Fancy seeing a headline like "Defense secretary ‘didn’t see’ evidence of an Iranian plot to attack 4 embassies." What a surprise, what a shock. Not. Mind you, he's only the Secretary of Defence.
The only surprise in the whole episode is that no-one has had the wit to use WMD as a justification for the action. There seem to be enough cloddish enough and close enough to Chief Clod to have floated that.
Trump claims Saudi Arabia has already deposited one billion dollars “in the bank” in exchange for US troops being sent. He then goes on to talk about South Korea paying $500 million for US troops defending them against North Korea. pic.twitter.com/Ocoo3D9Q8G
Not that they have offered a single explanation for why the assassination was carried out — their story has changed numerous times. But the justification they keep returning to is that intelligence indicated an “imminent" threat, that Soleimani was planning specific attacks against American interests and personnel, attacks that were so imminent that he had to be killed to stop them.
On the day the U.S. military killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad, U.S. forces carried out another top secret mission against a senior Iranian military official in Yemen, according to U.S. officials.
The strike targeting Abdul Reza Shahlai, a financier and key commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force who has been active in Yemen, did not result in his death, according to four U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The unsuccessful operation may indicate that the Trump administration’s killing of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani last week was part of a broader operation than previously explained, raising questions about whether the mission was designed to cripple the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or solely to prevent an imminent attack on Americans as originally stated.
The attempt to take out Shahlai simultaneously with Soleimani suggests that this wasn’t an isolated, defensive operation but may have been part of a broader attack on the Quds Force.
Well Yeah – But Faux News has an obviously higher security rating apparently than Congress. If those Dems in Congress – knew what was going on they might go and blab about it to the Russians!
Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador
Given there is a President in the White House who is quite open in his views about putting the US interests first and even has stated he would grab oil resources if necessary what I am interested in knowing is how those people who think that these views are exactly what drives US foreign policy any way think about the fact that the US is immediately invading Iran. If you think the US used the WMD fear as an excuse to attack Iraq and take the oil (the results of which suggest otherwise) then why isn't someone as blatantly pro-American interests not sending the Marines in to seize the Iranian oil assets in the Gulf?
So, why not now? Well, for one thing the US has ramped up its domestic oil production.
"Any attempt by oil producers to support high prices by cutting production is likely to be met by a surge of American oil. The United States oil industry has the ability to increase its rate of production by more than one million barrels of oil a day every year and has done so regularly since 2011." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/business/United-States-tight-oil-market.html
On a more practical level, Iraq was a totalitarian regime under a single tyrant (ISTR the yanks even started the shock&awe with an attempted decapitation strike against a restaurant Hussein was supposedly arranged to dine at).
Iran is a totalitarian regime that is operated by a more stable system which has some support and legitimacy at a local level. Additionally, it is well supplied with both domestically- and internationally-produced advanced weapons. A lot of the domestic stuff is vaporware (the stealth jet comes to mind) or gimmicky (the mg-mounted open-cockpit tankette is a bit of a joke), but they had at least one missile type able to consistently do precisions strikes against airbase hangers from hundreds of miles away, as well as advanced torpedoes.
Short answer: even the initial invasion stage will hurt a lot more than Iraq. Not the battle you want in any election year. No "mission accomplished" banners for this one.
NPR report this morning that a Pentagon official said the Patriot missile defense battery had earlier been removed from protecting al Asad base in Iraq where Iran fired ballistic missiles this week to Saudi Arabia.
The way in which the eu handled Greece, both before and after. Before in Greece borrowing, and after by cracking down, undermines Europe's independence. As Trump chides the eu to take up a larger share of world security, highly foolish for the USA but hey that's Trump. The Eu history of colonies, a world currency, would mean economic expansion outside of Europe. Imagine a greater common market.
History though, given the outcome of French former imperial colonies, suggest Napoleonic thinking still infects modern Europe, and undermines its future.
"Australia is guilty of ecocide. More than one billion animals have been killed in the multi-state bushfires, and that toll is expected to climb sharply. The scale of the loss of life is unprecedented and beyond comprehension."
But if we pass a law against ecocide, the Aussies will just ignore it, right? Plus the animals got killed by either God or Gaia, depending on your belief system, not the Aussie govt. Yeah, I know, who would expect a lawyer to be rational? 🙄
Nonetheless I can't help but feel she's on the right track, so maybe I'm just as irrational. I was pleased to see her quoting international law context:
"The late British barrister Polly Higgins led a decade-long campaign to make ecocide a crime. In a submission to the United Nations Law Commission in 2010, she explained ecocide as being "the loss, damage or destruction of ecosystem(s) of a given territory … such that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants has been or will be severely diminished." Ecocide covers the direct damage done to sea, land, flora and fauna, as well as the cascading impact on the world's climate. The term was first used in the 1970s at the Conference on War and National Responsibility in Washington, and academics and lawyers have in the decades since then argued for the criminalisation of ecocide."
"Ecocide would sit alongside the four other international crimes – genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression – which are set out in the 1998 Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court."
"Higgins' website, http://www.ecocidelaw.com, explains that there is currently no international, legally binding duty of care towards the Earth. This means that companies can destroy environments and communities for profit without fear of prosecution." This problem has been evident most of my life and I'm delighted to see her initiative.
"Ecological Defence Integrity was founded by Higgins and Jojo Mehta in June 2017 to lobby for the creation of a crime of ecocide under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. It launched the public campaign Stop Ecocide in November 2017… Ecocide is already recognised as a crime in 10 nations, including the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Vietnam and Belarus."
Aotearoa needs to pull finger, get into catch-up mode, eh? The Green Party ought to get onto it pronto.
"Four elements would comprise the crime of ecocide:
* A perpetrator's acts or omissions causing ecocide
* The actions severely diminishing peace
* The perpetrator having knowledge of actual or possible outcomes; and
* The perpetrator being a senior official."
First element is essential, the fourth needs amendment because official implies govt & therefore lets corporate offenders off the hook. The second requires a rewrite – no obvious link between peace & animal deaths. The third looks arguable: how can anyone prove knowledge of possible outcomes?? Clearly a work in progress…
OK so I've bored everyone witless on the MSR topic; I'd like to take a breather for a while and finish with this presentation. It's an excellent summary, not highly technical, accessible, realistic and inspiring. It doesn't shy away from the challenges.
Look like the poor bloody Kola is now a endangered species with the current Oz bushfires and I wonder what else has suffered in the plant and animal kingdom over in Oz of late?
I fear for the wombat. Underground they might just survive – I sure hope so. And those echinda – They don't run too fast. But there are so many, and so unique, this is the beginning of the end for many I fear.,
Apparently fire threatened beasties are taking shelter in wombat burrows.
A grey Dorset morning. Shaking, the Koala had received a telegram from his friend, a Wombat from the Blue Mountains: All well. STOP. Opened up home. STOP. Big crowd down here. STOP. Wallabies, Lyrebirds, Rabbits. STOP. Morale better from rain. STOP. Trying to get everyone. STOP. pic.twitter.com/AgKSy8Fvub
Smaller animals will happily crash a wombat burrow if it means surviving a fire. Burrows buffer animals from the heat of fires, depending on their depth and nearby fuel loads.
One of my favourite jaunts when visiting the mokopuna in Perth is a trip to the WA Zoo especially to visit the wombats, koala, tree kangaroo, and if they are around the Quokka – who have to rival the koala for cuteness. 🙂
I forgot about those wee hairy breasts, I did an Ex (well we spent more time drinking in the down at Anglers Rest pub and trout fishing than chasing a bunch of muppets through the Bush as there were more important things to Lol.) around Anglers Rest, Vic in 01 and there was a lot of those wee hairy beastie's among other things like Platypus's in the river etc etc which quite nice to see in the wild.
I fear for most Australian wildlife – not so much for the supposedly civilised.
At least the wildlife have probably not come across the saying "None so Blind………" (except some of that bloody Abbo wildlife of course – who probably invented the saying in the first place)
Edit: There probably needs to be a ‘/sarc” at the end of all that – just in case
50% of Kangroo Island is wipe out so far and there was some interesting wildlife that was endangered as well. Last heard that there was a small patch of unburnt bush and there's a mad rush to cat/ dog proof that area before the feral animals move in.
The first rule of climate change denial. Don't talk about climate change.
(The climate change ignorers are having too much to deny.)
Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly responded to a tweet by Barack Obama by saying climate change was not connected with the bushfire that has burnt almost half of the 4,400-square-kilometre island.
"So, so foolish in your pronouncement. My respect for you has totally evaporated. Pathetic," Mr Pengilly said of the former president on Twitter.
Mr Obama had tweeted a New York magazine article criticising the lack of international media coverage of the blazes….
"I don't think he should have entered into it," he said….
…..Opposition environment spokeswoman Susan Close said Mr Pengilly was "wrong is to ignore scientific evidence and to dismiss it in a very brief tweet"…..
….."The onus is on Michael Pengilly to explain why he thinks talking about climate change — when we're already at 1 degree Celsius of warming across the planet — is 'foolish' or 'pathetic'."
And there are various volunteers from around the Whurl I hear that are doing their best to save what's left in various places. Huge huge kudos to them – in the scheme of things, it may prove to be all a little pathetic. Such is the nature of the shit we are going to have to face from here on in.
I wonder how the pentecostal are all feeling now that the great exorcism is, and has taken place, and what plans they have for healing (going forward and in the fullness of time – in this space)
Btw @ ExKiwiforces – why the fuck are you still there? (just curious). Family? Relatives? Livelihood?. It might soon prove to be a livelihood that's really not worth having – so prepare yourself to become an economic migrant, a "queue jumper", call it what you will. Make sure you don't come back on a rickety boat tho' eh bro
I'm in Oz mainly for lifestyle reasons now as my poor old at the age of 46 can't handle the cold anymore as I have osteoarthritis and the wife works from the NT public service in the log cell for the NT PFES (Police, Fire and Civil Defence Service). Or else I would be back home probably on the Coast somewhere aka Nth of Greymouth or in the Golden Bay area close to the bush and rivers where I can live of the land, run a few sheep or cattle and dabble in a bit Gold panning or in a bit of research if I was to live in the Blackball.
The wife does love the Coast as well and found it rather cool with native wildlife running about on one of the cousins properties aka Kiwi's, weka's and Pigeons etc with me knock off any feral animals etc. But I think we are going to move the Mareeba in the end and there is a enough to keep me busy there from Warbirds, to Tanks (there is tank museum at Mareeba), old Trains and a bit of Fire Fighting, but close for her to visit Cairns and its has an Airport, the Tilt Train to Bris Vergas and a Base Hospital.
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
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TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
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Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
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An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
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Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve BrauniasFICTION 1 Tell Me Lies by J.P. Pomare (Hachette, $29.99) Every January, there's a new best-selling crime thriller by the New Zealand-born author who lives in Melbourne. Pomare is ...
Our approach so far in trying to end what Dr Collin Tukuitonga describes as a 'racist' disease - rheumatic fever - has not worked. It's time we try something new, he writes. Acute rheumatic fever and the rheumatic heart disease it causes, long-known as a disease of poverty, is a blight on ...
New Zealand triple-code star, Anna Harrison, can't stop returning to the courts - whether it's netball or beach volleyball. She tells Ashley Stanley what keeps drawing her back. The day before Anna Harrison leaps back into netball, she will have one more hit-out at another of her favourite old sports ...
The lights are burning into the night at the New York Yacht Club's America's Cup base as they race to fix their damaged boat. And Suzanne McFadden discovers something surprising may emerge. Out of American Magic’s calamity may come opportunity - for even more speed. While the lights burn bright ...
New to sailing? With the Prada Cup resuming this weekend, here’s how to bluff your way into sounding like a pro. When I was 10, my mum made my brother and I join the local sailing club. It was a favourite pastime of families in Kerikeri, and my brother was actually ...
A formal complaint to the UN, signed by a NZ Muslim group, says France’s Islamophobic laws and policies are entrenching discrimination and breaching human rights laws. The Khadija Leadership Network has joined a global coalition of Muslim organisations to formally complain about the French government’s systemic entrenchment of Islamophobia and discrimination against ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and a lineup of incredibly successful New Zealand women as they confront their imposter syndrome once and for all. First published 20 October, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members ...
With criticism from National piling on over the property market, the prime minister has detailed when the government will make housing announcements. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco Rizzi, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Western Australia Some Australians could be receiving a COVID-19 vaccine within weeks. Amid the continued spread of the virus and emergence of highly contagious variants, the federal government has accelerated the start of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Australia’s Threatened Species Strategy — a five-year plan for protecting our imperilled species and ecosystems — fizzled to an end last year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Lecturer, General Dentist & PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Baby teeth, or milk teeth, act like lighthouses to guide the adult ones to their correct destination. A baby tooth will become wobbly and fall out because the adult tooth ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Simon Coley, co-founder of All Good and Karma Drinks.Bananas are one of the ...
Tackling topics such as rugby and body image, Stuff’s latest podcast shines a much-needed light on Aotearoa’s complex relationship with masculinity, writes Trevor McKewen, author of the book Real Men Wear Black.I wasn’t sure what to think when two episodes of the new local podcast He’ll Be Right landed in ...
The Rainforest Alliance reveals that 68%* of Kiwis say the COVID-19 pandemic has made them more conscious about environmental and social sustainability issues. Seventy two percent* state that they have been trying to make more sustainable purchasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tama Leaver, Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin University The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has raised concerns that Australia’s proposed News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code could fundamentally break the internet as we know it. His concerns ...
ANALYSIS:By Scott Lucas, University of Birmingham Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path Two weeks after the storming of the US Capitol by the followers of his predecessor, in the middle of an out-of-control pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Cantrell, Lecturer, Creative Writing & English Literature, University of Southern Queensland Described as “the world’s greatest storyteller”, Roald Dahl is frequently ranked as the best children’s author of all time by teachers, authors and librarians. However, the new film adaptation of ...
Peak housing body, Community Housing Aotearoa (CHA) welcomes the updated Public Housing Plan announced today by Minister Woods, and the commitment by this Government to fix New Zealand’s housing crisis. The 8,000 additional homes are a significant ...
Having recently walked much of the South Island stretch of Te Araroa, Kirsten O’Regan reflects on the magnificent landscapes and interesting characters she encountered along the way.On our 36th day of walking, we climb through the fire-blackened hills above Ohau, stopping to examine heat-disfigured trail markers. Fresh green shoots have ...
Miss Torta in central Auckland is putting the spotlight on a snack that’s commonplace in Mexico, but until now relatively unknown in New Zealand.You’ve heard of a torta, but what is it, exactly? Well, depending on the cuisine it can mean a flatbread, cake, tart, sweet pie, savoury pie or ...
Two of three ministerial statements from the Beehive have been released in the name of the PM over the past two days. The more important, insofar as it involves political action that will affect the wellbeing of significant numbers of Kiwis, was the release of the government’s Public Housing Plan ...
Jacinda Ardern has reminded Labour MPs "ongoing vigilance" will be required in 2021 to avoid another Covid outbreak, admitting she held her breath over the summer break. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Pinged $65 for overstaying 10 minutes in a parking block? Put away your hard-earned cash and read this first.Hopefully, by now, I’ve already established myself at The Spinoff as the resident tightarse, determined to avoid all unfair and unnecessary punishments (see: oversize baggage charges). Today, I’m focusing my attention on ...
Nuclear weapons states and their allies risk reputational ruin if they flout a new UN Treaty, Carolina Panico argues The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will come into force this month, on January 22, 2021, turning nuclear weapons into illegal objects. It is an achievement that ...
How does one turn into a rabid extremist over the description of a children’s bike? Emily Writes looks at Facebook comments so you don’t have to.You’ve been there, I know it. You’re scrolling along, trying to avoid QAnon conspiracy theories and Trump apocalypse memes when a story catches your eye. ...
Joe Biden is now the President of the United States and many people across America and throughout the world will consequently be breathing more easily. But while the erratic, unpredictable and irresponsible years of the Trump Presidency may be over, ...
Tough border testing for New Zealand honey imports to Japan is re-igniting the conversation about the use of the weed killer glypohsate in New Zealand. ...
The Taxpayers Union should be aware of the law and of the history of ACC. The ACC is a legal system introduced in 1974 to replace the common law right of accident victims to sue for damages for personal injury sustained as a result of negligence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne Terrorism, political extremism, Donald Trump, social media and the phenomenon of “cancel culture” are confronting journalists with a range of agonising free-speech dilemmas to which there are no easy answers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Associate Professor of the Sydney Pharmacy School, University of Sydney You’ve just come from your monthly GP appointment with a new script for your ongoing medical condition. But your local pharmacy is out of stock of your usual medicine. Your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna D’Alessandro, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, University of Sydney On Wednesday this week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at at 415 parts per million (ppm). The level is the highest in human history, and is growing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It might be summer in New Zealand but we’re in for some wild weather this week with forecasts of heavy wind and rain, and a plunge in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Last week, the McIver’s Ladies Baths in Sydney came under fire for their (since removed) policy stating “only transgender women who’ve undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry”. The policy was ...
There are good grounds for optimism after the guardrails of American democracy held firm through to Joe Biden's inauguration today as President, writes Stephen Hoadley Pessimism abounds about the perilous condition of American democracy. Commentators and headline writers proffer memes such as ‘broken and divided nation’, ‘the threat from within’. ...
*This article was originally appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Donald Trump will forever be remembered as the president who was impeached twice - and for his rhetoric that struck a chord so deep in America that it will take years to dissipate. Donald Trump leaves Washington with the lowest approval ...
A new plan shows how and where the Government will build 8,000 new state housing places it funded in Budget 2020, Marc Daalder reports Jacinda Ardern has kicked off the political year with a major announcement, promising hundreds of new state housing places in regional centres across the country. With ...
This is the full transcript of President Joe Biden's speech after being sworn in at his inauguration this morning in Washington DC Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America's day. This ...
Analysis: President Donald Trump has left the White House, and his deputy chief of staff confirms he is withdrawing his candidacy to lead the OECD. New Zealander Christopher Liddell withdrew his nomination to be Secretary-General of the powerful 37-member OECD and was one of the last members of the Trump Administration to depart ...
Kate Wills is facing stage four cancer with the same fierce approach she takes into her ocean swimming - never say can't. Even on the mornings Kate Wills feels wretched from her fortnightly chemotherapy treatment, she drags herself up at 5am and goes swimming. “I have to. It’s my job – to ...
Some costs associated with meetings speak for themselves, others are less conspicuous. Victoria University of Wellington's Val Hooper lays those costs out, making suggestions on where we can rein them in. Meetings – when last did we count the costs? And so it’s back to work and one of the ...
Andrew Paul Wood assesses the best-selling picture book by Grahame Sydney It's no great secret the commercially very successful Grahame Sydney has a long-standing beef that his work doesn’t receive more critical and institutional approval. I sympathise about the lack of critical attention, but I can understand why. The Discourse™ ...
This story was produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations. It was originally published by Public Integrity, Mother Jones, The Arizona Republic and Orlando Sentinel. It is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the ...
Analysis: It has been easy to ignore anyone daring to criticise or even question any aspect of the government’s Covid-19 response. Their voices have rarely been heard, and when they have been raised they have been quickly and decisively howled down by the favoured coterie of academics. ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US presidential inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated through Wednesday and Thursday. The inauguration ceremony begins at 5.15am Thursday, NZ time, and Joe Biden takes the oath of office around 6am. 7.25am: And what about Trump?In the early hours of this morning, NZ ...
In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. Last month we quizzed Wellingtonians. Today, we ask NZ drivers how they’ve found a holiday period without international tourists, and what they get up to while they’re on the road.Across Aotearoa roads ...
Emmanuel Macron's anti-separatist policies have garnered backlash from the international Muslim community. Now, a global coalition has complained to the UN. ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they go on an odyssey of women’s rage, and find out how we can channel our anger into good. First published September 15, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by ...
By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
ANALYSIS:By Jennifer S. Hunt, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit different. If the last US presidential inauguration in 2017 debuted the phrase “alternative facts”, the ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby In spite of Papua New Guinea’s mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the National Pandemic Act 2020, many public servants attending a dedication service in Port Moresby have failed to wear one. They were issued masks before entering the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex but took ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University How do scabs form? — Talila, aged 8 Great question, Talila! Our skin has many different jobs. One is to act as a barrier, protecting us from harmful things in the ...
US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children — Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 — were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is “bullshit.” Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. It’s a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngā Tika ...
Fancy seeing a headline like "Defense secretary ‘didn’t see’ evidence of an Iranian plot to attack 4 embassies." What a surprise, what a shock. Not. Mind you, he's only the Secretary of Defence.
The only surprise in the whole episode is that no-one has had the wit to use WMD as a justification for the action. There seem to be enough cloddish enough and close enough to Chief Clod to have floated that.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/defense-secretary-esper-didnt-see-iran-threat-us-embassies-2020-1?r=US&IR=T
Bliss.
Working for for the Saudis.
Not that they have offered a single explanation for why the assassination was carried out — their story has changed numerous times. But the justification they keep returning to is that intelligence indicated an “imminent" threat, that Soleimani was planning specific attacks against American interests and personnel, attacks that were so imminent that he had to be killed to stop them.
But now we learn that much more appears to have been going on. That’s one key takeaway from this blockbuster scoop in The Post:
The attempt to take out Shahlai simultaneously with Soleimani suggests that this wasn’t an isolated, defensive operation but may have been part of a broader attack on the Quds Force.
http://archive.li/NNIH1
Watching the whole interview is more instructive than seeing just that clip. A child in action reliant on the audience being other children.
The imminent threat? 1:20 – 2:20
And not long after dissing NATO for their $3 billion building, uses, strange, strange his fave 'fake news.' Yes that building, the $1.45 billion one.
Apparently Suleimani was better on Twitter than Trump. Stinging comments. Ouch.
What else was God's Chosen to do with such an impious upstart?
Everything else is simply excuses and justification…
Well Yeah – But Faux News has an obviously higher security rating apparently than Congress. If those Dems in Congress – knew what was going on they might go and blab about it to the Russians!
Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html
Fox faux news update:
Trump said Iran were coming "for American Embassies" not "four American Embassies".
well he does not need to see anything, he just needs to sign the paper work.
Tāmaki Anarchist Bookfair 2020! If you have some free cash, then some fiscal help to run this event would be great.
More info in the link.
https://chuffed.org/project/tamaki-anarchist-bookfair-2020
Given there is a President in the White House who is quite open in his views about putting the US interests first and even has stated he would grab oil resources if necessary what I am interested in knowing is how those people who think that these views are exactly what drives US foreign policy any way think about the fact that the US is immediately invading Iran. If you think the US used the WMD fear as an excuse to attack Iraq and take the oil (the results of which suggest otherwise) then why isn't someone as blatantly pro-American interests not sending the Marines in to seize the Iranian oil assets in the Gulf?
"If you think the US used the WMD fear as an excuse to attack Iraq…"
Definitely do think that, and I'm not alone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationale_for_the_Iraq_War
So, why not now? Well, for one thing the US has ramped up its domestic oil production.
For someone who supposed to understand capitalism, your basic lack of understanding of market manipulation is hilarious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8Zb8615ib0&feature=em-uploademail&ab_channel=EmpireFiles
On a more practical level, Iraq was a totalitarian regime under a single tyrant (ISTR the yanks even started the shock&awe with an attempted decapitation strike against a restaurant Hussein was supposedly arranged to dine at).
Iran is a totalitarian regime that is operated by a more stable system which has some support and legitimacy at a local level. Additionally, it is well supplied with both domestically- and internationally-produced advanced weapons. A lot of the domestic stuff is vaporware (the stealth jet comes to mind) or gimmicky (the mg-mounted open-cockpit tankette is a bit of a joke), but they had at least one missile type able to consistently do precisions strikes against airbase hangers from hundreds of miles away, as well as advanced torpedoes.
Short answer: even the initial invasion stage will hurt a lot more than Iraq. Not the battle you want in any election year. No "mission accomplished" banners for this one.
At present, it appears that the US isn't far short of a totalitarian regime.
I was merely comparing the different governing structures of Iraq and Iran, and why Iran is a bigger problem for invaders than Iraq was.
Seems tRump put Saudi interests first.
The way in which the eu handled Greece, both before and after. Before in Greece borrowing, and after by cracking down, undermines Europe's independence. As Trump chides the eu to take up a larger share of world security, highly foolish for the USA but hey that's Trump. The Eu history of colonies, a world currency, would mean economic expansion outside of Europe. Imagine a greater common market.
History though, given the outcome of French former imperial colonies, suggest Napoleonic thinking still infects modern Europe, and undermines its future.
Eh??? What are you stating exactly?
Elementary, my dear Gosman !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirates_of_Penzance
Catriona MacLennan writes "we need a law against ecocide". I agree. She's "a barrister and founder of Animal Agenda Aotearoa". https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118704148/why-we-need-a-law-against-ecocide
"Australia is guilty of ecocide. More than one billion animals have been killed in the multi-state bushfires, and that toll is expected to climb sharply. The scale of the loss of life is unprecedented and beyond comprehension."
But if we pass a law against ecocide, the Aussies will just ignore it, right? Plus the animals got killed by either God or Gaia, depending on your belief system, not the Aussie govt. Yeah, I know, who would expect a lawyer to be rational? 🙄
Nonetheless I can't help but feel she's on the right track, so maybe I'm just as irrational. I was pleased to see her quoting international law context:
"The late British barrister Polly Higgins led a decade-long campaign to make ecocide a crime. In a submission to the United Nations Law Commission in 2010, she explained ecocide as being "the loss, damage or destruction of ecosystem(s) of a given territory … such that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants has been or will be severely diminished." Ecocide covers the direct damage done to sea, land, flora and fauna, as well as the cascading impact on the world's climate. The term was first used in the 1970s at the Conference on War and National Responsibility in Washington, and academics and lawyers have in the decades since then argued for the criminalisation of ecocide."
"Ecocide would sit alongside the four other international crimes – genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression – which are set out in the 1998 Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court."
"Higgins' website, http://www.ecocidelaw.com, explains that there is currently no international, legally binding duty of care towards the Earth. This means that companies can destroy environments and communities for profit without fear of prosecution." This problem has been evident most of my life and I'm delighted to see her initiative.
"Ecological Defence Integrity was founded by Higgins and Jojo Mehta in June 2017 to lobby for the creation of a crime of ecocide under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. It launched the public campaign Stop Ecocide in November 2017… Ecocide is already recognised as a crime in 10 nations, including the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Vietnam and Belarus."
Aotearoa needs to pull finger, get into catch-up mode, eh? The Green Party ought to get onto it pronto.
"Four elements would comprise the crime of ecocide:
* A perpetrator's acts or omissions causing ecocide
* The actions severely diminishing peace
* The perpetrator having knowledge of actual or possible outcomes; and
* The perpetrator being a senior official."
First element is essential, the fourth needs amendment because official implies govt & therefore lets corporate offenders off the hook. The second requires a rewrite – no obvious link between peace & animal deaths. The third looks arguable: how can anyone prove knowledge of possible outcomes?? Clearly a work in progress…
Interesting. I'd guess we're a decade or so from a widespread acceptance of this, but it's definitely doable.
OK so I've bored everyone witless on the MSR topic; I'd like to take a breather for a while and finish with this presentation. It's an excellent summary, not highly technical, accessible, realistic and inspiring. It doesn't shy away from the challenges.
The first 20 min are the essence of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIbeYKGqt3g
Thank you for defending America Mr Trump.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOGJ1lYWkAM5o5K?format=jpg&name=900×900
I think I'd replace the trenching tool with a suitable golf club…
Look like the poor bloody Kola is now a endangered species with the current Oz bushfires and I wonder what else has suffered in the plant and animal kingdom over in Oz of late?
https://mobile.twitter.com/australian
I fear for the wombat. Underground they might just survive – I sure hope so. And those echinda – They don't run too fast. But there are so many, and so unique, this is the beginning of the end for many I fear.,
Apparently fire threatened beasties are taking shelter in wombat burrows.
Smaller animals will happily crash a wombat burrow if it means surviving a fire. Burrows buffer animals from the heat of fires, depending on their depth and nearby fuel loads.
https://theconversation.com/animal-response-to-a-bushfire-is-astounding-these-are-the-tricks-they-use-to-survive-129327
Aww that's awesome Joe.
One of my favourite jaunts when visiting the mokopuna in Perth is a trip to the WA Zoo especially to visit the wombats, koala, tree kangaroo, and if they are around the Quokka – who have to rival the koala for cuteness. 🙂
I forgot about those wee hairy breasts, I did an Ex (well we spent more time drinking in the down at Anglers Rest pub and trout fishing than chasing a bunch of muppets through the Bush as there were more important things to Lol.) around Anglers Rest, Vic in 01 and there was a lot of those wee hairy beastie's among other things like Platypus's in the river etc etc which quite nice to see in the wild.
I fear for most Australian wildlife – not so much for the supposedly civilised.
At least the wildlife have probably not come across the saying "None so Blind………" (except some of that bloody Abbo wildlife of course – who probably invented the saying in the first place)
Edit: There probably needs to be a ‘/sarc” at the end of all that – just in case
50% of Kangroo Island is wipe out so far and there was some interesting wildlife that was endangered as well. Last heard that there was a small patch of unburnt bush and there's a mad rush to cat/ dog proof that area before the feral animals move in.
The first rule of climate change denial. Don't talk about climate change.
(The climate change ignorers are having too much to deny.)
And there are various volunteers from around the Whurl I hear that are doing their best to save what's left in various places. Huge huge kudos to them – in the scheme of things, it may prove to be all a little pathetic. Such is the nature of the shit we are going to have to face from here on in.
I wonder how the pentecostal are all feeling now that the great exorcism is, and has taken place, and what plans they have for healing (going forward and in the fullness of time – in this space)
Btw @ ExKiwiforces – why the fuck are you still there? (just curious). Family? Relatives? Livelihood?. It might soon prove to be a livelihood that's really not worth having – so prepare yourself to become an economic migrant, a "queue jumper", call it what you will. Make sure you don't come back on a rickety boat tho' eh bro
I'm in Oz mainly for lifestyle reasons now as my poor old at the age of 46 can't handle the cold anymore as I have osteoarthritis and the wife works from the NT public service in the log cell for the NT PFES (Police, Fire and Civil Defence Service). Or else I would be back home probably on the Coast somewhere aka Nth of Greymouth or in the Golden Bay area close to the bush and rivers where I can live of the land, run a few sheep or cattle and dabble in a bit Gold panning or in a bit of research if I was to live in the Blackball.
The wife does love the Coast as well and found it rather cool with native wildlife running about on one of the cousins properties aka Kiwi's, weka's and Pigeons etc with me knock off any feral animals etc. But I think we are going to move the Mareeba in the end and there is a enough to keep me busy there from Warbirds, to Tanks (there is tank museum at Mareeba), old Trains and a bit of Fire Fighting, but close for her to visit Cairns and its has an Airport, the Tilt Train to Bris Vergas and a Base Hospital.
It's the chorus.
Someone got it right.
Very perspicacious of them. 🙂
They were my favourite band back in the day.