David Peetz

Good work, Gareth.

I was expecting the opening sentence to be followed by the Nobel Prize joke. I imagine this was intended.

This won the Netherlands top cartoon award

Under instruction from the gang boss.

Everything but the yellow stars

Readers outside NZ may think that the most dangerous ‘natural’ threat in the ‘Shaky Isles’ is earthquakes. Or maybe volcanos.

But most years, it’s ‘slips’, more commonly known as landslides or avalanches (of earth, not snow).

Made much worse by climate change, which NZ government now ignores.

Trump made up injury to dodge Vietnam service, his former lawyer testifies Michael Cohen told lawmakers that Trump said it would be 'stupid' to serve in Vietnam.

Context

www.militarytimes.com/news/pentago...

Watch this.

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, May 2025 Includes earnings and hours statistics for characteristics such as industry, occupation, sex, age, full-time/part-time, and method of setting pay

It looks like the decline in collective agreement coverage has finally been halted.

Up slightly from 34.0% in 2023 to 34.6% in 2025, after falls in every measurement (usually every two years) since 2014.

www.abs.gov.au/statistics/l...

The Power of Poetry   with things falling apart and anarchy let loose,   it was only poetry, he found, which had any use,   so he reached for his copy   of The Complete Works of Yeats   and bludgeoned the President of the United States Brian Bilston

Here’s a short poem about the power of poetry to change the world.

First, you have to head for the ICE.

“Those claims, repeated incessantly by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other top Trump administration officials, dissolved in court, where no evidence was ever brought forth that he was in a gang, let alone a ranking member."

The dark arts - The Shot The ideology of the Israel lobby in Australia is this - burn it to the ground rather than ever allow an opposing voice.

Here's @ronnisalt.bsky.social. "The dark arts"

The damage this visit would do to the Jewish community in Australia is just awful to contemplate.

At a time when we should be embracing social cohesion, expressing sympathy and demonstrating empathy, we’re inviting someone who epitomises the opposite of all that?

Gosh, I wonder who’s next?

But perhaps distinguish between the motivations of Trump and of the Trump administration.

A narcissist with dementia can be influenced by people with greater strategic insights.

Vale Rob Hirst. He was also great when drumming for the Backsliders.

This is such a cool illustration of how the Mercator map distorts the size of Greenland, which looks as big as the whole continent of Africa on that map but is actually the size of Mexico.

If someone wrote this a year and a bit ago, some would have laughed at it as crude, cruel satire. Others would have just laughed it off.

Now, nobody's laughing. Almost.

Board of Peace

I don’t know if it’s true, but it deserves to be.

You have to read the last paragraph.

Conference “Low Pay: What is to be done?"

Sydney, Tuesday 27 January.

Not just a Greek chorus tracing the tragedy of low pay, but also exploring what initiatives and possibilities exist to lessen its incidence and effect.

Contact Di Kelly diana.kelly@unsw.edu.au

“We know Mr Trump is looking to take over a cold, remote, largely uninhabited island. Here’s a chance to snap up two,” a spokesperson for the deal said.

Read more:
theshovel.com.au/2025/01/08/a...

Indeed, November 2026, not the presidential election in 2028, will be the moment that decides the future of the USA for decades to come — and plausibly, the future for the rest of us as well.

Gaining absolute power doesn’t really depend on maintaining popular support.

Sure, you have to get to the top by getting that support, but once there further success depends on destroying and remaking institutions in your image.

Institutions that would make the files relevant won’t exist..

No similarity to Nazi Germany in the 1930s whatsoever.

For one thing this guy wasn’t wearing a yellow star.

“Having facilities at Pine Gap and North West Cape, and unimpeded access to many other facilities, is not enough. We need to own the place. The whole island is vital to our defence. Oh, and it’s got some nice minerals too.

But until then, we’ll tell you we love you."

Will be handy at GP time.

The Mercator projection is 100% why Trump wants Greenland

That is a subtle difference.