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“G.O.P. lawmakers whose leaders have pressed to roll back transgender rights around the country moved to bar Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, from women’s rooms on Capitol Hill.” — New York Times

I’m a family man with a biological woman wife and four beautiful kids: Paelyn, Kaelyn, McKaelyn, and Matt. Each day, I wake up, and I worry about the safety of those children. That’s why I believe I have a moral and civic obligation to take a long, hard look at the genitals of every single person who wants to use the bathroom before allowing them to pee.

Look, I’m a simple guy, and I believe in simple things. A cold beer on a hot night. Church on Sunday. Having a huge truck with those LED headlights that blind the drivers of oncoming cars. Forcing every single American to tear off their underwear and let me take a little look-see at their nether regions before they relieve themselves.

Overnight the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Benjamin Netanyahu gives his response, journalist Mehdi Hasan provides analysis and Human Rights Watch calls for international support. At G20 in Brazil, PM Albanese says outcomes will lead to more jobs for Australia while earlier this week Continue reading »

“Over the past week, Bluesky’s growth has exploded, more than doubling to 15 million-plus users as people seek alternatives to X, Facebook, and Threads.”
— New York Times

Wow, hi. Overnight, I’ve gone from the girl who sits alone at lunch to the azure butterfly of your dreams. So, before things go any further, let’s make sure we start on the right digital foot.

First of all, it’s not pronounced “Blue-ski.” You all have been watching too much TV with your toddlers. My name is pronounced “Blue-sky,” which rhymes with “to-die,” as in Twitter died, so now there are over 15 million of you here, and my servers are about to explode like a SpaceX Starship test flight.

From atop Mount Olympus, Zeus peers in perplexity through fumes of fire, dust and vehicle exhaust, toxic chemicals, roiling tempests and raging floods, idly wondering what those darned mortals are up to now… First his eye is drawn to ancient Media, part of old Persia (now known under its modern name of Azerbaijan). Here a Continue reading »

Far from the killing grounds of Gaza, an incredible display of defiance to settler colonialism has broken out in, of all places, New Zealand. The two projects – Israel and New Zealand’s – are linked more than many would like to think. Palestinian leaders raise their voices in support of New Zealand’s Māori people at Continue reading »

Joe Courtney, who serves as Congressman for Connecticut’s second district, has received a rather curious honour. It has come in the form of a tribute from a US satellite – some would rightly say annexure or some other subordinate status. A press release from his office on October 22 announced that Rep. Courtney had been Continue reading »

The question draws from what Trump effectively used in the closing weeks of the recent USA elections. Liberal-National Party (LNP) leader Peter Dutton is exploring a similar approach to winning government in the approaching Australian election. Employer groups are preparing to help him. Will Labor’s messaging on living standards satisfy the Australian working class? The Continue reading »

As someone who has spent most of my life working with people for whom the system is profoundly broken, I wrestle with the same question that many middle-class people do: Why do so many disenfranchised people support figures like Donald Trump, whose policies often seem designed to further entrench inequality? The answer, I’ve come to Continue reading »

I audibly gasped when Andrew Podger referred to Israel’s response in Gaza as a “lack of care” in a recent P&I article. Hardly a balanced use of words. Andrew Podger’s article (19th November) expresses his views on bias and imbalance within P&I, particularly on the issue of Palestine-Israel. I noted John Menadue’s firm response but Continue reading »

Lyndsay Connors (Pearls and Irritations, 14 November 2024) takes issue with my argument that the Commonwealth should get out or be pushed out of schooling. The argument for a Commonwealth exit is this: – By just about every indicator Australian schooling has been on the slide for at least 20 years, despite the Rudd/Gillard governments’ Continue reading »

The ongoing genocide in Gaza forces us to confront an uncomfortable reality: why does the West seem to prioritise some conflicts while others, particularly in Africa, go unnoticed? It raises a critical question: does race…does colour influence how Western nations choose where to focus their attention and resources? Take Israel, for example. It achieves significant Continue reading »

Over recent decades, the Western economic system has undergone a profound transformation, veering increasingly toward financialisation—a framework that privileges speculative gains and the accumulation of paper wealth over tangible economic output. This shift reflects a structural prioritisation of elite interests, as financial markets serve as mechanisms for wealth extraction rather than wealth creation for the Continue reading »

There’s some early polling on Trump’s inane cabinet choices, Rubio. Gaetz, Gabbard, Hegseth and Kennedy: The Yahoo News-YouGov poll, which asked people to indicate whether they viewed these individuals favorably, also included questions about businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who were asked to run an external cost-cutting group; and South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Only Rubio, Kennedy and Gabbard were viewed with approval by at least 4 in 10 Americans. None of the eight individuals was viewed favorably by a majority of respondents; three — Hegseth, Gaetz and Noem — were viewed favorably by only 3 in 10 Americans. Why are their numbers so high? They are all jokes who have no business being anywhere near power. Not that it will matter. I’m going to bet that they will all be confirmed without too much trouble when all is said and done. I guess there’s a chance that Gaetz might be defeated because his own people loathe him but I actually doubt it. We’re going to have to wait for Trump to fire them.

As Donald Trump prepares to usher in an oligarchic dark age, Democrats must reflect on how their own flirtation with plutocracy shattered their party's chances

Varje höst håller your truly sedan fler år tillbaka en introduktionskurs i nationalekonomi för blivande gymnasielärare i samhällskunskap. Förutom några av mina egna böcker, står även Klas Eklunds Vår ekonomi på litteraturlistan. Den senaste utgåvan av Vår ekonomi kom ut år 2020, och är nu på väg ut i sin 16:e reviderade upplaga. Imponerande och i […]

Catch-2025 This I learned from 35 years working in the corporate world: Employees who start hearing “shareholder value” had best update their resumes. Layoffs are coming. The same could be said for “efficiency.“ Season 2 of “The Apprentice Goes To Washington” will feature not only the firing of cabinet officers and West Wing advisers from “central casting,” but the wholesale purging of federal employees who have dedicated their lives to serving the American public no matter which president’s photo hangs on the office wall. Except the Project 2025 team isn’t using euphemisms to signal the coming purge. They submitted a bill under the pretext of dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the Dismantle DEI Act on Wednesday. Sen. J.D. Vance’s June announcement alleges his bill means to “restore merit” to government hiring practices, and to ensure only “the most qualified candidates” get hired. “We’ve got now a World Wide Wrestling Executive who’s gonna run education,” said recently reelected Rep.

Set for Christmas Day, the Doctor Who Christmas Special "Joy to the World" will drop on Disney+, BBC iPlayer & BBC One at the same time.

It’s all part of the show Season 2 of “The Apprentice Goes To Washington” will be filled with characters whose major qualification is television experience. In Season 1, Donald Trump hired only “the best and most serious people” for his administration. And them he fired them one by one. See, it’s not good TV to fire them all at once. You have to build the suspense, keep the audience coming back week after week to see who goes next. That’s how you keep your ratings up. For Season 2: “Trump Unbound,” the aging actor elected to play a president on TV hopes to bring higher production values to the show by casting more television veterans (The New York Times): President-elect Donald J. Trump, whose rise was fueled by reality TV stardom, is once again turning to television to recruit the key cast members of his new administration. The latest was Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former syndicated TV host, who was picked by Mr. Trump on Tuesday to oversee Medicare and Medicaid. Dr.

“President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Linda McMahon, a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive who served in the first Trump administration, as his pick to lead the Education Department.” – NBC News

I am honored to accept President-elect Trump’s nomination as the next United States secretary of education. In a world ruined by “gentle parenting” and participation trophies, I am proud to know I have earned this nomination.

It makes total sense for this to be happening.

After all, while you may know me as the multi-billionaire co-founder of the WWE, there’s so much more to my background that makes me uniquely qualified to oversee a national public school system that serves forty-nine million children. For example, fifty years ago, I majored in French, and in the decades since then, I have been rich.

As I said, day one, Russia was going to win this war if it wanted it enough. Russia’s advance is slow, but it is certain and it is NOT going to be reversed unless the US declares war, which is NOT going to happen. The Ukrainian army is finally nearing collapse, which I’d expect some time next year. The war will last another two years at most, I’d guess.

Peace will be made under the terms Russia wants, or the war will continue. Ukraine is still fighting, but everyone with the least lick of sense knows it is going to lose. Ukraine will have to accept the terms imposed on it, because if it doesn’t Russia will just keep going.

The three generations of scientists dedicated to knowing a small sliver of Earth, one flower and one hummingbird at a time

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

There’s more talk of decolonisation than ever, while true independence for former colonies has faded from view. Why?

- by Lydia Walker

Read at Aeon

Discovering that I’m aphantasic helped me understand my response to being assaulted and why I wasn’t debilitated by PTSD

- by J B Smith

Read at Psyche

Hundreds of millions were wasted on contracts with zombie companies which vanished before any taxpayers' cash could be recovered

As I noted yesterday, last evening I accepted an invitation to speak on a panel at a – Rising Tide – event, which is part of the massive – People’s Blockade – of the port of Newcastle that is running from November 19-24, 2024. The Blockade is a threat to the mining corporations and the…