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POLICE are investigating after a member of the public allegedly clashed with animal rights activists outside Coffs Harbour’s Dolphin Marine Conservation Park on Sunday 20 August. On the day of the incident, the Dolphin Park was holding a ‘Community Fun Raiser’ to keep the educational, research, rehabilitation and rescue facility open, amid fears it will...

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TWO Coffs Harbour-based Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD) radiation therapists are the latest recipients of the prestigious Crestani Scholarships, which help allied health professionals to advance their educational studies. Jacqueline Pacey and Katie Mason from Coffs Harbour were awarded the scholarships which will provide them with the opportunity for higher education and research...

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104.1 CHYFM, Coffs Harbour Youth Community Radio, is running its popular On-Air Presenter workshop over five days during the September School Holidays. From Monday 25 to Friday 29 September, 10am until 3pm every day, it is a comprehensive and practical, hands-on course. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business....

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WHEN the Nelson Twins hit the stage at this year’s Buskers Unreal Comedy Gala at the Coffs Harbour Golf Club, you can forgive yourself for thinking you’re seeing double. Identical twin brothers Justin and Chris Nelson are not only the spitting image of each other, but they also dress and speak exactly the same. Advertise...

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BIG bands from far and wide will come together on Sunday 3 September at the Harbourside Markets for a gathering of big music performances. “We are bringing back a tradition called Band Sunday,” Phillip Vial, Vice President, Coffs Harbour Regional Brass Band told News OF The Area. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s...

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Cue the whining: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) seemed defensive after being called part of the “hardcore fringe” of the Republican party following her vow to vote against government funding if House Republicans do not open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The Georgia lawmaker claimed she was being persecuted for having “the audacity” to ask questions as she railed against the White House in a Saturday thread on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “The White House is attacking me for demanding an impeachment inquiry before I’ll vote to fund one penny to our over bloated $32 TRILLION dollar in debt failing government,” Greene simmered. Last week, the far-right House member pledged to block funding to prevent a government shut-down if her repeated calls for impeachment are not heeded. She also claimed she’d withdraw her vote if any more federal funding was provided for the war in Ukraine or for COVID-19 vaccines. Still, Greene seemed confident she had “evidence” on her side to merit an inquiry.

AVÉ – Australian Vocal Ensemble – an acapella quartet focused on celebrating old and new Australian stories and is the long-held dream of Katie Noonan, one of Australia’s most hardworking, versatile and prolific musicians. Combining four of Australia’s finest world-class vocalists, Katie describes AVÉ’s repertoire, like the Australian culture, as a unique blend of the...

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Nobody can deny the impact of climate crises—at least nobody intelligent can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore. Just look around, around the nation and the world for that matter,” Biden said while in Live Oak, Fla. “Historic floods, intense droughts, extreme heat, deadly wildfires that have caused serious damage that we’ve never seen before.” The right wingers are having a fit over this saying Biden insulted them by saying they aren’t intelligent. It says a lot. The truth hurts.

This is a fascinating essay by Jamelle Bouie looking at the role federalism has played and is playing on the issue of bodily autonomy. In the end, this is the big flaw, isn’t it? One of the ironies of the American slave system was that it depended for its survival on a federal structure that left it vulnerable and unstable. Within the federal union, the slave-dependent states had access to a national market in which they could sell the products of slave labor to merchants and manufacturers throughout the country. They could also buy and sell enslaved people, as part of a lucrative internal trade in human beings. Entitled to representation under the supreme charter of the federal union, slave owners could accumulate political power that they could deploy to defend and extend their interests. They could use their considerable influence to shape foreign and domestic policy. And because the states had considerable latitude over their internal affairs, the leaders of slave-dependent states could shape their communities to their own satisfaction, especially with regard to slavery.

Australian entrepreneurs and investors are already looking to the new developments in our region for inspirations and opportunities. They might look no further than China. China is building an ecosystem attractive to global Artificial Intelligence (AI) talent and capital. The US-led tech lash against Chinese companies and suspicion of scientists of Chinese background have been Continue reading »

Peter Wertheim (July 24, 2023) suggests that the Government should resist the call by Former Foreign Minister Bob Carr to recognise a Palestinian state. However, Wertheim’s remarks reflect widespread misapprehensions about relevant history, facts on the ground and international law. British MP Sir Anthony Nutting described the “sordid” history of Zionism and its “Legacy of Continue reading »

In the wake of communist collapse we have been presented with a new paradigm in international affairs. No, it is not a tinkering with the standard communism versus democracy we have had to tolerate for more than half a century of war. By strange twist of fate it is democracy which is seen as creating the Continue reading »

Could Donald Trump be banned from standing as President? Even in the world of Trumpist paranoid delusions and social media posts it seems improbable. Yet an increasing number of US legal scholars – including at least two who are regarded as ‘originalists’ – are arguing that Donald Trump should be disqualified from standing as President. They Continue reading »

Each morning that I awake and feel OK, I feel glad to be still alive. Being 80 means we are slower in what we do; we also tire easily. That may be why many of us reaching 80 readily concede we have arrived at our final departure lounge. We are conscious that much of our Continue reading »

New security-state documents show Wellington aligning its military with the “rules-based international order” while preparing Kiwis for war with key trading partner China, writes Mick Hall. Recent reports from New Zealand’s security state have sparked protest after all but suggesting the country join the U.S.-led AUKUS military alliance, a move that would reverse years of Continue reading »

In trying to get people to care about warmongering and imperialism what we’re really trying to do is get people to widen their circle of compassion to the furthest extent possible. To extend their care for the people around them to include caring about violence and abuse against people even on the other side of Continue reading »

Yeah, a lot of people thought that after Nixon resigned. But we are in a different country and one thing that’s very different is that the idea of vengeance has overtaken the Party of Grievance. Even if the majority that loathes and despises Donald Trump decides to let bygones be bygone (which is unlikely) it would never be enough for the MAGA “winners.” They will demand blood no matter what. And they will be led by the man who was given the pardon, Donald Trump himself. So no, there will be no “binding up of the nation’s wounds.” The right is entirely organized around the fight now. It IS illegal. Many other people have been convicted for doing much less. Sigh. Whatever. It doesn’t really matter what he says. This guy’s so full of shit it’s boring to even talk about it. But I think he’s the future of the GOP unfortunately. The whole political apparatus is nothing but hustlers and grifters now and they will say and do anything to keep the base riled up. Trump is the prototype. This guy is 2.0. And he and others like him can probably count on tens of millions of people to buy what they’re selling.

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – September 3, 2023

by Tony Wikrent

 

War

Escaping Attrition: Ukraine Rolls the Dice 

Big Serge Thought, via Naked Capitalism 8-30-2023]

“Ukraine may not be interested in a war of attrition, but attrition is certainly interested in Ukraine.” Grab a cup of coffee, this is an excellent read.

The white house (Casa Masó) belonged to the celbrated Catalan architect Rafael Masó. I highly recommend the visit.

I’m not quite sure what I think about this push to invoke the 14th Amendment to keep Trump off the ballot. It certainly seems to be straightforwardly correct on the merits. But whether it’s politically viable — or wise — is still unresolved for me. Would it save democracy or destroy it? TPM takes a look at the inside of the move to do this: Those on the vanguard of invoking the seldom-used Disqualification Clause of the 14th Amendment, under which Trump’s role in Jan. 6 would preclude him from running for office again, acknowledge that what they’re doing is unprecedented in the modern era. But so is a president attempting to foment an insurrection.  “It’s Donald Trump’s fault if some people end up not being able to vote for him,” Gerard Magliocca, an Indiana University law professor who specializes in the Disqualification Clause, told TPM.

Meadows may have committed perjury Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith, the legendary prohibition agents, raided illegal speakeasies a century ago, often using ruses and costumes to finagle their way inside to order drinks. Izzy would surreptitiously pour his drink down a funnel hidden in his vest. A hose led to a bottle for preserving evidence. He would announce he had “bad news.” You’ve just been raided. There was more bad news for Mark Meadows and Donald Trump last week in Meadows’ hearing transcript. But wait! There’s more. Ryan Goodman of Just Security observes in a thread that Meadows got involved in coordinating the fake electors scheme because he “would get yelled at” if he didn’t. “By whom?” the judge asked Meadows. “By the president of the United States,” Meadows replied, implicating both Trump’s knowledge of the scheme and active participation in it. It’s also a Hatch Act violation for a president, says Goodman. Meadows also admitted involving Cleta Mitchell in Georgia to help the campaign.

Doctor Who: Four from Doom's Day is an audiobook where Sooz Kempner finally reads her character, but the stories are average at best.

Judge slaps down DeSantis redistricting map “Today’s redistricting victory in Florida was proof that if you aren’t paying attention to the courts you aren’t paying attention to democracy,” Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias posted Saturday after a Florida circuit judge struck down a Republican congressional map promoted by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Republicans “hate me because I fight, they fear me because I win,” Elias crowed. Because the plan diminishes Black voters’ “ability to elect representatives of their choice,” per the Fair Districts Amendments, “The Enacted Plan is DECLARED an unconstitutional violation of the Florida Constitution, Article III, Section 20,” wrote Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh who sent it back to the Florida Legislature for a do-over (Politico): Judge J. Lee Marsh’s ruling is a rebuke to the governor, who previously vetoed the Legislature’s attempts to redraw Florida’s congressional maps and pushed lawmakers to approve his map that dismantled a North Florida seat formerly held by Rep. Al Lawson, a Black Democrat. Yeah, they’re predictable that way.

The progressive goal of less work and more living is finally back on the political agenda.

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