Sean Cooney

Yes I thought same thing - incorporeal interdimension evil beings.

Why do you say it’s bullshit? Do you mean in the context of the US patterns of litigiousness etc . Do you disagree with their account of what’s happened in California or do you think it’s not applicable to planning and environment regulation in Australia?

Time to visit Australia - that’s just about our lowest minimum wage; but we have many higher minima in specific industries.

As far as I can see, the New York Times has paid only minor attention to the emphatic centre-left win in Australia. Pity, because there is much to say about how a (relatively) progressive government can retain the support of working class and young male voters through its economic policies.

Le Guin was the most extraordinary writer and wrote years ahead of her time. I also love the Daoist themes that often emerge in her work.

I spent a lot of time in China and South Asia last year. I feel that we need to navigate the regional relationships quite carefully. Morrison manifestly failed to do that. Labor has done much better although AUKUS should obviously be dumped. I don’t see the Greens policy grasping this enough.

It means that in an environment where international institutions are being actively undermined by the major military powers, a policy which rests on the effectiveness of those institutions is unlikely to be achieved. That was my impression from reading their policy.

But also on substantially repairing Australia’s reputation in the region at a time when this is more important than ever. The climate/environmental criticisms are well founded but unfortunately imo the Greens foreign policy is not feasible under current conditions. A rethink needed.

It’s very disconcerting looking at US from the other side of the world. We’re having a very “normal” election; looks atm like centre left party will win. Institutions operating normally. Yet we can’t at all hide from what’s happening over there; we will be caught between the US and China.

I can’t see how US addresses the deteriorating economic and social position of working class people without revitalising options for workers to act collectively

A key difference between the US and the other countries is the bargaining structure which disincentivises US unions from considering broader economic and social consequences (see OECD reports on benefits of “coordinated decentralisation”)

This was a cogent and enjoyable conversation; thanks to all. You left the “union” question hanging. Many progressive Americans seem disdainful of unions. But in many of the most economically and socially advanced countries, they have a major presence (Scandinavia, Canada and here in Australia).

What’s your view Josh of the proposed ban? It sounds good as announced but do you have a sense of the what limitations there may be (other than the application threshold)

This is an excellent episode - thanks very much (writing from Australia where I woke up to find that the Trump administration is considering targeting our pharmaceutical benefits scheme and media laws. I suppose it’s because we’re a little too like Canada.

Musk and big tech urge Trump to punish Australia The companies have blamed Australia for “coercing” them into sacrificing their revenue to schemes such as the News Media Bargaining Incentive.

www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

I guess we’re next

Trump administration accused of 'blatant foreign interference' in Australian universities over questionnaire on DEI and gender

Attempting to internationalise their attacks on what we in Australia call the “fair go”.

Welcome to Australia and especially Melbourne! It seems our government and opposition believe if we keep our heads down it’ll be business as usual - but I suspect that’s far from true. The collapse of a rules based international order is disastrous for a country like ours.

I fear that Putin will now believe he can use tactical nuclear weapons against European nations with impunity since there will be no US retaliation (unless UK and France are a sufficient deterrent?).

If there is a fourth season of White Lotus, can there be a variation of the season 1 and 2 theme please 🎶

I wonder if they are coordinating comms with the Russians in the lead-up to the German election this Sunday

Top Social Security Official Leaves After Musk Team Seeks Data Access The departure of the acting commissioner is the latest backlash to the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to access sensitive data.

Seems we are about to see a US version of “Robodebt”: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/u...

Opinion: The democratic world will have to get along without America. It may even have to defend itself from it The U.S. is now on the side of the dictatorships

My latest: The democratic world will have to get along without America. It may even have to defend itself from it

I wasn’t going to do a world survey, but you will find considerably more than that.., The distinction between authoritarian regimes and centre right democracies is a meaningful one (eg Churchill vs Hitler; the former did bad things but not like the latter). Particularly true for the EU

Some major countries have centre right governments eg Japan and probably soon Germany. As the German situation suggests, it’ll be important to keep centre right parties from aligning with the far right, as much as possible.

These people are showing themselves to be Far Right in terms of their attitude to law, institutions, vulnerable people etc. The “Fat” makes clear this is not a standard conservative regime.

Opinion | Trump Is No Populist Trumpism is not a working-class revolt against the elites. All I see is one section of the educated elite going after another section of the educated elite.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/o...
Good piece

In other liberal democracies , there would be moves toward public protest such as general strikes. The apparent absence of such coordinated action means there yet another lack of constraint on Trump/Musk.

In many countries, the apparently unlawful attacks on federal employees would be met by a general strike. I don’t see that happening in the US; one less constraint on Trump/Musk.

Have you read Caroline Kennedy’s statement about his falconry?

This is partly a consequence of the governance arrangements at universities. Senior leaders have very weak lines of accountability compared to many other institutions, including corporations, governments and many not-for-profits