Kindred Spirits
A podcast within which bard and wizard talk shop (sans AI slop)...
Great Australian Pods Podcast Directory: https://www.greataustralianpods.com/kindred-spirits/
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"#Finland to audit whether US is actually delivering #NATO-bought weapons to #Ukraine"
Given how pro-russia and pro-israel this Trump administration is, the result will not surprise us.
#Australia paid billions for American submarines, yet the USA already said they won't deliver. They will send U.S.-crewed submarines operate from Australian bases instead.
Relying on American weaponry system is a risk in and of itself.
"What has been promised to Ukraine must reach Ukraine" — Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen, announcing that Helsinki will audit US compliance with contracts under which European NATO members purchased weapons for Ukraine from American suppliers.
Victorians and Tasmanians get free public transport as state governments seek to ease surge in fuel demand
@kentparkstreet1 and just like pausing mutual obligation during covid, when this fuel crisis us over, we'll go back to charging for "public" transport.
If there's one thing all #australia can come together on, it's that "beating poor people with sticks" is the national sport. We bloody love that shit. Better still if they're disabled and/or brown.
Asked my work for an Opal (aka Myki, Oyster etc) card instead of a Fuel Card. Their response? Laughter and incomprehension. Why would I, a rich able-bodied white person, want to beat MYSELF with STICKS? Madness, it's #UnAustralian .
The new uncomfortable normality
No Worries? Australian attitudes to national security, risk and resilience (report): National security starts at the front door – not at the territorial borders.
"For most Australians, the 18-month research project revealed, national security starts at their front door – not at the territorial borders of the island continent. It showed they are worried the country is not prepared for the demands of a volatile 21st century in a polluted information ecosystem, where the rules-based international order is crumbling, economic precarity has become uncomfortably normal and trust is more fragile." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/29/surging-anxiety-australia-national-security-patriotism-ntwnfb
Report: No Worries? Australian attitudes to national security, risk and resilience >>
https://nsc.anu.edu.au/research/no-worries-australian-attitudes-national-security-risk-and-resilience
#PublicAnxiety #anxiety #Australia #worries #trust #precarity #inequality #polycrisis #instability #safety #stability #participation #SocialIntegration #FarRight #SocialCohesion #belonging #HyperIndIvidualisation #UncomfortableNormality #climate #NationalSecurity #war
There's been a lot of talk recently about sovereign capability in Australia but I've not really heard anyone (at least in the mainstream) talking about our sovereign software capability.
Yes, advanced manufacturing is important and we should be investing there, but I'm convinced that our biggest sovereign risk in the 2020s is our software. The reality is that if a hostile US administration pressured just 2 companies, Microsoft and Amazon, to deny service to Australia, it would cripple virtually all government and business services in our country overnight. Add in 2 more companies, Google and Apple, and virtually all business and consumer devices and services could be out of action.
Is that likely? No. 10 years ago, we might have been safe to ignore the possibility entirely. However, given the increasingly erratic nature of the current US administration (including direct criticism of Australia from the president) coupled with the near complete capitulation of the US tech industry with their whims, it's a possibility we need to take seriously.
What would a mitigation strategy look like? Here's 2 policy ideas I'd like to see the Australian government advance:
1. A government-backed, Australian maintained Linux distribution, with out of the box compliance with the Australian Signals Directorate Essential Eight strategies to mitigate cybersecurity incidents. This should be used by all levels of government and available for use by the private sector. This is far from a novel idea, it is already in place (in whole or in part) in several countries, sub-national governments, or sectors within national governments.
2. All government cloud services should be located in Australian owned and controlled data centres. All government contracts should insist on the same as part of the tender process where government data is being stored on cloud-based systems. I find it genuinely terrifying how much critical Australian Government IT infrastructure is being run on AWS data centres; even if a data centre is physically located in Australia, the fact that Australian's don't have complete control over this critical infrastructure is an unacceptable sovereign risk.
I'm focusing on risk mitigation here, but these changes could also result in significant potential cost savings and economic gains.
Sorry about the long post, but this has been on my mind a lot lately.
Greetings from Rockdale
A postcard featuring a hand tinted black and white photograph of a train station, and a message on the back. The image on the front shows a central pl…
Card, Ink
Rockdale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
https://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/s/hw/EMU.EMUIRN/172358
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#Art #History #Museum #ArtHistory #Gallery #MastodonArt #MastoArt #Culture #Random #Australia
Russia surveilling US military assets in Middle East to aid Iran #Ukraine #USA #UK #EU #Europe #Czechia #Poland #Lithuania #Latvia #Trump #Iran #Estonia #Germany #France #Austria #Hungary #Romania #Slovakia #Japan #Taiwan #Australia #Switzerland #Canada #Italy #Ireland #Netherlands #Finland #Sweden #Denmark #Iceland #Norway #Spain #NATO #RussiaIsATerroristState
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