With one more hour
another day perhaps
a time of concentration
we could rise up
surpass, surprise ourselves
and all of our ambitions
maybe even thrust
an unclenched fist
through an empty cloud
or pass a golden galaxy
and with some patience
and no little practice
even touch the lower sky.- Rod McKuen, from We Touch the Sky, 1978
ENDS
Keith Rankin: Our Neanderthal Ancestry
After my partner read Dan Salmon's novel Neands – written during lockdown in 2020 – I decided to renew my interest in our distant ancestry, in part with a concern that homo neanderthalensis has been unable to shake off, so far, its unflattering reputation in popular culture... More>>
Ian Powell: Rescuing Simpson From Simpson
(Originally published at The Democracy Project ) Will the health reforms proposed for the Labour Government make the system better or worse? Health commentator Ian Powell (formerly the Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical ... More>>
Missions To Mars: Mapping, Probing And Plundering The Red Planet
In the first month of 2020, Forbes was all excitement about fresh opportunities for plunder and conquest. Titled “2020: The Year We Will Conquer Mars”, the contribution by astrophysicist Paul M. Sutter was less interested in the physics than the conquest. ... More>>
Jennifer S. Hunt: Trump Evades Conviction Again As Republicans Opt For Self-Preservation
By Jennifer S. Hunt Lecturer in Security Studies, Australian National University Twice-impeached former US President Donald Trump has evaded conviction once more. On the fourth day of the impeachment trial, the Senate verdict is in . Voting guilty: ... More>>
International tribunals tend to be praised, in principle, by those they avoid investigating. Once interest shifts to those parties, such bodies become the subject of accusations: bias, politicisation, crude arbitrariness. The United States, whose legal and political ... More>>
By Robert McLachlan Professor in Applied Mathematics, Massey University The Climate Change Commission’s draft advice on how to decarbonise New Zealand’s economy is refreshing, particularly as it calls on the government to start phasing out fossil ... More>>
Binoy Kampmark: Let The Investigation Begin: The International Criminal Court, Israel And The Palestinian Territories
The Conversation: How To Cut Emissions From Transport: Ban Fossil Fuel Cars, Electrify Transport And Get People Walking And Cycling