My Picks for Top Tweets: 13 September 2017

by | Sep 13, 2017 | Australia, Tweets | 14 comments

Today, the US lost one of its LGBTQ icons, Edie Windsor, who was a champion of marriage equality in that country. There’s a short video about her in the Political Tweets section below.

However, it’s the situation in Australia I want to talk about. Despite being one of the most socially advanced countries in the would, Oz still doesn’t have same-sex marriage. For some time polls have shown that most Aussies want same-sex marriage to be legal, but governments won’t have a bar of it.

Recently they government finally agreed to a non-binding referendum on the subject, and the voting papers were sent out to all voters yesterday. (They’re not due back until November.) Opponents are complaining about the cost of the ballot (Aus$116 million/NZ$125 million/US$93 million). There’s been a pretty nasty “No” campaign too, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago here.

A new poll came out about the vote yesterday. 65% of respondents said they would “definitely” take part in the vote and of those, 70% said they would be voting “Yes” i.e. for same-sex marriage. That’s great news!

The big news though is that both NRL (National Rugby League) Australia and Cricket Australia have come out in support of marriage equality and the “Yes” campaign.

It started with former actor, model, and Kangaroo hard man (the national rugby league team is the Kangaroos) Ian Roberts. (That’s him in the pic.) He was the first high-profile Australian athlete to come out as gay. He’s been working for the “Yes” campaign and so asked the NRL to support it. NRL CEO, Todd Greenberg announced that support yesterday. In making the announcement he made the point that it’s very easy for an organization to say they were all about inclusiveness, but there should be some action behind those words. Thus they made the choice to support the “Yes” campaign. Cricket Australia followed suit soon after.

I hope this move sees other sporting groups, businesses, and others, put their public support behind the campaign.

It seems clear that the result of the poll will show overwhelming support for same-sex marriage in Oz. Changing that into political action is often not so easy, but it sure takes away the biggest excuse used to date – that they don’t know for sure that it’s what Aussies want.

 

Cat Tweets

How can people be so cruel? These weren’t feral kittens, because they ran towards people as soon as they saw them. Those people took them home, took care of them, and found homes for them. (Video at link.)

 

He just doesn’t want to be left alone!

 

This is my fave for the day! They’re so sweet, and check out the wee mouse toy too!

Dog Tweets

Looks like she’s treating this dog is an accessory rather than a pet, but it’s still very cute.

 

Other Animals Tweets

Apparently this is a Coati. The WordPress dictionary had never heard of it either. I had to look it up to ensure my assumption from the tweet that it was the animal’s name! You learn something new every day – if you’re lucky.

Insect Tweets

This tweet is in for the pic of the mosquito.

 

Marine Tweets

Wow!!!! Another lovely creature.

Political Tweets

I’m proud to say I have done several stories on Boko Haram over the years, although it has been some time since I’ve done one about any terror group. It is hard getting info about Boko Haram. It’s really dangerous just getting to the part of Nigeria where they operate. The reporter in the video below, Kaj Larsen, is one who’s videos I’ve used a couple of times. (See here and here.)

 

RIP Edie Windsor. I can’t beat what former president Obama said about you:

Few were as small in stature as Edie Windsor, and few made as big a difference to America.

 

Scenic Tweets

Tianmen Mountain is a beautiful national park in Hunan Province, China. Another place for the bucket list!

 

This is on the bucket list too.

 

This is an amazing achievement for any society. Why do they have to spoil it by claiming it was built via magic?

 

Oh Wow! Now I want to go here too!!!

History Tweets

Another job that’s gone by the wayside because of mechanization. No one is complaining about this one, but it must have put thousands out of work!

 

This is so cool! I wonder if she had some sort of secret life? Did she have to dress and act the way society expected most of the time? There’s so much I’d like to know about this woman.

 

Has anyone been inside? What’s it like?

 

It took me a while to work out just what I was seeing here. Wow!

Human Rights Tweets

“Don’t let the words other people say about you, define you.” Wise words to live by.

 

If I was Canadian. I’d sign the petition to revoke Aung San Suu Kyi’s honorary citizenship. The Rohingya have been badly treated in Myanmar for years. What is happening now is only an increase in brutality, not a new thing.

Art Tweets

This is very cool!!!

 

Great pic.

Science Tweets

I know nothing about the book or its subject, but I love the cover!

 

Isn’t it beautiful?

 

Cool vid of sweat on your fingertips.

Weather Tweets

Look at those changes!

 

This is a cool way to see the effect of the rain in Irma.

 

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14 Comments

  1. Jenny Haniver
    Jenny Haniver on 13th September 2017 at 12:49 pm

    Prions — think Kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, familial insomnia and various other spongiform encephalopathies of humans and various mammals. Ballanchine died of CJ disease http://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/08/science/the-doctor-s-world-the-mystery-of-balanchine-s-death-is-solved.html?pagewanted=all. If you don’t know the story of kuru, check it out: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/09/06/482952588/when-people-ate-people-a-strange-disease-emerged.

    Reply
  2. rickflick
    rickflick on 13th September 2017 at 1:48 pm

    I visited Chichen Itza about a decade ago. It’s an amazing trip. We had the privilege of being with a guide who had studied the history of the site and written a book on it. His main theme was that the hypothesis that the winners of sports events were sacrificed to the gods is unlikely. If you get there, spend some time and walk around the vast area. There are interesting features all around. My companions hiked up to the top of the pyramid and were thrilled. I did not because of an ankle injury.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 14th September 2017 at 7:32 am

      The pics of Mexican pyramids etc. I’ve been posting come from a guy whose written a book about their history. It might be the same one?

      Reply
  3. nicky
    nicky on 13th September 2017 at 4:56 pm

    Re the call for the revoking of the honorary Canadian citizenship of Aung San Suu Kyi.
    I’ve been reading up a bit, and of course it is more complex than it appears at first sight. very briefly. There is a militant group ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) organising a kind of insurrection. This has been going on for quite a long time, with ARSA’s predecessor Harakah al-Yakin (Faith Movement). ARSA is (should I say of course?) supported by the SKA, some of it’s militants were trained there. And then we can count on the Burmese miililitary to take a very, very heavy hand in stamping the insurrection out, considering all Rohingya complicit, resulting in actual ‘ethnic cleansing’.
    I do not think Aung San has any control over the military, but on the other hand she appears not keen to point out that the military actions are completely and bluntly out of proportion: a horrible human rights violation, either.

    Reply
    • nicky
      nicky on 13th September 2017 at 4:59 pm

      SKA = KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), sorry.

      Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 14th September 2017 at 7:24 am

      There have been calls for her to condemn what’s done to the Rohingya for years, and she’s always had some excuse why she can’t do, or simply ignores the calls. She got enormous international support for years herself, which kept her alive and on house arrest rather than dead or imprisoned. The truth is that most of the people support what’s being done to the Rohingya. As far as they’re concerned, all Muslims are terrorists and they want them gone by whatever means. To speak out against their treatment would be politically damaging.

      There are plenty of Western countries where a lot of people would treat some minorities the same if they could get away with it, and they have done so in the past.

      Reply
      • nicky
        nicky on 15th September 2017 at 7:06 am

        When you say ‘most of the people’, I’m not very clear on which people you are referring to. Burmese, West, World or what? Could you be a bit more specific? This is not meant as a ‘polemical’ or rethorical question, I’m just not sure whom you are referring to.

        Reply
        • Heather Hastie
          Heather Hastie on 15th September 2017 at 11:57 am

          I’m referring to the international community in general – NGOs etc. The Burmese have no problem with what is happening, and most support it. They believe that all the Rohingya are terrorists, and there are some who are – funded, surprise, surprise, by Saudis.

          Quite honestly, I think Saudi Arabia should offer to take those Rohingya who would like to go there. They have the money and the space and don’t do nearly enough for refugees, especially considering that many are the result of the extremist madrassas that they funded throughout the region.

          Reply
      • nicky
        nicky on 16th September 2017 at 1:26 am

        I really do not know what to think, Aung is one of my heroines, and I despise Islam and Islamic militant groups.
        On the other hand, ‘ethnic cleansing’ is a horrible, absolute and utter nono.

        And yes, I think the Wahabbists are -at least partially- to blame, they incited it or aggravated it, but the Burmese military reaction is totally out of proportion. And Aung’s half endorsement/excusing is still unconscionable (it hurts me saying that).
        I suspect ‘Saud’ knew what would happen, the Burmese military are known for their ‘tactful soft-handed’ approach (/s), and ‘Saud’ has shown to be a very clever, calculating player over the last decades.

        Reply
        • Heather Hastie
          Heather Hastie on 16th September 2017 at 1:43 am

          She was a heroine of mine too until last time this issue came up. She was only just in the government then, but still wouldn’t say anything against the mistreatment of the Rohingya.

          I see she’s no longer coming to the UN next week. Clearly doesn’t want to get called out in that forum – a forum that backed her strongly when she was the victim.

          Reply
  4. Yakaru
    Yakaru on 14th September 2017 at 3:18 am

    Also been to Chichen Itza… Mexico is such a great country.
    —
    I grew up in Tasmania, where homosexuality was illegal there until embarrassingly recently. It used to be dangerous even for hetero guys who “looked a bit gay” to walk down the street. But then became the first state to legalize gay marriage. So if Tasmanians can do it, the rest of Australia can catch up. (That is a sentence I never dreamed I would type!)

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 14th September 2017 at 7:29 am

      It’s actually not that long ago since being gay was illegal in NZ either. I remember the law change – I was a teenager. Now we’re considered the most gay-friendly tourist destination in the world. You’re right – change can happen very quickly.

      Reply
  5. Lee Knuth
    Lee Knuth on 14th September 2017 at 4:21 am

    Loved the photo of the pin setters. Brought back memories since my brother worked as one. My father worked in a factory that manufactured the first automatic pin setter.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 14th September 2017 at 7:30 am

      How cool that you have such a connection to a pic!

      Reply

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