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6:00 am, December 31st, 2024 - 15 comments
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Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
What does 2025 hold politically?
Richard Murphy, who I rate as a commentator, sort of looks forward, from a UK pov, but still relevant to NZ, particularly concerning Trump! 9.20 long.
Buckle up your seat belts!
https://natlib.govt.nz/records/52115413
It will be interesting to see where the US economy ends up under Trump.
His electoral success can be seen as a working class rejection of neoliberalism in favour of a more controlling and authoritarian approach
Imho, Trump's self-serving ‘initiatives’ will continue to benefit "the haves and the have mores" to the detriment of workers – time will tell.
Bryce Derek Wilkinson – For services to
economicsACT and the Regulatory Standards Billhttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/537879/new-year-honours-2025-the-full-list
So Reti wants private health care – is he a complete idiot or just a tool?
Seeing as these vultures rip off the government with their lies.
'
'We're not imperialists. How dare you! That's just propaganda.'
On September 21 2022 President Joe Biden addressed the UN General Assembly to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and to accuse the Russian Federation of 'shamelessly' violating the UN Charter to 'pursue their imperialist ambitions'.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/biden-aims-rally-world-leaders-ukraine-un-remarks-rcna48355
I don't believe the dictum, 'Every accusation is an admission'. But in this case Biden's accusation against Russia is also true of America, except for the 'shameless' part, America tries to hide its imperialism.
How to hide an empire
An end of year book review by Democracy Now.
What I found fascinating in this book review was the way that imperialism imposes the language of the imperialist country on its colonies as part of the colonisation process.
The rehabilitation of the Maori language in this country has been described as part of the de-colonisation process of this country.
It could be argued that the Luxon administration's roll back of the Maori language and removal of the mention of the treaty in government documents is a form of re-colonisation.
A symbolic re-statement of Western dominance of this country as we enter deeper into the US imperialist orbit under AUKUS.
Language is a Virus
Beginning @13:44 minutes
Counting Down the New Year
24/7 365
One
Whole
Year
of
Genocide
366
Personally, I don't think Gazans buried alive under the rubble in Gaza as a result of an Israeli attack, or their surviving family and neighbours desperately trying to dig them out with their bare hands would be worried about the distinction.
Lowkey is doing his best to make people think.
Three-Six-Five rhymes with Genocide.
Three-Six-Six doesn't, so his song wouldn't work.
There is another rhyming word in Lowkey's song that seems wrong.
Now to me, the most obvious word for Lowkey to have chosen to end this rhyme, especially in this context, would be the word 'pain' not 'rain'.
Then I thought about it. I would find a whole year of rain every day, pretty much unbearable. But at least I could imagine it.
But what if instead of water falling out of the sky every single day for an entire year, it was death dealing missiles and bombs falling out of the sky for more than 365 days non-stop?
Maybe that is what Lowkey is trying to impart by choosing the rhyme 'rain' instead of 'pain' to get his point across.
373,361 attended the Boxing Day test in Melbourne…and it finished during the final hour on the fifth day. Incredible. A letter by John Cocks to The Guardian describes it.
"A sum of all the parts of Shakespearean tragedies, this Test for the Ages became a towering adventure epic over Five Acts played to a full house, defined by bravura performances from a memorable cast, a surging narrative with jaw-dropping plot twists and comedy relief, overlaid by our own Henry V and his band of baggy-green brothers.
In Act One, Sam Konstas as brave Puck flitted here there and everywhere, before clashing with the warrior Kohli, but Marnus and Steve, brave soldiers, forged ahead to build a narrative, its momentum halted when Head, like Mercutio, was slain early and Marsh perished as Falstaff under the weight of a surging enemy.
Act Two gave us more stirring conflict as challenges were met and faced down while Smith’s vigil became a soliloquy of lasting bravura, and Sharma, the ageing warrior was undone by his own mortality at the close.
Act Three saw a steady build towards the climactic moment, first the heroic king and his forces making inroads into the hordes, before two lesser lights sought successfully to strut and fret their hours upon the stage and thwart the quest of the heroic king and his men.
In the first scenes of Act Four it was as if Birnam Wood had come to Dunsinane and the castle might fall, but unlike Macbeth’s violent end, the king in baggy green prevailed sufficiently for two bit players – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with a solid forward defense – took centre stage to remind us that the king was not yet dead.
And now all these acts like some swelling prologue gave pass to the climax of Act Five and its denouement: Sharma, a frail Lear figure, prisoner to his fate, and Kohli – like MacBeth – falling to his own hubris and sword, Jaiswal asking the third umpire ‘to be, or not to be’ and being told the latter and Pant perishing like some rash Romeo, before the king’s men closed ranks and tasted glory.
This truly was a tale full of sound and fury."
It was a great game, but I think you left our some of the important words in the last sentence.
The full quote is " It is a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,. Signifying nothing. "
It is just a game. It is over. Who is going to care tomorrow?
A happy and prosperous 2025 to all the standard community 🙂
Ditto.
Hi Lynn and good wishes for 2025 and thank you for all your work in watching the political tug-of-war for us and keeping us aware of the vista. Have a good summer I hope and some cold beverages.