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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 23:00
They keep Hitler quotes handy why, exactly? Jezebel: An Indiana chapter of the rightwing Moms For Liberty organization apologized on Thursday for printing a quotation from Adolf Hitler—yes, the genocidal leader of Nazi Germany—in its newsletter. “We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history. We should not have quoted him in our newsletter and we express our deepest apology,” chapter chair Paige Miller said in a truly dystopian statement posted to Facebook. In the June newsletter for the Hamilton County, Indiana, chapter of Moms for Liberty, Hitler’s short quote from a Nazi rally in 1935 is printed the front page of the issue. “He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future” (emphasis theirs). They hope to (informally, anyway) return a wannabe dictator to the White House and stomp out the LGBTQ community, one presumes, when they are not banning books or hanging out with terrorist groups like the Proud Boys. Don’t you still want to know why they keep Hitler quotes handy?
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 22:20
Prigozhin Launches A Coup Effort

Well, it’s on. This is why you don’t use mercenaries or trust scum like Prigozhin.

Remember that Prigozhin is to the right of Putin, which is where the threat was always going to come from. If he does take over, it is unlikely to lead to an end to the Ukraine war (unless there’s a bloody civil war), it means gloves off.

The issue here is just how much of the Russian army will side with Putin. If it’s anything substantial, he wins. If not,  he’s done. This is why Prigozhin emphasized not enough weapons, etc… it was a stab in the back narrative: “Putin won’t let us win the war.”

Putin played around with the war, unwilling to go all in and used Wagner as a prison to frontlines pipeline. That was a mistake.

We’ll see if it’s a fatal one. This is entirely a matter of morale—what the military will do.

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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 10:00
Sand kittens! The North Carolina Zoo is excited to announce yet another recent birth: three sand cat kittens (sexes unknown at this time) were born on May 11. Small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, the kittens were born to first-time mother Sahara, 3, and father Cosmo, 9. It marks the third birth at the Zoo in less than two weeks. On May 20, a giraffe calf (male) was born, and a chimpanzee infant (male) was born on May 21. This marks the first litter for the sand cat pair. Cosmo previously fathered daughter Layla, now living at the Greensboro Science Center. The Zoo plans to offer a public naming poll for the kittens. Details will be announced soon on the Zoo’s social media channels and website. The mom and triplets are doing well. The trio are beginning to explore their surroundings in the Desert Habitat. Lucky guests may be able to catch a glimpse of them in the coming days. Though they appear adorable with big ears, eyes, and petite frame, looks can be deceiving. Zookeepers are quick to tell you they are wild, ferocious animals that should never be kept as pets. These small and mighty hunters kill venomous snakes in the desert.
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 08:00
I don’t know what to make of this but it’s fascinating: Russia did not face an imminent security threat to justify its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary outfit, said in a bombshell video posted on social media Friday. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine were not going to attack Russia with the NATO bloc,” Prigozhin explained in the half-hour tirade released by his press service. “The Russian Defense Ministry is deceiving the public and the president,” he added. Prigozhin’s comments were at odds with the casus belli given by President Vladimir Putin when he ordered troops into Ukraine last February, although the private army chief avoided personally attacking the Russian leader.
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 06:30
This would be funny if it didn’t mean that Marge Greene could end up being a “mainstream” Republican politician once the smoke has cleared: Tensions inside the conservative House Freedom Caucus have reached the point that some members are floating the idea of purging colleagues from the group. At least two hardliners have discussed — and proposed to Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) — trying to boot members who no longer meet the group’s standards, according to three Republicans with knowledge of the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity. The lawmakers declined to name who’s behind the ouster calls, underscoring the sensitivity of the situation. While the members suggesting a purge did not specify the people they want to remove, they are signaling that one target of any ejection push is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Some in the Freedom Caucus have focused on Greene, who’s become a close ally of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, to illustrate their fears that certain group members are too aligned with GOP leaders and too outwardly critical of the group when it splits on certain issues.
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 04:58
Call it Carr’s law. I’m pretty confident it withstands any testing. It’s simple: find someone talking up war with China and, if they were around 20 years ago, you find they were a supporter of the Iraq invasion. Few learn from error. On the other hand, stupidity is a constant in human affairs. Against it, Continue reading »
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 04:56
While much of humanity was glued to the unfolding drama over one tiny submarine, the Earth we all inhabit is slowly, steadily and implacably imploding around us. Ocean temperatures are raging off the scale, icecaps are melting and seas rising, forests are ablaze across continents, ‘heat bombs’ in heavily populated regions are pushing them into Continue reading »
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 04:56
In an opinion piece published in The Weekend Australian (10 June 2023), Paul Monk offers his response to critics of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement. A central focus of his critique is this open letter signed by more than 100 academics. As two of the principal co-authors of the letter, we requested a right of Continue reading »
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 04:55
Australia is the only democratic country in the world without a charter of human rights in either legislation or the Constitution. On 1 July the deadline for submissions will close on the federal government’s current Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework. In this Inquiry the government is seeking comments on whether the Human Rights Framework Continue reading »
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 04:54
This is a story of five decades, from 1973 to 2023. Diplomatic relations between Australia and the then North Vietnam were established on 26 February, 1973. It has history. Early this year marked its fiftieth anniversary, otherwise mostly ignored. The Commonwealth of Australia had then created political ties with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (which Continue reading »
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 04:53
Reforming political donations – will Labor and the Coalition do a sweetheart deal to thwart independents?; Ten questions about the Voice answered; and Signs of an impending recession. Read on for the Weekly Roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy. Where our money Continue reading »
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Sat, 24/06/2023 - 04:50
Prosaic economic factors, not politics, are driving the growth in China-Australia trade, ensuring “China will only become more important as Australia’s trading partner of choice,” writes James Laurenceson. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has made clear that Australia’s relationship with China is “not going to go back to where we were”. There will be no “reset”. That’s Continue reading »