Scott Stephens's opening words of ABC RN's Minefield program today (1st Feb 2026) describes in detail the Bannon strategy to neutralise media criticism he called "Flood the Zone", without mentioning either the man or the strategy. Mistake; the evil needs an encompassing brand to sell awareness.

WE MUST GET THROUGH TO REPUBLICAN VOTERS Not to make progressives from conservatives, a balance between those two psychological predilections is essential for effective public discourse. What needs doing is for the political class to see that misleading voters or exploiting their emotions is evil.

Who thinks a clown car of Trump sycophants has any hope of eliciting a realistic deal from Putin? The EU Coalition of the willing should'do the talking. It isn't in thrall of America's clown-in-chief & is both willing & able, so it'd have Putin's full attention. www.bbc.com/news/live/cz...

18-29 year olds are a pivotal political demographic, they create the buzz (or deathly silence) when things like the right-wing Trumpian chaos abruptly manifest in National Party leadership. Country voters created the Trump presidencies & it's time for Australia to help isolated voters to be wiser.

The essence of the evil logic that maximises the effect of social media & assists the sane-washing of the Trump Administration while America sinks from Free-world leader to the greatest threat facing the globe.

Do what's needed to keep Bluesky effective. Stay active & preserve US ideals. Bluesky isn't like X and the world needs idealism to flourish. The following link shows that the Trump administration world view is locked in the pre-WWII ethos of colonial enforcement. edition.cnn.com/2026/01/05/p...

No one can say they were not warned about the wrecking ball that was about to be inflicted on the global order by Donald Trump There is no linear Trump foreign policy, just a catherine wheel of disconnected explosions thrown out across the night sky. www.theguardian.com/law/ng-inter...

Merry Xmas from Israel

www.bbc.com/news/article... Trump & Putin propose false narratives, one after another that only undiscriminating supporters would not instantly see through. We protect our children from exploitation, why not susceptible adults? Absolute freedom of speech is bunkum. America got it wrong.

www.bbc.com/news/article... If GOP Congress members can suspend their faith that MAGA support is immutable, then they might twig to the fact that populist blather from all sides is aimed at weak and inherently fickle minds.

Twitter (now X) is chock full of banal propaganda. At least Australians under 16 are not exposed to it. Elon Musk is justifying the approach taken by China and Russia.

Trump isn't yet all-powerful in USA, but Putin is in Russia. Understanding positive & negative conceptions of liberty is key to defending the democracy that made people in the Western world free & prosperous. I hope this helps.

Anything that depends upon Trump is at risk. He's fickle, narcissistic a compulsive liar and addicted to delf-aggrandizement. America is deeply divided and the US Congress is sitting on its hands. The u US has gone from leading the free world against authoritarians to electing one.

www.bbc.com/news/article... If, as seems likely, Hegseth is found to have committed a war crime what will Congress do? Knowing that Trump pardons anyone he likes might they encourage their respective Congressional party colleagues to deal with the biggest crisis in confidence in America ever.

58,220 American service personnel lost their lives fighting the evils of communism. The Putin regime is the epitome of the evils Americans died fighting against, yet President Trump's support of Putin and betrayal of Ukraine is tolerated by Congress. WHY?

It's bad enough that Witkoff is exposed as a fool, but this from Rupert Murdoch's Times Radio will surely convince Congress that Putin's patsy is a threat to the nation so significant that they must find consensus to address it. Or is the US Congress moribund?

I say Musk & Trump seek dominance & are ruthless in how they distort & manipulate. Such people in tacit control of the most powerful nation on earth means that the rest of the world takes care not to provoke retaliation. BUT, the US is in decline & eventually the boot will be on the other foot.

European and Ukrainian officials have rejected Donald Trump’s latest proposal for a lopsided peace deal that favors Moscow, warning that caving in to Russia will only encourage Vladimir Putin to attack NATO next. (It Sounds like Fuck Off Trump) www.politico.eu/article/euro...

A mega-wealthy self-professed sociopath with a mass communications facility that fosters social division is a threat to a state that's too dangerous to ignore. Social media does nothing for a nation's wealth, so the remedy is as simple as throwing a switch. Give Musk fair warning then act.

BBC to Trump: FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT.

www.bbc.com/news/article... The bottom line for Trump is that he is an international pariah seeking to prove his reputation was damaged. Just how poorly he is regarded will be a BBC trump-card. (See graph added as a comment)

www.bbc.com/news/article... Chaos engendered by the Trump administration in US is spread to the world by social media that feeds on tumult. It's energising dangerous forces of thuggery & corruption. Political instability brings nothing but more chaos & pain. UK needs put caution before emotion

edition.cnn.com/2025/11/07/m... It behoves America's best and brightest to confront culpability for providing for overwhelmingly dominant military kit to an invading force in Palestine to placate a relentless domestic lobby and call 'enough' in the name of humanity and their nation's dignity.

For Americans worried by new NYC Mayor, this printed by Australian Financial Review 2019: Bob Hawke was a social democrat whose greatest achievement was to use economic reforms to set up Australia for a long period of rising employment and incomes with low inflation. Believe results, not Murdoch.

A nation that fails to maintain its commitment to ideals is condemned to have them trumped.

Indeed, Ukraine is an inspiration to the democratic world as we face destabilising rhetoric from political opportunists. Resolve in the face of Putin's bombs takes courage, for opportunists all we need is scorn.

www.bbc.com/news/article... Netanyahu used US weapons to blow up the buildings that created the rubble that covers the bodies of hostages (& likely killed them) but demands the defeated Hamas terrorists dig them out without heavy lifting equipment... Or else. Stable genius peace plan.

This article is evidence of how AI can be used to engage emotionally with humans and thus influence their decisions. If political outcomes are not protected from this influence then the social media barons who can afford mass access AI will have dominating influence. www.bbc.com/news/article...

UK's Digital ID has the potential to do more than just remove the employment attraction to illegal migrants, it could also make social media accountable for its social harm. The persuasive power of AI in social media is certain to be devastating to democracy without that accountability. Pls think.

While the serious world meets in New York to engage Russia over military provocations to NATO members & with Israel over its relentless military over-reaction in Palestine... Trump organises a political stunt in Arizona that proves Jimmy Kimmel's comment 100% correct. US needs a serious president.

I asked Grok, Elon Musk's X based AI, if UK should have a comprehensive ban on foreign funding of politics, like the US has. The following is the last answer it came up with.

www.bbc.com/news/article... More humiliation for the good people of America, compliments of the Axis of Evil administering their Executive branch.

Keen to see feedback on flaws or merit in the proposition.

www.bbc.com/news/article... If the gravity of the threat Trump represents to the world isn't made obvious to the US Congress then they cannot serve their people. Leaving crucial American foreign relations in self-evidently inappropriate hands is a risk Congress cannot in good conscience allow.

For the world watching on, the Appeals Court ruling against Trump's authority to impose tariffs may be best US news since he was elected. Insight into why he wanted to put US trade in crisis - first episode of this - available on PBS (SBS in Australia, BBC in UK). www.pbs.org/show/hitler-...

My father (an Australian) worked for the UN in Manchuria (1946) when America fully bore the organization's cost. It was the beginning of America's global leadership for which it had respect. The Trump Administration has destroyed that respect. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Like, "a date which will live in infamy", "a very stable genius" will mark a tumultuous time in US history. But rather than the pride that was invoked by US role in WWII, there will be shame for the extended inaction of US Congress while gov't institutions were displaced by an authoritarian.

What the IDF calls a war is more accurately a police action against terrorists hiding among a captive population. Journalist deaths over 200, IDF says they're not targeted, proves heavy weapons are used indiscriminately, a war crime that USA is surely complicit in given it supplies the weapons.

www.bbc.com/news/videos/... US system is clearly dealing with a crisis. In parliamentary systems there are mechanisms to deal with a rogue leader of a majority party, but the US Congress has shown to be impotent. To an outsider Newsom's strategy of parodying Trump at least isn't stunned inaction.

Eight therapists

If you do a Google search on the sentence; "Fickle flip-flopper with an authoritarian inclination & disregard for the rule of law" the following site comes up: www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/trumps-...

Territorial concessions again? So again, offer putin Alaska, Florida and toss in Texas for good faith, and see how that feels.

Trump isn't the first bumbling fool to demonstrate that an all powerful US President can be a catastrophe for American foreign affairs, and the world. The contiuum of slaughter over the creation of Israel & timidity on Russian threat to Europeans seeking protection from autocracy are key examples.

As America wrestles with its political culture & Europe wrestles with what that means for Ukraine, Australia has a related cultural matter to address.

I'm Australian, but I hear the same view from EU, UK Canada, indeed all rich & educated people except stay-at-home Americans, that is that the working class in US get screwed on health & welfare compared to the rest of the rich world. Your Sen Sanders says US workers must unite for fair - DO IT.

History was kind to Elbridge GERRY but his political opponents thought the electorate boundaries he defined were unfair & coz the shape resembled a slimy SALAMANDER coined the word "gerrymander". Cheating in politics is still slimy, underhanded & deserving of scorn. History will now scorn Texas.

How far into "Failed state" territory is GOP going to let Trump take America before it summons the courage to address the accelerating catastrophe? www.bbc.com/news/article...

The Trump administration could be likened to a Banana Republic, except for the fact that nations that were deemed Banana Republics have become more responsible.