Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
The weak response from Can, EU and UN to Trump's flagrant crimes in Venezuela is striking.
It exposes that much of the world has been cowed.
Most notable exception: the Latin American left.
That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3
It exposes that much of the world has been cowed.
Most notable exception: the Latin American left.
That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3
January 4, 2026 at 6:35 PM
The weak response from Can, EU and UN to Trump's flagrant crimes in Venezuela is striking.
It exposes that much of the world has been cowed.
Most notable exception: the Latin American left.
That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3
It exposes that much of the world has been cowed.
Most notable exception: the Latin American left.
That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
Isn't it ironic. Let's ask Americans whether Americans have any business acting as dictators abroad in the outlet whose leadership would like to purchase themselves this privilege.
One of the most lopsided results you'll ever see in a poll, from our weekend Washington Post poll www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
January 5, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Isn't it ironic. Let's ask Americans whether Americans have any business acting as dictators abroad in the outlet whose leadership would like to purchase themselves this privilege.
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
Inner North Melbourne people: two of Yarra Library's branches have extended opening hours on Thursday and Friday so that you can hide away from the heatwave.
January 6, 2026 at 4:59 AM
Inner North Melbourne people: two of Yarra Library's branches have extended opening hours on Thursday and Friday so that you can hide away from the heatwave.
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
If EU & GB & CANADA-ANZAC (Australia &New Zealand) get together and stand as one body, current USA won’t be able to do anything.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper:
"Let me be very clear... Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark... The future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and Danes, and no one else."
"Let me be very clear... Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark... The future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and Danes, and no one else."
January 6, 2026 at 2:44 AM
If EU & GB & CANADA-ANZAC (Australia &New Zealand) get together and stand as one body, current USA won’t be able to do anything.
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
Your "quick stop" could be their last. 🐶💔
With temperatures hitting 40°C+ across Australia this week, "just a minute" is too long. 🥵
🌡️ 20°C outside = 36°C inside (in 30 minutes)
🔥 40°C outside = 52°C+ inside (very life-threatening)
Full #Heatwave Guide: ➡️ fpau.org/CarHeatTrap
With temperatures hitting 40°C+ across Australia this week, "just a minute" is too long. 🥵
🌡️ 20°C outside = 36°C inside (in 30 minutes)
🔥 40°C outside = 52°C+ inside (very life-threatening)
Full #Heatwave Guide: ➡️ fpau.org/CarHeatTrap
January 6, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Your "quick stop" could be their last. 🐶💔
With temperatures hitting 40°C+ across Australia this week, "just a minute" is too long. 🥵
🌡️ 20°C outside = 36°C inside (in 30 minutes)
🔥 40°C outside = 52°C+ inside (very life-threatening)
Full #Heatwave Guide: ➡️ fpau.org/CarHeatTrap
With temperatures hitting 40°C+ across Australia this week, "just a minute" is too long. 🥵
🌡️ 20°C outside = 36°C inside (in 30 minutes)
🔥 40°C outside = 52°C+ inside (very life-threatening)
Full #Heatwave Guide: ➡️ fpau.org/CarHeatTrap
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
Is the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme facilitating modern slavery?
@mhharrington.bsky.social speaks to experts, community leaders & ni-Vanuatu former PALM workers in the first episode of this four-part mini-series on the guestworker scheme. #auspol
🎧 theaus.in/4sr1vbV
@mhharrington.bsky.social speaks to experts, community leaders & ni-Vanuatu former PALM workers in the first episode of this four-part mini-series on the guestworker scheme. #auspol
🎧 theaus.in/4sr1vbV
January 6, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Is the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme facilitating modern slavery?
@mhharrington.bsky.social speaks to experts, community leaders & ni-Vanuatu former PALM workers in the first episode of this four-part mini-series on the guestworker scheme. #auspol
🎧 theaus.in/4sr1vbV
@mhharrington.bsky.social speaks to experts, community leaders & ni-Vanuatu former PALM workers in the first episode of this four-part mini-series on the guestworker scheme. #auspol
🎧 theaus.in/4sr1vbV
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
7/ Here's the bottom line: This is an unprecedented shift that risks weakening protection against preventable diseases at a time when outbreaks are rising and children are already being hospitalized. Vaccines don’t work without strong supporting systems...and the U.S. doesn’t have Denmark’s.
January 5, 2026 at 8:52 PM
7/ Here's the bottom line: This is an unprecedented shift that risks weakening protection against preventable diseases at a time when outbreaks are rising and children are already being hospitalized. Vaccines don’t work without strong supporting systems...and the U.S. doesn’t have Denmark’s.
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
5/ Many of the loudest arguments for simplifying schedules come from people who are lucky enough to experience reliable care, stable insurance, and flexibility at work. But public health guidance has to work for everyone. Timing, access, and support systems are part of what makes vaccines effective.
January 5, 2026 at 8:52 PM
5/ Many of the loudest arguments for simplifying schedules come from people who are lucky enough to experience reliable care, stable insurance, and flexibility at work. But public health guidance has to work for everyone. Timing, access, and support systems are part of what makes vaccines effective.
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
4/ Denmark’s schedule works because of what sits underneath it: universal care, paid leave, centralized records, and near-perfect follow-up. In the U.S., where care is fragmented and missed visits are common, routine recommendations prevent kids from falling through the cracks.
January 5, 2026 at 8:52 PM
4/ Denmark’s schedule works because of what sits underneath it: universal care, paid leave, centralized records, and near-perfect follow-up. In the U.S., where care is fragmented and missed visits are common, routine recommendations prevent kids from falling through the cracks.
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
OUT: Helping you pay for health care.
IN: Helping oil companies pay for their infrastructure in a foreign country.
IN: Helping oil companies pay for their infrastructure in a foreign country.
January 6, 2026 at 12:14 AM
OUT: Helping you pay for health care.
IN: Helping oil companies pay for their infrastructure in a foreign country.
IN: Helping oil companies pay for their infrastructure in a foreign country.
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
feminist analysis of the pervert billionaire sector pushing its ocean boiling slop machines saw this. I developed a critical ai literacy module that explicitly drew attention to the rape culture aspect of chatbots that I set as a threshold task in week 4 of term 3 last year.
January 5, 2026 at 11:03 AM
feminist analysis of the pervert billionaire sector pushing its ocean boiling slop machines saw this. I developed a critical ai literacy module that explicitly drew attention to the rape culture aspect of chatbots that I set as a threshold task in week 4 of term 3 last year.
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
yep. Techbros were already making “nudify” apps available, and pervert glasses, and dating apps that prioritise metrics over blocking rapist accounts. The sexual violence is the point. Musk just used his ill gotten cash to scale it up.
I think the AI angle of this is obscurant. It doesn’t matter that grok is “an AI” whatever you take that to mean. Suppose X hired a team of guys to photoshop the clothes off of women and children whenever anyone asks. That’s functionally identical what happening here. It’s not complicated.
A functional country would shut Grok down permanently. Like, immediately. Right now. Last week. Whatever. Just flip the switch. Obviously.
January 5, 2026 at 10:56 AM
yep. Techbros were already making “nudify” apps available, and pervert glasses, and dating apps that prioritise metrics over blocking rapist accounts. The sexual violence is the point. Musk just used his ill gotten cash to scale it up.
She said: ‘Oh yeah, Google maps has rerouted us and we’re going to be two hours late,’” Hetherington says. “I said: ‘You can’t travel on those dirt roads – you’d sink.’”
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
‘You’re ringing an old lady in outback Queensland for life advice’: travellers worried about floods skip AI and pick up the phone
Flooding across the state’s north and west blocks roads and cuts off towns at a time of year when so many are on holidays
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:39 AM
She said: ‘Oh yeah, Google maps has rerouted us and we’re going to be two hours late,’” Hetherington says. “I said: ‘You can’t travel on those dirt roads – you’d sink.’”
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
Join us! I am moderating for the first time so no heckling in the chat though! 😆
Our first panel of BFS Online: The Creative Fix: Social Justice Through Writing takes place Saturday 10th January 2026, 10:10am to 11:10am (GMT).
Mirror Worlds
Ticket: tinyurl.com/bfsjustice
@abeaumontbooks.bsky.social @rainewilson.bsky.social @ianthegreen.bsky.social @georgiacooked.bsky.social
Mirror Worlds
Ticket: tinyurl.com/bfsjustice
@abeaumontbooks.bsky.social @rainewilson.bsky.social @ianthegreen.bsky.social @georgiacooked.bsky.social
January 5, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Join us! I am moderating for the first time so no heckling in the chat though! 😆
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” ― Oscar Wilde
December 18, 2025 at 5:15 PM
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” ― Oscar Wilde
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
“She had studied the universe all her life, but had overlooked its clearest message: For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.”
― Carl Sagan, Contact
― Carl Sagan, Contact
December 28, 2025 at 6:20 PM
“She had studied the universe all her life, but had overlooked its clearest message: For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.”
― Carl Sagan, Contact
― Carl Sagan, Contact
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
“We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
— George Orwell, 1984
— George Orwell, 1984
January 4, 2026 at 4:15 PM
“We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
— George Orwell, 1984
— George Orwell, 1984
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
NYT: “At least 40 people were killed in the U.S. attack on Venezuela, including military personnel and civilians… no American troops killed— About half a dozen soldiers injured…”
This is what they call a “law enforcement operation”? 😕
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
This is what they call a “law enforcement operation”? 😕
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
January 4, 2026 at 4:18 PM
NYT: “At least 40 people were killed in the U.S. attack on Venezuela, including military personnel and civilians… no American troops killed— About half a dozen soldiers injured…”
This is what they call a “law enforcement operation”? 😕
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
This is what they call a “law enforcement operation”? 😕
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
the idealism of the superhero is that someone, given incredible power and not held accountable by anything except their own moral code, will choose to do good things and help people. because that is, honestly, what most people do when given power and held accountable only by their own moral code
People ask me why do you like superheroes. Aren’t you a little old for all that?
Well what if we had someone like Superman show up on the scene about now? I love superheroes because they represent the best in us and an opportunity with superpowers to make a positive change in a broken world.
Well what if we had someone like Superman show up on the scene about now? I love superheroes because they represent the best in us and an opportunity with superpowers to make a positive change in a broken world.
January 4, 2026 at 3:33 PM
the idealism of the superhero is that someone, given incredible power and not held accountable by anything except their own moral code, will choose to do good things and help people. because that is, honestly, what most people do when given power and held accountable only by their own moral code
The move follows the school’s multimillion-dollar sale of its Blackhall campus, a heritage-listed 1890 Italianate mansion in Kew, to private school giant and neighbour Carey Baptist Grammar in October.
www.smh.com.au/national/vic...
www.smh.com.au/national/vic...
Private school buys former piano factory to be closer to Melbourne’s hipster heartlands
The state’s oldest progressive school has snapped up one of Carlton’s most storied buildings to improve access for families living in the inner suburbs.
www.smh.com.au
January 4, 2026 at 3:15 PM
The move follows the school’s multimillion-dollar sale of its Blackhall campus, a heritage-listed 1890 Italianate mansion in Kew, to private school giant and neighbour Carey Baptist Grammar in October.
www.smh.com.au/national/vic...
www.smh.com.au/national/vic...
Reposted by Jo Ruksenas
A very good article
I read it as part of yesterdays free email newsletter "The Atlantic Daily"
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/
I read it as part of yesterdays free email newsletter "The Atlantic Daily"
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/
Russia and China already know that the president of the United States is helping to clear the way for their adventures—and they should keep their faux-outrage to themselves.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
Maybe Russia and China Should Sit This One Out
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are just shocked—shocked!—by the American attack on Venezuela.
www.theatlantic.com
January 4, 2026 at 1:23 PM
A very good article
I read it as part of yesterdays free email newsletter "The Atlantic Daily"
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/
I read it as part of yesterdays free email newsletter "The Atlantic Daily"
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/