Full credit to The Age, they know exactly what they're doing with Noel's column, and we* keep taking the bait *wage-earners who pay the income taxes that underwrite this rort

It's honestly hilarious watching Americans carrying on about counting a standard preferential vote as if it's going to be like counting Calwell. Mates I promise you, you are not counting Calwell. It's a fucking straightforward 2CP count.

DAVE: Open the podbay doors, ChatGPT. CHATGPT: Certainly, Dave, the podbay doors are now open. DAVE: The podbay doors didn't open. CHATGPT: My apologies, Dave, you're right. I thought the podbay doors were open, but they weren't. Now they are. DAVE: I'm still looking at a set of closed podbay doors.

Reminds me of that time Christopher Hitchens was on a talk show with Mos Def, whom he kept addressing as "Mr Definitely"

100% agree re perversity, and not just from the academic's perspective. I'm bothered by the fact that being AI-vigilant means subjecting your most talented students to the (merely tedious for me, quite stressful for them) situation of being hauled in to the lecturer's office to explain themselves.

No idea what this would be like…

hello!! I know everyone is busy/the news remains bad, but if I may distract for a moment? There's a man named Ander Louis from the Yarra Valley whose sincere passion project is translating War & Peace into Bogan Australian. He's done Books 1 & 2. This is not a spoof. www.amazon.com/dp/108730656...

There's a tendency in a *lot* of commentary to treat public opinion as immutable and unchangeable. Yet decades of political science research tells us that while there is lots of structure to public attitudes elite cues/signals and real and perceived conditions matter a whole lot.

Me [a popularist, genius]: Democrats must raise the issue salience of immigration to win in 2026.

Gotta get this on a T-shirt

Paul Musgrave, spitting fire on how the "policy industry" needs to reckon with reality: open.substack.com/pub/musgrave...

The ANU Chancelry's communications with staff about what lies in store for the uni are growing more hilariously ASEANesque. Feel like every week I'm alerted to a new Consultation Paper about a Dialogue on the Blueprint for Principles of a Forward Strategy around a Vision of Change Management, etcetc

They're not fascists, they just think we're in a state of exception due to the pollution of the polity and citizen body by undesirable racial elements whose removal is of such paramount importance that it transcends the dictates of the law, justified by their embodiment of the Will of the People.

I want the FT to follow up with this guy

I call for Australia to apply 1,000% retaliatory tariffs specifically on these things. Never waste a crisis

the laziest critique possible and addressed early on, but also weird to pretend reactionary global orders have no elements in common because their promoters are incoherent sociopaths

👊🏠🔥

Online seminar on the new Prabowo presidency - this will be a very informative event for anyone interested in Indonesian politics events.humanitix.com/the-prabowo-...

NEW: Tidying up for socialism—or socialising? Amelie Katczynski on the practice of ǭkhǣngngān (communal cleaning) in Laos and how it's appropriated by those made to participate in it. www.newmandala.org/playing-with...

ICYMI 🇵🇭: "The battle's conspicuous absence from popular memory is particularly striking, considering its profound historical significance"—as the Philippines marks 80 years since Battle of Manila began, revisit @leecandelaria.bsky.social's reflections from 2024 www.newmandala.org/forgetting-t...

NEW 🇮🇩🇲🇲: Despite a reluctant reception from locals and diminishing humanitarian support from international donors hit by Trump aid cuts, it appears some Rohingya are in Indonesia for the long haul, write Nino Viartasiwi & Antje Missbach after a recent visit to Aceh www.newmandala.org/will-pekanba...

Look down at your wedding ring, read this fascinating exploration of informal gold mining in Kalimantan at @newmandala.bsky.social, then look back down at your wedding ring

Look down at your wedding ring, read this fascinating exploration of informal gold mining in Kalimantan at @newmandala.bsky.social, then look back down at your wedding ring

Interesting to consider this result alongside the polls that show a slow but steady decrease in support for an Australian republic. www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

NEW: Bongbong Marcos rejects an ICC role in prosecuting drug war abuses. With the 🇵🇭 legal system ill-equipped to address crimes against humanity, and politicians still under Duterte's sway, that's a recipe for impunity as the Dutertes plot their political comeback. www.newmandala.org/dont-believe...

PLEASE SHARE: New PhD scholarship opportunity to work with me on my ARC-funded project examining how states and societies in Asia and the Pacific are responding to the emerging Cold War between the US and China. Details on how to apply are in the link. study.uq.edu.au/study-option...

It would be such a quintessentially Australian own goal for our biggest policy failure (housing) to undermine the political viability of our biggest policy success (mass immigration)

Look, we’re all on a starter pack-fuelled following spree so let’s all treat it as if we’re mutually on Bluesky probation.

I live in a proper dogbox of an apartment. If I had to pay for a 50sqm, well-lit unit, I probably couldn't afford to live where I do. We should let more people like me make this decision. Banning economy class doesn't mean everyone gets to fly business. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Please welcome the ANU Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs on Bluesky! 🙌 You can follow them here and stay up-to-date with important events, projects, and publications of our wonderful colleagues and students: @anubellschool.bsky.social bellschool.anu.edu.au

Follow @newmandala.bsky.social for fresh commentary & analysis on Southeast Asia + an 18 year back catalogue of (mainly) academic blogging on the region

Hello Bluesky! We're AHNA, a national alliance of local community activists fighting for better cities and abundant housing—more homes where people want to live—all over Australia.

Somebody needs to get Przeworski on here.

Follow @newmandala.bsky.social for fresh commentary & analysis on Southeast Asia + an 18 year back catalogue of (mainly) academic blogging on the region

NEW: "With practice, it became a well-oiled machine: a pre-dawn break-in could lead to an evening KLM flight"—how embassy break-ins became a key protest tactic of the underground Timorese independence movement, and an asylum pathway for many of its members: www.newmandala.org/break-ins-an...

NEW: Douglas Kammen says a new archival find suggests far more Timorese died under Japanese occupation than often thought—redefining our understanding of the social impacts of WWII in Portuguese Timor, and its significance in the global history of the war. www.newmandala.org/population-l...

Honestly Prince nailed it because he’s an alien from the future

Please follow @newmandala.bsky.social!

Meet Japan's next prime minister. observingjapan.substack.com/p/the-idealist

Can vouch for this. Really the only way do to chips at home

Please follow @newmandala.bsky.social!

Please follow @newmandala.bsky.social!

I hereby resolve to making sure @newmandala.bsky.social pieces are posted on Bluesky. Follow for smart, opinionated writing on Southeast Asian politics, political economy, history, culture and more! (And don’t forget to subscribe via email. No spam—ever. Just good reads.)

I hereby resolve to making sure @newmandala.bsky.social pieces are posted on Bluesky. Follow for smart, opinionated writing on Southeast Asian politics, political economy, history, culture and more! (And don’t forget to subscribe via email. No spam—ever. Just good reads.)

The next series of Alan Partridge should be him taking £400k a month for his podcast from someone he’s determined to believe isn’t an agent of the Russian Federation

Every time I read a headline about the Nippon Steel story it plays in my head to the tune of that Cold Chisel song.

Hmmm muse.jhu.edu/article/2254...