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Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 15:10

THAI communities from Port Macquarie to Grafton will gather together for the Songkran, or Water Festival, to celebrate Thai New Year on Sunday 21 April at Harbourside Markets alongside Coffs Harbour’s Jetty Beach. “A parade through the markets, celebrating the beginning of the festival, is a highlight of the day,” Robyn Lawrence, who has close...

The post Songkran music, dance and Thai culture celebrated in Coffs Harbour appeared first on News Of The Area.

Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 14:21

COFFS HARBOUR artists Janet Besançon and John Thiering describe their decision to collaborate on creating works of art as “an ambitious thing to do”. The pair of friends decided to “let go of the preciousness” that can come with being a solitary painter and “see how we’d go working together on a piece”. Advertise with...

The post Coffs Harbour artists marry unique styles for collaborative project appeared first on News Of The Area.

Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 09:30
You can say that about a lot of things, can’t you? This example is about that impeachment trial yesterday from Steve Benen: More than a month after House Republicans impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, despite the GOP’s inability to find any evidence of him committing high crimes, the articles were finally delivered to the Senate on Tuesday. Republicans in the upper chamber responded by demanding a full impeachment trial. They didn’t get one. As NBC News reported, the Senate Democratic majority dismissed both of the articles against the DHS chief just hours after the proceedings began. The speed of the impeachment trial was an embarrassing blow to Republicans who had threatened to gum up the Senate and delay the proceedings in a bid to highlight what they argue is Mayorkas’ failure to secure the border and stop the flow of thousands of undocumented migrants at the border. However, Democrats, who control the upper chamber, easily dispensed with the pair of impeachment articles — as well as several motions to adjourn the Senate.
Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 08:00
Wisconsin Rep.Mike Gallagher was once considered a major rising star in the GOP. Dar I say he might even have been a Great Whitebread Hope along the lines of a similar looking former Wisconsin superstar, Paul Ryan. But he decided to quit early and tomorrow is his last day. Why?  With just days until he leaves his seat in Congress, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., could be shedding some light on the reasoning behind his early resignation Gallagher announced in February he would not seek re-election after he was just one of a small handful of House Republicans to oppose the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. Then, in March, he said he would be resigning his seat, effective April 19. In one of his last acts in Congress, Gallagher — who represents Wisconsin’s 8th District — chaired a Tuesday hearing of the House Select Committee on China concerning the country’s possible connection to fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. After the hearing, Gallagher spoke with reporters about the hearing and the end of his time in Congress.
Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 06:30
They make mistakes The NY Times reports: Israel was mere moments away from an airstrike on April 1 that killed several senior Iranian commanders at Iran’s embassy complex in Syria when it told the United States what was about to happen. Israel’s closest ally had just been caught off guard. Aides quickly alerted Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser; Jon Finer, the deputy national security adviser; Brett McGurk, Mr. Biden’s Middle East coordinator; and others, who saw that the strike could have serious consequences, a U.S. official said. Publicly, U.S. officials voiced support for Israel, but privately, they expressed anger that it would take such aggressive action against Iran without consulting Washington. The Israelis had badly miscalculated, thinking that Iran would not react strongly, according to multiple American officials who were involved in high-level discussions after the attack, a view shared by a senior Israeli official. On Saturday, Iran launched a retaliatory barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, an unexpectedly large-scale response, if one that did minimal damage.
Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 05:39

I attended my first DrupalCon in 2010 in San Francisco, and since then have attended six more in the US and two in Europe.  Many elements stay the same, and are a welcome and treasured part of the DrupalCon experience: The DriesNote, the group picture, the keynotes, the BOFs, the sessions and trainings and parties and hallway conversation, on and on.  While you can look forward to more of those this year, here are a few additional features that have been added this year to Drupalcon Portland 2024:

Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 05:00
Trump’s Juror intimidation tactics are already bearing fruit Did the Trump team signal to Watters to target that juror? Did they even need to? The DA brought this up as yet another example of Trump defying the gag order. We’ll see if he will suffer any consequences for that.
Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 04:59
Government media funding supports the failing mainstream media (MSM) and right-wing advocacy groups like the Institute of Public Affairs. The News Media Bargaining Code gifts $1b over four years from Google and Facebook mainly to Nine Network, Seven West Media, Guardian, and News Corp. The last two are foreign owned. The right-wing advocacy body, Institute Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 04:58
This week, the U.S. and U.K. have the chance to correct decades of their blatant geopolitical errors in the Israel-Palestine conflict by welcoming Palestine as the 194th United Nations member state. More than any other countries, the U.S. and U.K. have wrecked the Middle East through their non-stop meddling and imperial arrogance. This week they Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 19/04/2024 - 04:56
When she introduced the first NDIS legislation to the House of Representatives in 2012 Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was to replace “A system that metes out support rationed by arbitrary budget allocations, not real human needs”. It was a radical break with other forms of welfare assistance because it put the human rights Continue reading »