bencourtice

basalt plains bush regeneration. bolshie commentary. botany. banjo. books. bollocks. Bacchus Marshian. boy (he/him/hey dickhead).

Occasional blog:
https://astherivergoesby.wordpress.com

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bencourtice_at_aus.social@momostr.pink

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nostr-pub.wellorder.net

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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Last Notes

2026-07-21 08:45:55 UTC

"To be called a cockroach is to be told that one is dirty, dispensable and best kept out of sight. The cockroach is an ugly, comic, subaltern creature. It is despised, hard to kill and lives in the cracks of polite society. It survives poison, darkness and disgust. It appears when a house is not as clean as its owners claim."
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/7/19/indias-cockroach-politics-is-no-joke
#CockroachJantaParty #India #Modi

2026-07-03 07:38:34 UTC

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oppressed people with no power are sometimes tempted to make their friends the target of their resistance because they know at least their friends will listen (at least, the first time... after a while you have to cut off these kind of people)

2026-06-16 08:47:51 UTC

While Israeli war criminals go on holiday around the world with impunity, they are trying to frame up Palestinian activists on other countries for "terrorism" for allegedly supporting Hamas.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/16/israel-uses-battlefield-evidence-to-prosecute-palestinians-abroad

2026-05-31 07:20:43 UTC

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I even found a wikipedia article about the conspiracy theory!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andinia_Plan

2026-05-31 07:13:46 UTC

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Haaretz, a reliable (anti-genocide) Israeli news source, reckons its an old bogus conspiracy theory spread by the far right (full article paywalled sorry)
https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2026-01-13/ty-article-magazine/.premium/in-argentina-an-old-antisemitic-conspiracy-has-been-reignited-by-patagonias-wildfires/0000019b-b75b-d66b-a5df-b7dbc1de0000
#antisemitism

2026-05-31 06:39:00 UTC

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Reading this section:
"The symbolic link between Milei and Zionism is reinforced by details such as Netanyahu’s real surname (Mileikovsky), which shares a root with Milei’s. The presence of Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, at Milei’s inauguration was another unprecedented gesture, which Salgado interpreted as part of an international power network."
I am wondering if they are publishing the ravings of an antisemitic conspiracy theorist. It has the code words and irrelevant details which those types love to fixate on. (Although in times like these, with monsters like Milei and Netanyahu on the loose, a lot of nonsense is seeming plausible)

2026-05-17 20:06:09 UTC

Do you read books?
#poll

2026-05-11 09:30:58 UTC

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when I did asbestos handling training, they explained that it didn't get banned for lack of uses - it's very useful! - but because it happens to kill people horribly. A geologist friend was recently diagnosed with mesothelioma after workplace exposure many years prior. It's still killing people.

2026-04-12 07:15:11 UTC

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does Israel want Iran to accept any conditions other than complete obliteration? Genuine question

2026-03-01 02:58:44 UTC

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now there's someone I actually do miss.

2026-02-03 11:11:26 UTC

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I am also mindful it might become a snake buffet if not placed carefully

2026-02-03 10:26:19 UTC

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I'm thinking I could probably build these "frog sauna" bricks, one of my workmates does pottery, it can't be too hard if you know what sizes to build

2026-02-01 21:30:20 UTC

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Are hybrid heat pumps the ones that combine with a gas burner? That's pretty terrible

2026-01-03 10:28:12 UTC

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snatch squad rather than invasion, perhaps

2026-01-03 08:29:00 UTC

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Troops on the ground seems unlikely without more extensive bombardment and siege/starvation. Else it's more likely to be like Bay of Pigs than Grenada.

2025-09-10 08:27:57 UTC

An excellent discussion of the intertwined economics of AI and semiconductors (chips). A classic case of what Marx would have called a crisis of overproduction, where the productive forces have outgrown the market. More recent Marxist analysis takes this further , showing how it leads to attempts to create new "needs", either via advertising, or using monopoly leverage to force adoption (ie not giving any other choice to consumers). But this can only delay the crisis of overproduction, as the underlying irrationality remains.
#monopolycapital #AI #Marxism
https://gauthierroussilhe.com/en/articles/how-to-use-computing-power-faster

2025-08-22 21:22:49 UTC

Why don't they ride in the bike lane? Let me count the ways. Neale Rd, Deer Park.
#cycling #bikelanes #WhyDontTheyRideInTheBikeLane
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/115/074/493/146/440/688/original/083ed42dd8fc32e2.jpg

2025-07-24 22:14:44 UTC

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looks like Bromus catharticus to me

2025-07-20 06:10:26 UTC

Bluebells at McCorkells Rd grassland. Extra blue today!
#nofilter #bloomscrolling #wildflowers #campanulaceae #grasslands
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/114/884/061/716/558/903/original/786769d4ddedb0dd.jpg

2025-06-24 10:12:18 UTC

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A good article - but re the Strait of Hormuz: Pretty sure it hasn't been closed. Iranian parliament apparently discussed it and was in favour but no legislation or executive order has been proposed to enact it. At least, that was the latest news I could find.

2025-04-27 20:47:01 UTC

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on the plus side, this might spare the Greens and teals the poisoned chalice of negotiating a government partnership with the authoritarian, racist, neoliberal ALP. Well, they may not see it as a plus but sometimes opposition is better.

2025-03-30 04:07:11 UTC

So Vic police can search anyone anytime without a warrant in designated areas. They only need 12 hours notice to desgnate an area for up to 12 months. The whole Melbourne CBD is one such designated area.
"This is democracy manifest!"
This is under a state Labor government. Progressives should stop wasting time on "keep the Liberals out" type campaigns and spend that energy on restoring the rights and power of the population.
"Get your hand off my penis!"
etc
#Auspol
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/114/249/394/476/441/802/original/2b039e1d6e55a076.jpg

2025-03-22 20:33:46 UTC

Don't forget. Since Israel has blatantly and violently abandoned the ceasefire process, it's time to protest again. In Melbourne the protest is noon today at the State Library. Without protests, we will never stop the genocide.
https://www.freepalestinevic.org/events/
#naarm #melbourne #gaza #palestine

2024-11-25 02:21:08 UTC

As we lose 2g, 3g coverage and "progress" to 5g, are rural areas losing coverage? I'm in Macedon Ranges, just outside Melbourne. Mobile coverage through the ranges has always been crap but I feel like maybe its getting worse? Can't even load a basic webpage here today despite showing 2 bars of 5g coverage.
#5g #3g #mobilereception

2024-09-21 20:25:29 UTC

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This little herb forms deep taproots (probably >1m) as thick as my wrist. They are very long lived, up to hundreds of years (according to my #botany prof). It was common across the basalt plains but now probably close to an #endangeredspecies - long lived individual plants hang on well after the prospects of reproduction via pollination have disappeared due to small remnant population size (in some sites just one or two). It's Ptilotus macrocephalus (#Amaranthaceae), aka Featherheads. Here the tall flower spike has just begun to grow.
/3
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/113/177/401/043/918/511/original/47ba772109d66b9f.jpg

2024-09-21 20:09:52 UTC

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Native #grasslands used to be full of (mostly) small annual #wildflowers. This is Triptilodiscus pygmaeus (#Asteraceae) aka pygmy sunray. It's about 1-2 cm tall here. Apparently it just showed up of its own accord. It would probably be absent if there were livestock present, or the carpet of weedy annual exotic grasses that come with them.
/2
#restorationecology
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/113/177/332/299/075/275/original/9e69bb94eebf22b3.jpg

2024-09-21 20:02:43 UTC

Yesterday toured a restored basalt plains #grassland on private land near Bacchus Marsh. It's been more or less in drought since late summer, but there are still some great plants there. Here is Stackhousia subterranea (#Celastraceae), aka Grassland candles. This plant was a rescue transplant from a development site.
/1
#ecologicalrestoration
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/113/177/314/877/902/992/original/76c9db3f46193351.jpg