David Branch

Sponsored by Exxon

Balloon Juice - Excellent Read: 'My Father, Guitar Guru to the Rock Gods' My Father, Guitar Guru to the Rock Gods When the greatest musicians of the 1970s needed an instrument—or a friend—my dad was there. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc… [image or embed] — Marion Friedl (...

If you love music, you’ll love this story

balloon-juice.com/2025/08/10/e...

YouTube video by Arizona’s Family (3TV / CBS 5) Lake Powell nears 'dead pool,' threatens Arizona water supply

I’m sure the people of Arizona won’t mind when what’s left of their water is used to cool AI data centres

youtu.be/LNHPV7_ygCw?...

YouTube video by ABC News In-depth Why elephants are being trucked out of city zoos in Australia | 7.30

A good news story from Zoos Victoria - Werribee Open Range Zoo is our nearest

youtu.be/fP5KVhPxzd8?...

He’ll give up all of the occupied territories and throw in Alaska as a sweetener

YouTube video by WeatherWatchTV Oz: Isolated thunderstorms as cold fronts brush the nation

IMHO the best weather forecast for Australia

Much more detail on why the weather is as it is than you get from BOM or the other “weather presenters” on the commercial channels

youtu.be/TfY2D_f6c8M?...

Championship 2025-26 season preview: Club-by-club guide to the new campaign BBC Sport correspondents take a closer look at the 24 teams taking part in the 2025-26 Championship season.

The “I recognise Frank Lampard’s name so he must be good” vibe is strong in the BBC’s Championship preview.

I don’t disagree with the ncfc prediction though, but I’m hopeful of better.

www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

Meme of Trump on the WH roof with the meme caption "Diddler on the Roof"

Overheard two lady senior citizens in the cafe the other day (they’d been discussing one recovering from an operation):

“You never know how long you’ve got on this earth”

“I know. I don’t even buy green bananas”

I believe the State Department has come up with a fix for the falling tourism numbers 🤔

bsky.app/profile/pbsn...

That’ll be sure to give their dwindling tourism numbers a boost.

I did read that there was talk of banning VPNs. I’m sure that will go down well with cybersecurity advisors.

That’s the Qantas Melbourne to Sydney service for you

Glad it’s not that widespread

The power just went out 😳

I’m always surprised how cheap it is to buy a government

Acknowledging Horses Birthday 2025 🥳

Tweet from the White House: BREAKING: We're getting an expansion! Beginning in September, construction will begin on a brand-new 90,000 square ft ballroom that will be enjoyed for generations to come. ✨ Visit WhiteHouse.gov/visit for more information

Is this where they’re going to store the Epstein files?

Balloon Juice - Very Cool Thread: Neanderthals Living in Fat City So they found a 125,000 yr old Neanderthal fat rendering plant & I have thoughts. Knowing that they loved saturated fat SO MUCH that they industrialized to get as much of it as humanly possible? Makes...

Absolutely fascinating

balloon-juice.com/2025/07/31/v...

What social media is really for 🧵

Bruce Lehrmann claims police destroyed exonerating evidence and pending rape trial should be abandoned, court hears Hard drive of audio recordings of witnesses and Lehrmann, copies of statements and videos destroyed by police, defence solicitor says

"The police dog ate my evidence!"

His wealthy backers are trying everything. There must be more to this support than meets the eye.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

👨‍🍳💋

Important 🧵

Obviously a member of the ‘people must be poor because they don’t work hard enough’ brigade

Now they want to ban VPNs 🙄

I think you’re talking about Jurgen Klopp, the ex-Liverpool manager. They probably paid millions for him so they’re getting their money’s worth.

I think that’s why he said beyond comprehension. He doesn’t understand it so he’s not doing anything about it.

Except continuing to export non-lethal parts for planes so the lethal parts can do their work.

I grew up in the UK in the 70s and I’d never heard of him until I got here in the late 90s. I think VW used Pink Moon for an ad.

What’s behind the turnaround since an ordinary start to say the least?

Vladdy’s new contract? The influence of the hitting coach?

1976 – Reagan Uses Racist Tropes to Describe Food Stamp Participants During Florida Rally - Florida Policy Timeline In a 1976 Fort Lauderdale rally, President Ronald Reagan used racially coded rhetoric to undermine Food Stamps, as he had done in many places in the South. Among other racist untruths, he described wh...

Straight out of Reagan’s playbook from 1976

www.floridatimeline.org/timeline/197...