Shakedown Social

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Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cowardly-politics-is-robbing-our-children-blind-it-s-time-to-be-brave-20250327-p5lmz1.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cowardly-politics-is-robbing-our-children-blind-it-s-time-to-be-brave-20250327-p5lmz1.html</a>QUOTE BEGINSWe find ourselves in an election campaign framed by immediate cost-of-living issues, with the principal contenders pandering to an electorate they believe to be interested in nothing else.But are we so venal? Are we so disinterested in the nation’s future? Are we content with being the first generation of Australians unable to state with confidence that future generations will be even better off than we are?Until the COVID pandemic, the popular view was that Australians were doing well in the 21st century. We were enjoying the tailwinds of a strong Asian market for iron ore, coal and gas that pushed the terms of trade to levels unimagined by any previous generation.In the two decades pre-COVID, the Australian economy – uniquely in the world – managed to avoid any instance of recession. By contrast, the last two decades of the 20th century saw two deep recessions and a trend decline in the terms of trade.And yet, with a mining boom, and no recessions, we have managed real GDP per capita growth of less than three-quarters the rate in the 1980s and ’90s. The poorer GDP per capita performance this century is almost fully explained by weaker productivity growth, driven by a succession of populist policy choices. These relate principally to the structure of the tax system, incompetent handling of the mining boom and juvenile political antics in climate policy.Australia should have been a great place to do business in the first two decades of the 21st century. Yet, notwithstanding the strength of the mining sector, we have had a decade of business investment at levels previously recorded only in deep recessions. Young Australian workers find themselves in an economy so starved of investment that it has been incapable of supporting durable increases in real wages.And that’s not all.Because of the structure of the tax system, today’s young people are being denied a reasonable prospect of home ownership, and they are burdened with a trillion dollars of public debt. They are being held back by a tax system that relies increasingly upon fiscal drag, forced to pay higher and higher average tax rates even when their real incomes are falling. This week’s budget papers confirm that fiscal drag remains a core element of the fiscal strategy.The first intergenerational report (IGR1) was published in 2002. It emphasised that the fiscal implications of an ageing population should be viewed as a growth challenge. If we could lift the rate of economic growth, then we might avoid the need to raise income tax rates on young workers, a cohort destined to make up a declining share of the population.IGR1 made the case for a set of policy reforms that would lift the rate of real GDP per capita growth modestly above the experience of the 1980s and ’90s, explaining that a failure to do so would impose a heavy fiscal burden on future generations of Australians. But, in the period pre-COVID, we missed the IGR annual growth target by almost a full percentage point.Other things being equal, had we achieved the target, the Commonwealth budget would be in strong structural surplus, not the decade of structural deficits projected in the latest budget papers. Of course, “other things” have not been equal. Most importantly, the tax system has not been reformed as it should have been, especially to deal with fiscal drag and to boost capital investment and productivity.This is where some of the higher growth would have come from, with the right reforms. Young workers would have benefited from stronger productivity growth and increases in real wages. Average Australian incomes, pre-tax, would be about 20 per cent higher in real terms. And average after-tax incomes would be even higher.The economic reforms of the late 20th century were sparked by the Hawke government’s understanding that several decades of poor economic performance, and poor social outcomes, were due to policy squabbles over the distribution of a shrinking pie, a political system disinterested in future generations.Once again, we find ourselves in that place, in need of leaders with vision and courage. Leaders motivated to put an end to policies and practices that deprive future generations of a set of opportunities most of us have taken for granted.Australia should be an optimistic country, open to the world, globally competitive, with high rates of productivity growth. To secure that vision, we need an economic policy transformation. Kicking the policy reform can down the road simply won’t do it.Our leaders should be capable of engaging robustly and effectively with other world leaders, contributing strongly to co-ordinated global action to deal with a set of shared threats to the prosperity of future generations.Our leaders should have the courage to fix the tax system, to end the lazy reliance upon fiscal drag, to foster high rates of capital investment, and to remove tax distortions that favour investments in capital gains over investments that support productivity and real wages growth.Our leaders should understand the foundational role of natural capital. They must fix Australia’s broken environmental protection laws. The failure to do so imposes an increasingly large risk burden on a set of investments that will be required to underpin future prosperity, including renewable energy projects. And they should deliver nature repair at scale.Australia’s next government will have the opportunity to put an end to decades of intergenerational theft. That must be its legacy.<ul><li>Dr Ken Henry is an economist who served as Australia’s Treasury secretary from 2001 to 2011.</li></ul>QUOTE ENDS<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WomensRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WomensRights</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/OzElection2025" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#OzElection2025</a>

#TuckFrump<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) <a href="https://twp.ai/1VcidB" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://twp.ai/1VcidB</a>I get asked this ALL the time!

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:Seriously contemplating, this time, not even bothering to apply to <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AEC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AEC</a> for my <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/PostalVote" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PostalVote</a>, & just taking the eventual fine. Not happy about this, but then again, not happy about much of anything. <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Greens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Greens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreSelfishCruelBastards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreSelfishCruelBastards</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ComeOnTanya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ComeOnTanya</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NatsAreNuts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NatsAreNuts</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#racism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRacists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRacists</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:Oh, really?<blockquote>choose the news coverage that matters to you</blockquote>Ok then, here's what matters to me. Wot can you tell me about wot this waste of space govt has done with this budget for [not an exhaustive list, but a start for going on with]:<ul><li>fighting the climate crisis</li><li>fighting the biodiversity crisis</li><li>fighting the DV crisis</li><li>fighting the housing crisis by facilitating states & territories building massive numbers of well located good quality public housing</li><li>lifting unemployment support above poverty</li><li>returning all employment services to public ownership</li><li>official enquiry into murdoch</li><li>ending whistleblower persecution, deploying proper w/b protection</li><li>prosecuting robodebt criminals</li><li>proper anti-corruption commission</li><li>free tertiary & trades education; all current debts waived</li><li>cancel aukus</li><li>so much more...</li></ul>You MSM can just fuck right off with your cheap tacky "winners & losers, what's in it for me" bullshit, & begin holding this useless pair of 2PP to full account.<a href="https://social.chinwag.org/@guardian_bot/114222268854805940" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://social.chinwag.org/@guardian_bot/114222268854805940</a><a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Greens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Greens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreSelfishCruelBastards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreSelfishCruelBastards</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ComeOnTanya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ComeOnTanya</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NatsAreNuts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NatsAreNuts</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#racism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRacists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRacists</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/24/2025-federal-budget-politicians-journalists-obsess-deficits/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/24/2025-federal-budget-politicians-journalists-obsess-deficits/</a>QUOTE BEGINSPoliticians and journalists are obsessed with deficits. What happened to ‘adventurous finance’?In August 1962, the Liberal prime minister bragged about how his recent budget had produced a higher deficit that his Labor opponent.He’d won the federal election eight months earlier, defeating the Labor opposition led by Arthur Calwell, who had promised to eradicate unemployment via a deficit of 100 million pounds.Robert Menzies promptly produced a deficit of 120 million.“Too few people realise that a cash deficit of 120 million [pounds] … will of itself have a most expansionary effect,” he said. “We shall pay out to the citizens 120 million [pounds] more than will be collected from them”.He went on:<blockquote>So, far from being timorous — I think that was another of the words used by the deputy leader of the opposition — this is adventurous finance.Add to the deficit the tax refunds now being made, and it is clear that purchasing power in Australia this financial year will be uncommonly high.</blockquote>The Liberals’ rode this cavalier approach to the nation’s finances to a further decade in power. So how did we get so obsessed with the idea of deficits — a projection, lest we forget, that never proves to be accurate — being an incontrovertible sign of economic health, regardless of context? And do voters care half as much as the political class do?Gough Whitlam is the go-to example of the Liberal Party mantra — happily taken up by the majority of the Australian media — that the ALP simply cannot manage money. Based on the underlying cash balance — the standard by which, say, the Howard/Costello partnership is remembered so favourably — two out of three Whitlam’s budgets were in surplus. Without getting into the ethics or legality of the way Whitlam’s government was swept from power, the next election delivered his opponents a massive majority.Fraser, in turn, ran a Keynesian economic policy, and six out of seven budgets were in deficit (though reduced levels) under his leadership. Indeed Fraser and his treasurer John Howard where opposed on the subject, with Fraser wanting to stimulate the economy, reeling from international downturn in the early ’80s, by blowing out the deficit.Bob Hawke recognised that an opponent’s deficit was “political gold“, a cudgel that could be used to bludgeon a government. However, his government didn’t deliver a surplus until 1988, five years after taking office. This was famously described by Hawke’s treasurer Paul Keating as the one that “brings home the bacon”. The irony being, as Australian political historian Frank Bongiorno notes, “we recall this budget not because it ushered in a glorious economic era, but because it proved to be the curtain-raiser on a deep and damaging recession”.This is the era when the question of a deficit was really allowed to get out of control. As Jason Murphy noted in these pages, when the Howard government took office in March 1996, treasurer Peter Costello’s rhetoric was “indistinguishable from that of his predecessors”:<blockquote>In his first budget speech that August [Costello] spoke of reducing the deficit but gave no hint he intended to reduce national debt to zero … That year he ran a budget deficit. </blockquote>Then came huge tax windfalls, which changed the calculus of the next decade. As Murphy goes on, by the end of the Howard government, surpluses were “hard to avoid” thanks to annual tax revenue having “doubled compared with when [Costello] took over the treasurer’s office”.Pretty much every treasurer since has had to operate according to the template set by Howard and Costello and has found, for one reason or another, that it was impossible. Within a few years of a global financial crisis that his government had guided Australia through via stimulus spending, Wayne Swan announced “four years of surpluses” in 2012-13. He delivered none.Joe Hockey, obsessed with Labor’s “debt and deficit disaster” and leading the finances of a government claiming (dubiously) to have “inherited the largest deficits in Australia’s history from Labor”, produced a comically punitive and near-universally reviled budget, and thus picked out a grave plot for his government.Josh Frydenberg perhaps offered the clearest example of governing according to this absurd logic. The ink on the “back in black” merch, celebrating the Liberals projected return to surplus in 2019, had barely dried by the time another global shock came and wiped out any possibility that voters wanted less money spent.Which raises the question — if Whitlam is the exemplar of wild fiscal irresponsibility, why have subsequent governments never suggested dropping the level of government spending as a portion of GDP back down to the level it was when he took office?<ul><li>Charlie Lewis pens Crikey’s Tips and Murmurs column and also writes on industrial relations, politics and culture. He previously worked across government and unions and was a researcher on RN’s Daily Planet. He currently co-hosts Spin Cycle on Triple R radio. </li></ul>QUOTE ENDS<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WomensRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WomensRights</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/24/angus-taylor-horrendous-performance-policy-free-liberals/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/24/angus-taylor-horrendous-performance-policy-free-liberals/</a>QUOTE BEGINSThe Coalition is in economic and fiscal disarray. And Peter Dutton’s shadow treasurer is exhibit A.In a parallel political universe, Angus Taylor would be a key figure in the Australian political landscape. Along with Sussan Ley, he is the most senior Liberal in the country. As shadow treasurer, he would normally be the opposition’s first option if Dutton underperformed. He should be central to economic debate, given Dutton has no economic or fiscal background worth mentioning.A few weeks out from the election, Taylor should be poised either to become treasurer, or to challenge Dutton for the leadership in the new Parliament if the Coalition fails to dispatch a weak Labor outfit.Instead, not only does the latter looks improbable, but the prospect of Taylor as treasurer is evidently worrying even his own colleagues.There’s always been something vaporous about Taylor. He has spent extended periods as shadow treasurer virtually invisible. Even when he is out in public, it’s like he’s communicating from the realm of the spirits; reach out and try to determine if there’s any there there and all you’ll come away with is a fistful of smoke.If all that time in an undisclosed location was in service of developing a coherent economic and fiscal plan, it might be time well spent. But here we are, less than a week from the election being called, and no-one knows what, exactly, the Coalition’s position is on spending, taxation, migration, competition policy, defence spending, or any number of other matters.For reasons best known to himself, Taylor elected to go on Insiders the Sunday before the budget. It wasn’t to reveal any policies — most of David Speers’ question were met with the response that Taylor wouldn’t be saying anything until he’s seen the budget. Indeed, Taylor seemed not merely to refuse to confirm any policies, but cast doubt on the ones we thought were locked in.For instance, that nuclear power policy? The one that, according to the modelling commissioned by the Coalition and released as its policy, would cost $331 billion? The one that Taylor back in December agreed would cost $331 billion? Taylor now refuses to say what the cost will be. He says instead it will be 44% less than Labor’s plan (a fanciful claim based on garbage modelling). But after chanting “44% less” over and over, he switched tack and claimed the seven nuclear power plants each would cost less than $20 billion. $331 billion? $140 billion? Something else?So, we thought we had a fact about the Coalition’s policies, but it’s turned into smoke.Perhaps Taylor is traumatised by being repeatedly rolled in shadow cabinet. Despite all that talk of being fiscal disciplinarians, over and over the Coalition has said “me too” to big Labor spending, especially in health, where the opposition agrees so fast to new spending that its media releases come out before the government’s. Another such defeat looms on defence spending. Have Taylor and the Coalition’s waste-of-space finance shadow Jane Hume managed to defeat any spending proposals inside the Coalition?In 2022, the Coalition left spending at over 27% of GDP — and planned to have it still at 26.3% this coming year. According to MYEFO last December, it’s still at 26.5% of GDP. With all that additional health and energy rebate spending (untargeted — bizarrely, Jacqui Lambie has emerged as the voice of economic rationalism on rebates, urging them to be means-tested) plus higher defence spending, are Taylor and Hume going to even match the modest ambitions of Josh Frydenberg on spending?This acute absence of economic leadership within the Coalition mightn’t be a problem if the economy was on a smooth trajectory. In fact we’re in for some of the most dangerous times in recent history: a global trade war, the transformation of the United States from a benign ally to an economic threat and unreliable security partner, threats to China’s continued prosperity. And, of course, the lingering consequences of the Reserve Bank’s continuing policy of punishing households for corporate profiteering.On that front, the February jobs data out last week raised the question of whether employment growth — traditionally a lagging indicator — is finally succumbing to gravity. Unemployment remained steady on 4.1%, but full and part time jobs together fell 53,000 and there was a drop in hours worked. It was a substantially lower participation rate (down 0.4% in February) that saved the unemployment rate from rising. Lower participation is never a good sign, but it’s still 0.1% higher than a year ago, so no reason to panic just yet.Was it just a wobble? Or the first sign of something more serious, after a slow decline in the strength of jobs growth through 2024? It could be confirmation that the Reserve Bank should have really cut rates last November or December, when many of us urged it to, instead of waiting until February.It might mean a Coalition government, led by Treasurer Angus Taylor, has to confront a softening jobs market, a tariff war and demands for billions more a year in defence spending while trying to live up to his rhetoric about shrinking government. No wonder his colleagues are nervous.<ul><li>Bernard Keane is Crikey’s politics editor. Before that he was Crikey’s Canberra press gallery correspondent, covering politics, national security and economics. </li></ul>QUOTE ENDS<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WomensRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WomensRights</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:Elbow is unambiguously a climate, environment, & biodiversity criminal. It's beyond appalling the lengths to which he's gone to sacrifice all these on the alter of petty politics. <a href="https://social.chinwag.org/@guardian_bot/114212163630970619" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://social.chinwag.org/@guardian_bot/114212163630970619</a><a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Greens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Greens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreSelfishCruelBastards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreSelfishCruelBastards</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ComeOnTanya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ComeOnTanya</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NatsAreNuts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NatsAreNuts</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#racism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRacists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRacists</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NonLinear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NonLinear</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TippingPoints" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TippingPoints</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/PositiveFeedbackLoops" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PositiveFeedbackLoops</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FossilFools" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FossilFools</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/RenewableEnergy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RenewableEnergy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ChangeTheSystem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ChangeTheSystem</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/StateCapture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StateCapture</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RightToProtest</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Biodiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Biodiversity</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Karma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Karma</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NativeForests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NativeForests</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/StopLoggingNativeForests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StopLoggingNativeForests</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckCapitalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckCapitalism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/CognitiveDissonance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CognitiveDissonance</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckMerka" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckMerka</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/magamorons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#magamorons</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/@bbcnewsfeed/114211867997600537" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://mastodonapp.uk/@bbcnewsfeed/114211867997600537</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:A friend of mine sent me this & urged me to spend eight minutes watching & listening. I don't use LinkedIn, but to my surprise i am able to access & play it fine, sans account. Tis a fine speech. I don't speak French, but happily the video includes a decent onscreen translation. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/danbowyer_vivelaeurope-ugcPost-7303368801457176578-T0B_?rcm=ACoAAAuN1VsBf0xGTd86OFYXeqFNNGfynVRfnOg" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/posts/danbowyer_vivelaeurope-ugcPost-7303368801457176578-T0B_?rcm=ACoAAAuN1VsBf0xGTd86OFYXeqFNNGfynVRfnOg</a><blockquote>Dan Bowyer If you monitor global politics and have 8 minutes to spare you must watch this. I've yet to watch, read, or hear such a magnificent speech on the state of the union.</blockquote><a href="https://infosec.space/tags/europe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#europe</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ukraine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ukraine</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckPutin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckPutin</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/USPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#USPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/EuropePol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#EuropePol</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/@ajsadauskas" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@ajsadauskas</a> Seems to me that the average Merkan, certainly the red ones anyway, are ignorant uneducated fools who get baffled by 2 + 2. Not only ofc this current tariff bullshit, but also, albeit rather different, this article has been doing the toots overnight... <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/402406/great-gatsby-f-scott-fitzgerald-centennial-100" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.vox.com/culture/402406/great-gatsby-f-scott-fitzgerald-centennial-100</a>. It grandly proclaims that Merkans have been misunderstanding <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TheGreatGatsby" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TheGreatGatsby</a> for 100 years, then goes on to clumsily explain its thesis, with me hungrily waiting for the big reveal, only to end it unsated coz it merely confirmed how i've always interpreted it. Are Merkans really so stupid that for a century they seriously only thought it was a story about parties? And these peeps have guns? And bombs? 😲 🤯<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckMerka" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckMerka</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/USPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#USPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRWNJs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRWNJs</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:What kind of peep, called for sake of example, oh i dunno, maybe Anthony, Tanya & Madeleine, can read reports like these <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-15/climate-change-science-and-future-tropical-cyclones-in-australia/105051372" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-15/climate-change-science-and-future-tropical-cyclones-in-australia/105051372</a> yet still continue approving new & expanded fossilfool projects? 🤔🤷‍♀️<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Greens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Greens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreSelfishCruelBastards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreSelfishCruelBastards</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ComeOnTanya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ComeOnTanya</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NatsAreNuts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NatsAreNuts</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#racism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRacists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRacists</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NonLinear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NonLinear</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TippingPoints" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TippingPoints</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/PositiveFeedbackLoops" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PositiveFeedbackLoops</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FossilFools" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FossilFools</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/RenewableEnergy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RenewableEnergy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ChangeTheSystem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ChangeTheSystem</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/StateCapture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StateCapture</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RightToProtest</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Biodiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Biodiversity</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Karma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Karma</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NativeForests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NativeForests</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/StopLoggingNativeForests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StopLoggingNativeForests</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckCapitalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckCapitalism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/CognitiveDissonance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CognitiveDissonance</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/guardian-political-editor-exits-after-months-of-turmoil-20250314-p5ljql.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/guardian-political-editor-exits-after-months-of-turmoil-20250314-p5ljql.html</a>QuoteGuardian political editor exits after months of turmoilGuardian Australia’s political editor Karen Middleton has resigned after a year in the job, following a period of turmoil in its federal bureau.Editor Lenore Taylor told staff of the decision late on Friday evening, shortly after Middleton had announced her decision on social media.“I’m writing to let you know that Karen Middleton has resigned as political editor. I would like to thank Karen for her contribution to Guardian Australia and wish her well in her future endeavours,” Taylor said in the single paragraph email.Middleton told her social media followers she planned on continuing in political journalism, despite having taken several months of medical leave.“After an extended period of medical leave, I have decided to resign from Guardian Australia,” Middleton said.“I thank the many colleagues who were welcoming and collaborative during my time there.”“I won’t be making any further comment.”She joined The Guardian in March last year after long term political editor Katharine Murphy left to join the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office as press secretary.Her time at the bureau coincided with a period of instability, during which a number of staff including chief political correspondent Paul Karp, reporters Amy Remeikis, Daniel Hurst and veteran photographer Mike Bowers left.Her departure follows an interview process of Canberra-based staff, questioned after Middleton and Karp made counter claims of workplace misconduct against each other in late 2024.During an exit speech to staff, Karp claimed he was leaving with a “clean record”.Middleton had more than three decades of experience reporting on federal politics in Canberra. She joined from The Saturday Paper, and is a regular Insiders panelist on the ABC.Taylor confirmed a hiring process to replace Middleton will begin imminently. Middleton’s departure means the Guardian’s Canberra bureau is likely to be without a political editor for its coverage of the upcoming federal election, due to be called late this month or in early April.Unquote<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Greens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Greens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreSelfishCruelBastards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreSelfishCruelBastards</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ComeOnTanya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ComeOnTanya</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NatsAreNuts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NatsAreNuts</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#racism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRacists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRacists</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/GuardianOz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GuardianOz</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/KarenMiddleton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#KarenMiddleton</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8916933/jack-waterford-australias-fragile-us-alliance-under-trumps-tariffs" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8916933/jack-waterford-australias-fragile-us-alliance-under-trumps-tariffs</a>QUOTE BEGINSAnthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have proven too gutless, so far, to speak frankly to Australians about the implications of the imposition of new tariffs, the first of many, to be imposed on Australia. They have expressed some ritual regrets and said it was a poor reward for their sycophantic grovelling over the years. They have not said that the coming election is the perfect time for blunt discussions of what it all means.Canada, next door to America, has not been so reticent. The newly installed Prime Minister Mark Carney used fighting words about dark days brought on by a country "we can no longer trust"."We are getting over the shock [about the imposition of tariffs] but let us never forget the lessons. We have to look after ourselves. We need to pull together in the tough days ahead."Australia is not in NATO, but Trump's actions this week foretell that most of the agreements that connect Australia, Japan and nations in Asia to NATO and the Western alliance are already kaput. They may become inoperative without our being involved in the decision-making.When the mild-mannered Canadians speak of the US as an enemy, their noise is louder than Australia's could ever be. Albanese will not draw Trump's fire when Canada, and most of the nations of Europe are screaming blue murder, including over what looks likely to be the end of the NATO relationships. Trump now sees NATO as a European construct, serving Europe but not the US.For Australia, this is an opportunity as much as a risk. But it may depend more on US timing than Australia's unless the politicians responsible for Australia's long-term security take some initiative. Albanese and Dutton will have to take gambles of a type from which they have always shrunk. Taking the public into their confidence. Trusting the people. They will not be judged well by the electorate if they lack the guts.We are already at the stage that might empower a withdrawal from AUKUS - an agreement about acquiring nuclear submarines that America probably cannot keep. That releases hundreds of billions for alternatives for Australia, but also a big risk.Some Australian and American agents of the US seem to think that the sudden unpleasantness with Australia could be resolved quickly. Preferably while Australia is in election caretaker mode so that officials can make the decisions, based on their superior knowledge of what's good for Australians. The firm view of those officials has always been that Uncle Sam knows best and that the politicians and the public can't be trusted.I don't think the problem can be easily patched up. Indeed it may not be resolved before the end of the century. One cannot forget what has happened, or return to the pre-Trump status quo.There's no security fix for the damage done to the relationship by Donald Trump. Nor it is any longer a dispute between individual nations which can be resolved by a renewed understanding that the security relationship fits into a different category, with different forms of conflict resolution, than disagreements about economic policy, trade, tariffs, humanitarian activity or borders. Least of all within a bilateral framework.There is nothing special about the situation in which Australia finds itself. The US is pushing a new view of itself, and of its rights and powers, on both its friends and its enemies. It is not a negotiation but an announcement.While the US is behaving eccentrically in the tariff levels it imposes on some countries compared to others, it shows no sign of willingness to negotiate with individual victims, or by specific principles or rules. The US, as it sees it, is expressing itself as indifferent about whether its defence of its own interests causes damage to other countries. It is not pretending to promote world economic health, or peace. Or, apparently, world trade, or growth.Different nations caught by suddenly imposed tariffs have different types of leverage over the US, but none of them have so far discovered an argument or threat that has forced the US to make exceptions in their case. Trump thinks that other nations entered treaties, purchases and joint activities because they were to that particular nation's advantage. The US sees most of its economic problems from its own perspectives, and sees itself as being at all times economically virtuous in everything it does.But outsiders regularly observe it dumping goods on international markets, imposing its own, frequently novel view of its intellectual property rights, outrageously subsidising its own production, and regularly bullying other nations to protect its own market. It ignores international laws with which it does not agree, including laws against war crimes and conventions about the law of the sea. Under Trump, it denies the applicability of other countries' laws and judgments while insisting that the jurisdiction of its criminal and trade laws apply everywhere. Particularly under Trump, it now proclaims the doctrine of might is right. But it is moving to a point where the president claims to be able to suspend the operation of some laws or to unilaterally divert money away from the purpose for which it was appropriated by Congress. He "owns" the Supreme Court, which has moved to novel doctrines of law not known over 250 years, and seems dedicated to expanding the powers of the president at the expense of Congress and the judiciary.Australia's defence and intelligence system, which includes access to "Five Eyes" signals intelligence of great use to Australia, but the balance of benefit is overwhelmingly on the side of the US. It includes access to Pine Gap, the coverage of which includes the capacity to detect missile launches in Russia, China and Russian Asia, as well as drone and missile launches at Israel and the Middle East. That includes the capacity to launch defensive systems, such as the Patriot system, and to send signals to nuclear submarines in Australia's hemispheres. Australia has also extended its base facilities for military activity by US troops, the US Navy and the air force, an important logistical and training capacity in the event of an attack by China (and perhaps India) as well as any further military adventurism in southeast Asia. The presence in Australia of some of the intelligence facilities undoubtedly makes them prime nuclear targets.Australia pays a price for its close military relationship with the US, on top of its place in the Western alliance. A good many other countries in our region see Australia as little more than a poodle for US interests, unwilling and afraid to have a view different from the US. Nations such as Britain, Canada, and France have taken some care to maintain their own sovereignty in military actions, but Australia has always involved itself in Asia and Pacific wars, apparently terrified that if they do not automatically stand alongside the US, it may abandon us if Australia was to face invasion or regional war. Ironically, in the one true test of ANZUS commitments - Indonesia's invasion of Irian Jaya in 1963, the US told Australia bluntly that it stood by Indonesia.China, our biggest trading partner, has been very critical of Australia's uncritical support of the US in disputes about US trade. We have interests of our own, ones we can't protect while seeing things only through American eyes. If the trade war comes to a shooting war, as some people focused on America's interests seem to want, it will be in America's strategic interests, but not necessarily Australia's. But the Australian intelligence establishment has led the criticism of China, has sought out opportunities to aggravate tensions, including directing Chinese ire away from the US towards Australia. The "trade war" aspect of America's grudge with China is not Australia's fight: our interests include expanding a profitable trading relationship, one which does not detract from Australian-American relations at all.Australia and the US affect deep concern for China's clear breaches of human rights laws and its deeply authoritarian nature. It is a part of the propaganda war, but, whether under Trump or not, neither the American nor the Australian defence establishments actually care about the rights of Uighurs, the people of Tibet or Hong Kong or even Taiwan. Neither the US nor the warriors of ASPI would go to war in the interests of human rights for any members of the Chinese population. One could expect that they would make a higher priority of the human rights of Palestinians, Kurds, or, now, Ukrainians.Trump's America First policies, and his insistence that his foreign policy is about promoting the business interests of the US against its friends as much as its enemies, have deeply undermined trust and any sense of comradeship with its government. Australians have stood alongside Americans in virtually every conflict of the past 120 years. Americans, even Trump, acknowledge that. But he denies that this creates any mutual obligation, since we have done it for our own interests and have benefitted too. As Ita Buttrose might have said, we owe them nothing.Just as importantly, it is far from clear that most Australians any longer feel that they share much the same values as Trump and his tribe. Trump is violating the democratic norms of the West. He is openly racist and a supporter of replacement theory. He has a whacko Cabinet, subject to bizarre education, health and welfare theories.Australia might wish America well in making America great again. But it is not "our" project, and it is unlikely that American economic policies (including the tariffs) will help grow our own economy. Trump doesn't care, because he is in it only for the US. More accurately, perhaps, he seems to be in it primarily for the benefit of a group of billionaires in high-tech industries. Most of his ordinary supporters may gain short-term work from a protectionist economy but suffer deeply from higher prices and likely recession.For Australia, as much as Canada, Mexico, and the nations of Europe, America's actions have come as a shock. Betrayal, particularly of Ukrainians, is a word now much used. Even more shocking has been Trump's indifference to the effect of his policies on others. Equally shocking has been Trump's veering towards Russia, his virtual abandonment of Ukraine, and the role he seems to want to play in Palestine. Is he the sort of person Australians (or Canadians, or British, or Germans or Poles) want to be leading and inspiring the Western alliance?1/2QUOTE ENDS<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WomensRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WomensRights</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8915650/opinion-why-aussie-travellers-steer-clear-of-the-us" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8915650/opinion-why-aussie-travellers-steer-clear-of-the-us</a>QuoteThere are reasons I'm betting Australians won't travel to the US nearly as much as we used to. It has very little to do with its president and much more to do with staying alive.After decades of not travelling myself (we had babies, we were broke and our builders had become family members), the very first place we visited in 2010 was the US. Yes! Off to the US!It was so thrilling I spent three weeks laughing and eating, somehow losing a beautiful dress which I was wearing at the time. Don't ask me how because I do not know.I was sharing these memories with some much younger mothers about the excitement of your first trip after the kids leave home. Where'd you go? asked one.First stop San Francisco to hear famed artist Judy Chicago talk. Second stop, New York to eat, drink and be very merry. Third stop Washington. All the museums and monuments. The now sadly departed Newseum. The Kennedy Centre.The younger mum said the US was right off her list now. Was it Trump? I asked. Did she have a prior conviction for marijuana use? Yes, I have no boundaries and no, she had no prior convictions.Not exactly. She was worried about flight safety. So I rang various travel agents. Have you had any prospective travellers say they wanted to avoid the US?Every single one, from major to minor, said they had no idea what I was talking about. But I knew exactly. Now there's proof that travellers are freaked out. At this stage, it's just the poor folks who are residents in the US - but I doubt it will be very long before international travellers decide they want to travel somewhere it's safe to land at an airport.Speaking on Tuesday in the US, each of the major US airlines put out guidance pointing to "significant economic uncertainty that is directly affecting their domestic bookings this year", according to the US ABC News."We just went through a little bit of a parade of horribles," Ed Bastian, the chief executive of Delta Air Lines, said at the JP Morgan Industrials conference on Tuesday morning.Here were some of the reasons cited. The fatal collision on January 29 between an American Airlines aircraft and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington DC. The subsequent crash in Toronto on February 17. The Trump effect on the economy (who knows what the petulant president will do next).Turns out the chaos has also impacted government and business - there is far less travel. Consumer confidence is in chaos.To make matters worse, Elon Musk is trying to slice and dice the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in exactly the same blundering way he and his DOGE misfits have tried to do to every other government department.You'll remember that crash. Yes, 67 people died, the deadliest US plane crash in more than two decades, and Trump immediately blamed it on diversity, equity and inclusion because he is pointlessly cruel and ill-informed.Yesterday, the US National Transportation and Safety Bureau held a press conference which gave much more information. Most of it was incomprehensible to a non-aviation pointy-head - but one reporter asked if the data that the helicopter was using may not have been the same as that seen by the air traffic controllers. Was it bad data?"We are looking at the possibility ... there may be bad data. We're looking at, were they seeing something different in the cockpit?"As The Atlantic wrote earlier this month, those deaths alone would have been a crisis for the Federal Aviation Administration. But Trump decided to politicise it."That same day, FAA employees including air-traffic controllers, safety inspectors, and mechanical engineers received an email advising them to leave their job under a buyout program announced just two days before. 'The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector,' urged the email, sent to all federal workers."Right. So the air safety body sacks people when it's already short-staffed. Can it still do what it is meant to do? That seems like it could be terrifying and I already hate flying.So I asked Keith Tonkin, aviation expert and managing director of Aviation Projects, which works on aviation safeguarding if he was at all concerned about airline safety in the US.He says that - so far - there have been no changes to systems and procedures."But I think concerns are valid because there is some uncertainty about staffing. It seems as if the FAA is already suffering from staff cutbacks."If the regulator is not there to provide some surveillance, there is a concern that the airlines might not be held to account for their obligations," says Tonkin."The regulator is a very important part of the process. If the staffing is not there, then that's a valid concern."But he did also point out to me that there was one another reason for the airlines to be downgrading their forecasts. There's a significant drop in the number of Canadians travelling to the US, by air and also by car, about twice as many as the US travel industry industry predicted for this year. Forbes magazine estimates it could cost US $4 billion in 2025.Take Gary J Kings. He's a British games developer currently staying in Canada with his Canadian partner, Tanya Kan. They had both planned to travel to the US for the Games Developer Conference but together decided against it. "It wasn't an easy decision to make," Kings posted on BlueSky.Don't you love the Canadians? Both a current prime minister and a soon-to-be prime minister telling the US where to get off. Entire bottle shops sweeping any US product off the shelves. And a travel boycott.Let's hope we can all stay safe and stand up.<ul><li>Jenna Price is a regular columnist.</li></ul>Unquote<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/USPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#USPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRWNJs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRWNJs</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/magamorons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#magamorons</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:Anyone who uses the loathsome expression <code>Team Australia</code>, in any way other than vitriolic sarcasm, is officially <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/DeadToMe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DeadToMe</a>. Ugh. 🤢🤮<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-14/do-voters-fear-pm-peter-dutton-would-be-a-surprise-packet/105049370" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-14/do-voters-fear-pm-peter-dutton-would-be-a-surprise-packet/105049370</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Greens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Greens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreSelfishCruelBastards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreSelfishCruelBastards</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ComeOnTanya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ComeOnTanya</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NatsAreNuts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NatsAreNuts</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#racism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRacists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRacists</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

MarkToday's letter to my House Rep, majority whip, utter disgrace, & trump sycophant Tom Emmer: I'm deeply concerned that Elon Musk and his lackeys are improperly accessing my personal data at the Social Security Administration. I am also deeply concerned that Elon Musk is apparently targeting Social Security benefits for cuts. I am also deeply concerned that he is promulgating lies about fraud in the system to justify his attacks. I have paid into Social Security my entire working life, since age 14. How dare this unelected foreign adversary suggest that my Social Security benefits (which I'm about a year and a half away from collecting) are on the chopping block. Elon Musk is causing great damage to our government. Get him out of there!<a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/uspol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#uspol</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/WriteYourRep" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WriteYourRep</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/Congress" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Congress</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/FelonMusk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FelonMusk</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/ElonMusk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ElonMusk</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/ElonSucks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ElonSucks</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#trump</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/TrumpTrainWreck" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TrumpTrainWreck</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/SocialSecurity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SocialSecurity</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/12/carbon-credits-australia-human-induced-regeneration-accus/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/12/carbon-credits-australia-human-induced-regeneration-accus/</a>QUOTE BEGINSWith the corporate sector increasingly sceptical of Australia’s carbon credit system and rumours that the government’s Climate Active voluntary credits scheme will be shut down, in February the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) — the body charged with overseeing Australia’s carbon credit system, issued a remarkable paper.Designed to provide assurance that carbon credits based on “human-induced regeneration” (HIR) carbon sequestration projects — which are crucial to Labor’s underwhelming climate action policies — were credible, it purported to show how “projects registered under the HIR method earn carbon credits based on the sequestration of carbon in native vegetation. It provides an overview of the robust framework for large-scale sequestration throughout Australia”.As we know from a wide range of scientists and experts in the administration of HIR schemes, the framework is anything but robust. In fact, it is almost entirely at odds with the basic science of vegetation regeneration.The arguments made in the paper, which have been scrutinised by Andrew Macintosh, Megan Evans, Don Butler, Marie Waschka and Dean Ansell of ANU and UNSW, raise concerns that the Clean Energy Regulator — which has a history of attacking scientists who question its claims — continues to ignore science in favour of propping up a scheme crucial to Labor’s efforts to pretend it is serious about climate action.In particular, the CER continues to push the claim that forms the illusory basis of around 95% of HIR projects — that stopping animals grazing on land allows plants to regenerate into woody vegetation, thereby storing carbon. The scientific consensus is that this is simply not true — it is the amount of rainfall that determines regrowth, not ceasing grazing. That means that the great majority of HIR projects are simply never going to do what their owners are being paid for, and the resulting Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) are worthless in terms of stored carbon.As Crikey detailed in 2023, the CER has fought a bitter battle against the science — including misrepresenting experts as backing the CER’s view. In documents released under freedom of information laws, we know that the CSIRO told Labor’s Chubb review of the integrity of ACCUs that “there is at present no clear evidence that changes in management of total grazing pressure will consistently result in an increase in carbon stocks in woody biomass across all regions of Australia’s rangelands”, before the CER demanded the document be edited.As Macintosh and his colleagues note, the CER has since modified its position slightly but still defies science. In its February tract, it says “although many factors affect regeneration, the most important factor in sustaining the growth of vegetation following rainfall events is the nature, extent, intensity and duration of activities that suppress the growth of native vegetation”.This is demonstrably false. As the Wentworth Group of Scientists told Chubb:<blockquote>Most HIR projects have, however, been directed to arid and semi-arid regions where vegetation has never been cleared. In these boom or bust systems, rainfall is the key driver of vegetation change, and drives both increases and decreases in biomass. While reducing grazing pressure can result in increased tree and shrub cover in these landscapes, from a carbon sequestration perspective this effect is small relative to cyclical climatic drivers.</blockquote>But the CER continues to reject the science. In its February paper, it claims “a 2021 analysis by Beare and Chambers found strong evidence that established HIR projects have resulted in significant increases in vegetation when compared with a business-as-usual scenario in a study of projects in New South Wales and Queensland.”But what did the Beare and Chambers analysis, which examined 72 HIR projects in NSW and 51 in Queensland, actually show? It revealed a statistically significant increase in cover compared to control areas, but the actual increase itself was small, well below the levels for which the projects have been credited — and in nearly a quarter of projects there was no change, or vegetation actually reduced.Moreover, the analysis relied on a dataset that the CER had itself previously dismissed as too inaccurate to assess projects, when Macintosh and co used the same dataset to show minimal increase in tree cover. There’s a similar inconsistency in the CER’s citation in the paper of a report by Dr Chris Brack as evidence that HIR works, when it too relies on satellite imagery-based data which the CER dismisses when it is used by critics.The CER tries to resolve this contradiction in the latest paper by claiming “national-scale data sets may be useful to monitor the performance of the whole portfolio of projects once it matures to forest”. Presumably only if the CER likes the results.Further evidence has emerged about the failure of HIR over the last year. A review by the ANU/UNSW experts assessed 116 HIR projects that had been established before 2017, which should have had substantial regeneration of woody vegetation by now. The study revealed the great majority of projects were not even compliant with the baseline requirements for generating carbon credits, such as having previously been comprehensively cleared, or with progressive requirements relating to revegetation.And given the length of time after project registration, well over half of the projects should have had near-100% forest cover, but in reality only a small number had anything like the cover suggested by the amount of sequestration for which the projects had been credited. And changes in vegetation were heavily responsive to climatic events such as El Ninos and La Ninas.The study concludes:<blockquote>While some projects appear to have had a positive additional effect on canopy cover, even for these projects, the effects are small relative to the levels of credited sequestration and there is limited evidence of material regeneration. At the aggregate level, across all projects in the sample, the data suggest the projects have had only a small effect on canopy cover, with most of the change being attributable to seasonal variability in rainfall.</blockquote>That is, the observed results are consistent with what the science has told us to expect: HIR works only at the margins. ACCUs based on HIR projects remain an expensive con.QUOTE ENDS<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WomensRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WomensRights</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NonLinear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NonLinear</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TippingPoints" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TippingPoints</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/PositiveFeedbackLoops" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PositiveFeedbackLoops</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FossilFools" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FossilFools</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/RenewableEnergy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RenewableEnergy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ChangeTheSystem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ChangeTheSystem</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/StateCapture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StateCapture</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RightToProtest</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Biodiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Biodiversity</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Karma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Karma</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NativeForests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NativeForests</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/StopLoggingNativeForests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StopLoggingNativeForests</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckCapitalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckCapitalism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/CognitiveDissonance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CognitiveDissonance</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:<a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/12/donald-trump-tariffs-australia-anthony-albanese-response-retaliation/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/12/donald-trump-tariffs-australia-anthony-albanese-response-retaliation/</a>QUOTE BEGINSWhile Anthony Albanese’s political and media opponents will revel in his failure to secure an exemption from the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminium, it represents a rare late-term opportunity for the prime minister to reshape his image with voters.The Americans have set out to damage the Australian economy, as well as their own, while ignoring rational, well-evidenced arguments for why they shouldn’t. Bizarrely, American businesses and consumers will bear the brunt by paying more for key building materials, even if our exports to the US are worth a mere $1 billion a year. It also brazenly breaches the Australia-US free trade agreement, a document that, for the Coalition and News Corp, once possessed talismanic properties demonstrating the wisdom of slavishly adhering to the US, but about which we’ve heard curiously little lately.The advice to Albanese will be to grin and bear it, to stay silent about Trump’s assault on reason and order and to continue the bipartisan gaslighting of Australians, as Malcolm Turnbull calls it. There will be sections of the media that back such a course. In disgraceful editorials this morning, the Australian Financial Review and The Australian both attacked Turnbull for speaking the truth about the extent to which Australia’s current leaders are deluding voters about maintaining business as usual in a world turned upside-down.This is the counsel of appeasers and sycophants. Albanese should learn from Turnbull’s extensive experience of dealing with Trump and abandon the cowering silence. Banal responses like “unjustified” and “disappointment” from Albanese — as he offered this morning — are simply bringing a letter-opener to a gunfight. Offering lessons about how “friends” act toward each other, as he did, is pointless.The US is no longer any kind of friend and cannot be treated as such. Actions now count far more than diplomatic language, and putting forward propositions “in good faith” means nothing.Albanese must get transactional — which, Trump’s enablers and apologists insist, the president is all about. Not with tariffs of our own, as the Canadians have, which as Albanese rightly says will simply harm our businesses and consumers, but with non-tariff measures that make good policy sense.Sadly, Labor gave up one of those when it handed America a US$500 million cheque for AUKUS in early February. But there is no reason why the government couldn’t suspend the entire AUKUS program pending a root-and-branch independent review, one that, incidentally, is desperately needed given no-one of any credibility now believes we’ll ever get any submarines.With the budget just days away, now is a good time for Labor to join the United Kingdom, Canada, France and many other countries in introducing a digital services tax aimed at the big tech companies (and, purely coincidentally, strong Trump supporters) that make large revenues in Australia but pay relatively little tax.According to Australian Tax Office data, in 2022-23, Meta made $1.26 billion in Australia but paid tax of just $37.9 million. Google made more than $2 billion in revenue (although it says in its own documents it made up to $8 billion) and paid $124 million. Microsoft made over $7.5 billion and paid $118 million. Amazon made $2.6 billion but paid less than $46 million; its cloud services made $2.8 billion in revenue and paid $51 million (and for those wondering, Tesla made $1.7 billion in revenue and paid $16.3 million).A digital services tax (DST) is a highly efficient tax. An assessment by the UK’s National Audit Office showed the UK’s version had produced more revenue than forecast. DSTs were supposed to be phased out globally as part of the broader international agreement on minimum taxation levels forged by the OECD, but that process was put into a coma by the Biden administration and killed off entirely by Trump. The Canadians have only just kicked off their version.The Greens, who back a DST, recently had the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) cost one very similar to ones in operation elsewhere, aimed at imposing a 3% tax on companies with global revenue of €750m. The PBO estimated the Greens’ proposal would affect 16 companies (including REA and Seek, as well as major gig economy services) and deliver around $1 billion a year, or more than $11 billion over a decade — net of reduced company tax revenue.While the Greens would be unimpressed, Albanese could shortcircuit criticism from The Appeasement Financial Review and The American by earmarking that revenue for increased defence spending. A counterpunch at Trump, a fairer tax system and one part of the solution of where greater defence spending is going to come from — which goes to the bigger, more important challenge of what path Australia forges in the new world of disorder.There are other non-tariff measures available: limiting intelligence-sharing or the rotation of Marines through Darwin, but there’s virtue in starting small and scaling up Australia’s response if need be. Either way it is, once again, an opportunity for a government characterised by timidity and fear to show voters it can creatively prosecute Australia’s interests in a world where long-held truths have vanished and certainties abandoned. That starts with getting off our knees.QUOTE ENDS<a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WomensRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WomensRights</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:Ahahahahahahahahahahaha😆 🤣Comedy gold. <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Greens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Greens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/VoteGreens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoteGreens</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ProgIndies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ProgIndies</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreTotallyFscked" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreTotallyFscked</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WeAreSelfishCruelBastards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeAreSelfishCruelBastards</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/Misanthropy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Misanthropy</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FsckOffDutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FsckOffDutton</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty1</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ShitParty2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ShitParty2</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/ComeOnTanya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ComeOnTanya</a>! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/WhyIsLabor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhyIsLabor</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NatsAreNuts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NatsAreNuts</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#racism</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/FuckRacists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FuckRacists</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

Droppie [infosec] 🐨:archlinux: :kde: :firefox_nightly: :thunderbird: :vegan:Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News<blockquote>‘Entirely unjustified’: Albanese blasts Trump on tariffs</blockquote><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-rules-out-tariff-exemption-for-australian-steel-aluminium-exports-20250312-p5litz.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-rules-out-tariff-exemption-for-australian-steel-aluminium-exports-20250312-p5litz.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed</a>Carn Albo, carn! Tell him to go fuck himself sideways with a fire-ant-riddled pineapple. Carn Albo, remember, you like fighting Tories. Carn! <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/AusPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://infosec.space/tags/TuckFrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TuckFrump</a>

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