Madeleine King, Minister for Resources in the Albanese government, recently announced that she will curtail the ability of Australians to challenge resource corporation projects in court (The West Australian 26/3/24). This attack on democratic rights is built on decades of disinformation shaping the global discussion on fossil fuels and climate change. King’s action comes from Continue reading »
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It is easy these days to grab a headline about the end of peak China. China’s imminent economic stagnation is becoming conventional wisdom, unless of course one happens to be in the resources, energy, green industry, or automobile sectors, just to name a few. There, China’s demand continues to surge or, alternatively, depending on the Continue reading »
The environment is a key policy concern for Independent MP Kylea Tink, as for the other “Teal” Independents. Continue reading »
Lobbying has been part of politics for the past two millennia, but in the past twenty years it has become an artform in persuasion and influence. At times it is scarcely possible to distinguish the elected representatives from unelected politicians. It seems now that a political career is not just election to a parliament, but Continue reading »
ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury might get the feeling that the new Law Reform and Sentencing Advisory Council he established in November last year is channeling Freddie Mercury: they want it all, and they want it now. Council chair Lisbeth Campbell has made it clear that hers is an independent body. She even had to have Continue reading »
The Bank of New Zealand blocks a donation to UNRWA, then thinks again. Like many people I have been horrified by Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians. I have made modest donations to UNICEF, partly to help but also, I must admit, to appease my conscience. I was particularly inflamed by the Israeli government’s attempt Continue reading »
The US State Department’s No 2 now admits the AUKUS joint submarine project between three of the Five Eyes is tied to Taiwan and mainland China. At the US State Department, the Ukraine girl is out, and the China guy is in. From Washington’s perspective, it was a right assignment. Whether that’s good for Asia Continue reading »
Australia’s Defence Department has refused a Freedom of Information request about the details of an arms deal with Israel on the grounds that such information “could harm Australia’s international standing and reputation,” which suggests the details must be pretty damning. Equally as scandalous, this refusal was reportedly made in consultation with the Israeli government. In Continue reading »
No surprise. The modern drug supply is a mess: in most cases users don’t know what they’re buying and it’s often cut with fentanyl, which is incredibly potent. It doesn’t take much to throw a user into an overdose and kill them. (Black tar heroin is often an exception, if it’s available where you are and you use, use that.)
The dirty supply, plus increasing use due to economic despair and social alienation, are behind increasing drug deaths. You can’t solve that with half-assed decriminalization.
A California lawmaker wants to dismantle the Clean Water Act protections that he was fined for violating.
Don’t let him forget it What he said yesterday was that because he needs to get elected and he thinks this issue is hurting him so he’s just saying that he isn’t for a federal ban to get it off the table. But what Healey says above shows why he can’t take it off the table. He’s the reason all those states now have abortion bans and he’s proud of it. Normal people don’t care for the idea of women in neighboring states dying or young incest victims being forced into childbirth because Donald Trump is trying to split the difference. He created this problem when he and Mitch McConnell packed the court with wingnuts and now they have to live with it. I noted yesterday that Lindsey Graham had come out with a big statement against Trump’s decision, pushing for a 15 week national ban, and Trump went on a tirade against him on Truth Social. By the end of the evening I became convinced this was a kabuki dance, at least on Graham’s part, to portray Trump as a “moderate.” “See, he’s not so bad!” I’m not entirely convinced Trump is in on that, however.
You may have heard the news that high schoolers will have to take the SATs if they plan to attend college. The temporary break from standardized tests is over.
The New York Times recently posted an interactive test featuring a few questions from the reading and writing section of the SATs. If you haven’t needed to take a standardized test for the past twenty to sixty years, you could try taking it, or you can just hit yourself over the head with a large plumber’s wrench.
We’re not saying you have to do that; you’re an adult who doesn’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Certainly, you don’t have to retake the SATs. Even if your child is currently applying to college, there’s simply no reason you also have to take the test that was the bane of your existence as a teen. You also don’t have to hit yourself in the face with a big steel wrench.
For the feds, ISIS-K as the new domestic terrorism threat avoids dealing with the politics of the Gaza war.
The post Terror Hunters Trade Hamas for ISIS-K, Perhaps With Some Relief appeared first on The Intercept.
This blog post was written by DrupalCon Portland Higher Education Summit Committee members Megan Bygness Bradley and Michael Miles.
As a part of the landscape of higher education web technology, many of us are navigating the digital realm somewhat disconnected from one another. We’re solving similar problems, but do not often have the opportunity to talk to others about the whys, hows, and the gotchas of implementing within the sphere of higher ed. DrupalCon Portland's Higher Education Summit is tailor-made for you! It's not just another conference; it's an amazing opportunity to connect, collaborate, and elevate your expertise in Drupal with your peers in the higher education sector.
Film producer and former peer David Puttnam speaks up against taxpayer support for the controversial channel
Festus Akinbusoye appears to breach his own office's rules on using police imagery for party-political ends
Trump gave all of us more reason to vote this fall If it was not clear before that reproductive freedoms will be the central issue of this presidential campaign, Donald Trump made that clear on Monday, as Digby noted. Every time he does, he’ll drown out his own party’s messaging about border security, age, inflation or any other bit of spaghetti they hope sticks to the wall. But then keeeping his mouth shut about “our Great Roe v. Wade Victory” is not one of Trump’s strong suits. This is one Trump message the left should amplify, and Biden-Harris is on it. The GOP wants to leave all our freedoms up to individual states. Where once we were North and South, segregated and less-so, MAGA Republicans want to make what freedoms we Americans enjoy contingent not on the Constitution but on where we live. They want to leave our freedoms up to the states. Not if we leave it up to our votes. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● For The Win, 5th Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide GOTV planning guide at ForTheWin.us.
The bots who shit in your sandbox are bigger, brassier, and better than ever!
The post Akismet means never having to say you’re sorry appeared first on Zeldman on Web and Interaction Design.
NatCon Brussels is creating a network of radical right speakers from the UK, Europe and the US which often aim to roll back reproductive and sexuality rights
Recently, you may have noticed that the hot weather is getting ever hotter. Every year the United States swelters under warmer temperatures and longer periods of sustained heat. In fact, each of the last nine months — May 2023 through February 2024 — set a world record for heat. As I’m writing this, March still has a couple of days to go, but likely as not, it, too, will set a record. Such heat poses increasing health hazards for many groups: the old, the very young, those of us who don’t have access to air conditioning. One group, however, is at particular risk: people whose jobs require lengthy exposure to heat. Numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that... Read more
Source: Republicans Have Plans for Working People appeared first on TomDispatch.com.
No Confederate flags When the eclipse reached totality Monday afternoon, we looked around and thought this one was much darker than the total eclipse that passed an hour away in 2017. Seven years ago when the celestial light dimmed it was dusky, but not dark. This time we were on the edge of night. What’s up with that? It turns out that the explanation was out there. The geometry of the Earth, Moon and Sun were slightly different this time, making the path of totality wider (Mashable): Setting aside weather conditions, the wider path of totality is also the reason some solar eclipse observers could be treated to a darker sky, Zeiler said, allowing people to see more stars against the backdrop. If a person stood in the center of the narrower path in 2017, then went to the center of the broader 2024 path this April, the sky could appear darker the second time around. The duration of the eclipse and the level of darkness are related. “If you’re in the center, then you’re a farther distance away from sunlight. That’s what it boils down to — how far you are from the edge of the shadow,” he said. So it was near Bloomington, Indiana.