Have you heard about this? I confess that I haven’t: Within weeks, the nation will deploy 9,000 people to begin restoring landscapes, erecting solar panels, and taking other steps to help guide the country toward a cleaner, greener future. The first of those workers were inducted into the American Climate Corps on Tuesday during a virtual event from the White House. Their swearing-in marks another step forward for the Biden administration’s ambitious climate agenda. The program, which President Joe Biden announced within days of taking office in 2021, is a modern version of the Climate Conservation Corps, the New Deal-era project that put 3 million men to work planting trees and building national parks. During the ceremony, the inaugural members of the corps promised to work “on behalf of our nation and planet, its people, and all its species, for the better future we hold within our sight.” The American Climate Corps was among the first things Biden announced as president, but it took a while to secure funding and get started.
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Opposition leader (for now), Peter Dutton, has told his colleagues to not worry about the lack of detail or mistruths said at the launch of the Coalition’s nuclear policy launch, as it’s not a lie if News Corp reports it.... Read More ›
I didn’t know this but it seems like it should be relevant. I hope the Biden debate prep people are on it. (It’s probably too much to ask that the moderators are.) Jonathan Chait explains: One of the most underappreciated developments of Donald Trump’s presidency is that his strategy toward China was a total failure on its own terms. While Trump began his presidency as a snarling trade warrior, bent on ending Chinese manufacturing dominance, he ended his presidency as a whimpering apologist for Beijing. The culmination of Trump’s standoff with China was a trade deal that supposedly committed China to purchasing $200 billion worth of American goods. Robert O’Brien, a former Trump national security adviser, admits that the Chinese never actually carried out their end of the deal. “I don’t think we’re going to see a deal like we saw in the first term,” he told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant. “I think people were generally happy with phase one, but as it turned out, the Chinese didn’t honor it.” You don’t say? Huh.
I hope you all have a chance to see at least one the various interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci as he makes the rounds for his book tour. I particularly like the one with Rachel Maddow, above. For some reason the hatred aimed at him makes me see red in a way that goes way beyond my usual ire at right wing hostility and that says something. Watching that ignorant harpy Marjorie Taylor Greene insult him at that congressional hearing last week had me screaming at the TV. Anyway, his book sounds super interesting and I admire his grit in standing up to these miscreants. And bouy does he explode the myth that people over 80 are non compos mentis.
Instead of churning more taxpayer money through Private Health Insurance funds to private hospitals, the Commonwealth Government should establish a Hospital Benefits Fund (HBF), similar to the Medical Benefits Fund (MBF), with benefits going directly to patients for payments to a hospital of their choice. Many “private” hospitals are pleading for more government subsidies. In Continue reading »
An inactive integrity agency is not just a waste of money, it sits as another level of protection for public sector misconduct, writes Geoffrey Watson on the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s (NACC) decision not to hold those responsible for Robodebt to account. We would all agree that there is little purpose to be served by an Continue reading »
If a future Prime Minister Dutton was able to get the fuel for a HALEU power station, would you be absolutely confident that he might not want to also dabble in some nuclear weapons procurement as well? A recent Science paper (7/6) highlights one of the potentially disastrous risks the Dutton nuclear plan raises. Recently Continue reading »
What does it say about a society that mainstreams the killing and silencing of Palestinians? Unless you’ve been away from the internet in the last eight + months, you won’t have missed the litany of Israeli soldiers posting photos and videos celebrating mass destruction, humiliation and death in Gaza and the West Bank. Here’s just Continue reading »
China expertise – including that of our huge Chinese diaspora – has increasingly become a source of suspicion. China scholar Angela Lehmann offers three policy responses to promote Australia’s capability to engage with our biggest trading partner. The visit this week by Chinese Premier Li Qiang is a reminder of an old dilemma at the Continue reading »
The NSW social housing system is in crisis, with more than 58,000 applicants on the waiting list. Another 90,000 households are eligible but have not applied, perhaps because they realise that the prospects of being assisted are slim. Social housing is secure and affordable rental housing for people on low incomes with unmet housing needs. Continue reading »
Daniel Everett Hale killed lots of innocent people. He went to jail, not for killing people – he was paid to do that by the US government – but for revealing the truth behind it. Recently released, he has an astonishing story to tell. Continue reading »
So I guess we should probably talk about the way NATO powers are rapidly escalating toward hot war with Russia at the same time the US is expanding its draft policies to make it easier to force more Americans [to] go and fight in a giant war. In an article titled “NATO: 500,000 Troops on Continue reading »
Watch our discussion on the strategic value of voting.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah publicly reveals the scope of the group's weaponry following an Israeli study detailing potential military scenarios in Lebanon.
The post Israeli Study Reveals Hezbollah’s Military Might; Nasrallah Issues Warning appeared first on MintPress News.
Time will tell but there are some signs that she might not be quite as nuts as the other nuts. We are probably stuck with this 6 vote lunatic Supreme Court majority for some time so it’s more important than ever to keep our eyes on the potentially small changes that might be relevant, whether it’s signs of concern about politics playing a role or actual disagreement among the majority about their judicial philosophies. This article in Politico suggests that there might be a developing schism on the right that could prove to be at least a little bit helpful depending on who joins what side: A rift is emerging among the Supreme Court’s conservatives — and it could thwart the court’s recent march to expand gun rights. On one side is the court’s oldest and most conservative justice, Clarence Thomas. On the other is its youngest member, Amy Coney Barrett. The question at the center of the spat may seem abstract: How should the court use “history and tradition” to decide modern-day legal issues?
As the media provides the Reform Leader with a prominent platform once more during this general election campaign, Peter Jukes considers all the concerning lines of enquiry that journalists never confront him with