Belinda Barnet

Trump has posted nine times in ten minutes on Truth Social, so a post per minute pretty much. Did he just find out the Nobel went to someone else

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

“If the University of Virginia agrees to the terms dictated by a memo sent last Wednesday by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, then this essay you are reading could cost the university all of its federal support.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Oof. 🤡

@financialtimes.com
www.ft.com/content/934c...

In a world where techlords rule us by whim, Australia’s stance against deepfakes is reason to celebrate | Van Badham Could courage be contagious? Let’s hope so, because in the absence of powerful regulation, the normalisation of awful blooms

“When a court subsequently did order Rotondo to remove the images and not to share them, his response was to email them to 50 addresses, including to Inman Grant herself.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Precisely

Them: gender is immutable as ordained by Nature and the Heavens

Also Them: gender is a precariously fragile idea that dissolves on contract with any alternative idea

I’m over American tech executives who think gender diversity is a contagious disease you can get by watching a Netflix cartoon.

Haven’t watched episode 2 & 3 of The People v Robodebt.

Me on waking: why do I have an email from the production company reminding me of their standing offer of counselling sessions?

I do not think this is a useful application of ChatGPT, to be honest.

Microsoft has cut some services to the Israel Ministry of Defence because they were being used for mass surveillance.

This might seem trivial or insignificant but it is not: if all the major tech companies made decisions like this it could change the tide.

A US fascism expert’s warning to Australia: ‘You guys are probably next’ The US’s slide towards authoritarianism is part of a global trend, says professor and fascism expert Jason Stanley. And distant Australia, far from being immune, is uniquely vulnerable

“You guys are probably next, right?

…Stanley cites Australia’s history of Indigenous displacement, its “performatively vicious” treatment of asylum seekers and the fierce “anti-woke” rhetoric that pierces public discourse.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

This speech was like Dada performance art, at times completely nonsensical

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/u...

True.

Elon bought Twitter and turned it into an effective right-wing media machine. Rupert & Lachlan wanting a piece of TikTok and its 170 million US users makes perfect sense

‘A man named Lachlan is involved’: Trump reveals Murdochs set to have role in new TikTok deal President Donald Trump’s disclosure is the latest twist in a fast-moving potential deal to keep TikTok operating in the US.

You can’t make this stuff up. Rupert & Lachlan Murdoch are possibly in a hand-picked (by Trump) consortium to buy TikTok in the US

www.theage.com.au/business/com...

Trump says TV networks covering him negatively should "maybe" have their licenses revoked On Thursday, ABC took Jimmy Kimmel off the air after the FCC chairman hinted at action against ABC over comments the comedian had made about the suspect in Charlie Kirk's killing.

“President Trump on Thursday floated revoking TV broadcast licenses for networks that cover him negatively, a day after ABC's indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.

www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/tru...

❤️

One of his followers just posted a mobile number under it. Surely this is not ok.

Yes we do

I feel sorry for the latest account he has picked on: the details shared underneath contain private and identifying information.

Senator Babet is calling on his followers to “investigate” and share “all relevant details” about accounts he thinks have mocked Charlie Kirk. He seems to be relishing this.

His followers duly find and post personal information in the comments underneath

Australians: you need to read about what happened to this Melbourne writer at the US border.

It makes me worried as an academic and writer too. Luckily my US family are mostly back in Oz now so I can stay away for a few years.

www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Literary journal Meanjin to close after 85 years of publishing Meanjin, a mainstay of Australia's cultural landscape and the nation's second-oldest literary publication, is shuttering after Melbourne University Publishing decided to cease financial support.

Melbourne Uni is killing the literary journal Meanjin. It's cultural vandalism. Australian universities are now deeply anti-intellectual places www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/04/m...

Sam Altman @sama i never took the dead internet theory that seriously but it seems like there are really a lot of LLM-run twitter accounts now 12:21 AM · Sep 4, 2025 · 1.5M Views

sam altman is trying to find the guy who did this

Much like Microsoft in the 1990s a slap on the wrist.

Across the nation, the March for Australia got underway stuffed full of Australians from all walks of (intolerant of other people) life
— First Dog on the Moon
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Substack getting out the handcuffs for writers, cartoonists, boutique sellers ...

Yes, unfortunately you’re right.

It just boggles my mind that people who are literally descended from immigrants are protesting immigration in Melbourne today.

Unless you’re an indigenous Australian you came from somewhere else.