I got this book this week. Its pages are already curling. This wasn’t a cheap dime store pulp novel. @mitpress.bsky.social needs to produce better books for what they charge.

By my cousin @gdblunt.bsky.social: "Likewise, the unethical bestial pursuit of power also invites disaster because it can result in a loss of the very thing it seeks to gain. Miller clearly never finished Thucydides’ The History of the Peloponnesian War (and Trump probably has no idea what it is)."

The urge to add “since they are Canadian, I would not rule out treachery” to my bio

On budget day, think of George Ward Hunt, who delivered his only budget in 1868. On arriving in the Commons he discovered that he'd left his speech behind, & had to run home to get it while MPs sat grumbling in the Chamber. That is why chancellors show the red box to journalists before setting out

oh my god they actually did it lmao

When the basic structure of society is captured by the wealthy you are in a crisis.

Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and a major financial backer of Donald Trump, is the anonymous private donor who gave $130 million to fund Trump's federal troops deployment in various US cities during the shutdown. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/25/u...

Me: This article is explicitly not about X; lots of people right about X. I’m writing about Y. Reviewer 2: Cool, Y is really interesting and important, but you have you thought about writing about X… I write about X. Me: Pass my the ice pick I’m going to lobotomise myself.

It’s ridiculous that people are live blogging the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ah the Boomers, the real forgotten generation

“How do we make the economy grow?” “I don’t know. Alcohol clearly makes people more productive. Maybe we can booze ourselves into prosperity?” Classic Britain. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Shades of Kirov

I hate not having a light switch in my office. There’s just a motion sensor that demands I sit under brutal fluorescent light. Why can’t I be allowed to bring in a desk lamp so my eyes don’t feel like they’re being scooped out of my head? Why this need to control every element of the workspace?

I don’t know why people think Trump is erratic. He isn’t once you filter out the noise there is a consistent line of authoritarianism.

None of my teaching rooms have lecterns this semester; this makes it very difficult to use one’s lecture notes. I don’t need three monitors. I need a place where I can quickly scan my notes without looking at my slides.

Planning for the plan god! Supplies for the supply throne!

The University of Sydney is blocking my access to the University of Sydney’s library in case the University of Sydney is stealing the University of Sydney’s data.

One of the wildest things about being a Canadian in Australia is just how poorly the houses are insulated here. People say it’s only cold for a couple of weeks. My brothers and sisters, it’s like three months and everyone just pretends not to be cold. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

After 3 years of education focussed part-time work and full-time parenting, I finally submitted a substantial new bit of research. I look forward to the desk rejection.

I remember when Biden would have lapses like this and everyone would say he was demented? Where are those voices now?

“I’m going to cut this 8500 word draft to 8000 words.” Two hours later: 9000 words

My cousin, @gdblunt.bsky.social, writing for The Ethics Centre (Sydney, AU): "Trump with characteristic impatience is trying to do in months what took Viktor Orban and Hugo Chavez years to accomplish in much weaker democracies."

It's pretty obvious that a lot of US mainstream media either doesn't recognise authoritarianism or doesn't want to call it out. Either way, it's an excellent way to destroy trust in your institution.

David Pope in Canberra Times

Emperor Palpatine is very concerned about escalating unrest on Ghorman

Last year I joined Myra Hamilton, Jordan van den Berg and @gdblunt.bsky.social at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas to discuss the scourge of economic inequality THE PITCHFORKS ARE COMING: Why the 1% should be afraid Podcast now available festivalofdangerousideas.libsyn.com/the-pitchfor...?

Unleash the Dutton loses his seat memes

Make the papacy Borgia again

"Effective Altruism, Longtermism, and the Problem of Arbitrary Power" by Gwilym David Blunt www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/a-mirro...

I am struck by how ancient Trump is looking and sounding. I think ozempic might be melting him.

The ghost of Charles de Gaulle is going to manifest in the middle of the next Council of Europe and be all ‘vous voyez, connards, je vous l’avais bien dit!’ www.france24.com/en/europe/20...?

If America were to forcibly annex Canada it would it would not be like the Russo-Ukrainian War. It would be like Ireland during British rule.

My Montblanc is bleeding through the paper of my Moleskine notebook. I’m irritated. I’m bourgeois. Bring me a cool glass of surplus labour to settle my nerves.

The Canadian federal election is now a very simple question: who can stand up to Trump? And I don’t think it’s PP. www.bbc.com/news/videos/...

If you are in the ‘it was just a Roman salute’ or ‘it just because Elon’s awkward’, Trump pardoned this guy today… so yeah the mask is off.

If it looks like a Nazi salute and all the Nazis are excited. It might just be a Nazi salute.

In light of the coverage of Musks ‘odd looking’ salute and the coverage of it. I am once again assigning Orwell’s Politics and the English Language as the first reading for my first year student.

I can’t stand this euphemistic language. Call it what it is.

The first David Lynch film I ever saw was Dune. My parents rented it thinking that it would be a Star Wars like child pleaser. I was 4. It made an impact but perhaps not the one they wanted.

Fact-checking wasn’t “biased” against conservatives. Conservatives just shared more false content. If there’s a sportsball game and one team fouls four times as much, it’s not “biased” for the ref to call four times as many fouls against that team.

Orban in America

Some times when I need a giggle I remember that Ronald Reagan had a CoS called Donald Regan.

I’m presenting my draft paper at HASS. If you are in Perth come and check it out tomorrow. It’s a bit spicy

My new book ‘Stinking Rich: The Four Myths of the Good Billionaire’ is all set for publication on 21 January 2025 “A must-read" Thomas Piketty “The deserving billionaire is a figment of their own imagination … Carl Rhodes explains why" Yanis Varoufakis bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/stinki...

Trump 2.0 is going to be like Liz Truss but no one will be able to get him out. For all the flaws of the Westminster system at least you have to maintain the confidence of Parliament.

The second part of our discussion on the ethics of philanthropy dropped this week. If you want to hear a billionaire and I talk power and giving have listen. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

In case you missed it: here are my thoughts on Pavel Durov, Elon Musk, and the ‘libertarian’ ideology of the Tech-Bro class as seen on ABC Weekend Breakfast. media.streem.com.au/preview/TCm0...

As I enter my third hour of responding to emails, I wonder what this job was like prior to the internet? What did people do with their time? Teach? Research? Seems weird. #academicsky