Lindsay Bussau

[Andrea I’m staying alive for now @andrea_weymouth]

@lesstenny

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

Arguably the biggest problem that the world faces today is the US and the West in general deciding to stop following any international rule, be it wrt the laws of war (eg. Gaza), trade (e.g. semiconductors) or even sports (this story). So no it's very much not trivial and extremely illustrative of the world right now.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

There you go: yet another egregious example of the now all-too familiar pattern of the US preferring to sabotage international institutions rather than accept equal treatment.

This time, they've cut funding to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) - not because it failed in its mission, but because it refused to discriminate against Chinese athletes and had the audacity to expose a major US doping cover-up. Which they of course justify in their usual Orwellian doublespeak ways as 'protecting the integrity of competition' - by defunding the very organization that caught them undermining it.

For background this is a detailed description of the case involving the Chinese athletes: https://t.co/MtTNF9Ke7x

As a summary, in late 2022 and early 2023, some Chinese athletes tested positive for trace amounts of metandienone, a prohibited substance. They were immediately suspended while the Chinese branch of WADA investigated - a stark contrast to what we now know about US practices.

The investigation - which eventually concluded it was a case of meat contamination - was remarkably thorough: they tested hundreds of meat samples and found dozens positive for the substance. Supporting this conclusion were negative tests from the athletes both before and after the positive results, negative hair tests, and negative supplement tests. After a thorough review in early 2024, WADA and other anti-doping organizations accepted this explanation and did not appeal the decision to close the cases without sanctions.

It's worth noting that similar contamination cases have occurred in several countries, including the United States itself. It's also worth noting that an independent investigation (https://t.co/F9h4DqerMj) was carried out on this case and found that WADA did not mishandle the case or show bias towards the Chinese swimmers.

After some US officials decided to instrumentalize and mischaracterize this case during the Paris Olympics after Chinese swimmers did especially well, WADA officially said in a BBC article (https://t.co/yALmaWvoeS) that this was effectively baseless discrimination: "certain individuals [in the US] are attempting to score political points purely on the basis that the athletes in question are Chinese".

The US's accusations of favorable treatment for Chinese athletes are particularly ironic given that Chinese swimmers at the Paris Olympics were tested an average of 21 times each since January 2024, compared to just 6 times for US swimmers and 4 times for Australian swimmers. They had special treatment all right: it was especially harsh!

Meanwhile WADA also revealed together with Reuters a doping scandal of enormous proportions involving US athletes: https://t.co/YS6gwltN2l

It turns out that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) concocted a scheme that "allowed athletes who had doped, to compete for years, in at least one case without ever publishing or sanctioning their anti-doping rule violations, in direct contravention of the World Anti-Doping Code and USADA's own rules". So while Chinese athletes were immediately suspended upon detection of trace amounts and thoroughly investigated, USADA was knowingly allowing doped athletes to compete without any disclosure to their competitors.

This is a direct quote of the WADA statement on this: "How must other athletes feel knowing they were competing in good faith against those who were known by USADA to have cheated? It is ironic and hypocritical that USADA cries foul when it suspects other Anti-Doping Organizations are not following the rules to the letter while it did not announce doping cases for years and allowed cheats to carry on competing, on the off chance they might help them catch other possible violators. WADA wonders if the USADA Board of Directors, which governs USADA, or U.S. Congress, which funds it, knew about this non-compliant practice that not only undermined the integrity of sporting competition but also put the co-operating athletes' security at risk."

This case perfectly encapsulates a broader pattern: when faced with fair competition and transparent oversight, the US increasingly opts for obstruction and sabotage rather than improving their own performance. Whether it's sports, technology, trade, or international humanitarian law the response seems to be the same - if you can't win within the rules, try to break the system itself. We now have to face reality: the US is now the very definition of a rogue state.

[Lindsay Bussau @LBussau]

@WallStreetApes what would Luigi do??

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

Those who dismiss Israel's genocide charges, do that out of ignorance of daily crimes in Gaza and overlooking the profound suffering inflicted on the people there. Those who recognize it as genocide understand that what we know, is just the apex: it will take years to uncover the full extent of Israel's atrocities. Meanwhile the case of the disappeared must be urgently investigated in the attempt to save lives. With the Israeli Supreme Court refusing to do so, other legal avenues must be explored.

https://t.co/TCtWBBTPBZ

[Jonathan Cook @Jonathan_K_Cook]

Sterling reporting here from the BBC on the agonies faced by Israelis:

Some have grown tired of having to murder children in Gaza for months on end;

Others are losing work because of the extra military service needed to complete the genocide;

Still more are resentful that some religious Israelis are not sharing in the task of slaughtering Palestinian civilians;

And all Israelis are anxious that the job of exterminating Gaza's population has been a massive drain on the Israeli economy that is hitting them hard in the pocket.

[Lindsay Bussau @LBussau]

@sueroberts7 @BradBattinMP @abcmelbourne No surprise there. The religious extremists who stacked the Vic Libs with "Good Godly" candidates also believe women should submit to men.

[Lindsay Bussau @LBussau]

@augustdee42 @QuentinDempster @WhosFibbing @Albo @CroweDM @NACCgovau As a scientist, I will continue to follow the data and evidence rather than the hopes and prayers of the self-delusional. It's amazing that the oil and gas giants don't even need to pay the useful idiots that push to allow them to keep poisoning us all for free.

[Gary Fallon @GaryFallon2]

Farewell to the "broad church" of the Liberal Party of Victoria. Here are its remains. The religious right-wing ratbags now run the remnants of Bob Menzies' party...
#libspill

[Lindsay Bussau @LBussau]

@QuentinDempster @WhosFibbing @Albo @CroweDM @NACCgovau A "cult" that includes every national science organisation, the re-insurers, national militaries and security bodies, even the scientists working for the oil and gas industries etc. Pretty much everybody that understands the science and is not paid to dissent by fossil fuel inc.

[Quentin Dempster @QuentinDempster]

Yes 2025 will be a cost of living election & @Albo has more credit points than Dutton. But nowhere does SMH/Age’s ⁦@CroweDM⁩ mention two issues which drove voters to dump ScoMo in 22: climate change (we’re exporting more coal/gas) & integrity (⁦@NACCgovau⁩ = flop).

[Lindsay Bussau @LBussau]

@AdameMedia Australia should arrest some of the gas industry execs that are currently taking tens of billions of dollars of gas for no royalties and no tax. And the politicians who signed off on it while they are at it.

[Lindsay Bussau @LBussau]

@owenjonesjourno @DropSiteNews ABC in Australia has been awful too.

[The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand @ConversationEDU]

Almost half of us are now angry about climate change. But who we're angry at can change whether we turn anger into action – or despair https://t.co/Dzg8CAT9vM
@mentaloose
@zlevo
@SamanthaStanley
@OurANU
@unimelb
@UniCanberra
@UNSW

[Lindsay Bussau @LBussau]

@RefeBuby The basic error in your statement is that you assume you live in a democracy and that every vote has equal weight.
The reality is that a handful of nervous billionaires will ensure he gets the death penalty to serve as an example to the rest of serfdom not to get ideas.

[The Shovel @TheShovel]

Advocates said the new system would help reduce confusion about exactly what empty statement was being expressed, while Governments continued to do nothing.

Read the full story here: https://t.co/OZTY76r4gl

[JayJay @JayJay91341991]

Thankyou Queen Laura for your exemplary reporting throughout 2024. The only journalist who is not afraid to call out the bullshit of the Coalition! 👏🔥💋
#abc730 #auspol @abcnews

[Assal Rad @AssalRad]

Human Rights Watch: Israel is committing genocide

UN report: Israel is committing genocide

Amnesty: Israel is committing genocide

UN experts: Israel is committing genocide

Genocide scholars: Israel is committing genocide

🇮🇱: No we’re not

🇺🇸: Great, here’s some more weapons