Gunnamatta.Molva · Deep T Australia Day 2026 final Ahead of the Australia Day long weekend Deep T spoke about Australian demand and interest rate dynamics, and the relationship of global events to domestic policymaking concerns. During the discussion he traverses some of the implications of actions by US President Trump, and the ways in
The Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua has ridiculed the administration of US President Donald Trump for using the popular ‘Nihilist penguin’ meme to promote its campaign to gain control of Greenland.
On Saturday, the White House’s page on X decided to exploit the hype around the meme, which features a lone Adelie penguin abandoning his colony to walk towards distant icy mountains.
Trump, more than a decisive player, is a symptom of the changing times.
While December itself was weak, the 12 months ending on 31 December were a good year for international stocks. Being overweight internationally, with a healthy exposure to AI, our portfolios all outperformed their benchmarks. Our international fund finished up 20%, and our Australian fund finished up around 9%. Our tactical growth finished up around 11%.
Iran (1953), Iraq (2003), Libya (2011), Russia (2022), Syria (2024), and now Venezuela (2026). The common denominator underlying the U.S. attacks and economic sanctions against all these countries is America’s weaponization of the world’s oil trade. Control over oil is one of its key methods for achieving unipolar control over the world’s broad trade and dollarized financial arrangements.
Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” is framed as a peace initiative, but it centralises authority, sidelines the vulnerable and rewards coercion. Australia should reject it rather than lend it legitimacy.
Trump’s 'Peace Board' is imperialism in a new suit
Australia does not suffer from a lack of empathy. It suffers from selective empathy. And nowhere is that clearer than in the way our political and media class decide who is allowed to mourn. Andrew Brown with the story.
“NATO has kept the peace for nearly eight decades and created the conditions for prosperity and democracy to flourish.” U.S. State Department
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is facing severe backlash from key international partners after a combative speech at Davos, where he went on a tirade accusing Europe of “indecisiveness” toward Russia and insufficient support for his country.
In the German writer Ernst Junger’s macabre vignette ‘Violet Endives’, a man walks into a gourmet shop where the salesman speaks in matter-of-fact fashion about the delicacies on display – human flesh – and embarks upon a long explanation about the art of preparation. The story is a commentary on a society that accepts the appalling with barely the blink of an eye.
The latest split in Australia’s conservative Coalition is yet another signal the old, established rules no longer apply.
No longer in Australia, just as they no longer apply in an ever more fractious and chaotic world.
International Reading: EU Freezes U.S. Trade Deal After Trump’s Unhinged Davos Speech – New Republic Majority of CEOs Alarmed as AI Delivers No Financial Returns – Futurism The U.S. debt now equals $229,000 per household—and a hefty tax hike looms as the most probable outcome – Fortune ‘This is sell America’ — U.S. dollar, Treasury
The grim truth is that almost the entire political class aligns with the ultra-rich against the rest.
By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 16th January 2026
There is one political problem from which all others follow. It is the major cause of Donald Trump, of Nigel Farage, of the shocking weakness of their opponents, of the polarisation tearing societies apart, of the devastation of the living world. It is simply stated: the extreme wealth of a small number of people.