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AV

@alanvaarwerk.com.bsky.social

word rearranger

138 Followers  |  280 Following  |  35 Posts  |  Joined: 20.09.2023  |  2.1866

Latest posts by alanvaarwerk.com on Bluesky

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

08.10.2025 22:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2053    πŸ” 343    πŸ’¬ 25    πŸ“Œ 105
Preview
Bitter fruit: the dark underside of the booming NSW blueberry industry Labour hire companies operating on the mid-north coast said to be taking advantage of β€˜extremely weak’ state regulation and visa loopholes * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Ian*, a retired farmer, refers to the two Solomon Islanders living on his farm as β€œemancipated slaves”. He met James* sitting on the veranda of a house near a blueberry farm on the NSW mid-north coast. He stopped to chat, as he does with many of the blueberry workers in the area. James explained that he was in debt to the farmer for repairs on his car. His passport had been taken, his wages docked and he had no money for food. Continue reading...

Bitter fruit: the dark underside of the booming NSW blueberry industry

03.10.2025 15:04 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Alles Klar by Anna Merlan with Duolingo Owl and speech bubble saying [...]

Alles Klar by Anna Merlan with Duolingo Owl and speech bubble saying [...]

On language "learning," Duolingo, A.I., and travel; many beautiful and comical reflections by @annamerlan.bsky.social

flaminghydra.com/issue-407/#a...

23.09.2025 01:14 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

www.killyourdarlings.com.au/become-a-mem...

07.09.2025 00:45 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

did a bit of reverse image searching at work

04.09.2025 08:18 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

In 2019, University of Melbourne Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Su Baker said the university would continue to provide significant funding to its publishing arm and continue to support Miegunyah Press books and literary magazine Meanjin.

Why has that position changed?

04.09.2025 01:23 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0

holy hell. awful

04.09.2025 01:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
19.08.2025 22:07 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Targeting journalists is a war crime.
As colleagues, we remember them.
meaa.io/45A4vZ5

14.08.2025 00:02 β€” πŸ‘ 73    πŸ” 44    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 18
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Australia’s potential surrender of creative content to tech giants for free is shocking. Labor must decide where it stands The Productivity Commission appears to have bought into tech companies’ brazen arguments – and caught the Australian government off-guard * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Tech companies have devalued the work of creative industries for years. The latest iteration of this is their insistence the AI models they plan to make lots of money from need the labour of all of human creation for free in perpetuity. It’s just surprising that the Productivity Commission appears to have bought into the argument – and caught the Australian government off-guard. The Productivity Commission’s view on AI trained on the copyrighted works of others without compensation, published Wednesday, is that the horse has already bolted for big tech companies – that providing a text and data mining (TDM) exception in copyright law would not change much, but should be worth considering. Continue reading...

Australia’s potential surrender of creative content to tech giants for free is shocking. Labor must decide where it stands

06.08.2025 07:58 β€” πŸ‘ 51    πŸ” 27    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 2
Post image

MEAA supports the Palestine Action Group’s bid to March for Humanity across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

meaa.io/4laIpSL

01.08.2025 01:02 β€” πŸ‘ 190    πŸ” 62    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 4
Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die
July 21, 2025

AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024.

Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years.

We refuse to watch them die.

One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then freelance photographer, and since 2024, as lead photographer. On July 19th he managed to post a message on Facebook: β€œI no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.”

Bashar, 30, works & lives in the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For > a year he’s lived in utter destitution, working at extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness.

Since Feb, Bashar’s been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, 4 brothers & sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings, except a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had β€œfallen, due to hunger.”

Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it’s no longer enough to buy food, or they have to pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%.

AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart. (alt txt continued in next post)

Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die July 21, 2025 AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024. Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years. We refuse to watch them die. One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then freelance photographer, and since 2024, as lead photographer. On July 19th he managed to post a message on Facebook: β€œI no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.” Bashar, 30, works & lives in the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For > a year he’s lived in utter destitution, working at extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness. Since Feb, Bashar’s been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, 4 brothers & sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings, except a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had β€œfallen, due to hunger.” Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it’s no longer enough to buy food, or they have to pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%. AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart. (alt txt continued in next post)

A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"

Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:

21.07.2025 23:21 β€” πŸ‘ 5730    πŸ” 3551    πŸ’¬ 55    πŸ“Œ 163
Preview
Pub Talk: Pink Shorts Press Get book industry insights from those in the know!

In a time when big conglomerates are absorbing small publishers, there’s a new indie on the scene! We spoke with Emily Hart and Margot Lloyd about why they packed in their jobs at established publishing houses to start Pink Shorts Press from scratch.

26.05.2025 01:42 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

omg i love this

21.04.2025 02:00 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

wrote something very silly about one of the less soul-crushing ways to spend time online

20.04.2025 23:55 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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Oscar-winning Palestinian director attacked by Israeli settlers and arrested No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal attacked by armed settlers in West Bank before being handed to Israeli military, witnesses say

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

24.03.2025 19:54 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
β€˜What’s required is a word-nerd reining themselves in and making a judgment call that accounts for context, intention, interpretation, linguistic change, logistics, facts, tact. Because, otherwise, what separates a human editor from an AI spellchecker?’ Adolfo Aranjuez

β€˜What’s required is a word-nerd reining themselves in and making a judgment call that accounts for context, intention, interpretation, linguistic change, logistics, facts, tact. Because, otherwise, what separates a human editor from an AI spellchecker?’ Adolfo Aranjuez

Editors share what they've learned on the job in our latest What I Wish I'd Known.

Read more: buff.ly/xPdduvA

24.03.2025 04:04 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Tourists, watercolours and the sad, still Star: sketching the route 35 tram showed me a Melbourne I had never really noticed When you are in a city every day, you start to take things for granted. So, after three years in Melbourne, Josh Nicholas decided to be a tourist

I wrote a thing about drawing and Melbourne www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

21.03.2025 23:24 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

i love da movies

03.03.2025 03:17 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Art can’t stop genocide, but this is an incredible moment

03.03.2025 02:15 β€” πŸ‘ 241    πŸ” 47    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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Who Stands with the Arts? Creative Australia’s troubling decision signals an authoritarian turn we can’t ignore.

Today in KYD, Jess Scully, former deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, on why Creative Australia's failure to uphold artistic freedoms is an issue for all Australiansβ€”not just the arts community.

https://buff.ly/4klIiEH

27.02.2025 02:06 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Creative Australia only terminated Khaled Sabsabi’s Venice contract *today* and only sought legal advice on it three days ago

25.02.2025 10:22 β€” πŸ‘ 62    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 3
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β€˜This is censorship’: Palestinian flags covered up in major exhibition at National Gallery of Australia Exclusive: Pacific Indigenous art collective claims NGA cited β€˜high level’ security risk in direction to remove Palestinian flag from tapestry

EXCLUSIVE: Two Palestinian flags on a tapestry on display at the National Gallery of Australia have been concealed with white fabric, in what the artists have described as an act of censorship they only agreed to reluctantly.

20.02.2025 02:24 β€” πŸ‘ 278    πŸ” 140    πŸ’¬ 24    πŸ“Œ 44

vic residents can get a membership to any library in the state - i’ve had a decent hit rate on overdrive with Boroondara but ymmv

18.02.2025 20:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Arts Minister Tony Burke made some remarks earlier this week about Creative Australia’s decision to ditch Lebanese Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi as the pick for the 61st Venice Biennale.

They didn’t get much coverage but I can’t get them out of my head.

So here you go.

17.02.2025 23:45 β€” πŸ‘ 242    πŸ” 133    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 24

can't wait for some consultant to be paid 500k to add a single dot point to the selection criteria that factors in how long the murdoch press would relentlessly attack an artist

16.02.2025 22:19 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

congrats in advance to whoever gets the call from creative aus telling them their art has been deemed sufficiently non-controversial

13.02.2025 23:51 β€” πŸ‘ 57    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Khaled Sabsabi dropped as Australia’s representative to Venice Biennale Amid political pressure, Creative Australia says deselecting the Lebanese-born artist will avoid β€˜divisive debate’

Actual quote from Creative Australia about dropping a Lebanese-Australian artist due to pressure caused by his past statements in support of Palestinians:

β€œCreative Australia is an advocate for freedom of artistic expression and is not an adjudicator on the interpretation of art. However,”

13.02.2025 21:23 β€” πŸ‘ 167    πŸ” 43    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 3
β€œbut I want to stress the labour rights angle anew, which is often neglected in lofty statements about authors and readers and capital-L literature. Of course we should be worried about the ever diminishing opportunities available for writers to get paid for their work, and also about avid readers of Australian literature having fewer books to choose from – but conglomeration is a particularly shit deal for people employed by publishers, the editors, publicists, proofreaders, sales folks, production editors, accountants, rights managers and other bods involved in bringing books into print. Those are the workers directly affected by processes euphemised as change management and rationalisation. We do need to talk about artists rights in Australia and recognise the value of creative labour, but I’m strongly of the view that the work of artsworkers needs to be more visible in these conversations.”

β€œbut I want to stress the labour rights angle anew, which is often neglected in lofty statements about authors and readers and capital-L literature. Of course we should be worried about the ever diminishing opportunities available for writers to get paid for their work, and also about avid readers of Australian literature having fewer books to choose from – but conglomeration is a particularly shit deal for people employed by publishers, the editors, publicists, proofreaders, sales folks, production editors, accountants, rights managers and other bods involved in bringing books into print. Those are the workers directly affected by processes euphemised as change management and rationalisation. We do need to talk about artists rights in Australia and recognise the value of creative labour, but I’m strongly of the view that the work of artsworkers needs to be more visible in these conversations.”

hard agree with this from @catrionamp.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/infradig...

13.02.2025 00:45 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I am often accused of being too emotional when reporting on politics - but I would rather have a human emotional response than pretend this is just 'reshaping US policy in the Middle East'. It's ethnic cleansing and the end of the rule of law. And the Australian government has said nothing

05.02.2025 01:25 β€” πŸ‘ 968    πŸ” 294    πŸ’¬ 62    πŸ“Œ 23

@alanvaarwerk.com is following 20 prominent accounts