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Events of the last three months or so will shape the way large cohorts of the Australian population assess the character, integrity and fitness for office of federal politicians and parties on issues of fundamental importance to them, much as happened during the years of the Vietnam War in the 1960s. But whereas the Vietnam Continue reading »

“He who laughs has not yet heard the terrible tidings…”.  A collection of stories from the late, great, veteran political reporter Mungo MacCallum: Australia’s true journalistic believer.   MUNGO MACCALLUM. The patience of our first nation, while remarkable, is not inexhaustible.   MUNGO MACCALLUM. Cook and the continuing culture wars.   MUNGO MACCALLUM. In the Continue reading »

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has surged to 20,674, the Health Ministry in the territory said yesterday. Some 1,000 children have had limbs amputated without anaesthesia in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its brutal bombing campaign on 7 October, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said. It Continue reading »

Catholic and independent schools had the biggest declines in the OECD’s Programme of Student Assessment (PISA) test results since 2009. Their students lost 1½ to nearly two years of learning in reading, mathematics and science. The falls in test scores were far bigger than for public schools. The learning loss in Catholic and independent schools Continue reading »

Australia added 518,100 people through net migration in the 2022-23 financial year, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This is a record high by a very wide margin. The strain is obvious to all, in the rental crisis and infrastructure crowding. The Albanese government knows this is both unsustainable and Continue reading »

An award-winning livestock auctioneer went viral last year after selling a trucker cap on a Melbourne tram. Harry Cozens, a sheep and cattle auctioneer from Albury, was handed the cap by a fellow passenger and challenged to sell it, before launching into his call. First published by Guardian Australia December 13, 2023 Continue reading »

Terrorism takes different shapes and forms, and it is important always to be perceptive. A lot has been written about terrorism and terrorists these days, and most writings blame Muslims. It is true that there have been Muslim groups that have acted against both civilians and the military with great violence and savagery, and they Continue reading »

Nikki Haley’s gaffe illustrates her emptiness If there’s a worse time to drop a nuclear powered campaign gaffe than the week between Christmas and New Years less than a month before the primaries begin, I don’t know what it is. Many people are off work, sitting around watching TV, talking about world events with relatives and otherwise tuning into the news with a focus and attention they usually don’t have time for. Meanwhile, the news is usually pretty slow that time of year so any gaffe is going to get outsized attention on a loop because the media is desperate for campaign stories that aren’t dull as dishwater. Something that might be one little item in a crowded new cycle becomes The Major Story and a campaign is pushed back on its heels. If you’re one of those who tuned in over the past 36 hours you’ve heard about former S. Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s massive gaffe in New Hampshire on Wednesday when she was asked a very simple question at a town hall meeting: “What was the cause of the United States Civil War?” That’s not a trick question or a gotcha.

Extremists insist you fund religious schools They are relentless. Give them that. The investor class backed by useful idiots among Christian nationalists are determined to tear public education down to the foundations. Just as the fringe right finally ended women’s right to bodily autonomy with Dobbs, education remains in the crosshairs. They’re teeing up another Supreme Court test case (Politico): Groups aligned with the conservative legal movement and its financial architect, Leonard Leo, are working to promote a publicly funded Christian school in Oklahoma, hoping to create a test case to change the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment’s separation of church and state. At issue is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma’s push to create the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would be the nation’s first religious school entirely funded by taxpayers. The school received preliminary approval from the state’s charter school board in June.

What astronomers see in the light bouncing across the universe.

The post The Echoes of Light appeared first on Nautilus.

Character actor Susan Twist has appeared more than once in the new Doctor Who. Could she appear again - and is she a secret major character?

Trump barred from 2024 primary ballot First Colorado. Now Maine. Maine on Thursday became the second state to bar Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot over his actions related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Several Maine citizens challenged Trump’s eligibility for the presidency under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) reviewed the Jan. 6 record and found the reasoning of the Colorado Supreme Court to strike Trump from the primary ballot there “compelling.” “The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government, and Section 336 [Maine statutes] requires me to act in response,” Bellows writes. “I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.” Trump will appeal both the Maine and Colorado decisions. So many court cases, so little time California gets in on the action, says nope (New York Times): Hours later, her counterpart in California announced that Mr.

Our 14th most-read article of 2023.

Originally published October 23, 2023.

Dear Students,

We are saddened by the tremendous loss of life in many of the places you’ve read about—you know the ones, we don’t need to name them here.

The cost of human suffering by all the people who were affected by the thing that has happened in the place where it has happened is difficult to comprehend. Our hearts are with the people, all the people, but particularly the specific people you are thinking of right now when you read this statement.

At our University, we support values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we take a firm stance against things that are bad, like all the things you also believe are bad—for instance, violence. Violence is never the answer, but also, sometimes it is? Let’s table that.

The 10/7 Project, an effort by Pro-Israel elements to do damage control following Israel's Gaza offensive, has employed PR firms connected to Biden and other Democrats to shape public opinion, reveals Kit Klarenberg.

The post Top Democrat-Linked PR Firm Tapped by Pro-Israel Groups to Control Gaza War Narrative appeared first on MintPress News.

An examination of Hamas statements and political discourse demonstrates that the Palestinian group was hardly secretive about its plans for October 7.

The post The Spark That Lit the Fire: The Untold Story of the October 7 Attacks appeared first on MintPress News.

The Lever’s upcoming podcast series exposes the 50-year plot to legalize corruption in America. Listen to the trailer now.

The historical novel strives to recreate not only the material dimensions of a past age but also its mindset.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Night Court, The Rookie, Cobra Kai, What If…?, Joel McHale/William Shatner, Doctor Who, Conan O'Brien & more!