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A Brand is Not a Product it is So Much More

by SpeakTruth

12 February 2018 7 yrs

We live in a consumer society. Many of us are crowded into urban coastal cities; where what we wear, drive, and consume defines who we are. A brand is not a product, it is so much more in the twenty first century. Things must have […]

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by SpeakTruth

6 December 2024 4 dys

Computer Trouble On The Horizon: Post Office Scandal

Many folk have been following the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and many more have watched the Mister Bates vs The Post Office drama screened on TV. It is an emotive set of circumstances and an injustice on a grand scale. It, also, presages future issues with AI taking over the lives of workers and people, more generally. Computer trouble on the Horizon: Post Office scandal. It rang true for me and captured my interest as soon as it was brought to my attention. Possibly because I grew up in a small family business with a sub branch of the Post Office contained within it.

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by SpeakTruth

14 November 2024 4 weeks

Being Stoic: What Is It?

I could begin with a brief history lesson about Stoicism but this is not the essence of it. Being Stoic: What is it? Doing stuff you don’t want to do but know that you have to do anyway. The expression ‘soldiering on,’ invariably comes to mind, as soldiers have to do a lot of shitty things they really would rather not. Duty is a big one for Stoics. Virtue, even, more so. WTF is virtue anyway? It is a word, which has not stood the test of time. It exists as an anachronism, a term draped in cobwebs and an echo from the ancient world. This is old stuff and does it truly having any bearing on our lives today?

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man in blue denim vest and black cap sitting on brown wooden chair

by SpeakTruth

12 November 2024 4 weeks

Why Appealing To White Working Class Folk Is A Race To The Bottom?

Democrats in America are scratching their heads over Trump’s victory in the recent presidential election. Soul searching is going on, as to how they lost this contest. Democratic elections are popularity contests. They are part evaluations, part bribery, and mirrors held up to societies. Op eds are being written about the role of working class America in the outcome. Chasing this vote is problematic in my view. Why appealing to white working class folk is a race to the bottom? Demagogues, like Donald Trump, falsely court this vote and pretend to champion their grievances. Trump did not deliver for them the first time around and will not again. It is a cynical game and losers always lose out in the end.

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Midas Word Follow

SpeakTruth

Midas Word @midasword ·

7 Dec

The rentier economy is everywhere. Have a look at your bank account statements if you doubt my appraisal of the situation. You cannot scratch yourself without incurring a charge.

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Midas Word @midasword ·

7 Dec

There is no freedom left in Australia, as cash money was the last bastion. It is a land of bankers, corporate bastards and complicit politicians.

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Midas Word @midasword ·

6 Dec

Each one of these were told when they rang the Horizon IT helpline that nobody else was experiencing these issues. They were blatantly lied to, as a company line – which must have been a scripted response

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Midas Word @midasword ·

23 Nov

As much as we like to focus on how wonderfully advanced we are by sending rockets to the moon etc. The truth is many of us remain violently rooted in the simian behaviour of our ancestors at times during our lives.

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Episode 12: The Politics of Grievance - Robert Sudha Hamilton's Podcast

America is the great democratic experiment. Although, this is getting on for some 250 years now. This nation is in the grip of the politics of grievance. Partisan politics in America is more about hating the other side than particularly loving the side you are voting for. Americans have been encouraged to focus their attention upon their grievances via decades of negative campaigning and attack ads. Demonizing ‘the other’ is the favoured political pastime in the 21C. Identity politics and social values are the main game these days. Economic issues are now seen through this ideological filter.Murdoch, Fox & Stirring Grievance In AmericaRupert Murdoch and his Fox News are merchants of toxic polarization. This network is spewing out lies and fake news 24/7. Every presentation is top heavy in anti-woke content and a right wing bias. Regular viewers are sucked into a spin cycle of libertarian anti-government GOP grievance stoking. Old white men upset at their changing worlds, where heaven forbid minorities are now getting a say. OMG the sky is going to fall in. In this partisan realm complaints about there being too many coloured faces on TV and LGBTQIA folk making too much noise are legion. Uppity women talking about sexual harassment and such like make their viewer’s blood boil – which is the whole idea for Fox. Getting their audience riled up keeps eyeballs on them and advertising rates going up for their revenue.Popularizing Poisonous Issues For Political GainThe politics of grievance is all about popularizing these causes for the benefit of candidates and the party. The party promoting these grievances doesn’t need positive policies. They just bang on about how the other side is to blame for the problem.

Spiked with opiates in her mid-40s, Mandy is reluctant to ever go out again 9 December 2024
Mandy* used to relish going out to see live music, but that joy was taken away from her when someone spiked her drink with opiates earlier this year.
Emma Pollard
Tens of thousands at risk of loan breaches as insurance costs soar 9 December 2024
Close to 200,000 households are either already breaching their mortgage contracts, or risk doing so, as the surging cost of home insurance forces many to dump their policies.
Nadia Daly
Australia's houses are the biggest in the world. Here's an alternative 9 December 2024
In the throes of a climate and cost-of-living crisis, Breathe Architecture founder Jeremy McLeod says it's time for Australia to rethink its unsustainable housing design "failure". His latest work, on show now at NGV International, shows exactly how we might go about it.
Anna Kelsey-Sugg
The productivity conundrum that will stop RBA from a festive rate cut 9 December 2024
It's the RBA's latest buzzword for justifying why interest rates need to remain at restrictive levels. But while everyone agrees we have a productivity problem, solving it is another challenge entirely.
Ian Verrender
Remote Aboriginal communities left offline in digital age shift 9 December 2024
These days, just about everything is being done online. But new research highlights how hard that's making life for thousands of Australians still living without phone and internet.
Erin Parke
New ACT laws to help domestic violence victims break rental leases 9 December 2024
Laws designed to assist victim-survivors of domestic violence in leaving abusive situations by breaking a lease take effect in the ACT today.
Preschool intervention dramatically reduces youth crime, study finds 9 December 2024
As the Queensland government debates laws to make the state safer, an Australian study spanning more than 20 years finds early preschool interventions can ensure children live a life without crime.
James Taylor
A transgender woman inside immigration detention says she feels trapped in 'horrific' conditions 9 December 2024
Kayla, whose name has been changed, is one of four transgender women transferred interstate into a New South Wales immigration detention facility this year.
Millie Roberts
Live: Former Syrian PM reportedly hands over power to rebel group 9 December 2024
Former prime minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali, who served under Bashar al-Assad's regime, was expected to lead a transitional government.
'It feels stressful': Syrians in Australia hold cautious hope their country can be rebuilt, as Assad regime ousted 9 December 2024
The Syrian community in Australia are rejoicing, following the Assad regime being overthrown by rebel forces, said refugee and Sydney business owner Sophie Bejek.
Isabella Ross
Violent offender repeatedly asks if he can 'stay in jail' during hearing ahead of release 9 December 2024
A repeat violent offender with 'one of the worst' records seen by a Supreme Court judge will be released from prison in two days; despite admitting he may not be able to comply with a supervision order.
Olivia Mason
Syrians recall prison horrors while celebrating Assad regime's fall 9 December 2024
Omar Alshogre, a former Syrian prisoner who survived torture in Assad's notorious Sednaya prison, says he is "joyous" about the fall of the Assad regime.
Under pressure Albanese calls in an anti-Semitism fighting squad 9 December 2024
The taskforce, belatedly created by the Albanese government after Friday's arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne, follows more than a year of what one senior Jewish community leader condemns as "paralysis by indecision".
Jacob Greber
With $2b in looted cash, the Assads may be headed to this luxe town 9 December 2024
With the Assads potentially headed to a luxe haven for exiles in Moscow, Vladimir Putin is left scrambling to save his two bases in Syria and maintain his foothold in the region.
Lucia Stein and Rebecca Armitage
Plan to cover up 'triggering' artwork of comic book killer dismays historians 9 December 2024
The New South Wales government says the artwork infamous murderer Leonard Lawson did on the old walls of Grafton Gaol must go before the site becomes part of a new hospital because it could be upsetting for staff.
Elloise Farrow-Smith, Hannah Ross, and Julie Ray
'It looked exactly like me': Melbourne doctor finds himself at centre of deepfake scam 9 December 2024
Online scammers are exploiting the faces and names of real Australian doctors to sell dietary supplements and peddle harmful medical advice, putting patients' health at risk.
Shelby Traynor and Olivia Willis
Farming family recognised for century's worth of rain data 9 December 2024
Thousands of Australians contribute data to the Bureau of Meteorology, but it's the Nichols family's multi-generational commitment that sets them apart.
Eliza Kloser
When magic struck twice at number 27 9 December 2024
In the hours before Suzy Wood died she heard one last song from a choir gathered outside her home. In the days afterwards, it emerged that it wasn't the first time magic had struck at number 27.
Tamara Oudyn
The counter-terrorism team investigating Melbourne's synagogue fire 9 December 2024
After it was declared a "likely terrorist incident", Australia's key security agencies are being brought together to investigate the arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne.
Steve Vivian
Three industries, three electorates and Labor facing a political wedge 9 December 2024
Tasmania has a way of wedging politicians between industry and the environment, between jobs and endangered species — with Labor and Liberal strategists well aware of the votes which are at stake.
Adam Holmes