World, Writing, Wealth discussion
World & Current Events
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If you're not in the U.S., what's up in your part of the world?
Sorry to hear about the bushfires. Has it been a year already since the last ones, or is this a year-round thing?Great white attack, sorry to hear that, too. Is 100 meters far offshore? Don't know much about meters.
New COVID in China? Haven't heard about that. Same strain or a new one?
The Russia fishing incident sounds like a Catch-22. We may be guilty, but we have to agree we're guilty in order for you to do anything about it.
Scout, from memory a meter is about 3 inches longer than a yard.I like your Catch-22 analogy - very apt.
UK Vaccine will pass 5m doses today 1/3 of first 4 tier requirement
Flooding in Wales and North West - some lucky escapes with rivers almost breeching defences
Nissan post Brexit factory commitment
Bond film delayed again
Glastonbury festival cancelled
Coverage of world events and in particular Biden first days
NZ1. The annual summer closedown comes to an end this weekend. Accordingly, little has been announced.
2. Weird weather - bottom of Sth Island has SNOW in January at 1000 meters.
3. Complaints by some about virus complacency
4. Shortages of certain imported goods, especially things like special plumbing supplies. Partly due to shipping, but seemingly mainly because stock ordering was low, again because the pessimists did not anticipate we would be back to normal regarding the virus.
The US populations trust in mainstream news media hits a new all time low."Trust in traditional media has declined to an all-time low, and many news professionals are determined to do something about it.
Why it matters: Faith in society's central institutions, especially in government and the media, is the glue that holds society together. That glue was visibly dissolving a decade ago, and has now, for many millions of Americans, disappeared entirely."
REF: https://www.axios.com/media-trust-cri...
I saw that article and a few other on the same subject earlier today. Democrats are trusting media more because they are being told what they want to hear. Wait till they start being told something they do not want to hear.
Graeme wrote: "The US populations trust in mainstream news media hits a new all time low."Trust in traditional media has declined to an all-time low, and many news professionals are determined to do something ab..."
Oops... The MSM went and poisoned their audience against their product.
I think that local news outlets could rebuild trust from their general audiences by focusing on fact based reporting and solid investigative journalism. But the national outlets have burned too many bridges to see any improvement, in the short term.
The lesson for outsiders is to hold your journalists to task. Do not accept an hour of biased editorial that is labeled, "news". Demand the facts, both good and bad. And reward outlets that do the work. Real journalism is slow and expensive. If they don't see return on investment, then they will save money by having talking heads, on a cheap set, spew opinions for hours on end. Then you have MSNBC, CNN, and Fox.
Local news is still news. The national news has become opinion passing as news.
Papaphilly wrote: "Local news is still news. The national news has become opinion passing as news."Local news sources aren't necessarily local anymore. Over the last three decades most TV an radio stations have been bought up by national business concerns like Clear Channel and Sinclair. There has been some influence, as can be seen in this PBS report on Sinclair.
https://youtu.be/xwA4k0E51Oo
1.) I do love watching PBS attacking bias.
2.) I noticed that YouTube's blue box linked to a Wikipedia article on PBS being an American public broadcaster. I wonder how Norm Abrams would feel about them citing Wikipedia to prove that he's an American?
I have a question for you, Ian, about NZ. Since you're such a small country, do you have to import most items? What do you produce there, and is it enough to sustain the needs of your citizens?
A lot of manufactured items are imported. Many of them used to be made locally, but owners tended to sell out to big guys, who then shipped the manufacturing to China. Those guys passed go, collected a fat cheque, and left all the employees looking for work. There is some local manufacturing, but it tends to be smaller scale. Exports tend to be agricultural (including wine) or forestry goods but there are some surprises. Apparently computer games are relatively big earners.
Scout wrote: "I have a question for you, Ian, about NZ. Since you're such a small country, do you have to import most items? What do you produce there, and is it enough to sustain the needs of your citizens?"I don't know if it's changed in the last couple of years, but we (USA) were importing quite a bit of beef, lamb, wine, and dairy from New Zealand.
As far as I know, not a lot has changed, although Covid probably is messing up a lot of things to some extent.
There's a stoush on between the Australian Government (the white hats) and Google & Facebook (the black hats) that could well have ramifications beyond Australia.I really hope this goes ahead. The Tech giants are oligarchic monopolists that are seeking to bully Australia into submission.
"Google has threatened to remove its search engine from Australia and Facebook has threatened to remove news from its feed for all Australian users if a code forcing the companies to negotiate payments to news media companies goes ahead."
Losing facebook news would be a huge personal benefit, I'm sick of the rubbish that they plague the news feed with - I just want to see posts by my friends and relatives.
REF: https://www.theguardian.com/media/202...
Graeme wrote: "There's a stoush on between the Australian Government (the white hats) and Google & Facebook (the black hats) that could well have ramifications beyond Australia.I really hope this goes ahead. Th..."
You are starting to sound like me....
Graeme wrote: "There's a stoush on between the Australian Government (the white hats) and Google & Facebook (the black hats) that could well have ramifications beyond Australia.I really hope this goes ahead. Th..."
Sounds like you've started a WWIII singlehandedly taking on both China and internet kings :)
Nik wrote: "Graeme wrote: "There's a stoush on between the Australian Government (the white hats) and Google & Facebook (the black hats) that could well have ramifications beyond Australia.I really hope this..."
I am not sure which scares me more, Internet Kings or China....Although if you can take out the Internet kings, China will fall soon after....They need them to maintain the firewall. Imagine a free access to information their government would rather you not have.
Information can be as or more explosive than TNT. Maybe Australia will succeed where many others were reluctant to engage.
I rather fancy China has its own firewall, and demise of internet kings will not lead to freedom of information in China
Ian wrote: "I rather fancy China has its own firewall, and demise of internet kings will not lead to freedom of information in China"Actually Google and others have had a major hand in the fire wall.
Yes, but I bet the exit of Google would not stop the Chinese from maintaining it.
Ian wrote: "Yes, but I bet the exit of Google would not stop the Chinese from maintaining it."Probably, but you never know. It takes a certain type of mind that I do not think the Chinese officials have or can allow.
On the other hand, they cannot afford to lose control of their media, so I am sure they will find a way. Remember, they already have a firewall there to copy.
I'm just itching to say something about a politician here who seems to think China is wonderful and not a threat, but this is about you guys. (Okay, I cheated :-)And, Graeme, I'm with you about Facebook. I only use it to stay in touch with family and close friends who know better than to send me political posts. I really wish I could quit Facebook, but I don't know what other platform would let me do what I do there. Any ideas? I don't want to miss those cute photos of my grandson or the local goings on and things for sale.
Scout wrote: "I'm just itching to say something about a politician here who seems to think China is wonderful and not a threat, but this is about you guys. (Okay, I cheated :-)And, Graeme, I'm with you about F..."
I barely check in to FB anymore, other than to check my kids' and sisters' feeds to look for new pictures or updates. Before it got to be all memes and political commentary, there were a lot of nice people that I could have conversations with. Made new friends that I know if I was on a road trip I could stop and visit and if I didn't they would probably be offended. Everything from a mid 70s Jewish guy who used to race Miatas and still has one of the original Miata speeds to a women my age in Texas who was also forced in disabaility status and struggling with the similar issues. I miss it, especially during bouts of insomnia.
Long before we could google everything, there were chatrooms. In 1999 I hung out in divorce chat. I still have friends from there. It requried real typing in real time with having to take turns "talking'!!! That was much more fun that FB. Those places may still exist but I haven't looked. I still have 6 friends from those days - 1 I married and divorced 12 years later; 2 helped me move across country; others have visited me in Arizona.
I would love to take a road trip that just allowed me to wind my way around and visit the people I have met online from DC chat, to FB, to Goodreads, and to see those points of interests that they live near. Of course, I would provide the same if any of them traveled in my direction.
This group is the closest thing I've found to actually "talking," having a civil conversation about what matters to us.
COVID, Alexei Navalny, and snow. It snows every year, yet we're surprised by it every time, so the news right now is a lot of horrendous car accidents.
Captain, (Hon Colonel) Sir Tom Moore He raised over £32m for NHS charities"...having set out to walk in April 2020 the then 99-year-old war veteran accepted a little family challenge: to raise £1,000 for health service charities by walking 100 lengths of his garden before his 100th birthday at the end of that month."
GQ man of the year, Knighted by the Queen on a Windsor lawn, a number 1 hit single and hero to the nation. He was a WWII Burma veteran and earned the War Medal 1939-1945, Defence Medal, Burma Star and 1939-1945 Star for his military career.
Knight Bachelor and honorary Colonel this year.
RIP
Philip wrote: "Captain, (Hon Colonel) Sir Tom Moore He raised over £32m for NHS charities"...having set out to walk in April 2020 the then 99-year-old war veteran accepted a little family challenge: to raise £1..."
Apparently sent off by corona :-(
Made it to our news too. Still remained a hero at the age of 100! Respect
Philip wrote: "Captain, (Hon Colonel) Sir Tom Moore He raised over £32m for NHS charities"...having set out to walk in April 2020 the then 99-year-old war veteran accepted a little family challenge: to raise £1..."
I saw that today. What a heart breaker. A true hero if you ask me. Started out wanting to make £1,000 for those that helped him and ended up making £40,000,000.
I was gutted to hear about Captain Sir Tom. His achievements have made one of the few positive stories to come out of the last year.
Clearly, he was a lovely man. Also, it's incredible that probably his greatest achievement came in his 100th year.
It would be a great idea to build a permanent statue to him on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth. I'm sure it would get the widespread backing of the Great British public.
Clearly, he was a lovely man. Also, it's incredible that probably his greatest achievement came in his 100th year.
It would be a great idea to build a permanent statue to him on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth. I'm sure it would get the widespread backing of the Great British public.
Beau wrote: "I was gutted to hear about Captain Sir Tom. His achievements have made one of the few positive stories to come out of the last year.Clearly, he was a lovely man. Also, it's incredible that probab..."
The arty elite would not like it...
They'd have to check into his political affiliations first.
Philip, modern art is important and I believe there should always be a place for it. I'm sure the arty elite would understand if we moved their plinth to any number of prominent sixth form college waiting areas or a minor university's refectory.
Captain Sir Tom has been a great unifying force in our sometimes divided country - he's universally loved and respected. I think he'd make a worthy candidate for a permanent statue in Trafalgar Square. It would be a sort of bridge between the old (WWII veteran) and the new (charity fundraiser extraordinaire) Britain.
Mind you, knowing our way of doing things, we'll probably just end up with a newly named 'Matt Hancock Hospital' somewhere in the home counties.
Captain Sir Tom has been a great unifying force in our sometimes divided country - he's universally loved and respected. I think he'd make a worthy candidate for a permanent statue in Trafalgar Square. It would be a sort of bridge between the old (WWII veteran) and the new (charity fundraiser extraordinaire) Britain.
Mind you, knowing our way of doing things, we'll probably just end up with a newly named 'Matt Hancock Hospital' somewhere in the home counties.
Beau wrote: "Philip, modern art is important and I believe there should always be a place for it. I'm sure the arty elite would understand if we moved their plinth to any number of prominent sixth form college ..."They can stick it next to Ms Emin's bed and the pile of bricks in the Tate Modern for those that like that sort of thing. Not that they were there when I last went and left in disbelief....
I'm all for Sir Tom in Trafalgar.
Keen to remain open-minded, I went to the Tate Modern on my last trip to London. I was also tempted by the fact that it's free entry.
It obviously brings a lot of joy to many people, so I'm not saying it should be shut down, but I left disappointed. After standing in a bright-white cube for a few minutes, I also left with a headache. This stayed with me until I visited a pub on Fleet Street for some medicinal strong cider, which did the trick. Headache gone.
Tourists, unless you are sure that you love modern art, and particularly if your time is limited, just pay the money and go to the proper Tate Gallery instead.
It obviously brings a lot of joy to many people, so I'm not saying it should be shut down, but I left disappointed. After standing in a bright-white cube for a few minutes, I also left with a headache. This stayed with me until I visited a pub on Fleet Street for some medicinal strong cider, which did the trick. Headache gone.
Tourists, unless you are sure that you love modern art, and particularly if your time is limited, just pay the money and go to the proper Tate Gallery instead.
Recommend National Gallery although much is older religious art I love some galleries and even used some as a hook in one of my stories.
From the point of view of a tourist from elsewhere, I also recommend the National Gallery.
From NZ One family with corona, but no idea how, and so far, nobody else. Breathe being held.
Politicians usually show restraint. Not Jacinda Ardern tonight, caught on TV spitting fire. The reason - some woman from NZ married an Australian, went to Australia and lived in Melbourne for some number of years and took out Australian citizenship. So far, no problem. It appears husband may have died - unclear on this. Then apparently she went to Syria, somehow got involved with ISIS and got two children. The nature of the involvement is unclear. Anyway, she got apprehended trying to cross into Turkey. She wants to return with children to Australia (I think - exactly what she wants is at best third hand.)
Anyway, the Australian PM Scott Morrison has apparently come out and said she is not to return to Australia, she can go to NZ, and he has cancelled her Australian citizenship and passport.
Ian wrote: "From NZ One family with corona, but no idea how, and so far, nobody else. Breathe being held.
Politicians usually show restraint. Not Jacinda Ardern tonight, caught on TV spitting fire. The reaso..."
More information: Apparently Morrison and Ardern had a conversation about what to do and how they could cooperate for the good of the children, but Morrison did not tell Ardern that he had previously revoked the citizenship and had no intention of offering anything. Ardern was livid at his bad faith.
Hope "livid" doesn't mean she's sending armada or a carrier strike group towards Sydney, since Australia already has China and internet giants on its hands to deal with :)
Massive cold-induced blackouts hit the US.REF: https://poweroutage.us/
Noting that nuclear power doesn't freeze.
Philip wrote: "Captain, (Hon Colonel) Sir Tom Moore He raised over £32m for NHS charities"...having set out to walk in April 2020 the then 99-year-old war veteran accepted a little family challenge: to raise £1..."
My wife (she told me) and I saw this. Brilliant action by the gentleman concerned - a true hero in my book.
Nik wrote: "Hope "livid" doesn't mean she's sending armada or a carrier strike group towards Sydney, since Australia already has China and internet giants on its hands to deal with :)"Being basically peaceful, we are a little short of carrier strike groups :-)
To bad for you....We have lots....8^)
The NZ version. (Carrier Strike Group).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waka_(c...
I do not doubt this was the terror of the south-west pacific 500 years ago.
Australia and NZ PMs could do shots until only one is left standing.
World, Writing, Wealth
Books mentioned in this topic
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Reason: it cannot do anything without 100% votes in favour of action, and perforce, Russia voted against taking action against the Russian ship. There we have international agreements in action :-)