Blogotariat

Oz Blog News Commentary
John Quiggin Monday, June 30, 2025 - 06:49 Source

I’ve held off posting this in the hope of coming up with some kind of positive response, but I haven’t got one.

When I wrote back in November 2024 that Trump’s dictatorship was a fait accompi there was still plenty of room for people to disagree. But (with the exception of an announced state of emergency) it’s turned out far worse than I thought possible.

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John Quiggin Monday, June 30, 2025 - 06:38 Source

Another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please.

I’m now using Substack as a blogging platform, and for my monthly email newsletter. For the moment, I’ll post both at this blog and on Substack. You can also follow me on Mastodon here.

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Your Democracy Monday, June 30, 2025 - 06:23 Source

The [UK] government’s plan to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation is a hugely significant step in the steady erosion of civil liberties.

This decline began under Tony Blair’s premiership, was advanced by the last Tory government and is now pursued enthusiastically by Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer.

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Your Democracy Monday, June 30, 2025 - 05:44 Source

As the nations bicker, squabble and fight among themselves, their ultimate disintegration becomes more certain and more imminent with each passing day.

Enthralled by the spectacle of leaders of paralysing stupidity disgorging lies, bombs and bombast ad lib, many people seem to have forgotten or chosen to overlook the real monster that is creeping up behind them, sharpening its claws to bring down the entire civilisation.

 

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Your Democracy Monday, June 30, 2025 - 05:30 Source

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the lead sponsors of the sanctions bill, stated earlier that the legislation would impose "bone-breaking sanctions" on Russia and its customers.

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Your Democracy Monday, June 30, 2025 - 04:59 Source

 

Actions have causes. That is a fundamental point of philosophy, of life, of reality, of an understanding of the way the world is. Russia’s actions in Ukraine have causes which necessitated those actions. Unbiased observers know what those causes are and why Russia’s special military operation was a necessary consequence.

 

Fascism: Our Common Enemy

Christopher Black

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Your Democracy Monday, June 30, 2025 - 04:44 Source

The Pentagon plans to spend nearly $40 billion from the US budget to strengthen the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region by expanding its military and technical base.

How to Lose Geopolitical Influence in Asia and Sell It as a US National Security Strategy

Rebecca Chan

 

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MacroBusiness Monday, June 30, 2025 - 00:05 Source

Mark Litwin, Head of Investment Sales (NSW) at Knight Frank, penned a report on Sydney’s housing market fundamentals, which are underpinned by “persistent undersupply”. Sydney’s most powerful tailwind remains its chronic housing shortage. Population growth—fuelled by the return of overseas migration—has outpaced dwelling completions for much of the past decade. Detached housing in established suburbs

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Your Democracy Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 16:34 Source

As the Navy embarks on the ambitious AUKUS program, the Auditor-General has handed Defence a ‘C minus’ on the Canberra Class ship-building program. Rex Patrick reports.

Ever since the Navy took possession of the two Canberra-class landing Ships at a cost of $1.5B each, they’ve been mired in controversy about reliability.

 

“Accumulation of defects”. A-G report scathing on Navy shipbuilding

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Renew Economy Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 14:40 Source
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Renew Economy Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 12:15 Source
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Renew Economy Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 12:03 Source
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Your Democracy Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 11:00 Source

Ethics is basically a learned habit of behavior.  —  Aristotle.

Virtue is its own reward.  —  Plato.

Plato:  Welcome, Aristotle!  It’s been a while since I have seen you at the Academy.

Aristotle:  And it is good to see you as well my teacher.  And how have things been?

P:  I hear that you have had the honor of instructing the great Alexander in philosophy and morals.  How has that suited you?

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MacroBusiness Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 09:28 Source

DXY held Friday night, but EUR is a runaway locomotive. AUD fell and is eating European dust. Lead boots were made for climbing. Gold is in a spot of bother; improving geopolitics outweighs a falling DXY. Metals reflation is go. Another chance to short the world’s greatest bear market. EM meh. Junk stalled. As yields

The post Australian dollar the new Euro trash appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 08:50 Source

Senate Republicans are racing to pass a budget bill that is pivotal to President Donald Trump's second-term agenda ahead of a self-imposed 4 July deadline.

Party leadership have been twisting arms for an initial vote on the "Big Beautiful Bill" on Saturday, following the release of its latest version - all 940 pages - shortly after midnight.

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Your Democracy Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 08:01 Source

A new “water economics” needed to safeguard supplies of domestic water and make it a common good. Australia’s fossil fuels make it a rich “Climate Wrecker”. Carbon capture technologies fail to deliver.

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Your Democracy Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 06:03 Source

Four senior executives at Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI have been formally appointed lieutenant colonels in the US Army following the creation of a “special” unit created for rich Big Tech mavens seeking military leadership roles.

 

US Army appoints Palantir, Meta, OpenAI execs as Lt. Colonels

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MacroBusiness Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 05:01 Source

By Lucinda Jerogin, Associate Economist at CBA Australian CPI inflation surprised to the downside at 2.1%/yr in May 2025. The policy relevant trimmed mean measure eased to 2.4%/yr. As a result,we brought forward our expected timing of the next RBA rate cut to July. News offshore was dominated by geopolitical events as hostilities between Israel

The post The economic week ahead appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 18:13 Source

Today we have the auction results for the two biggest markets Sydney and Melbourne, but using a bit of a different approach. When Domain, Corelogic or any number of other property data sources produce their preliminary auction results on a Saturday evening, it perhaps isn’t based on what one would think at first glance. Instead

The post Vanishing auction results and a different approach appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 17:02 Source

  Today we meet Ted.  Almost nobody knows who Ted is. In some ways this is a good thing meaning he can walk down the streets of wherever he lives without having soft fruit thrown at him.  But in other ways this may not be such a good thing, seeing as Ted is your shadow

The post Big Ted O’Brien makes a goose of himself appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 13:49 Source

On June 22, a large portion of the France 2, 8 p.m. newscast, hosted by Laurent Delahousse, was devoted to the US attack on Iran.

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MacroBusiness Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 09:00 Source

In this MacroBusiness podcast, Gunnamatta and Leith van Onselen unpack the budget outlook, the deindustrialisation of Australia, housing policy failures, energy policy failures, and the nation’s falling productivity growth. Highlights: 0:00 Introduction 1:00 Why Australia’s budget finances are unsustainable 10:30 Australia is deindustrialising 12:07 Australia should be the richest nation on earth 17:46 Australia’s energy

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Your Democracy Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 08:58 Source

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Your Democracy Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 07:57 Source

The forms of 19th-century European fictions, including the Russian, have a powerful relation to older Christian stories, from the Bible to Bunyan. The novels meet the old tales with part parody, part dialogue, part rejection and reconstruction.

 

The Idiotby Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by David McDuff

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Your Democracy Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 07:28 Source

The Poetry Of Reality is a podcast hosted by renowned evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins. This is an audio and video experience that tracks our acclaimed protagonist in his navigation of the natural world and his pursuit of truth through scientific curiosity.

 

WELCOME TO The Poetry of Reality

 

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Your Democracy Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 07:19 Source

The ABC has long held a reputation as Australia’s sober, publicly-funded bulwark against tabloid sensationalism – the broadcaster you turn to when you want analysis, not alarmism.

Which is why their recent report “Company in charge of proposed incinerator outside Geelong has direct links to the Chinese government” on a proposed waste-to-energy plant near Geelong reads more like a Netflix drama: Red Furnace – China’s Great Bin Fire.

 

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Your Democracy Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 06:32 Source

The Daily Mail has revealed that the grandfather of Blaise Metreweli, who is expected to become the first woman to lead the UK’s foreign intelligence service (MI6), was a Nazi collaborator who oversaw atrocities in occupied Ukraine.

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MacroBusiness Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 00:05 Source

International Reading: Trump Sends Dollar Plunging With Plan to Turn Federal Reserve MAGA – The Daily Beat Gen X is the least financially secure generation – Independent Cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles, including 800 EVs, sinks in the Pacific Ocean – Live Mint US economy shrunk faster than expected, new data shows – The Hill

The post Weekend reading and media appearances appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Friday, June 27, 2025 - 19:38 Source

Suddenly, nothing grew

The crops around the planet died

The air went dry without dew

The wind carried sands that fried

Hot like a Venusian summer

Cold like a Martian winter

 

What happened asked rat number two

Rat number one could not answer

He was dead as two would soon be too

 

We’re completely out of luck

Number two thought, barely cogent

Those nuking monkeys with their muck

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The Tally Room Friday, June 27, 2025 - 18:28 Source

Nominations were announced today for the Tasmanian state election. After record-sized ballot papers at the previous election in 2024, they will shrink slightly in 2025. There will be fewer columns on the ballot paper, along with larger fields of ungrouped independents. While ballot papers will be smaller than in 2024, they will still be some of the largest seen in recent decades. The average number of columns is slightly smaller than the 35-seat election of 1996, equal to 2014 and otherwise more than every election other than 2024 since 1989.

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