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TRIBUTE was paid to the exemplary dedication and service of Louise Rawson-Harris and Mark Willis for their tireless contributions to the Bellingen Memorial Hall for over two decades. In a small ceremony held by Bellingen Shire Council at the hall, a plaque was unveiled in the foyer, immortalising their invaluable efforts. Advertise with News of...

The post Bellingen Memorial Hall stalwarts honoured for long-time efforts appeared first on News Of The Area.

BELLINGEN Shire Council has concluded its community engagement on master plans for the region’s CBD areas, which involved workshops and surveys aimed at shaping the future of Bellingen, Dorrigo, and Urunga. The community engagement initiative, facilitated in collaboration with consultant companies Cobalt Engagement and McGregor Coxall, included a series of workshops held in each township,...

The post Bello Council wraps up CBD Master Plan engagement appeared first on News Of The Area.

BLUE is the colour as Coffs Harbour’s famous Big Banana lights up on Wednesday 6 March during Lymphoedema Awareness Month. The ‘Shine a Light on Lymphoedema’ campaign is run by the Lymphoedema Association Australia (LAA), a charity aiming to ensure people with the condition can access the information, treatment and support they need to live...

The post Big Banana shines blue light on Lymphoedema appeared first on News Of The Area.

Doctor Who: Russell T. Davies announced that Genesis Lysea (Shadow & Bone) and Gwïon Morris Jones (The Winter King) have joined the cast.

It’s been a nightmare and it just got worse. Today’s horror, in which starving Palestinians rushed a rare humanitarian aid station, trampling each other out of desperation when IDF soldiers fired into the crowd resulting in over a hundred dead and 800 injured is one of the worst yet. There can’t be any more vivid example of just how out of control the war has become or a greater necessity for Israel to put an end to this nightmare right now. They are not going to “eliminate Hamas” through attrition and creating a more and more desperate population is only going to radicalize even more of them. They have more than made their point and have, in the process, revealed themselves to be ruthless and brutal, giving up much of whatever moral authority they had left. This is indefensible, even in light of the terrorist attack on October 7th. The Biden administration said they had been on the verge of a ceasefire agreement and this may have thrown a monkey wrench into it.

Leaving aside the issue of whether ASIO’s announcement that there is a ‘traitor in our midst’ is simply a ploy to get more funds in this year’s Federal Budget (something you can never rule out) why hasn’t ASIO and other security and law enforcement agencies in this country pursued the two greatest practitioners of so Continue reading »

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear. ― George Orwell (Eric Blair) Later this year it’s unlikely you’ll be reading columns like this unless keyboarded outside Indonesia. Ex-pat writers will fear deportation for lese majeste aka ‘subversion’ and ‘against our culture’ while local journalists Continue reading »

Aaron Bushnell enacted the ultimate sacrifice in the face of atrocities the likes of which have never been seen before and the grotesque, ugly western leadership enabling it to continue. His act captures our anxiety, distress and helplessness. He is all of us. To learn more about Aaron Bushnell and his life, listen to interviews Continue reading »

The very first principle of Radio New Zealand Charter, states unequivocally that the purpose of our national broadcaster is to be “…an independent public service broadcaster…” and “to serve the public interest.” Unfortunately, this principle appears to have been abandoned in its coverage of Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip that has Continue reading »

With the scalp of poor Mr Mike Pezzullo dangling from his belt, The Age/Sydney Morning Herald journalist Michael Bachelard continues to take a terrier-like interest in the Department of Home Affairs. That’s not a bad idea for the Department, constructed as it is to fail and fail continuously, deserves as much scrutiny as it can Continue reading »

Last week saw the release of the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan which outlines a blueprint for managing future disasters; this week marks the second anniversary of the great flood at Lismore and places downstream in the Richmond River valley. This is a moment to ask how we are going in NSW as far as Continue reading »

Last Tuesday Defence Minister Richard Marles announced the Albanese government’s plans to overhaul the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) ageing surface fleet. The new ‘enhanced lethality surface combatant fleet’ will more than double the amount of main surface vessels the RAN will operate, but their usefulness in ensuring Australian security is dubious. This plan will fulfill Continue reading »

Days before the International Court of Justice’s initial ruling late last month that found there was a plausible risk of genocide being committed by Israel in Gaza, the United Nations Human Rights Council conducted its “universal periodic review” of China’s human rights record. China’s abusive treatment of Uyghur and other Turkic minorities in Xinjiang province—which Continue reading »

HOST: Welcome to “What School Form Did I Just Sign?”—a game where parents must keep track of all the paperwork they are required to fill out by their children’s school. Our contestants are Lindsey, a mother of three kids who attend three different schools, and Dave, a divorced dad whose son lives with him every other week. Okay, folks, first question: What book did you order your kid from Scholastic?

DAVE: That’s easy: a nonfiction book about whales.

HOST: I’m sorry, that’s incorrect. Lindsey?

LINDSEY: A biography of Ruth Bader Ginsburg?

HOST: That is also incorrect. The correct response is “a cupcake-scented gel pen set and matching narwhal notebook, costing over twenty-five dollars.”

LINDSEY: Really? I told Sydney she had to order a book.

The Conservative benches appeared to burst with laughter at the suggestion

My blogging is about two things: (1) the radical changes wrought by modern communication technology; and (2) the inability of the epistemic technologies of the written word to understand point (1). I find this dialectical tension to be generative, but I can see how readers looking for answers might find it unsatisfying. A recent paper in Nature, titled […]

NATO's shocking 'Humour in online information warfare' working paper reveals a sinister strategy, encouraging cyberbullying and doxxing as tools of war, unraveling the disturbing reality of meme-driven manipulation in online spaces.

The post From Memes to Doxxing: Unmasking NATO’s Information Warfare Strategy appeared first on MintPress News.

Despite making commitments to actively engage with efforts to tackle climate change, a new study found many providers to be failing in multiple areas

Do not underestimate Gen Z Let’s push back on the narrative that young people are not excited about their likely choice of two old men for president in 2024. They are. But that’s not the end of the story. The Independent interviewed young voters at the North Carolina Young Democrats’ annual convention in Durham earlier this month. (Full disclosure: I attended and was one of the event’s sponsors.) Granted, it was a biased crowd: “The thing that I think people miss the most right now about what’s happening is there’s this narrative that young people are not engaged in politics,” North Carolina Democratic State Party Chair, Anderson Clayton, said. “[People say that] they don’t care. They’re not going to vote this year. And I’m like, ‘No, they are.’ Because young people are not stupid. They are a lot smarter than people give them credit for.” Maxwell Frost (D-FL), the youngest member of Congress, pointed to young voters’ support of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign as evidence of their voting behavior. “A lot of young people really loved Bernie Sanders, right?