To be fair, the government isn't going to widely publicise its moves to extricate Australia from the alliance. Deliberately courting trouble is pointless and potentially disastrous, unless (like Canada) a rupture is forced on us. And yes, the Aukus payments are protection money to buy time.

Tell me your pet's name in a GIF.

I've always been disturbed by advertising signs and pictures on packaging that feature an animal enthusiastically and treacherously promoting the eating of members of its own species. E.g. an anthropomorphic chicken giving the thumbs-up to a brand of nuggets.

Tolkien pointedly described Nazi ideology as "pernicious and unscientific" and he was on the money.

Usually I have no idea where my earworms come from. Today's is fairly obvious.

Rob Hirst has had a massive impact on Australian culture. He was the engine driving one of the greatest live bands of all time. RIP, dear Rob. You are irreplaceable, one of a kind, and myself, my family, and all the rest of this great country will miss you so much.

We are shattered and grieving the loss of our brother Rob. For now there are no words but there will always be songs. Love Always from Jim, Martin & Pete.

Anyway, here's 'Kosciusko'. Crank it up. youtu.be/92WQWp15sAU?...

A devastating loss, an unforgettable man. My deepest condolences to Rob’s family and friends. With love from your work experience kid. (And thank you for your kindness to my kid.) 😞

Gutted to hear about the passing of the drummer of legendary Australian band Midnight Oil. Hirsty was the engine to powerhouse activist anthems like this one, an anti-war, anti-US imperialism banger which is more relevant in 2026 than I am wholly comfortable with www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Rob Hirst was a force of nature, a born showman who led Midnight Oil from the back

Rob Hirst - One of the world's greatest drummers (and almost certainly the smartest, tbh) - has passed. Also singer, songwriter, guitarist, activist, author, raconteur, and all-round fine bloke. Not unexpected, but still a profoundly painful loss. www.facebook.com/midnightoilo...

neolithic guys get pissed if you tell them their cultures are organized by the type of pots and jewelry they made. "we called ourselves the blood hunters" "we conquered villages far beyond this horizon" sorry bud you're the western linear pottery culture now

I wonder if most Americans even know we (Australia) have a defence agreement with them. Or realise that if they go down, they drag us down with them. Same goes for many countries… and maybe the world. Enough with the “mind your business” or “you don’t understand” crap. We understand quite enough.

This whole America at war with itself is a lose lose. If MAGA wins then the world is over. If anti MAGA wins then we have five decades of American films depicting their fight for freedom. No matter what it’s too many American flags.

LLMs are spam generators. That is all. They're designed to generate plausibly human-like text well enough to pass a generic Turing Test. That's why people believe they're "intelligent". But really, all they are is spam generators. We have hit the spamularity.

#auspol #Australia

Addendum: He also cheats at real life

Well, Wordle was unsatisfying this morning Wordle 1,672 X/6 🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩

Fun fact: former Iranian President Ahmadinejad's name means "of The Bloodline of Ahmad". Even more fun: Iranians always joked about changing "Ahmad" to "Ahmagh" more accurately describes him- "of The Bloodline of Fuckheads"

Our two dogs and two cats were hassling me energetically for their dinner, so I said "calm your collective farm". I'm not sure they got it.

Three of the people in this photo ran for Governor; two of them became governors; and inexplicably neither of those were the insane hard-core right wing person.

can you image an arts festival not guided by a real estate agent and an airport manager? makes me sick just to think about

See I grew up with Ukrainian and Russian food so no bean has ever successfully ambushed me.

Oh, this is just stupid

It should be noted that the dog is NOT a Leonberger.

There you go - future authors of works on the second Trump administration - I have your title. "American Caligula".

Caligula.

I hope they weed on him.

This explains so much. People with psychopathic traits and low cognitive ability are over-represented in online political activity. If someone is being cruel, obnoxious and ridiculous, don't try to reason with them. Chances are you won't get anywhere. Just block. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Love this from Guillermo del Toro

This rain is really quite A Thing.

Sooo..... just putting the big question that few people seem to be asking..... if our government *did* make a strong statement against Trump's Venezuela fuckery, what might the consequences be? I don't think anybody knows. It's like being in a room with a baboon armed with an automatic rifle.

Ooos

Good morning Australia! Your weekly reminder that our country's strategic security situation is the most dangerous since 1942. I'm not talking about China.

Laura Tingle with a bit of Australian understatement: “It’s not really legal to nick someone else’s head of state.”

It's unproductive for Americans to see the current regime as an aberration, whereas authoritarianism is somehow in the "national character" of other countries. It's the same attitude that sees the current situation as somehow inflicted on the US by Russia. Own this shit, guys.

Way too many anti-Trump Americans are still framing Trump's actions in terms of the threat that they pose to US power and authority. That's not the point, and it's very annoying for the rest of us.

So I guess Trump will declare victory tomorrow and the ongoing war/insurgency will last 20 years.

Well, fuck.

so cool that when Kurosawa made Seven Samurai, he was like, "What if a movie absolutely ripped for three-and-a-half hours straight?"

"We love America and make no apologies for participating in its destruction."

No cheating, repost with the most recent photo of your pet

Israeli Gov's list of top 10 Australian 'anti-Semitic' orgs, politicians & people. No actual Nazi groups ie National Socialist Network. Most solely oppose genocide of Palestinian civilians - this is Not anti-semitic. Netanyahu's propaganda & true agenda are clear #Auspol

DM: "These aren't the Druids you're looking for"

texto da @olivia.science e Iris Van Rooij sobre AI e ensino universitário. www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...

Tiptoeing through the New Year so as little of 2025 as possible gets carried into 2026.

All I can think of is Saruman getting ambushed by Ents.