Thousand paper cuts

doodle, scribble, dabble. Living on Wurundjeri land

[Dr Monique Ryan MP @Mon4Kooyong]

Please join us in showing support for Helen, the Haines family, her staff, and the community of Indi by lighting a candle tomorrow night. 🧡

[Daley Pearson @Daley_Pearson]

Hello, my name's Daley. I'm a co-founder and director at Ludo Studio in Brisbane. You might know me as Thor's puny weak roommate Darryl, and from making Bluey at Ludo, I also created A24's Talk to Me with Danny and Michael Philippou. At Ludo, we also made Robbie Hood for SBS and, more recently, Thou Shalt Not Steal for Stan with Dylan River.

Here's the first teaser poster for Allen, Netflix's first Australian feature film. It's also Ludo's first live-action feature film.

I'd love to talk more about the film here soon, but just quickly - it's about a character who believes the best thing that ever happened to them has already happened.

I know I'm too obsessed with the past. And too much of a good thing is a bad thing. I rewatch movies I loved as a kid, listen to old music and read old books and want to play the same board games I did when I was ten. I'm writing this while l at a graded, boxed Ninja Turtle toy I just got off eBay, sitting above my old HeroQuest and Nightmare board games, next to an unopened, mint-condition packet of Pocahontas SkyBox trading cards VGC.

I spend a lot of time thinking about the past, and one thing in particular that happened to me a long time ago. I think I surround myself with all these things because they're a bit of a Portkey to get back there, while another part is trying very hard to grow up.

We tried to make a film about that that everyone could watch together.

I'd love to talk more about it soon but if you love Cheezels, this is for you.

We made the whole film here on the coasts here in Queensland - even in Coolum. I'm incredibly grateful to Netflix for giving us the opportunity to make it here - and set it here too. We got to work with so many brilliant Australian creatives, in front of and behind the camera, from caters, to transport to costume and make-up and puppeteers to VFX artists and produces and an extraordinary local crew. To create this with them has been one of the best parts of the whole thing.

I'd love to talk more about it and especially the people who brought it to life, here soon.

In the meantime, here's our first teaser poster.

Thanks so much for reading. Sincerely.

[Thousand paper cuts @Kahhui]

@CrabbBrendan Happy Birthday, Professor!

[Australia, Explained @AusExplained]

Dear ABC,

If you're looking for opinions on the Census Data, here's mine.

I'm a former data analyst (crime), but I also designed a data matching algorithm still used today by Victoria Police because of its effectiveness, so I have some professional skin in the game.

I am unable to defend the 2026 prioritisation of Census questions.

How does "We urgently need nationally exhaustive information about whether someone identifies as straight, gay, bisexual or another sexual orientation"...

While we didn't obtain nationally exhaustive information about whether households can access a GP,

whether they have unmet childcare needs,

whether working people commute three days rather than five,

whether households are involuntarily overcrowded because they cannot find housing.

Or these types of questions, which would surely be hard to argue against from a prioritisation perspective of best value for data capture, and best opportunity for Australians to provide a holistic picture of their lives;

Citizenship / visa or residency status (because Country of birth doesn't tell government whether someone is a citizen, permanent resident, international student, temporary worker, etc. Those populations can impose quite different infrastructure/service demands).

Year a non-Australian-born person obtained permanent residency/citizenship (because there is much better longitudinal information about settlement and integration than birthplace alone)

Primary mode of transport normally used (Census asks about journey-to-work circumstances, but hybrid/WFH has made a single Census-day travel snapshot much less informative than it once was).

Housing capacity/occupancy pressure (Bedrooms alone is crude. Ask whether people are sharing bedrooms, using converted garages/studies, or accommodating people who would otherwise live elsewhere. That's enormously relevant during a housing shortage).

Reason adults remain in/shared household (Understanding drivers of Financial necessity, caring, cultural preference, disability, housing unavailability etc...would distinguish genuine housing stress from chosen multigenerational living & inform other pressure points th Government can focus on).

Internet quality/access (As infrastructure in its own right, particularly with WFH, telehealth and online government services).

Household energy characteristics (Solar, battery, EV charging, gas/electric heating etc... would be extraordinarily useful for electricity-grid infrastructure planning)

Many of these variables have extremely obvious relationships with hospitals, roads, rail, schools, housing, childcare, workforce participation and infrastructure investment.

The ABS also removed “number of children ever born” from the 2026 Census (it will return in 2031).... while introducing gender and sexual orientation.

From a strategic-planning perspective, fertility and family formation are among the most consequential long-term variables imaginable. They affect future school enrolments, workforce size, dependency ratios, healthcare demand and population ageing.

This missed opportunity to capture all those above mentioned data sets to inform in policy/planning areas isn't just a shame, it's borderline failure of professional judgement.

We removed access to data that could inform those things, and replaced it with gender questions.

Who managed to convince a ABS strategic review board
“We don't have enough justification to collect fertility information every Census, but sexual orientation warrants universal national collection every five years”??

I'd love to see the cost-benefit/consequences methodology behind that decision !

The reality is the Census can only ask so many questions, and we should prioritise the ones that provide the greatest benefit for planning Australia's future, not pander to the "feelings" of a tiny majority of people that got warm and fuzzy because a national census survey "affirmed" their gender.

Thank you, if you read this.

[Al Haddrell @ukhadds]

Far-UVC. What is it? How does it inactivate airborne pathogens? Will it give you sunburns? If not, why not? And if they work, why aren't they everywhere?

In my latest explainer video I dive into all these questions and try to make some sense of it all.

https://t.co/U7nNIybJfF

[Firstdog Onthemoon @firstdogonmoon]

Climate disaster and record fossil fuel profits because of a war? How did that happen! https://t.co/yAYP372pA6

[Aaron Smith @aaronsmith]

Thank you, Dave. I appreciate you reaching out to ask what you got wrong.

The clip we’re discussing is less than 90 seconds long. What I’m about to do demonstrates Brandolini's Law: where the amount of energy required to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude greater than that required to produce it. Or, in this case, it takes around 600 words to correct 90 seconds of your economic fan fiction.

1⃣ Between 0 and 30 seconds

You begin by confusing government debt with the Future Fund and appear to suggest that the Future Fund can't exist along side Govt debt.

They’re different things. One can exist without the other, and in Australia they do.

Australia's Future Fund was established in 2006 with an initial govt investment of about $60B. Its first annual report, in 2008, showed assets of around $64 billion - not the $100B you suggested.

Then, at around 27 seconds, you talk about the Future Fund as though it ceased to exist (you used the word 'had' as in past tense).

It still very much exists Dave. In fact, it's grown every single year since it was created. Today it's worth around $270 billion, or over $330 billion once the other funds under management are included (eg Medical Research / Housing Australia / Drought).

So before we're even 30 seconds into the clip you've managed to confuse government debt, the Future Fund, its size, and whether it still exists.

That’s a lot of economic history to get wrong in under 30 seconds.

2⃣ Around 32 seconds

You then claim Kevin Rudd used the Future Fund to "flush money through the economy".

Again, that’s simply false. The Future Fund wasn't used to fund the stimulus. It wasn't used to build school halls. It wasn’t used for any of the things you’re describing. In your defence, you do briefly flirt with the possibility that you don’t actually know what you’re talking about. Sadly, it was a very short-lived relationship.

The GFC stimulus was funded through government borrowing.

For context, construction approvals were collapsing, more than a million Australians worked in construction, and the objective was to stop unemployment exploding during the worst global financial crisis in generations.

You're welcome to argue that was the wrong policy (but you didn't). You’re not entitled to rewrite where the money came from.

3⃣ At about 44 seconds

You say, "I might be wrong".

I concede you were correct during this part of the video.

4⃣ From 44 seconds onwards

You make a series of broad claims about the GFC response.

Yes, government debt increased. That's true.

What you omit is that Australia's stimulus largely went directly to households rather than primarily rescuing financial institutions, as happened in many other countries.

The aim was simple: keep people spending, businesses operating and Australians employed while global demand collapsed. It's known as counter-cyclical fiscal policy.

Whether you agree with it politically is your business.

The specific outcome for Australia isn't contested though - Australia was one of only two economies in the OECD to avoid recession during the Global Financial Crisis. There's no reality where that wasn’t a comparatively impressive outcome.

The money didn’t need to "trickle down". The entire point was that it started at the bottom.

5⃣ Government debt

Throughout the clip (and in life generally) you repeatedly return to the theme Labor is responsible for Australia’s debt (which btw is comparatively low).

Here are the actual numbers of net debt added by each Govt since 2007.

> Rudd/Gillard: about $190 billion over six years.
> Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison: about $366 billion over nine years, around two-thirds of which pre-dated COVID.
> Albanese: about $75 billion over four years.

Those figures don’t support the story you've been telling people. And that’s really the issue.

This isn't about getting one date wrong or misremembering one statistic. Nearly every claim in your 90-second clip turns out to be either wrong or misleading.

If you're going to publicly lecture Australians about economic history, the bare minimum expectation is that you’ve first acquainted yourself with it.

Because once the errors have been pointed out, as they have been to you multiple times, every repetition stops looking like an accident and starts looking like a strategy.

Given your very public coffee with Angus Taylor last week, perhaps people are entitled to ask what that strategy might be.

[Dr PARVEEN YOGRAJ @dr_yograj]

Peanut Peril: The Damp Habit Fueling Liver Cancer
Answer: B) Damp, poorly stored peanuts
————————————————-
This everyday pantry slip invites Aspergillus molds that produce aflatoxin B1—one of the most potent natural liver carcinogens known. Warm, humid storage lets the fungus thrive on peanuts (and other nuts/grains), contaminating them invisibly.
Pathophysiology in brief:
Once ingested, aflatoxin B1 is activated by liver CYP3A4 enzymes into a reactive 8,9-epoxide. This metabolite covalently binds DNA, forming AFB1-N7-guanine adducts. The damage triggers a signature mutation at codon 249 of the p53 tumor-suppressor gene, crippling DNA repair and apoptosis. Chronic exposure drives hepatocyte proliferation, fibrosis, and ultimately hepatocellular carcinoma—especially in regions with high dietary intake.
Slightly stale bread may grow other molds, sprouted potatoes release solanine (neurotoxic, not carcinogenic), and clumped salt is mere moisture—none match aflatoxin’s targeted liver-cancer risk.
Simple fix: store peanuts airtight, cool, and dry. One careless habit can silently load your liver with a proven carcinogen.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ #MedTwitter #MedEd #MedX @IhabFathiSulima @ajaykraina @sowmiyasid @sanjoychakra

[Dr Monique Ryan MP @Mon4Kooyong]

I've raised this in Parliament. Residents in Kew, East Kew, and North Balwyn have been left with decades-old plywood noise walls instead of the modern barriers they were promised on North East Link. Now the Age reports Belle Vue Primary's noise wall has also been gutted.

Under the Allan state government the cost of the NEL has blown out from $10bn to $26bn. I again call on the Federal Government, which has tipped in $5bn already, to demand that the state government delivers on its promises to Victorians.
https://t.co/BaD1xc4Dsy

[Firstdog Onthemoon @firstdogonmoon]

Neil the seal! We can't get enough of his pinnipedular antics! But the truth is he's just a little guy... https://t.co/kMtp9ZL5Ne

[Prof Kathy Eagar AM @keagar.bsky.social @k_eagar]

A shout out to Australians. If you have some spare time & an electric or hybrid car, please consider volunteering with Meals on Wheels. MOW depends on volunteers who use their own cars to deliver meals. The fuel crisis is going to hit MOW hard. Contact your local MOW directly

[Thousand paper cuts @Kahhui]

@ori_goldberg Ori, you have a good heart. Thank you for sharing your compassionate insight. You have my empathy. Hope you are ok

[Kimberly Prather, Ph.D. @kprather88]

3/ And it's not just pathogens. Wildfire smoke, heavy metals, toxic gases, soot—all flowing into your lungs, heart, and even your brain with every single breath you take.

[Kimberly Prather, Ph.D. @kprather88]

2/ Measles, flu, COVID-19, norovirus—most infectious diseases spread through the air we breathe. We just accept that everyone gets sick indoors. It doesn't have to be this way.

[Kimberly Prather, Ph.D. @kprather88]

1/ If I hear one more public official call indoor air filters a "band-aid," I'm going to explode! It's so logical, yet so readily dismissed. Filtering indoor air should be as standard as filtering water. Full stop. 🧵

[Thousand paper cuts @Kahhui]

@OttoWooduck @firstdogonmoon 😔

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

Why we need big time investment in A.I. for accelerating science. New @ScienceMagazine editorial https://t.co/G2mMvHQwhQ

[Thousand paper cuts @Kahhui]

@ori_goldberg Happy Birthday, Ori!

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

Gut bacteria can produce serotonin which may be the underpinning of intestinal dysfunctional motility such as irritable bowel syndrome
https://t.co/pS0ygX065y