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Top Ten Things To Do During The COVID-19 Lockdown

by SpeakTruth

2 April 2020 5 yrs

So, you find yourself house-bound at home and the novelty of not going to work has well and truly worn off. What are you going to do with yourself over the next 90 days, or, heaven forbid, the unforeseeable future? Here is a list of […]

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by SpeakTruth

6 October 2024 6 dys

What Is Freedom?

Freedom is a word with a lot of baggage in America. Think about free speech! The land of the free. The free market. Kris Kristofferson, who died this week, famously sang – “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Americans are inundated with this term and have been since the inception of their country. What is freedom? According to the Oxford Dictionary:

1. The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. “we do have some freedom of choice” Similar: right to entitlement to privilege prerogative due

2. the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. “the shark thrashed its way to freedom”

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close up of british shorthair cat relaxing indoors

by SpeakTruth

30 September 2024 2 weeks

Another Lazy Thinking Way Of Operating

There is no left or right, not really, not in political terms. There are many shades of thought and philosophies existing and interacting around the place at any one time in history. Grouping everything into a binary is just another lazy thinking way of operating. It is similar to focusing on one individual at the expense of acknowledging teams and organisations being responsible for actions, achievements and perceived failures. This all comes down to how we like to tell stories and the kind of stories we most like consuming. We, as human beings, shift the emphasis within episodic events to make them more coherent and linked to a central theme or character. We strip out the stuff we judge as tangential and beef up what we want to shine through.

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by SpeakTruth

20 September 2024 3 weeks

Greed Gave Us The GFC & We Have Been Paying Ever Since

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) grew out of the wage suppressing impacts of neoliberalism and its response to the lack of domestic economic demand and growth this engendered within Western economies in the late Eighties and Nineties. Manufacturing jobs were moved offshore to cheaper labour […]

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.

This coastal headland has just been sold to a private buyer. Could the Queensland government take it from him? 12 October 2024
A 45-year-old inventor has bought a sought-after beachfront property, vowing to clear it of debris and rogue four-wheel drivers. But Labor has threatened to compulsorily acquire the land and it's taking that position to an election.
Christopher Testa
Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win 12 October 2024
Major South Korean bookstores sell out of author Han Kang's books, as sales skyrocket and the share price of local publishers soar following her historic Nobel Prize win.
Electoral commission warns of falsehoods, mistruths that could sway Queensland poll 12 October 2024
The Queensland election campaign began on October 1 but the fight against misinformation began far earlier.
Owen Jacques and Alexandria Utting
Students camped in branches, placards in windows and 100s of protesters saved these gums 12 October 2024
Planted to mark Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897, Guildford fought to save its beloved sugar gum trees for the next 100 years. Now, the town celebrates its win each year.
Kate Leaver
Four officers, dog allegedly assaulted by man who tried to commandeer charter bus 12 October 2024
Police say an intoxicated man entered a chartered coach loaded with passengers in Adelaide this morning and attempted to drive it away.
Bullsbrook residents have been promised they'll finally get safe drinking water in 2026, but some are sceptical 12 October 2024
The Department of Defence says Bullsbrook residents in Perth's east will no longer have to rely on bottled water after PFAS contamination from Pearce air base ruined their tap water, but some say they've heard it all before.
Blake Kagi
South Australian wine growers plead for help as frost 'disaster' hits 80 per cent of grapes 12 October 2024
Farmers in Australia's largest wine grape growing region are still counting losses from severe frost last month and there is no help on the horizon.
Jessica Schremmer and Will Hunter
'A major cost-of-living issue': Labor promises to fund 50 new bulk-billing GP clinics 11 October 2024
The 50 new bulk-billing GP clinics will be established somewhere in Queensland if a Labor government is re-elected, the ALP announced today.
Alex Brewster and Rachel Stewart
How desert reggae has emerged as the soundtrack to Australia's Red Centre 11 October 2024
Bands like the Daylight Reggae are helping young people find their voice in some of Australia's most isolated communities.
Giulia Bertoglio and Emily JB Smith
Boeing to lay off 17,000 employees ahead of expected record losses 11 October 2024
The plane-maker has been plagued by safety concerns about its aircraft, while struggling to strike a deal with about 33,000 factory workers in the US.
Investors 'voting with their feet' as Victoria sees record fall in rental stock 11 October 2024
Victoria is experiencing the sharpest fall in rental stock since record keeping began in 1999, suggesting an investor sell-off is gaining pace.
Geraden Cann
'City slickers' welcomed by country town in 1968 return with an epic silo slide show 11 October 2024
Decades after their last visit, three siblings have come back to the tiny wheatbelt town of their childhoods, with a projector in tow and a plan to wow their former community.
Amelia Costigan
Lebanese firefighters and paramedics allege Israeli military strikes are putting them in danger 11 October 2024
Lebanese firefighters and paramedics claim they have been fired upon, or warned by the Israeli military not to rescue people or put out fires caused by bombing.
Eric Tlozek
Report into lives of NT children in detention released days out from controversial law change 11 October 2024
A scathing report examining the experiences of a small group of NT children held in detention has been released just days before the territory government intends to lower the age of criminal responsibility.
Olivana Lathouris and Samantha Dick
'Never have a fixture like this again': AFLW schedule under fire after Essendon's 'scrappy' win over Bulldogs 11 October 2024
There are calls for the AFLW to admit it was wrong and scrap the condensed fixture that has seen Essendon win four games in 15 days.
Inner-Brisbane seats Cooper and McConnel top targets for Greens in Queensland election 11 October 2024
The Greens are hunting a string of inner-Brisbane electorates as they aim to boost their numbers in the next Queensland parliament and the race is set to be tight in two Labor-held seats.
Antonia O'Flaherty
Five teenagers charged after three youths allegedly stabbed in shopping centre food court fight 11 October 2024
Police have charged five teenagers who they alleged got into a brawl involving a box cutter in the Doncaster Shopping Centre food court.
Violent guest jailed for attempting to kill host he had just met 11 October 2024
A Canberra man invited home to drink alcohol and take drugs by a couple he'd befriended at the shops, is sentenced to more than 13 years behind bars, after he tried to kill one of his hosts.
Elizabeth Byrne
How AI is allowing cows to send messages to farmers when they're giving birth 11 October 2024
Farmers around Australia are jumping on the AI bandwagon to boost production outputs and become more efficient. Experts say the technology has the potential to transform how we produce food and fibres.
Tim Lee
From invincible to vulnerable: Christopher Reeve's story is one of resilience and determination 11 October 2024
Super/Man offers an intimate glimpse behind the actor's journey, from the dizzy heights of stardom to the struggle that would eventually lead to his death, at age 52.
Luke Goodsell