Reading

Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 22:10
Reading novels is my life-blood; I can’t go more than a few hours between books. That said, this year was a slightly odd one in my reading career. First, the year leading up to August represented the home strait of a self-enforced 12 months of not buying books. So lots of reliance on the not-especially-good […]
Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 21:41
2022 has been a tumultuous year for Digital Rights in the UK. Ebbs in the Political chaos resulted in a flow of unhelpful domestic legislation. Measures that protect us from Data Discrimination are being eroded as the Government amends UK GDPR Data Protection laws with their Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, aka the Data Discrimination Bill.  […]
Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 21:23
A Map Showing The Two Main Geopolitical Blocs

Yeah, it is mostly this simple:

This is pretty much the map for UN resolutions aimed at Russia, too.

Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 21:00
The Journal of the History of Philosophy (JHP) has announced the winner of its 2022 Book Prize. The prize, awarded for the best book written in history of philosophy published in 2021, goes to Arthur Ripstein (university of Toronto) for his Kant and the Law of War (Oxford University Press, 2021). Here’s the publisher’s description of the book: The past two decades have seen renewed scholarly and popular interest in the law and morality of war. Positions that originated in the late Middle Ages through the seventeenth century have received more sophisticated philosophical elaboration. Although many contemporary writers appeal to ideas drawn from Kant’s moral philosophy, his explicit discussions of war have not yet been brought into their proper place in these debates.
Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 17:52

While Zelensky hypnotizes Western governments into forking over vast sums to finance his war effort, he has appointed a literal hypnotist (and part-time sexologist multi-level marketer) to a high-level diplomatic position. High end jewelry, hypnotism and multi-level marketing are not qualifications typically associated with international diplomacy. But these skills are featured prominently on the resumé of Ukraine’s new ambassador to Bulgaria, Olesya Ilashchuk. Since her December 23 appointment by Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky as Bulgarian ambassador, Olesya Ilashchuk has locked […]

The post Zelensky appoints sexologist pyramid schemer as ambassador to Bulgaria appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 17:11
A decade ago, when the issue of Republican anti-science bias was raised, a common response was to point to attitudes to vaccination, where, it was claimed, Democrats were the anti-science party. I observed at the time that this claim wasn’t justified by the available evidence. A little later, I noted the likelihood of the Republicans […]
Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 12:18

Our 12th most-read article of the 2022.

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Originally published September 15, 2022.

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As of this date, the citizens of Spirit Falls approve the following resolutions:

1. Any ex-lovers of residents of Spirit Falls must file, in writing, their intent to enter city limits ninety days before an intended visit. The paperwork must include a notarized affidavit of intent to not participate in, instigate, or be the recipient of romantic gestures.

2. We, as a community, no longer have boutique small businesses that require saving. The following businesses have been brought back from the brink of corporate take-over and/or foreclosure and/or family disagreement threatening financial ruin:

Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 12:00
But their quarry may not be dead It looks like the GOP race for the presidential nomination is on. Trump is probably fine with a bigger crowd since it may work for him in the long run. With winner-take-all primaries, if he does end up politically crippled by all his baggage, he could slip under the wire with his solid 30% of the GOP base. (He didn’t start winning majorities until the very end of the process in 2016.) The Washington Post reports: Potential contenders are well into laying groundwork for campaigns, as more than a dozen have signaled interest or have declined to rule out a run amid speculation. Yet it’s unclear how many will actually take the plunge. A crowded field could play to Trump’s advantage, as it did in 2016 when the rest of the party did not unite around a single alternative as Trump won key early contests with a plurality of the vote. “We figured by the first quarter next year, we need to be hard at it if we’re going to do it,” said Pompeo in a recent Fox News interview. Pompeo’s political action committee did not respond to a request for comment. Nikki Haley, the U.N.
Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 10:49

In our sixteenth annual International Day Against DRM (IDAD), we stood up for the freedom to share cultural works, continuing our fight against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). Each year, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) rallies anti-DRM advocates from all over the world for a day of action against digital restriction. This year was no exception, building on the recent efforts we've made in our year-end fundraiser to draw attention to something vitally important for the free software movement and cultural endeavors alike: the freedom to share.

Created
Wed, 28/12/2022 - 10:36

Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2022. Earlier in the year the Australia Institute hosted Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz for a speaking tour of Australia. In this episode he, Richard, and Ebony discussed the need to expand the role of governments, unions, and civil society.

The post Summer Series – Joseph Stiglitz: The Role of Government in the Modern Economy [Webinar] appeared first on The Australia Institute.