramverket för att möjliggöra underskott under de år investerings- och underhållsskulden betas av. Resultatet blev ett balansmål som inte ens täcker hälften (cirka 25 miljarder) av den prognostiserade minsta nivån för behovet av offentliga utgiftsökningar […]

The Foreign Secretary David Lammy is being urged to go much further in response to violence by Israeli settlers

The – Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research – is the go-to place for understanding demographic trends in Japan. The latest revisions to the population estimates (as at 2023) show that the current population of 125.5 million will shrink to 96 odd million by 2060 and then 87 million a decade later.…

On the same day lobbyists for NSO met with Rep. Pete Sessions, a lawyer from the lobbying firm gave $1,000 to “Pete Sessions for Congress.”

The post Pegasus Spyware Maker Said to Flout Federal Court as It Lobbies to Get Off U.S. Blacklist appeared first on The Intercept.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Events in Jabalia over the weekend have still not shocked the world into action; men, women and children rounded up shared with the world in footage taken by IDF soldiers. We are awakened to the knowledge Australia’s US bases are take off points for US planes heading to the Middle East and witness the protest Continue reading »

Yeah, we love Pennsylvania. That’s our very special hello to Latrobe. Oh, I love Latrobe. You know why? The home of Arnold Palmer. This is the home of my friend Arnold Palmer. And he loved Latrobe. You know, he turned out to be one of the greatest golfers in the world. He started off very, very poor. He had no money, just had a lot of talent and a lot of muscle. He was a strong guy.

[Roughly ten minutes of “weaving” about Arnold Palmer’s youth, Arnold Palmer’s father, golf, “stiff shafted golf clubs,” the candidate’s golf courses, building villas, and the entertainment agency IGM.]

He was an incredible man, he was an incredible champion, and he came from Latrobe. And so when I said a couple of days, and I said, “Where are we going to be today?”

They said, “Sir, we’re going to be in Latrobe."

I said, “Do you know what that means?”

“No, sir, what does that mean?”

Politico took a look at what the Trump[ers are plotting in the event he loses the election. It’s a long shot, but it’s theoretically possible: “No one knows exactly what Trump’s attack on the electoral system will be in 2024,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the Jan. 6 select committee. “What will he do this time?” The answer, according to lawmakers, congressional investigators, party operatives, election officials and constitutional law experts, goes something like this: — He will deepen distrust in the election results by making unsupported or hyperbolic claims of widespread voter fraud and mounting longshot lawsuits challenging enough ballots to flip the outcome in key states. — He will lean on friendly county and state officials to resist certifying election results — a futile errand that would nevertheless fuel a campaign to put pressure on elected Republican legislators in statehouses and Congress. — He will call on allies in GOP-controlled swing-state legislatures to appoint “alternate” presidential electors.