Leroy

Coin used as Leeds bus fare was 2,000‑year‑old currency The coin was handed down to Peter Edwards from his grandfather in the 1950s.

This is the sort of thing a cashless society robs us of, the opportunity to try to get away with paying the bus fare in Carthaginian currency www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

All hail Sol! Time to go back to the Sun gods.

Labor’s shift away from Coalition-era outsourcing is welcome, but the public service needs more than symbolic savings | Emmanuel Josserand As the APS rebuilds after decades of erosion, the real test will be whether Australia can move beyond the politics and develop lasting expertise Australia’s shift away from external labour under the Albanese government is a welcome correction, but rebuilding the public service requires more than reducing consulting expenses. A capable public service is essential but the challenge is ensuring reforms deliver genuine capability rather than symbolic savings. For decades, the Australian Public Service operated within a structural contradiction. Governments expected it to deliver increasingly complex programs while constraining its ability to build and maintain its capability. The result was a growing dependence on external labour — consultants, contractors, labour hire and outsourced providers performing work that could have been done by public servants. Emmanuel Josserand is a professor of management at EMLV Paris and associate researcher at Sydney University Business School Continue reading...

Labor’s shift away from Coalition-era outsourcing is welcome, but the public service needs more than symbolic savings | Emmanuel Josserand

At last, the carbon cutter everyone can get behind Why solar will shape the power systems of the future

At last, the carbon cutter everyone can get behind
Why solar will shape the power systems of the future
www.ft.com/content/813b...
archive version: archive.is/AhQT5

Early Iran strikes cost $5.6 billion in munitions, Pentagon estimates The figure, accounting for the war’s first two days, is likely to intensify concerns in Congress that U.S. forces are churning through a scarce supply of advanced weaponry.

The Pentagon calculated it was spending $1 billion a day on Trump and Netanyahu’s war. The truth? It was $3 billion…and that’s just for munitions.

Plus they’ve alarmed everyone by burning through scarce munitions in a matter of days.

And this includes anything ‘dunking’ on it, ‘satirising’ it, or ‘can you tell the difference?’ pieces.

They’re all ways to get you to engage with generative Ai.

Seconds to get to point of saying "I'm buggered" while resigning something in political career (approx)

D Littleproud 305,600,000
M Meninga 30

Screeching 180 from Reform leader Farage who’s gone from Trumpian “Bomb the Islamists” to “We cannot get involved directly in another foreign war, we don’t have a Navy, we can’t even defend our own military base in Cyprus” overnight.

He’s seen the polling showing the public don’t support the war.

Hustlecore

We need a name for this, something like vice-signalling, where people, usually in or around tech or finance, claim to do some quirky bullshit that patently doesn't work just so they can post about it to build their personal brand.

The phrasing in op-eds and consensus opinion is that “Trump needs to end this war” and it’s like buddy he doesn’t get to decide that. You’re all along for the ride now. You’re finished when Larijani says you’re finished.

The trick is to suss out how much nat politics is weighing on a state poll. In Baden-Württemberg, homeland of Schäuble & the Swabian housewife, there was a lot of anger among CDU voters over Merz's big spending & management of the economy in a very tight race and that helped tip the scale

The problem with illegal wars undertaken by the US is that you can't stop them. And someone has to clean up the mess.

I posit to those adamantly against any contribution by Australia that the mess has to be cleaned up, and it needs to be started before some of it is even made.

What if - related to earlier trolling - that destroying Iranian drones/missiles is a responsible thing in & of itself.

And what if, when even more nations join soon, it's because the worse case scenario to be avoided at all costs is Iran taking out oil fields and desalination plants on the way out

Cyprus suffers from its proximity to the Middle East powder keg The easternmost EU country’s image as a safe haven for regional business is under threat after suffering an Iranian drone attack

Cyprus suffers from its proximity to the Middle East powder keg
The easternmost EU country’s image as a safe haven for regional business is under threat after suffering an Iranian drone attack
english.elpais.com/internationa...

Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, have deployed naval and air assets to Cyprus this week following Greek and French military commitments to bolster the island's air defences after an Iranian-made drone struck the British RAF Akrotiri base.
www.msn.com/en-ph/news/o...

Littleproud resigns. Never has a man achieved so little so often apart from his one true accomplishment - exhibiting the ultimate nominative determinism.

The Queensland MP will continue to serve in parliament as the member for Maranoa and said he intended to contest the next election in 2028.

'I'm buggered': Littleproud declares it's time for new Nationals leader The Queenslander cried as he spoke to reporters, saying it had been a "pretty rough" time since the May election.

David Littleproud has stepped down as leader of the National Party in an emotional press conference, saying it is time for someone new to take the reins.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03... #auspol

Now that Morgan is back to week to week readings their numbers will be volatile. However of note this is:

* lowest ALP primary of term from anyone by 2 points
* equal lowest combined major party primary from anyone for this term.

#Morgan ALP 26.5 L-NP 22.5 ON 23.5 Green 14.5 others 13

2PP respondent 54.5 to ALP (-1.5)
last election 53 to ALP (-0.5)
my conversion 52.5 to ALP (-0.7)

www.roymorgan.com/findings/101...

Andrew O’Hagan · Stay Classy: Mummy’s Favourite The late queen can be held responsible for much, but nobody could accuse her of seeming to enjoy her role. For the...

‘As a couple, Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have always been too stupid to understand the vulnerability of the institution that supports them, and they began wrecking it from the inside as soon as they met.’

Andrew O’Hagan on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, in the next issue.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

man had the guts to speak it, leak it, testify. rest in peace and having made a massive impact.

Queensland draft redistribution proposes abolishing Hill in North Queensland (held by Katter MP Shane Knuth) and Stretton in Brisbane's south (held by Labor MP James Martin), with two new seats: Springfield in the Ipswich area and Caboolture in the Moreton Bay area

The World of Today Nothing is secure. Everything is wrong. No one is above suspicion.

New Substack post: this year’s Oscar nominees are about either absent fathers, and democratic backsliding. So I thought: why not do the annual Oscars roundup about the two themes? This is part one, about the current crisis of democracy.

open.substack.com/pub/someunpl...

What does a boiled water alert mean for Darwin? A boiled water alert has been issued for Darwin, in addition to Katherine, Beswick and Tindal. The alert comes after issues with the pump station at Darwin's main dam. Here's what you need to know abo...

A boiled water alert has been issued for Darwin, in addition to Katherine, Beswick and Tindal. The alert comes after issues with the pump station at Darwin's main dam. Here's what you need to know about your water.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

Interesting to read coverage of German state level elections, because everyone reads way more national political relevance onto them than they would for any equivalent Australian election. Here, state parties can win at one level & get thrashed at another in quick succession (e.g. 2025 Tasmania).

This is a gripe I've quietly had a few times when watching certain history Instagram accounts

Well well well what do we have here?

Chuck D out here celebrating, lol