SINCERETALK

Three pieces of legislation that amend several key areas in the fight against gender-based violence have been welcomed by gender activists. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/1YeHLg6W3 via sinceretalk

The body of Luyanda Mvelase, who went missing on Wednesday, has been found in Harrismith in the Free State. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/QloXz3vyw via sinceretalk

New board members include Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa and a former World Bank official. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/URp6mrYGM via sinceretalk

Transparency and accountability will be pivotal in determining the success of the Border Management Act, which was signed in law last year, writes Siseko Maposa from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/ImnFkHUw7 via sinceretalk

South Africa hasn’t achieved its policy objective of deregulating the fuel price because vested interests have opposed this, and the government doesn’t have the political will to implement the policy. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/S4VQ1mxv0 via sinceretalk

Aspirin is a blood thinner and while it can't stop a heart attack once it's started, it can prevent the episode from worsening while you get help. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/a7UxFpKYB via sinceretalk

Some sizes are 40% more expensive per gram than others. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/JMR2kon0U via sinceretalk

The new viral word game created by New Yorker Josh Wardle has millions of people hooked. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/g0yXTGQbq via sinceretalk

The mining industry has called for urgent deregulation of the energy sector so that private players can help to relieve crippling energy shortages facing South Africa. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/dY1y0OKV4 via sinceretalk

Stormers head coach John Dobson displayed classic candour when he admitted they got "lucky" in their 22-all draw against the Sharks at Kings Park after officials correctly awarded a penalty try to the visitors after the buzzer. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/ymKkdL9p3 via sinceretalk

The private sector has had close ties with the government for decades. Some see nothing wrong with this, but other say this relationship is at the very heart of corruption The post State capture: The complicity of big, bad business appeared first on The Mail & Guardian .

Cape Town law enforcement officials and the SPCA have confiscated 142 live chickens from two hawkers in Masiphumelele. from News24 Top Stories https://bit.ly/34hOsTN via sinceretalk

Two men and a woman have been arrested in City Deep for contravention of the Customs and Excise Act, as well as trying to bribe an arresting officer, Gauteng police say. from News24 Top Stories https://bit.ly/345S9fg via sinceretalk

Between the firing of St Andrew's headmaster for his inaction, the Lindiwe Sisulu saga and Cyril Ramaphosa's apparent lack of action and whether we are edging closer to a failed state, there was a lot for our columnists to focus on as we prepare to say goodbye to what has been a very busy news cycle in January. from News24 Top Stories https://bit.ly/3IKcQwb via sinceretalk

South Africa’s National Plan of Action for sharks is now up for renewal again. Alison Towner examines some of the things the country has managed to achieve over the years. from News24 Top Stories https://bit.ly/3o7o3Po via sinceretalk

A recent online study by the Human Sciences and Council and the University of Johannesburg found some interesting results with regards to whether South Africans were willing to sacrifice their rights in support of government efforts to fight the pandemic. Narnia Bohler-Muller, Benjamin Roberts, Steven Gordon and Yul Derek Davids break down the survey. from News24 Top Stories https://ift.tt/3H84Sww via sinceretalk

A highly-controversial former Trump official is claiming President Joe Biden's promise to seat the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court is discriminatory. Richard Grenell , who served as Trump's Acting Director of National Intelligence, and as Trump's Ambassador to Germany, was seen by at least one lawmaker in Berlin as a " biased propaganda machine ." On Thursday Grenell attacked President Biden by attacking another Democrat, former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart. Lockhart served as President Bill Clinton's White House Press Secretary. On Thursday he tweeted , "Ahead of the midterms, I look forward to watching every Republican Senator oppose the first black woman to the Supreme Court." Earlier in the day Grenell posted a similar tweet: Conservatives, including on the far right which Grenell has been accused of having ties to , have been falsely claiming it's "racist" to choose a Supreme Court Justice who is Bla

Early in 2021, Christian nationalist home-schooling advocate, author, and podcaster Heidi St. John launched a bid for U.S. Congress in Washington state’s 3rd Congressional District. Outraged by incumbent Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s vote to impeach former President Donald Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, St. John decided to try and unseat her in the GOP primary by appealing to MAGA voters, denouncing public libraries as “ evil organizations ,” and pledging to “ be a mom for America .” Earlier this month, St. John appeared on the “Stand Up For The Truth” podcast, where she sounded Seven Mountains and Christian nationalist themes that have been central to her campaign, describing politics as “a spiritual battle” and vowing to “bring back the name of God into the political sphere.” “[Politics is] in my blood,” St. John said . “And I think it should be in the blood of every Christ follower. Politics determined policy, and it is policy that ha

During an interview with CNN's Tom Foreman this week, Christopher Krebs, who served as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under former President Donald Trump, tore into the draft executive order that was meant to execute a coup and overturn the results of the 2020 election. "It reads like a fictional thriller," said Foreman. "The inauguration postponed, voting machines seized by the military and Donald Trump's time extended by weeks. The December 2020 draft executive order could have triggered all of that if it had been signed and enacted before Joe Biden's win was certified." Foreman characterized it as "a patchwork of conspiracy theories and dubious legal arguments previously pushed by Team Trump." "The sheer brazenness and illegality of it all is shocking," said Krebs. "This is a violation of a restriction on using federal troops for domestic law enforcement action." "We don't

Environmental advocates and congressional Democrats are raising alarm after the U.S. Supreme Court this week agreed to hear arguments in two cases regarding bedrock regulations designed to protect the quality of the nation's air and water. The nine justices announced Monday that they plan to hear arguments in the case of an Idaho couple who were blocked from building a home on their land by the Clean Water Act. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Chantell and Michael Sackett's land contained wetlands and the couple needed a federal permit to build. Represented by the right-wing Pacific Legal Foundation, the Sacketts are calling on the Supreme Court to settle on a narrow definition of "waters of the United States," one that could have profound implications for numerous industries and regulatory policy in the country. That case is expected to be heard during the Supreme Court session starting in October, but in just over a month the court is a

A relative of mine, who works for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) compiling data on foreigners entering the United States, recently posted a curious logo on his Facebook profile: a white Roman numeral three on a black background surrounded by 13 white stars. For those who don’t know what this symbol stands for, it represents the “Three Percenters,” a group that the Anti-Defamation League has identified as an anti-government militia. Its members have a record of violent criminal attacks and strikingly partisan activity, including arrests and guilty pleas in connection with the bombing of a Minnesota mosque in 2017 and appearances as “guards,” carrying assault-style weaponry, at several pro-Trump rallies. Six of its members have been charged with plotting to assault the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This article originally appeared on TomDispatch. When my husband, a Naval officer of nearly 20 years, saw this symbol on a family member’s Facebook page, he pointed out t

Last week, former President Donald Trump had the worst several days of his legal woes yet -- and he's far from alone in facing legal problems. Business Insider has outlined a list of Trump's allies who are facing their own legal challenges and they include Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who will appear in a Manhattan courtroom for the criminal case alleging fraud. Prosecutors have obtained 6 million pages of documents and a 115-page filing from the New York Attorney General showed a long list of financial decisions that misled investors and banks and possibly scored a tax break based on other manipulated information. Weisselberg is to appear Monday, Jan. 31. Trump has also been fighting the National Archives turning over any of the documents from his presidency, but the Supreme Court last week blocked his attempt. Trump's lawyers asked that nothing be turned over to the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 at least until Friday, Feb. 4. After the

Former school teacher Chasten Buttigieg is slamming Florida legislation dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would ban discussion of LGBTQ issues in public schools under the guise of “parental rights,” saying it will “kill kids.” Appearing on CNN Buttigieg asked, “what kind of country we’re building, or in Florida, what kind of state are you building where you’re essentially pushing kids back into the closet, you’re saying we can’t talk about you? We can’t even talk about your families.” “And you know, as a kid who grew up for 18 years, being told, ‘you don’t belong, something about you is wrong.’ Sometimes you take that trauma to heart and unfortunately there are a lot of kids in this country who do the worst because we tell them, ‘something about you is twisted and you don’t belong here.'” Buttigieg railed against the bill over the weekend, posting a tweet pointing to a Trevor Project study that he says found “42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide la

The Department of Justice confirmed for the first time Tuesday that federal prosecutors are investigating fake pro-Trump electoral certificates submitted by Republicans in several states in December 2020. The certificates were submitted to the National Archives by GOP electors in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico. Trump campaign officials, led by the former president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, reportedly oversaw efforts to put forward the fake electors. Last week, a former Trump aide appeared on national TV and admitted to his role in organizing the fake electoral certificates. At least two state attorneys general have said they referred investigations into the fake electoral certificates to the Department of Justice. Michigan AG Dana Nessel, a Democrat, has said she believes those responsible for the fake electoral certificates violated multiple state and federal laws. On Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told C

A legal defense fund set up to help former aides of Donald Trump pay legal bills associated with the congressional inquiry into Jan. 6 is making perfectly clear who will and won't be eligible for assistance. "We are certainly not going to assist anyone who agrees with the mission of the committee and is aiding and abetting the committee," said Matt Schlapp, who chairs the American Conservative Union and oversees the First Amendment Fund. According to CNN , Trump has declined to dip into his own funds to help any former aides but is consulting with the defense fund on who to help and who to hang out to dry. "I am in communication with [Trump's] team about those decisions," Schlapp said, adding that the fund has the unilateral authority "to make decisions over whether someone gets assistance or doesn't." The fund currently amounts to over seven figures, according to Schlapp and, while it hasn't explicitly declined to help anyone yet, Sc

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a pair of affirmative action cases related to college admissions, giving its right-wing supermajority an opportunity to strike down race-conscious selection policies in higher education. Both cases, taking aim at the policies of Harvard and the University of North Carolina, were brought by Students for Fair Admissions, a group founded by the conservative legal strategist Edward Blum. The high court has consolidated the cases. Though the Supreme Court has previously allowed affirmative action policies to stand—most recently in 2016—the current makeup of the court is fueling concerns about a new course, whether the case is heard during this or the next term. As writer and podcaster Touré tweeted in response to the decision: "RIP affirmative action." And here it is.https://twitter.com/scotusblog/status/1485621994691383302\u00a0\u2026 — Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sherrilyn Ifill) 1643037700 Slate staff writer Mark Joseph Stern,

It was not a good day for Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy . First, Press Secretary Jen Psaki was clearly irked by his line of questioning as he tried to make news by framing a rise in crime as something the Biden administration has ignored, despite Fox News promoting Second Amendment “activists” and doing its best to oppose efforts to reduce poverty and efforts to counter societal ills. Later, after the close of President Biden’s Competitiveness Council meeting, reporters continued to shout questions at the President. Among them Peter Doocy, who carelessly asked the President if rising inflation was a “liability” for the midterm elections. “It’s a great asset – more inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch,” President Biden appeared to say sarcastically. Watch: At the end of a Biden photo op, when reporters shouted Q's hoping he'd respond, Fox's Peter Doocy asked, "Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?" Biden deadpa

In the long and storied history of the United States Army, many young officers have served in many war zones. Few, I suspect, were as sublimely ignorant as I was in the summer of 1970 upon my arrival at Cam Ranh Bay in the Republic of Vietnam. This article first appeared on TomDispatch. Granted, during the years of schooling that preceded my deployment there, I had amassed all sorts of facts, some of them at least marginally relevant to the matter at hand. Yet despite the earnest efforts of some excellent teachers, I had managed to avoid acquiring anything that could be dignified with the term education. Now, however haltingly, that began to change. A year later, when my tour of duty ended, I carried home from Vietnam the barest inkling of a question: How had this massive cockup occurred and what did it signify? Since that question implied rendering judgment on a war in which I had (however inconsequentially) participated, it wasn’t one that I welcomed. Even so, the question dogge

The Christian Right has had a stranglehold on the Republican Party ever since President Ronald Reagan allied himself with the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the Christian Broadcasting Network’s Pat Robertson in the early 1980s, and in 2022, some of former President Donald Trump’s strongest supporters are far-right white evangelicals. Those evangelicals, according to NPR’s John Burnett , believe that Trump is still their best chance to keep their movement alive. “If anyone thought that Christian nationalism would decline with President Donald Trump out of power, they were mistaken,” Burnett reports. “Christian nationalists believe, in general, that America is Christian, that the government should keep it that way, and that Trump was — and is — their best hope to accomplish that. This movement of ultra-conservative, politicized churches is apparently on the march, though there are no firm numbers because the congregations are mostly nondenominational.” One of the far-right evangelicals Burne