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Mon, 21/08/2023 - 04:54
Internationally-acclaimed Indigenous artist Richard Bell’s latest ‘Pay the rent!’ installation at the Tate Modern in London goes to the heart of some of the intractable problems of Australian white settlement. The notion that rent is owed challenges the legitimacy of the claim by the British crown to own Australia, since no treaty was ever made Continue reading »
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Mon, 21/08/2023 - 04:53
What is the ABC of university governance? Public universities are uniquely orientated as research and innovation and teaching and learning institutions and, unmistakably, are fundamentally concerned with academic governance. Therefore, the ABC of university governance comprises three key dimensions: Academic (A) governance; Business (B) governance, and Corporate (C) governance. These dimensions, respectively, focus on scholarship, Continue reading »
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Mon, 21/08/2023 - 04:50
The 19th round of the China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side from Sunday to Monday, the Chinese Defence Ministry announced on Tuesday. The ministry said in a joint bilingual news release that the two sides had a “positive, constructive and in-depth” discussion on the resolution of Continue reading »
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Mon, 21/08/2023 - 04:28
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – August 20, 2023

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – August 20, 2023

by Tony Wikrent

Climate and environmental crises

‘This Is Huge’: Judge Sides With Montana Youths in Historic Climate Ruling 

[Common Dreams, via Naked Capitalism 8-15-2023]

Climate Jurisprudence Gets a New Blueprint 

Gabrielle Gurley, August 17, 2023 [The American Prospect]

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Mon, 21/08/2023 - 03:30
And this time, it’s a fatal error:  [A] key focus of the Trump campaign as it looks ahead to a possible rematch with Mr. Biden: getting both men onstage. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said publicly that he wants debates with Mr. Biden, and Mr. Trump’s advisers view face-offs with the incumbent president as vital to Mr. Trump’s chances of winning. They thought that last time too. It didn’t work out the way they thought it would: The third debate? President Donald Trump was rated the most improved performer at Thursday’s debate, but a panel of debate experts said Joe Biden was more effective with his arguments. The three experts all agreed that the faceoff was more informative than the chaotic first debate in Cleveland last month, but one noted, “That’s a very low bar.” While Trump’s strategy of interrupting less and letting Biden speak more in hopes of provoking a gaffe was sound strategy, the experts said Biden didn’t make the type of major mistake Trump probably needed to change the race. Here are their report cards.
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Mon, 21/08/2023 - 00:30
A constitutional crisis in progress Legal scholars William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen argued a few weeks ago that Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment means “Donald Trump cannot be president — cannot run for president, cannot become president, cannot hold office — unless two-thirds of Congress decides to grant him amnesty for his conduct on Jan. 6.” No “legislation, criminal conviction, or other judicial action” is necessary to invoke the post-Civil War amendment. It is not a dead letter. What is required of citizens at any level of government who have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution is to declare Trump ineligible when the matter of his eligibility presents itself to them. What made the Baude-Paulsen analysis more impactful was that it came from scholars associated with the conservative Federalist Society. Now, J. Michael Luttig and Laurence H.
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Sun, 20/08/2023 - 23:00
Hate speech has consequences After months of Republicans vilifying gay and transgender people, and after they pass laws in multiple states targeting them, teachers, and drag queens, guess what? Shop owner shot, killed over rainbow flag outside clothing store near Lake Arrowhead San Bernardino Sun: The owner of a clothing shop in Cedar Glen was shot and killed Friday night, Aug. 18, after a person made several disparaging comments about a rainbow flag displayed outside the store, authorities said. The suspect was found nearby by arriving deputies, who shot and killed him, San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials said. Deputies responded to the Magpi clothing store on Hook Creek Road around 5 p.m. and found the victim, identified as Laura Ann Carleton, 66, outside the store suffering from a gunshot wound. Carleton was pronounced dead at the scene. Footwear News describes Carleton as “a fashion and footwear industry veteran“: According to the Magpi website, Lauri Carleton’s career in fashion began early in her teens, working in the family business at Fred Segal Feet in Los Angeles while attending Art Center School of Design.
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Sun, 20/08/2023 - 10:00
The Assassination Bureau (Arrow Video) – This comedy-adventure from eclectic British director Basil Deardon (Sapphire, The League of Gentlemen, Victim, All Night Long) isn’t for all tastes; it’s one of those 1960s psychedelic trains wrecks with a huge international cast and an elusive central theme that is nonetheless compelling…if only for its sheer commitment to weirdness. Adapted by Michael Relph from an unfinished Jack London novel, the story is set in 1908. Diana Rigg (fresh off her 2-season tenure with The Avengers) plays a feminist journalist who is assigned by her editor (Telly Savalas) to investigate a secret organization led by Oliver Reed that specializes in assassinating oligarchs (not willy-nilly, they do have a moral code…of sorts). Granted, it’s draggy in spots, but there are some imaginative set pieces; particularly a battle royale that takes place aboard a zeppelin. The mashup of 007 and steampunk recalls the 60s TV series The Wild Wild West. Nicely shot by Geoffrey Unsworth. Also featuring Curd Jürgens, Phillipe Noiret, and Beryl Reid.
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Sun, 20/08/2023 - 06:30
It’s the “stop grooming our children” sign next to the giant penis that really sells it… Ron Hedlund displayed a massive penis sign with the words, “Biden Sucks” written across it at a youth baseball game at RF&P Park in Henrico County, Virginia. In a video captured at the event, Hedlund, who is listed as a Virginia GOP Central Committee Representative defended his sign after a community member said it was inappropriate because there were children present. On social media, one user wrote that police came and made Hedlund put away his massive penis sign displayed directly across from children playing baseball at the park. However, Hedlund then reportedly displayed “fuck Biden” signs and the police refused to come back out. Ron Hedlund posted video to YouTube describing the sign as 16 feet long and a caricature and linked it to his personal protests against school boards offering sex education and affirming transgender students.
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Sun, 20/08/2023 - 05:52
Sommaren går mot sitt slut här ute på ön och på vår hamnkrog var det ikväll en spelglad duo som körde ett nostalgipotpurri med svenska örhängen. Ett av dem var den här låten, som onekligen väckte en del gamla minnen till liv:
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Sun, 20/08/2023 - 05:00
Waiting for a man in a red fleece vest Ed Kilgore on the yearning for Youngkin: One of the best signs that Ron DeSantis’s 2024 presidential candidacy is circling the drain is the renewed enthusiasm some Republicans have for a late entry in the 2024 race who can save them from the Donald Trump and his unsatisfying rivals. This recent valentine to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin from the New York Post’s Miranda Devine is a good example of the longing for Mr. Right on the right: You get the sense that Devine still imagines that once Youngkin has saved his state for good this fall, he can turn his magnificent visage and towering figure toward the needs of his nation. It’s probably not coincidental that Devine’s boss is News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch, who in July was reported to have been shifting his affections to Youngkin from the disappointing DeSantis.