I am continuing my re-reading of Jacques Vallee's book "Forbidden Science: Volume 5" and find small items of information which I have not read about anywhere else. They may well be small items of limited interest to others, but I document them here for future reference.

Item 1: A DIA UFO Collection Project?

Vallee, in a diary entry dated 26 March 2004, speaking of Dr. Eric W. Davis writes:

"Eric developed other sources, notably a former DIA senior officer who confirmed that DIA had a UFO collection project at one time. He promised to provide more information but died before they could meet again. His secretary found an envelope inside his desk sealed and addressed to Eric. It contained the man's notes about the project, and the real source of the fake MJ-12papers, with which the field of ufology remains fascinated. The story I was told is this: In 1961 the UFO Project inside the government, was taken over by DIA. By the early 1980's Rear Admiral E. A. Burkhalter, Jr. who was Chief of Staff and acting assistant vice director in the Directorate for Collection Management and his deputy Col. Roy K. Jonkers, USAF, were in charge of the project. They are shown in these positions on an org chart dated March 1981. The same document shows Dr. Jack Vorona as assistant vice-director for Scientific and Technical intelligence.

Burkhalter, calling himself 'Mister X' and a man named Polko, introduced as 'Falcon' decided to spread disinformation about UFOs. Apparently, Dale Graff, who monitored Hal's project on behalf of DIA, wasn't in the know. The remake of the Sandler-Emenegger documentary in which I participated was he correct platform, with the Norton episode, but when Pentagon P.R. man Colonel Coleman told us to 'go out on a limb' to draw out controversial revelations, I fortunately convinced Hynek we shouldn't take the bait.

After I had derailed the first effort to turn us into 'useful idiots,' Rear Admiral Burkhalter and Polko contacted Bill Moore and Linda Howe, and reportedly s...

...

The following article is almost 30 years old and is as relevant today as it would be at any time in history when discussing the patriarchy, demonising of women and mens propensity to link women to the devil.

Jung would refer to this as men projecting their shadow upon women.

The article is by Joel Achenbach and exposes the Garden of Eden story as the first time that women are directly associated with the Devil in Christianitys misogynistic propaganda and the devastating implications that the demonising of women had then and continues to have today.

Garden of Eden the earliest linking of women to the devil:

From the article:

Question: Why are women historically considered the willing agents of Satan?

Answer: This goes back to the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. The Devil wants Adam and Eve to disobey Gods order not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (we heard recently that scholars think it was a tomato, though wed like to see the footnotes before we sign off on that). So what does old Beelzebub do? Disguised as a snake, he tempts Eve. The woman is the conduit to the man.

Eve succumbs, then seduces Adam into eating the fruit as well. Chaos erupts: They realise theyre as naked as a couple of jaybirds, they get booted from the garden, and eventually the federal deficit reaches $400 billion a year.

The mythical prejudice had horrifying results in real life: The vast majority of people executed in the Salem witchcraft trials 300 years ago were women; the men were, in most cases, relatives or associates of women suspected of witchcraft. The same pattern held true in the even bloodier witch hunts of Europe.To blame this on misogyny seems too simplistic.

Carol Karlsen, a professor of history and womens studies at the University of Michigan and author of The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, says there may also have been an economic motive. Many of the women accused of being witches at Salem had no sons or brothers, meaning that they were in line to inherit family wealth, Karlsen says.

There is a real fear of female power thats increasing in the 16th century in Europe, says Tom Robisheaux, a professor of history at Duke University. He said that priests feared female sexual power and the way women cou...

The Albanese Government must seize the moment to introduce an Australian Charter of Human Rights to guide government decision making, prevent breaches of human rights and provide access to justice, the Charter campaign today told a parliamentary inquiry.

In a submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Australias Human Rights Framework, the campaign, made up of over 90 organisations including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with a disability, women, children, older persons, LGBTIQ+ people, and people from migrant and refugee communities, provided evidence that a Charter will benefit the whole community by:

• preventing human rights violations

• providing a powerful tool to challenge injustice; and

• fostering understanding and respect for human rights

Australia is the only western liberal democracy without a Charter of Human Rights or similar in our laws. A Charter would mean governments must consider peoples human rights when creating new laws and policies, and delivering services like aged care, Medicare, disability services, and education funding. People could also take action and seek justice if their rights are violated.

The inquiry is due to report back on 31 March 2024.

Quotes attributed to Dr Cassandra Goldie, Australian Council of Social Services:

"People on low incomes are at increased risk of experiencing human rights violations. We urge the Government to introduce a Charter of Human Rights that recognises the interdependence of human rights and income inequality and strengthens social and economic rights."

Quotes attributed to Helen Dalley-Fisher, Convenor of the Equality Rights Alliance:

From Robodebt to ParentsNext, women have been disproportionately impacted by human rights violations enacted from government policies in Australia. A Charter of Human Rights would protect everyones human rights, and ensure government decisions and policies must consider womens rights. When governments think seriously  about womens human rights we get better policy, which means whole communities benefit.

 Quotes attributed to Nicole Lee, President of People with Disability Australia:

Every disabled person should have equal access to human rights just like everyone else in our society, such as an inclusive education alongside our peers, quality health and mental health care, and dignified treatment that involves upholding our choices. Yet we have a Royal Commissions worth of stories of systemic human rights failures endured by disabled people. Thats why we need enforceable human rights protections at the heart of our laws through a Charter of Human Rights so that disabled people can participate equally in all aspects...

Weve always had stories that inspired toys (Star Wars) and toys that inspired stories (Transformers)then, inevitably, Toy Story itself. Two recent films, though, feel less like play and more like payola. Its easy to imagine desperate studio executives looking around the room for inspiration. And what did they see? Sneakers and Cheetos.

The post Product placement, the movie: how pre-awareness has come to rule Hollywood appeared first on Overland literary journal.

Contributed from Victoria

A whistleblower and former partner at multinational consulting firm KPMG has called on the Australian government to establish a Royal Commission into the industry, Back in 2021, Brendan Lyon, informed a parliamentary inquiry in NSW that he had been pressured by KPMG to alter records, to change the figures in the States budget. More specifically, on the NSW governments Transport Asset Holding Entity (TAHE).

He alleged that senior figures in the firm had conflicts of interest in relation to this.

Photo by Kate Geraghty: Brendan Lyon appears before the Senate parliamentary inquiry

KPMG responded by admitting it had contributed to complicating the situation and promised better practices in the future. But there has never been an admittance of deliberate wrongdoing. There was no proper investigation in NSW, even though the Australian division of KPMG had been fined $AU165,000 by the United Sates watchdog for cheating on online tests designed to improve professional safety requirements and ensure partners and staff act with integrity. 

Brendan Lyon has now told the Senate inquiry that there is a need for a much more thorough investigation of the industry.

This comes in the wake of the PwC scandal. KPMG and PwC are two of the big four consulting US based multinationals dominating the industry. Together, they Carry out audits for the big corporations and government. This places them in an advantageous position to build extensive network that provide the grounds for conflicts of interest and corrupt practices to flourish.

Information is worth a great deal of money, and it is clear information has been passed on in breach of confidentiality requirements.

An investigation into their practices will contribute to uncovering the extend of it in Australia. The regulator has already found cases involving all the four. The big question is why hasnt this been acted on already?

Lyon called on the federal government to implement a default five-year ban on big four accounting firms found in serious breach of professional ethics by the new commonwealth regulator.

He also called for a ban on political donations.

In respect of its own procurement and management of consultants, the commonwealth should implement similar restrictions and obligations on public sector consultants to those bindi...

Rupert Murdoch has been trying to force the government to privatise the ABC for years, which has failed, but he has done the next best thing by having his propagandists on various []

Frank Houston, Founder of Hillsong, Sir Francis Rock Spider speaks from Hades. Still pulling the strings at Hillsong. Rock spider is jail slang for pedophiles. The origin of the term Rock Spider for pedophiles is Western Australian. See Rock Spider in Urban Dictionary for the very dark meanings of the term.

...

It may seem counter-intuitive, but even synthetic data can have privacy impacts.

Companies and governments alike demand masses of data for operational, policy and research uses, but between large scale data breaches and the re-identification of published datasets, privacy risks abound.

Is synthetic data the solution?

There are a number of use cases for which synthetic data might be proposed as safer than real data.  These include:

• training new staff how to use a CRM system before letting them loose with a login
• developing new patient management software
• demonstrating how a data analytics program could work to map or analyse customer journeys
• testing whether protected taxation data will be useful for a research project before going to the effort of applying to access the real data, or
• generating fake student records at scale for an education-themed hackathon.

However as we discovered on a deep dive into this topic for a client recently, there can still be privacy impacts arising from synthetic data, such that both legal and ethical risks need to be carefully managed.

What is synthetic data?

Entirely fake data could be generated from scratch, but to do so is time-consuming, difficult to do at scale, and the result would likely not look real.  Unless the same statistical properties have been carried across from real data, fake data will likely not be useful for anything.  Hence the market for synthetic data.

The Canadian Privacy Commissioner defines synthetic data as fake data produced by an algorithm whose goal is to retain the same statistical properties as some real data, but with no one-to-one mapping between records in the synthetic data and the real data.  The UKs ICO has a similar definition.

The idea is to produce fake data that looks real, because it retains the same structure and level of granularity as the original.  But without including any links back to the real data,  synthetic data should in theory resolve the privacy risks found when using the original data.

How is synthetic data made?

To develop synthetic records at scale, in a way which generates data that is realistic enough to be useful, but without any one-to-one mapping which could led to ready identification of real people, requires a source dataset containing the real records, and a generative model.

The source dataset

This is the original dataset containing records about a gro...

The Human Rights Law Centre has become a member of the Whistleblowing International Network (WIN), the global peak body for whistleblower protection organisations.

The Human Rights Law Centre has a long history advocating for stronger whistleblower protections in Australia, and is recognised as a leading source of policy expertise in the field. In August, the Centre is launching the Whistleblower Project a landmark, Australia-first legal service to protect and empower whistleblowers.

Established in 2018, WIN is the global membership network and information hub for the whistleblower protection community, with members in more than 25 countries. WINs membership includes non-profit organisations that provide access to free legal advice and support to whistleblowers. WINs members share expertise and collaborate with those working to protect whistleblowers.

In early July, WINs membership committee unanimously endorsed the Human Rights Law Centres membership application.

Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:

By exposing human rights abuses, government wrongdoing and corporate misconduct, whistleblowers make Australia a better place. The Human Rights Law Centres Whistleblower Project will enable us to protect and empower whistleblowers and we have benefited immensely from the global expertise of the Whistleblowing International Network in preparing the project.

Anna Myers, Executive Director of the Whistleblowing International Network, said:

Protecting whistleblowers helps ensure the free flow of information for the responsible exercise of authority. Yet global experience has shown that even the best whistleblowing laws on paper do not work in practice without sustained effort from civil society. We are delighted to welcome the Human Rights Law Centre to our membership and are proud to have assisted the Centre in the formation of their Whistleblower Project which will be a huge boost for Australias whistleblowers.

By Joseph Solis-Mullen | The Libertarian Institute | July 5, 2023

Republicans are terrible on China. Examples abound, but perhaps the most instructive illustration of this long-term handicap comes from the following quotation:

We must be prepared to go it alone in China if our allies desert us. We must not fool ourselves into thinking we can avoid taking up arms with the Chinese Reds. If we dont fight them in China and Formosa [Taiwan] well be fighting them in San Francisco, in Seattle, in Kansas City.¹

This wasnt excerpted from a recent speech by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK). Rather, it was by then-Senate Majority Leader William Knowland (R-CA), in the January 1954 edition of Colliers Magazine. While perhaps particularly rabid in his Sinophobia, President Dwight D. Eisenhower privately opined that Knowland has no foreign policy, except to develop high blood pressure whenever he mentions Red ChinaIn his case, there seems to be no final answer to the question, How stupid can you get?² The parallels between Knowlands time and our own are significant. Representing the respective nadirs of Sino-American relations, they are worth considering in depth.

First, a necessary bit of high-level background.

In 1949 Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party defeated the nominally republican forces of Chiang Kai-shek. Despite internal warnings that this was likely to happen, Chiang and his nationalist cronies being thieves, every last one of themcorrupt as they come according to President Harry Truman, this kicked off a firestorm in Washington³. Who lost China? subsequently became a driving force of the Second Red Scare that consumed American politics, distorting perceptions and constraining the ability of even the most powerful figures, such as Eisenhower or Secretary of State Dean Acheson, to act towards China in the more rational manner they would have liked.

Dean Acheson had presciently forecast as early as 1950 that Mao could be an Asian Tito, a disruptor of communist unity akin to the Yugoslav leader, Josip Broz Tito, Stalins bte noire. As...

Have you ever found yourself standing at the threshold of your home on a sizzling summer day, or on a crisp, bone-chilling winter afternoon, convinced you could smell the rain coming? As it turns out, this phenomenon isnt universally experienced, leading many to question if its rooted in scientific fact or if it merely exists as a whimsical myth.

If youve browsed through social media on a particularly cloudy day, you might have noticed a polarizing debate: there are those who assertively proclaim their unique ability to predict rainfall through olfactory cues, while others appear notably doubtful. However, regardless of which camp youre in, theres some fascinating evidence that supports the concept of pre-rain odors. Numerous factors contribute to this olfactory phenomenon, with a primary component being the enchanting scent known as petrichor.

The Mesmerizing Mystique of Petrichor

Petrichor, a term rooted in Greek with petros meaning stone and ichor standing for the ethereal fluid coursing through the veins of ancient gods, represents the intoxicating, earthy aroma that pervades the atmosphere post rainfall, especially following a prolonged dry spell. Mineralogists Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Thomas first introduced this term to the world in 1964, unwittingly kindling widespread fascination with this mysterious smell.

Though petrichor consistently ranks among favorite natural fragrances for many people, the reason behind its appealing allure wasnt understood until recently. In an enlightening 2020 study, researchers discovered the tantalizing scent of petrichor wasnt just enticing to humans but proved irresistible to a variety of other animals as well.

The Alluring Call of Geosmin

The intriguing answe...

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The post Graceless at Lords: England-Australia Cricket Test Match. The Class Goons Strike Back appeared first on Global Research.

Why are we at Media Lens utterly terrified by climate collapse while other people we know are mildly concerned, blithely indifferent or cockily contrarian?

The simple answer is that we are doing this full-time and doing this includes reading the unfiltered reports and thoughts of top climate scientists on social media all day, every day.

Whenever we take a break from social media, the tendrils of the corporate body-snatchers again start to insinuate themselves. We are soothed by entertainment, by infotainment, by presstitute prestidigitation normalising the unthinkable. Despite a mountain of evidence, we are assured that the crisis is under the management of fundamentally decent, rational leaders. Yes, dear reader, our sense of crisis also abates.

There are two key responses to news of the latest climate disasters:

Its bad, but not that bad. Its manageable and we can carry on pretty much as normal.

An alternative take:

No, it is that bad. This is just the ball starting to roll it will gather more and more and more momentum, and it wont stop. We need drastic change now!

The second of these is inarguably correct. The first is the underlying message delivered by state-corporate media that have an existential vested interest in the status quo, in discouraging us from seeking serious change. And this is exactly why the level of public alarm does not yet reflect the terrifying, rollercoaster reality depicted in the soaring and crashing graphs measuring temperatures and ice coverage.

Professor Bill McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London, tweeted last month:

I hope to God I am wrong, but to me, it is looking increasingly as if we have reached some sort of tipping point, with the global temperature, sea-surface temperature, ice loss, and other parameters, all going through the roof.

McGuire was responding to reports...

<p><p>Recently, a claim has been making its rounds on the popular social media platform TikTok, suggesting that asparagus holds the secret to preventing the effects of a hangover. Several videos promoting this idea have amassed millions of views, with TikTokers lauding the green vegetable as a miracle hangover stopper. But does the science support this claim? Can asparagus genuinely shield you from the unpleasant aftermath of excessive alcohol consumption? The answer, it appears, is not quite as straightforward.</p> <p> </p> <blockquote cite= "https://www.tiktok.com/@louislevanti/video/6968555624934165766" class="tiktok-embed"> <section><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@louislevanti?refer=embed" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title= "@louislevanti">@louislevanti</a> *chases shot of tequila with asparagus* <a href= "https://www.tiktok.com/tag/learnontiktok?refer=embed" rel= "noopener" target="_blank" title="learnontiktok">#learnontiktok</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/hangovercure?refer=embed" rel= "noopener" target="_blank" title="hangovercure">#hangovercure</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokhacks?refer=embed" rel= "noopener" target="_blank" title="tiktokhacks">#tiktokhacks</a> <a href= "https://www.tiktok.com/music/Monkeys-Spinning-Monkeys-6746993352891189249?refer=embed" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title= " Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey"> Monkeys Spinning Monkeys Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

As per some TikTokers, the minerals and amino acids in asparagus help protect your liver from toxins. They argue that the enzymes in asparagus help break down alcohol and alleviate hangovers. However, the scientific evidence supporting these statements remains murky and inconclusive.</p> <h2>Scientific Analysis: Asparagus and Hangovers<br> ...</h2></p>

Home Construction Collectives co-founders spoke with The Agenda podcast to explain why homes are so expensive and how decentralized finance might provide an answer.

This is an opinion editorial by niftynei, a developer educator who runs the Base58 Bitcoin protocol academy and an organizer of the upcoming, Nix-focused Bitcoin++ conference.

When you want to install a new app on your computer, where do you get it from?

Deciding which source to use is a problem that's surprisingly difficult to solve, but it's one that every computing platform struggles with.

Before the internet was widespread, new software packages were distributed on hard media, like CDs or Core, for example, you'd need to buy it physically at the store or have it mailed to you. You'd then load the disk or USB stick into your computer, and make a copy of the new software onto your local disk.

As a developer writing code, you'd have to physically hand out copies of your programs to friends and family. Or you'd work for a large corporation that had relationships with companies and computer stores, which would figure out how to get the software you wrote distributed to their clients and customers.

With the advent of always-connected computers, the landscape of software distribution forever changed. Now, instead of having to physically pick up a copy of the bits in a program, you can easily download a copy of it from the internet.

This made it much easier for new developers to write apps that anyone can download. The problem now, however, is answering the question: Where on the internet should users download the new software from?

The Hacker's App Store

The way that mobile phone ecosystems solve the problem of new application distribution is through a program on your phone called the "App Store" (or the "Google Play store" on Android).

Developers upload the latest copy of their apps to either Apple's or Google's servers. Those companies then send out a silent notification to all of the phones that have the app installed, and the app gets updated in the background on users' phones, without the users involvement.

If you're a user and you want to add a new app to your phone, in most cases you'll be able to find it in the App Store, and download it from there.

But not all software is available as a mobile phone app. Some software projects are desktop apps or tools that developers use to write new pieces of software. These applications need a distribution channel too. On desktop operating systems, we tend to call the "App Store" software by the term "package managers." They manage the packages of software that you download onto your computer.

Modern package managers consist of a central server, sometimes the app, and a client-side application which runs on the package user's computer.

If you're a developer, you've probably run into homebrew or...

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

Dear Australians, You may be assuming that a man who is the nephew of the slain JFK and the son of the slain RFK is getting good media coverage in his bid for 2024 presidential nomination.

Wrong.  The MSM are doing their best to make him look stupid and dangerous.  In the above interview, he makes the US government look more stupid and dangerous than we could have imagined.

I have now gone to the two offending websites, HHS and CDC, to fetch for you some material by those two quasi-governmental organizations. (Thats Dept of Health and Human Services, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two wholly unconstitutional.) Kennedy accuses them of lying.

The day on which I retrieved the following statements about the safety of vaccines, and the non-relation of vaccines to autism. is July 4, 2023.  In a fortnight I will re-fetch, to see if he HHS and CDC will bother to back down.

By the way, RFK, Jr has been going at this for 18 years.  His famous interview at Salon.com took place on June 20, 2006. Salon soon scrubbed it, however.

In my 2011 book, Prosecution for Treason, I stated:

I  speculate  autism  was  loosed  on  the  population  deliberately. This may have been for the purpose of studying the workings of the normal mind, obliquely.   Or perhaps to cause distress in families. Causing distress is part of Tavistockian strategy of tension.

Now please watch the Kennedy video above, and then read this:

********

FROM HHS.GOV:

HHS   health and human services retrieved today, the Fourth of July 2023, by MM.

Vaccine Side Effects

Most people dont have any serious side effects from vaccines. The most common side effectslike soreness where the shot was givenare usually mild and go away quickly on their own.

What are common side effects of vaccines?

The most common side effects after vaccination are mild. They include:

• Pain, swelling, or redness where the shot was given
• Mild fever
• Chills
• Feeling tired
• Headache
• Muscle and joint aches

Fainting can also happen after any medical procedure, including vaccinations.

Keep in mind that most common side effects are a sign that your body is starting to build immunity (protection) against a disease....

By Peter A. Kirby I recently had the honor of appearing on Jimmy Dodds new show JimSpiracy. Who is Jimmy Dodd? He is better known...

The Chemtrails JimSpiracy: Peter Kirby Answers Jimmys Questions

Jordan: Answers about vanishing of man to UAE 'insufficent', says MP

Readers of TCW will be familiar with Neville Hodgkinsons critical reporting of the Covid crisis since December 2020, notably his expert, science-based informed alarm about the mass vaccine rollout, so absent from mainstream coverage. What they may be less aware of is the international storm this former Sunday Times medical and science correspondent created in the 1990s by reporting a scientific challenge to the HIV theory of Aids, presaging the hostile response to science critics of Covid today. In this series he details findings that form the substance of his newly updated and expanded book, How HIV/Aids Set the Stage for the Covid Crisis, on the controversy. It is available here. You can read the first part of this series here. 

By Neville Hodgkinson | TCW Defending Freedom | July 4, 2023

When an idea is fervently adopted by most of the worlds doctors, scientists and politicians and supported by millions of people, it is a tall order to make the case for a rethink. Such was the experience of biophysicist Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos, who 40 years ago developed a detailed theory about Aids that contradicts the generally accepted belief that a deadly virus, HIV, is the cause. Decades of unremitting censorship and rejection preceded her death from heart failure in March 2022, aged 85.

Her story has important, and disturbing, implications for our understanding of what has been happening with the Covid crisis.

Born in Greek Macedonia, she and her brother Dmitris were part of a kinder diaspora sent to Eastern Europe to escape the Greek civil war of 1946-49. She was cared for well, and graduated with a Masters degree in nuclear physics from the University of Bucharest, Romania.

In 1965, at the age of 29, she was reunited with her family in Perth, Western Australia, where they had emigrated. She learned English and joined the staff of the medical physics department at the Royal Perth Hospital, remaining on the books there for more than half a century.

In September 1976 she married Kosta Eleopulos, also a child sent to Romania who eventually found his way to Australia. She blamed herself for his death, five years later, from gastric cancer, believing she should have been able to save him with the knowledge she had acquired.

Her jo...

On June 20^th listeners to the BBC World Service radio programme Newsday heard a report from the BBC Jerusalem bureaus Yolande Knell (from 16:58 here) which was introduced as follows by presenter Rob Young: [emphasis added]

Young: Now a property deal in Jerusalems ancient old city, which lies at the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, has caused fury among the historic Armenian community. One quarter of their land long of interest to Israeli settlers was secretly sold to a Jewish businessman on a long-term lease.

Throughout the rest of the item, listeners also heard the following statements:

Knell: It appears that a Jewish-Australian businessman has bought a large chunk of land

Interviewee: It undermines any future political solution to Jerusalem. As you know, according to international law its an occupied land that is subject to negotiations.

Knell: And theres a reminder here [Jaffa Gate] of how plots of land are fiercely fought over. Two landmark Palestinian-run hotels were secretly sold to...

Environmentalists have long pointed out that there is no Planet B. If we stuff up this one, it could be game over for humanity at worst, or a descent into an anarchic Hobbesian war of all against all, at best. Unfortunately, writes Professor Mark Beeson, no-one seems to have told the worlds plutocrats, who are literally taking conspicuous consumption to new heights.

Virgin Galactic has just inaugurated a form of space tourism that will take three or four passengers for a 90-minute joyride 50 miles above the surface of the Earth, where they can experience weightlessness and enjoy what one assumes is a pretty impressive view. The cost? About $450,000, plus a suitably super-sized contribution to the worlds ever-increasing CO2 emissions, of course.

Back on Planet A things arent much better. On the same day Virgin was entering what can only be called the space space, it was revealed that a microscopic Louis Vuitton bag sold for more than $60,000. The phrase more money than sense comes to mind, but this hardly does justice to the compassionless self-absorption necessary to do this at any time, let alone when so many face existential crises that they risk their lives to escape.

The jarring difference in the worlds response to the deaths of an estimated 600 or so people who drowned recently while trying to cross from Libya to Italy on an overcrowded 30-meter fishing vessel, and the five explorers who died on a sight-seeing trip to the wreck of the Titanic, is another telling illustration of lifes enduring inequities on Planet A.

Whatever your view of Titanic tourism, the reality is that not many of us have the necessary $300,000 odd to pay for the ticket even if we wanted to. The us in this case, of course, is the relatively wealthy population of the north, the developed world, or wha...

Before we head off down that path again you know, the one where we all wake up a week from now with ranters regret after engaging in lengthy debates about things that mean absolutely nothing maybe we all should stop, take a breath, and ponder whether cricket is really that important after all, writes Chris Graham.

Last week, Australia was transfixed with the story of a missing submersible containing a rich buffoon and four unfortunate passengers, who were drifting around the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean trying to catch a glimpse of the Titanic.

Alas, their dodgy craft imploded before it could be located and pulled from the water by an armada of planes and ships, who were apparently far less interested in the sinking of a boat in the Mediterranean which claimed the lives of hundreds of asylum seekers.

Now this week, we have the Ashes scandal, or Stump-gate as media have inevitably taken to calling it. You have to wonder just how much fluff a nation can embrace.

This is, Im told, a sporting tale of extreme importance. National importance, even. One which involves a man in silly white pants rolling a red ball at a set of stumps, while another man in silly white pants walks a few feet away from the stumps when he really shouldnt have. Apparently, that was because another man (in black pants with a silly white hat) had not yet said the word Over, thus he was subsequently forced to raise one finger into the air and instead proclaim the word Out.

All of which sparked an international incident. Or in cricketing parlance, a Pom walked out of his crease and was run out by the wicketkeeper.

Thankfully, this bizarre but thoroughly fascinating and crucially important debate can be resolved in two simple paragraphs.

Paragraph one: Generally speaking, England is crap at sport, especially any sport they claim to have invented, especially cricket. Thus, more often than not they lose to Australia. So its not at all surprising theyre crying foul now, even though what happened was common-place, entirely within the rule...

<p class="has-medium-font-size"><em>*Updated July 2023, Thank you to my friends M & A for the kitchen table conversation in relation to The Voice to Parliament that lead to updating this post. It is as relevant today as when I first wrote it many years ago and reflected in the diverse and polarising comments.

The Intergenerational Impact of Australias Racist History</strong></p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">I have often thought that those divisive, racist terms, Australias equivalent to the <em>N </em>word,  the <em>ABC</em> of racism, have not been publicly outed here in Australia. Australia has <i> three</i> versions of the <i>N word</i> that are derived from the same source  of psychologically under developed entitlement.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Its as if those derisive names and derogatory terms have gone underground but still live and perpetuate in the collective psyche today, erupting occasionally at the football ground but generally not aired or brought to the light of public discussion and transformation.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">I pre-empt the following with an apology to those who are offended.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">In the context of the <em>N (Nigger) </em>word discussion it is important that we acknowledge the toxic, pervasive impact of the racial slurs imposed upon  Aboriginal people.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Abo, boong and coon.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><em>Abo, boong & coon the vitriolic inference of the superiority of one group that  demonises another.  </p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Australias ABC of racist names and labels.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Dehumanising, diminishing  names  that  were instilled in the post European settlement consciousness  of  this country.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">As a migrant child in the  60s hearing use the words used in a derisive, mocking, disdainful manner transmitted their racist origins down through the generations and their legacies are alive and breathing long after the first people who uttered them have gone.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><em>Why do they call them boongs? its the sound they make when they hit the bull bar.</em></p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">That old adage that <em>you cant heal it until you claim it</em> is as relevant when discussing collective language and divisive stereotyping as it is when discussing personal  mental, emotional and spiritual wounds.</p> <p class="has-medium-font-size">It is the very early days of recovery from the violence of colonisation in this country and naming and accepting responsibility for the impact of the l...

NDIS plans are sometimes drafted by a local area coordinator, but always formalised within the National Disability Insurance Agency. They are finalised by a planner and approved by a supervisor, and neither of those people meet the participant whose life they are planning for the next two years. We do not even know their names.

The post I have to lodge an appeal so that I can go to my local shops by myself: what its like to be an NDIS participant appeared first on Overland literary journal.

Chris Hedges, American war correspondent, investigative journalist, and winner of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, has created a storm for his revelations about the war in Ukraine. In this article (Scheerpost 2 July 2023), Hedges writes about the lies and misrepresentation used by Washington to prosecute wars in the past are being used over Ukraine. This is another war to serve US interests. The armaments industry, serviced by the pimps of war.

The playbook the pimps of war use to lure us into one military fiasco after another, including Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine, does not change. Freedom and democracy are threatened. Evil must be vanquished. Human rights must be protected. The fate of Europe and NATO, along with a rules based international order is at stake. Victory is assured.

The Ukraine flag is the present mascot to cover the lies for justifying war

The results are also the same. The justifications and narratives are exposed as lies. The cheery prognosis is false. Those on whose behalf we are supposedly fighting are as venal as those we are fighting against. 

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a war crime, although one that was provoked by NATO expansion and by the United States backing of the 2014 Maidan coup which ousted the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych wanted eco...

PMID:  J Complement Integr Med. 2023 Jun 1 ;20(2):425-430. Epub 2022 Dec 9. PMID: 36480470 Abstract Title:  -Elemene regulates epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and inhibits invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells. Abstract:  OBJECTIVES: To study the inhibitory effect of-elemene on invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells and its possible mechanism.METHODS: Human colon cancer HCT116 cells were treated with different concentrations of-elemene. The proliferation inhibition rate of the cells was detected by MTT assay, cell migration rate was detected by scratched assay, and cell invasion rate was evaluated by Transwell cell invasion assay. The expressions of Vimentin, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and-catenin were detected by Western blotting. The mRNA expressions of Vimentin, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and-catenin were detected by real-time PCR.RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the expressions of migration rate, invasion rate, scratch healing rate, N-cadherin, and Vimentin protein of HCT116 cells were decreased after-elemene treatment, while the expression of E-cadherin protein was increased, and the inhibition rate of cell proliferation was increased (p

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Incredibly, Therapeutic Albo who cant sell The Vanity Voice, has a full time minister working on his next assault on the country - the republic. Lifelong unionist and political game player, Matt Thistlewaite is the Minister responsible. This is the peak of his logic. Peter Fitzsimmons grade idiocy.

In 1263 Scottish forces defeated their Norwegian counterparts at the Battle of Largs in North Ayrshire. It was a turning point in the ScottishNorwegian War, which was settled by the Treaty of Perth in 1266. Norway recognised Scottish sovereignty over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man, ending half-a-millennium of Scandinavian invasion and incursion. At Continue reading "An Orcadian Defection? Council Vote Sparks Talk of Shock Norway Return"

Permanent irreversible Attatchment disorder
A lemonade stand at the Mexican Border
A traumatised disorganised old lady hoarder
The incriminating evidence on an old tape recorder

Elements of discontent shivering through a crowd
Firmaments of promises sent confirming love out loud
Innocents in recompense versus the indiscriminately Proud

Hallowed ground to walk a solemn pilgrimage
Mellowed kids found in a drugged up old orphanage
Shallow things in the ground as we discover archaeological heritage
Waiting for you to come around after the last disagreeable haemorrhage

Dont perpetuate the notions of those who deal in mis-truths
Allow the forward motion of the next generation of youths
Avoid the multi-syllabic commotions of the sub-cutaneous systematic word-sleuths
Explore the promotion of legislative proof

Pay no heed to aristocracy lest you kneel before the crown
Histories of greed and animosity as First Nation people frown
Enhance the seed of meritocracy and do not let democracy down
Per chance the need of mediocrity is allowing dreams of progression to literally drown

Distortions of perspective allowed too much time in publication
Abortions and incentives disavowed by politically un -objective legislation
Contortions of mis-directives allowed the resulting violent instigations
Act with caution around detectives when they amount their investigations

A conversation meant for only honest ears
An invitation sent to one who has accumulated the years of
Inclination that went to a pub to drink more beers
As the intimation to invent inclines financial systems into arrears

Sunlit afternoons upon a golden prairie
Unfit old cartoons before it all became too contrary
The stark hit of high noon when viewing something extraordinary
The slow wit of a tycoon holding onto his self proclamations of Legendary

A compromise of ethics for the sake of business running
An enterprise of genetics in the wake of scientific funding
A stealth disguise of frenetics formed by a hedonistic cunning
The wealth suprised by the systemics involved in the economic collapses that are coming

The concentric inheritly biased comparisons that we make
The eccentric numerical silence of a mathematicians answer to a Fake
The barbaric energetic violence of those who are only willing to take
Marie Antoinette on the day she proclaimed Let them eat cake!

A latent virus that is mutating just under the skin
A patient silence that is waiting for the other team to win
Egypt turned to the God Osiris as Cleopatra started to grin
A thief conspires to other liars as Frank Sinatra sips on gin

Confusion as the narrative gets told by a country pop star
Intrusion as the explanative gets old when self grandiosity is taken t...