Introduction by DM

The Durham report lays out that the government had very little to go on when it opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation and that it may have been done due to hostile feelings by higher-ups in the FBI. Indeed, the report says that the

speed and manner in which the FBI opened and investigated Crossfire Hurricane during the presidential election season based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence also reflected a noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters involving possible attempted foreign election interference plans aimed at the Clinton campaign.

...

Former Australian Cricketer Ian Healy quite rightly asks - why has the rugby league media in Sydney gone soft on one of their own, Paul Kent and his arrest on domestic violence and choking allegations? The footballers, cricketers, and celebrities they frequently cover don't get the same treatment: https://twitter.com/SENQLD/status/1658261063941623808?s=20 Healy...

Remember when Cricket used to be a national unity game? Everyone who cared went for the national team. Those who didnt care, tolerated it through the Summer. Now the game has become a vehicle for attention seeking minorities, taking a knee, and celebrating fringe causes. Get ready for crickets proud...

Richard Boyle is a whistle-blower who is being railroaded by the Australian Federal Parliament and the following text is basically all about de-railing that criminal abuse of public office by insisting that the prosecution subpoena me.

Posting short link: https://wp.me/p1n8TZ-3hA

As this website reveals, I have been a whistle-blower for many years and the best way to deal with overt process corruption, is to confront it head-on, which is precisely what this email to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is all about. The message is very simple the prosecution of Richard Boyle could bring down the Federal Parliament.

The Assistant Director-CDPP (Adelaide)
Via email: adelaide@cdpp.gov.au

CC: Steven Millsteed KC
smillsteed@bjennings.com.au

CC: Counsellor Lauren Gavranich,
lgavranich@ebchambers.com.au...

Despite what you may think, direct mail marketing is far from dead. Although many have come to think of it as outdated, it remains one of the most effective marketing strategies thanks to its ability to capture your markets attention.

Because direct mail isnt as common as it used to be, people are paying more attention to the mail that they do receive. This means that your direct mail marketing campaign has a higher chance of standing out to its recipients and a higher chance of an impressive ROI.

But how do you go about creating a truly successful direct mail campaign? Lets take a look at the steps to take in order to launch an effective campaign that makes an impression and helps your business grow.

Create Your Mailing List

When deciding on your mailing list, we recommend following the 40-40-20 rule. This rule dictates that the success of your direct mail campaign is determined by the following factors:

• Your audience 40%
• Your offer 40%
• Your execution 20%

With this in mind, its always a good idea to start off your campaign by coming up with your mailing list. After all, if you get your target audience wrong, your work will most likely go to waste and it wont matter how much time and effort you put into your offer or the execution.

Set some time aside to think about who youd like to offer your services to. Is it other businesses? Pre-existing customers that youd like to entice back to your business? Take some time to consider these factors and always make sure the addresses on your mailing list are both formatted and spelt correctly. 81% of Australians open and read their mail immediately, so with the right mailing list, youre sure to make an impression on countless prospective clients.

Decide On a Format

Direct mail is available in all different shapes and sizes, so take a look at your budget and marketing goals to determine which option will work best for your campaign. Some of the most common mailer types include:

• Postcards: Postcards are generally 46 inches and are a very popular direct mailing format. Cost-effective and convenient, postcards are commonly used to promote events, announcements and new products and services.
• Brochures and catalogues: A fantastic way to highlight y...

In the coming months, AFSA will be rolling out a series of informative blog posts around the language of food sovereignty. To begin, heres an introductory look at key differences between agroecology and regen ag, where we address semantics and distinctions to grow our movement.

...

Neurofibromatosis (NF) awareness month in May is an important event for those living with a condition that has been in the shadows for too long. A debilitating and unpredictable condition, NF is one of Australias most common genetic neurological disorders. Over 10,000 Australians are affected by NF, and yet awareness surrounding it is still very low. To shine a light on this disease and acknowledge the struggle of all affected by it, over 100 of Australias most prominent landmarks and buildings will light up blue and green on 17 May. 

Neurofibromatosis is a group of genetic disorders that manifest differently in every individual, however, it can cause tumours, hearing loss, blindness, physical variations, abnormalities in the bones, learning difficulties, chronic pain, and cancer. People born with NF require constant care, and unfortunately, there is not yet a cure for this condition. Scientists have struggled for many years to understand the intricacies of this complicated disease, and many questions still remain to be answered. 

The Childrens Tumour Foundation (CTF) is currently helping to raise awareness surrounding NF, through continuing advocacy, campaigns and crucial fundraising activities. During this years NF Awareness Month, events and activities include the Shine a Light on NF light displays, a virtual...

While some aspects of her work can be challenging, including the English nationalism of Swastika Night, Katharione Burdekin's bold speculations were extraordinary for the periodas is the fact that she got them into print with major publishers, to appreciative reviews. As a writer on gender Burdekin is even more relevant in our troubled times. Her words, her ideas, retain their danger now.

The post A Handmaids Tale with Nazis: the enduring message of Katharine Burdekins Swastika Night appeared first on Overland literary journal.

Therapeutic Albo will rue the day he appointed Kevin Rudd to be Australiaa ambassador in Washington. Is this Kevins first stuff up since his appointment to the US? While Rudd does selfies, Albo has been humiliated with a cancellation of a visit of Joe Biden, only hours after Albo put...

From the ABC's Victorian State Political Reporter. Of course.

From the Australian Jewish Association. LABOR SENATOR FATIMA PAYMAN MOURNS ISRAEL'S CREATION Several Labor and Greens MPs and Senators have taken part in events to mourn Israel's creation. Here, Senator Payman appears with a map of Israel, overlaid with the word 'Nakba' or catastrophe. The Senator came to Australia after...

When people think of scammers, many might have the idea in mind that sophisticated hooks are embedded in emails or websites or smartphone related communications.

But scammers have gone 'old school' for quite some time.

Scammers have enlisted Australia Post to deliver their fraudulent message (fake envelope on the right), as they have done so for over a decade in relation to another scam that the government has failed to act on, early in the piece, where some people are still receiving those types of letters.

In relation to the Telstra scam, the scammers have gotten hold of the customer's full name and address, stating that they have been trying to contact that person.

In the letter, there is a phone number which the scammers are in possession of, in order to steal more information to commit fraud.

Scammers have used Australia Post previously to con businesses to 'renew' their internet domain name.

The scammer's letter looks like it's a renewal for the targeted business, where in the scam letter there will be number zero (0), instead of the letter 'O', or any other character that will be different from the legitimately registered internet address.

See post:

Domain Name Group Fraud

Thank you Andrew. See https://www.facebook.com/QldEnvironment After the first four comments happened they had to shut it down because things definitely werent going their way.

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

Since 2005, I have known about extreme child abuse, thanks to Carol Rutz. She spoke at a meeting in Connecticut, under the auspices of Neil Brick at SMART, which has hosted survivors conferences since 1998. After then reading Rutzs book, A Nation Betrayed, I read Kathleen Sullivans Unshackled, and this prompted me to run for Congress in 2006 from the state of New Hampshire.

The goal of the article at hand is twofold: to show how the Internet enables persons with a grievance in one country to get help from abroad, and to make an outline of what is involved in chil...

Contributed by Joe Montero

New Parliamentary Budget Office costings on the Stage Three Tax Cuts, which had been requested by the Greens, has revealed that the cost is rising and now sits at $20 billion for the first year (2024), and will increase each financial year to $42 billion in 2033-34. This is a total of $313 billion, and it is likely to end up costing even more.

Any decent and caring human being should be moved to anger and turn their back on anyone who promotes this obscenity.

The numbers speak for themselves. They reveal how much that small group at the top of the income pyramid is taking, and how little everyone else is getting in the face of an ongoing rise in the cost of living. Those in the middle get small shift in the tax margins, and what they gain is a sop that will soon be taken over by inflation. The share of national income will keep on flowing outwards. Those on annual incomes less than $45,000 get nothing. The screws will continue to tighten on government expenditure on services that benefit the majority.

Pocketing the money are those with incomes over $180,000 a year. Most of this will go to a much smaller group of billionaires. The much larger group in the middle-income range will be given a sop through modest marginal tax bracket adjustments. Not big enough to deliver any real change, and this will soon be eaten away by inflation. Those with an income below 45,000 a year will get absolutely nothing.

Its those down the pyramid who will be paying the cost to line the pockets of those at the top of it, through the taxes they pay, and in the absence of services that could otherwise have been provided with this money.

For example, the money could have been used to lift those liv...

State Member for Lismore, Janelle Saffin, says the NSW Country Womens Association (CWA) voted at its recent AGM to oppose waste-to-energy incinerators.

A waste-to-energy incinerator proposal for the Richmond Valley Jobs Precinct in Casino prompted local resistance, after a similar plan was rejected in Western Sydney owing to air pollution impacts. The Casino proposal, under the previous LiberalsNational government, came without any community consultation.

Additionally Casino, Lithgow, Goulburn and Parkes were locations excluded from a state-wide incinerator ban by the then NSW government.      

Ms Saffin said the Tabulam branch put the motion, which was one of several successful motions from the North Coast Group at the AGM in Bathurst this month.

She says, The CWA has adopted a policy to advocate for the newly elected NSW government to rescind its decision to establish waste-to-energy incinerators, and instead immediately introduce technology and waste reduction programs that use methods...

Hoffnung im Jemen

In der saudischen Hafenmetropole Jiddah stand bereits gestern bei den Gesprchen von Auenministerin Annalena Baerbock mit ihrem saudischen Amtskollegen Faisal bin Farhan der Krieg im Jemen zwischen den Huthi und dem von Saudi-Arabien gesttzten Regime auf der Tagesordnung. Mit dessen Auenminister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak wird Baerbock heute Gesprche fhren. Die Vereinten Nationen bezifferten die Kriegstoten im Jemen schon Ende 2021 auf rund 377.000; 60 Prozent davon seien durch indirekte Kriegsfolgen Hunger, Krankheiten zu Tode gekommen.[1] Saudi-Arabien, eine der Hauptkriegsparteien, konnte sich bei seinen militrischen Operationen im Jemen sowie bei der Durchsetzung seiner Hungerblockade gegen die jemenitischen Huthi auch auf deutsche Waffen sttzen (german-foreign-policy.com berichtete [2]). Inzwischen wchst die Hoffnung, der Krieg knne sich dem lange ersehnten Ende nhern. Ursache ist die Annherung zwischen Saudi-Arabien und Iran, die im Jemen jeweils verfeindete Kriegsparteien sttzten. Die saudisch-iranische Annherung wiederum, die jetzt einen Ausgleich auch im Jemen mglich erscheinen lsst, wurde erst durch chinesische Vermittlung mglich gemacht, gegen Widerstand aus dem Westen.[3] Auch Berlin hat Annherung und Entspannung nicht untersttzt.

Krieg im Sudan

Gegenstand der Gesprche zwischen Baerbock und Bin Farhan war zudem der Brgerkrieg im Sudan. Zwar ist der Sonderbeauftragte des UN-Generalsekretrs fr Sudan und Leiter der UN-Mission UNITAMS, der ehemalige SWP-Direktor Volker Perthes, in Berlin bestens vernetzt. Doch verfgt die Bundesrepublik in Sudan selbst nur ber wenig Einfluss. Whrend die beiden Brgerkriegsparteien jeweils von verschiedenen arabischen Staaten untersttzt werden die regulren Streitkrfte unter General Abdel Fattah al Burhan von den in gypten herrschenden Militrs, die Rapid Support Forces (RSF) unter Mohamed Hamdan Hemedti Dagalo von den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten [4] , gilt Saudi-Arabien als Macht, die annhernd gleiche Distanz zu beiden Seiten wahrt und daher als etwaiger Vermittler in Frage kommt. Riad ist es gelungen, die Evakuierung von ungefhr 8.000 Menschen ber die Hafenstadt Port Sudan nach Jiddah zu organisieren; es hat Verhandlungen zwischen beiden Brgerkriegsparteien ebenfalls in Jiddah abgehalten, bei denen ab dem 6. Mai einige Regeln zum Schutz von Zivilpersonen festgelegt wurden.[5] Dabei hat Riad die Verhandlungen gemeinsam mit Washington gefhrt, das bemht ist, seinen zuletzt schwindenden Einfluss in der Region zurckzugewinnen. Baerbock war gestern ihrerseits um Einfluss bemht.

Normalisierung in Syrien

Heute wird Baerbock zu weiteren Gesprchen im Emirat Qatar eintreffen. Dort steht unter anderem die Entwicklung in Syrien auf dem Programm. Im Nahen und Mittleren Osten schreitet mittlerweile nach dem Scheitern der vom Westen angefhrten Versuche, Prsident Bashar al Assad zu strzen, die Normalisierung der....

Says plenty about how in the loop Albo really is. Tues 1030pm : Albanese press release announcing Biden is coming. 5am Wed - Biden calls. Not coming. Biden and Albo : Two idiots. President Biden called me this morning to discuss his upcoming visit to Australia. The President apologised that...

I just love it when all the media political pundits and talk show hosts ( News Talk?) throw out that word Democracy. You dont have to go to a ranch to find more bull excrement than that. Folks, this is not a democracy and probably never was one, all the way back to our founding. Why? MONEY MONEY MONEY is the answer. As long as the masters of our republic keep allowing private money into electoral politics you will continue to smell that bull excrement period!

The Open Secrets site follows the flow of money in political campaigns. After reading the enclosed data you may see why so many of our fellow citizens do not even bother to vote. Not good to do, but here is why, according to 2022 figures:

The average House of Representatives winner spent upwards close to $ 3 million. The loser spent on average around $800k.

The average Senate winner spent over $26 million. The loser spent around 1/2 of that ($13 million)

In my state of Florida DeSantis spent around $200 million. Democrat Charlie Crist spent $31 million, and people wonder why there was such a LANDSLIDE.

In 2022, 384 incumbents ran for re-election in the House 359 won!!

In 2022, 28 incumbents ran for re-election in the Senate 28 won!

If Claude Rains from the film Casablanca was monitoring things for our elections he would have said: I am shocked! There is massive spending going on here!

Statewide and local citywide races are not really different. If someone wishes to run for just about any elected office, where they allow party affiliations, if you are not from one of the Two Party/One Party gangs, then forget it buster! Oh yes, the only exclusion is for someone to be super duper wealthy enough to spend his or her own money to equal that of the other two gangsters. Or have some very very rich friends. If you cannot get your name and ideas out to the general public with an equally massive staff and volunteers. No way Jose! Money talks and everyone else walks! Is that what we want, super rich people being the only ones outside of the Two Party/One Party scam to win office?

In 1997, this writer was living in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was active in street protests against the empire, on both foreign and domestic issues. I was also a writer for a progressive weekly and was lucky to interview attorney Ed Garvey from Wisconsin. He was travelling the nation promoting the just passed Maine Clean Election Laws. In Maine, they actually were able to legislate some form of public funding of statewide elections. Candidates could decide to forego accepting private donations and rely on the small amounts of public funding for their campaigns. Obviously, their Republican and Democrat competitors would still outspend them...

By Liz Remmerswaal, Vice President of World BEYOND War, May 16, 2023

Peace Witness features those who stand up to be counted as advocating for nonviolent ways of resolving conflict.

SONIA SMITH:

The post Audio: New Episodes of Peace Witness with Liz Remmerswaal appeared first on World BEYOND War.

We all know about the danger of a future society where we're all tracked everywhere we go every single day in real time by our phones or devices . . . but actually, it's worse than that! You're already being tracked everywhere you go, every day, and it doesn't matter whether you leave your phone at home just as long as you bring your face. Today on #SolutionsWatch, James explores some of the options that are on the table for heading off the facial recognition dystopia.

This summer marks a year since Ukraine became an official candidate for European Union (EU) membership under an accelerated process following Russias invasion. Kyiv currently sits at the doorstep of the negotiations stage, which could start this year according to EU officials. Historically, this stage is the longest, most technical, and bureaucratic part of the process, requiring extensive reforms under the Copenhagen criteria a set of political, legal, and economic membership conditions.

In June 2022, the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine candidate status with an understanding that Kyiv must implement seven steps to strengthen anti-corruption and rule of law standards. Kyiv recently stated that it has complied with each of these conditions. The decision now lies with the EU, who must determine if Ukraine fulfilled basic requirements before the rigid negotiation process can start.

While Ukraines progress from applicant to candidate status was rapid, advocates should temper expectations for subsequent steps toward membership; they will not be as swift or simple. Kyiv could be caught in pre-negotiation limbo akin to current Western Balkan EU hopefuls. For reference, it took Belgrade and Podgorica about two years to start negotiations after reaching candidate status. Tirana waited six years to open formal negotiations after becoming a candidate in 2014, while Skopje sat idle for 15 years before opening talks with Brussels. Each nation had a particular set of challenges prohibiting their progress, but these roadblocks were nowhere near Ukraines predicament of fending off an invading military prior to starting negotiations.

The EUs new accessions methodology, revised in 2020, is intended to make enlargement a more credible, predictable, and dynamic. But this modified approach likely wont yield faster results for Ukraine or current candidates. EU accession is grounde...

Dr William Russell Massingham Pridgeon (right) being driven to the Brisbane Watchhouse Photo: (AAP: Darren England), from ABC News under the heading Doctor accused of masterminding child-stealing syndicate

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

In the legal profession, we always enjoy saluting a past or occasionally a present master of the art. On entering the main building of Harvard Law School, for example, you are greeted by a huge painted portrait of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr (1841-1935).

I have only recently discovered the work of Wilfred Massingham Seymour whose main law textbook preceded World War I. Not that I came by it randomly it was called to my attention by the grandson of the master. The book is entitled:

Native law and custom; being a compendium of the recognised native customs in force in the native territories of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, together with legislative amendments, and reports of some of the more important decisions of the native appeal court of Griqualand East, 1901-1909

It is about the native law of the people of South Africa, and has sparked my interest to find a similar work on the native law of indigenous people in North America, Australia, Philippines, or anywhere. With regard to the Philippines, Id be curious to find what principles of law were on the books before the unruly takeover by American military forces in 1898, when the...

The findings are shocking. What's worse is how easily the media and establishment have accepted it as OK. https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/statement-on-report-by-special-counsel-john-durham

Monarchists Pursue ABC Through FOI 16 May 2023 The Australian Monarchist League has made a formal FOI request under the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act (1982) (FOI Act) which provides a right to request access to certain documents held by the ABC in regard to its pre-Coronation broadcast. Details of...

Stephen Crothers, is an Australian Scientist, Occupational Hygienist, and Forensic Investigator (11 October 2021). Here is a link to his Open Letter to the Australian people in full Open Letter. False Information Provided by the Australian Government about a Medical Intervention Professor Skerritt has stated before Parliament that the COVID-19 vaccine programme is an experiment.... [Read more]

The post Open Letter Stephen Crothers Part 2: False Information Provided by the Australian Government about a Medical Intervention appeared first on Vaccination Decisions.

There will be airspace restrictions in Sydney and Canberra between 22-25 May as the cities host a significant event. Drone owners are urged to check one of the CASA-verified drone safety apps if planning to fly a drone within 28 km of Sydney Airport and 21 km of Canberra Airport...

The EPAs new proposed rules will require U.S. power plants to slash pollution. But experts are divided on whether carbon capture is the answer.

In a remote field in Saskatchewan, not far from the border with North Dakota, the Boundary Dam coal power plant sends its exhaust into a massive system of pipes and tanks that absorb CO2 and then compress the gas so it can be shipped off to a nearby oil producer for injection underground. The carbon capture system, which cost more than $1 billion to build, first started running nine years ago. Its currently the only large-scale facility of its kind in use at a power plant anywhere in the world.

Read Full Story

My mum took her first job in 1980, when she was fourteen. In my childhood, she worked as a medical receptionist. For every hour she worked, she was almost certainly paid less than a man in a job of comparable value. For every curtailed pay check, there was a lower superannuation benefit, a lower amount left for savings at the end of each week and, inevitably, a lower amount to put towards a house deposit.

The post The gender pay gaps grim legacy: homelessness among older women in Australia appeared first on Overland literary journal.

Microsoft is again engaging in anti-competitive behaviour without any court action.

It's 'forcing' its users to use the inbuilt browser, instead of allowing the user to freely choose competitive products.

Last time this occurred, Microsoft was in the courts and as a result it was fined.

No such action even after months of this fraudulent activity?

See more within the link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/02/16/discover-new-ways-to-multitask-with-microsoft-365-and-edge/

See also video:

Their ABC Four Corners 'Story Of The Century'. Unlike the FBI's opening of a full investigation of unknown members of the Trump campaign based on raw, uncorroborated information, in this matter involving a Clinton campaign, the FBI never opened any type of inquiry, issued any taskings, employed any analytical personnel,...

Story of the Century - live coverage from their ABC?

Contributed from Victoria

Woodside is best known for exploiting the gas fields off Australias western coast and has been in the firing line of those who want to get Australia off an addiction to gas.

Less known is that Woodside leaves behind a mess when leaving a gas field. It has done so with the sinking An 83-metre-high tower close to the Ningaloo Reef. This was decommissioned years ago and just left to rust and decay. This is not all right, because besides steel it contains taxic chemicals that will eventually pollute the sea. Offshore regulator National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority directed Woodside in January, to mitigate risks. Nothing has happened yet.

Woodside believed cleaning up would cost too much and had just walked away from its responsibility. They did so because they can. The law preventing this is too weak and ineffectual. The consequences are minimal. This must change.

In came Greenpeace and its flagship Rainbow Warrior. They went to the wreck on 14 May and put up a banner saying, Woodside dont be a tosser. There is serious concern that pollution will cause major damage to unique wildlife. Greenpeace is campaigning to put an end to this sort of irresponsibility by drawing what Woodside is doing to public attention.

But Greenpeace has also joined the campaign of many conservation and Indigenous groups, as well as broader local communities, to put a stop to Woodsides plan to exploit a much bigger project on and off the Burrup Peninsula.

Facilities are already being built on the Burrup, to bring in gas from the Scarborough site. The $16.2 billion joint venture with BHP, will significantly expand Australias gas extraction. This is at a time when Australia is supposed to be heading towards zero net emissions. The exploitation of Scarborough will pull in the opposite direction. Emissions from this will be the equivalent of 15 coal powered stations.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO David Ritter said that Woodside was treating Australians with contempt by forging ahead on the project.

For so long as the company persists on this course, the corporate name of Woodside will become synonymous with the destruction of everything that Australians hold dear.

Aust...

The federal government has pledged $236 million over 10 years to fund a national flood warning network, in a bid to protect communities from the types of flooding which took place last year in the Northern Rivers.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the funding would be used to purchase and upgrade flood gauges in disaster-prone areas, such as the North Coast.

For almost a decade, experts have been telling us that we have to upgrade Australias flood warning infrastructure, Ms Plibersek said.

Weve seen really terrifying examples in recent years where communities were left with not enough information; they were unprepared during floods because of broken or outdated flood gauges.

Ms Plibersek said the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) owned about a third of Australias flood gauges, but the rest were operated by state or local governments or private entities.

Many of them are old, they have to be read manually, so youre sending people out into dangerous weather to read flood gauges, she said.

The roll out of new flood gauges will start in Queensland, and come under the a...

ASIA:

Indias annual wholesale price index (WPI) fell for the first time in nearly three years in April, as prices softened across the board. WPI fell by 0.92% from the same month a year earlier, having risen 1.34% in March. The data compared with a Reuters poll that predicted a fall of 0.20%. In April, the food index rose 0.17% year-on-year, compared with 2.32% in March, while fuel and power rose 0.93% as against a 8.96% rise in the previous month. The decline in the rate of inflation was broad based, primarily driven by falls in prices of crude, energy prices, non-food and food articles, the government said in a statement. Data released on Friday showed Indias annual retail inflation eased to an 18-month low in April, staying well below the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) upper tolerance limit for the second consecutive month.

The major Asian stock markets had a green day today:

• NIKKEI 225 increased 238.04 points or 0.81% to 29,626.34
• Shanghai increased 38.37 points or 1.17% to 3,310.74
• Hang Seng increased 343.89 points or 1.75% to 19,971.13
• ASX 200 increased 10.40 points or 0.14% to 7,267.10
• Kospi increased 3.93 points or 0.16% to 2,479.35
• SENSEX increased 317.81 points or 0.51% to 62,345.71
• Nifty50 increased 84.05 points or 0.46% to 18,398.85

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD increased 0.00565 or 0.85% to 0.67025
• NZDUSD increased 0.00489 or 0.79% to 0.62379
• USDJPY increased 0.347 or 0.26% to 136.057
• USDCNY decreased 0.01156 or -0.17% to 6.95964

Precious Metals:

• Gold increased 5.81 USD/t oz. or 0.29% to 2,016.96
• Silver increased 0.166 USD/t. oz or 0.69% to 24.076

Some economic news from last night:

Australia:

Building Approvals (MoM) (Apr) decreased from 3.9% to -0.1%

Some economic news from today:

India:

WPI Inflation (YoY) (Apr) decreased from 1.34% to -0.92%

EUROPE/EMEA:

Efforts are being made to extend a deal that allows the safe export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea, despite Russia threatening to quit the...

When I lived on the remote island of Beqa, in Fiji, I watched as foreign-based NGOs entered villages and told Fijians how to live their lives, saying things like no more eating ika bula (sea turtle), and it is time you stop fishing kawakawa (grouper). These environmental NGOs had good intentions, of course, but their work was ineffective. Why would a Fijian man who has been eating ika bula for traditional occasions since childhood suddenly stop because some white guy who spent three days in his village told him to? Why do international conservation organizations often ask Indigenous people to halt their traditional and sustainable practices instead of focusing on larger issues at play, such as the bycatch of giant fishing vessels? I went into conservation to answer the call to better our planet. People like me who want to dedicate their career to help this earth and all of its species will not accomplish anything by allowing any sort of continuance of traditional conservation. Most of our current models of international conservation are dated and ineffective. If we want to make real change, we need to change our mindsets. We need to challenge current conservation practice. The village of Naceva, Beqa, Fiji on a cloudy day. Image courtesy of Audrey Moreng. Some of international conservation today still takes on a new form of colonialism. Colonialism is the exploitation of people, often Indigenous, by a foreign power. It usually involves taking resources, making the colonizer more powerful, all while furtheringThis article was originally published on Mongabay

Are moral standards real, relative, or both? Reading through Hill's overview of the history of western philosophy in After the Natural Law, I was reminded of a thought: that this history and development has largely been an ongoing battle between two opposing worldviews, with land lost and regained over the millennia. Materialism and idealism. Absolutism and relativism. Atheism and theism. Their seeds are all there in the ancient Greeks. But the land itself remains largely the same. And perhaps therein lies part of the answer: it is all the same land. As in, both positions occupy some ground, but like changing borders they miss the wider truth: that the land itself encompasses both. Reality can tolerate either extreme position, to a degree, because each takes into account a part of reality as a whole. But they are incomplete on their own, and when either demands exclusive worship like some tribal god, they commit a form of philosophical blasphemy. Borrowing somewhat from political...

NEW: A South Korean truth commission created by law in 2019 is seeking classified U.S. military and intelligence records for its wide-ranging investigation into the Gwangju Uprising of 1980. It also wants answers about South Korean generals who were trained by U.S. Special Forces and fought with the United States during its counterinsurgency war in South Vietnam. Washington has not responded - yet.

The first professional one-mile race was held in London on July 26, 1855. Charles Westhall won with a time of 4 minutes and 28 seconds. Over the next 90 years, the time was slowly but surely whittled down to 4:01.4 by Swedens Gunder Hagg on July 17, 1945.

Nine years later, on May 6, 1954, Englands Roger Bannister did the impossible. He ran a 3:59.4 mile. The following month, the impossible was done again. John Landy of Australia ran a 3:58 mile on June 21, 1954.

Within a year, we had three runners breaking the four-minute barrier in the same race.

The current mile world record holder is Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco with a time of 3:43.13. As of this writing, about 20 male high school runners have accomplished the impossible.

So, what changed since July 17, 1945?

Some may point to training or nutrition and perhaps they play a recent role. But remember, Bannister made history in 1954 and his record was smashed just 46 days later. So, yeah its more than training and nutrition.

Could it be that once we choose to envision the possible instead of fixating on the impossible, our power is released? If so, where can we effectively focus this power today?

(FYI: The womens record is 4:12:33 run by Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands.)

On April 26, Mary Zhao, a writer for Radio Free Asia, wrote a bizarre piece attacking China for not providing transgender girls with necessary medicines, exposing once again the absurd lengths to which the US propagandists will go to undermine a nation it has targeted. The same day, they posted a cartoon of French President Macron portrayed as a chicken for daring to state that Europe must reduce its strategic dependency on the U.S. to avoid getting caught up in crises that are not ours and for China commenting positively to what he stated. On the same front page, they posted false stories about North Korea, Myanmar and Vietnam.

So, as we celebrate International Press Freedom Day on May 3, what is Radio Free Asia?   The answer-it is an arm of the US propaganda forces arrayed against the peoples of Asia to try to maintain US hegemony over them by manipulating their minds, their thoughts, their perception and their understanding of the world around them.

RFA tries to mask its role as a propaganda organ by attempting to appear objective. One of the devices they use is a Fact Check page, where its editors ask themselves questions and provide their own answers. For instance, they ask if the waters between Taiwan and the mainland of China are international waters. The answer they give is, of course, yes, and so US naval patrols through the Taiwan Straight are, according to them, legal under international law.

But of course, they arrive at this answer by regarding Taiwan as a separate country and not part of China when in fact Taiwan is part of China and so the waters between the mainland and Taiwan are all Chinese territorial waters just as Canadas waters in its archipelagos are considered internal waters by Canada. There are other examples of their facts clashing with reality, but let...

By Ahmed Adel | May 15, 2023

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi announced that his country is considering opening a NATO liaison office, demonstrating that Tokyo is deepening its ties with the US and becoming more hostile to China and Russia. Tokyos rapprochement with NATO would strengthen the anti-China/Russia alliance and advance the US plans to create a NATO-styled organisation in the Far East.

We are already in discussions, but no details (have been) finalised yet, Hayashi said on May 10.

He specifically referenced Russias special military operation in Ukraine as something with repercussions far beyond Europes borders that made Japan rethink regional security.

The reason why we are discussing about this is that since the aggression by Russia to Ukraine, the world (has) become more unstable, he claimed. Something happening in East Europe is not only confined to the issue in East Europe, and that affects directly the situation here in the Pacific. Thats why a cooperation between us in East Asia and NATO (is) becoming increasingly important.

However, the foreign minister failed to explain how events in Ukraine affect those in East Asia. Rather, Hayashi is using this as a weak justification for why Japan is militarising, which directly relates to Tokyos claims against sovereign seas and territories belonging to China and Russia.

The opening of a NATO office in Japan does not mean that the country will join the Alliance, but it does open a path for Japan to become a member of an expanded AUKUS (Australia-United Kingdom-United States). This, in turn, will require Tokyo to strengthen its contacts with NATO.

It is recalled that NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, went to Japan and South Korea in January 2023 to lay the groundwork for strengthened ties. This is one of the reasons why Tokyo is already involved in conflicts that are not directly related to the region, despite some of the mental gymnastics it procures to create a justification.

The Japanese government is also providing $5.5 billion in aid to Ukraine, which can be seen as a step forward for the country to join AUKUS and confirms Tokyos intentions to strengthen its relationship with NATO. However, NATO will not officially expand to include Japan because members of the Alliance, such as Hungary, do not always align their position for the sake of serving US interests.

At the same time, France, at least in rhetoric, is seeking a degree of autonomy from the US. French President Emmanuel Macron said on April 9 that Europe needs to limit its dependence on the US.

In this way, the expansion of NATO to Asia is not likely since this initiative could lead to a further weakening of unity within the military alliance. The Americans are aware of this, and for this reason, they are working on a separate Eastern bloc to strength...

• MapLight Therapeutics is currently seeking patients between the ages of 12 and 45 for their IRIS Phase 2 clinical trial. This study is designed to evaluate the potential impact of their ML-004 compound on the social communication deficits and associated irritability symptoms experienced by individuals with autism. For those interested in participating in this trial, please contact Kelly Amaguin at kamaguin@maplightrx.com.
• Dont miss an opportunity to watch SPELLERS, the new film about nonspeakers with autism that asks, What if weve been wrong about every single one of them? The movie answers this intriguing question through the stories of eight nonspeakers who all found their voice using a letterboard to communicate their thoughts and feelings. Screenings of SPELLERS are happening across the country. You can watch the film online if there isnt a screening near you. 
• Researchers from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation have recently identified four distinct sets of alterations in functional connectivity that could help explain clinical and behavioral differences among individuals with autism. Their new study used an extensive collection of neuroimaging data to identify ASD subtypes to produce testable theories about how different biochemical, genetic, and cellular processes may shape the wide range of ASDs clinical manifestations. The researchers found that individuals with ASD clustered into ...

The Disorder of Things is back, and with a symposium too. Over the next week well feature a succession of posts on Joanne Yaos The Ideal River: How Control of Nature Shaped the International Order, followed by a rejoinder from Joanne herself (the full set of posts will be available in one easy spot here). The first post is an introduction to the book and commentaries from George Lawson. George is Professor of International Relations at the Australian National University. He is a global historical sociologist who works primarily on revolutions. His most recent books are: On Revolutions: Unruly Politics in the Contemporary World (with Colin Beck, Mlada Bukovansky, Erica Chenoweth, Sharon Nepstad and Daniel Ritter) (Oxford, 2022), and Anatomies of Revolution (Cambridge, 2019).

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Zero-knowledge proofs could be a viable means to address recent network congestion and high fees on the Bitcoin blockchain.

An article based on results from an online survey has been retracted for data issues, and an Australian university is investigating what happened.

The article, International nursing students perceptions and experiences of transition to the nursing workforce A cross-sectional survey, became available online on Jan. 29, 2022.

Published in the journal Nurse Education in Practice, the study reported 110 responses to an online survey of nursing students who came to Australia from other countries and planned to remain there to work.  

The retraction notice, posted this month, stated:

This article has been retracted at the request of the authors because the data reported in the manuscript are likely to have been compromised. It came to the co-authors attention after the publication of the article that a large proportion of the surveys reported in the study had been completed by a respondent using the first authors IP addresses.

The authors would like to apologize to readers for this error.

Della John McKitterick of the University of South Australia, and the first author on the paper, seemed to dispute the information in the notice. 

One of the respondents has used my username (not my IP address) to enter the data, McKitterick told us. McKitterick, whose ORCID profile indicates she is a PhD student at the university, did not tell us how she learned of the data breach or respond to our follow up query about the discrepancy between the retraction notice and her statement regarding the IP address. 

The University of South Australia is investigating the matter, which McKitterick cited as her reason for not divulging further details. None of the articles other authors replied to requests for...

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Despite the continued denial of the Nakba by Zionists, Palestinian refugees have not forgotten what was done to them. And more than four generations later, they have not given up on the hope that they will return.