Month: March 2025

The Federal Election

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March 30, 2025

10:49 am

28 Comments on The Federal Election

politics

Jesus.

Albo has been pretty useless, when he hasn’t been an authoritarian dickhead, but who else is there? Dutton is always an authoritarian dickhead, and a divisive Neanderthal wrecker thug. The Nationals are the hypocritical hayseeds they’ve always been. The Greens have lost the plot, and their little antisemitic minds. And then you’re down to the Olympic level fruitcakes, the likes of Hanson and Palmer.

Is there any minor or micro party out there that, in sum, is sort of sane, that one might stomach voting for? Or, does one just hold one’s nose and vote for Albo?

Continue reading “The Federal Election” →

A Couple Quick Words on Romania

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March 13, 2025

7:34 am

11 Comments on A Couple Quick Words on Romania

politics

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I know absolutely nothing about Romania beyond Dracula, Nadia Comǎneci and a coming of age movie that has maths in it. In particular, I know nothing about either Cǎlin Georgescu or Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă. I am quite willing to believe that Georgescu and Iovanovici-Șoșoacă are, as has been claimed, “far-right” and “ultra-nationalist” and “antisemitic” and “pro-Russian” and baby killers and that they smell of cabbage, that they are the most troublesome Romanians since Vlad the Impaler. Nonetheless, I am pretty sure that the stupidest, most counterproductive manner in which to combat right wing populism is to bar candidates and to annul election results simply because one does not like the candidates or the results.

It is annoying and deeply depressing to have censorious, anti-democratic sleazebags such as Thierry Breton and Ursula von der Leyen force one to be on the same side as all-round sleazebags such as Musk and Vance. Continue reading “A Couple Quick Words on Romania” →

Jo Boaler, Still the Victim

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March 9, 2025

5:20 pm

4 Comments on Jo Boaler, Still the Victim

media

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We have been very busy of late, playing Dr. Jekyll for a change.1 Which has made this one long overdue. Still, it has to be done.

A few weeks ago, the Guardian published an article by freelance journalist, Alice Speri:

‘We’re like sitting ducks’: the right’s ‘war on woke’ has a well-tested playbook to take down academics

We had not previously heard of Speri but her article is astonishing. It is confused and extraordinarily manipulative, an exemplar for all that is wrong with the Guardian, with media coverage generally of MAGA thuggery, and with the big media coverage, almost always, of poor little Jo Boaler.  Continue reading “Jo Boaler, Still the Victim” →