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Created
Thu, 11/05/2023 - 20:12
In the latest in a series of damning testimonies from voters across England, Byline Times reveals how the new mandatory voter ID requirements have created confusion, frustration - and potentially a real risk of discrimination. Josiah Mortimer reports.
Created
Thu, 11/05/2023 - 19:53

‘Class struggle,’ Bob Gillespie was fond of saying, ‘is 24 hours a day, seven days a week.’ It was a lesson he learned in his poverty-stricken childhood, during national service as a bombardier in Hong Kong, and as a printshop labourer fighting for a somewhat shorter week of 40 hours. And he held to it […]

Created
Thu, 11/05/2023 - 12:27
In Tuesday’s fiscal statement, the Australian government made a lot of noise about dealing with the climate emergency that the nation faces but in terms of hard fiscal outlays or initiatives it did very little, deferring action again, while ‘the place burns’. The Climate Council assessment was that the government “still seems to be on…
Created
Thu, 11/05/2023 - 09:30
This is just depressing. Let’s just abandon all knowledge while we’re at it: At the entrance to the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University there’s a plaque with a famous quote from its founder, Alfred C. Kinsey: “We are the recorders and reporters of facts — not the judges of the behaviors we describe.” That ethos is at the heart of all the institute’s research. For generations, the Kinsey Institute has shone a light on diverse aspects of sex and sexuality, in pursuit of answers that bring us closer to understanding fundamental questions of human existence. In a time of divisive politics and disinformation, it is more imperative than ever to preserve and defend the right of such academic institutions to illuminate the unfolding frontiers of science — even, and especially, research that might challenge us as it advances our understanding of ourselves. Thus it is tremendously disappointing that Indiana lawmakers voted late last month to approve a budget that specifically blocks Indiana University from using state funding to support the Kinsey Institute, and that last week Gov.
Created
Thu, 11/05/2023 - 08:00
I think this from Nicholas Goldberg in the LA Times is important to keep in mind: In Shakespeare’s plays or, say, the Victorian novels of Dickens, Trollope and Austen, there are often at least two plots moving forward at any moment: a serious dramatic story involving the work’s main heroes and villains and a comic subplot peopled by absurd characters. In the real world, we have comic subplots as well. Take Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who — while American democracy has spun out of control, the U.S. Capitol was overrun and Donald Trump became a serious contender for reelection — wanders on and off the national stage like a ditzy clown keeping the audience amused. Santos has been a recurring joke in the midst of our otherwise terrifying and riveting political drama — a somewhat doughy, somewhat hapless Mr. Magoo-turned-con man in a blazer, sweater and chinos. He is a fraudster who told lie after ridiculous lie, ad absurdum, about his family background, education and job experience and, though caught in the act, steadfastly refused to be held accountable. His free ride, though, could be coming to an end.
Created
Thu, 11/05/2023 - 06:30
Tuberville says he calls White Nationalists “Americans.” Maybe it’s time to stop calling them White Nationalists. Let’s call them what they are: U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said there should be no efforts to block different ideological groups, including white nationalists, from serving in the military and criticized President Joe Biden for taking steps to remove them even as concerns about extremism in the military dates back to the Trump administration. Tuberville, a staunch supporter of the military and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made the comments in a Monday interview with WBHM, a National Public Radio station in Birmingham. Asked if he believed white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the military, Tuberville said in referring to the Biden administration, “They call them that. I call them Americans.” See? There are very fine people on all sides… “We are losing in the military so fast,” Tuberville told WBHM. “Our readiness in terms of recruitment. And why?