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Posts by Viv Smythe

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Adelaide Writers Week: No decorum without a quorum. - Michael West Adelaide Writers Week, a core part of South Australia's premier cultural eventi s at risk of cancellation in its 40th year.

"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...

3 months ago 67 30 5 5
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I'm credited with having coined the word 'Terf'. Here's how it happened | Viv Smythe I have no control over how others use a word that came about simply to save typing a phrase out over and over again

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...

3 months ago 4 1 0 0
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Controversial apple cider vinegar weight-loss study retracted A scientific journal has retracted a study that claimed apple cider vinegar rivalled Ozempic as a weight-loss agent.

Rony Abou-Khalil www.abc.net.au/news/health/...

6 months ago 1 1 0 0

We occasionally see some rosellas around our Sydney neighborhood. More common parrot sightings of lorikeets, corellas, galahs and the occasional sulphur-crested cockatoo.

6 months ago 0 0 0 0
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I don't know why this lad is building a subterranean city for cats, but I'm all for it.

8 months ago 9361 3110 8 472
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Gaza’s journalists are talented, professional and dignified. That’s why Israel targets them | Nesrine Malik Recent killings have dazed the world and provoked condemnation. But little is said about the calibre of Palestinian journalism, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

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.

8 months ago 4 6 0 0

Gone.

8 months ago 8 2 0 0
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.

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.

8 months ago 4 1 0 0

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. 🧵

9 months ago 8 4 1 0
Eva Marie Saint , left at her 100 yo celebration,  right as a young actress.

Eva Marie Saint , left at her 100 yo celebration, right as a young actress.

Bill Withers

Bill Withers

Born today- the great Eva Marie Saint, still alive at 101(!) and Bill Withers, who passed in 2020

9 months ago 47 3 1 0
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I feel seen. Dammit.

9 months ago 0 0 0 0

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.

9 months ago 6 2 0 0

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.

9 months ago 2 1 0 0

This 🧵.

For US corporate media, the only thing worse than a Muslim politician is
a principled, disciplined, truth-telling, popular, courageous Muslim politician.

9 months ago 19 7 0 0

All too familiar.
Hopefully the Murdochs have the same 'success' in their campaigning for fellow billionaires as they did in the Australian election.

9 months ago 8 2 0 0
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Zohran Mamdani: Cautionary Tale Or Model For Democratic Success? After Mamdani's surprise victory, Democrats should be taking notes

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?

9 months ago 2142 241 187 20
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Billionaires’ wealth surged $6.5tn over past decade, Oxfam reports Real-terms gains of $33.9tn for world’s richest 1% ‘enough to end annual global poverty 22 times over’, charity says

"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...

9 months ago 3 2 1 0
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Labor accused of ‘gaslighting’ Australians on climate crisis as fossil fuel projects keep getting approved ‘They offer sympathy and then just go and approve massive fossil fuel projects anyway,’ one advocate says

“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/...

10 months ago 27 14 1 0
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@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

@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

10 months ago 26398 5981 228 127
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Musk calls for Trump to be impeached as extraordinary feud escalates Former adviser taunts president over links to Epstein while Trump threatens to cancel contracts for Musk companies

Well well well: who could have foreseen this meeting of egos turning so sour?

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

10 months ago 2 0 0 0
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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

10 months ago 13 2 1 0

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.

10 months ago 3 3 0 0
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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

10 months ago 424 192 15 14

Rather shockingly, this video is no longer on the ABC's website

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

10 months ago 475 205 23 6
Screen shot of the process

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

10 months ago 2 2 2 0
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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.

11 months ago 47 26 0 3
Ginger cat, longhaired, pretending to not want chin scritches

Ginger cat, longhaired, pretending to not want chin scritches

Pussycat likes scritches

11 months ago 2 0 0 0

Wow.

There really is no bottom, is there?

11 months ago 14 8 3 1

It's very nice out there right now, agreed.

11 months ago 2 0 1 0

"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."

11 months ago 8 3 1 0