NATO's wars and piss.....
“NATO has kept the peace for nearly eight decades and created the conditions for prosperity and democracy to flourish.” U.S. State Department
an angry clown not welcome in the clown car....
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.
a golden or gold future....
the resurgence of extreme right-wing political parties.....
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.
the situation threatens the whole international nuclear security framework.....
Weekend reading and MB media appearances
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
Money Talks
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
The social media ban that wasn’t
The Australian government’s legislation seeking to ban access to social media for people under 16 has received plenty of attention in International media, mostly leading with the government’s that 4.7 million accounts were banned or deactivated when the legislation came into effect. Rather less attention has been paid to discussion of the outcome within Australia, where the consensus is that there has been very little effect for most.
Macro Afternoon
Asian share markets pivoted around inflation prints and other macro news as the chaos from Davos dies down although the TACO trade remains in play. The USD remains under pressure against almost all major undollars particularly antipodean with the Australian dollar pushing through resistance to head above the 68 cent level while bond market stress
Kiwis continue to flee New Zealand for Australia
The latest data from Stats NZ reveals that immigration into New Zealand remains historically low, with only 10,691 net migrants landing in the year to November 2025: This level of net overseas migration is well below the decade average of 49,000 and is a fraction of the circa 130,000 peak migration recorded in 2023. Arrivals