(L) Lady Justice, Photo: cdpp.gov.au (R) Police allegedly research the crime, Photo: Smh.com.au, with the headline: Parental abduction ring smashed after two-year AFP investigation

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

As your lawman here on this website, I feel responsible when presenting the law Oz law, US law, Queensland, Massachusetts, whatever. I usually quote a statute or constitution verbatim. However, I have learned today that I have had a wrong impression of the job of the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions). This probably made my stance wrong in some articles.

The fault lies in my Seppo origins, though that be no excuse. I glibly assumed that Australias way of prosecuting serious crime is more or...

Whether youre in the market for a full bathroom makeover or a simple touch-up, there are plenty of bathroom tile trends that can kick-start your transformation. Tiles are a fantastic way to add colour, patterns and visual flair to your bathroom and make an impact. Today, well discuss 6 bathroom tile trends that will help you update your bathroom and create something modern, stylish and impactful.

1. Mixed Matte and Gloss Tiles

While combining tiles with different finishes might sound odd, the reality is that its a great way to enhance the visuals of your bathroom and create an aesthetic thats modern and cutting-edge. We recommend combining matte and gloss tiles of different shades of the same colour, as it creates a bold yet understated design. What makes it so visually appealing is that the glossy tiles catch the light, opening up the space and creating a contrast with the matte tiles that catch your eye for all the right reasons.

2. Experimenting With Patterns

Patterned tiles remain a staple of modern bathrooms around the world, immediately injecting personality anywhere they go. One thing to consider when selecting patterned tiles is their size, especially in relation to the dimensions of your bathroom.

You dont want to create something too busy or overwhelming, so consider selecting a soft pattern that will complement the rest of the interior rather than distract from it. If you do want to select a pattern thats more dramatic, balance it out with simple walls and fixtures so that your eyes know where to look and dont cause a sensory overload.

3. Metallics

Whether its copper, gold or brass, metallic-effect tiles are a surefire way to create an industrial-style bathroom thats sleek and modern. With their rich tones, metallic tiles are unexpectedly warm and come in an impressive variety of finishes, sizes and colours.

If you do decide to go with metallic tiles, stay away from choosing any clashing tapware in your sink, shower or bathtub. Matte black can be a great alternative, allowing your matt tiles to be the focal point of the room and stand out in the best way possible.

This week on Yeah Nah Pasaran! we talk to Max Kaiser [Twitter] about Jewish Antifascism and the False Promise of Settler Colonialism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) which: takes a timely look at histories of radical Jewish movements, their modes of Holocaust Continue reading

During my recent book tour in New Zealand for The Palestine Laboratory, I was interviewed by the countrys first Maori radio station.

It was an interesting conversation and highlighted that many Maoris I met throughout the country were both aware of the grim situation in Palestine and actively opposed Israels occupation. It was solidarity with another colonised people.

The post New Zealand Maori radio on The Palestine Laboratory appeared first on Antony Loewenstein.

[Emails from G5]

AI and Public Servants

This is G5s response to this Daily Mail article:

A brain living in the Matrix scientists unveil $600,000 plan to merge MORE human brain cells with AI funded by Australian intelligence agency.

• The funds came via Australias Defense Dept. and Office of National Intelli...

Contributed from Victoria

Too many Australians still dont know who Daniel Duggan is, even if his case has significant repercussions and says a lot about how legal process is Australia is being transformed into something that we should all be worried about. Everyone should know more about what is happening to this man.

Daniel is a former American and now Australian citizen and a family. He was once a US marine, and since coming to Australia, built a pilot training business. This led him to a contract to for commercial pilot training in South Africa, with a company that goes by the name of the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA).

It happened that he had some of the students were Chinese citizens. Theis led authorities in Washington to accuse TFASA and Duggen of working with the Chinese to undermine United States policy. It led to action to capture Duggan, and it appears, with the assistance of the Australia Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), which is immersed in the United States led confrontation with China.

Through this agency Daniel Duggen was called and offered a job in Australia. He went for it, was arrested by federal police and imprisoned, wasnt offered bail and has been kept in solitary confinement. Daniel has now been locked up in this way for more than 9 months, without an ending in sight.  He next faces court on 24 November.

The cover was the issuing of an Interpol red notice that provides for extradition on certain grounds. It excludes extradition in cases that are political. Australia also has an extradition treaty with the United States, and this too spells out that it does not allow extradition for any alleged political offence.

All of this is being violated.

Top Gun Pilot Faces U.S. Extradition Fight Over Chinese Fighter Allegations

Video from 10 News First

If the allegations have merit, surely...

It is essential for other writers, makers, and performers who dont stem from the culturally dominant white, middle-class world that produces most Australian culture to see and feel and experience these works, these different ways of making and languaging, so they may be emboldened to do the same. And, importantly, so that the ways in which we see and understand ourselves continues to be ever more nuanced, sophisticated and evolved.

The post Collapsing drama to grapple with difficult realities: Vidya Rajans Crocodiles appeared first on Overland literary journal.

Blue Seat Studios

Affirmative consent for sexual interactions became law in NSW on 1 June, 2022, but not all states and territories in Australia have affirmative consent laws. On 29 November, 2022 the Australian Senate referred an Inquiry into current and proposed sexual consent laws in Australia. Today at the Senate Hearing into current and proposed sexual consent laws across Australia, No to Violence CEO Jacqui Watt called for an affirmative consent model for any case that comes before the court.

Other recommendations that have been made include harmonising Australias consent laws across all jurisdictions to ensure consistency of both laws and understanding of sexual consent which were recommended by both Full Stop Australia and ANROWS (Australias National Research Organisation for Womens Safety) who both provided submissions to the Inquiry.

The Law Council recognised the inconsistencies in consent laws across various jurisdictions on the experience of victim-survivors in their submission and supported a national evaluation of sexual consent laws. They also recognised that women and girls are more likely than males to have experienced sexual violence and that the incidence of sexual harm often overlaps with other patterns of violence, including family and domestic violence and child abuse, and disproportionately affects already marginalised groups in society.

Sexual violence is widespread but underreported. Most reports of sexual violence do not make it to court, pointed out the Law Council.

Sexual violence matters s...

Dont you love governments that congratulate themselves for addressing problems theyve had a had in causing. Vain NSW Premier Chris Minns: Firstly - youve delivered nothing : taxpayers have done the heavy lifting. Every cent. Secondly - why are kids going hungry? Government had any hand in it? Rising power...

Kamilaroi woman Louise Taylor is the ACT's sixth judge of the Supreme Court. ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said, "Magistrate Taylor brings to the Supreme Court a wealth of knowledge and expertise, having represented the most vulnerable members of our community in complex matters," "Having served on the ACT Magistrates Court...

National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Commissioner Paul Brereton is friends with Governor-General David Hurley and Robodebt fraudster Kathryn Campbell which creates a huge issue as corruption allegations against Hurley and Campbell have almost []

Worldcoin co-founder Alex Blanias recent refusal to disclose the tokens distribution model has raised some eyebrows, including that of John Deaton, who has expressed his dismay at his action.

Something Fishy With Worldcoin?

A video surfaced on Twitter in which Alex Blania, during a recent Bankless interview alongside fellow co-founder Sam Altman, refused to respond to the hosts question on Worldcoins token distribution, citing the regulatory uncertainty in the US as why he couldnt answer the question. 

The Twitter user (@Pledditor) posted the video with the caption:

When a crypto founder refuses to answer questions about token distribution

In the video, the host asks Blania to explain the distribution of the WLD token and Blania is quoted as saying: Look, many of the details we cant talk about here for the regulatory uncertainty in the United States. 

The video quickly went viral and sparked controversy as to whether Worldcoin was just another ponzinomics or, indeed, Alex Blania was honest about why he couldnt answer the question. 

However, renowned crypto lawyer John Deaton, who represents some XRP holders, quickly reacted to the video in a tweet.

Deatons tweet read:

Wtf did this dude just say?  Did he literally say that he cant talk about how WorldCoin is distributed because of the regulatory uncertainty in the United States?  

If there was ever a signal to RUN AWAY as fast as you can from a project, HERE IT IS. Is he saying he cant tell you how to acquire it or what youre acquiring because he might get sued?  

Now that I think of it, is he being smart and just following legal advice or is he a moron.  

Deaton stated that Blanias action was enough reason for investors to run away from th...

By Richard Tanter, Pearls and Irritations, July25, 2023

What do the governments of other US allies, including Hungary, Norway, the Philippines, and the former puppet government of Afghanistan, possess that Australian governments do not? The answer is a conception of genuine sovereignty, and obligations to transparency that are foreign to Australian governments, particularly the incumbent Albanese government.

In November 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and President Barack Obama announced plans for annual deployment of a US Marine Rotational Force to Darwin and US Air Force aircraft to Australian bases in the Northern Territory, commencing in April 2012.

The United States Australia Force Posture Agreement signed on 12 August 2014 formalised a much larger strategic upgrade of alliance arrangements initiated by the two leaders. Over the past decade both governments have made very large budgetary commitments to infrastructure developments at Australian defence facilities in northern Australia under various headings, including the Australian Defence Departments continually evolving United States Force Posture Initiative.

A key feature of the Force Posture Agreement is the concept of Agreed Facilities and Areas, defined in Article I of the Agreement as follows:

Agreed Facilities and Areas means the facilities and areas in the territory of Australia provided by Australia which may be listed in Annex A appended to this Agreement, and such other facilities and areas in the territory of Australia as may be provided by Australia in the future, to which United States Forces, United States Contractors, dependants, and other United States Government personnel as mutually agreed, shall have the right to access and use pursuant to this Agreement.

Yet, in the nine...

By World BEYOND War Aotearoa, July 25, 2023

A global peace network has called out the U.S. Secretary of States visit to New Zealand  as a threat to our peaceful reputation and not good old-fashioned sports diplomacy, as described by our Foreign Minister.

If Secretary Blinken was coming to New Zealand solely to support the peaceful U.S. womens FIFA soccer team, then Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta could justifiably welcome him as a close friend and partner, says World BEYOND War Aotearoa spokesman, Hon. Matt Robson, former Minister of Disarmament.

But he says the actual purpose of Blinkens trip is to drag New Zealand further into aggressive plans for the containment of Americas economic competitor, China.

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, representing New Zealands  peace and diplomacy policies, needs to advise Mr Blinken that New Zealand, a signatory to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, does not support NATOs condemnation of that treaty.

Furthermore it does not agree with using the 400-plus US military bases from Japan to Australia, many of which are nuclear-armed, to threaten China, our largest trading partner.

Failure to do this, and agreeing to nuclear armed NATOs provocations against China, undermines the nuclear free status of New Zealand, and the antiwar policies that New Zealanders have developed, for which New Zealand has been praised, says Mr Robson.

The New Zealand public deserves to be made aware, not least by the media, of the implications of Blinkens visit and the costs and dangers of unthinking subordination of New Zealand interests to US strategy against China, says Mr Robson.

The post Blinkens Visit Supporting FIFA Threatens New Zealands Peaceful Reputation appeared first on World BEYOND War.

Last night I spoke at an online event organised by the Jewish Network for Palestine and Convivencia Alliance, two UK-based groups with global reach. I discussed my recent book, The Palestine Laboratory, in conversation with writer and film-maker Haim Bresheeth, author of An Army Like No Other: How the Israel Defense Force Made a Nation (Haim also endorsed my book).

The audience for the webinar was mostly in the UK, Europe and Palestine.

The post London/Jerusalem calling Palestine appeared first on Antony Loewenstein.

READ MORE AT MACRO BUSINESS  Deloitte Access Economics has warned that Australia is on the...

Jimmy Dore an entertaining video on Climate Lies, in a video entitled BOMBSHELL! LAST WEEKS RECORD-HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE FAKED!

The post Jimmy Dore on Reporting Earths Temperatures appeared first on Gumshoe News.

Global broadcaster TRT World has produced a slick 3-minute video about my new book, The Palestine Laboratory, which has been shared across its popular social media platforms. I had no involvement in this clip but I think it captures well the thesis of my work.

The post The Palestine Laboratory in 3 minutes appeared first on Antony Loewenstein.

The Albanese Government must immediately evacuate the 75 remaining survivors of offshore detention from Papua New Guinea and shut down its detention centres on Nauru, as it accounts for the multi-million-dollar secret payments that have propped up offshore detention over the past decade.  

Investigative reports this week have revealed multi-million-dollar payments by government contractors to politicians in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Reports suggest that these payments were made with the knowledge of the Department of Home Affairs, and even senior government figures in Australia.  

It has also been revealed that the former Morrison government entered a secret deal with the Papua New Guinean Government to continue payments to provide for the 75 people left behind in PNG. This came after PNGs Supreme Court shut down formal regional processing arrangements and the Australian Government claimed to have no ongoing involvement.  

Together, these reports reveal the corruption and duplicity at the heart of offshore detention. They also raise serious questions around the Albanese Governments continued expenditure on regional processing operations in both Nauru and PNG.

In light of these reports, the Human Rights Law Centre is calling on the Albanese Government to immediately bring the 75 people still remaining in Papua New Guinea to Australia and provide permanent safety, as a first step to ending the long-running and systematic abuse.

Farhad Bandesh, an artist and musician who was previously detained on Manus Island, said: 

In Manus Island, we saw everyday acts of corruption, exploitation and censorship that were designed to keep us detained and keep the detention camp operating. Now, we hear that this kind of corruption was likely widespread, and could have involved senior politicians and officials on both sides. This is what happens when a government creates opportunities for people to profit from the torture of other people. This is the reality of a system designed to create suffering. The only solution now is to bring all the people remaining in Papua New Guinea to safety, and shut down this system once and for all.     

Mehrdad, an engineer who was previously detained on Manus Island, said:  

I was detained for years on Manus, attacked in the riots that cost Reza Berati his life. Australian-funded contractors were allowed to attack and kill us Australian tax dollars paid for what was done to me. I have friends from that time who are still stuck in PNG. Before a Royal Commission or any investigation, the governments first responsibility is to bring everyone to safety.  

Sanmati Verma, Managing Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre said: 

T...

1.00 AUD = 0.00002 BTC
0.00010 BTC = 4.30 AUD
Converter

In Spring 2020, when an operator set up a company paying bottom-of-the-barrel rates in a crude attempt at scraping a profit out of the lines by undercutting the militant members of the MUA, the workers of port botany went feral. Led by the lines crew, construction workers, train drivers, university lecturers, teachers and students drove the scabs out.

The post Peeling off scabs in Botany Bay appeared first on Overland literary journal.

I joined International broadcaster TRT World to discuss Israels so-called judicial reforms which are (mostly) about protecting Jewish supremacy at the expense of the Palestinians.

The post TRT World interview on Israels judicial reforms appeared first on Antony Loewenstein.

Contributed by Joe Montero

One of Australias biggest unions. The Construction Forestry Mining Maritime and Energy Union (CFMMEU) is launching a push for a major rise in government investment on affordable housing. The unions national secretary Zach smith says this is necessary to take on the housing crisis that so many are facing in his country.

The union had commissioned Oxford Economics to analyse of the impact of a super profits tax on the biggest corporations to fund the construction of new affordable homes. The resulting proposal is a permanent 40 percent tax on super profits for companies with a turnover of over $100 million a year. This would apply to only 0.3 percent of companies and would raise around $29 billion a year and go a long way towards meeting the need for 750,000 new dwellings.

Photo from The Australian: CFMMEU National Construction Division secretary Zach Smith

Proposing a super profits tax might seem like quite a radical move. It isnt. Its the least of what is needed for Australia to meet its obligation as a signatory to the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which codified and mandated housing as essential to human right.

Even if this convention didnt exist, adequate housing for all would be taken up by a society that values the principle that dignity and a standard of living in line with community expectations should be available to all.

Australia has a responsibility to ensure this becomes a reality.  

Advocates of social housing have long been pushing for far more action to meet the need. Programs to date, including the current Housing Austral...

Did Google mislead advertisers about TrueView skippable in-stream ads for the past three years?

This report finds that advertisers including Fortune 500 brands, the US federal government, and many small businesses may have been misled for years about Googles proprietary TrueView skippable in-stream video ads. This misalignment may have cost media buyers up to billions of digital ad dollars, which were ultimately spent on small, muted, out-stream, auto-playing or interstitial video ad units running on independent websites and mobile apps.

TrueView is Google's proprietary cost-per-view, choice-based ad format that serves on YouTube, millions of apps, and across the web. With TrueView, advertisers only pay for actual views of their ads, rather than impressions. TrueView asks users if they want to skip the video ad after 5 seconds with a visual prompt. Googles policies state that TrueView ads must be skippable, audible, and playing of the video (and ad) cannot be solely initiated by passive user scrolling.

However, this research report finds that for years, significant quantities of TrueView skippable in-stream ads, purchased by many different brands and media agencies, appear to have been served on hundreds of thousands of websites and apps in which the consumer experience did not meet Googles stated quality standards. For example, many TrueView in-stream ads were served muted and auto-playing as out-stream video or as obscured video players on independent sites. Often, there was little to no organic video media content between ads, the video units simply played ads only. 

In Australia we call a 110F top temperature a warm Summer day - so when alarmists tell us these temperatures are a climate crisis, it leaves us Aussies a bit perplexed.

The post SMH: Aussies Arent Engaging with the 43C (110F) Climate Crisis first appeared on Watts Up With That?.

"My mates have died, and are dying. I've seen things out here that, from a military perspective, are beyond unacceptable," says one Australian fighter From the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, thousands of foreign mercenaries have joined Ukraine's Armed Forces. They came to Ukraine from all over the world, but mostly from Poland, the US, and Canada. Recently, however, it seems that their interest in fighting for Kiev has significantly faded. This is evident both from estimates provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense and from foreign media reports. Mercenaries are losing interest Since February 24, 2022, a projected 11,675 foreign mercenaries from 84 countries have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). This was stated by the Russian Ministry of Defense on July 10. The largest numbers of mercenaries apparently came from Poland (over 2,600), the US and Canada (over 900 from each), Georgia (over 800), Great Britain and Romania (over 700 each), Croatia (over...

Thank you Rosita for the tip!

Its just a plastic fork, just a takeout container, just one water bottle. 

Not exactly. 

Indulging in the modern convenience of single-use plastics seems harmless, but the consequences to our health, wildlife, and oceans will be with us for a long time to come. Globally, we produce 300 million tons of plastic annually, about half of which is single-use items and 8 million tons of that plastic reaches oceans every year. By 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the sea.

One reason for plastics well-deserved bad reputation is that it never truly breaks down rather, it breaks apart into increasingly tinier pieces through the forces of light, heat, and other environmental factors until it becomes microplastics. These microscopic pieces have reached virtually every corner of the Earth: the deepest oceans, highest mountains, the tissues of the fish and animals that we consume, and even our own blood and lungs.

Sure, recycling is one important solution to our plastic crisis, but only 9% of plastic actually gets recycled. Therefore, its crucial that we curb our production and consumption of plastic, and fast. 

Thats where Plastic Free July comes in: a global challenge to reduce single-use plastics. The project was begun by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz in Australia in 2011, and is now a part of the nonprofit Plastic Free Foundation, formed in 2017. On the organizations website, people can take the pledge to reduce their plastic waste at any level: for a day, a week, a month; to avoid single-use packaging exclusively, or go completely plastic free. 

But how do you get started? Use this simple guide to consider areas of your life and home in which you can easily reduce plastic waste with a few swaps to reusables, or different methods that sidestep plastic altogether. Remember: Plastic Free July isnt about being perfect. Its very difficult to completely remove plastic from your life especially given accessibility and economic barriers to some elements of sustainable living  but about reducing your consumption wherever you are able. 

In the Kitchen 

1. Cook from scratch.  Cooking at home cuts down on the heavy packaging of pre-made and processed foods. Its often cheaper, too, and contains fewe...

The hole has been unexplained for decades. But scientists from the Indian Institute of Science think they finally have an answer.

The ocean, ever changing as it is, is always chock full of darkness and mystery. But one unexplainable phenomenona giant gravity hole in the middle of the Indian Oceanmight just have an explanation, after all.

Read Full Story

My mates have died, and are dying. Ive seen things out here that, from a military perspective, are beyond unacceptable, says one Australian fighter From the start of Russias military operation in Ukraine, thousands of foreign mercenaries have joined Ukraines Armed Forces. They came to Ukraine from all over the world, but mostly from Poland,

Continue reading Zelenskys Cannon fodder: The strange lives and pointless deaths of foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine

As US lawmakers wrestle over funds and the need to increase submarine production, the Australian side of the bargain looks flimsy, weak, and dispensable.

The post Congressional Concerns: Stalling Nuclear Submarines For Australia appeared first on OrientalReview.org.

The US and Australia on Friday launched the largest-ever iteration of their Talisman Sabre exercise as the US is increasingly focused on building alliances in the Asia Pacific against China. The Talisman Sabre started in 2005 as a biennial exercise between the US and Australia. This year's iteration involves participants from 11 other countries and over 30,000 military personnel. US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro spoke at the opening ceremony on Friday and said the massive drills served as a warning to China. "The most important message that China can take from this exercise and anything that our allies and partners do together is that we are extremely tied by the core values that exist among our many nations together," he said at a naval base in Sydney. Comment: It seems that not all of the allies are so comfortable with sacrificing their nations on behalf of the ailing US empire: 'Most dangerous moment in world politics': US, China heading for conflict, and it's not clear whether...

Jeffrey Dahmer Autopsy Photos Prison Reddit

When I first stumbled upon a thread discussing Jeffrey Dahmers autopsy photos on Reddit, I was taken aback by the sheer amount of interest. Yet, its evident that theres a significant fascination with these images and their related discussions in online communities.

Why are we drawn to such dark aspects of human history? Psychologists suggest it might be due to our innate curiosity about mortality and the darker side of human nature. It could also stem from an attempt to understand what drives a person like Dahmer to commit such heinous acts. It cant be denied that Jeffrey Dahmer is an infamous figure in American true crime history. His gruesome acts while alive, and even the details surrounding his death in prison, have continually fed public curiosity. The autopsy photos serve as tangible evidence of his existence they provide a finality to his story that people find intriguing.

If youve ever ventured into any true crime subreddit, youll notice theyre filled with posts offering new perspectives or sharing information about well-known cases like Dahmers. This constant analysis reflects our collective desire for understanding and closure. Here are some elements that contribute to this fascination:

• The macabre: Humans have always been attracted to things we consider strange or frightening.
• The need for answers: We seek explanations for things we dont understand.
• The thrill: Some find excitement in exploring the unknown or taboo subjects.

In conclusion (without starting my sentence off in conclusion,), as much as Jeffery Dahmers autopsy photos may seem unsettling at first glance theyre more than just grizzly keepsakes for true crime enthusiasts on Reddit; they represent our complex relationship with fear, understanding evil deeds and confronting our own mortality.

How Prison Life Factored into Dahmers Demise

Jeffrey Dahmer, often dubbed The Milwaukee Cannibal, was one of Americas most notorious serial killers. Now, Im not here to...

A step-by-step guide to channeling Kens sartorial je ne sais quoi.

Over the last century, fashion hasnt been kind to men. While womenswear designers regularly conjure up new trends, creating looks in fresh color palettes and styles, menswear often resurfaces the same basic silhouettes, in the same drab colors.

Read Full Story

By Dave DeCamp This years Talisman Sabre exercise involved 11 other nations and over 30,000 military personnel. The US and Australia on Friday launched the...

US, Australia Launch Largest-Ever Joint Military Exercise