Prime Ministers are too often monopolised by people telling them what they want to hear. Most political advisers can’t see beyond the latest opinion poll and the Australian bureaucracy has become equally reluctant to offer frank and fearless advice. It appears that the Attorney General, Defence and Foreign Affairs and Trade Departments have each failed Continue reading »
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Between Monday 19 February and Monday 26 February the ICJ heard oral submissions on the request for an advisory opinion in respect of the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Make no mistake. This case is about as important as it gets. It Continue reading »
With the Opposition Spokesperson for Immigration, Dan Tehan, making it clear immigration levels will be a key battleground for the 2025 Election, the Government will be keen to see net migration trending down faster. While net migration past its peak in around September 2023, it is still not falling sharply. That is despite major tightening Continue reading »
Life in the era of end-stage Neoliberalism feels like a sci-fi script. While far right zealots gain ground with media clickbait frenzies promoting their disinformation and lies, the ‘nice people’ live in fear of being ‘non-compliant,’ so they do nothing, as the zombie-like aliens circle. Joseph Heller would observe ‘It’s Catch 22 on steroids,’ as Continue reading »
As we approach the tenth anniversary of the 2014 disappearance of flight 370, Malaysian Airlines, we are getting the usual barrage of media speculation about the alleged mystery and its possible causes. Yet for me at the time, as a contributor to an Asian news service, there was no mystery. Two UK dailies had run Continue reading »
The brilliant, compassionate peace scholar and activist Stuart Rees, a regular contributor to this publication, constantly searches for ways of jolting the consciences of journalists, the political class – anyone in fact witnessing the horrors in Gaza. He’s simply asking people, especially those in power, to condemn and act upon the bleeding obvious: that a Continue reading »
A few days ago, on 25 February, US serviceman Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington in protest at the US and Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza. His last words on this Earth, as the fire consumed him, were: “Free Palestine!” On video an officer desperately tries to Continue reading »
One of the all time great con jobs As I watched the Super Tuesday returns last night I was struck by exit polls which showed that the economy is the most important issue to many Republican voters and they believe Donald Trump will be better for them financially than President Biden. Considering how successfully Biden has managed a swift recovery from the economic catastrophe he inherited, I find that disturbing but according to the NY Times, a majority of the electorate is suffering from “collective amnesia” and doesn’t remember why they ousted Trump back in 2020. Apparently, they are nostalgic for the golden days of a Trump administration that never existed. I don’t know if that amnesia will be cured by facts and statistics, but even Fox News has to admit that the Biden economy is doing very well. Nonetheless, Trump and all of his various henchmen spend their days insisting that the economy is on the verge of collapse. Last night during his low-energy victory speech he said it once again and as he told Lou Dobbs in an interview in January, he hopes it will crash within the next 12 months so that he won’t be like Herbert Hoover.
He is also against anything the Democrats are for. That’s it. There’s nothing ideological about it.
Children are dying younger and growing up shorter, while the elderly’s last years are more painful and desperate than they once were. We have normalised the life of our society falling apart, writes Danny Dorling
With the economy in recession and voters deeply concerned about the state of the UK’s parlous public services, Jermey Hunt has used what may be his last budget as chancellor to announce a 2 percentage point cut to national insurance. As the New Economics Foundation has pointed out, cuts to national insurance benefit the wealthiest […]
“Most mercenaries fighting for Israel now are welcomed based on their religious affiliations and dual citizenships, making their accountability pretty complex” – some of them previously fought in Ukraine along the neo-Nazi military wing Azov Battalion.
The post Globetrotting for Genocide: Foreign Fighters From US, France and India Are Fighting Israel’s War in Gaza appeared first on MintPress News.
“Reproductive rights, gun control and the environment.” The greatest untapped source of votes for Democrats is younger voters. (No, I won’t reproduce the chart again.) They are registered heavily independent (or unaffiliated) and those tend to fall off Democrats’ targeting computers. What do they care about? What might get them to turn out in the fall? Here you go. Post by @juliefornc View on Threads Post by @housejuddems View on Threads Reproductive rights are under assault. MAGA Republicans mean to get Stasi about it. Post by @maddowshow View on Threads No, I haven’t forgotten gun control. Post by @prof.donx View on Threads Democrats want to do something for you. Republicans want to do something to you. Governor Hobbs Launches Affordable Arizona: Tackling Medical Debt for Working Families My friend Kim Yaman reminds North Carolinians, “If you think NC Lt. Gov.
Kate Stonehill, Director of Phantom Parrot. Phantom Parrot unravels a secret British government surveillance programme, and follows human rights activist Muhammad Rabbani as he is prosecuted under terror laws for refusing to hand over the passwords to his electronic devices, unveiling unsettling questions about the rule of law, modern espionage and digital privacy. ORG will […]
As Westchester County executive, New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s primary opponent received thousands from Aramark and Wellpath.
The post George Latimer Awarded County Jail Contracts to Private Firms That Donated to His Campaign appeared first on The Intercept.
Been There, Smelled That explores the aromas of places around the world. Travel writer Maggie Downs investigates some of the world’s most potent smells, looks at how odor cultivates a connection to place, and presents how humans engage with smells, from scents that have endured generations to the latest innovations in aroma-making.
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The perfume tour begins in dramatic fashion—with roses fluttering from the sky like delicate confetti. Sunlight streams into the courtyard, casting a golden glow upon the space. The air fills with the heady, floral scent of bruised petals. Within moments, the fallen blooms create an aromatic carpet, and then seemingly everything is flowers, like some kind of dream.
Super Tuesday is over “Presidential primary season is effectively over,” writes Jim Newell at Slate, rather anticlimactically. California’s Rep. Adam Schiff is on his way to being Senator Schiff. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she would not seek reelection in Arizona, clearing the way for Rep. Ruben Gallego to become Senator Gallego. And Joe Biden and Donald “91 Counts” Trump will battle again for the presidency. Didn’t see that coming, didja? Here in North Carolina, Attorney General Josh Stein will battle Lt. Gov. Mark “Choking on my own blood” Robinson for governor. Guess which is the Republican? The problem going forward to November, as Digby observed of Josh Marshall’s take on the polling, is that “half the country doesn’t have a clue what actually going on, in some cases because they’ve been brainwashed and in others they’ve stopped paying attention order to preserve their mental health.” Ours here remains tenuous.