Time to fix HECs debt. Young people face the highest cost of living pressures in the country. The HECS system was meant to be zero interest but with high inflation, it just doesn’t make sense. Crossbench has pushed this & now the Uni Accord says it needs to change - govt must act

The anti-smartphone movement will be one of the biggest movements of our time. It's just getting started...

Give us a break…

Wait, so the guy who's been grifting on the back of "Crikey bludgers, the scientists are Baroque-ly lying to you forthwith. Shiver me pipsqueaks, loik, come to me for real facts" is now "God is real"? Where was that, in a suppressed academic journal or something?

The Democrats, essentially. (from a sketch about diversity-powered drones on The Moth Effect)

Keeping the peace sure looks a lot like the opposite of that.

Does anyone I follow actually tweet? I occasionally check back here and all I see is strangers' tweets about "10 new things you need to know about the next GPT update", or "This billionnaire started with nothing. 15 productivity hacks I've learnt from him." What is this shithole?

Hi Anthony Albanese - I’m just about to murder my neighbours. We’re off Barrenjoey Road, Newport. Assuming this is wrong, but if you can’t find us on a map without searching I’ll assume that’s the “ok”? Cheers, just asking for a friend-slash-genocide.

I think there's a repeated mistake of lumping social media & phones in with "generational fears" ("the kids are listening to Elvis --> Punk aaagh") It's not that. Social media / phones are in the cigarettes / fast food category, not the "growns ups don't get the kids" category.

If we can get enough people to keep their head in the sand, maybe the Undersand can be where we hang out and Abovesand can be just some weird place we forget about.

People who follow the news are more likely to agree with statements such as ‘Most people care only about themselves.’ They more often believe that we as individuals are helpless to better the world. They are more likely to be stressed and depressed. /1

It’s discombobulating to remember Julian Assange hid in an embassy for seven years for exposing war crimes while today President Biden can openly wander past a microphone and mutter “Kid bombing good good”.

I wonder how long this will matter with AI. Soon won't we all have an earpod in our ear - Douglas Adams' Babel Fish style - live-translating from one language to another? We'll just hear the world in our language forever won't we? theguardian.com/australia-news…

Dumbphone update: Australia Post is ending its dirt cheap prepaid plan this September so think I'll now switch to ALDI mobile. Still got the same $40 crummy phone from Woollies. Dropped it hundreds of times: shatters into about four pieces each time. Still works fine.

As a result, Origin customers can now expect their energy prices to drop. It won't happen. But they can still expect it if they want to.

UncAInny - the unnerving and growing sense that nothing you’re reading online has been written by an actual person.

I've seen about three iterations of 'lonely guy celebrates birthday and then all cafe staff rally around him' videos. I'm curious: are these all volunteers? Or does someone have the money to hire multiple actors to make all this synthetic Battery Farm Positivity?

Myself and my daughter going into Ad-iatorial combat for Paper Moose on The Gruen Team tonight, abctv 8pm.