mi

Can owning a dog be a 'selfish' pursuit? This academic thinks so

The way dogs are portrayed in literature reflects the problems in our real-world relationships to canines, says PhD student Molly Labenski, who says people want animals in their lives as “accessories” that can be easily discarded.




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Mary Riter Hamilton, Canada's 1st female battlefield artist, helped the country 'grieve mass loss'

In 1919, Canadian artist Mary Riter Hamilton embarked on a solo mission to paint the World War One battlefields of France and Belgium. A century later, documentary maker Alisa Siegel speaks to the artist's biographer, historians, and art historians to resuscitate Mary Riter Hamilton's art, life, and legacy.




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That time $3 million was left at a Vancouver bus stop

A Vancouver-based ad agency placed $3 million cash between the glass in a bus shelter, unguarded on the street - to demonstrate a point.



  • Radio/Under the Influence

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Paul Michael Glazer wasn't a fan of Starsky & Hutch's famous Ford Torino

It wasn't originally meant to be the TV detective duo's car, but a twist of fate led them to red and white.



  • Radio/Under the Influence

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Tyler Christopher On Upcoming Fight In UK

[Written by Stephen Wright] Boxer Tyler Christopher must “box clever” when he returns to action after a six-month injury lay-off against Cameroonian Serge Ambomo in Birmingham, England, on Saturday [May 18]. That is the view of his coach, Anthony Hull, who will be in the Bermudian’s corner when he faces journeyman Ambomo in a six-round […]




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Saundre Simmons Set For Streaming Bout

[Written by Stephen Wright] Bermudian boxer Saundre “Dash” Simmons is determined to seize the moment as he prepares to face Nigerian fighter Nosa Divine Nehikhare in Houston, Texas, on Friday, [November 1]. The light heavyweight match-up, set to take place at the Red Owl Boxing Arena, will be featured on the undercard of a show […]




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Little Mix - DNA

If they survive the winners’ curse, Little Mix could prove an interesting prospect.




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Emilia Mitiku - I Belong to You

Patchy comeback collection from the Big Big World singer.




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Is the minimum wage enough to make ends meet where you live?

Minimum wage is going up in some provinces across the country, but is it enough to combat rising inflation?



  • Radio/Cross Country Checkup

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Is Canada ready to accept over 1 million new immigrants in the next 3 years?

Canada intends to significantly boost immigration over the next three years to secure its economic prosperity as industries stare down a large labour shortage. The plan also calls for more immigrants to be accepted based on their works skills.



  • Radio/Cross Country Checkup

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How is the flu season affecting you and your family?

An early and severe flu season is starting to hit Canadian kids and Canadian hospitals. It's led to sickness, and in some cases death, among children. Are you or your kids getting the flu shot?



  • Radio/Cross Country Checkup

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KPN neemt Youfone over voor 200 miljoen

KPN heeft bekendgemaakt dat het de Nederlandse activiteiten van Youfone zal overnemen. Youfone is momenteel al actief op de netwerken van KPN. Meer dan 540.000 klanten van Youfone maken momenteel gebruik van het mobiele en vaste netwerk van KPN, hier verandert niets aan.




mi

Miles Davis Quintet - Live in Europe 1969 – The Bootleg Series, Vol. 2

An important, enlightening document of Miles in a state of stylistic transition.




mi

The James Hunter Six - Minute by Minute

Hunter’s latest cuts recall the golden ages of soul and blues.




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Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Functional Arrhythmias

The most exciting and substantial Coleman release of the last few years.




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Matmos - The Marriage of True Minds

The catalyst of creation located in the power of psychic persuasion.




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Space Dimension Controller - Welcome to Mikrosector-50

A stars-bound journey away from the drudgery of everyday ordinariness.




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Mic Righteous - Open Mic

An introductory taster on which the Kent MC displays sufficient flashes of talent.




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Amit Trivedi - English Vinglish

Trivendi stands on the verge of big success.




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Claude-Michel Schönberg - Les Misérables: Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack

A partial victory, and one buoyed by some outstanding surprise turns.




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Leveraging robots for smarter internal logistics ~ The role of precise, adjustable motors in optimising warehouse processes

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails,” Dolly Parton once said. In the face of uncertainty and disruption, all we can do is adapt. This rings especially true for the logistics industry, which has been subject to major disruption over the last five years. Here, Dave Walsha, sales and marketing director at drive system supplier EMS, explores how robotics could streamline internal logistics operations.




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Amid Protests, Bush Sees Thaw in Europe

President Bush declared on Saturday that the "bitter differences" between the U.S. and Europe were over, and that NATO had a responsibility to help Iraqis with their own security.




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Development bank financing pledge gives COP29 summit early boost




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The Biden administration is planning to eliminate medical debt from credit reports of millions of Americans. What could this mean for you?




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Systemic Racism in the Home Mortgage Context: We Don't Have Time to Notice


In 2020, pivotal events ushered in a season of antiracism rhetoric in the U.S. The brutal deaths of unarmed black Americans at the hands of police officers and white vigilantes, and the disproportionately harsh impact of COVID-19 in the black American community, launched the nation into a discussion about systemic racism. Unfortunately, it seems likely that the 2020 antiracism discourse was merely seasonal rather than enduring, and unlikely to result in meaningful change. 


Black American’s vulnerability in the face of systemic racism is not limited to death, sickness and injury as a result of COVID-19 or antiblack bias in police departments. Our vulnerability is precipitated by things like lack of access to nonpredatory financial services. This is just one of the contexts that compromise black Americans’ economic survival. Unacknowledged systemic racism destroys the wealth and wellbeing of black individuals, families and communities, sometimes causing working and middle-class black Americans to plummet into poverty. As 2020 comes to a close, an election that threatened democracy in the U.S. and the existential threats of an uncontrolled pandemic, eclipse a system of intentional antiblack racism on the part of the financial institutions that engaged in predatory mortgage lending in the years leading up to and beyond the 2008 recession. It is now well documented that lenders, brokers, and mortgage servicers engaged in conduct that was fraudulent and misleading. The mortgage market charged excessively high rates and fees, engaged in high-pressure sales tactics, imposed unnecessarily harsh prepayment penalties, and distorted loan structures to avoid the application of consumer protection statutes.  But, more than a decade later, many black Americans are still fighting to prevent financial institutions from taking away their homes. 


In a book I coauthored with Dr. Janis Sarra, a law professor at the University of British Columbia, Predatory Lending and the Destruction of the African American Dream (Cambridge University Press, 2020), we describe new iterations of predation that continue to target black consumers years after financial institutions settled litigation that alleged pervasive fraud on their part for steering black Americans into predatory subprime loans. But these renovated predatory practices are obscured by the nation’s focus on COVID-19 and a vitriolic election season. Meanwhile, more black Americans will lose their homes even after investing all or most of their wealth in attempts to keep them. This reality requires the calls for moratoriums on mortgage foreclosures to be answered in the affirmative.





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Corporate Justice at the Micro Level

Several years ago, my friend, colleague and mentor, andre cummings, and I created and defined what we call "Corporate Justice."  "At its core, Corporate Justice refers to a responsibility, even a moral obligation, which businesses and corporations have to engage fairly, civilly and responsibly in the world and community that they do business and from which they derive profits. More than that, the concept of Corporate Justice also focuses on the roles that shareholders, policy makers, other stakeholders and the community at large have in fostering a more just and responsible business community."  Our conversation led to the creation of a course, a book, several presentations, and this blog.  In conceptualizing "Corporate Justice," our primary focus was on large corporations and their impact on the world around us.  That perspective influenced much of the work we have completed on the topic as well as the way that we conceptualized its impact.  However, after a recent community event I facilitated here in Miami, Florida, I was presented with a thought provoking question “what does corporate justice mean for small businesses?”  I had never considered this question and realized that I had made a substantial oversight in failing to do so.  Small business are the life line of many communities and they meet the immediate needs of the people in areas in which they operate.  Given that reality, I have begun to critically think about what Corporate Justice at the “micro” level means.  Specifically, do small businesses have the same obligations that we might expect from large corporations?  Over the next few days I plan to think more about this question and welcome your input and insight.  Next week, I will provide you with my initial response.  I look forward to reading about your insights on the issue.  

 




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The Supreme Court, Jack Smith, and the Death of the Rule of Law II

  

Today, the United States Supreme Court obliterated the Fourteenth Amendment, section 3, in Trump v. Anderson. The language of this section appears simple enough:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The Court held that: "the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3." More specifically, the Court held that only Congress may enforce the disqualification of section 3 and that states could only enforce the provision against state candidates for office and state officeholders. Otherwise the nation would face a risk of a patchwork of state outcomes. This, despite the fact that in 1868, shortly after the provision became law, the Governor of the State of Georgia disqualified a federal candidate for office. (See fn 3).

Further, if "only" Congress holds power to enforce section 3 then why did the drafters of the Amendment just insert an "only" in the section granting Congress power. The Court needs that "only" and it simply does not exist. Rather than apply the plain meaning the Court instead pretends there is an only when there is no such word. Section 5 plainly states: "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." The Court did violence to the statute to protect Donald Trump.

Former Fourth Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative jurist explains:


The Supreme Court did leave one last avenue for accountability under law that the Biden Administration or DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith could use to disqualify Trump. 18 U.S.C. section 2383 provides:

Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

The Court cited this section with approval. It would provide a uniform federal solution. And, it arises from an exercise of Congressional power. Even this Court (which works overtime to protect Trump) would uphold such an action. 

Why did Jack Smith (or Attorney General Merrick Garland before him) fail to use this section against the obvious insurrectionist Donald Trump? Or, alternatively, why not bring such an action tomorrow morning? Colorado would provide a form indictment and a trial map, complete with comprehensive evidence?

So, the Court today shifted the spotlight to DOJ with today's SCOTUS ruling. Agreement or disagreement with the Court's opinion no longer matters. Many excellent arguments support the use of section 3 in precisely the manner of Colorado. All moot.

Why did DOJ fail (and continue to fail) to seek disqualification through a criminal action a criminal action? 

The most disturbing and vivid reality of all of this: law failed to hold Trump to account as an oath breaking insurrectionist despite many available pathways.

 

 




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Trump's Cruel and Racist Attack on All Immigrants: Operation Wetback II


No campaign promise will impose more mass oppression than the zero due process mass round-ups that Donald Trump touts at every rally. 

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance continually promise an almost unimaginable assault on American (legally here or otherwise) workers if elected. They want to bring back Operation Wetback from the 1950s but at a much greater magnitude. These promises play a leading role in their campaign for the White House and make an appearance in each and every campaign rally. In fact, at one recent rally Trump promised a "bloody" round-up and removal operation. These round-ups also feature prominently in the GOP platform so the entire party supports mass round-ups.

The original Operation Wetback rounded-up American workers with no due process and summarily dropped them across the border into Mexico. Undocumented as well as legal workers suffered a militarized round-up across the nation. The operation even ensnared unknown numbers of US Citizens and broke-up families consisting of US Citizens and legal workers along with undocumented workers. It amounted to a terror campaign to get immigrants to self-deport. This brazenly racist effort serves as Trump's model.

Trump and Vance promise to round-up as many as 20 million American workers a million at a time. Vance would round-up legal and illegal immigrants alike. Like Eisenhower's approach, legality does not matter, only skin color, which explains the utter cruelty of its implementation.

The mass deportation program the Eisenhower Administration in the 1950s pursued is the closest and best historical corollary to such a proposal:

The only historical comparison to a mass deportation programme came in 1954, when as many as 1.3 million people were deported as part of Operation Wetback, named after a derogatory slur then commonly used against Mexican people. . . . The programme, under President Dwight Eisenhower, ran into considerable public opposition-partly because some US citizens were also deported - as well as a lack of funding. It was largely discontinued by 1955. Immigration experts say that the earlier operation's focus on Mexican nationals and lack of due process makes it incomparable to what a modern-day mass deportation programme would look like. 

President Trump, however, proposes a militarized and no due process round-up that likely would leave the 1950s program in the dust. In a Time magazine interview Trump said: "So if you look back into the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower . . . was very big on illegal immigration not coming into our country. And he did a massive deportation of people." The former President assumes he can do the job with the National Guard, but Trump promises to use the military if necessary, claiming that no federal law prohibits the use of the military against non-civilians. Indeed, it appears that Trump will accord those ensnared in this military operation zero due process,, as he makes clear in this video, from his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He states: "We will pick them up and we will throw them out of our country and there will be no questions asked."

Trump will also not rule out the use of detention camps. Trump's top immigration advisor, the notoriously racist Stephen Miller, said: "Because of the logistical challenges…you would need to build an extremely large holding area for illegal immigrants that at any given points in time . . . could hold upwards of 50, 60, 70,000 illegal aliens while you are waiting to send them . . . somewhere that would be willing to accept them.” Presumably, citizens ensnared in these round-ups would hold some means of getting released.

Make no mistake, Trump promises cruel and brutal treatment for those rounded-up, otherwise why would he work so hard to dehumanize and demonize migrants? Alfonso Aguilar, of the American Principles Project's Latino Partnership, states: "The Eisenhower mass deportation policy was tragic, human rights were violated. People were removed to distant locations without food and water. There were many deaths, unnecessary deaths. Sometimes even U.S. citizens of Hispanic origin, of Mexican origin were removed. It was a travesty. It was terrible. Immigrants were humiliated." In her book Impossible Subjects, Mae Ngai writes that many Mexicans were deported by ship. A congressional investigation, according to the book, compared the conditions on the ship to that of an "eighteenth century slave ship."

Trump and his MAGA cult consistently dehumanize migrants and propagate the most heinous lies about them--calling them animals and wrongfully accusing them of eating pets. They do this to pave the way for unspeakable evil. This evil plotting constitutes the core of their campaign and features in every rally and every campaign event. Dehumanization and demonization is the way to get many people to engage in deeply immoral and evil misconduct.

Miller himself admits that much of this will occur pursuant to a "shock and awe blitz of Executive Orders" such that the slow-moving courts will not keep pace with the Trump plan. Miller promises that the next Trump Administration will not include those counseling compliance with law; instead, officials will prepare to move quickly on Day 1.“Trump will unleash the vast arsenal of federal powers to implement the most spectacular migration crackdown,” Miller led the Trump Administration's family separation policy which courts found unlawful but which still inflicted permanent cruelty upon children, many of whom remain separated from their families. As of mid-2024, Trump's policy of family separation still violates the law and about 1100 children still remain separated from their families despite a federal injunction to the contrary, and despite a Biden task force charged with repairing this manifest cruelty

Many of the barriers and guardrails that stopped Trump from pursuing unlawful conduct such as these round-ups are now weakened or simply gone. The judiciary includes many more Trump appointees compared to 2016. Trump now prepares for a second term with a greater focus on appointing compliant and obedient underlings. Indeed, he wants to eliminate the civil service. His lawyers already laid out arguments for the use of little used laws like the Alien Enemies Act

Worse yet this fast-moving mass round-up campaign will combine with Trump's promise to abolish birthright citizenship to create a perfect storm of lawless cruelty, which I will focus upon in my next post.




mi

Ariana Grande’s ‘Eternal Sunshine’ dropped at midnight. Here are the Easter eggs fans have noticed so far.




mi

‘The Substance’ is streaming today just in time for Halloween, here’s how to watch




mi

'A Carol For Two,' 'Holiday Mismatch' and more: How to watch the new Hallmark holiday movies coming out this weekend




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Top Podcast Directories to Submit Your Podcast

Podcasts are increasing in popularity but if no one knows about your podcast then you're unlikely to get many downloads. To increase traffic to your podcast people have to be able to find it and the easiest way of achieving this is by submitting your podcast to a selection of key podcast directories.

The post Top Podcast Directories to Submit Your Podcast appeared first on Richard Farrar.




mi

Tasha makes Miss World Australia finals

STUNNER Tasha Ross can add another title to her impressive list of beauty awards, after making the finals of Miss World Australia.




mi

Joshua‘s promising athletics career

JOSHUA Atkinson definitely has his running shoes on and he pretty much only stops to pick up some of the numerous awards he’s bagged this past year.




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Hospital promised an ‘ice bed’

Malcolm Turnbull’s government has today announced new funding of $600,000 towards a radical “ice bed” pilot program in Sydney’s west.




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$5m reprieve for troubled Islamic school

Australia’s largest Islamic School has been saved for another term after Federal Government officials agreed to hand over more than $5 million in an 11th hour funding move.




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He was clinically dead for 40 minutes

Graeme Webb was clinically dead for more than 40 minutes. A year on, the Hammondville man who has been dubbed the Miracle Man, relives his story and talks about how life has changed.




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Millie Moss’ design gets a guernsey

NOT only is Millie Moss a keen Aussie rules player, but at eight years of age she’s got design flair beyond her years.




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Prime Ministerial visit to Penno

This week our history writer explores a particularly unique visit by a former PM to Pennant Hills.




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Booming house prices spark forum dispute

BENNELONG’S nation-leading house price increase showed people were suffering with high rents and the inability to on their own home, according to some election candidates.




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M4 Mac mini's efficiency is incredible




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Congress About to Gift Trump Sweeping Powers to Crush Political Enemies

Up for a potential fast-track vote next week in the House of Representatives, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, also known as H.R. 9495, would grant the secretary of the Treasury Department unilateral authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit deemed to be a “terrorist supporting organization.” “It basically empowers the Treasury secretary to target any group it wants to call them a terror supporter and block their ability to be a nonprofit,” said Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council Action, which opposes the law. “So that would essentially kill any nonprofit’s ability to function. They couldn’t get banks to service them, they won’t be able to get donations, and there’d be a black mark on the organization, even if it cleared its name.”




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Our mistake was to think we lived in a better country than we do | Rebecca Solnit | The Guardian




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How Chordcat Works, A Chord Naming Algorithm | Shriram's Blog




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CONFIRMED: LLMs have indeed reached a point of diminishing returns

CONFIRMED: LLMs have indeed reached a point of diminishing returns https://ift.tt/e4hKjQ7 ai, llms, trends, investment




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GitHub - hyperlight-dev/hyperlight: Hyperlight is a lightweight Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) designed to be embedded within applications. It enables safe execution of untrusted code within micro virtual machines with very low latency and minimal overhead

via GitHub Public Timeline Feed https://ift.tt/EHbhjky




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microsoft/TinyTroupe: LLM-powered multiagent persona simulation for imagination enhancement and business insights.

LLM-powered multiagent persona simulation for imagination enhancement and business insights. - microsoft/TinyTroupe




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GitHub - sjdonado/idonthavespotify: Effortlessly convert Spotify links to your preferred streaming service

sjdonado/idonthavespotify: Effortlessly convert Spotify links to your preferred streaming service https://ift.tt/dH4YICR music, streaming, spotify, tools




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IMG_0416 - ben-mini




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Fine art imitates life for Mario

A western Sydney teenager has painted a portrait of former Parramatta lord mayor Paul Garrard that has been entered into the Archibald Prize