Mike Jones

What a fucking nightmare.

What a fucking nightmare.

The killing code: strange symbols in a WA settler’s diaries lay bare frontier atrocities Exclusive: Stories of murders passed down by Yamatji elders are confirmed by a cipher hidden in the 1850s journals of prominent pastoralist Major Logue. Now descendants on both sides want to break the...

It is 2025, and someone *now* is preparing to publish an 1850s pastoralist’s diary *editing out* all the coded bits where he describes murdering Yamatji people.

In 2025.

But sure, let’s hear more about how the Great Australian Silence is over.

Job-Ready Graduates attacks the arts and humanities and presents an often insurmountable obstacle for those looking to undertake further study study. Follow the link for an Open Letter to @albomp.bsky.social calling for the repeal of JRG, and sign our petition. linktr.ee/aushistorica...

People should sign this 👇🏼👇🏼

I urge every Australian scholar, and every Australian citizen concerned about the future of our public universities, to sign this petition initiated by the Australian Historical Association.

But also…

What perfect album came out when you were 16?

We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families. For many months, these independent journalists have been the world's eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering. Journalists endure many deprivations and hardships in warzones. We are deeply alarmed that the threat of starvation is now one of them. We once again urge the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza. It is essential that adequate food supplies reach the people there. Joint statement on Gaza from AFP, AP, BBC News and Reuters

BREAKING: JOINT STATEMENT FROM REUTERS, BBC NEWS, ASSOCIATED PRESS & AFP.

Warning that their staff face death by starvation in Gaza.

Horrifying and unprecedented.

Hats off to #ANU students - this is incredible. ✊

SPECIAL EVENT: Cao Yu | Beyond Gender, Create Boldly! Get tickets on Humanitix - SPECIAL EVENT: Cao Yu | Beyond Gender, Create Boldly! hosted by SOAD Seminar Series. Australian National University School of Art & Design, Lecture Theatre (Room 1.42), Buil...

If you happen to be in Canberra next week (or, like myself, you're a local), make sure to head over to the ANU School of Art & Design Lecture Theatre at 1pm on Wednesday 30 July for a special talk by visiting contemporary artist Cao Yu! 👇🏽

School of Music cuts are pointless, destructive and against the ANU's own recommendations | Region Canberra The knives are out at the ANU and they're cutting deep and hard into the School of Music. Paradoxically, this…

"A renowned ANU humanities professor told me this week it had been a struggle to even meet with the Dean of CASS, much less offer suggestions … There’s a widespread belief among staff and stakeholders that the university is simply not interested in listening ..."

region.com.au/school-of-mu...

Worried about AI imitating people's voices? They had similar concerns in 1893: "When the Phonograph comes into general use in his country, a new law will be wanted ... There are some excellent mimics, who might do great mischief by imitating one's voice in the Phonograph."

Change proposals risk relegating ANU to middle-ranking regional uni Well known historian and long-time ANU staff member, Frank Bongiorno, says he has never seen, such a lack of vision, such a vacuum of ideas, such general disorganisation, nor such cavalier decision-making about institutions and programs built up through hard work over decades in all his years at ANU. He outlined his concerns in this submission to ANU management.

A future in which [ANU] brings up the rear of the Group of Eight and then, unable to compete, evolves in short time into a middle-ranking Australian regional university. That is what is at stake here, writes Frank Bongiorno #auspol #ANU

The jewel in the crown of the ANU • Inside Story Celebrated by previous vice-chancellors, the Australian Dictionary of Biography and its fellow national project, the Australian National Dictionary, are threatened by university cuts

'jewel in the crown' & 'priceless project': 'Celebrated by previous vice-chancellors the Australian Dictionary of Biography & Australian National Dictionary are threatened by university cuts'. I'm one of the ADB's unpaid volunteers, proud author of 4 biographies insidestory.org.au/the-jewel-in...

The jewel in the crown of the ANU • Inside Story Celebrated by previous vice-chancellors, the Australian Dictionary of Biography and its fellow national project, the Australian National Dictionary, are threatened by university cuts

Thanks to Tom Griffiths & Mark McKenna for writing so powerfully about the national significance of the Australian Dictionary of Biography and the Australian National Dictionary, currently facing cuts & 'disestablishment' - 'cultural vandalism on a breathtaking scale'

inside.org.au/the-jewel-in...

The jewel in the crown of the ANU • Inside Story Celebrated by previous vice-chancellors, the Australian Dictionary of Biography and its fellow national project, the Australian National Dictionary, are threatened by university cuts

"Who else will nurture and defend the languages, cultures and histories of this continent, who else will tell the life stories of this place, who else will cultivate our capacity to share a common reference point of understanding?"

@ausdictionarybiog.bsky.social

insidestory.org.au/the-jewel-in...

The jewel in the crown of the ANU • Inside Story Celebrated by previous vice-chancellors, the Australian Dictionary of Biography and its fellow national project, the Australian National Dictionary, are threatened by university cuts

"Professor Parry has defended the Change Proposals by stating that the ADB could easily have been cut altogether. She appears to regard the ADB as an academic unit within the gift of the dean rather than as a collaborative national institution" inside.org.au/the-jewel-in...

National advocates for arts education urges ANU to reconsider restructure Representing more than 10,000 arts educators, the National Advocates for Arts Education calls for a rethink on cuts to ANU's School of Music.

limelight-arts.com.au/news/nationa...

a rough translation of the final sentence: “Since AFP was founded in August 1944 we’ve lost journalists in conflicts, and have had wounded and imprisoned co-workers, but none of us have any memory of having to watch a colleague die of hunger.”

It’s almost as though universities have been taken over by a class of soulless executives who loot their public institutions for perks and salaries

Shoes of ANU

ANU cuts are impacting an innumerable amount of people. Here are just some of their stories. www.shoesofanu.com

How to silence academic speech on Palestine Jillian Segal’s proposal seeks to mobilise the IHRA definition of antisemitism and would have far-reaching implications for students and staff across Australian universities.

Me in @crikey.com.au about Jillian Segal's plan to "combat antisemitism". In universities, repression is already present. This is already the climate that we work, teach, and study in. Segal's plan, if adopted, will make our conditions much more precarious

www.crikey.com.au/2025/07/15/i...

SAYONARA SMASH YOUR FACE, by SMASH YOUR FACE 12 track album

Need some energy in your Monday morning? I'm starting my week listening to the new album from Japanese hardcore band Smash Your Face—Sayonara Smash Your Face smashyourface-fxxk.bandcamp.com/album/sayona...

@wragge.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy Hi Tim. Is there a known issue with search on Historic Hansard at the moment? I can browse the content, but am getting a 500 Internal Server Error when I try to run a text search

"Let the people who built this place do their work" #ourANU

Header text: "HEY YOU! YES YOU! TAKE THIS SHIT OUT OF LINKS!" This is followed by a couple example urls, with a red square highlighting the sections with source identifiers. The rest of the text is as follows: Source identifiers are used to track your activity on a site. Where you came from, what device you use, and even who you talk to. Whether it's written clearly in the url or tied to a random string of characters, it's assigned to your activity. When you send a link containing a source identifier to somebody and they click it, it signals to the website that you two are connected. And that data goes right back to the website operators, and thus their advertisers. Whenever you select "share" or "copy link" on a social app or website, it creates a link like this. If you give even the smallest shit about online privacy, it's important to remove them. Everything after the "?" symbol can be removed without issue, especially sections starting with "si=" or "utm_source="

I saw an infographic a couple years ago about how to remove source identifiers from links and why it's important, but I can't find it again and too many people I know are sending me links with them so here's an infographic straight from the oven

History’s booming in podcasts – but many of its academics are out of a job We live in momentous times. History podcasts and books are more popular than ever. So why is academic history in crisis?

www.smh.com.au/national/his...

Non-academics: if you see an interesting academic paper on here and you can’t access it due to a paywall just email the author and (depending on the state of their inbox 😜) they will generally be thrilled you are interested in their work and send you a copy.

I enjoyed revisiting this classic from the Pig City era. Happy 50th birthday to Rocking Horse (it's been happily taking my money for nearly 40)