As many as 180,000 people would gather to light candles in #Victoria#Park to remember June 4th 1989,
when China’s army brought a bloody end to weeks of peaceful pro-democracy protests in Beijing.
(China has never put a figure on the number who died in what it terms a counter-revolutionary incident.)
Hong Kong’s vigils became a symbol of #defiance of mainland authority
and an ardent evocation of the city’s #independence.
“It was magnificent,” says one resident. “We wanted to make [the massacre] known, not just in Hong Kong, but throughout the world.”
🔥 Organising such a vigil would be unthinkable now.
The commemoration was #banned in 2020, ostensibly because of covid-19.
Some 20,000 people gathered anyway.
The following month the central government in Beijing imposed a draconian national-security law on the territory,
a response to large pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The authorities have since snuffed out memories of Tiananmen.
Memorials have been removed.
The commemoration’s organisers have been jailed;
-- in March they lost a bid to overturn their conviction.
Wearing black or lighting candles near Victoria Park on June 4th may now be considered criminal activity.
This year, like the last, the park is filled with food trucks instead of candles.
Pro-Beijing groups have organised a carnival in the vigil’s stead.
Another V/Line train trip today. I'm heading to Bendigo to have lunch with my brother. As you do. A bit easier now that the country train fares in Victoria Victoria have been capped at $10.60 per day.
Want to be an AFL media personality? It's easy — just follow the four-step Kane Cornes plan.
Look up which teams that lost on the weekend.
For each of the teams, come up with a reason why either:
a) It's the players' fault. They're too lazy. Don't train hard enough. Don't put in enough effort!
b) It's the players' fault. They're not skilled enough!
c) It's the coach's fault. Bad tactics. Bad strategy. He's allowing those players to be lazy!
d) It's the recruiter's fault. They picked/traded for the wrong players!
Get your producers to find a passage of play, interview, or press conference you can say backs up your claim.
Go on TV or radio and say what you think confidently, as if you're really pissed off about it.
Yeah, the older Richmond players didn't show enough effort. You really don't care — you used to play for Port Adelaide after all.
But you pretend you do on TV and the radio, because it makes great content.
"On a fair day in 1838, barely two years into Queen Victoria’s reign [...] a young, confident and handsome Mississauga Ojibway chief named Kahkewaquonaby [...] came knocking at the doors of Windsor Castle dressed in his finest leather from head to toe and asked to make an appeal to his Sovereign. The door was opened and tea and sympathy were offered. [...] The Queen promised to look into the request and in due course the deeds were handed over."
Bird flu detected at central Victorian egg farm | theguardian.com
"Bird flu has been detected at an egg farm near Meredith in central Victoria, but authorities are yet to determine if it is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain."
So despite climate change, Australia's federal government has just committed an extra $3.25 billion into building a toll road and a 20-lane freeway widening.
"Pouring an extra $3.25 billion worth of federal funds into Melbourne’s North East Link is a good use of taxpayer money, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has insisted, despite the project’s cost doubling just a few months ago.
...
"The North East Link – which includes 6½ kilometres of tunnels – will stretch from Bulleen to Greensborough. It will widen the Eastern Freeway by up to 20 lanes.
"Allan revealed in December that the 10-kilometre toll road had more than doubled in cost since it was first announced.
"The toll road was initially budgeted at $10 billion and reassessed in 2019 at $15 billion. But the government revealed last year that the updated cost estimate was $26 billion."
"#Batteries the biggest player again as renewable records smashed in #California, reach 156 pct of load
Last week battery storage became, for the first time, the largest supply source in the evening peak of what is one of the world’s largest grids. On Tuesday, it discharged more than 6 GW for the first time, providing up to a 25 per cent share of supply, and was the biggest provider on the grid for two hours."
"#Battery storage in #Victoria continues to displace gas as a provider into the evening peak, with more than 200 MW of battery output on Saturday night, and zero from the state’s peaking gas generators. Battery storage often supplies more into the evening peak than the gas generators, particularly at lower peak prices."
Victoria: Hundreds of patients died after catching COVID in Victorian hospitals, new data shows
Almost 1 in 10 patients who caught COVID in hospital died.
Documents obtained by ABC News under Freedom of Information laws reveal at least 6,212 patients caught COVID in hospital in 24 months — 3,890 in 2022 and 2,322 in 2023. Of those, 586 died — almost 6 per week, on average — with men dying at a higher rate than women (11 per cent vs 8 per cent).
Did the #TrenthamSpudFest today, now I need a good sleep. What a brilliant day, town was packed with people. I stuffed my face, bought lots of spuds, merchandise, chips, lemon butter and more. What a great festival. Get to it tomorrow!