Mark O'Brien's news digest

22/03/2023

Federal Labor is playing down suggestions the party is divided over the government's plans to spend up to $368 billion buying and building a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

05/10/2022

Report commissioned by Wave Swell Energy says the machines would make a future clean electricity grid more stable and more reliable

05/10/2022

Can it be true that finally someone has figured out how to harness wave power sustainably?

Report commissioned by Wave Swell Energy says the machines would make a future clean electricity grid more stable and more reliable

09/04/2022

Its either Scomo or Albo. Gotta get behind Albo

27/03/2022

I went to Mandy Nolan's campaign launch on Monday 21 in Byron. A typically Byron style event with clowns, Space Cowboy, dancing girls and a fab song writer, plus of course the speakers, Adam Brandt (feisty chap, brimming with ethics), David Shoebridge and the woman of the moment herself, Mandy Nolan.
A few titbits of what was said.
It is quite possible that Greens and independents can hold the balance of power in the lower house, which means that they can force whichever of the major parties that gets enough seats to form government to shift their position on climate change, affordable housing, the overdue treaty with our Indigenous peoples plus a raft of other things that most people reading this will agree with.
It is possible that the Greens may have balance of power in the senate so it is important to tick that box as well.
The vast majority of the values that Mandy stands for are straight out of the Northern Rivers copy book about the kind of just society that we all dream of - affordable housing (That horse does seem to have bolted but at least Mandy and the Greens will do their very best to force change which is more that can be said for either of the main parties.), spend money on people not submarines that will be obsolete before they arrive or space defence systems that 'Potatohead' fantasises about in his dreams of being on the bridge in some dystopian Star Trek episode that didn't survive the editor's cut!
- Dental care to be included in Medicare is a no brainer but is deemed 'too expensive' by the major parties - how many families face economic hardship due to random dental issues? How much do dental issues impact productivity?
- Boosts for renewables and a plan to retrain those in coal and gas with new skills for the new economy.
- The long awaited treaty with our indigenous peoples and a voice in parliament.
I heard some anecdotes re some people upset with Mandy's position on mandatory vaxxes talking about voting for Clive or Pauline as a protest vote against Mandy. Really? The vaxx thing is more important than meaningful action on climate change? Really?
We do not have to agree with every one of Mandy's policy ambitions but I think that post our taste of flood catastrophes it has become apparent that there is no wiggle room on climate change. It is pro human life or against it, no middle ground here.
It was an excellent fundraising event, which will support TV ads etc. People in attendance dug deep into their wallets to support Mandy's candidacy, and to put it bluntly, so should everyone who cares about out future.
If like me you felt devastated after the last election and drowned in despair, and you want to not feel like that again, make a donation to help. Obviously many people have been radically impacted by the floods and cannot donate, so that means that everyone else needs to pick up the slack.
Visit mandy4richmond.com to make your donation or to volunteer. This election may be our best shot at changing the policy settings to radically and quickly adapt to the post carbon society.

01/12/2021

What has happened to the new age movement?
What has happened to the Aquarian ideals of peace love and ‘we are all in this together’?
Have former hippies sold out to the highest bidder?
I have been thinking lately about cryptocurrencies and its attraction to lots of local, otherwise greenish people.
Cryptos have been a good investment for many, staggeringly good for some, and they provide a certain secrecy re transactions where the governments do not track, keeping money out of the supposedly 'corrupt' banking system. Crypto has been sold as something maverick, something that the real ‘eco warriors’ trade in, building their ‘invisible’ nest eggs. We love the secrecy of Bitcoin transactions yet bemoan the existence of institutions like tax havens where the rich and the criminal can hide their wealth.
How is it tenable for people who would otherwise be manning the barricades against CSG or coal barons, to be involved in such a carbon intensive investment? Yes we all marched against Adani but is that any worse environmentally than crypto?
How do we rationalize that this is OK? Is this just simply cognitive dissonance, that in the final analysis otherwise enviro-conscious people feel that investing in one of the dirtiest industries on the planet to safeguard their own financial future is perfectly legit while bemoaning the lack of climate action from our government? That once again money and greed wins over the environment?

The “If I didn’t do it then someone else would’ or ‘it is already happening’ doesn’t hold any more water than ‘if we do not sell weapons to Saudi then someone else will’ kind of thing that has deservedly been debunked.
I do not think that anyone reading this would disagree with the concept that the world is in serious trouble and we must collectively pull our fingers out, put our money where our mouth is (or take our money out of where it is not) and stop being complicit in the enviro catastrophe that is unfolding.
Just a thought!

22/10/2021

And of course along with the Murdoch conversion, those halfwits who advocate, nuclear power will have to be faced down again with great cost in time and energy of the unfunded opposition, on the usual cycle of 10 years.
I find it amazing that nuke advocates are always free marketers who turn socialist whenever nuke power gets mentioned cause the free market refuses to provide money for nuke power, (too exxy, too long, too dangerous) nor to insure any nuke plants or storage etc.
https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-news-corps-new-spin-on-climate-change-169733

The Murdoch tabloids have just embarked on a bold new climate campaign, despite previously describing those who want action as ‘loons’.

19/07/2021

IS THIS THE BEST ENVIRO NEWS THIS CENTURY?
The new strategy that may force fossil fuel out of the market! The end of coking coal (for making steel etc)?

Europe has said they will put a tariff on any imports from countries and businesses that have not paid for producing carbon. This has come about because European industry pays to pollute, so it becomes far cheaper to buy from countries that do not have a price on carbon, such as Australia, Brazil, Africa, and Europe thinks this is unfair, given we have one world.

eg - China imports steel to Europe. Because Australian coal that is used to make the steel has not paid what I call 'climate GST' then Europe will slap a 20-30-40% tariff on it, making European industry becomes competitive.

If the US joins Europe and applies this tariff to all goods from all countries and companies that have a carbon input it will force climate denier countries like Australia to introduce a carbon trading scheme with a real price on carbon.
If Europe collects a tariff then they collect the money. If countries introduce carbon tax and regulations and put a carbon price on everything, then the money to spend on climate goodies will be collected locally.

What this also means is that green steel or aluminium, whatever we make to use here or export from carbon free energy, will overnight become 30-40% cheaper than its counterpart made from fossil based energy. And here lies the truth behind the Renewable energy superpower future that people talk about as Australia's future. Currently renewables are cheaper, what to say when coal, natural gas, pays the carbon price that is coming with this development.
Yahoo!

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/16/not-engaging-isnt-the-answer-australia-under-pressure-as-us-follows-eu-lead-on-carbon-tariffs

Experts and opposition MPs say Australia should work with Europe on new imports scheme instead of criticising

19/03/2021

Welcome to the weekend edition of Mark's new digest
The ongoing rabbit hole that the Canberra r**e scandals have exposed, Bob Hawke told daughter not to report r**e as it would hurt his career, how men can be allies to women at this time, the Indigenous women who have been at the wrong end of white Australian s*xual entitlement, the need to occasionally switch rooftop solar off to maintain the grid, plus much more
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-20-21-2021/

19/03/2021

Please find todays news digest link at the bottom.
The Canberra s*x abuse and r**e bubble turning into a moment that may just usher in Australia's s*xual revolution with Scomo reckoning that women were lucky they were not shot when marching!
Plus interesting enviro pieces.
Whales communicated position of whalers to each other
The mysteries of long Covid
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-19-2021/

16/03/2021

hi everyone. Please find the current two day digest, keeping your news reading out of Facebook's reach - I am in transit and currently do not have the time to post it every day.
The Canberra s*x abuse story keeps expanding - Scomo suggesting to women after the anti s*xual violence march that they were lucky they could protest without fear of being shot! Really?
Also the science behind sound healing, the history of indigenous people using crystals, hormone disruptor levels drop very quickly after stopping using some cosmetics,
And much more
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-17-18-2021/

14/03/2021

sorry everyone who may have missed these posts over the weekend - I stuffed up and these posts never made it into the light of day.
lots of articles about what seems to be the beginning of the s*xual revolution in Australian and s*xual equality, the Canberra r**e bubble.
Changes afoot for coal mining towns, latest covid updates, magic mushroom therapy finds unlikely ally, lots of goodies
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-13-14-2021/

10/03/2021

Please find my latest news digest by clicking on the link
Read the incredible story of the woman who discovered an abandoned 3 bed apartment behind her bathroom mirror!
Good news on the enviro front with another coal power station to close, replaced by a big battery. Woohoo
AND a roadmap to ban fossil fuels NOW
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-11-2021/

09/03/2021

Another Mark's news digest has been published, for March 10.
Which seafood is the worst as far as dissolved micro plastics?
Scomo still copping it from the media and women
Joe Biden hits a roadblock
Parliament considering a bill the significantly reduce online adult content in Australia, and the Australian uni that is developing robotic limbs with AI
Enjoy
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-10-2021/

08/03/2021

hi everyone. My latest News digest is available for viewing.
The Dutch experimenting with a big danceclub event to research how to run future covid safe events - don't ya love the Dutch practicality?
Has the pale stale and male tribe in Canberra missed the point? Again?
Women are pi**ed off with no ceiling to that in sight!
And is Angus Taylor's seat in government under same concerted attack that dump Abbott?
Ain't it great that Facebook cannot see what news you like to read?
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-9-2021/

07/03/2021

Welcome to my news digest for today.
Some more stories about the appalling sordid Canberra s*x abuse and cover up - is Linda Reynolds sick, in hiding or combination thereof?
Scomo approval rating among women plummeting. Have women had enough of Scotty from marketing?
Is this the long delayed 'second wave' of s*xual revolution?
The seaweed miracle to stop cows farting methane not so easy.
A LNP pollie thinks climate change represents an opportunity???
Fuel cells that run directly from sewage
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-8-2021/

Mark's news digest March 8, 2021. Today's digest of national and international news by Mark O'Brien. Click to go to the original publisher's page.

06/03/2021

hello, Here is the weekend's news digest.
One of the upsides of using a news digest like that takes you to the site where article is originally published is that is means Facebook is not looking over your shoulder seeing what you read, what you might like to buy or peruse.
The Canberra r**e and s*x abuse stories keep percolating, throwing up new aspects daily - it seems Australia is going through its s*xual revolution, finally, again! Some very cool ev news in the enviro section, Covid news throws up something new most days, and that is that possibly the reason why UK and US have had so many deaths while India has had nothing like it is due to obesity, that obese people get way more sick than others. Also how did the NT avoid mass infections?
Microdosing L*D? Appears to be mostly placebo, no data on mushrooms tho!

http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-6-7-2021/

Mark's news digest March 6-7, 2021. This weekend's digest of national and international news by Mark O'Brien. Click on the links to go to the original site

05/03/2021

Mark’s news digest March 5, 2021
Mark’s news digest March 5, 2021. Today’s digest of national and international news by Mark O’Brien.
What's in the covid vaccines and how much is the govt paying commanies to distribute them without tenders, Scomo 'on notice; with Australian women fed up with his inaction and and refusal to acknowledge r**e culture in parliament along with Peter Dutton throwing mud over himself, graphs showing impact of Facebook news blockage...

http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-5-2021/

Mark's news digest March 5, 2021. Today's digest of national and international news by Mark O'Brien

05/03/2021

Mark’s news digest March 3, 2021
Today’s digest of national and international news by Mark O’Brien. Click on the links to go to the original publisher’s page
10 things you may not know about energy in Australia, green steel in Sweden, Victorian towns to go off the grid in a positive experiment, more developments in Canberra s*x scandal bubble, and Australia passes Qatar as largest gas exporter in the world
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-3-2021/

Mark's news digest March 3, 2021 Today's digest of national and international news by Mark O'Brien.

05/03/2021

Mark's news digest March 2, 2021 Today's digest of national and international news by Mark O'Brien
More on the LNP's stubborn refusal to listen to women, the 'covid passport', Johnson & Johnson's new vaccine, the danger of allowing the coal industry to dictate the transition to a low carbon economy, sustainable flying? and the stupidness of a gas-led recovery
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-2-2021/

Mark's news digest March 2, 2021 Today's digest of national and international news by Mark O'Brien

05/03/2021

Mark’s news digest March 1, 2021
Today’s digest of national and international news by Mark O’Brien
More on Scomos paralysis when it comes to taking action, again, plus the coal lobby that refuses to die, Murdock media, the 250% interest rate jump that has economists worried, Australia's rapid shift from global leader to pariah and Murdoch media in the fire again
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-march-1-2021/

Mark's news digest March 1, 2021. Today's digest of national and international news by Mark O'Brien

05/03/2021

Mark’s news digest Feb 27-28, 2021
Rudd's call to arms, Jobseeker crash, enviro red flags about flying, is Russia more transparent and open than Australia? The ongoing Brittany Higgins story that threatens the govt's survival, the freezing of Texan power networks a great lesson

http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-feb-27-28-2021/

Mark's news digest Feb 27-28, 2021 with today's expanded weekend digest by Mark O'Brien

05/03/2021

Mark’s news digest Feb 26, 2021
Lots of articles about the cutting edge of climate change awareness including making ecocide an international crime, did Facebook win or lose?, plus general political commentary
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digmarks-news-digest-feb-26-2021est-feb-26-2021/

Mark's news digest Feb 26, 2021 with today's expanded green section by Mark O'Brien

05/03/2021

Mark’s news digest Feb 22, 2021 with today’s expanded green section, Facebook and media The Facebook news ban revealed how problematic it is to rely on corporations to provide fundamental public services, scapegoating Covid sceptics, some excellent pieces on sustainable energy sources and companies ignoring govt inaction
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-feb-22-2021/

Mark's news digest Feb 22, 2021 with today's expanded green section by Mark O'Brien. Created to provide news sourcing alternative to Facebook

05/03/2021

Mark’s news digest, 21 Feb, 2021
Updates on covid including vaccine hesitancy appearing among US health workers, Australian media, plus health and well being and Sascha Baron Cohen interview
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-new-digest-21-feb-2021/

Mark's news digest, 21 Feb, 2021, including what Mark Zuckerberg wants with us! Mark's News digest offers an alternative news source to Facebook

05/03/2021

Mark's news digest Feb 20, 2021
Today's links include more articles on the Brittany Higgins story, the ongoing Facebook drama, Australian politics and enviro and health news
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/marks-news-digest-feb-20-20121/

Mark's News Digest by Mark O'Brien is created in response to Facebook shutting down its news feeds. Share with your friends if this is useful for you.

05/03/2021

Mark's news digest Feb 19, 2021
Todays links include the beginning of the Brittany Higgins furore/scandal, general Australian politics, Covid news and the recent Facebook drama which prompted this page
http://byronbodyandsoul.com/businesses/digest-feb-19-2011/

Introducing my first daily Mark's News Digest by Mark O'Brien, created to fill void of Facebook dropping its news feeds.

03/03/2021

Welcome to my news digest page. I am attempting to post a new news digest on my website every day but sometimes I am too busy etc.

I created this page to provide an alternative to the Facebook newsfeeds that just provide information that our previous views and likes tell Facebook that we like.
Over many years I have been publishing content (in Here & Now and Kindred magazines and the Byron Body & Soul Guide, all in the Byron Shire) that aims to support the creation of a new sustainable paradigm in both inner and outer senses.
There are, as is usual, a forever increasing number of issues demanding our attention and we can feel somewhat overwhelmed and also wondering what news is fake and what is real.
Filtering what is real and important in the news is a challenge so I am attempting to provide a daily news digest that reflects a powerful desire I have for sharing various voices in the media that resonate with the sustainable and holistic society that we are currently taking big steps towards, steps that hopefully become an paradigm revolution sweeping the 'business as usual' one into the history.
I invite you to have a look at my daily news digests which link to the sites the stories were originally published on - previous digests remain on the byronbodyandsoul.com page so you can have a look through previous days' digests if you missed one.

03/03/2021

03/03/2021