Categories
US

Kansas votes to protect abortion rights in state constitution | usnews

Kansans secured a huge win for abortion rights in the US on Tuesday night when they voted to continue to protect abortion in the state constitution.

The race was called by a host of US groups like NBC News, the New York Times and Decision Desk HQ.

The move will be seen as a huge loss for the anti-abortion movement and a major win for abortion rights advocates across America, who will see the result as a bellwether for popular opinion.

Kansas – a deeply conservative and usually reliably Republican state – is the first US state to put abortion rights to a vote since the US supreme court ruled to overturn constitutional protections for abortion in late June.

The state will remain a safe haven for abortion in the midwest, as one of the few states in the region where it remains legal to perform the procedure. Many other states have undertaken moves to make abortion largely illegal since June.

Joe Biden issued a statement welcoming the result. “This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions,” the US president said.

The Kansas state senator Dinah Sikes, a Democrat, cried as the vote came in, and turned to her friends and colleagues, showing them goosebumps on her arm.

“It’s just amazing. It’s breathtaking that women’s voices were heard and we care about women’s health,” she told the Guardian, after admitting she had thought the vote would be close. “But we were close in a lot of rural areas and that really made the difference – I’m just so grateful,” she said.

The “No” campaign – which was protecting abortion rights – was strongly ahead in the referendum with 62% of the vote with the majority of ballots counted. That means millions of dollars lost for the Catholic church who contributed more than $3m trying to eradicate abortion rights in Kansas, according to campaign finance records.

Kansans turned out to vote in heavy numbers on Tuesday, in a referendum brought by the Kansas Republican legislature that was criticized for being misleading, fraught with misinformation and voter suppression tactics.

After failing to get a more directly named referendum, “Kansas No State Constitutional Right to Abortion”, on the ballot in 2020, Republicans switched tactics, naming this amendment “Value Them Both”.

The vote was scheduled for August, when voter turnout is historically low, particularly among independents and Democrats, and the wording on the ballot paper was criticized for being unclear.

“The ballot mentions a state constitutional right to abortion funding in Kansas, but that funding has never really been on the table,” Mary Ziegler, a US abortion law expert from the University of California, Davis told the Guardian on Monday.

Kansans for Life, one of the main backers for a “yes” vote, told church congregants on 27 July that removing protections for abortion in Kansas would prevent late-term abortions, lack of parental consent and tax payer funding for abortion, despite none of these being the law in Kansas. Abortions in Kansas are limited to 22 weeks in cases of life threatening or severely compromised physical complications.

It was a tense and bitterly fought campaign that saw churches vandalized and yard signs stolen, in a state where abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered by anti-abortion activists in 2009.

But on Tuesday night scenes of retirement broke out at a watch party for the victorious No campaign in Kansas City. “We’re free!” shouted Mafutari Oneal, 56, who was manning the bar after the vote was called and a rush of drinks orders came in.

“I don’t want no government telling me what to do. I’m so happy,” she said.

In a speech just after victory was sealed, Rachel Sweet, the campaign manager for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, said the win had come against all the odds.

“We knew it was stacked against us from the moment we started but we did not despair – we did it, and these numbers speak for themselves,” Sweet said.

“We knocked tens of thousands of doors and had hundreds of thousands of phone calls … We countered millions of dollars in misinformation,” she said. “We will not tolerate extreme bans on abortion in our state.”

Ashley All, the spokesperson for KCF, who led the ‘No’ campaign alongside Planned Parenthood and the ACLU told the Guardian that the key to driving voter turnout was not seeing abortion as a partisan issue in Kansas.

“We demonstrated Kansas’ free state roots,” she said. “It will be interesting for other states to watch this and see this is not a partisan issue. Everyone from Republicans, to unaffiliated voters to hardcore libertarians came out to say: ‘No, we don’t want the government involved in what we do with our bodies’,” she said.

Categories
Business

Australian crypto platform Immutable sacks 17% of staff despite plans to ‘hire aggressively’

Australian crypto platform Immutable sacks 17% of staff despite plans to 'hire aggressively'

An Australian crypto company valued at $3.5 billion is facing a fierce backlash after sacking 17 per cent of its staff from its gaming division, while continuing to “hire aggressively” after raising $280 million in funding in March.

The crypto platform, which is an Australian unicorn called Immutable, could be hit with legal action as the union questioned the validity of the redundancies.

The union called Games Workers Australia has disputed the number of staff members that were fired claiming it was at least 30 roles, while Immutable has insisted just 18 workers were let go.

The staff came from the company’s flagship video game Gods Unchained and were advised of the redundancies 24 to 48 hours before being told to leave.

Staff were fired from roles including video effects artists, senior engineers and a marketing director and the process involved a 30-minute company wide meeting last Monday.

Stream more business news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends October 31, 2022 >

‘devastating news’

Game Workers Australia, a branch of Professionals Australia, said it is supporting staff from Immutable Games Studio who received the “devastating” news that they would be made redundant.

“Based on information we have received, Game Workers Australia believes there are at least 30, but potentially more, job losses at Immutable,” said Professionals Australia CEO Jill McCabe.

“Immutable has provided varying reasons to their employees as to why the redundancies were necessary.

“While some employees were advised that the reason for their redundancy was due to individual performance metrics, others were advised the cause was due to an organizational restructuring or the non-alignment of their role to business goals.

“While staff were advised that they were able to request information about other roles in the company, their were given the impression that they would not be suitable for these roles.”

However, an Immutable spokesperson said the restructure was a “difficult choice” and was performed to meet business goals, while individual performance was not a reason for any redundancies.

They added individual staff were given the opportunity to respond to the redundancies and most were found unsuitable for redeployment to vacant roles.

Hiring 80 more roles

Concerns have been aired that Immutable is still hiring for similar roles that were made redundant such as product managers and engineers.

An Immutable spokesperson said the restructure impacted 6 per cent of the total number of employees at the company and it continued to “hire aggressively”.

“As we grow, the nature of the expertise the company needs is changing. We needed fewer artists, unity engineers and card designers and are hiring more tokenomics experts, blockchain engineers and crypto product managers,” they said.

“We have established new roles for Gods Unchained which we will be hiring for over the next six months; in total we will be hiring more new roles into Gods Unchained than were made redundant.

“Immutable is growing from 280 employees today to over 360 by the end of the year.”

The company started the year with just 120 employees and has already more than doubled, they added.

Game Workers Australia also claimed that Immutable provided no opportunity for employees to respond to the company’s intention to make them redundant and most of the redundancies were advised and executed within 24 to 48 hours.

“Sadly, the experience of game workers at Immutable is emblematic of the broader problems across Australia’s growing $3 billion games sector,” Ms McCabe said.

“While game workers are highly qualified and skilled, wages are unsustainably low, the hours are long, and unpaid overtime is common.

“Many people burn out of our industry and leave before even making it to five years.”

But the Immutable spokesperson defended its process and said the company “followed a fair and consistent process in relation to the restructure that is in line with legal obligations”.

Earlier this year, Immutable’s founders James, 30, and Robbie Ferguson, 25 were one of 13 new entrants that placed on the Australian Financial Review rich list with an estimated combined wealth of $1.01 billion.

Tech sector bloodbath

Immutable’s staff are the latest casualties in the tech sector, which has seen a spate of companies firing staff as conditions get tougher.

Australian healthcare start-up Eucalptys that provides treatments for obesity, acne and erectile dysfunction fired up to 20 per cent of staff after an investment firm pulled its funding at the last minute.

Debt collection start-up Indebted sacked 40 of its employees just before the end of the financial year, despite its valuation soaring to more than $200 million, with most of the redundancies made across sales and marketing.

Then there was Australian buy now, pay later provider Brighte, that offers money for home improvements and solar power, which let go of 15 per cent of its staff in June, with roles primarily based on corporate and new product development.

Another buy now, pay later provider with offices in Sydney called BizPay made 30 per cent of its redundant workforce blaming market conditions for the huge cut to staffing in May.

Earlier this year, a start-up focused on the solar sector called 5B Solar, which boasts backing from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, also sacked 25 per cent of its staff after completing a capital raise that would inject $30 million into the business

.

Categories
Technology

Review: Audio-Technica 3000 Series IEM System

audio-technica 3000 iem

Words by Sam McNiece

Technical Audio Group | RRP: $1,499

As a live sound engineer, artists rocking up with their own set of in-ear monitors is becoming the new norm. Live electronic acts who want to hear their low-low bass frequencies accurately as well as bands who want a really loud mix on stage without running into feedback issues from all the live microphones will bring or spec an in-ear monitoring system for their live performance .

In the past, in-ear monitoring systems were reserved for large scale touring acts due to their expensive initial cost not being financially viable for local and semi-professional musicians. As times have changed, wireless audio systems have become more streamlined, easier to implement and most importantly, pretty affordable for even small-time local acts.

Read more gear reviews here.

With artists yearning for a simple to implement, high-quality in-ear monitoring system for live performance and rehearsals, along comes the new 3000 Series IEM from Audio-Technica. This affordable wireless in-ear monitor system comes packed with an ATW-T205 stereo transmitter, an ATW-R3250 stereo receiver, and a pair of ATH-E40 in-ear monitor headphones which is enough to kickstart your journey into taking control of your monitor sound.

Modeled after their popular 3000 series wireless UHF microphones systems, the form factor of this product is sleek and professional. The all black aesthetic paired with OLED displays on both receiver and transmitter gives a clear and accurate readout of all the essential data necessary for operating the system including name, battery level, frequency, group and channel selections and if there is audio being transmitted. The stereo transmitter is rack-mountable which makes it a viable option to integrate into a touring setup while concurrently being small enough to be discrete if deployed on stage.

The receiver features multiple screen display options that provide the information you need depending on the setting. For example, if you’re the sound engineer and you don’t need the artist to see information about what specific frequency is set, you can display the channel name instead which means they will always know which receiver is theirs. The lightweight enclosure features a double-sided latch for opening the battery compartment which will prevent you from accidentally opening it mid gig.

Audio-Technica have added professional level features to this set, with the transmitter able to automatically scan and find suitable frequencies for wireless audio use, not to mention the inbuilt high and low frequency EQ shelf, limiter, gain, and balance controls on the receiver . There’s a mono balance mode which allows you to mix the left and right channels in mono on each receiver which enables the artist to customize the level between two different audio signals which could be their vocals and the band’s instruments, for example.

The bundled in-ear monitor headphones, ATH-E40s, utilize Audio-Technica’s proprietary dual phase push-pull drivers which provide a high level of clarity and definition while concurrently isolating you from the outside environment. There are multiple silicone eartips which made them fit securely and comfortably inside my ears during testing. The sound these earbuds carried through the wireless system was immense, a well-balanced sound that provided immersion across the full frequency spectrum whilst not ever hyping the high or low frequencies. A unique part about these in-ear monitor headphones is the easily detachable cable which first, prevents you from breaking the sometimes fragile IEM cables getting snagged on something and secondly, making the cable easily replaceable and interchangeable. Not only that, but these have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the output with a low impedance (12 ohms) which means they can double as your everyday headphones by simply plugging into any consumer grade device (like your phone).

With an inbuilt network connection, the IEM Transmitter included in the bundle can be controlled remotely using Audio-Technica’s wireless manager software. With the software you can rename your transmitters, scan the frequency band to look for used frequencies, and finally, and most importantly, generate a coordinated frequency plan to avoid these used frequencies and send that information to the transmitters. This can save you time and effort testing to find frequencies that don’t generate interference or intermodulation between different frequencies, a real winner in terms of usability and functionality.

Using the receivers with high-quality rechargeable batteries I was able to use the system for just over six hours continuously, which would allow you to use them for soundcheck and the gig without worrying about it dropping out on you. I also experienced no dropouts during testing walking around my home out onto the street about 50 meters away, which has almost convinced me to get a set for my home studio so I can walk to the other end of my place and listen to a mix I I’m working on while cooking a meal!

Perhaps a great part of this set is how easily it can scale to suit your needs. Say you’re a solo performer and you purchase one for yourself and then you decide to start performing with another musician. You can simply purchase another receiver and you’re both able to access the same monitor mix. You could even set up two separate mixes and send them in mono to the one receiver and now each of you can have independent mono mixes with a single transmitter, the monitoring possibilities are vast.

All in all, this in-ear monitoring system from Audio-Technica is a quality professional product that will appease both small and large scale implementations for artists and venues. The robust construction paired with solid RF connectivity options and most importantly, clear and precise audio transmission that drive the included IEM’s fantastically, makes the 3000 Series IEM system from Audio-Technica a fantastic choice for those in the market for upgrading their audio monitoring.

Head to Audio-Technica for more information. For local inquiries, reach out to Technical Audio Group.

Categories
Entertainment

Thai cave rescue drama is gripping but key Australian diver left out

Thai cave rescue drama is gripping but key Australian diver left out

Thirteen Lives ★★★★
(PG) 147 minutes

The title, although clunky, refers to the 12 Thai boys and their football coach who were rescued from the caves in northern Thailand in July 2018. A more appropriate title might be 10,000livesas that’s how many people helped with the rescue effort.

Inevitably, a lot of people are left out of Ron Howard’s gripping, generally accurate re-creation of the story. The screenplay is by English writer William Nicholson, whose credits include Gladiator, unbroken and Everest. The casting gives us Colin Farrell as John Volanthen and Viggo Mortensen as Rick Stanton, the two British cave rescue divers who found the children four kilometers inside the cave. They had by then been trapped for 10 days, without food.

Colin Farrell (left) as John Volanthen, Joel Edgerton as Harry Harris and Viggo Mortensen as Rick Stanton in Thirteen Lives, which was filmed in Australia and Thailand.

Colin Farrell (left) as John Volanthen, Joel Edgerton as Harry Harris and Viggo Mortensen as Rick Stanton in Thirteen Lives, which was filmed in Australia and Thailand.

About halfway through the 147-minute film, Joel Edgerton joins the other divers as Australian diver/anaesthetist Dr “Harry” Harris after Volanthen realizes they will have to sedate the boys to get them out. Craig Challen, diving partner of Harris, played a significant part in the rescue, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

Three other British divers have significant roles: Kevin Spink as Josh Bratchley, Tom Bateman as Chris Jewell and Paul Gleeson as Jason Mallinson. Nicholson leaves out the rest of the Australian contingent, not to mention the Chinese, Czech, Finnish, Danish, Belgian, French, Canadian, Indian, Israeli, Japanese, Dutch, Russian and Ukrainian divers who went into the cave to help. There were more than 100 divers in those caves, most of them Thai.

Howard has said he tried hard not to make a white-men-to-the-rescue film, and to some extent he succeeds. Thai Navy SEALs have a major presence. The Thai actors speak Thai with subtitles rather than casting actors who can speak English.

The politics of national pride play a major part in the story. Howard makes sure we see the Thais working in every facet of the rescue, including a heroic, largely civilian effort to stop the flow of water into the cave from above the boys. The two men who died were Thai rescue divers. Howard recreates the death throes of Saman Kunan, the retired SEAL who came back to help, in agonizing detail.

Much of the film was shot in Australia during the pandemic. Howard could not go to Thailand for scenes shot there. Apparently he directed by Zoom, which must be some kind of first. His work by him, as ever, is fabulously efficient — keeping tight rein on the sentiment, but not so tight that we miss it — and building tension to an agonizing, almost paralyzing degree. Even when we know the outcome, Howard succeeds in squeezing every drop of dramatic tension out of the narrative.

Categories
Sports

AFL reacts to Eddie Betts ‘betrayal’ at Adelaide Crows pre-season camp

AFL reacts to Eddie Betts 'betrayal' at Adelaide Crows pre-season camp

The AFL community has reacted with disgust after former Adelaide footballer Eddie Betts published a confronting recollection of his experience at a pre-season camp with the Crows in early 2018.

The leadership camp, following the Crows’ 2017 AFL Grand Final loss to Richmond, thrust the club into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

A number of players and officials left the club in the wake of the camp, and now Betts has detailed behind-the-scenes information in his upcoming autobiography The Boy from Boomerang Crescent.

Watch every blockbuster AFL match this weekend Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

The four-day camp on the Gold Coast left Betts feeling “like a piece of me was brainwashed”, with excerpts being reported by Nine Newspapers.

Betts alleged that confidential information he shared in counseling sessions had been misused, writing that the camp misappropriated sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals.

Following the ordeal, the three-time All-Australian Betts said he approached the Crows and voiced his concerns with the camp, only to be dropped from the leadership group three weeks later.

Betts said the camp had a major impact on his form and left the star forward questioning his place in the game. He left the Crows and returned to Carlton at the end of 2019 before retiring at the end of 2021.

Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto, who represented the club for 15 seasons, responded to the damning allegations on Wednesday morning.

“He’s been one of the greats of the club,” Ricciuto told Adelaide’s Triple M Breakfast with Roo, Ditts and Loz.

“Player welfare is always number one no matter what’s going on, you always want everyone to be happy, so it’s very sad.

“I think the club has been on record at times to say that they acknowledge that it wasn’t handled perfectly. It had all good intentions but didn’t go perfectly.

“We all love Eddie and hopefully Eddie is getting over that… certainly the club moved on from that and are looking towards the future and have made a lot of ground since back then. It has come up in Eddie’s book and that is fair enough.”

Betts’ revelations have angered the footy community. Former Swans star Ryan Fitzgerald, who is a huge Crows fan, tweeted: “Really uncomfortable to read. Particularly the insensitivities around Eddie’s past of him. He is such an integral part of the AFC and their history, so rejected that he left feeling like that.”

Ex-Melbourne captain Garry Lyon also reacted. “When you read those words from Eddie, there is no debate about how it impacted on him,” he told SEN Breakfast.

“He talks about the Indigenous players, the cultural differences or sensitivities that weren’t adhered to. That’s Eddie … and that’s unequivocal, right? You can’t argue with any of that.

“Everyone’s own experiences have been caught up in this and from an Indigenous point of view, a lot of it since Eddie said that cultural sensitivities weren’t adhered to – and that is very, very real.

“In the end, it was untenable. We talk about the atmosphere and environment … take apart who you agree with and you don’t agree with, the fact of the matter is it split the club down the middle. When you get the (Rory) Sloanes and the (Taylor) Walkers, who have their recollection, and then you’ve got Eddie and others I would imagine… no wonder it destroyed that joint.

“You’ve got a section of the football club – and I’m not just putting this at the feet of Walker and Sloane, there may be others in the same boat – saying, ‘I got so much out of this, it was good’. And then on the other hand, right at the other end of the scale, you’ve got, ‘No, it ripped me apart, it ripped my relationship apart’.

“No wonder then from a footy club point of view and trying to stay together and on the same page, it ended up where it was.

“If you are told, whether you’re black or white or otherwise, ‘These camp people want to speak to you and they say to step aside from everyone else privately and we want you to have a conversation where you are open and vulnerable’ … And I go, ‘OK. In terms of building me as a better player and a leader, I’ll share and I’ll give you these really sensitive things that, to me, are important’. Then to have that thrown back in my face, that’s not cultural for me.

“How it affects me and someone else might be different based on culture, but that’s a betrayal for me.”

speaking on SEN SA Breakfastformer Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes questioned Adelaide’s leadership, calling out Crows star Rory Sloane for his public remarks after the camp when he said it made him a better husband and a better father.

“The question is, all of the people who have defended the camp and have said nothing went on, including the Crows fans, including Mark Ricciuto, including the club, what do they do now? Details have come out, Eddie Betts was abused about his mother, ”Cornes said.

“The saddest thing for me, the two most popular players at Adelaide are Tony Modra and Eddie Betts. No one made the Adelaide Oval stand up when they went near the football in Crows history like Eddie Betts. No one has been more popular.

“That’s the echelon that Eddie Betts is held in. To read how he was treated by his own football club, of which he is an icon, that was the saddest part for me.

“We do now have a blow-by-blow account which is pretty harrowing that your most popular player in club history was treated like an animal on this camp.

“I think it’s embarrassing for Rory Sloane and Taylor Walker to now hear that that was a rehearsed line and that they were all told and indoctrinated into saying it had made them a better father and husband and child. And to see Eddie Betts relay that that was actually rehearsed, it does not paint Rory and his leadership of him in great light.

“There’s a lot of egg on the face of Crows supporters, the footy club and a few players that were there.”

The Crows were cleared of any work health and safety breaches after an independent investigation into the training camp by SafeWork SA.

Read related topics:Adelaide

.

Categories
Australia

Kalgoorlie’s skimpy barmaids featured in new photographic exhibition

A woman dressed in black hanging framed photographs, with photos of skimpy barmaids in foreground.

A photographer has shed some light on Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s famous skimpy barmaids in a new exhibition, which was 18 months in the making as she documented the nightlife in pubs in the historic gold mining city.

Known as Mellen, a pseudonym of her real name, the photographer originally from Sydney shares her anonymity in common with skimpies who typically work under an alias.

The scantily clad barmaids arrived on Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s pub scene in the 1970s and have since become part of the hard-working, hard-drinking culture of mining towns across Western Australia.

While one Kalgoorlie pub briefly flirted with the concept of male skimpies, or so-called himpies in 2018, the job has predominantly been the domain of young women working on a fly-in fly-out basis.

Most wear lingerie or bikinis and sometimes go topless, but all of the skimpies pull beers and chat to patrons to keep the amber fluid flowing.

As Mellen explains, the idea for her skimpy exhibition was born when she was hired as the house photographer for Kalgoorlie’s aptly named Gold Bar nightclub where she befriended many of the skimpy barmaids.

“It just gave me a license to photograph the girls working … with their consent of course,” she says.

“Then I started going to some of the other venues once I started to get to know the girls, follow them around and take their photos… I hadn’t seen many pictures of them around.

“It’s behind closed doors yet such a widely known thing about Kalgoorlie that I thought, why not meet some of the girls and see if they’d be interested in having their portraits taken?”

A woman pasting a black and white poster of a girl in lingerie to the wall
Photographer Mellen set out to tell the stories of some of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s skimpy barmaids.(Supplied: Mellen)

More than money

Her photography work has garnered her hundreds of followers on Instagram, where her handle @nophotosofthegirls reflects the signs that typically hang behind the bar of every pub with skimpies on duty.

More than a dozen skimpies gave their permission to be included in the photographic exhibition, underlining the trust Mellen built over more than a year.

Each image in the exhibit has a QR code linking to interviews she recorded with the skimpies that detail some of their personal experiences on the job.

“There’s a lot of different stories to how the women have gotten into this profession,” Mellen says.

“The common themes were the camaraderie between the women, and of course the money, but there’s a lot of jobs where you can make a lot of money, so it’s got to be more than that, especially these days.

“Maybe back in the 70s when women weren’t allowed to work in the mines, but these days there are so many other elements — the self-confidence was another common trait.”

Authentic portrayal of skimpies

The exhibition is a mixture of documentary photography and portraiture.

Mellen says she did not want to portray the industry as glamorous, but as authentically as possible.

“I try and get a balance of what is real, not too glam, but also a nice portrait,” she says.

A woman in denim cut off shorts holding a dog against a white background.
Photographer Mellen says she set out to tell the stories of the women as authentically as possible.(Supplied: Mellen)

“I love the one-on-one interaction of taking a formal portrait, but to be able to capture what’s going on is also a pretty amazing privilege.”

The project has also sparked Mellen’s interest in the history surrounding skimpies in a city that was home to Australia’s biggest gold rush in 1893.

“I have been looking at the history while doing the project, just to try and get a bit more depth of my understanding so I could represent it in a well-rounded way,” she says.

“I am from Sydney and we don’t have skimpies over there, so it was just something that stuck out as a bit unusual for so many venues to have skimpy barmaids here.

“I had been living here a year before I stepped foot in a pub … we have rough and tumble pubs in Sydney, but I didn’t find it [skimpies] jarring at all.”

The exhibition at Kalgoorlie’s Black Crow Studios is open until August 14.

.

Categories
US

Jerrold Nadler stumbles through debate opening against Suraj Patel

Jerrold Nadler stumbles through debate opening against Suraj Patel

Longshot challenger Suraj Patel came out swinging in the Democratic primary debate for the race to represent Manhattan’s Upper West and Upper East sides, saying it’s time to retire septuagenarian Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney.

The call for new blood from the 38-year-old came right after Nadler stumbled badly through his own opening statement.

“It’s 2022. It’s time to turn the page on 1992,” Patel, 38, said in a swipe at Nadler, 75, and Maloney, 76, during his introductory statement in the debate co-sponsored by NY1 and WNYC.

Nadler’s delivery was halting during his initial presentation and he missedpoke and often seemed unable to come up with the right words.

And then Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, uttered a real whopper, proclaiming, “I’ve impeached Bush twice.”

He was referring to his oversight of the politically divisive impeachments of former President Donald Trump, who he confused with either the 41st or 43rd presidents.

Nadler’s bumbling seemed to prove Patel’s point.

Rep. Jerry Nadler speaks during New York's 12th Congressional District Democratic primary debate hosted by Spectrum News NY1 and WNYC at the CUNY Graduate Center, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, in New York.
Nadler stumbled several times, and even said he impeached “Bush” twice.
AP/Mary Altaffer, Pool

“Nineteen-nineties Democrats have lost about every major battle to Mitch McConnell and the Republicans,” said Patel, referring to the Senate Republican leader from Kentucky.

Meanwhile, Nadler sat down during the entire 90 minute session while Maloney and Patel stood at their lectures.

Nadler had many other verbal stumbles throughout the debate and at one point when the moderators offered him a chance to respond since his name had been brought up by an opponent, he seemed stunned and had nothing to say.

At one point, WNYC moderator Brigid Bergin asked Nadler about the importance of seniority and how he and Maloney differed on policies, two related but different questions.

Nadler answered that seniority is important if used effectively, but forget about the Maloney comparison.

“The second one, the second question, what was the second one?” Nadler asked.

Maloney made waves for a different reason during the debate: She predicted that President Biden, 79, would not run for re-election.

“I don’t believe he’s running for re-election,” Maloney said.

Nadler, meanwhile, would not commit to supporting Biden’s reelection and would only answer, “It’s too early to say,” when asked.

Patel, who had made a point of noting that his opponents are too old to be reelected to the House, nevertheless said “yes” to supporting the 79-year-old Biden’s re-election.

On foreign affairs, all three candidates supported House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan and said the Biden administration should not give in to China’s bullying it.

Maloney claimed she was more effective in office than Nadler, saying she delivered the Second Avenue subway for her district while Nadler’s proposed rail freight tunnel hasn’t gotten off the ground. Nadler claimed he helped secure funding for the Second Avenue subway.

Maloney was on the defensive about her prior concerns over whether vaccines contributed to autism, a position she has since abandoned.

Maloney and Nadler each were elected and have served together in Congress for 30 years, first elected in the early 1990s.

Nadler was a former state assemblyman before his election to the House. Maloney chairs the House Oversight Committee and formerly served in the City Council.

Suraj Patel
Suraj Patel is a 38-year-old Democrat calling for Nadler and Maloney’s retirements.
SpectrumNews NY

Patel, a self-described “Obama Democrat” and lawyer whose family runs a hotel business, is making his third run in the 12th congressional district.

The Democrats’ gerrymandering debacle ended up pitting Maloney and Nadler — longtime allies — against each other.

Judges knocked out the Democrat-drawn maps — which Republicans derided as the “Hochulmander” because Gov. Kathy Hochul approved them — finding them unconstitutional.

As a result, a court-ordered special master merged Maloney’s East Side turf with Nadler’s West Side base, and Nadler wasted no time, immediately declaring he’d run in Maloney’s district, guaranteeing at least one of the aged incumbents will be out of a job next year.

Nadler decided to run in the 12th CD against Maloney instead of the 10th District, which he currently represents, because the reconfigured 10th cut out his Upper West Side turf and took in communities in brownstone and southern Brooklyn, a swath of the city he has never .

The primary will be held on Aug. 23 with early voting beginning on August 13.

.

Categories
Business

Rental market in landlords’ favor as vacancy rate falls to the lowest on record

Rental market in landlords' favor as vacancy rate falls to the lowest on record

Domain chief of research economics Dr Nicola Powell said the figures highlight extraordinarily tight rental conditions for tenants.

loading

“Nationally, vacant rental listings are 45 per cent lower over the year and have fallen across most of the capital cities,” Powell said.

“The rental market remains firmly in favor of landlords across every capital city, with a shortage in rental supply driving up asking rents and further escalating competition between tenants.

“With the vacancy rate dipping to a record low, it’s not an overnight fix.”

Impact Economics and Policy economist Dr Angela Jackson said the country’s two largest capitals were starting to tighten like other rental markets around the country have been since the pandemic hit.

“Effectively, we’re seeing Sydney and Melbourne catch up with the rest of the country. They were in lockdown, which led to higher vacancy rates,” Jackson said.

Rentals are being snapped up even with significant rent increases, experts say.

Rentals are being snapped up even with significant rent increases, experts say.Credit:

“It is getting harder and harder to find a rental in the major capital cities. This will undoubtedly lead to higher rents in those markets.

“Housing is the biggest part of any household consumption, and the cost we can’t avoid, it’s the first thing that has to be paid.”

She said when rents rise, this has a significant impact on households.

loading

“Certainly for low-income renters, they will either face increasing rates of housing stress or more severe housing stress,” she said.

“Even for households on medium incomes, that stress is likely to spread to our capitals like Sydney and Melbourne in the next 12 months.”

She said rental demand was driven by city tenants moving to regional markets, as well as eleven locked-down workers moving into new rentals as a single or smaller household, rather than due to immigration, which has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Renters and Housing Union Victoria secretary Eirene Tsolidis Noyce said it has become extremely difficult for renters, amid reports of rent increases of $600 a month in some cases.

“We definitely notice that increase because our membership is feeling the squeeze excessively,” Tsolidis Noyce said.

“We’re firmly against the idea that an increase in interest rates should be passed onto renters who are on lower incomes and in less financial stability and with fewer assets. If you don’t own the property you shouldn’t be paying more than someone’s mortgage for less of the benefit.”

loading

Barry Plant head of property management Emma Gordon said it was a two-speed market in Melbourne, and city rentals sit vacant longer than properties outside the CBD.

“The city hasn’t fully recovered and isn’t experiencing queues at open homes and high demand where you are getting six or eight applications on properties,” Gordon said.

“But in the other areas of Melbourne, outer areas, competition is high, stock is low, and as soon as stock comes on the market they’re being rented,” she said, adding there were rental increases across the board.

Ray White property management chief executive Emily Sim said Sydney rents were increasing on average between $80 to $100 a week.

Categories
Technology

Discord users complain about new Android update

Discord users complain about new Android update

Yesterday, Discord for Android officially launched a “major overhaul” that leverages a cross-platform framework to make development easier and more in line with the iOS app, but the update is resulting in a number of complaints.

The cross-platform framework in question is the open source React Native created by Facebook/Meta several years ago. Discord adopted it for the Android app to allow for “feature consistency across platforms” given a “centralized and streamlined app development process across Android, iOS and desktop.” Previously, Android feature development lagged behind desktop and iOS as those two platforms were prioritized. “Faster app update release cycles” is the other major tentpole of the ground up React Native rebuild.

This update has been rolling out “over the past few weeks” and there have been more than a few complaints in that period. For starters, people dislike the density-impacting larger UI and font on Android that is meant to be “more consistent with iOS.”

Others complain about Discord being “buggy” (2, 3) and “laggy” (“slower,” 3, 4) following the update, with this criticism particularly coming from those with older phones. Another common issue has been about text fields requiring manual scrolling after typing a lot of characters. The general sentiment among Android users is that they did not really have issues with the usability of the previous client.

Discord Android update

Complaints about performance and quality after apps transition to cross-platform development are quite common. Detractors are often critical of how applications lose native UI elements and conventions after a switch. For its part, Discord says it’s “still retaining Android and iOS specific patterns in the UI.”

Typically, bugs related with switching development processes are common and will get resolved over time, but it’s a bit concerning that seemingly basic issues are still popping up even after months of beta/alpha testing.

The best thing Discord for Android users can do now is report bugs about the update.

Be sure to comment below about your experience with the revamp.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

Categories
Entertainment

Princess Diana’s Legacy More ‘Clearly Visible’ in Prince Harry—Bodyguard

Princess Diana

Princess Diana’s former bodyguard said that the late royal’s legacy is more “clearly visible” in Prince Harry as he has grown older, in a new book to be published ahead of the 25th anniversary of her death.

Ken Wharfe was a personal protection officer to Princess Diana from 1987 to 1993 and has written extensively about his time in royal service, including the upcoming book Diana: Remembering The Princess co-authored with journalist Ros Coward.

Wharfe worked closely with Prince William and Prince Harry at Kensington Palace, heading their security for a year before being assigned solely to Diana.

In an extract from his new book, run by the Mail on SundayWharfe recounted how Diana took pity on him for having been assigned to her two sons, calling them a “bloody nuisance.”

Princess Diana's Legacy and Prince Harry
Diana’s former police protection officer, Ken Wharfe, has written that she would have been “jetting across the Atlantic” to offer Harry advice if she were still alive. Diana (L) is photographed above in Washington, DC, on June 17, 1997. Harry (R) is photographed above in London on July 1, 2021. Wharfe (inset) is photographed on April 24, 2004.
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images/Yui Mok/WPA Pool/Getty Images/Ferdaus Shamim/WireImage

“I was shown into a drawing room where Diana was sitting on the sofa,” he wrote of his introduction at Kensington Palace. “William was attempting to play a piano and Harry was being an entertaining pest, standing on a table, picking apart some lilies in a vase. Immediately, Diana said to me: ‘I don’t envy you, Ken, looking after my kids —they can be a bloody nuisance.'”

Wharfe has written of this exchange as an example of the informality and warmth displayed by the late princess when interacting with members of her staff.

“That candid, informal exchange set the scene for the rest of our working relationship,” he wrote. “There wasn’t this barrier between Royalty and me, the policeman, the servant or whatever. It was more as though a sister or friend was speaking to me, and that was extraordinary.”

Ken Wharfe and Princess Diana
Ken Wharfe worked as Princess Diana’s personal protection officer from 1987 to 1993. The two are photographed (L) in Oxford on November 20, 1990 and (R) on February 8, 1989.
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

After his five years working for Diana, Wharfe resigned during the tumultuous falling out of her official separation from Prince Charles—a period in which the bodyguard described her behavior as “erratic.”

“It was around then I decided it was probably the right time to leave,” he wrote. “I simply felt that I couldn’t keep her safe any longer as her behavior was so erratic. I didn’t know at that point that, just a few weeks later, she would decide to live without any security cover. And that would ultimately lead to her death.”

Diana died four years later in a high-speed car crash while being driven with her partner, Dodi Fayed, through a tunnel in Paris. She had been dispensed with formal royal protection officers, though a private security guard hired by the Fayed family was in the car on the evening in question.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death. Last year, William and Harry came together to unveil a statue of her at her former home, Kensington Palace, on what would have been her 60th birthday. The princes’ relationship has been reportedly strained since Harry stepped down as a working member of the royal family and moved to the United States with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their son, Archie.

Princess Diana and Prince Harry
Prince Harry has spoken openly about Princess Diana in recent years, telling “Today” show host Hoda Kotb in April 2022 that he feels his mother’s spirit with him constantly. The two are photographed above in London on August 19, 1995.
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

On how Diana would view Harry’s new role, Wharfe writes: “There is no doubt in my mind that she would completely understand the position Harry finds himself in and would probably have been jetting across the Atlantic on a regular basis to offer help.”

“William and Harry are very much their mother’s boys in so many ways, even though there are differences between them,” he continued. “Although William has perhaps reverted to a world away from the limelight when it comes to his children from him, he does try to engage and to bring a more modernized approach.

“But with Harry, we can see Diana’s legacy more clearly – and when he returns into the Royal fold, which I think he will do, I believe that will be even clearer.”

Since moving to the US, Harry has spoken openly about his mother and how he feels she would have supported the difficult life choices he has made over the past three years.

speaking to Today show host Hoda Kotb in April, the prince said he feels the spirit of his mother constantly.

“For me, it’s constant and it has been over the last two years,” he said. “More so than ever before. It’s almost as if she’s done her bit with my brother and now she’s very much helping me. She’s got him set up now she’s helping me set up. That’s what it feels like.”

the Today show appearance followed an interview he gave to People magazine in which he described his hope that he makes Diana proud.

“I certainly hope and believe everything I do makes her proud,” he said. “In the 12 short years I was lucky enough to have with her, I saw and felt the energy and lift she got from helping others, no matter their background, ailment or status. Her life and theirs was better for it—however short theirs or hers was.”

He added: “I honor my mother in everything I do. I am my mother’s son.”

Newsweek reached out to Ken Wharfe’s representatives for comment.

Diana: Remembering The Princessby Ken Wharfe and Ros Coward will be released in the UK on August 4.

For more royal news and commentary check out Newsweek’s The Royal Report podcast: