#Barry O'Farrell

[ifreakingloveroyals]

21 November 2011 | Rosemary O'Farrell, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell, Prince Frederik of Denmark and Princess Mary of Denmark pose at the Hotel Sofitel Wentworth during their visit to Australia in Sydney, Australia. Princess Mary and Prince Frederik are on their first official visit to Australia since 2008. The Royal visit begins in Sydney, before heading to Melbourne, Canberra and Broken Hill. (c) Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

[qnewsau]

“I love the work. I’m a worker”: QNews meets Clover

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/i-love-the-work-im-a-worker-qnews-meets-clover/

“I love the work. I’m a worker”: QNews meets Clover

She turns 79 next month – a fact seized upon by her detractors – but ahead of the NSW local government elections, QNews finds Sydney Lord Mayor Cover Moore bursting with energy and determined to keep Sydney in independent hands.

Interview by Peter Hackney.

Sydney is a city of landmarks: the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, Anzac Bridge, Sydney Tower, the QVB …

Landmarks don’t come in human form but if they did, Sydney Lord Clover Moore would surely qualify.

Moore has been integral to the fabric of the city since 1980, when she became an alderman at South Sydney Municipal Council (later subsumed into the City of Sydney).

She became Sydney’s first female Lord Mayor in 2004 and is by far the city’s longest serving mayor since the local government area was established in 1842.

Even Moore’s biggest detractors will admit she’s been good for Sydney in many ways.

Sydney today is greener, more pleasant and better connected than it was in 2004. Full of sparkling facilities, it boasts libraries, community centres, swimming pools, cycleways and parks that didn’t exist when she came to power.

George Street, once choked with cars and diesel buses, has been transformed into a pedestrianised, tree-lined boulevard with light rail running down the middle.

Mover over, Clover

But despite her successful stewardship, some say it’s time for Moore to go.

She turns 79 in October, a fact seized upon by her detractors, who claim she’s too old and should step aside for younger candidates with fresh ideas.

Many of the brickbats come, predictably, from major political parties.

The City of Sydney is a glittering prize: the beating heart of modern Australia and the nation’s economic engine-room. It’s galling for the Labor and Liberal parties that, despite their immense power, an independent councillor can keep them from controlling the place.

Moore has beaten her mayoral challengers five times to date. Each time, they’ve employed different tactics. This time, her opponents’ main argument seems to revolve around one thing: her age.

Typical of the sentiments are those of Lyndon Gannon, the Liberal Party councillor vying for the top job.

“After 20 years under Clover Moore, it’s clear – the City of Sydney needs new leadership,” he said in a July media release.

“The City of Sydney is the youngest local government in the state, with a median age of 32. It needs a candidate that understands the challenges they are facing, and their aspirations.”

Even more pointed were comments he made last month, after council staff cut outdoor night-time trading at Woolloomooloo’s Old Fitzroy Hotel by two hours (the decision was quickly reversed after Moore ordered a review).

“Just because Clover is in bed by 8pm doesn’t mean the rest of Sydney has to be,” he sniped in The Sydney Morning Herald.

It’s a similar story over at the ALP.

In a recent ABC News interview, Labor’s Lord Mayoral candidate Zann Maxwell pointedly stated: “There are people who are voting in this election who weren’t even born when Clover Moore first became Lord Mayor.”

But do these criticisms stack up? Is Clover Moore too old? Or are her rivals tapping into ugly tropes in an ageist society? After all, the Australian Human Rights Commission has found that ageism is the most accepted form of prejudice in Australia.

Clover Moore pictured at Wimbo Park, Surry Hills trying out one of the new in-ground trampolines. Photo: Nick Langley/supplied.

‘The work energises me’

Surely, someone is only too old for their job if they’re mentally or physically unfit for it. That seems far from the case when QNews meets Moore at her Town Hall office.

In fact, the first thing that comes to mind is that you’re meeting the political equivalent of the Energizer Bunny. She bristles with energy; ideas for the city’s future surge forth like the tides pulsing through Sydney Heads.

Asked where this drive comes from, she’s quick with an answer.

“I love the work. I’m a worker,” she says. “I love city making.

“Buddha gave advice to his followers. He said, ‘Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart give yourself to it.’

“And Teddy Roosevelt said, ‘One of the greatest prizes in life is to work hard at worthwhile work.’ Poor Paul is sick of me saying this,” she laughs, nodding towards Paul Mackay, her senior media advisor working across the room.

“I find this work incredibly worthwhile. It energises me.”

She also attributes her vitality to exercise and a vegetarian diet.

“I think walking really is key,” she says, adding that she often walks to work from the Redfern flat she shares with her husband Peter and their two dogs, Bessie and Buster.

“I walk to work as often as I can. That’s my favourite way of getting there. I have a coffee at a cafe called Shuk, with Peter and Bessie and Buster. Then they go off in one direction and I go in the other.

“We’re building a fabulous bike lane in Oxford Street and I check that out, and I go through beautiful Hyde Park. And on that morning walk, everyone who speaks to me is very positive and I arrive at Town Hall feeling very good.”

Of her diet, she says: “We run City Talks at the City of Sydney and some years ago we had (philosopher and animal rights activist) Peter Singer. I walked out of that and looked my Peter in the eye and said, ‘We won’t eat meat anymore.’ And we haven’t except that Peter has diabetes, so he’s introduced a little bit of chicken into our diet. But I prefer a vegetarian diet.

“I think it’s those things and the work that keep me going.”

Why run again?

Still, she’s been Lord Mayor for two decades. She was also MP for the electoral district of Sydney (formerly Bligh) in the NSW Parliament from 1988 until 2012, when former premier Barry O’Farrell’s ‘Get Clover Bill’ banned dual membership of parliament and local councils.

Surely at some point, enough is enough?

“I’m running again because there’s still more work to do,” Moore says emphatically.

She specifically names “two key projects that are left to do”: the revitalisation of Chinatown and the revitalisation of Oxford Street.

“We’ve done a lot of work on both and we’re really ready to go in terms of those precincts being transformed. You’ve seen the transformation we’ve done in George Street? From Town Hall down to Haymarket, it’s just buzzing now, day and night. People tell me, ‘You could be in Hong Kong.’

“Now we’re going to transform Chinatown and Oxford Street.”

Clover Moore at the opening of Butterscotch Park in Rosebery in May. Despite being Lord Mayor for 20 years, she says there’s “more work to do”. Photo: Katherine Griffiths/supplied.

Chinatown

The first known Chinese immigrant to Australia was Mak Sai Ying, who arrived in Sydney in 1818. Chinese migration to Australia kicked off in earnest when the Australian gold rushes began in 1851. A vibrant Chinatown sprung up around The Rocks, moving to its current location in Haymarket in the 1920s.

By the 1980s, when David Bowie filmed scenes for his China Girl music video there, it was easily the biggest Chinatown in Australia and one of the biggest in the Western world.

But recent years have seen some of the shine come off the area – a fact Moore readily acknowledges.

“Haymarket and Dixon Street seemed to really suffer during Covid,” she laments.

“People just didn’t come near those precincts and so we’ve done a lot of work, a lot of consultation, a lot of discussion and we’ve come up with a new plan that’s been endorsed by all the various groups and figures in Chinatown, Haymarket and Dixon Street.”

Restoring the Chinatown gates, grants to businesses to do up their shopfronts, new lighting, public art and funding for a new music, art and light festival, Neon Playground, are all part of the plan.

Oxford Street

Revitalising Chinatown is one thing. Fixing Oxford Street is quite another.

Once considered the main street of LGBTQI Australia, it’s perhaps best described these days as an unappealing traffic sewer. It’s typified by flailing businesses, empty shops and people slumped in doorways.

At a Lord Mayoral candidates’ forum held at the National Art School in Darlinghurst on 27 August, it seemed that all the candidates – from the ALP, Greens, Liberal, Libertarian, Socialist and Yvonne Weldon parties – were united in blaming Moore for the state of the strip.

A case to support that notion can be made. It’s true that Oxford Street has declined under Moore’s watch.

What’s also true is that the nature of the LGBTQI community has changed in that time, not just in Sydney but in many places. Similar stories about the decline of the ‘gaybourhood’ are heard in London’s Soho, the Marais in Paris and the Castro in San Francisco.

With the rise of LGBTQI apps, the community simply doesn’t need to congregate in gay bars and clubs to meet anymore. And with an increased acceptance of varied sexualities and genders, many people don’t feel the need to live their lives in a rainbow bubble.

In addition to changing demographics, Moore cites “online shopping, the lockouts that Barry O’Farrell imposed and the lockdown that came with Covid” as challenges affecting the strip.

Despite the negativity, she’s upbeat about the prospects for Oxford Street, where hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent transforming three heritage-listed city blocks owned by the City of Sydney.

“The city struggled to get the right group in to take over those buildings,” she admits. “But we ended up signing a 99-year lease with (investment firm) AsheMorgan.

“They’ve got to restore those really interesting early 20th century buildings – and because of the new planning controls we’ve introduced, which gives developers increased floor space if they include creative and cultural uses in their buildings, we’re going to get that cultural creative space and then on the ground floor and in the laneways at the back, we’ll get retail.”

Moore compares the deal to the successful 1980s arrangement the City made with Malaysian firm Ipoh Garden at the QVB.

“Ipoh Garden had to restore and renovate the QVB as part of a 99-year lease agreement and oversee the various commercial activities happening there. It was really in a bad state when they took it on – and look at it now.”

She says the Oxford Street cycleway, new landscaping and a reduction in traffic speeds to 40 kilometres an hour will also enhance the strip.

“Both Oxford Street and Chinatown are special projects I want to see come to fruition during this next term,” she says.

A strong relationship with the LGBTQI+ community has been a feature of Clover Moore’s career. Photo: Nick Langley/supplied.

The rainbow connection

No matter what one thinks of Moore’s stewardship of Oxford Street, there’s no doubting her commitment to the LGBTQI community.

So closely aligned is she with LGBTQI causes that critics have used homophobic language to describe her. Working in toxic newsrooms in the ’00s and ’10s, this journalist has personally heard her described as “the patron saint of cocksuckers” and “the high priestess of poofs”.

Even more shocking was the ugly incident on 16 December 2003, when Moore was Member for Bligh. While handing out prizes to schoolchildren in the playground at Crown Street Public School, she was attacked by a woman who rained punches down on her, while calling her a “lesbian bitch”.

Moore recalls that her relationship with the LGBTQI community began “very early” when she was a young mother living in Redfern, trying to improve the neighbourhood.

“I started out down Bourke Street with a baby in a pram and a three-year-old holding on to the pram, with my handwritten petition to try and do something about the fast-moving traffic in Bourke Street,” she says.

“And a lot of the friends I met at that time were gay. They were moving into an inner-city area before it had been discovered or loved and they really gave me lots of support.

“We formed a little community group and started trying to do things in the local area, and they became very good friends. And then, of course, when the AIDS crisis came, I got very involved in that, particularly with people like (the late actor and HIV activist) Tony Carden.”

As Member for Bligh, Moore campaigned hard for beds for AIDS patients in Ward 17 South at St Vincent’s Hospital. It was a lifeline for the community during a deeply homophobic era, when hundreds of young gay men in Sydney were sick and dying.

“Sad, sad, sad times,” she recalls.

Happier times were also part of the picture, including Moore’s early involvement with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

“I was the first person in the NSW Legislative Assembly to go to Mardi Gras, and everyone at Parliament said that I’d never be re-elected – and of course that didn’t happen at all, and they all lined up to go to Mardi Gras when they found out it was worth money to the economy,” she says.

“I’m so grateful for my very good friends in the community. They’re great fun, with a great sense of humour. Good to be with, you know? An important part of my life.”

Moore and more

Her plans for Chinatown and Oxford Street, as well as the day-to-day remit of rates, roads and rubbish, are more than enough for anyone to be across but Moore is keen to talk up even more proposals.

The City has planted more than 17,000 trees under her watch and she says more are on the way.

“We’ve planted probably as much as we can on footpaths now, so now we’re doing median strip planting on streets that are wide enough,” she says.

“I’m very proud – well, I don’t like to say proud, because that sounds arrogant – but I enjoy our trees very much and they’re really going to help us during accelerated global warming.”

Social and affordable housing is also important to Moore, despite it being the province of state government. She says collecting levies from property developers, selling City land to community housing providers at subsidised rates and agreements with developers for a proportion of social and affordable housing in new developments has “enabled over 3,000 homes to be built and we’ve got another couple of thousand in the pipeline”.

Even the City of Sydney’s official flag is under her microscope, with the Lord Mayor stating: “The 1908-designed City of Sydney flag does not represent all that we are. It is based on the City’s former Coat of Arms and contains no acknowledgment of First Nations People.

“It centres on colonial maritime history, the impact of which is particularly poignant here in Sydney – the first site of invasion.”

She says the flag is now under review, along with “all of the City’s emblems, symbols and public domain (including colonial statues) to inform an update”.

Clover Moore pictured in Kepos Street, Redfern in the 1980s and 2020s. She has been a strong proponent of greening Sydney throughout her career. Photo: Lord Mayor Clover Moore/Facebook.

Succession

Despite her seemingly boundless energy, even Moore acknowledges that she can’t be Lord Mayor forever. While she tends to avoid talk of succession, she confirms to QNews that she does indeed have a strategy for a post-Clover Sydney.

She compares it to her plan for the seat of Sydney, when the ‘Get Clover Bill’ forced her to choose between being Lord Mayor or being in state parliament, and she resigned from the latter.

“I want to make sure that someone who is independent and community-based and progressive will keep all the fantastic work going as my successor and I would endorse that person,” she reveals.

“When the ‘Get Clover’ legislation was passed by the Coalition, Alex Greenwich got in touch and it became clear that he could be someone I could hand the baton to. And I did hand the baton to him and at that first election, people supported Alex because I endorsed him. Because they knew who I was and I had established trust,” she says.

“I believe the same will happen with the mayoralty; that the person I endorse is going to continue the progressive, independent, community-based work that we do.”

Pressed on who that person might be, she replies: “There are a number of people who I think could do that.”

Pressed further, she smiles. “My focus for now is on winning this election.”

And barring a political earthquake the likes of which Sydney has never seen, that’s exactly what she’ll do.

While some pundits predict her Clover Moore Independent Team could lose its council majority at this election, even her fiercest critics believe Clover Moore is about to win an incredible sixth term as Lord Mayor of Sydney.

The NSW local government elections will be held this Saturday, 14 September 2024. 

[the---hermit]

2023 wrap up 1/2

As I did last year I am posting a wrap up of all the books I have read during the year. I have linked all the individual book reviews I have posted during the year (I have not posted the reviews of some books for various reasons, but I still included the titles). I have gradually made this post during the year, so I hope past me didn't forget any of the books I read in 2023. This is the first half of my wrap up with all the books I read from January to June 2023

The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

100 Hugs by Chris Riddell

Monsters by Christopher Dell

The Sandman volume 7 by Neil Gaiman

The Sandaman volume 8 by Neil Gaiman

Cain's Jawbone by Torquemada

Il Segreto Del Bosco Vecchio by Dino Buzzati

Hilda and The Troll by Luke Pearson

Geronimo Stilton and The Kingdom Of Fantasy 1 , book 2, book 3 and 4

The Tower Of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell

The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe by Dougles Adams

La Scuola Di Pizze In Faccia Del Professor Calcare by Zerocalcare

Harrow The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Scheletri by Zerocalcare

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Kabi Nagata

How We Read Now by Naomi S. Baron

Niente Di Nuovo Sul Fronte Di Rebibbia by Zerocalcare

Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Deadendia Broken Halo by Hamish Steele

Kafka Diario Di Un Disperso by E.F. Benson

La Lettura by Maurizio Vivarelli

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

The Hugasaurus by Rachel Bright

The Golden Bug by Edgar Allan Poe

The Parasite by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Room In The Tower by

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

What Lies In The Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Through The Woods by Emily Carroll

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

The Lottery and other stories by Shirley Jackson

De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

Mary Shelly L'Eterno Sogno by Alessandro Di Virgilio and Manuela Santoni

The Hobbits Of Tolkien by David Day

The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Creation Of Mythology by Marcel Detienne

The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

We Are The Champions by Tuono Pettinato and Dario Moccia

Dimentica Il Mio Nome by Zerocalcare

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker Chan

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

Ogni Maledetto Lunedì Su Due by Zerocalcare

The House In The Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

L'Elenco Telefonico Degli Accolli by Zerocalcare

Macerie Prime and Macerie Prime Sei Mesi Dopo by Zerocalcare

[adaniaustralia]

The coal mine was built with the sole intention of supplying coal to India's territories so that the country's remote regions could be electrified. The Adani Australia project will ensure that the different homes in India receive sufficient electricity and that there is no disruption in industrial activities.

[thebridgehqs]

The following need to post in the next week or message the main for an extension:

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the following need to post an intro in the next week:

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[giecglobalau]

 Important Update for Indian Students! 

 Australia's envoy to India warns of fraudulent education and migration consultants. Increasingly, these consultants have been found to falsify documents for entry into Australia. Australian Ambassador Barry O'Farrell highlights a surge in false information and fraudulent applications, resulting in a few Australian universities temporarily blocking migration agents.

 To ensure a smooth process, O'Farrell advises students planning to study in Australia to closely monitor their agency's paperwork.

 It's essential for Indian students to stay informed and cautious during the application process. Your dreams of studying abroad can be realized with proper guidance and genuine documentation.

Contact the GIEC Global team today and fulfill your dream of studying in Australia with 100% Genuine Work.

Call us for more details

Australia -  1300 170 704(toll free no), (+61) 0383947111

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Visit our offices:

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Visit- https://giecglobal.com.au/portfolio-details/study-australia/

#australiamigration #giecglobal #india #australia #melbourne #sydney  #adelaide #perth #brisbane #canberra #tasmania #australianews #australiaimmigration #StudyAbroad #Australia #IndianStudents #Caution #EducationOpportunities

[webnewsify1]

Ratan Tata Receives Australia's Highest Civil Honour, the 'Order of Australia'

Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, has been awarded Australia's highest civilian honor, High Commissioner to India Barry O'Farrell said on Twitter. The industrialist was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) for his services in developing India-Australia bilateral relations. On Saturday, the foreign diplomat shared photos from the ceremony and stated that Tata's contributions will have a long-term influence in the island nation. "Ratan Tata is a titan of business, industry, and philanthropy not only in India, but his contributions have also had a significant impact in Australia," he said. Ratan Tata has been awarded the Order of Australia (AO) in honor of his longtime commitment to the Australian-Indian partnership." https://twitter.com/AusHCIndia/status/1649695486679584770?ref_src=twsrctfwtwcamptweetembedtwterm1649695486679584770twgr22f8fde2f6ff3e2aa9677dabdf44164dfb0ff6f5twcons1_&ref_url=httpswww.hindustantimes.combusinessratan-tata-awarded-order-of-australia-highest-civilian-honour-101682364806634.html The 85-year-old has lobbied for the 2022 India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has the largest Australian workforce of any Indian firm, with over 17,000 employees. The honor comes barely a month after he was given an Honorary Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) for his contributions to Indo-Austrian relations, particularly in commerce, investment, and philanthropy. Tata got the RSS-affiliated Sewa Bharti's 'Sewa Ratna' in October 2022 for his philanthropic efforts. In 2008, he was also awarded India's second-highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently visited Tata Sons chairman and Tata Group chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran in India to discuss charity endeavors. Tata and Gates discussed expanding their relationship including collaborating on nutrition, diagnostics, and health.   Tags: ratan tata, ratan tata australia, ratan tata australia's highest civil honour, ratan tata awarded australia's highest civilian honour, ratan tata order of australia Read the full article

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Paul Bley - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, California, August 20, 1976 / December 16, 1976

Sometimes you just have to listen to Paul Bley all damn day. These two 1976 performances in San Francisco will help you reach this elevated plane. The August date features the pianist in a trio setting, with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Barry Altschul providing sensitive, searching (and occasionally searing) accompaniment. The December date is nothing but Bley — two-plus hours of Mr. Joy bringing some wonderful solo explorations to O'Farrell Street.

Paul says: So much of the music is improvised that the line between improvisation and composition pretty much disappear, so that the goal in improvising is to sound like it is composed. From the audience's point of view, they are not really supposed to know whether it's written or improvised, so what you're really talking about is spontaneous composition, which is often called improvisation. The audience responds not so much to composition or improvisation, they respond to the individual players and what they respond to with the player is pretty much the timbre and tone of the player and the passion of a player. That's what engages an audience.

[duine-aiteach]

Notable* LGBT+ Irish people:

*notable may be a stretch for some of the people on the list but if they are in the public eye I included them. Most of the RTÉ employees and journalists were taken from Wikipedia's list of Irish LGBT people.

Please keep in mind that for a lot of these people, especially those who lived and died long ago, it is impossible to truly know if they were LGBT+ or what modern term they would have felt most comfortable with. I have simply used my judgement from the information available when assigning modern terms to them.

Inclusion of a person here does not inherently mean I agree with their views and actions, it just means they are Irish and LGBT.

Living:

John Boyne - novelist; Dublin; gay

Francis Brennan - hotelier; Dublin; asexual

Stephen Byrne - RTÉ2 presenter; Dublin; gay

Jonathan Rachel Clynch - RTÉ presenter; genderfluid

Brendan Courtney - RTÉ presenter; Dublin; gay

Rory Cowan - actor; Dublin; gay

Lydia Foy - transgender activist, dentist; Kildare; trans woman, wlw

Ursula Halligan - TV presenter; Dublin; lesbian

Garry Hynes - playwright; Roscommon; lesbian

Adiba Jaigirdar - novelist; Dublin; queer

Brian Jennings - RTÉ Radio; gay, partner to Michael Dwyer before his death

Breda Larkin - comedian; Galway; lesbian

Fr Bernárd Lynch - Catholic priest who supported many during the AIDS crisis & first Catholic priest to enter a civil partnership; Clare; gay

Una Mullally - journalist; Dublin; lesbian

Graham Norton - TV presenter; Cork; gay

Eilish O’Carroll - actress and comedian; Dublin; lesbian

Rory O’Neill/Panti Bliss - drag queen; Mayo; gay 

Shuhada' Sadaqat/Sinéad O’Connor - singer; Dublin; fluid sexuality

Andrew Scott - actor; Dublin; gay

Steven Sharpe - musician; Tipperary; gay

Fiona Shaw - actress; Cork; lesbian 

Judith Storm - trans activist; Dublin; transvestite, wlw

Colm Tóibín - writer; Wexford; gay

Leo Varadkar - politician (TD for Fine Gael, Taoiseach and Tánaiste); Dublin; gay

Tonie Walsh - activist, founder of GCN and the Irish Queer Archive; Dublin; gay

Dead:

Anne Bonny - pirate; bisexual, partner to Calico Jack Rackham and probably partner to Mary Read; Cork; 1697-? Possible dates include 1733 and 1782. She disappeared after not being hanged in 1721.

Dr James Barry - British army surgeon; trans man, possibly mlm; Cork; 1789-1865

Edward De Lacy Evans - made the news when he was found out to be born a woman; trans man; 1830-1901

Albert D. J. Cashier - American Civil War soldier; trans man; Louth; 1843-1915

Oscar Wilde - poet and playwright; gay; Dublin; 1854-1900

Roger Casement - diplomat and nationalist; gay; Dublin; 1864-1916

Louie Bennett - suffragist and writer; lesbian, partner to Helen Chenevix; Dublin; 1870-1956

Eva Gore-Booth - poet and suffragette; lesbian; Sligo; 1870-1926

Kathleen Lynn - Sinn Féin politician, activist and medical doctor; lesbian, partner to Madeleine ffrench-Mullen; Mayo; 1874-1955

Eileen Gray - architect and artist; bisexual; Wexford; 1878-1976

Madeleine ffrench-Mullen - revolutionary and activist; lesbian, partner to Kathleen Lynn; Dublin; 1880-1944

Elizabeth O'Farrell - nurse and revolutionary; lesbian, partner to Sheila Grenan; Dublin; 1883-1957

Julia/Sheila Grenan - revolutionary and suffragette; lesbian, partner to Elizabeth O'Farrell; Dublin; 1884-1972

Nora O'Keeffe - revolutionary and feminist; lesbian, partner to Margaret Skinnider; Tipperary; 1885-1961

Helen Chenevix - suffragist; lesbian, partner to Louie Bennett; Dublin; 1886-1963

Margaret Skinnider - revolutionary and feminist; lesbian,partner to Nora O'Keeffe; 1892-1971

Francis Bacon - artist; gay; Dublin; 1909-1992

Patrick Hennessy - artist; mlm; Cork; 1915-1980

Gerard Dillon - artist; mlm; Belfast; 1916-1971

Patrick Scott - artist; gay; Cork; 1921-2014

Marie Conmee - actress and activist; lesbian; Sligo; 1933-1994

Nuala O'Faolain - writer; sapphic, partner to Nell McCafferty; Dublin; 1940-2008

Nell McCafferty - writer; Derry; lesbian, partner to Nuala O'Faolain; 1944-2024

Jim Hutton - hairdresser, long term partner of Freddie Mercury; mlm; Carlow; 1949-2010

Michael Dwyer - film critic; gay, partner to Brian Jennings; Kerry; 1951-2010

Lyra McKee - journalist; lesbian; Belfast; 1990-2019

[24australia-blog]

Huang Xiangmo, businessman at centre of China influence debate, steps down from group

[warningsine]

I should have done this in December, but eh. It's never too late, right?

Kazuo Ishiguro's "Klara and the Sun" was by far my favorite one and I can't recommend it enough to people.

That being said, I also loved (in no particular order):

"The War of the Poor" by Éric Vuillard

"The Hill We Climb: Poems" by Amanda Gorman

"The Rose of Time" by Bei Dao

"Movement in Black" by Pat Parker

"The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCuller

"Desperate Characters" by Paula Fox

"The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett

"A Girl's Story" by Annie Ernaux

"The Wild Silence" by Raynor Winn

"The Wild Iris" by Louise Glück

"The Glimmer of a Revolver" by Wisława Szymborska

"10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World" by Elif Shafak

"Gate of the Sun" by Elias Khoury

"The Fifth Decade of Cantos" by Ezra Pound

"The Flight Portfolio" by Julie Orringer

"On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong

"Les Météores" by Michel Tournier

"Time Shelter" by Georgi Gospodinov

"Poeta chileno" by Alejandro Zambra

"The Discomfort of Evening" by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

"The Water Dancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

"Exhalation" by Ted Chiang

"Real Life" by Brandon Taylor

"Olga" by Bernhard Schlink

"The Anomaly" by Hervé Le Tellier

"Die Bienen und das Unsichtbare" by Clemens J. Setz

"Marcher jusqu'au soir" by Lydie Salvayre

"Evening in Paradise" by Lucia Berlin

"Siete casas vacías" by Samanta Schweblin

"L'Inconnue de la Seine" by Guillaume Musso

"Changer: methode" by Édouard Louis

"Night Boat to Tangier" by Kevin Barry

"Stalingrad" by Vasily Grossman

"This Is Happiness" by Niall Williams

"Hamnet" by Maggie O'Farrell

"Limonov" by Emmanuel Carrère

"Snow Country" by Sebastian Faulks

"Utopia Avenue" by David Mitchell

"April in Spain" by John Banville

rb w your fav book you’ve read this year

[angusfng-blog]

Human Weakness and Moral Hazards

The Sydney lockout laws were introduced by the NSW Government in February 2014 with the objective of reducing drug/alcohol fuelled violence. The legislation requires 1:30 am lockouts and 3am last drinks at bars, pubs and clubs in the Sydney CBD.

The legislation follows the events of two one hit punch attacks that resulted in death in quick succession in Kings Cross. The first happening in July 2012 to Thomas Kelly and the next happening in January 2014 to Daniel Christie, metres away from the same spot.

As a result, the premier Barry O'Farrell, who was now under the pressure of a state calling for harsher punishment on coward punch attacks would introduce the lockout laws to the CBD entertainment precinct.

A report from BOSCAR in April 2015 showed a 26% reduction in assaults in the lockout area and a 32% reduction in assaults. However a March 2017 report showed that there was a 12% to 17% increase in assaults in areas adjacent to the precinct and nearby areas. Furthermore the laws have severely decreased the nightlife economy of the entertainment district.

Ultimately I think the lockout laws were an emotional, knee-jerk reaction to a series of unfortunate events. It was a quick response to the increasingly critical nature of the public and media and done out of fear of being seen as an incompetent government.

How could it have been handled better?

Don't succumb to the pressure.

Much easier said than done but I think the situation could have been handled much better if the response was given more thought. The reaction the to situation was "what laws can we implement to prevent this from happening again?" rather than "do we need new laws to prevent this from happening?". Maybe they could have increased police numbers around the CBD hotspots to reduce the likeliness of alcohol fuelled fights from happening. Maybe implement a harsher punishment for coward shots or just harsher punishment for drunkenness on streets. Another idea is to only allow legislation to be passed once a certain amount of time has passed. This would prevent immediate emotional reactions to controversial issues.

[the---hermit]

23 books in 2023

I was tagged by @medustudies thank you!!💜🌿(I know it took ages for me to complete this)

I had done this last year (here's the post) and I read more or less half of the books on that list. I am a mood reader so I don't really follow tbrs, but I think it's fun to create a list at the beginning of the year and then see how many books I have actually read at the end. I have lowered my reading goal for 2023 at 52 book, so one book a week, because I have no idea how much I will realistically be able to read with going back to uni and everything. I therefore tried to curate this list a bit more, including also a few books that were on last year's list. Since I want to lower the number of unread books on my shelves I included in this list only books I have physically in my home (some aren't mine, but of some family members, but I didn't include anything from my wishlist). We'll see at the end of the year how many of these I actually read.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

The Sandman volume 7 by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman volume 8 by Neil Gaiman

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell

The Tower Of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Bisexuality In The Ancient World by Eva Cantarella

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Scheletri by Zerocalcare

La Scuola Di Pizze In Faccia Del Professor Calcare by Zerocalcare

Bloody Summer by Carmen Maria Machado

Cain's Jawbone by Torquemada

La Strega e Il Capitano by Leonardo Sciascia

The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

Alice Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

100 Hugs by Chris Riddell

Celtic Myths by T.W. Rolleston

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Japanese Tattoos by Yori Moriarty

The Misplaced Legion by Harry Turtledove

Solanin by Inio Asano

I don't know who else in the knife gang hasn't done it yet, so I'll just tag the post and whoever sees and hasn't done it consider yourself tagged! I also tag @oneanxiousstudybuddy and @just-a-cup-of-anxietea !!

[solarsafariau]

Is There a Solar Rebate in NSW?

If you're looking to save money on your household electricity bills by installing solar panels, you might be wondering if there's a rebate available. If you live in NSW, you might qualify for the Low Income Household Rebate, which is currently available in select regions. When the program expands to all parts of NSW in 2022, it will be available for everyone. You can also use your rebate to replace an old, inefficient system with a more energy efficient one. You can swap it for recommended upgrades worth up to $4,000, which can save you money on your household electricity bills.

Low Income Household Rebate

The government of NSW has introduced a program that provides free solar systems to low income households. These solar systems can reduce a household's electricity bill by as much as $600 annually. The government's Low Income Household Solar Rebate program is worth $128 million and will help over 30,000 NSW households install solar panels. This program is especially aimed at people who cannot afford to install solar panels. Land and Housing Corporation tenants will also be eligible to install solar panels on suitable premises.

While the trial scheme was announced last week, the Coalition government has taken a different stance. Its announcement aims to expand the low income household solar rebate program and offer additional payments to help households install solar panels. The program, called Energy Bill Buster, will be extended to 1 million households earning under $285 a year. However, the eligibility criteria for this scheme are stricter than those in South Australia. To ensure that it is a success in NSW, the government will continue to review its eligibility requirements and make changes.

Federal Feed-in Tariff

The federal feed-in tariff for solar rebate in NSW is designed to encourage the development of clean energy by providing a financial incentive for solar energy. It is a way for consumers to purchase energy from renewable sources while reducing their reliance on the power grid. The scheme was implemented in 2008 and has been largely successful, with consumers saving more than $1.2 billion annually. But as with any other incentive program, it has its limitations. There are a number of eligibility criteria for solar power systems, and there are also many terms and conditions for solar feed-in tariff plans.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has forecast that retail electricity prices in NSW will increase by 42% by 2014, largely due to the unpreparedness of electricity networks to meet peak demands. However, the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme has forced Premier Barry O'Farrell to enter into negotiations with minor parties and is now being phased out. Despite these challenges, the scheme remains important for those who want to create a sustainable energy future for their homes.

Solar Panel Rebate

In the state of New South Wales, solar energy is a foundational measure in the fight against climate change. You can install a solar panel system in your home to benefit from rebates. There are federal and state government rebates for solar energy systems. However, in NSW, you need to meet certain criteria to receive a rebate. There are many different ways to get a rebate, depending on your circumstances. You may also be eligible for solar feed-in tariffs.

The solar cost in NSW depends on many factors, including the brand and model of your system. It also depends on the size and type of your house. The rebate amount depends on the size of your system, so make sure that your solar panel rebate application is fully eligible. You can apply for up to nine different solar rebates in NSW. This means that you can save up to $20,000 over the lifetime of your solar system. While solar panels are a great option for any home, they can add value to your home.

Solar Safari are Sydney based Clean Energy Council Approved Solar Retailer, focused on tailoring solutions to meet your residential or commercial requirements. Our team of dedicated and experienced professionals have in-depth knowledge about Sydney’s Solar conditions and will design a system to suit your specific needs.

[mensrightsff]

There're many vaccines being produced in countries around the world but there's only one country that has the manufacturing capacity to produce sufficient quantities to satisfy the demands of citizens in every country & that's India: Australian Ambassador to India Barry O'Farrell https://t.co/zJwdb7QU9r pic.twitter.com/7GWvRwn6hR

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2020