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Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 04:53
Australia is trailing its neighbours in the race to acquire China knowledge and capability, which can only come from in-country experience, writes Louise Edwards. Chinese universities are keen to see more Australian students in their courses and on their campuses. At Beijing’s most important annual political meetings held in March this year, the Director of Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 04:52
When we choose not to show empathy for the people of Syria, it leads us to ignore their country’s ancient history and the rich fabric of Syrian society today. I’m writing to you as an anti-war activist, seeking your support for Petition EN5846 – Help ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Syria by suspending sanctions. (The petition Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 04:51
TikTok’s owner is once again navigating troubled waters in the United States, where the US House of Representatives has issued an ultimatum: divest or face shutdown within six months. In Australia, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Senator James Paterson, the shadow home affairs spokesperson, want Canberra to follow suit. TikTok, owned by the Beijing-based tech Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 04:30
Uhm, nope: Look what’s already happening: Nigeria reported two cases of chloroquine poisoning after U.S. President Donald Trump praised the anti-malaria drug as a treatment for the novel coronavirus. Health officials are warning Nigerians against self-medicating after demand for the drug surged in Lagos, a city that’s home to 20 million people. Two people were hospitalized in Lagos for chloroquine overdoses, Oreoluwa Finnih, senior health assistant to the governor of Lagos, said in an interview. “Please don’t panic,” she said via text message. “Chloroquine is still in a testing phase in combination with other medication and not yet verified as a preventive, treatment or curative option.” Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control warned that the World Health Organization hasn’t approved use of the drug against the virus. Africa’s most populous country reported 22 infections as of Saturday. Trump said Thursday that chloroquine and its less-toxic cousin hydroxychloroquine had shown “tremendous promise” to treat the new illness. Hospitals in the U.S. are rushing to stockpile the drug.
Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 04:06

Prior to my adventure, I am assigned a primitive survival rating (PSR) by a team of experts. I have never been camping or hunting, and if I have to pee while hiking, I will turn around and drive forty-five minutes into town to a public restroom. Even so, I have combat skills and tenacity, as demonstrated by a recent fight at Ross Dress for Less over the last pair of irregular Levi’s in my size. I have been rated with a PSR of 1.01 out of 10.

As I am driven into the jungle to meet my partner, I pray that I made the right choice to spend hundreds of dollars on laser hair removal instead of outdoor survival classes. I meet my partner, Wolf, who has a PSR of 7.5, and who I am annoyed to discover is much more attractive than me. I ask the producers if a schlubbier man is available because shouldn’t they have done an attractiveness-matching thing if this is being televised?

Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 03:00
They think they are, but they’re not Journalist John Hendrickson, who wrote that incredible piece about Joe Biden’s stutter for the Atlantic went to a Trump rally and asked the attendees how they felt about his repeated mocking of people with disabilities. They professed that they didn’t think it was very nice, but that’s just how it goes and they’ll vote for him anyway. There is no awareness of what it says about his character as a man or a leader. They just don’t care: On Saturday, as we awaited Trump’s arrival by private plane, my colleague Hanna Rosin and I spent the day wandering the grounds of Wright Bros. Aero Inc., asking rally attendees uncomfortable questions about what they’re comfortable with. Virtually everyone was bothered by specific examples of Trump’s recent bullying. But as they unpacked their thoughts, they continually found ways to excuse their favored candidate’s behavior. Many interviewees repeatedly contradicted themselves, perhaps because of a particular variable: I’m a person who stutters, and that day, I was asking real people how they felt about Trump making fun of stuttering.
Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 02:50

Amidst escalating violence and humanitarian catastrophe, the United States' contradictory actions in Gaza raise serious questions about its moral obligations and geopolitical interests.

The post Cognitive Dissonance: Perplexed US Foreign Policy is Prolonging Gaza Genocide appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 01:30
NC Republicans run another conpiracy theorist Esquire‘s Charlie Pierce began describing this place as “the newly insane state of North Carolina” in early 2015 (as far as I can tell) in honor of state voters selecting “Tea Party boy-toy Thom Tillis” for Senate over Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan. This was before Trump and before Madison Cawthorn replaced Rep. Mark Meadows in NC-11 in the same election in which Mark Robinson brought Christian nationalism to the office of lieutenant governor. Joining Robinson on the ballot this fall is Michele Morrow, who you’ve already met. Morrow expects Tar Heels to put her in charge of the state’s public school system she doesn’t believe in. A CNN reporter caught up with the elusive Morrow in a parking lot to ask for comment on her postings recommending execution for President Barack Obama and others. Via WGHP: “I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” Morrow said of Obama in a May 13, 2020, post on X, formerly Twitter. “I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life.
Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 01:09
by Dave Rollo

It would be difficult to match the pastoral majesty of northwest Virginia, with its rolling hills covered in forests and prime farmland at the northern foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The region boasts the Shenandoah Valley to the west and Shenandoah National Park (SNP). Sitting at the eastern doorstep of the Park is Rappahannock County, part of the Piedmont region of the state,

The post <em>Keeping</em> the County Great: Rappahannock’s Steady State appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 00:32

We should already be talking about what it would be like, if Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, to live under a developing autocracy. Beyond the publicized plans of those around him to gut the federal civil service system and consolidate power in the hands of You Know Who, under Trump 2.0, so much else would change for the worse. All too many of us who now argue about the Ukraine and Gaza wars and their ensuing humanitarian crises, about police violence and extremism in the military here at home, about all sorts of things, would no longer share a common language. Basics that once might have meant the same thing to you and me, like claiming someone won an... Read more

Source: If America Were a Trumpian Autocracy appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 00:00
Trump is in a hole and won’t stop digging Republicans operatives from out of state were bankrolling ads promoting Durham D.A. Satana Deberry ahead of North Carolina’s March 5 Democratic attorney general primary. Supporters of Rep. Jeff Jackson, her main opponent, warned that a vote for Deberry could aid the GOP-funded effort to upset TikTok maven Jackson. Let them waste their money, I replied. If donations are a measure of support, it was no contest. Jackson had raised around $1.7 million to Deberry’s not-quite $45,000. Jackson bested Deberry by 22 points. So for those fretting about every presidential poll this far out from November, consider the fundraising status of the two majors (CNN): Donald Trump’s campaign saw an uptick in donations in February but failed to match the accelerating fundraising pace set by Joe Biden, whose political operation widened its already substantial financial advantage over his Republican rival as it entered March and the general election showdown, new filings show.