Reading

Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 20:00

The left coalition has won the most seats in France, but failed to get a majority. Macron’s party is second, with LaPen third, though with more seats than ever before.

This is a result of candidates who were in third or worse place dropping out so as to not split the vote.

As a result it’s unclear who will form the next government, and how. La Pen is correct in saying:

“National Rally leader Le Pen, expected to make a fourth run for the French presidency in 2027, said the elections laid the groundwork for “the victory of tomorrow.”

“The reality is that our victory is only deferred,” she added. But Le Pen’s older sister, Marie-Caroline, was among her party’s losers Sunday, defeated by a leftist candidate and just 225 votes in her district.

Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 09:30
(Or maybe a bot…) It’s just impossible for these people to believe that their fetid ideas are not what people want. I get that they don’t care but they can’t win democratically. I worry about what comes nest once they get that through their heads. Let’s hope the center left of the US has enough sense to do the same. I wish I was more sure that they do.
Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 09:07

With Drupal 7’s (D7) end-of-life (EOL) in 6 months on January 5, 2025, organizations relying on D7 face critical decisions regarding the future of their websites. This article will help guide you through the paths you can take: migrating to modern Drupal, leveraging extended long-term support options, or staying on unsupported Drupal 7. 

Update to Modern Drupal

Transitioning from Drupal 7 to a newer version is crucial in future-proofing your digital presence. These versions embrace modern PHP standards, object-oriented programming, and Symfony components, providing a powerful foundation for your website. This upgrade allows you to access advanced features, enhanced performance, and ensures ongoing support and security updates.

Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 08:30
Q: Is Project 2025 ideological lunacy? Trump VP contender Marco Rubio: No. I think it’s center-right Q: Is Project 2025 ideological lunacy? Trump VP contender Marco Rubio: No. I think it’s center-right (Trump’s Project 2025 wants to ban abortion nationwide, restrict IVF access, defund education, round up immigrants in mass detention camps, put guns in classrooms, and go after… pic.twitter.com/kUyupdYtwA — Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 7, 2024 It’s good to know what’s considered “center right” these days: By the way: The three top guys on the Project 2025 website are all former Trump admin staffers:Paul Dans (chief of staff at Trump OPM) Spencer Chretien (special assistant to Trump) Troup Hemenway (Trump OPP)  Of the folks assigned to write or co-write policy chapters, most are Trump admin veterans.
Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 07:29

Many war stories end with hunger wreaking havoc on significant portions of a population. In Christian theology, the Biblical “four horses of the apocalypse,” believed by many in early modern Europe to presage the end of the world, symbolized invasion, armed conflict, and famine followed by death. They suggest the degree to which people have long recognized how violence causes starvation. Armed conflict disrupts food supplies as warring factions divert resources to arms production and their militaries while destroying the kinds of infrastructure that enable societies to feed themselves. Governments, too, sometimes use starvation as a weapon of war. (Sound familiar? I’m not going to point fingers here because most of us can undoubtedly recall recent examples.) As someone who... Read more

Source: War and Famine appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 04:58
The Australia Institute has recently argued for the introduction of a system for measuring the extent of poverty in Australia, pointing out that the government’s recently established wellbeing measurement framework, Measuring What Matters, does not measure the number of Australians living in poverty. Greg Jericho and the other researchers at the Institute have argued that Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 04:57
The birth of Israel on 14 May 1948 is said to be based on three related claims. Some people regard these claims as questionable. They form the basis for why Israel’s birth is said to be illegitimate. Firstly, a claim much set in concrete is that Israel is the “promised land” of the Jews. However, Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 04:56
Reflecting on some relevant aspects of just war thinking that I mentioned in my recent contribution to Pearls and Irritations on “Why Israel’s war violates just war principles” I decided it would be worth addressing some of those issues further and also broaching some important ones that I then did not discuss. I do so Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 04:55
Best-selling British writers, George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison, have very recently published “The Invisible Doctrine”, which is a powerful critique of neoliberalism, and the role they believe it is playing in destroying our human future. The authors say that the neoliberalism is the dominant ideology of our time, but many people do not know much Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 04:54
Twice in a fortnight, the president of the Heritage Foundation has declared that America is experiencing its second revolution. The revolution would remain bloodless (because their side is “winning”) “if the left allows it to be.” The two bodies whose acts provoked the announcements are leading Atlas Network partners. They are also spending millions of Continue reading »
Created
Mon, 08/07/2024 - 04:53
Australia’s drug budget heavily focuses on law enforcement over harm reduction and prevention, underscoring the need for more balanced, effective spending. How much do Australian governments spend on illicit drug issues? Australia’s drug policy spending remains heavily skewed towards law enforcement, raising concerns about priorities and effectiveness. According to a 2021/2022 drug budget report by Continue reading »