@vivsmythe
ex-blogger & current #GuardianAus minion (views my own) - signal-boosting, socialising, snark Alt text - Avatar: cockatoo headshot, sulphur crest raised. Banner: sunrise above low hills and a lake, large trees in the foreground, puffy clouds up high.
"panel discussions left with just one participant .. stage interviews with just a questioner" as sponsors teeter and Festival board has no quorum.
Can Adelaide Writers Week be saved?
#auspol @kimwingerei.bsky.social
michaelwest.com.au/adelaide-wri...
Hello, it's a bit more complicated than that.
I was part of a forum where the acronym was initiated, where most users were pseudonymous (many had kids in school). My kids grew up, I was more open about my name, so ended up with all the credit. Me in Grauniad:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
We occasionally see some rosellas around our Sydney neighborhood. More common parrot sightings of lorikeets, corellas, galahs and the occasional sulphur-crested cockatoo.
I don't know why this lad is building a subterranean city for cats, but I'm all for it.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Sent a warning by Israeli intelligence to stop reporting. When he refused, his father was killed in an airstrike. Dahdouh told its a dangerous job, no one would fault him for returning to his wife &child. He refused, & was decapitated in a targeted strike.
Gone.
Dolly Parton who has gifted 287,502,435 books to inspire young children with the love of reading. The key to a lifetime’s fun & mind expanding ideas.
This amazing woman has gifted millions of children with a book to start them off on a lifelong exploration of new worlds, histories,cultures, ideas & entertainment.
A very good article and worth reading.
The key line for me was the question on relying on US support, where Evans questions whether we ever really could. The answer is no. The alliance was always one sided, and there is reasonable evidence to suggest that the U.S. denied assistance in the past. 🧵
Eva Marie Saint , left at her 100 yo celebration, right as a young actress.
Bill Withers
Born today- the great Eva Marie Saint, still alive at 101(!) and Bill Withers, who passed in 2020
I feel seen. Dammit.
Outerborough New Yorker of a certain age who grew up in the real estate business damn well knows what it means, meant what he said, and relishes the reaction.
This, of course, is why the Project 2025 architects are systematically dismantling anything that provides for the common good in any way.
They are hoping scared, desperate people will be too busy fighting over scraps to mount a resistance.
On the Fourth of July, I’d love to see them proven wrong.
This 🧵.
For US corporate media, the only thing worse than a Muslim politician is
a principled, disciplined, truth-telling, popular, courageous Muslim politician.
All too familiar.
Hopefully the Murdochs have the same 'success' in their campaigning for fellow billionaires as they did in the Australian election.
Cuomo had the endorsements, the money, and the party machine behind him. But Zohran Mamdani had a coalition that cut across age, race, and boroughs—and it carried him to victory in NYC's mayoral primary. Now, Democrats are asking: is Mamdani’s win a one-off or a model for the party’s future?
"A survey by Oxfam found that 86% of people supported paying for public services by 'closing loopholes' that allow wealthy individuals and large corporations to use tax havens."
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ju...
“It’s gaslighting, because you have to actually reduce emissions or climate change will just run away"
OK, there is a difference between the Coalition and Labor on climate policy:
The LNP has no interest in carbon reduction.
The Albanese govt just pretends to.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
@clairewillett honestly the best marketing scheme in history is men successfully getting away with calling women the "more emotional" gender for like, EONS, because they've successfully rebranded anger as Not An Emotion 6:00 PM • Aug 12, 2020
once again I must tap my own sign
Well well well: who could have foreseen this meeting of egos turning so sour?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
As winter is upon us - We are in breeding season 2025: Pewter the Powerful Owl upon-clean-creek with ringtail prey dinner for his mate Sheba in the hollow #birds
The problem is that Twitter really was the last big critical mass of people who were on a social media platform that was difficult to monetise. Facebook and insta have become completely enshittified, blogsites died with the pivot to video.
Twitter was the last major non-commodified community space.
Other countries tax their oil and gas industries. Australia subsidies ours.
Our research found while gas prices boomed in 2022, LNG companies made windfall gains of up to $40 billion. PRRT take increased by less than $1 billion.
It's time to fix the tax loopholes that Big Gas exploits. #auspol
Rather shockingly, this video is no longer on the ABC's website
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...
Screen shot of the process
Just in case your #cyber threat landscape wasn’t busy enough self replicating #AI is here 😱
https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.12140
This government approving the further destruction of Murujuga will devastate rock art over 50000 years old and add momentum to climate collapse for every future generation.
They’re pulling off the most epoch spanning crime in human history.
So congrats I guess.
Ginger cat, longhaired, pretending to not want chin scritches
Pussycat likes scritches
Wow.
There really is no bottom, is there?
It's very nice out there right now, agreed.
"Norway's (Equinor's) oil and gas extraction has caused climate damage of over 2000 billion kroner according to a new study. It is difficult to find words to describe the actions of the oil state, they know that they are causing death and suffering, but the pursuit of money controls everything."
