Remember, when journalists just let trans people live their lives in peace, it’s “ideological capture”, but when they use their own personal anti-trans beliefs to lead a campaign to close down the only place in the country trans youth received healthcare, it’s absolutely fine, nothing to see here.

About 40% of reported "shark attacks" have no injury. This is a very good thing - and this story of WA reminds us that. "At 5.45pm, a reported white shark bit a foil board causing the rider to fall into the water. The rider was not injured.” #sharkattack #shark www.smh.com.au/national/wes...

We've just updated this piece on what academic research says about the BBC's role in the UK So many datapoints relevant to this week's discussions. Perhaps of interest @benansell.bsky.social @stephenkb.bsky.social @michaelsavage.bsky.social reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/bbc-und...

LAST CALL! #Sociology Professorships in Copenhagen, Denmark! We're hiring 2+ open-rank profs (Asst/Assoc/Full). Any area. Deadline: this Saturday, Nov 15! Join a leading European sociology department. Please repost! jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...

"I am convinced that our universities are an invaluable national asset which must be observed, conserved, and expanded." President John F. Kennedy University of Maine October 19, 1963

What is a woman? A woman is someone whose identity is so fantastic and complex that this reductivist question would be an insult to them. #whatisawoman #feminism #feminist #gendercritical

Don Jr. for VP in 2028 -- I hope we are all seeing this in real time. The argument that Republicans win when "Trump" is on the ballot after this week's election results foreshadows the argument that Republicans win when "a Trump" is on the ballot. #DonaldTrump

"Ms. Pelosi did not just pressure the Reagan administration to display the AIDS memorial quilt — she personally sewed a panel to honor Susie Piracci Roggio, a flower girl at her wedding, who died of AIDS in 1986." #NancyPelosi www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...

I know this is pedantic, but Kim Davis was not "jailed for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses." She was jailed for contempt of court because she refused to follow a court order (she had stopped issuing all marriage licenses). NYT makes it sound like the Woke Police broke down her door.

Conservative pundit Robby Soave on Rep. Nancy Mace's cursing at the TSA agents and airport incident - "this is psychotic behaviour." www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKhY...

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

oh my GOD

Tonight is not New York City's first impactful three-way race. Though it was not a mayoral election, the 1948 presidential election, between Truman, Dewey, and Wallace, saw a dramatic last-minute swing. Read more: doi.org/10.1086/266073

Lots will be written about #DickCheney. In 1991, as Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney rejected the idea that gays & lesbians are a blackmail risk for security clearances - stating the issue was "a bit of an old chestnut." This legacy was important in the repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in 2010.

America needs better Americans.

AMAZING

Homophobia for Halloween in #Sydney

Wishing you all the joys of this festive season.

"Authorities in Indonesia arrested 34 men in Surabaya, the country’s second-largest city, later parading them in public to shame them for allegedly hosting a gay sex party at a local hotel." www.metroweekly.com/2025/10/indo...

Lia Smith, Missing 21-Year-Old Trans Student, Found Dead in Vermont www.them.us/story/lia-sm...

Trump Forces a Playdate with Xi Jinping & MTG Makes Too Much Sense for Desi Lydic youtu.be/I2BjRIIchbg

I can’t stress this enough: you cannot understand politics without reading this paragraph about why there’s no such thing as a 1/3rd pound hamburger

How Democrats are not winning against this guy is incredible.

The debate about the future of the Democratic Party is misguided. Pundits say the problem is that Democrats don’t accurately represent the American people. But, the real problem is that our political system doesn’t represent the American people.

Too much winning! - Pro-Life Republicans take food away from children as winter approaches! - America cheers new ballroom as White House is bulldozed! - 14,000 layoffs this week from Amazon! - Third Term Coming Soon for Trump!!!

"It is for us to turn this country toward a path of honor. Not through arms or wealth or force, but through that redeeming conviction of national innocence and by finding our own satisfaction in the conduct of our country and in the conduct of ourselves as individuals." Sen. Robert Kennedy (1968).

Retired U.S. Army Major General Randy Manner: "The deployments we’re currently seeing inside American cities…are not only un-American and wrong, they’re being done at the expense of our young men and women in uniform." newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/i-helped-l...

Tennessee arrested a man for tweeting a meme - who has now been in jail for over a month. The Judge set a $2 million bond. This is America in 2025 - and freedom of speech seems to only mean speech that places Trump above the U.S. Constitution. www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2cM...

Too cute by half: Sarah Ferguson on the 730 Report gave Kamala Harris a really hard time and rubbed her the wrong way. I usually defend Sarah - but Sarah starts to kind of question the intentions and motives of Harris that I think crossed a journalistic line. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmM...

Boop

This is a turning point for the entire Democratic party. I believe it will invite a long period of minority rule and Democrats must get better - and compete with the Democratic Socialists or the party will fall.

America is smaller and meaner under Trump.

Gallego: "It's murder. It's very simple. If this president feels they are doing something illegally, then he should be using the Coast Guard. If this is an act of war, then you use our military and then you come and talk to us first. But this is murder ... it's disgusting."

🚨 Publication alert 🚨 Neil Mortimer and I explain Australia's COVID governance success and failure via a new framework for understanding crisis policy learning. Ft. interviews w politicians, bureaucrats and experts: Scott Morrison, Greg Hunt, Brendan Murphy and Paul Kelly. 🧵

I was today years old when I learned Amy Grant was the OG. #AmyGrant #LadyGaga #Abracadabra

Here’s the original clip of Ronald Reagan from April 25, 1987, where he delivered a complete and total rebuke against tariffs. Trump's calling Reagan’s words here “FAKE” and “fraudulent.” They’re 100% real. And the original clip is actually far worse for Trump, as much is left out of the ad:

This is a U.S. citizen being brutally abducted by ICE while his mom pleads for them to stop and the videographer cries for help. The Chicago police do nothing to stop it. They will come for everyone, and they’re not even hiding that anymore. If you are not organizing and resisting yet, get started.

Following #JimmyKimmel - to get an idea of the central role of Late Night television on U.S. political culture - the first public discussion by Bobby Kennedy about the assassination of President Kennedy was on the NBC Tonight Show w host Jack Paar in March of 1964: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ4n...

The demolition of the entire East Wing of the White House and the paving over of the Rose Garden without a sound from the public highlights a temper tantrum in which Americans are taking pleasure in breaking all their toys. #WhiteHouse #Trump

New from @harrymlewis.bsky.social @hannaeldarwish.bsky.social & team: 'Social Cure and Savouring: Attending Live Music Events Is Associated With Wellbeing and Behaviour Changes to Maintain Wellbeing' Please share. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

UTS is going to subscribe to more e-journals so it can fire library staff: “The work related to the physical items such as opening boxes, stamping books, receiving items, putting stickers on items and checking physical invoices will be significantly reduced.” www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

Colleagues: “Legally Blonde is a movie. You cannot channel Elle Woods in your legal work.” Me:

Updating my LEGO White House

There is a direct connection between shark bites and shitty beach conditions. Bait fish follow waste, and sharks follow the bait fish, which brings them into contact with humans who are swimming in the waste. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

America has given up on itself.

Coogee beach among Sydney swimming spots ranked most polluted with faecal matter

Your Worshipfulness z”l

The Sky News effort to destabilise the US-Australian relationship through grievance attacks on Kevin Rudd is right-wing activist journalism, which the Australian media seems to be ok with. All the coverage is still talking about Rudd-Trump rather than Sky News. www.smh.com.au/world/north-...