John Quiggin

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Jimmy Kimmel Addresses the Notion of a Drone Strike on California “Isn’t this how ‘Ironman 3’ started?” Kimmel said after the F.B.I. warned state officials tobb prepare for a retaliatory Iranian drone strike on the West Coast ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards.

When I read the headline, I assumed Kimmel was speculating about a drone strike on California ordered by Trump. Seemed a stretch, but plausible enough for late-night TV to toss around. Iran also possible, I guess. Not to mention false-flag. This is the world we live in now.

Netanyahu would welcome regime change, but main goal is to deliver as much death and destruction to enemy populations as possible with US, and rest of world, paying the bills. Trump missed chance for an early declaration of victory, now has to hope something turns up.

Opinion | Trump and Netanyahu Are No Longer on the Same Page American goals are starting to conflict with Israel’s.

Every day the war continues without a resolution is a win for #Netanyahu and a loss for #Trump.

The Liberals are at it again, preferencing One Nation Lhe Liberals’ decision to preference One Nation in SA is taking it further to the extremes when we need to bring our nation together.

Liberals deserve their impending obliteration. Labor doesn't deserve the thumping win it will gain by taking over the ground formerly occupied by mainstream right. Greens need to break with Labor.

At the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, the empty chairs are the story The UN’s flagship gender equality event is excluding the very people it exists to serve.

US visa denial policy makes continued basing of the UN there untenable. Same for World Bank, IMF and any international organization.

Fifteen years after Fukushima It’s the 15th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and any lessons from that event seem to have been forgotten by most.

Fifteen years after Fukushima

Scrapping business class could halve aviation emissions – new study Huge efficiency gains are available to airlines, without any new technologies – new study.

Scrapping business class could halve aviation emissions

One Nation in front among voters ahead of byelection Polling shows Pauline Hanson's party has a slight edge with voters in one electorate, weeks out from a byelection challenge.

Highly likely that final two candidates in Farrer by-election will be One Nation and indpendent Milthorpe. Result will be decided on Lib and NP preferences. Will they go for the racist, or retain a shred of decency? #auspol

Not 'newsworthy': Why the NACC decided not to update the media for 63 days The corruption watchdog scrapped its weekly updates last year, opting to brief journalists monthly instead. But between December and February, it went silent.

As defined by the NACC, there is hardly any corruption in our national government, certainly not enough to justify $200 million of spending since it was established. Time to scrap it, and go back to ACLEI (much cheaper predecessor) or else just leave it to AFP.

www.crikey.com.au/20...\

At this point, traditional media worse for democracy than social media.

USA ranked 11th of 23 countries in the Americas for press freedom in 2025, below Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and marginally above Colombia and Guatemala. That's before takeover of most remaining free media by pro-Trump billionaires.

media.sipiapa.org/ad...

I violently agree with this dek:

“The idea that Democrats are weirdly and extremely obsessed with "identity politics" and pronouns is a right wing propaganda fiction not supported by polling data, and Democratic party leaders should not be perpetuating it.”

Trust in Public Health – celebrating 80 years of free public hospitals in Queensland (updated invitation) TJ Ryan Foundation Event, 23 March

Trust in Public Health – celebrating 80 years of free public hospitals in Queensland (updated invitation)

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The relevant point for Australians is that Trump is a front for Russia.

And AFAICT from a long way away, the UK Greens are open to a NATO-type alliance as long as Russia's ally, the US, is out.

Time to break with Trump and Albanese The implications of the Iran war for the Greens.

Time to break with Trump and Albanese

Baby Boomers now worth $6 trillion after ninefold increase in wealth this century Boomers have become the nation’s richest generation thanks to property, shares and the tax system, squeezing out every other generation.

To describe this article as a mess is uncharitable to messes. Most of the results can be explained by the fact that the proportion of people over 65 has grown a lot as Baby Boomers (the name is a hint) replace the smaller cohort born between 1930 and 1945.

Penny Wong: Australia could help defend gulf states against Iran The foreign minister declined to back US President Donald Trump’s insistence that he play a role deciding the next Iranian leader, saying it was up to the Iranian people.

Time to break with Labor and Trump #auspol

Preference Labor ahead of the other Trumpist parties, but don't pretend they are anti-Trump (= anti-Nazi). They are joining Trump's war because they are bound to him by AUKUS.

If science proceeds by funerals, gender balance proceeds, in large measure, by retirements. By next International Women's Day, I'll have done my bit in that regard #johnqpersonal

More soon on this, I hope.

And Labor is complicit in this, denouncing Hanson while trying to attract her voters. A commitment to break with Trump would place Greens on one side, Lab-LNP-ONP coalition on the other.

The immediate way to signal this is to position the Greens as fighting Trump and all his Australian allies, from #Hanson to #Albanese. The idea that One Nation is uniquely beyond the pale has been abandoned by the Liberals and Nationals, with all three seeking to occupy the same territory.

For a long time, I've taken the view that the #Greens should act, informally, as a leftwing coalition partner for #Labor, pushing for stronger and more progressive policies. But that's no longer tenable. The Greens need to fight Labor rather than giving critical support. #auspol

Every child should be wanted Don't have another baby for the sake of the nation

Every child should be wanted : Don't have another baby for the sake of the nation

Falklands was a precursor, but Argentines had very few missiles. If they'd prepared for a war, things might have turned otu differently.

Lame reporting from NY Times. Doesn't mention crucial fact that safety of flights depends on an agreement between Gulf States and Iran. Comparable to deals with Houthis for transit through Red Sea.

www.nytimes.com/2026...

Scattered thoughts on Trump and Netanyahu's war against the Iranian regime Rather than attempt a coherent analysis, I'm writing down some thoughts as they come to mind

Scattered thoughts on Trump and Netanyahu's war against the Iranian regime

Russia might once have been a global power, but now it's a poor, medium-sized country with a big nuclear arsenal, part of the Chinese sphere, if not happy about it. North Korea similar.