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Myponga Reservoir on the Fleurieu Peninsula will allow on-water access for the first time including fishing and kayaking from March 28, adding to the current land-based recreational activities available such as walking and cycling.

Warren Reservoir near the Barossa Valley, which is already available for on-water access, will have revitalised facilities including an expanded carpark, new toilets, picnic area and wheelchair access ramp linked to the kayak launch area.

Minister for Environment and Water David Speirs said the two reservoirs are part of the Marshall Liberal Governments Opening up our Reservoirs policy which aims to create new open, green space for people to explore, drive increased tourism and create jobs.

Our reservoirs are a fantastic opportunity to improve recreational options across South Australia and to encourage people to get out and explore the great outdoors, Minister Speirs said.

To have improved access to both Myponga and Warren reservoirs just in time for Easter will be a timely boost for the Fleurieu Peninsula and Barossa Valley communities.

For far too long our reservoirs have been locked away and the Marshall Liberal Government is opening the gates to create new open, green space for people to explore.

More than 150,000 people have visited our reservoirs since we started opening them for recreational access and to be able to offer on-water access at Myponga will attract a whole new range of visitors to the region.

The increase in visitor numbers has been a big boost to our regional economies and businesses in Myponga and the Barossa Valley have reported a significant upturn in activity.

To have South Australians be able to go out on a kayak or drop a line for fishing at reservoirs across our state is an opportunity which will have significant environmental, social and economic benefits for generations to come.

The Marshall Liberal Government is investing a record $130 million across South Australias parks to boost nature-based tourism, create local jobs and improve conservation.

Protecting the health and quality of our drinking water supplies remains the priority and this has been possible thanks to improved water treatment plants, detailed water quality risk assessments, as well as increased site security and water quality control measures.

Signage at reservoir reserves clearly explain the dos and donts and its important all visitors to these places observe these simple rules while having a fun day.

More information about recreational access at South Australias reservoir reserves including conditions of entry can be found at reservoirs.sa.gov.au.

Myponga Reservoir Reserve is open for land-based recreational activities and shoreline fishing is also available with a permit. On-water access for kayaking available from 28 March 2021.

Bundaleer and South Para reservoir reserves are open for fishing, kayaking, walking, and cycling.

Hope Valley Reservoir Reserve is open for land-based activities including walking, running, cycling, and picnicking.

Happy Valley Reservoir Reserve will offer kayaking, fishing, walking, and cycling opportunities by the end of this year.

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Improved reservoir access just in time for Easter - Premier of South Australia

But viewing protests in the country receiving support from outside as synchronised acts is not necessarily or always an act of wisdom. With globalisation of the economy and extreme extraction of profit and natural resources, states are increasingly seen as siding with Capital and with powerful capitalists. It is easy to see why popular and individual voices are raised against such bias and inequality.

It is when the state fails to be responsive to protests and people that protests draw international attention and support. Support for Indian farmers have come from not just farmers in the US, Canada and Australia but also from the British Parliament and one of the most progressive Hollywood actresses, Susan Sarandon.

Sarandon, it is worth pointing out, has been the face of demands for raising daily minimum wages for American women. But she also criticised Hillary Clinton, with whom she had a close rapport, for waging war across the globe. If her support to Indian farmers is labelled as her opposition to the Indian Government or the ruling party, the media advisors to the government need to be changed.

Soros and his Open Society came up in eastern and central Europe after totalitarian communist governments collapsed in 1989. Soros and his Foundation supported the minorities and the persecuted, Jewish, Roma and others. His cause was seen as aligned with the larger American goal of freedom and his investment in such projects linked to globalisation of capital.

The Central European University which he set up has done enormous work in creating a new rung of an Eastern European, English- speaking elite committed to some sort of universal academic ethos. It was a praiseworthy exercise.

One may well have reservations about ulterior financial motives, i.e., fostering globalisation, but his critique of human rights violations in India by themselves do not call for a vilification campaign based on what he allegedly encouraged in central and eastern Europe and where of late he has been vilified.

Continued here:
Blaming others for our own failures - National Herald

There are very few persons in India, I suppose, whether they are Indians or Englishmen, who have for years past so consistently raised their voices against fascism and Nazism as I have done. My whole nature rebelled against them and, on many an occasion, I vehemently criticised the pro-fascist and appeasement policy of the British Government.

That is why we must dissociate ourselves from this war and advise our people to do likewise and not help in any way with money or menI stand before you, Sir, as an individual being tried for certain offences against the state. You are a symbol of that state. But I am also something more than an individual. I too am a symbol at the present moment, a symbol of Indian nationalism, resolved to break away from the British Empire and achieve the independence of India.

It is not me that you are seeking to judge and condemn, but rather the hundreds of millions of the people of India, and that is a large task even for a proud Empire. Perhaps it may be that though I am standing before you on my trial, it is the British Empire itself that is on trial before the bar of the world.

There are more powerful forces at work in the world today than courts of law; there are elemental urges for freedom and food and security which are moving vast masses of people, and history is being moulded by them. The future recorder of this history might well say that, in the hour of supreme trial, the Government of Britain and the people of Britain failed because they were drunk with the wine of imperialism and could not adapt themselves to a changing world. He may muse over fate, of empires which have always fallen because of this weakness, and call it destiny

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Not Nehru, but Government on trial - National Herald

Facebook on Wednesday announced it would restrict Australians from accessing news articles on its platform. Richard Drew/AP hide caption

Facebook on Wednesday announced it would restrict Australians from accessing news articles on its platform.

Updated 6:22 p.m. ET

Facebook said Wednesday that it is preventing people inside Australia from accessing news stories on its platform. In addition, Facebook users elsewhere will not be able to view or share news stories from Australian outlets. The moves are a response to proposed legislation that would force social media platforms to pay Australian news organizations for links shared on its sites.

Facebook's announcement came the same day Google said it had reached a deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which owns Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, to pay for its journalism.

Facebook, however, chose the nuclear option rather than bargain with news publishers in Australia.

"Today we made an incredibly difficult decision to restrict the availability of news on Facebook in Australia," said Campbell Brown, Facebook's vice president of global news partnerships, in a blog post. "What the proposed law introduced in Australia fails to recognize is the fundamental nature of the relationship between our platform and publishers."

News publishers, according to Brown, choose to share stories on Facebook, which allows the outlets to find new readers and subscribers, leading to revenue the news organizations would not have found without the social network.

Media organizations in country, like the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, have expressed dismay over Facebook's move.

"Despite key issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic having ongoing effects on all Australians, Facebook has today removed important and credible news and information sources from its Australian platform," David Anderson, the broadcaster's managing director, said in a statement. "We will continue our discussions with Facebook today following this development."

Under the proposed Australian legislation, platforms would have to negotiate with publishers over access to links to news stories. If no deal is reached, the tech companies and media organizations would move to arbitration. In addition, the bill requires platforms to give news outlets notice when algorithms are changed that may affect the visibility and reach of news stories.

The law could pass in the Australian Parliament as soon as this month. For years, Australian-born Murdoch has been lobbying the government to push tech companies to pony up for news articles linked in search results and social media. The agreement Murdoch struck with Google is a three-year deal under which News Corp. will receive "significant payments" from Google for featuring stories from publications based in the U.S., U.K. and Australia

Facebook and Google have vigorously fought the proposed legislation in Australia and have publicly threatened to pull out of the country over the effort to compensate news organizations.

Siva Vaidhyanathan, a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, said the proposed law is an attempt to reinvigorate flailing news organizations, which have seen substantial amounts of advertising revenue siphoned by tech giants like Facebook and Google.

"It's not about the money. It's about the fact that Facebook wants to maintain its powerful position everywhere in the world," Vaidhyanathan said of Facebook's resistance. He said the social network's fight shows it hopes to "continue to build their fortunes off the work of others."

Other experts said Facebook playing hardball with Australia is likely intended to send a message to other governments mulling proposals to push platforms to pay news publishers.

"It is kind of a stark reminder of the control that they have over what people see and obviously with respect to people who use Facebook as their primary source of news," said Enrique Armijo, First Amendment and technology professor at Yale Law School.

"This could have serious consequences. And I think any government that's trying to be kind of interventionist in this area is going to be more mindful now that Facebook," he said, "at least has the intention of shutting down news access on the platform entirely."

While Australia's news market is substantially smaller than the U.S., tech companies and lawmakers are carefully watching the proposal.

At least one tech giant, Microsoft, would like to see a version of Australia's plan in this country.

Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post last week that the well-financed tech sector has an obligation to support independent journalism.

"The United States should not object to a creative Australian proposal that strengthens democracy by requiring tech companies to support a free press," Smith wrote. "It should copy it instead."

Facebook has paid publishers in limited circumstances, including to license headlines and for story summaries to be featured on the platform.

"We pay hundreds of publishers for access to more of their content for Facebook News, a product we're working to bring to more countries this year," Facebook's Brown wrote.

"I think a lot of countries are going to wait and see how this works out in Australia," Vaidhyanathan of the University of Virginia, added.

"Will one side blink or will Facebook just keep going with this petulant attitude until everybody forgets about it and life goes on without Australian news services flowing on Facebook?" he said. "That's not the worst possible outcome. As long as these news organizations remain viable and independent, reporting can remain viable."

Editor's note: Facebook, Google and Microsoft are among NPR's financial supporters.

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Facebook Blocks News In Australia Over Government Plan To Force Payment To Publishers - NPR

EXCLUSIVE: Crackles financial-makeover hit Going from Broke is overhauling production methods for its upcoming second season in an effort to depict the impact of Covid-19.

The Ashton Kutcher-produced show, whose debut season drew more than 17 million views to become the streaming services biggest original series, features college students and graduates grappling with debt. Student debt now affects some 44 million borrowers with $1.7 trillion in outstanding loans, a burden that has exponentially increased for many Americans during Covid-19.

Season 1 premiered in October 2019, and by the time work began on a new season, the coronavirus pandemic had shut down production in much of the world. Even once shooting was allowed to resume, the producers of Broke felt the shows mission compelled it to reflect the financial impact of the pandemic. That would mean a different approach.

The new season, produced by Flicker Filmworks, is set to begin streaming in March. Episodes will be shot over a six-week period beginning later this month. In its new format, the show will follow six new cast members from around the country, documenting their emotional financial makeovers. In May, finished episodes for the full season will debut on Crackle, revealing whether each cast member has succeeded in going from broke.

New material is expected to surface within as few as 48 hours of shooting, some of it as minisodes streaming on Crackle and some on social media and digital platforms. Along the way, Kutcher and Dan Rosensweig, CEO of student services firm Chegg and host of every episode, will conduct a conversation across media platforms about student debt and the financial turmoil of the pandemic.

In a press release, Kutcher said,This awesome production model brings viewers inside the transformation process. Going From Broke is the first makeover show that invites the audience to engage with the cast, financial experts and each other across social media while watching the process unfold live.'

In an interview with Deadline, Crackle Plus president Philippe Guelton said altering the approach to production was a way to capture the fragile emotional state of the country. The new way of producing the show will enable us to go more in-depth than the first season, which featured closed-end, stand-alone episodes.

Covid-19 has exacerbated the dire financial situation that so many young people already found themselves in, Rosensweig added in the press release. In the second season, he continued, the stakes are higher; people are struggling with unemployment, mounting debt, and potentially physical and mental health issues. We have the opportunity to provide a lifeline and help them get back on track, working with them in real-time to get them on the path to financial freedom.

Crackle is now controlled by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, whose Crackle Plus unit also includes other ad-supported streaming services. The company took over operations of the 17-year-old service in 2019, assuming full ownership at the end of 2020.

From a business standpoint, Guelton said, the financial model established by Going from Broke is attractive for Crackle and Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. Brand integrations by Chegg and other companies essentially fund the shows production. Crackle, he said, hasnt completely abandoned the scripted series it was known for in the Sony days, when its slate featured dramas like The Oath and The Art of More. But unscripted fare, especially in sports has helped it gain traction with viewers and advertisers. It also helps the company depend less on the costlier prospect of facing off against Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and a host of well-funded new streaming players.

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Crackles Ashton Kutcher-Backed Hit Going From Broke Alters Season 2 Production Methods In Bid To Capture Real-Time Covid-19 Issues - Deadline