Reading

Created
Tue, 06/08/2024 - 04:57
I am not surprised by the disappointment felt by people with disability and their advocacy groups concerning what appears to be the Commonwealth Government’s limp-wristed and overly cautious response to the Disability Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Restraining its response to only 172 of the 222 recommendations of Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 06/08/2024 - 04:55
Pearls and Irritations has been a source of enlightenment since its foundation in 2013. It has progressively increased in importance. What began as an interesting addition to the Australian media landscape has become an irreplaceable source of ideas and distinctive interpretations provided by a large collection of authoritative experts few of whom have access to Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 06/08/2024 - 04:54
I am not part of America, but America has always been a part of me. Like no other country, the mere name carries a special fascination for me, and despite all its contradictions and problems, I have always felt attracted to it. This presidential election, can America leave behind the narrow mindset of the old Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 06/08/2024 - 04:53
I don’t expect that Donald Trump, presidential candidate, or Trump, elected president, gives a toss whether Anthony Albanese or Peter Dutton is prime minister of Australia after the next Australian election. That’s assuming that he even knows the names of the major candidates or the parties they represent. Even the name of Scott Morrison has Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 06/08/2024 - 04:51
The trading of Russian FSB assassin Vadim Krasikov for various Russian political prisoners, including US citizen Evan Gershkovitch and a number of Russian dissidents, illustrates the incompetence of US and German leaderships in foreign policy – and reflects the reason that Russia is winning the war in Ukraine! The essence is a failure to understand Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 06/08/2024 - 04:50
Australia has unveiled a new National Interest Framework which integrates security considerations into domestic economic policy, aiming to secure economic resilience and security amidst changing global power structures and increasing geopolitical tensions. But Australia has not yet placed strategic economic diplomacy at the forefront of the framework. Managing Australia’s security environment requires emphasising the importance Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 06/08/2024 - 03:00

Shakespeare! Neither before nor since has there been a man with such mastery of words and humanity. It is the bedrock upon which the foundation of modern literature is comfortably perched. Most importantly, it’s something I fully comprehend, even though I choose not to explain my comprehension at this particular time.

Join me, friend, and you’ll soon be victorious in your journey to embrace Shakespeare. I will guide you with wisdom and understanding. Think of me as your Lady Macbeth.

First off, do not be embarrassed by your initial comprehension level. You are forgiven if you can’t keep up with his characters’ witty quips, of which there are so many that I’m not even able to narrow it down to a single example. But please forgive me if I guffaw at those same quips with reckless enthusiasm. Something that will occur about a second and a half after everyone else starts laughing. This is how I typically laugh after hearing jokes I definitely understand.

Created
Tue, 06/08/2024 - 00:00

The Drupal Association’s individual membership program has always played a crucial role in supporting the Drupal community and ensuring the ongoing success of the Drupal project. The program was initially set up as a transactional vehicle: aside from the badge and voting rights, members received access to discounts from Drupal services providers.

The individual membership program stayed on autopilot during the turmoil of the Covid pandemic as we made the difficult decision to cancel DrupalCon North America 2020. During this time, our members and other Drupal community supporters donated unprecedented unrestricted funds using the hashtag #DrupalCares.

I joined the Drupal Association about two years ago as the Development & Membership Manager. My role split my time between Drupal Certified partners and the individual membership program, however it was clear from the beginning that the individual membership program would need a lot more attention.

Created
Mon, 05/08/2024 - 23:00
Harris campaign picks up speed and voters Democrats’ switcheroo on presidential candidates is turning more than Republican and pundit heads. On top of polling showing Vice President Kamala Harris picking up support among Black voters, The New Republic has a scoop this morning regarding growing support for Harris among Latino voters: Harris leads Trump by 55 percent to 37 percent in the head-to-head finding, which sampled 800 Latinos across Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and North Carolina. The survey—provided to The New Republic in advance of its release on Monday—was conducted July 23-26, well after Biden stepped aside on July 21. The poll dovetails with other national polls finding similar advantages for Harris among Latino voters. But, significantly, the larger Latino sample size in the survey—commissioned by the voter engagement group Somos PAC and conducted by Latino pollster Gary Segura—provides a stronger basis for confidence that Harris’s lead among Hispanics is real.
Created
Mon, 05/08/2024 - 23:00

A 2023 Column Contest grand-prize winner, Laurence Pevsner’s Sorry Not Sorry investigates why we’re sick of everyone apologizing all the time—and how the collapse of the public apology leaves little room for forgiveness and grace in our politics and culture.

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Around the world, computers were down. ATMs weren’t letting people get their money. Delta alone canceled more than five thousand flights. Hospitals halted surgeries and called off cancer screenings. Emergency dispatch services were disrupted. Eight and a half million Windows devices were affected. And one single company was responsible for what amounted to the world’s largest outage in the history of information technology: CrowdStrike.

It’s the kind of total failure that calls, obviously and at minimum, for an apology. And as always, your first response when you’ve made a mistake like this is going to be the response people remember. Here was what the CEO of CrowdStrike George Kurtz posted: