Leonard Cohen has died aged 82, old and blessed. His life struggle was a form of classical Liberalism which many on the left may aspire to, but few understand. Cohen was a Zen Buddhist and a faithful Jew. It is worth reflecting on his life, his path was not an easy one, he was a poet. He had many relationships and children. But he wasn’t self absorbed or self destructive, so much as cognisant of the disparity between the dream of iconic love, and the fact of compromise. Everybody knows of what Cohen sang. It was personal, and explicit. The song Hallelujah took some five years for him to write, and includes many more verses than what are used in the variations sung. Cohen has given a gift of his legacy. His last album was “You want it darker.” And so it is.
Doing his bit from Melbourne on 3aw, Neil Mitchell interviews a Bernie Sanders supporter who claims he was a “Never Trump,” except “Never Trump” people are GOP supporters who oppose Trump. The idiot being interviewed was a Democrat supporter who felt Clinton had stolen preselection. She had. But that is no excuse for disrupting NYC in protest of President elect Trump. But that makes him interview material for Neil Mitchell who seems to go far to find people who don’t get Trump, but won’t interview someone who does. We are being told that the lesson of Brexit and the Trump election is that political elites need to listen to the average person. One gets the feeling that Mitchell never listens to the exceptional or gifted, and only really interviews himself or people that are safe for him. A little under half of all who voted supported Trump. Maybe Mitchell might interview one of them to get answers to his concerns.
IPA Review (Aug 2016) features an Elle Hardy article on “The Rise of Identity Politics” which is nominally about Trump but really about Bernie Sanders. Only the Trump platform and Sanders platform are very different. Trump’s base crosses the left right divide. Trump was on insider terms with left wing politicians, and his support helped fuel their corruption and helped make him rich. Trump is a neo con by literal definition. Trump aims to be pragmatic and will negotiate in a way one feels Libertarians should cheer if they understood him, instead of hating him. By way of contrast, Sanders is a carbon copy socialist who offers nothing beyond hyperbole. Sanders draws on a tradition of left wing ascendancy drawing on the peace movement of the sixties. There is no policy he has that would be successful, but spending a lot of money from tax must appeal to many. In gushing for Sanders, Elle got to quote Australian art critic Hughes. But to understand Trump, one need only see the slogans #MakeAmericaGreatAgain and #DrainTheSwamp Recognise Sanders is a swamp creature.
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle...
David Daniel Ball calls himself the Conservative Voice.
I'm a teacher with three decades experience teaching math to high school kids.I also work with first graders and kids in between first grade and high school. I know the legends of why Hypatia's dad is remembered through his contribution to Math theory. And I know the legend of why followers of Godel had thought he had disproved God's existence.
I'm not a preacher, but I am a Christian who has written over 28 books all of which include some reference to my faith. Twelve blog books on world history and current affairs, detailing world events , births and marriages on each day of the year, organised by month. Twelve books on the background to and history of Bible Quotes. One Bible quote per day for a year. An intro to a science fiction series I'm planning, post apocalyptic cyber punk. An autobiography with short story collections.
I'm known in Australia for my failure as a whistleblower over the negligence death of a school boy. ...
In Tanami’s red sands where spinifex grows,
Where waterholes gleam ‘neath the sun’s golden glare,
Lived Yaparla, sweet maid, with a heart pure as snow,
Her kindness a light in the desert so bare.
Her father, a wise man, kept songs for the land,
To guard the soak’s waters where life held its sway.
But drought gripped the earth with a merciless hand,
And he sought a new spring to ease their dismay.
Deep in a gorge where the rocks hid the sky,
He found a clear pool with fish dancing free.
But a voice shook the stones with a thunderous cry,
“Who steals my sweet water without leave of me?”
Out slid the Wanyarra, half-man, half a snake,
His scales flashed like opals, his eyes cold with pain.
“For your kin’s life,” he hissed, “one price I must take—
Send Yaparla to me, or your land drinks no rain.”
The father returned, his heart heavy with woe,
And told his dear daughter the serpent’s demand.
“I’ll go,” said Yaparla, her voice soft and low,
“For my people, my country, I’ll walk that red sand.”
She came to the gorge with her digging stick strong,
Singing songs of her kin ‘neath ...
AI adapted
To adapt the story of Bambi to the Dreamtime of Warlpiri culture in the Tanami Desert, we’ll reimagine the tale with respect for Warlpiri storytelling traditions, cosmology, and the desert environment. The Dreamtime (Jukurrpa) is a sacred framework where ancestral beings shape the land, law, and life, so Bambi’s journey will reflect Warlpiri values like kinship, connection to country, and survival in harmony with nature. I’ll keep the essence of Bambi—a young creature’s growth amid loss and discovery—while grounding it in the Tanami’s ecology and Warlpiri worldview. Since Bambi is a specific narrative, I’ll translate its core themes rather than reproduce the original text verbatim, ensuring cultural sensitivity. The story will be concise yet vivid, as requested.
Bambi in the Jukurrpa of the Tanami
In the Jukurrpa, when the Tanami Desert glowed under the first stars, the ancestral beings shaped the land. From the spinifex and red sand, they formed Jampijinpa, a young red ...
Created with Grok, Pictory, And Topmediai
Content from listening to podcasters Hunley and Groubert of America's Untold Stories. They tell it better than me
Folk Song: "The Ballad of Lee Harvey Oswald"
Verse 1
Oh, Lee Harvey Oswald, a man they did frame,
The deep state and CIA, they tarnished his name.
They said he went to Mexico, a lie they did spin,
While he fought for his service, his honor within.
Chorus
Sing for Lee Oswald, innocent and bold,
Framed by the shadows, a story untold.
With courage he stood, though the truth they denied,
A patriot’s heart in a nation that lied.
Verse 2
On that dark day in Dallas, they said he shot Tippit,
Left a wallet behind, but the tale didn’t fit.
Arrested with his own in hand, the proof was right there,
But the deep state kept spinnin’ their web of despair.
Chorus
Sing for Lee Oswald, innocent and bold,
Framed by the shadows, a story untold.
With courage he stood, though the truth they denied,
A patriot’s heart in a nation that lied.
Verse 3
They trained him in Russian, sent him off to the East,
A ...
