DailyClout
Australia’s Traditional Separation of Church and State is in Peril
Australian Prime Minster Scott Morrison’s allegiance to Pentecostalism was apparent during the summer of 2019/2020, when unprecedented bushfires ravaged millions of hectares of bushland and homes, destroying one billion animals and 33 human lives. Prime Minister Morrison failed to lead a national response to combat the fires (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/12/morrison-responds-to-fears-over-bushfires-but-rejects-censure-of-climate-policy). His naive …
Opinion—Prevent, Don’t Lament: Holocaust Remembrance and the Danger of President Trump
Recently there have been many ceremonies, large and small, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. There were numerous moving speeches recalling the tragedy of the Shoa, and even beautiful music that brought attendees to tears. Since then, there have been articles and public programs discussing what should …
Letter from Australia: Australia’s Story of Demolished Human Rights
The origins of the rise of authoritarianism in Australia are grounded in Australia’s history of colonialization. Following Captain James Cook’s declaration, the new land wasTerra Nullius. This Latin term meant the land was uninhabited by people. This statement did away with the need to negotiate or compensate an Indigenous people.(1) …
Letter from Australia: Are Water Tankers Available from US Forestry Service that Burning Australia Has Not Requested?
A C-130J Hercules assigned to the 146th Airlift Wing based at Channel Islands Air National Guard Base in Port Hueneme, California, drops fire retardant chemicals onto a ridge line above Santa Barbara, Dec. 13, 2017, as part of the effort to contain the Thomas Fire. (U.S. Air Force photo …
Opinion—”Does Germany’s Industrial Growth Give the Lie to Liberal Economists?”
If politicians wonder about income disparity in the US, they need look no farther than the loss of manufacturing in this country. There are two major campaign promises that President Trump is fulfilling, both of which have come to a head this week. They are directly and problematically related to …
Opinion—”Why Everyone should Read the Book “A Warning”
I just finished reading Anonymous’ A Warning. Read it. A Warning is of course the book written by an unnamed high official in the Trump Administration. Anonymous, as she or he goes by, wrote an editorial in the New York Times on September 5, 2018, “I Am Part Of The …
This Week In Congress: Diversity on Boards, Money for Vets, Foster Teens, End of Impeachment Hearings
https://youtu.be/cjwqaPozeFs
Blockprobe: What is it and why one engineer felt compelled to innovate with it
In 2018, I closely followed the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which multiple individuals and groups were involved, such as Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, SCL Group, and a network of wealthy donors. I felt that the connections between these actors could not be captured merely by the articles written in various journals …
Opinion— “Imagined Slights”
There is a major, perhaps intractable problem with combating the hatred and ignorance rampant in U.S. society and politics today. Recently I found a way to verbalize it. In early 2009 I found myself spending a good deal of time in close quarters for work with a fellow who always …
Bulletin Board: “Federal Action at Last for Missing and Murdered Native American Women?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQdRvVdeROU Press Release: Attorney General William P. Barr Launches National Strategy to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Federal prosecutors and the FBI to enhance investigations into Missing Persons, and Develop Protocols for Law Enforcement, Improvements to Data Collection and Analyses, Training and Technical Assistance Attorney General William P. Barr …
Opinion—Trump’s New Policy on Israeli Settlements Is Illegal and Self-Serving
An Israeli election banner bearing the portraits of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hangs on the facade of a building in Jerusalem, Israel, on September 14, 2019. AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Thumbing his nose at the Geneva Convention, the Rome Statute, the UN …
The Week In Congress: H Res 660 the “Impeachment Resolution” Changes the Rules of Impeachment in a Partisan Way, and Hides Information from the Public
https://youtu.be/rQZVhbujvm8 H Res 660 the “Impeachment Resolution” changes the rules of impeachment in a partisan way, and hides information from the public. It was passed recently and raises major red flags. We are not partisan, but there is no way to escape the conclusion that this Resolution is written to …
The Week In Congress: Is Gov’t Getting in Bed with Facebook?
A number of small business bills, a law against videos about crushing animals (for real)—but also, alarmingly, a bill to get foreign influence out of social media ads (yay) but one that sneaks also in new ways for government to manage speech online and to make sure that only established candidates …
Opinion—Convicted Anti-Nuclear Activists Speak Out: “Pentagon Has Brainwashed People”
The seven Catholic peace activists who were convicted on October 24 for their symbolic protest against nuclear weapons at the Kings Bay Naval Base are now facing a two-to-three-month wait to hear their prison sentences. They could face more than 20 years in prison. “Our own lives are uncertain regarding …