Denise Beale
@denisebeale.bsky.social
PhD, author, retired educator. Moved house 41 times, I don't know why. Planting flowers, watching birds & knitting in Buninyong, Australia. On Wadawurrung land
Reposted by Denise Beale
A real treat to watch a male Lyrebird perform at the Healesville Sanctuary yesterday. Truly magnificent.
December 19, 2025 at 8:35 PM
A real treat to watch a male Lyrebird perform at the Healesville Sanctuary yesterday. Truly magnificent.
Reposted by Denise Beale
Aged care reforms built on the myth of the cashed up boomer risk leaving those who most need support unable to afford it. Rising fees, a fragile Support at Home system and pressure on families point to a policy failure we will all feel, writes Kathy Eager @k_eagar #AgedCare #AusPol
A beginners guide to Australian aged care policy in 2025
Stereotypes about wealthy baby boomers are skewing aged care policy. New fees, the shift to Support at Home, and pressures on community services risk leaving many older Australians without affordable, safe support. The consequences will be felt across families, hospitals and future generations.
johnmenadue.com
December 14, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Denise Beale
Bad Lorikeets! Here's what can happen if you leave a window open in Sydney. After helping themselves to some honey I had put out for my mum, they perched on my iMac for the morning no doubt waiting for seconds . . . cheeky buggers. #birds #birding #nature #badlorikeets
December 11, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Bad Lorikeets! Here's what can happen if you leave a window open in Sydney. After helping themselves to some honey I had put out for my mum, they perched on my iMac for the morning no doubt waiting for seconds . . . cheeky buggers. #birds #birding #nature #badlorikeets
Reposted by Denise Beale
High rates of outright home ownership combined with tax-free super insulate older Australians from mortgage rate fluctuations.
As the population ages, the RBA’s interest rate policy is no longer fit for purpose
theconversation.com
December 10, 2025 at 10:22 AM
High rates of outright home ownership combined with tax-free super insulate older Australians from mortgage rate fluctuations.
Reposted by Denise Beale
🧵2/2 follow the link to my blog on Australia’s dirty recycling reality.👇🏽
www.lyrebirddreaming.com/post/recycla...
www.lyrebirddreaming.com/post/recycla...
"Recyclable" Doesn't Mean "Recycled"
The comforting story we tell ourselves - and the landfill reality How often do you hear “but it’s recyclable”?. I hear it in supermarkets, road-side service centres and worksites. Someone holds up a p...
www.lyrebirddreaming.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:51 AM
🧵2/2 follow the link to my blog on Australia’s dirty recycling reality.👇🏽
www.lyrebirddreaming.com/post/recycla...
www.lyrebirddreaming.com/post/recycla...
Reposted by Denise Beale
Reposted by Denise Beale
Kudos to the scientists who contributed the evidence to show that feral horses cause irreparable damage to ecosystems. This bill protected an invasive species in one of Australia's most important alpine national parks; repealing it is a major win for the environment www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Controversial 'Brumby Bill' recognising horses' heritage value dumped
A widely criticised bill recognising the heritage value of wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park will be scrapped in a move celebrated by the Invasive Species Council.
www.abc.net.au
November 29, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Kudos to the scientists who contributed the evidence to show that feral horses cause irreparable damage to ecosystems. This bill protected an invasive species in one of Australia's most important alpine national parks; repealing it is a major win for the environment www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Denise Beale
I was teaching a class yesterday on the 1984-85 miners' strike. Here's an extract from Kinnock's speech to the 1984 Labour Conference.
Whether you agree with him or not, it's a sustained argument for the parliamentary road to socialism.
Now we get single-sentence paragraphs on "national renewal".
Whether you agree with him or not, it's a sustained argument for the parliamentary road to socialism.
Now we get single-sentence paragraphs on "national renewal".
November 29, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I was teaching a class yesterday on the 1984-85 miners' strike. Here's an extract from Kinnock's speech to the 1984 Labour Conference.
Whether you agree with him or not, it's a sustained argument for the parliamentary road to socialism.
Now we get single-sentence paragraphs on "national renewal".
Whether you agree with him or not, it's a sustained argument for the parliamentary road to socialism.
Now we get single-sentence paragraphs on "national renewal".
Reposted by Denise Beale
THREAD.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
November 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
THREAD.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
Reposted by Denise Beale
New finds in Turkey's southeast add to picture of Neolithic age reut.rs/3JV3gNm
New finds in Turkey's southeast add to picture of Neolithic age
Turkey unveiled dozens of new finds at a major archaeological site in southeast Turkey on Wednesday, giving fresh insight into an area seen as showing humanity's transition from hunter-gatherers to settled societies more than 11,000 years ago.
reut.rs
November 26, 2025 at 8:50 PM
New finds in Turkey's southeast add to picture of Neolithic age reut.rs/3JV3gNm
Reposted by Denise Beale
"Poverty is not evidence, the presumption of innocence must apply to everyone" Smashing column by @kristin8x.antipovertycentre.org & @maiyazize.bsky.social #ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Poverty is not evidence, the presumption of innocence must apply to everyone
In the final days of October, the Federal Government quietly inserted a last-minute amendment into an unrelated bill. It has been trying to rush through a change that would allow police and the Home A...
thepoint.com.au
November 23, 2025 at 11:38 PM
"Poverty is not evidence, the presumption of innocence must apply to everyone" Smashing column by @kristin8x.antipovertycentre.org & @maiyazize.bsky.social #ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
50 years ago, the Whitlam government was dismissed. I can remember where I was when I heard, the shock I felt. So much has been written & spoken about it today but for me the anger remains visceral. For those who complain of the ALP's timidity, look at what happened to Gough
November 11, 2025 at 11:14 AM
50 years ago, the Whitlam government was dismissed. I can remember where I was when I heard, the shock I felt. So much has been written & spoken about it today but for me the anger remains visceral. For those who complain of the ALP's timidity, look at what happened to Gough
Reposted by Denise Beale
From Allan Behm "Gough demonstrated his innate nobility, and in so doing the nobility of our democratic system in the face of the ignobility of Kerr’s interference, with the foreknowledge and complicity of the House of Windsor."
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Gough turned Abuse-of-Power into Constitutional Resurrection
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 9:40 PM
From Allan Behm "Gough demonstrated his innate nobility, and in so doing the nobility of our democratic system in the face of the ignobility of Kerr’s interference, with the foreknowledge and complicity of the House of Windsor."
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Reposted by Denise Beale
All French teenagers dress like this.
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:46 PM
All French teenagers dress like this.
Reposted by Denise Beale
#PODCAST “The Dismissal” 1975. The most anti #democracy event in #auspol in my lifetime (so far). The Whitlam government, for all its flaws & stuff ups, left an extraordinary legacy of reforms. That reformist zeal is missing now from @australianlabor.bsky.social @albomp.bsky.social government. Guts?
We kick off Pearlcast with a topic close to our hearts, the 50th anniversary of the #Dismissal of the Whitlam Government with Editor-in-Chief John Menadue; Jenny Hocking and Brian Toohey. We launch with two episodes today and I look forward to joining you there.@catrionajackso1 #auspol
Message from the Editor
When I began as editor in early 2025 I was struck by how much great reading P&I offered. Now we are branching out to bring you great listening as well, with a big new project, Pearlcast.
johnmenadue.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:43 AM
#PODCAST “The Dismissal” 1975. The most anti #democracy event in #auspol in my lifetime (so far). The Whitlam government, for all its flaws & stuff ups, left an extraordinary legacy of reforms. That reformist zeal is missing now from @australianlabor.bsky.social @albomp.bsky.social government. Guts?
Reposted by Denise Beale
This fantastic map by Francis Galton shows travel time from London to the rest of the world in 1881.
October 21, 2025 at 10:54 PM
This fantastic map by Francis Galton shows travel time from London to the rest of the world in 1881.
Reposted by Denise Beale
14 years I ago I wrote this. The same is still true today, even if it has become a little more relative and a little less absolute www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12... Here's Justin Wolfers Boyer Lecture the other day saying the same (worth watching) www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAa9...
Australia, you've never had it so good
Never before has there been a nation so completely oblivious to not just their own successes, but the sheer enormity of them, than Australia today.
www.abc.net.au
October 21, 2025 at 2:28 AM
14 years I ago I wrote this. The same is still true today, even if it has become a little more relative and a little less absolute www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12... Here's Justin Wolfers Boyer Lecture the other day saying the same (worth watching) www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAa9...
Reposted by Denise Beale
Ezra Klein has played a fascinating role in entrenching “polarization” as the – deeply flawed – master narrative of our time: His 2020 book “Why We’re Polarized” did a lot to propagate the idea.
But if you read the book carefully, Klein inadvertently provides a good case *against* this diagnosis.
But if you read the book carefully, Klein inadvertently provides a good case *against* this diagnosis.
September 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Ezra Klein has played a fascinating role in entrenching “polarization” as the – deeply flawed – master narrative of our time: His 2020 book “Why We’re Polarized” did a lot to propagate the idea.
But if you read the book carefully, Klein inadvertently provides a good case *against* this diagnosis.
But if you read the book carefully, Klein inadvertently provides a good case *against* this diagnosis.
Reposted by Denise Beale
Reposted by Denise Beale
National Climate Change Risk Assessment out now 👇🏽
Risk to current ecosystems VERY HIGH. Rick by 2050 VERY HIGH to SEVERE
Risk to current ecosystems VERY HIGH. Rick by 2050 VERY HIGH to SEVERE
September 15, 2025 at 12:45 AM
National Climate Change Risk Assessment out now 👇🏽
Risk to current ecosystems VERY HIGH. Rick by 2050 VERY HIGH to SEVERE
Risk to current ecosystems VERY HIGH. Rick by 2050 VERY HIGH to SEVERE
Reposted by Denise Beale
I wrote a thing. As someone who survived the 1970s and kept the receipts.
Shocked by Epstein’s birthday book? That culture was everywhere before feminism | Rebecca Solnit
Feminism exposed the ubiquity of child abuse, rape, sexual harassment and domestic violence – and helped fight that culture
www.theguardian.com
September 13, 2025 at 12:00 PM
I wrote a thing. As someone who survived the 1970s and kept the receipts.
Reposted by Denise Beale
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Standing up for science and facts - @michaelmann.bsky.social and @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social
Standing up for science and facts - @michaelmann.bsky.social and @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social
Science is under siege from weaponised disinformation – posing a threat to human civilisation | Michael Mann and Peter Hotez
From Covid misinformation to climate denialism, understanding the divergent paths of Australia and the US can help us fight the powerful forces that threaten our world
www.theguardian.com
September 8, 2025 at 10:14 PM
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Standing up for science and facts - @michaelmann.bsky.social and @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social
Standing up for science and facts - @michaelmann.bsky.social and @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social
Reposted by Denise Beale
nice article from Nadir Jeevanjee (is he on bluesky?) about predictions climate models got right. successful predictions are the gold standard of science.
5 forecasts early climate models got right – the evidence is all around you
theconversation.com/5-forecasts-...
5 forecasts early climate models got right – the evidence is all around you
theconversation.com/5-forecasts-...
5 forecasts early climate models got right – the evidence is all around you
From rising global temperatures to the fast-warming Arctic, early climate models predicted the changes half a century ago.
theconversation.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:07 AM
nice article from Nadir Jeevanjee (is he on bluesky?) about predictions climate models got right. successful predictions are the gold standard of science.
5 forecasts early climate models got right – the evidence is all around you
theconversation.com/5-forecasts-...
5 forecasts early climate models got right – the evidence is all around you
theconversation.com/5-forecasts-...
Reposted by Denise Beale
So a few weeks ago we packed up the trailer, loaded up the kids and set off on a three month road trip up Australia's East Coast.
Will share some sporadic updates and reflections here as we go.
Will share some sporadic updates and reflections here as we go.
August 13, 2025 at 6:56 AM
So a few weeks ago we packed up the trailer, loaded up the kids and set off on a three month road trip up Australia's East Coast.
Will share some sporadic updates and reflections here as we go.
Will share some sporadic updates and reflections here as we go.