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#PODCAST “Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Rises Again: The Trump Effect”. @mediaactive.bsky.social with veteran political journalist, long time Hanson chronicler, @margokingston.bsky.social . #auspol #Trump #AUKUS #democracy rss.com/podcasts/tra...

“Two major unions in Victoria have turned their back on the Labor government a month out from the state election, with one launching attack ads calling Ben Carroll a liar and the other pulling campaign funding.” #vicpol www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

4DX #cinema? Really? OK then. youtube.com/shorts/aA2Tj...

This made me laugh. I know Snapper Island well - just beyond the mouth of the Daintree River. Been there several times. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...

What can we call this? “Cyber-Spec”? This is the conceit. Ten #AI chat bots were asked to predict the outcome of seven #USA key senate races. Six gave the Democrats a majority. Two made it a 50-50 tie. Two bots were disqualified. Let your fantasies run free. #democracy youtu.be/f-jt1R6q3hY?...

“Registered Democrats so far represent a larger share of early voters in the midterms than Republicans, having cast roughly 45% of early ballots compared to 31% cast by #GOP voters … Another 24% of Americans who have voted early are not registered with either party.” #USA #democracy flip.it/5IrD6A

OPINION “As voters decide which party can best rescue their chance at the American Dream, political experts say prolonged economic hardship is the defining feature influencing voters in the midterms.” And #corruption? #GOP #Trump #democracy www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

“Two Israeli networks update exit polls to show #Netanyahu & opposition blocs tied”. Whom will president Herzog ask to try to form a coalition government in a sharply divided #Israel? I sense the Netanyahu era may finally be over. A bumpy road ahead? #democracy www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

OPINION @chrislhayes.bsky.social #Trump is running a full anti-solar & wind turbines attack during this midterms campaign. He uses blatant BS such as “animals fry” on the solar panels. It is all entirely on the wrong side of history. #renewables #fossilfuels #USA #fascism youtube.com/shorts/jaC4B...

It’s hard to tell whether @jd-vance-1.bsky.social is really very bad at this or spot on for that ignorant, alienated, xenophobic audience? He clearly wants to move from #Trump apprentice to #MAGA heir. I think his eclipse approaches? #USA #GOP #fascism

“Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the #USA on Tuesday … in defiance of a judicial order to surrender his passports. He & members of his family have been granted U.S. visas”. Fast exit? Eloquent? #Brazil #fascism #Trump www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/1...

As we watch the febrile #Israel election play out, with all the claims & counter claims about “irregularities”, let us give thanks that, in Australia, we have compulsory & preferential voting & a trusted AEC. 3 Nov, the #USA midterms shitshow will unfold. We ain’t seen nothing yet? #Trump #democracy

“A federal grand jury in D.C. rejected an attempt by the Justice Department to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson for the account she gave lawmakers of President Donald Trump’s actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the #USA Capitol. #Trump www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

In its way, the “accidental” mp3 #audio format was a harbinger of what is now happening to human brains, cognition, aural & visual perception via the cultural, economic, social impacts of generative #AI. It’s an epochal diminishing of our capacities in this late stage of #capitalism era. #creativity

OPINION Some insight into the deeper cognitive threats from generative #AI. This is about #music but easily extends to visual acculturation too. Insidious? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

“The Channel 12 exit poll shows that the bloc of Jewish-led parties opposing #Netanyahu has the biggest bloc, & is projected to win a total of 52 seats, compared to 50 seats for the parties supporting Netanyahu.” A starkly divided #Israel? Razor’s edge? #democracy www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

“Shove that ballroom up your fat ass”, shouted the heckler at a #Trump #MAGA rich rally in Mississippi. The cultists started a chant of “USA” in response. But watch the video of Trump’s reaction carefully. It really got to him. flip.it/M2rhZT

OPINION @katiephang.bsky.social The “ #Epstein files are emblematic of a corrupt system … Beyond the grifter-in-chief & his spawn are billionaires profiting from pay-to-play relationships & predatory corporations rewarded for choosing profits over people, machines over humanity.” shorturl.at/gg5EX

“The far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly fled Brazil and is on his way to the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election to the leftwing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.” Outa there? #Brazil www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...

“Recent Brazilian presidential aspirant Flávio Bolsonaro missed a Tuesday morning deadline to surrender his passports.” #Brazil www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/1...

OPINION @kattybkay.bsky.social & @scaramucci.bsky.social. Yes, it’s blatant. #Trump is actively deploying the #BigLie playbook yet again. He hasn’t been quiet about it. Actual, detailed evidence is unnecessary. “Flooding the zone with doubt (shit)” works. #fascism #USA #GOP youtu.be/nk5ESdcKwSI?...

“There are three species of manta: oceanic (Mobula birostris), reef (Mobula alfredi) and the recently discovered Atlantic manta ray (Mobula yarae).” They really are impressive #wildlife to encounter under the water. Lady Elliott Island is one hotspot here in Australia. #GBR flip.it/7wWMIT

“Early voting in Texas is up 74 percent compared with the same point in the 2022 midterm election cycle.” #USA #democracy flip.it/LVPLgd

“ #Trump & his allies have spent the final weeks before the midterms showering his supporters with a relentless stream of doubt about the legitimacy of the election, priming them to question results if Republicans lose.” Same #BigLie playbook. Blatant. Effective. #GOP #fascism shorturl.at/S7tVe

“President #Trump is set to headline back-to-back campaign events in Texas on Tuesday, as Republicans look to bolster Senate candidate Ken Paxton in the face of a strong challenge from Democrat, @jamestalarico.bsky.social.” Spooked? #GOP #USA www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

“Australia’s national broadcaster will send a cease & desist letter to the rightwing populist party One Nation for using Bluey in a ‘shocking & disrespectful’ cartoon which sees the beloved character repeatedly ramming politicians with an SUV.” #auspol www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Really looking forward to the launch tomorrow night of “The Culture Wars” by @timdunlop.bsky.social, moderated by @paulbarclay.bsky.social @readingsbooks.bsky.social here in Melbourne. It’s a terrific read about a complex and crucial aspect of Australian political #history. #auspol

This is clearly a tactical pattern to “ flood the zone with doubt (shit)” to subvert & short circuit the looming #USA midterms voting processes & results. It’s all claim & assertion without evidence so far. As usual. #Trump #BigLie #fascism www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Ryan points out that within days of the horrendous attack, the politicians were back to brawling in a way that you can’t really let your children observe. Is wanting decency, respect, integrity, ethics too much to ask? We mourn what happened to Helen Haines. We hope a sliver of light can penetrate.

#AI #dystopia

“South Carolina’s former governors David Beasley and Jim Hodges, a Republican and Democrat respectively, have come together for a rare joint endorsement for Democrat Annie Andrews’s #USA Senate bid.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

#MAGA

THREAD #Gaza #genocide #Netanyahu

We have not forgotten. The slaughter of civilians including many thousands of babies & children. Countless others orphaned. Maimed. Scorched earth destruction. These are war crimes. But the brutal, corrupt #Netanyahu regime in #Israel claims THEY are always the intrinsic victims. #fascism #genocide

#democracy #auspol

#Trump

This is real. No #AI involved. #Trump, the president of the #USA had just been rhapsodising about certain, athletic men’s “asses”. (Don’t think about it too much.) Then he switched to enthusiastically extolling Nicki Minaj’s “ass”. At a campaign rally in Michigan. All “cool & normal”. Yeah? #fascism

“I Didn’t Mind …” #Trump #fascism www.instagram.com/reel/De97Mk8...

“YouGov also found that Volodymyr Zelensky is the most popular foreign leader in the #USA; his 53% approval rating is far higher than Trump’s. So insulting Zelensky, as #Trump does with distressing regularity, isn’t a smart strategy for reversing the president’s crumbling popularity.” #Ukraine #GOP

“Trump claims foreigners pay the cost of #tariffs, but a new study released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that nearly 90 percent of the tariffs are passed along in higher consumer prices.” How has #Trump been able to peddle this bald faced lie? #journalism #fascism shorturl.at/FKln6

About “Why Look at Animals” by John Berger, 1980. www.themarginalian.org/2014/04/01/w...

Prolific writer and author, John Berger, of “Ways of Seeing”, 1971, fame, wrote a fascinating essay, “Why Look at Animals”, in 1980. #wildlife #nature www.academia.edu/35943173/Ber...

Beautiful images. #photography #wildlife #nature www.instagram.com/p/DeCj3tiCDS...

Excellent idea and practice: floating islands on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. #wildlife www.instagram.com/reel/Ded9YjC...

“Hours before Israel’s polls open for its first national elections since the October 7 attacks in 2023, the United Nations has released a bombshell report that accuses the nation of ongoing war crimes incl ‘extermination’ in #Gaza.” We already knew? #Israel #genocide www.nine.com.au/world-news/m...

The #Trump crowd at his Mississippi rally was YUGE! A packed venue. And they were riveted.

“In the occupied West Bank, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers can vote. They live among 3.1 million Palestinians who are subject to military rule and do not have the right to vote.” #Israel #democracy #Netanyahu shorturl.at/vsZng

“The far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro was banned from leaving #Brazil and ordered to surrender his passports just hours after his dramatic loss in the presidential election to the leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.” #fascism #democracy www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...

Any reporter, but especially women, need to don their mental flack jacket asking questions of #Trump. He is vile. His #misogyny patterns are crystal clear & long term. I do wonder why the #journalism colleagues of those so egregiously abused by the president do not express solidarity & condemnation?

Remember how crucial the establishment of an NACC was during that wave of community independents’ gaining traction in the federal parliament? Helen Haines was front and centre as an intellectual and political force in that campaign. Rigorous. Unflagging. It’s a shame about the actuality? #auspol

OPINION “President @barackobama.bsky.social absolutely crushes president #Trump when it comes to who is more liked by the American public.” We shall learn more, much more, on and after 3 November. #democracy #fascism #GOP youtu.be/tJ8NYy5Ivvk?...