Marko Milanovic does not mince words.

The folly of inviting Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, to Australia. My column for the ABC.

I miss the evil billionaires who'd try to buy their way into heaven by funding massive public libraries

This piece by @irelandpiper.bsky.social on extraterritorial jurisdiction and irregular extradition is worth a read: share.google/s7eeJqGv6cFL...

“Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate.” Edward Said’s words are as relevant today as they were a few decades ago.

Now is a time for care and compassion, not racism and retribution #bondibeach

“Calculators expanded reasoning; the printing press spread knowledge. ChatGPT, by contrast, doesn’t extend cognition—it automates it, turning thinking itself into a service. Rather than democratizing learning, it privatizes the act of thinking under corporate control.” AI corrupts our learning.

I'll say it again -- I'm on my firm's AI committee: every canned demo has had brutal, malpractice-level errors, and every live trial has required more time and care to vet the output than to just do it, like working with an unteachably incompetent associate you'd need to sit down for a Hard Talk.

THIS 👇

UWA Law School is hiring! Lvl B is only open to applicants with working rights in #AUS. Applications close 3 December 2025. Start date negotiable. (I encourage #intLaw people to apply! Ping @anzsil.org) #jobs #jobFairy #academia #lecturer #higherEd external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/cw/en/job/52...

“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

“Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare.” www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Ahead of #UNGA80, where several states are expected to recognise the State of #Palestine, we're co-hosting a webinar on "Recognition of Palestine in International Law: Australian and New Zealand Perspectives", on 18 Aug 2025, 3-4PM AEST (5-6PM NZT). Register now www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/recognitio...

“The clearer position that Australia could take is that if it diplomatically, legally and politically objects to Israel’s occupation of Gaza, then all exports could be suspended for the time being.” Don Rothwell is spot on here

If you're in the need for some cheering up, or are just starting your day and want to unleash some oxytocin/serotonin in your brain (hormones that make you feel good), then I highly recommend going through this thread. Lots of folks sharing photos of their animal friends with a focus on snouts. 👇

This! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Check out @alonso-gd.bsky.social's summary of "The Academic Consensus on Gaza": www.youtube.com/watch?si=jOU... #genocide #genocidestudies

Somehow, Episode 50 of #CalledToTheBar is not that far off. In it we plan to *answer your questions* on any international law topic (within our competence) or life in academia topic (whether we're competent or not). So drop your questions in the comments, or email or DM one of us!

I encourage all #AUS academics to sign this open letter requesting the federal govt repeal Jobs-Ready Graduates, a terrible piece of legislation that never should have passed, & has significantly negatively impacted #higherEd. www.openpetition.org/au/petition/...

ALL GOVERNMENTS CAN AND SHOULD BE CRITICIZED

CfP!!! The @anzsil.org Gender, Sexuality and International Law Interest Group will be holding a workshop on 'Feminist Approaches to International Law in Times of Atrocity, Anthropocene, and Authoritarian Capitalism' on 31 October at Melbourne Law School: drive.google.com/file/d/10YPs...

Excellent piece by Don Rothwell in The Conversation: “there’s an expectation that Labor governments should be holding all states accountable for egregious breaches of international law…there’s no other way you can characterise the US strikes on Iran” #intLaw

It appears Australia now supports a doctrine of using preventative force against potential, future threats. *Rustles international law textbook, shakes copy of UN Charter.* Oh, right, that doesn't exist. So, we're just supporting aggression, then. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

To be even clearer "preventive self-defence" is just straight up aggression

Melanie O'Brien, President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-...

Remember how last week Deputy PM Richard Marles talked about our “shared values” with the United States and specified that those values were “democracy and the rule of law”.

This is an abomination. The IDF is using an interlocking set of manifestly unlawful policies, killing civilians by the dozen, either with no military objective in view or in manifest disproportion to low-value targets. It makes a mockery of international law.

Excellent reflection on the huge problem for learning and assessment in law degrees posed by AI.

An excellent analysis by @jessicawhyte.bsky.social of the new lows of Israel's atrocity crimes and the calls for a Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy to Gaza. www.abc.net.au/religion/as-...

unbearable

It was loads of fun talking space law with @pagingdrpaige.bsky.social and @crisveijk.bsky.social on #CalledToTheBar

Join us for the ANZSIL annual conference in Canberra in July (yes, I know, Canberra weather in July doesn’t sound particularly attractive but the program looks excellent so it will be worth it!) Early bird registration closes this Friday (9 May)

For those who haven't registered yet for this year's ANZSIL (ahem, me... darnprocrastination!) a reminder early bird rates close 9th May this week!! Come join @djag2.bsky.social, me and a raft of others inc. keynotes @profjmcadam.bsky.social and Tembeka Ngcukaito SC: anzsil.org.au/event-6142429

First time voter in our household was very happy with his democracy sausage and the bake sale at our local polling station

Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.

Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (#anzsil) will hold its 31st annual conference in Melbourne on 3–5 July 2024. The theme is International Law: Crisis, Conflict & Cooperation. Proposals for papers and panels are most welcome until 12 February #intlaw anzsil.org.au/page-18089

Quote with a water picture you took.

My YES vote is in!