Building pipeline struggles

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UPDATED studies to assess the flood risk to people, private property, infrastructure, and public assets within the Towradgi Creek catchment area have been completed by Wollongong City Council.

The Towradgi Creek Floodplain Risk Management Plan was adopted at last weeks general council meeting. The plan includes the suburbs of Tarrawanna, Corrimal, East Corrimal, Towradgi and small pockets of Balgownie and Fernhill.

Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the adoption of the plan is an important milestone that will support appropriate flood risk management strategies such as development controls, emergency response measures, education, and infrastructure solutions to benefit the residents and businesses in the catchment.

Wollongong is naturally flood-prone due to our built-up areas being sandwiched between the escarpment and the ocean. There are many of us in the city who will remember the flooding of August 1998 or experienced the flash flooding events last year. Thats why Council is working proactively to mitigate the risk of severe inundation and storm events right across the Wollongong Area, Cr Bradbery said.

The work were doing through the Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan looks ways we can r...

Youve probably been hearing the term PFAS in the news lately as states and the U.S. government consider rules and guidelines for managing these forever chemicals.

Even if the term is new to you, chances are good that youre familiar with what PFAS do. Thats because theyre found in everything from nonstick cookware to carpets to ski wax.

PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are a large group of human-made chemicals currently estimated to be around 9,000 individual chemical compounds that are used widely in consumer products and industry. They can make products resistant to water, grease and stains and protect against fire.

Waterproof outdoor apparel and cosmetics, stain-resistant upholstery and carpets, food packaging that is designed to prevent liquid or grease from leaking through, and certain firefighting equipment often contain PFAS. In fact, one recent study found that most products labeled stain- or water-resistant contained PFAS, and another study found that this is even true among products labeled as nontoxic or green. PFAS are also found in unexpected places like high-performance ski and snowboard waxes, floor waxes and medical devices.

At first glance, PFAS sound pretty useful, so you might be wondering whats the big deal?

The short answer is that PFAS are harmful to human health and the environment.

Some of the very same chemical properties that make PFAS attractive in products also mean these chemicals will persist in the environment for generations. Because of the widespread use of PFAS, these chemicals are now present in water, soil and living organisms and can be found across almost every part of the planet, including Arctic glaciers, marine mammals, remote communities living on subsistence diets, and in 98% of the American public.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a health advisory in 2022, warning about their risk in drinking water even at very low levels. PFAS maker 3M, facing lawsuits, announced a...

We received 362 reports about a fireball seen over CT, MA, ME, New Brunswick, NH, NY, Ontario, Qubec, Quebec and VT on Saturday, July 1st 2023 around 02:16 UT. For this event, we received 5 videos and 2 photos.

Following Greeces latest election, after which Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation, a journalist asked me: What conclusion do you draw from this situation? Here is my answer:

The crucial conclusion to be drawn is that radicals are never welcomed for long into the club of the powerful, even if they are willing to betray their principles to serve the powerful well. Tsipras has every reason to feel badly treated by the establishment.

Having imposed on the people of Greece, efficiently and some would add ruthlessly, the policies that he was elected to oppose, he succeeded in stabilising Greece (at the expense, of course, of the majority of Greeks) on behalf of the international oligarchy. To do so, he embraced (in the name of the radical left!) oligarchic policies that even the most fervent political representatives of the oligarchy, when in government, had baulked at introducing. And what did he get for it?

While in government, doing the oligarchys dirty bidding, the establishment accommodated him, throwing his way the odd compliment. But, once the dirty deed was done, the powers-that-be abandoned him going all out in their support of their traditional political representatives the New Democracy party led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the ramp PASOK party. Without a shred of gratitude to their true saviour, Tsipras, they ditched him in an electoral environment where as a result of his own choices he stood no chance of garnering support from the people whom he had subjected to the troikas oligarchic torture.

In short, leftists dallying with betrayal beware: It does not pay!

The post Alexis Tsipras resigns: lessons for progressives appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

Strategic Culture.org June 30, 2023

The Ukraine proxy war against Russia can be increasingly seen as a disastrous defeat for the United States and NATO. That stunning outcome should be making world headlines. Instead, the Western media spin machine is in overdrive about a failed mutiny in Russia, which on an objective scale of important events is relatively minor compared with the colossal U.S./NATO scandal.

A month-long Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed to make any dent in Russias defenses despite billions of dollars and euros in weaponry funnelled to the Kiev regime by the NATO bloc. That is a veritably astounding calamity and scandal. The completely unnecessary death and destruction are obscene akin to World War One slaughtering by callous armchair generals and politicians.

Even Western officials and the corrupt money-grubbing Kiev regime are coyly admitting that the much-vaunted counteroffensive that had been hailed for months as an expected hammer blow against Russian forces is a failure. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers as well as NATO special forces covertly on the ground have been killed. Hundreds of tanks and infantry vehicles have been pulverized by superior Russian firepower.

It is a slaughter and orgy of war racketeering that American and European political elites, along with their media servants, have endlessly promoted.

There will be hell to pay for the American and European rulers who have staked everything on their nefarious ambition for the strategic defeat of Russia (under the specious guise of defending democracy in a Nazi regime!)

The political consequences for U.S. President Joe Biden will make his Afghanistan withdrawal debacle in 2021 look like a picnic as presidential elections loom next year.

As for the European Union, whose leaders have slavishly followed Washingtons folly in Ukraine, the repercussions of economic and political chaos will fatally undermine this already teetering entity.

Ultimately, theres no getting away from the impending seismic geopolitical crisis, no matter how much the Western elitist mis-rulers twist and squirm to avoid accountability.

The tumult from the Prigozhin affair in Russia over the last week, which saw a mutiny attempt by the chief of the Wagner private military company, came at a convenient time for the U.S. and EU. It momentarily distracted from the unmitigated disaster that Washington and its NATO allies have created in Ukraine. But as the Prigozhin charade dissipates, the focus will rightly turn to the far bigger scandal of Western-led defeat in Ukraine.

Who will answer for the countless lives lost, the millions of displaced, and the American and European economies and livelihoods thrown into disarray? All of the Western so-called leaders, as well as the shameless war-propagandizing media outlets, are a rogues gallery that will face searing scrutiny...

From The Natural Child Project/Robin Grille: One of the most commonly heard parental laments is about how children try to get attention. So many behaviors that adults dont like are brushed off as merely attention-seeking devices. Dont worry about him, we say, he is just doing it to get attention.

When children use oblique ways to get attention, such as causing a ruckus, exaggerating or feigning their hurts, picking on other children, showing off, being coquettish they risk being ignored or put down, as nearby adults roll their eyes in exasperation. Sometimes, this also happens to children even when they directly and openly call for the attention they crave. Instead of scorning the child, why dont we ask these questions: When a child is being manipulative, instead of direct, how did he learn to do this? How did he come to feel that he shouldnt openly ask for a hug, an answer to his question, sympathy or just to be noticed or played with?

All children begin their lives with complete frankness about their needs. Babies and toddlers reveal their longings with no compunction: what you see is what you get. If a child reaches out for attention and for warmth and she gets it, her ability to be open and directly assertive is reinforced. By begrudging our childrens healthy attention-seeking behaviors, we unwittingly train them to be indirect. We leave them little room for much else, so they go for the attention they need and deserve through the back door.

Our society tends to consider childrens needs for attention as a bother. No wonder children become indirect attention seekers, some even going to great lengths to fall ill or get injured in order to be noticed. Children who have too often been denied attention can become insatiable, as if no amount of limelight ever fills their cup. Attention is life-giving, a basic need and a human right. Children deserve all the attention they want.

When you wholeheartedly give a child the attention she asks for from the beginning, she soon has her fill. This is precisely what helps her to become more autonomous. As she grows, she asks for less of your attention (research shows that well-attached babies grow into children who are more independent), and when she does want attention, she asks directly, boldly and clearly.

Punished for feeling

Time and time again children are heavily reprimanded for committing the offence of crying or being angry. Lets get this straight: emotions are not bad behavior. Emotions dont hurt anyone. Suppressing childrens emotions does, on the other hand, cause them harm: over time, if done repeatedly, it unbalances their brain chemistry, it stresses their immune and digestive systems, and it undermines their ability to relate to others.

Emotional censorship starts early. One of the most common thin...

Unseasonable rain continues to fall across Australia's north in what's meant to be the region's dry season, helping lower temperatures to near-record levels. The surprise soaking is forecast to last at least another five days, gradually shifting from the Kimberley and Northern Territory this weekend, to Queensland and New South Wales next week. Here's what's going on. Why is it raining in the dry season? The cause of the rare winter rains can be traced back to two pools of cold polar air, which earlier this week moved north through WA and caused a dramatic change in the winds blowing over Australia. These rivers of winds are known as jet streams, which blow about 10 kilometres above the earth's surface and form the boundary between relatively warm and cold air.

QUESTION: Martin,

You said to watch France and an early warning indicator. Might Europe be on the precipice?

My family, friends, and I thank you for everything that you do.

Best wishes,

JC
ANSWER: What we are watching in France is far more than simply a police shooting of a 17-year-old youth. The New York Times reported that in subsequent years, several beatings by the police and deaths in custody led to minor protests. This appears to be cumulative, but economic stagnation is eating away at Europe. While the overall unemployment rate in France is about 7%, the youth unemployment rate of ages 15 to 24 remains over 20%. This is a direct source of the unrest. All civil unrest is ALWAYS rooted in economics. A simple correlation between the global economy and economics reveals the source.

The danger is that as the economic conditions of Europe get worse with all the insane regulation for Climate Change that is reducing food production to eliminating jobs, all for a theory pushed by the WEF to create a new world of totalitarian order, we see hostility rising not just internationally, but also domestically and this can spread as a contagion throughout the EU. You cannot destroy the livelihood of so many people without dire consequences. This is partly why they also want the international war to divert attention from their failed climate change agenda.

The recent events in France are an uncanny repeat of the youth/racial riots of the autumn of 2005. That is when two youngsters of Arab origin were electrocuted while trying to escape arrest by the French police. This time, two police officers shot a juvenile of Algerian origin as he tried to escape in a stolen car. The evidence that surfaced showed that the police officer was in no d...

by Lexi Churchill, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, and William Melhado, The Texas Tribune

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This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.

A state district judge this week ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to begin the process of releasing records related to the May 2022 Uvalde school shooting that the agency has shielded from the public for over a year.

The decision by 261st Civil District Court Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle marks a win for a coalition of news organizations, including ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, which sued the agency in August. The lawsuit sought the release of records that would bring more clarity to law enforcements failed response, including emails, video footage, call logs, emergency communications and forensic records.

The public deserves a full accounting of what happened that day, and were glad that the judge has begun that process, said Reid Pillifant, an associate attorney with Haynes Boone, a law firm that represents the news organizations. Were hopeful DPS wont fight this decision, and well begin the process of providing transparency.

DPS did not directly answer the newsrooms questions, including whether it plans to appeal the courts decision. In a statement emailed to ProPublica and the Tribune on Friday, a spokesperson for the agency said that the litigation is ongoing and that the department will carefully consider its options when a Final Judgment is entered.

Lyttle instructed DPS to submit a detailed list of redactions it wants to make to the public records by Aug. 31. The judge said that the court...

Christians must be ready with an unwavering answer when a lost world asks something of us we know we cannot do -- no matter how big or small -- and then be prepared to carry that cross.

Herodotus (History, Book 1.53) tells the story of Croesus, king of Lydia c. 585-546 BC in what is now Western Turkey and the Ionian shore of the Mediterranean. Croesus conquered Ephesus, Miletus and neighboring Greek-speaking realms, obtaining tribute and booty that made him one of the richest rulers of his time. But these victories and wealth led to arrogance and hubris. Croesus turned his eyes eastward, ambitious to conquer Persia, ruled by Cyrus the Great. Having endowed the region's cosmopolitan Temple of Delphi with substantial silver and gold, Croesus asked its Oracle whether he would be successful in the conquest that he had planned. The Pythia priestess answered: "If you go to war against Persia, you will destroy a great empire." Croesus therefore set out to attack Persia c. 547 BC. Marching eastward, he attacked Persia's vassal-state Phrygia. Cyrus mounted a Special Military Operation to drive Croesus back, defeating Croesus's army, capturing him and taking the opportunity...

There are many layers to the human brain. From its wrinkled exterior to its darkest depths, scientists are trying to understand them all. But in honing in on the brain's intricate neural circuitry, they appear to have overlooked patterns of activity swirling on the surface. A team of fluid physicists from the Universty of Sydney in Australia and Fudan University in China discovered brain signals rippling across the brain's outermost layer of neural tissue, the cerebral cortex, on scans of 100 young adults' brains. Signals naturally arranged as spirals, like vortices in a draining bathtub or whirlwinds of turbulent air. "Gaining insights into how the spirals are related to cognitive processing could significantly enhance our understanding of the dynamics and functions of the brain," says senior author Pulin Gong, a physicist at the University of Sydney.