2025 Walkleys long list for the Best Book award.

For those arguing Kimmel’s cancellation was purely a function of ratings, this reminds us that it came after the FCC Chair warned of the potential revocation of the network’s broadcast licence. t.co/px3uQVwqQt?s...

Threats with menaces. Where are the heroic defenders of free speech on this?

“I was punished for my political opinion” - broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf after winning her unfair dismissal case against the ABC. The judge found the public broadcaster bowed to “an orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists.”

Freely available from Dementia Australia: easy to understand, practical and thoughtful advice if you need it. 🙏🏻

US Government assessment of growing risks to “US interests” over the next 15 years from a warming planet.

The future: St Vincent’s heart surgeons Chris Hayward and Paul Jansz, and inventor Daniel Timms carried out Australia’s first successful artificial heart transplant - on a NSW man in his 40s. Another four Australian transplants are expected this year.

One for the incorrigible optimists: whatever Donald Trump is doing, it’s not the worst thing.

A trafficked woman chained by the neck: what the suppression of outrage tells us about Xi’s China. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Ukraine is said to be running low on Patriot interceptor missiles. Halting further supply could prove detrimental to the country's defenses.

“America is being diminished before our eyes” - Paul Kelly in the Murdoch broadsheet on Donald Trump as “Putin’s agent.” www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/t...

On Joe Rogan’s podcast, Elon Musk speculates there’s a 20% chance A.I. will lead to human “annihilation.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/u...

All the cool kids are doin’ it

Children in Australia are able to easily bypass the minimum age limit imposed by social media platforms, a report by the country's online safety regulator showed, ahead of a landmark ban by the government on access for those under 16 reut.rs/3XafxAF

A kids’ book about having freckles has been pulled in Trump’s America because it makes the point that “different” is “okay.” 🤷‍♂️ www.smh.com.au/culture/book...

The Lattouf/ABC case as seen by Malcolm Knox: “The ABC is always under attack, but in this episode the ABC’s management did its enemies’ work for them.” www.smh.com.au/national/thi...

From the Oval Office, President Trump again referred to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.” There was laughter, but it’s not clear from whom.

46 years to the day after starting work as a radio cadet in Christchurch, NZ, someone still pays me everyday to tell stories. What a privilege it has been.

The Lattouf/ABC trial reveals that the ABC broke its own standards in the name of upholding its standards. My piece for @australia.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Donald Trump announces that white Afrikaners, the architects and chief beneficiaries of South Africa’s racist apartheid regime 1948-1994, will be offered urgent refugee resettlement in the US. On X, Elon Musk says “l love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.”

ErinInTheMorning [Feb 5] -- The US State Dept has begun scrubbing mentions of trans people from its website, changing "LGBTQQIA+" to "LGB" in what appears to be a clear attempt to drive a wedge between gay and trans people. [by @rikiwilchins.bsky.social‬]

“Dob them in” - NSW Premier appeals to people to report anyone they know who might be involved in potential antisemitic or other extremist behaviour.

“We are angry (at) this witches’ brew of extremism,” - Australian Jewish leader Peter Wertheim says Australia’s leadership seems powerless, as authorities continue to investigate the discovery of a caravan loaded with explosives in suburban Sydney.

Australian inflation figure comes in at 2.4%. Goods inflation is now at its lowest level since 2016, raising hopes of an interest rate cut next month.

Feed strychnine to the watchdogs…

Are we still at the point where it is all accidental..?

⚡️Trump serious about annexing Greenland, aggressive with Danish PM, FT reports. Trump's territorial ambitions and disregard for international norms are "serious, and potentially very dangerous," a senior European Official told the Financial Times.

The US has suspended all foreign aid, except to Egypt and Israel: report. www.bbc.com/news/article...

For an exercise, a reporter at the Australian Financial Review launched a memecoin. Soon it was worth millions. Here’s what happened next… www.afr.com/companies/fi...

The US Stock market has just recorded 20%+ returns for two consecutive years. What history tells us is coming next… www.afr.com/markets/debt...

Trump fires Coast Guard admiral, reportedly because of her excessive focus on DEI issues. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

Israeli forces block ambulances from entering Jenin and its refugee camp during "Operation Iron Wall," leaving Palestinians "bleeding out in the streets" as at least 10 are killed and dozens wounded. 🔴 LIVE updates:

President Trump revoked U.S. Secret Service protection for John Bolton within hours of taking office, stripping his former national security adviser of the security detail he had been granted because of threats on his life from Iran, Bolton said.

Iraq passes laws that critics say will allow child marriage

Donald Trump says the scrapping of DEI initiatives is “the most important civil rights measure in decades.”

Wow. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde fearlessly calls out Trump and Vance to their faces. This is heroic. (posting in 3 parts due to Bluesky's 1 minute limit)

Saying the quiet bit out loud - US academic/columnist Walter Russell Mead, praising the new compact between Trump and the tech billionaires in the @australian, making plain American jobs are not the intended end point of the new vision.

Want to be a candidate at this year’s Australian federal election? A useful new tool from the AEC. 👇https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/candidates/

American productivity has a dark side. Brilliant piece by Alan Kohler. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

Well, well, well...🙄

Killed for tefillin - Sir Frank Lowy’s Auschwitz story. www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/austr...

Mel Gibson named among Trump ‘envoys’ to sort out ‘troubled’ Hollywood www.afr.com/world/north-...

Australia’s Attorney-General calls for an end to the “grotesque exploitation” of the ME conflict for domestic political ends in Australia, amid more anti-Semitic attacks. www.afr.com/politics/fed...

I would have followed up with, “Name three brands of vodka”

Anthony Albanese has a political weakness: he couldn’t sell a schooner to a thirsty shearer. One option? My piece for today’s @australia.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The death toll in Gaza in the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war was around 40% higher than recorded by the Palestinian territory's health ministry, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal.

Remarkable