wednesday newstrip

Police appeal for information after barnacle-covered parcels of suspected cocaine wash up on Sydney's coast · 20 flights delayed at Sydney Airport as flash flooding sweeps through city · Joe BidenMyTime says he did not ask BeenJammin’ NotJustAnyahoo for a ceasefire in Gaza, as Iran threatens to block the Mediterranean Sea · Queensland home's Christmas light display so bright it needed Aviation Authority approval · Russia moves Putin opposition politician Alexei Navalny to a prison in the Arctic · “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, Band Aid’s 1984 charity anthem, has come under fire online for continuing to perpetuate “racist” & “patronizing” stereotypes about Africa nearly 40 years after it was released.

wednesday newstrip

Israeli armed forces killed 3 hostages who were waving white flags “by mistake” · family of four-month-old baby say they found him in a fallen tree after Tennessee tornado destroyed home · Australians are eating more ultra-processed foods amid the rising cost of living · Rudy Giuliani must pay more than $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers he defamed through false accusations · debate over race relations rages in Aotearoa / New Zealand as new government repeals key social policies · flights stopped & crocodiles seen roaming streets as severe floods hit Australia’s North Queensland · U.S. affirms support for Israel as calls mount for Gaza ceasefire.

occasionally YouTube has some unexpectedly good suggestions

"St. Andrew’s College is independent and co-educational, with facilities for both day and boarding students from Pre School to Year 13. We have approximately 1350 students, and are the only independent co-educational school in the South Island of Aotearoa / New Zealad.

"We are situated on 13 hectares in the heart of Merivale, a suburb which is only 5 minutes from central Christchurch. Strowan Stream runs through the grounds, and serves as a picturesque backdrop to the historic Strowan House and our Memorial Chapel.

"Our facilities include a purpose built Senior College, a Fine arts and photography centre, a Music performance centre, a professionally equipped film and television studio, gymnasium, the Castle Hill Outdoor Education Centre and the College farm.

"Key features at all levels include:
• a challenging and extensive academic curriculum
• outstanding performing arts, including drama, musical groups, Pipe Band
• a wide variety of sporting teams with committed and highly talented coaches
• an extensive pastoral care and student welfare network.

"We are a Christian school with a long Presbyterian heritage, and are committed to enhancing the spiritual, physical, emotional, cognitive and social development of our students."

wednesday newstrip

U.S. vetoes Gaza ceasefire vote at U.N. Security Council meeting · U.S. is running out of money for Ukraine, Biden administration says · U.S. bypasses Congress to approve sale of 14,000 tank shells to Israel · Europe reaches a deal on the world's first comprehensive AI rules · the current memorandum of understanding commits the U.S. to $3.3 billion in annual Foreign Military Financing to Israel, the largest routine FMF package the U.S. provides on a yearly basis and which alone represents approximately 16% of Israel’s defense budget · Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Notjustanyahoo was forced on Wednesday to deny a report his government had approved a shipment of weapons to Palestinian security forces after hard-right ministers in his coalition expressed outrage · Avril Benoit, head of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity, described the U.S. veto as a “sharp contrast to the values it professes to uphold.”

wednesday newstrip

8 Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire in northern Gaza Strip in 1 week: Israeli media · high-fat flight is the first jetliner to make fossil fuel-free flight from London to New York · video of 50 Cent concert frenzy in Norway falsely linked to Israel-Hamas war · Russia's Supreme Court effectively outlaws LGBTQ+ activism in a landmark ruling · Shane MacGowan: The Pogues frontman dies aged 65 after eight-year long battle with brain condition · Tesla makes first deliveries of long-delayed Cybertruck, with lower range & higher prices than Elongated Muskrat first announced · Israeli offensive shifts to crowded southern Gaza, driving up death toll despite evacuation orders · at least four people have been killed & dozens wounded by an explosion at a Sunday mass service being held in a university gymnasium in the Philippines · drunk car thief in Aotearoa / New Zealand returns stolen vehicle with apology note & gifts for the owner.

Now out from Sandy Press

Now out from Sandy Press.

Mark Young
Ley Lines II
Sandy Press
ISBN: 978-1-7368160-8-0
100 pages
$US19.95
Available through Amazon

‘As far as I can tell, my first “A line from…” poem used as its prompt words found in a Ron Silliman piece. Jackson Mac Low, Charles Mingus, Paracelsus, Gunter Grass, Friedrich Durrenmatt, & Calvin Coolidge weren’t far behind. But three years before them came “A poem beginning with a line from Foucault” & “A poem ending with a line from Pablo Neruda.” & before them all — in my multiverse, at least — was Robert Duncan’s “A Poem Beginning with a Line from Pindar.”

‘There is a history which is there to be taken advantage of. Chance meetings, long associations, stochastic processes. Google as partner on the dance floor. Out of it, along one — dare I say it? — line, have come more than 500 of these “A line from…” poems, prompted by a random quote from poets, musicians, politicians of many persuasions, scientists, painters, actors, philosophers, as well as all of the U.S. Presidents & some of the sycophantic staff of one of the more recent.

‘So who’ll have the next fangoogle with me?’
–    Mark Young

A sampler is available here.