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The Australian Independent Media Network
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 - 15:47
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Through the course of his political life, the current US president has often been injudicious. He has stumbled, bungled and miscalculated. His electoral victory was fortuitous, aided by a number of factors, not least the conduct of his opponent and the murderous gift of a global pandemic. Along with his fellow Democrats, he has made… The post Doltish Ways: Biden’s Documents Problem appeared first on The AIM Network. |
The Tally Room
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 - 11:00
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The recent Victorian election was the first such election since the COVID-19 pandemic started, and it was yet another example of the trend towards people voting early being accelerated by the pandemic. This was the first Victorian state election where a majority of votes were cast before election day, with over 60% of votes cast early as either a postal ballot or at a pre-poll centre. In comparison, only 15% of voters used these methods in 2006. |
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Cheeseburger Gothic
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 - 10:41
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I have a walk around West End a couple of times a week. It's a pleasant enough stroll and gets my steps up for the day. It also clears my head before work and lets me catch up on whatever audiobook or podcast I'm listening to at the moment. |
Cheeseburger Gothic
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 15:59
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The Australian Independent Media Network
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 12:32
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This account of an event at the Melbourne Club in 2016 was published on the New Matilda site. That site has ceased to exist, so I am reposting the piece here because I think recording the event is important for the tracking of the radical Right’s growth in Australia. The event took place under Chatham… The post From 2016: Captained by Crusaders appeared first on The AIM Network. |
The Tally Room
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 11:00
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Over the summer break I’ve added a bunch of new data to my data repository. Specifically I’ve added results from the 2006, 2010 and 2022 Victorian state elections. Part of the repository is available for the general public, including the most recent election for each jurisdiction. So anyone can now access the 2022 election data. The rest of the repository is a reward for Patreon donors contributing $5 or more per month. So 2018 has now moved behind the paywall, along with its three predecessors. |
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xkcd.com
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 11:00
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John Quiggin
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 06:35
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A new sandpit for long side discussions, conspiracy theories, idees fixes and so on. To be clear, the sandpit is for regular commenters to pursue points that distract from regular discussion, including conspiracy-theoretic takes on the issues at hand. It’s not meant as a forum for visiting conspiracy theorists, or trolls posing as such. |
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John Quiggin
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 06:34
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Another Message Board Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please. I’ve moved my irregular email news from Mailchimp to Substack. You can read it here. You can also follow me on Mastodon here I’m also trying out Substack as a blogging platform. For the moment, I’ll post both at this blog and on Substack. |
John Quiggin
Sunday, January 22, 2023 - 22:03
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How can we respond to a world of cascading disasters? Over the past past few years we’ve had to deal with all sorts of new or resurgent evils, including climate catastrophe, Covid and the global assault on democracy. That’s been made harder by the fact that our political leaders (and plenty of their supporters) have either failed to respond effectively, or have actively promoted these evils. Yet there’s nothing positive about giving in to despair, either politically or personally. |
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The Australian Independent Media Network
Sunday, January 22, 2023 - 19:08
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So, we are approaching the anniversary of Arthur Phillip’s epic voyage from England to Australia, arriving in January 1788. He chaperoned eleven ships with fifteen hundred souls onboard, roughly half of whom were manacled, half way around the world. A voyage that, in its dimensions and its impact is up there with those of Columbus… The post 1788 and all that (or what have the English ever done for us ?) appeared first on The AIM Network. |
THE BLOT REPORT
Sunday, January 22, 2023 - 08:56
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An active online cooker was aghast at a YouTube video (apparently his main source of information; he doesn’t trust the mainstream media). The video was from Michael West who runs a superb media organisation that pokes, prods and uncovers the nefarious financial dealings of assorted governments and other entities. |
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The Australian Independent Media Network
Saturday, January 21, 2023 - 15:44
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If you had put money on the claim that ’sensitive new age’ Opposition Leader Peter Dutton would genuinely work co-operatively with others to actually improve Australia and the life of Australians until the next election, you would have lost your cash early in January. That’s when Dutton reverted to type as the feeder of red… The post Search is your Friend appeared first on The AIM Network. |
New Politics
Saturday, January 21, 2023 - 12:48
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Cheeseburger Gothic
Friday, January 20, 2023 - 13:13
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I remember the absolute shitstorm over that very, very dark Game of Thrones episode, The Long Night. I also remember being a bit nonplussed at the time because I’d watched it at night in a very dark room. So I had no trouble following the action. But that was me. Millions of punters got fucked by that one. This essay over at AVClub explains why directors do this. |
xkcd.com
Friday, January 20, 2023 - 11:00
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The Australian Independent Media Network
Friday, January 20, 2023 - 08:56
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A very high source in the Liberal Party has told me that Bronwyn Bishop is considering her options and thinks that the Liberals may need her to stop the rot and the socialists… which are, after all, the same thing. Like all good journalists, I’m not going to reveal my source because apart from anything… The post Bronwyn Bishop For Senate Spot And Other Rumours… appeared first on The AIM Network. |
The Australian Independent Media Network
Thursday, January 19, 2023 - 16:35
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It doesn’t matter whether you are a Catholic or not. George Pell is a success story. From humble beginnings to a Prince of the Church. You don’t have to be steeped in Roman theology to know that a cardinal is a person of great eminence and power. But it is inescapable that Pell had a… The post George Pell was an ambitious bully appeared first on The AIM Network. |
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John Quiggin
Thursday, January 19, 2023 - 07:28
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As usual, 26 January has been marked by protests, denunciations of those protests, and further iterations. Even apart from the fact that it marks an invasion, the foundation of a colony that later became one of Australia’s states isn’t much of a basis for a national day. A logical choice would be the day our Federation came into force. Unfortunately for this idea, our Founders chose 1 Jan 1901. The first day of the 20th century[1] must have seemed like an auspicious choice for a new country, but it ruled out the anniversary as a national day. |
Cheeseburger Gothic
Thursday, January 19, 2023 - 06:52
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We bought Anna a small skillet last week. Cast iron. Which is to say, Jane bought Anna a small skillet last week. Cast iron. I’m not sure what she was thinking. But I’m thinking she’ll need to read this classic piece of advice from The New Yorker. |
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THE BLOT REPORT
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 - 13:52
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xkcd.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 - 11:00
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THE BLOT REPORT
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 - 10:50
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While I knew that the late, unlamented George Pell was a conservative within the Catholic church, I didn’t realise that he was actively working against the current pope, Francis. An Italian journalist, Sandro Magister, has stated Pell is the author of an anonymous memo deeply critical of the pontificate of Pope Francis. Magister published the memo back in March 2022. “Disaster” and “catastrophe” are some of the words Pell used to describe the current pope’s reign. |
Cheeseburger Gothic
Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 10:51
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(I wrote this a while ago, but it feels, I dunno, more timely now). |
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MacroBusiness
Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 00:05
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CoreLogic’s latest monthly chart pack shows that “annual growth in rent values has re-accelerated” with rents nationally up “10.2% in the 12 months to December, a new record high”, driven in part by “growth in unit rents across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, where rents have increased around 14-16% annually”: The record increase in advertised rents The post Australia, we have a rent inflation problem appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
MacroBusiness
Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 00:01
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Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Global trade has taken a turn for the worse, the Bloomberg Trade Tracker shows – Bloomberg The cost to hedge against volatility in dollar-yen has risen to the highest level in almost three years – Bloomberg China has surpassed Germany to become the world’s second-largest car exporter after mainland The post Links 17 January 2023 appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
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George Monbiot
Monday, January 16, 2023 - 23:02
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Thanks to systemic and deliberate underfunding, NHS Emergency departments are now a vision of hell. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 11th January 2023 |
John Quiggin
Monday, January 16, 2023 - 21:30
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Why it’s vital to present a model before we vote Shorter JQ: Albanese should release draft legislation before the Voice referendum if it is to succeed. Not doing so is a recipe for failure based in part on a mistaken analysis of the 1990s Republic referendum, which I shared for a long time. Although polls suggested majority support for a republic, the Turnbull/Keating proposed model (appointed president) was defeated. Analysis assumes alternative of elected president would also be defeated. So, suggestion is “vote on principle of referendum first, then choose model”. Sounds convincing, BUT |
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The Australian Independent Media Network
Monday, January 16, 2023 - 20:21
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This is a very personal piece, but on issues which affect us all. Today is my 87th birthday and I had a mild stroke, almost exactly 2 years and a day ago (as I write) which has had a continuing impact on my memory. I am a divorcée with no desire for another partner and… The post Death, religion and perspectives appeared first on The AIM Network. |
Your Democracy
Monday, January 16, 2023 - 16:59
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The EU must drastically ramp up the production of ammunition and heavy weapons if it wants to help Ukraine succeed in the conflict with Russia, Wolfgang Ischinger, the former chair of the Munich Security Conference and a veteran German diplomat, said on Saturday. He stressed that Kiev’s supporters would run out of supplies unless they transform their economies. |
