Hello Valerie, thanks for the follow

Just also sharing these thoughts here too on a kinder platform more suited to the man himself

I would like to give a shout out to Chris Hipkins for standing up and saying what I’ve been saying for years and years… disabled people cost what we cost. They must find the money to support us.

I’m not sure my heart can cope with the repellant uptake of the tragic & untimely death of a loved husband and father by the disinformation producers. I’m going to study it. Please 🙏 do not promote it, even in outrage.

And to those chancers & grifters:

Good God, do you have no sense of decency?

“We should be questioning the logic behind making the poorest pay to bring down inflation. It’s no comfort to the thousands of people losing their jobs now that inflation is coming down, when their income is falling further.”

www.stuff.co.nz/money/350183...

💔🐶

.

Poetry Update
 
There will be sadness.
There will be metaphors and lovely music.
There will be the beating of hearts,
the happiness of trees beside water,
death with its aches and gratitude.
There will be more of this throughout the day
as fresh information comes to hand.

.

Imogen Wade's poem "Message": Sometimes we are insects, communicating with each other from opposite ends of a vast yellow field— rubbing our wings, tapping our feet, vibrating in the air. I picture us as tiny creatures rummaging in the tall grass. I know that there’s someone out there of my kind, though it has been many years and our acquaintance will never be renewed. Yet you are still in my life—faith without sight, love without words.

From The London Magazine

Thank you! 🙏

Thank you, Sharon. That means a lot

"The church joke" by Grant Shimmin (South Africa, circa 1980) The laughter surrounded us Each member of the audience chronically infected as the joke plunged on towards its punchline when the roars would rise even higher There’d been...

Got a poem published today at the wonderful Roi Faineant Press. It’s a moment of self-examination that goes back more than 4 decades:

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/the-chu...

So the Clean Car Discount increased uptake of 0 emission vehicles and also reduced the number of high emission vehicles being bought?

In other words, it FUCKING WORKED BETTER THAN EXPECTED

Elon Musk's Grok AI Is Pushing Misinformation and Legitimizing Conspiracies Grok's selling point is real-time access to news, but Motherboard found that it generated inaccurate information about Israel-Palestine and lent credence to conspiracy theories.

Some may recall the old computing acronym GIGO, which precisely describes what's going on here. | Elon Musk's Grok AI Is Pushing Misinformation and Legitimizing Conspiracies.

Fancy a wee Chinese ghost story for your weekend reading? I’ve got just the thing 😉

‘Shui Gui’ is a short story about identity and ghosts. Read it now in issue 109 of takahē mag!

www.takahe.org.nz/shui-gui

#pukapuka

I have deployed
the parachute
that was in
your jump pack

and which
you were probably
saving
for jesus

forgive me
we have but one life
then darkness
baby

Most theologically cooked meme.

Contributor feature! @deborahjshore.bsky.social

Deborah J. Shore has won competitions at the Anglican Theological Review & the Alsop Review. Her most recent publications include THINK, Thimble, Ekstasis, Reformed Journal, & Relief Journal, among others.

www.ballastjournal.com/deborah-j-sh...

Play It Safe by Tim Minchin | Sydney Opera House 50th Anniversary Here it is! ‘Play It Safe’ for Sydney Opera House’s 50th birthday! Watch it LOUD, using headphones preferably, and on the biggest screen you’ve got!Stream th...

This, by Tim Minchin, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, is making me so very happy this morning.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8ou...

Title: Stay safe this halloween with our helpful diagram. Image: Three circles are labelled "Haematologist", "Conservationist" and "Dentist". They each overlap with a fourth circle labelled "Vampire". The overlapping area between Haematologist and Vampire is labelled "Interested in your blood" The overlapping area between Conservationist and Vampire is labelled "Fond of wolves and bats" The overlapping area between dentist and Vampire is labelled "Can be repelled by garlic."

A halloween cartoon for New Scientist 🧪

What I Will SUHEIR HAMMAD I will not dance to your war drum. I will not lend my soul nor my bones to your war drum. I will not dance to your beating. I know that beat. It is lifeless. I know intimately that skin you are hitting. It was alive once hunted stolen stretched. I will not dance to your drummed up war. I will not pop spin break for you. I will not hate for you or even hate you. I will not kill for you. Especially I will not die for you. I will not mourn the dead with murder nor suicide. I will not side with you nor dance to bombs because everyone else is dancing. Everyone can be wrong. Life is a right not collateral or casual. I will not forget where I come from. I will craft my own drum. Gather my beloved near and our chanting will be dancing. Our humming will be drumming. I will not be played. I will not lend my name nor my rhythm to your beat. I will dance and resist and dance and persist and dance. This heartbeat is louder than death. Your war drum ain’t louder than this

"I will
not lend my soul nor
my bones to your war
drum... 
I will not side
with you nor dance to bombs
because everyone else is
dancing. Everyone can be
wrong. Life is a right not
collateral or casual...I
will not be played. I
will not lend my name
nor my rhythm to your
beat."

- Suheir Hammad ❤️🖤🤍💚

Whatever happens on Sunday morning, remember this. Sport is far too important to take seriously. #ABvSA

I just donated to the fund to provide meals to the Muslim whānau attending the coronial inquest that started this week (and discovered after the fact that it's a registered charity so can be claimed on your tax).
opencollective.com/mahiatearoha

what does cat see?

Earth’s ‘vital signs’ worse than at any time in human history, scientists warn Life on planet is in peril, say climate experts, as they call for a rapid and just transition to a sustainable future

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I wish it was: instagram.com/stories/shim...

Another knock-out title, this time from the indomitable Melanie McKerchar!

Read free online along with the rest of our 108th issue 🖤💛

www.takahe.org.nz/when-capital...

You can be kind and compassionate AND successful. Remember, in lifting others, we rise ourselves.

Street cat

a concrete building with some weathering

staining grime and moss
illustrate the hairline cracks
that were always there.

#poetry #haiku