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A JOYFUL weekend-long celebration of sharing and learning from diversity across cultures has been hosted by STARTTS (NSW Service for the Treatment of Torture and Trauma Survivors) in Bellingen. This, the second Cultural Exchange Program (CEP) held in the Coffs Coast region, saw 24 women from refugee/migrant backgrounds (Cambodia, Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Peru, Samoa,...

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CELEBRATING her 100th birthday on Saturday 27 April 2024, Joyce Jeff will be surrounded by family for a party at her home in Mater Christi, Toormina. Amongst the guests will be her lifelong friend, fellow Mater Christi resident and sister-in-law Enid Lambeth, who celebrated her centenary two years ago. Advertise with News of The Area...

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Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Look at the powerful peopleStealing the sun from the dayWish I could do something about itWhen all I can do is pray – from “Powerful People” by Gino Vannelli If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster. Near the Day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky. A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans – Hopi Prophecies sung in the soundtrack of the film Koyannasqatsi In case you missed it, Earth Day (this past Monday) and Arbor Day (this past Friday) came and went with nary a whimper, Also, we’re at the tail end of National Park Week. I suppose the media had other shiny things to chase after; important and impactful stories to be sure, but from a planetary perspective…will all of this fussing and fighting  really matter in 50 years? As Grace Slick once sang, doesn’t mean shit to a tree. Believe me, over the millenniums Mother Nature has seen worse; and from her perspective, Earth is only mostly dead. So there is still hope. The photo above was taken December 24, 1968 by Apollo 8 crew member Major William A. Anders.

Is Taylor Swift a psy-op? .@Donie asks a Trump supporter: "You don't believe Taylor Swift is a government psyop?" Hear his response pic.twitter.com/yQxvmWqmkV — Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) April 27, 2024 Sigh… I’m sure that these are decent people in many ways. I have people in my family who are good people in their personal lives but their politics are dangerous and frankly, evil. I can’t get through to them, no matter what tack I take and I’ve tried different approaches for many years. In the old days we could all just agree not to talk politics. Today there’s no avoiding it. It’s the media they consume and the bubbles in which they live. And it’s morphed from an ideology into a cult. I have no idea what to do about it except to try to keep them from power while we still have a democracy and hope that somehow if the Trump bubble of invulnerability bursts they get tired or disillusioned and simply retreat as people whose cult leaders are exposed often do. Other than that I’m out of ideas.

Some folks on Reddit aren't exactly happy with what they're seen of The Beatles so far from the upcoming new season of Doctor Who.

This too: So, what’s Lara up to at the RNC these days? The Republican National Committee was poised to open and staff 40 satellite campaign offices across key battlegrounds when former President Donald Trump, now the presumptive GOP nominee, abruptly replaced RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and her deputies with fresh leadership. Trump’s new RNC team, led by Chairman Michael Whatley, Co-Chair (and Trump’s daughter-in-law) Lara Trump, and senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita, killed McDaniel’s 2024 blueprint. Roughly six weeks later, neither the committee nor the Trump campaign has much infrastructure or personnel in the swing states that will decide the November 5 election, multiple sources in Washington and the crucial battleground states told Dispatch Politics this week.  That means few if any regional and local campaign headquarters; little to no deployed field staff; and little to no traditional voter turnout activities, such as door-knocking, phone banking, or volunteer organizing.

A little bit of hope: Rosenberg says this about the swing states which are still showing Trump ahead: Here’s what I am seeing in the battlegrounds – MI, PA, WI are our best states right now, and in the 538 averages they are close and competitive. There are polls in each of these three states showing us ahead in recent weeks. Winning these three gets us to 269 Electoral College votes. As I wrote on Tuesday I am very optimistic that the extremism of the GOP in AZ and NC is giving us real opportunities in both states to win and make serious down-ballot gains. Nevada is always close, and we have work to do in Georgia. The campaign continues to monitor what’s happening in Florida, as Rs there will soon have to defend a newly implemented 6 week abortion ban, something that is currently polling in the lows 20s – a level of unpopularity on something that matters that is not often seen in politics. I have no idea if he’s right but I do agree about those three midwest swing states and I think Arizona looks better every day because of that draconian abortion position of the GOP and their choice of that nutball Kari Lake for the Senate.

The recognition of the State of Palestine has been an issue for the current Labor government since it came to office. Readers are reminded of these articles: The ALP and the Israeli occupation of Palestine, 9 August 2022; Why did Australia oppose the ICJ advisory opinion on Israeli settlements?, 15 February 2023; Recognise Palestine Now!, Continue reading »

We generally assume words carry the same meaning in the mind of speaker and listener. This enables meaningful communication and common understanding. Sometimes however words are given a specific meaning which completely changes their original intent. The words become weapons. This has happened with the word antisemitism and the word terrorist. This week the American Continue reading »

In Asian media this week: Hate speech an appeal to ‘bigoted supporters’. Plus: High-tech shake-up for China’s military; EU sings ‘old colonial song’; Bomb plot trial starts in Hong Kong; Recognition urged for Myanmar opposition; West’s chip restrictions ‘will not work’. Religious and communal tension in India have been thrust to the forefront of campaigning Continue reading »

Back in 1947 the W.H. Auden poem, The Age of Anxiety, was published a year after he renounced his British citizenship for US citizenship. Today the title could encompass an omnibus of community concerns and has also now led to awareness of what is being called eco-anxiety. That condition is the subject of significant research Continue reading »

Respected journalist Quentin Dempster and former Ambassador to Palestine, Ali Kazak discuss the situation in Palestine and how the Australian governments reticence to recognise the State of Palestine is overdue and would be a positive action in support of peace. Watch the vodcast:   Listen to the podcast:   Continue reading »

Ramzy Baroud responds to revelations about The New York Times “guidance” on language about the Israeli mass slaughter in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. The New York Times coverage of the Israeli carnage in Gaza, like that of other mainstream U.S. media, is a disgrace to journalism. This assertion should not surprise anyone. U.S. media is Continue reading »

The Ukrainians changed the face of modern warfare with inexpensive Chinese-made drones equipped with cheap Chinese-made cameras. These provide both battlefield intelligence and a platform for delivering destructive weapons. Interestingly, the Chinese did not interfere with these Ukrainian drone operations against China’s friend, Russia, despite the claims by Senator Patterson and others that Chinese kit Continue reading »

Tom posted one short CNN video of Bill Barr’s utter pusillanimity earlier but I wanted to show the whole interview so you could get the full picture of a typical establishment, Fox News brain-rotted Republican’s worldview. It will shock you: Some excerpts from the transcript: BILL BARR: So it’s not about me. I think that, that I’ve said this all along. If faced with a choice between two people, neither of which I think should be president, I feel it’s my duty to pick the person who I think would do the least damage to the country. And I think Trump would do less damage than Biden. And I think all this stuff about a threat to democracy, I think the real threat to democracy is the progressive movement. And in the Biden administration. KAITLAN COLLINS: The Biden administration, or President Biden himself. BILL BARR: Biden’s, Biden’s support for the progressive agenda. KAITLAN COLLINS: I think a lot of people hear that. And the case that we just talked about that went before the Supreme Court, essentially, and say, how can you see that and say that Biden is a greater threat to democracy? BILL BARR: Well, where are we losing our freedoms?

The Trump campaign inexplicably decided to put Trump on TV IN the greater Philadelphia area to say this: It looks like that’s what he’s going with. Everyone’s thrilled with the repeal of Roe v Wade because that’s what the whole country always wanted. This is the most clear cut example of “you can believe me or you can believe your lying eyes” since the Big Lie. He’s obviously decided that this is going to be his line: I can’t blame him, honestly, He managed to make the entire Republican Party believe that he won the election in a landslide (or at least pretend they believe it) and that January 6th really was just an outpouring of love that his enemies have turned into a fake picture of a violent mob. He was able (with the help of his party) to convince his cult that there was nothing to the Russia investigation or any of the other cases against him. So why wouldn’t he do it again?

A “reign” of morons is the collective noun Charlie Pierce was right. In his usual understated way. Lest you think the Republican rot started with Donald Trump, as early as 2013, Charlie Pierce attributed the spreading madness (mockingly) to prion disease. Even then, Pierce suggested Republicans ate the monkey brains back during the Reagan administration: The Reign of Morons Is Here OCTOBER 04, 2013, 5:00am By Charles Pierce, Esquire Only the truly child-like can have expected anything else. In the year of our Lord 2010, the voters of the United States elected the worst Congress in the history of the Republic. There have been Congresses more dilatory. There have been Congresses more irresponsible, though not many of them. There have been lazier Congresses, more vicious Congresses, and Congresses less capable of seeing forests for trees.

I’ve just published Chapter 8 of my open access textbook. This new chapter focuses on women’s homelessness. An English summary of the new chapter can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/womens-homelessness/ A French summary of the new chapter is here: https://nickfalvo.ca/litinerance-chez-les-femmes/ All material related to the textbook can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/book/

Plus, employers can no longer stop employees from working for their rivals, and Big Oil loses some of its dominance over public lands nationwide.

You gotta laugh to keep from crying The country’s taking crazy pills. Back in table-waiting days when the evening’s business and customers got weird, we’d run out the back door to check the night sky. What was it? The full moon? I did the same online this morning (the sun is up). The full moon was the 23rd. Maybe that’s when these bits that popped up first thing were crafted. People need to let off steam. Bette Midler’s on the job. Notice the name of Denver Riggleman’s podcast: Coalition of the Sane. Then there’s the Lev Parnas story. It’s not just that Trumpublicans are trying to transport the entire country into Alice’s Looking Glass World. They’re working both sides of the mirror as it suits them, as if no one will notice. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes did. They’re thinking it over So did Jamelle Bouie of The New York Times: It was a farce befitting the absurdity of the situation. Trump has asked the Supreme Court if he is, in effect, a king. And at least four members of the court, among them the so-called originalists, have said, in essence, that they’ll have to think about it.

Doctor Who has always been a pacifist, though the BBC really wants us to think they're an action hero. But is that really necessary?