WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS
Victoria is within the midst of a “important flood emergency” based on the State Emergency Service (SES), which Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews declared “probably the most severe flood occasions now we have had for fairly a while”. About 10,000 properties have misplaced energy, The Australian ($) stories. This morning folks in Wedderburn have been advised to evacuate instantly, together with Seymour, Rochester and Benalla, The Age says. Shepparton can count on its worst flood in nearly 30 years on Saturday afternoon, Guardian Australia continues, and Melbourne suburbs similar to Essendon, Footscray, Moonee Ponds and Keilor have been placed on excessive alert final night time too. At 9.16pm, the Maribyrnong River was at 2.33 metres and rising when VicEmergency advised Keilor residents to maneuver to increased floor.
NSW and Tasmania are copping dangerously heavy rainfall too because the 400 kilometre-wide deluge rains down on Australia’s south-east, information.com.au stories. About 500 folks in Forbes, in NSW’s central west, have been advised to depart final night time because the Lachlan River is predicted to peak at this time at 10.6 metres (!), the ABC stories. If there’s one factor to recollect it’s this: by no means, ever drive by flood waters. The SES warns that’s the only largest killer throughout floods in Australia. Within the northern half of Tasmania, the rivers have risen to a top not seen since lethal floods in 2016, Guardian Australia continues, however the mayor of Latrobe says individuals are properly ready with sandbags and are, like many others, bracing for extra.
OPPRESSED AND REPRESSED
Iranian-Australian lady Sara Bakhshi delivered a grim but rousing recount of her therapy by the hands of Iran’s morality police on the ABC’s Q+A final night time, arguing our authorities ought to label the Iranian authorities a “terrorist group”. There have been widespread protests in Iran and elsewhere for 4 weeks after Mahsa Amini, 22 — who was supposedly not sporting her hijab correctly — died in custody final month. Seven folks died in a single day in demonstrations, as The New Every day stories. Bakhshi advised Stan Grant and the panel that she was first detained — and kicked — aged simply 12 for being a passenger in a automotive together with her male cousin. She was kicked once more as an adolescent for nail polish, advised to not return to a college class as a result of her hair was out, and body-searched on her departure to Australia to check right here. She says we’re altogether too relaxed in regards to the Iranian authorities, and referred to as members of it “murderers” and “pals of al-Qaeda” and the Taliban.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones gave a little bit of a politician’s reply, saying “These are issues now we have to have a look at”, however International Affairs Minister Penny Wong went more durable in a tweet earlier this week, saying we condemn the “ongoing heavy-handed repression of protests by Iranian authorities”, and that the assaults on youngsters and arrests of scholars at college have been “notably disturbing”. To a different, barely completely different abroad assault now, and the main points of 35 AFP operations stopping drug cartels in Australia have been leaked after the Colombian authorities was hacked by an “environmental and anti-imperialist” group referred to as Guacamaya. Extremely — based on the SMH — the AFP didn’t even find out about this till the paper contacted it. The cops mentioned they’re working to “mitigate any potential threats to the protection of individuals, or ongoing investigations”. Curiously, the paper included a line saying it had seen however destroyed copies of the hacked paperwork (and wiped metadata) — more likely to deter an assault on itself.
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POOR FELLOWS, MY COUNTRY
One in eight Australians stay beneath the poverty line. That’s based on a brand new report from College of New South Wales and the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), which discovered 13.4% or 3 million Australians are doing it powerful. The poverty line is $489 every week for single adults, and $1027 every week for a pair with two youngsters — that’s half the median revenue after tax. It’s decrease than firstly of the pandemic, information.com.au stories, when it was 14.6%, however massively increased than the 12% price in June 2020 which was truly a 17-year low. Why? Proponents of common primary revenue (UBI) might be bolstered to listen to that it was the federal government COVID funds. They lifted 646,000 folks out of poverty, which is 2.6% of the inhabitants. Solid your thoughts again and you might bear in mind the $750 financial assist fee and the $275 COVID complement fee allowed singles on JobSeeker to go from $134 beneath the poverty line to $146 above it. Single mother and father with one little one went from $67 beneath the poverty line to $228 above it. However it was axed on March 21, and changed with a measly $25 every week increase to JobSeeker, as ABC stories. That’s a couple of bucks a day.
The report drew its information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. ACOSS boss Cassandra Goldie says the report is a “supply of nice disgrace” for the nation and urged the federal government to rethink the “unconscionable” stage three tax cuts, Guardian Australia continues. And the stress is on for us main as much as Christmas, 7News stories — NAB’s Client Sentiment Survey, launched on Thursday, says we will count on to pay $1700 extra on family bills. That’s $59 extra on groceries, $35 on gasoline and $76 on fuel, electrical energy and water every week. OK — issues are actually powerful, however there are little rituals we will do to cheer ourselves at the least a bit, as The New York Instances stories (I do know, I do know, I could be infuriatingly bright-eyed.) Depend yellow doorways in your stroll for mindfulness, one reader suggests, or spend a while watching the birds (a “chicken sit”) every morning. Do a handstand whereas fixing an issue, or contact your toes every morning to attain one tiny aim very first thing. It sounds twee, however the moments of bliss do add up.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Some boffins taught a lab-grown mind to play a online game and now they’re going to get it drunk. It’s the form of sentence that brings a tear of delight to the Australian eye. The 800,000 mind cells have been grown by Melbourne scientists who labored out they might stimulate the cells to do issues — like play Pong. Keep in mind that early-computer-era sport that’s type of like squash? The scientists indicated to the cells what facet the ball was on utilizing electrodes, and suggestions from the electrodes taught them to return the ball as in the event that they have been the paddle, as The New Every day explains. It was tough as a result of, in contrast to your pooch, the cells couldn’t be incentivised with dopamine — like a pat or deal with. However the cells’ “exceptional” penchant for predictability helped, and led “to one thing that resembles intelligence”, Cortical Labs’ Brett Kagan says.
So, after all, our pure impulse was to inebriate the cells and see in the event that they worsen at Pong. Heeere’s to 800,000-artificial-brain-cells, they’re true blue, they’re a piss-pot by and thru, because the ingesting tune goes… However the soon-to-be-boozy experiment, dubbed “DishBrain” by the bio-tech start-up, might have a number of important outcomes for medical analysis, based on the scientists engaged on it — we’re getting a vivid perception into how the mind works, with potential learnings about circumstances like epilepsy and dementia. The cells are additionally a way more moral various to testing new medicine or gene therapies on animals. So what now? Within the quick time period, scientists will give the cells a slosh of ethanol in addition to varied medicines and monitor their sport efficiency, whereas long term the findings supply the potential of experimenting on a dwelling mannequin mind. Drink duty, 800,000 cells…
Wishing you a breakthrough — large or small — at this time, and a restful weekend.
As at all times, I welcome you dropping into my inbox should you’re feeling chatty — inform me what you want or detest in regards to the Worm, or something — eelsworthy@crikey.com.au
SAY WHAT?
We all know our folks have finished it powerful, together with lengthy durations of stand-down and a two-year wage freeze.
Alan Joyce
The embattled Qantas CEO has introduced he’ll increase employee pay by 10% after a “powerful” interval… by the hands of Joyce and his fellow decision-makers, that’s. The nationwide provider reported a revenue earlier than tax of about $1.2 billion for the primary half of 2022-23. And all you needed to do was go with out your baggage for half of your vacation for it to occur…
It’s the final days of social media as we all know it
“… Now Twitter is likely to be drastically altering its merchandise in a approach that makes me very pessimistic about its future. Fb seems to be prefer it’s dying because it sheds customers. I wouldn’t be shocked if Instagram follows a really related pathway quickly. As an alternative individuals are spending time on the brand new tech juggernaut TikTok; messaging apps like WhatsApp, Meta’s Messenger and Snapchat; chat platforms similar to Discord (like Slack however for enjoyable!); and the latest buzzy app BeReal.
“These are all very completely different, however what they’ve in frequent is that each one however one are ‘darkish social’ — platforms the place social interactions are invisible to the general public. As an alternative of being out within the open plains of social media, individuals are retreating to on-line enclaves with curated communities and people. The one exception is TikTok, however I imagine that the Chinese language quick video app is so algorithmically pushed that it’s primarily personal.”
Hillsong saga would possibly properly unravel the particular deal for different spiritual charities
“It raises the query of whether or not or not the ACNC, which is ruled by federal legal guidelines, has enforcement powers over a state-registered entity. The ACNC mentioned it was unable to touch upon the circumstances of a selected charity. A spokesperson mentioned that ‘talking typically’ the ACNC had jurisdiction over all charities registered with the ACNC, in relation to their registration as a charity.
“Hillsong has beforehand mentioned it values “good governance”, that it’s cooperating with the ACNC and that it’ll defend the allegations which have been made within the Federal Court docket motion. Crikey two days in the past requested Assistant Minister for Competitors, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh if he plans to handle the appropriateness of the BRC exemptions. We’ve not acquired a response. Crikey’s request stays open.”
The rise of ADHD within the twenty first century
“However let’s additionally say one thing else. ADHD is a situation whose undesirability stems largely from it making tough the achievement of sure life qualities set and outlined by our tradition. It’s not like a damaged leg or bronchial asthma, that are clear dysfunctions within the common preconditions of life. And it’s not even like some psychological/neurological circumstances that undermine the capability to stay any form of life in any tradition.
“Extreme bipolar dysfunction (manic despair within the previous cash) can be an instance of such — a comparatively hard-wired dysfunction, controllable in lots of instances by lithium or different remedy. Few non-modern cultures determine one thing like ADHD as a dysfunction, although they could properly have phrases for a sure sort of skittish, flighty, adventurous character; most cultures, of every kind, determine one thing like bipolar dysfunction as a disabling illness, nevertheless they clarify it.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Iraqi Parliament elects Abdul Latif Rashid as new president (Al Jazeera)
‘We advised the reality’: Sandy Hook households win $1 billion from Alex Jones (The New York Instances)
German enterprise chiefs conflict with Berlin over China insurance policies (Reuters)
‘Nature is unravelling’: world wildlife populations have sunk 69% since 1970, new report warns (EuroNews)
US core inflation hit new four-decade excessive final month (The Wall Road Journal) ($)
Switzerland proposes $1000 fines for breaking ‘burqa ban’ (Al Jazeera)
Parkland shooter will get life in jail for deadliest US highschool bloodbath (The Guardian)
Uncommon protest in opposition to China’s chief earlier than assembly (BBC)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Sydney died on the 6:01 to Central — Thomas Mitchell (The SMH): “This delay was resulting from flooding at Central Station, however we’re on the level the place the rationale doesn’t actually matter. Sydney’s commuters have accepted that the trigger (industrial motion, trackwork, a single drop of rain) is now not vital, however the impact (a deep hatred for the town you as soon as liked) is not possible to disregard. It took me two hours to journey three stops from North Sydney to Central on the prepare, together with an agonising 40 minutes spent idling at Milsons Level, taunted by the maniacal smile of Luna Park. Fittingly, I started to suspect that I may need to actually sleep on [he train] and see the place I find yourself within the morning (nonetheless not at Central).
“The one upside to being caught in an airless carriage was that it gave me time to catalogue all my justifications for cancelling Australia’s most populous metropolis, starting with the drenched elephant within the room. Sydney has lengthy relied on its ideally suited climate to paper over the cracks of this metropolis. We’re like a crumbling mansion on the harbour foreshore; you overlook the quite a few structural flaws as a result of, on an attractive day, there’s nonetheless nowhere you’d relatively be. Besides there aren’t any extra stunning days. This 12 months is already Sydney’s wettest 12 months on document, with greater than 2.2 metres of rain having fallen since January, and it’s only set to get wetter.”
Decrease the voting age for a extra strong democracy — George Williams (The Australian) ($): “At the start of the twentieth century, democracies similar to Australia permitted folks to vote in the event that they have been 21 years or older. A wave of change occurred within the Seventies when Australia and different nations lowered the age to 18. This century has introduced a brand new wave of reform, with a rising variety of democracies transferring to 16 years. This has occurred in native, state or nationwide elections in nations together with Britain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Philippines, Argentina, Nicaragua and Brazil, to call however a number of.
“These democracies recognise that 16- and 17-year-olds can take part extra totally in democratic processes. Decreasing the voting age additionally has the optimistic impact of introducing folks to their obligations as residents when this may be accompanied by civics training in colleges. Conferring voting rights at 16 can also be in keeping with different legal guidelines. In Australia, 16- and 17-year-olds can depart college, get a job, drive a automotive, pay taxes, enlist within the defence forces and consent to medical procedures. It’s time to add the best to vote to the checklist to recognise that this age group has extra to supply our democracy.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Kaurna Nation (also referred to as Adelaide)
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Former prime minister Julia Gillard will seem in dialog on the College of Adelaide to talk about her new e-book, Not Now, Not Ever.
Kulin Nation Nation (also referred to as Melbourne)
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The Finders Keepers SS22 Melbourne/Naarm Markets are on this weekend at The Royal Exhibition Constructing, with a great deal of meals, artwork, design and a bar.
Eora Nation Nation (also referred to as Sydney)
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Broadcaster Jacinta Parsons and journalist Caro Meldrum–Hanna might be in dialog in regards to the former’s new e-book, A Query of Age, at Higher Learn Than Useless bookshop.
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Authors Margaret Cunneen and Andrew L City will speak about their respective books, The Boxing Butterfly and Gladys: Staying Sturdy, at Glee Books.
