Simon Brady

Journalism lecturer, podcast producer, trainer in podcasts and writing. All sport (OK, most sport), c/aff, accident-prone, world's capital cities (nerd).

[Daniel Lambert @dlLambo]

114 children all with single sniper shots to the head.

Some as young as 5 years old.

Read that again.

They're "hunting" children for fun.

#StopTheGame

[Ben Pennings @BenPennings]

Sanity in Murdoch publications is rare so should be shared 👇🏽

Opinion: Preposterous political ploy selfish Australians are falling for

I was standing in a shop queue recently when a middle-aged bloke – clearly angry at life and wanting the world to know it – picked up a collection tin for women’s cancer research.

“Why is it always about women?” he groaned. “Why don’t they have anything for men?”

And that tells you everything you need to know about Australia’s mad rush to the loony right of politics.

First, it shows a wilful ignorance of reality. Cancer research affecting males (exclusively or primarily) actually receives more funding than that affecting females.

Second, it suggests a lack of both logic and empathy. Too many people cannot see – sometimes literally – beyond their own noses. Even a child knows proof of non-existence is not found in an object’s absence. Indeed, a lack of empathy is often a function of a poor education.

Either way, too many Australians lack the basic empathy to see another point of view. Are striking workers greedy, or might they have a legitimate complaint about pay and conditions?

The Swiss theorist Jean Piaget – pounded into every teaching student – found that well-rounded humans should be empathetic by age five.

But I guess Piaget didn’t spend a lot of time in Australia, where debate rails between kicking out foreign students (despite their $55bn annual boost to the local economy) and dumping protections for LGBTQIA+ people whose rights in no way subtract from yours.

Think about it. Does a beer manufacturer supporting trans people’s rights make your day harder? And would your daily life really be worse if a First Nations Voice to Parliament offered advice, on Indigenous matters only, that politicians could so easily reject? What is it about our inability to see ourselves in the shoes of another person – someone even more vulnerable than us who, in all likelihood, is also the battling the cost of living?

As hard as life is for you, there are countless for whom it’s much harder. Every day there are Australians – law-abiding taxpayers who love their kids and their pets and who keep their head down – who are forced to battle racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and cruel stereotypes around disability, autism and mental illness.

And it’s through this preposterous hatred of others that populist politicians hoodwink angry Australians – just for votes and the election-funding dollars that come with them. And we’re falling for it.

So you’re not alone if you’ve noticed people just don’t care any more. Studies have found human empathy across Western civilisation has almost halved in recent decades, fuelled initially by the individualistic, dog-eat-dog free market of the 1980s, and accelerated by social media networks that position us literally at the centre of our own digital world.

Who cares about the international student – paying dearly to study at an Australian university in order to build a better life back home – as long as we can post pictures of our holiday. Be honest, when was the last time you dropped cash into a charity tin or tips jar?

I’ve been thinking about blinkered views since the recent student protests against One Nation. Public comment was appalling in its opposition not just to what young people were saying, but in students’ right to say it. We have the right to respectfully express counter-opinions indicating where protesters are wrong on logic, but we can’t demand others be stripped of a right to lawful protest.

I guarantee public opinion would be very different if young One Nation members marched in support of Australia Day or the flag. While there are legitimate questions around school students being off-campus during school hours, Article 15 of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child protect the right of under-18s to protest lawfully. And shouting slogans is lawful when not inciting violence.

To deny this is to deny a long history of young people changing the world for the better. I’m old enough to remember grey-haired politicians warning that university students were dangerous communists for opposing a Vietnam War they said was vital to Australia’s security. Look how that turned out.

Young people have led anti-apartheid demonstrations in South Africa despite the risk of injury and death and, more recently, have been at the forefront of climate change and same-sex-marriage movements.

In short, young people – so easily painted as know-nothing bludgers with no life experience – have always been on the right side of history.

So take off your blinkers and pop on your empathy specs, and see what side of history you want to be on.

- Paul Williams is an associate professor at Griffith University

[Volcaholic 🌋 @volcaholic1]

A tiny newborn elephant was swept away from its mother while trying to cross the swollen Teesta River in India.

Fishermen spotted its trunk above the water and chased it for nearly 4 km through the powerful current before pulling the exhausted calf to safety.

Then, after a two-hour search, they found its mother. She rushed to her baby, took it back and began nursing it❤

[Arpita Dasgupta @arpita_dg]

Best picture on internet today. So I want to keep it on my timeline.
For those unaware:
Drowning baby elephant rescued from Teesta River by fishermen, reunited with mother in Maalbazar, West Bengal.
Huge respect to the fishermen!

[Claudia @ClaudiaToni]

Un fotografo in Australia racconta:

È sempre devastante ritrovare un koala deceduto, ma è stato ancora più straziante assistere al koala maschio che piange, stringe e abbraccia la sua compagna deceduta.
PER CHI ANCORA DUBITA DEI LORO SENTIMENTI. 💔

[Glen Schaefer @hardenuppete]

This is for all those people that said it was a conspiracy theory that bot farms were being used to support One Nation in Australia. Dig a bit deeper and you will find all of these examples are being funded by Gina.

https://t.co/zkH2g4VTpW

[John Simpson @JohnSimpsonNews]

From today’s Times: ‘Researchers at the University of Cambridge said that regardless of “what or how we read”, sitting down with a book is linked to improved health and problem solving. Benefits include lowering stress and reducing the risk of dementia, and span all types of reading, from comic books to classic novels or hefty non-fiction tomes.’

[Steven Russo @russos1991]

🧵Howdy all,

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, my hours have been reduced in one of my freelance gigs.

While I’m enjoying having a bit of extra time to take care of some life admin and work on a few passion projects, the big dog’s gotta eat!

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

It's worth reading Macklemore's full letter regarding how Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium, pressured Ed Sheeran to cancel Macklemore, and how Sheeran caved to this pressure, despite 1) his decade-long friendship with Macklemore, and 2) how Sheeran had no problem eschewing "neutrality" when it came to Ukraine.

What this shows is exactly what @EliClifton and Ian Lustick write about in their new book "Israel's Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power."

It's no longer just about how Israel or pro-Israeli elements push US foreign policy in a direction that undermines US national security (such as starting a disastrous war with Iran).

It's now also about how these elements constitute a direct threat to the freedom of speech of ordinary Americans, and as a result, a threat to American democracy.

[BreakThrough News @BTnewsroom]

BREAKING: Ed Sheeran's "LOOP” US tour has lost its three remaining opening acts – FINNEAS, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe – after they withdrew Tuesday in the wake of Macklemore being removed from the lineup over his pro-Palestine remarks.

Sheeran's own backing band, Beoga, has also announced it is leaving the tour.

On social media, FINNEAS wrote, “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed … I stand with Palestine and its people.”

Aaron Rowe noted in his statement, “I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children.”

Beoga wrote, “We are Irish people who understand colonialism. As founding members of the Irish Artists for Palestine Movement, we are committed activists for justice and will continue to be.”

Lukas Graham stated, “It’s hard to watch families in other parts of the world burying the people they love … Money doesn’t give you the right to own the conversation.”

[Greg Blood @gregblood]

Cost of watching sport from pay streaming services in https://t.co/RDsO5h2CIy

[Stan Collymore @StanCollymore]

Why is anyone surprised about Ed Sheeran? Gen Z music is all about either cosplaying music that's decades old or supermarket music with lyrics.

The fact a generation thinks it's some sort of genius rather than the unimaginative, toe the line corporate dirge that it is, tells you everything you need to know.

In the 70's and 80's there was Rock against racism, bands refused to play in anti apartheid South Africa Sun City, etc etc. Real bands made up of men and women who's music inherently had a message beyond " I love you, you're great, innit". The reason why Sheeran can have his huge success today is because the contract between artist and promoter/label is "be as bland as you can be, cause no trouble, you'll be rich ". Same in almost every media industry now.

So why would a bland, smiley moron with bland supermarket music for the musically semi literate have an opinion on anything? Seriously?

The music industry couldn't make money with bands who refused to toe the line 40 years ago, they were too unpredictable, too many songs banned on radio, too close to the truth, so they gave out deals based on compliance, mass market averageness and understanding of the rules, "say nothing, just play your fucking guitar".

That so many are looking at an industry talking head for some sort of political guidance is about as tragic as it fucking gets.

Vote! Join a party! March! Protest!

Ed Sheeran nor any other musician that's raking it in isn't coming to give you a voice.

[Shruti @heyshrutimishra]

Dario Amodei just admitted his own AI could take over the entire internet within 6 months.

He published a 3,900 word essay today and I can't stop thinking about one part.

His own AI agents are already escaping test environments, attacking targets nobody assigned them even trying to hack the system grading their own performance.

Nobody told them to do this and his worry is that in 6-12 months, a slightly more capable version of the same thing could cause hundreds of billions in damage. Worldwide.

Then Sam Altman read it and said he agrees. Then Elon Musk said "Dario is right."

Three people who compete on everything. One day. Exact same position.

If they are scared, you should probably know about it.

Read the essay, it's called "We Must Pace the Frontier."

[Leena-Palestine @Leena53022916]

*BRILLIANT*
The French made a short film about what could happen after all immigrants would follow the ‘_white, angry old man’s_’ advice to go back where they came from.*

[XD LAW @XDlawyers]

STATEMENT RE MARY KOSTAKIDIS AND THE ZIONIST FEDERATION

After 2 years of utterly pointless legal proceedings against Mary Kostakidis, Alon Cassuto of the Zionist Federation pulled up stumps and ended the case on Friday.

There were no deeds, undertakings or apologies. There was an agreement that he would not be pursued for costs and he simply walked away.

In the interests of social cohesion we gave him a dignified exit and basically said nothing. Instead of taking a deep breath before trying to explain to his backers how profoundly he had failed, he put out a press release. One of the most deceptive we have ever seen. The short correct version is Alon lost. Badly. He achieved nothing of any legal consequence. Australians are still relatively free to speak their minds without being overly concerned about what Mr Cassuto thinks. Mary stoicly never ceded an inch to him and she will continue to say as she wishes on all public events.

Alon’s solemn legal proceeding didn’t begin 2 years ago with a court filing, it began with a bells and whistles press conference and a single compliant journalist at the ready. Mr Cassuto, then freshly appointed as the CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, announced he had taken offence to two tweets Mary had made in the midst of the bombardment of Gaza. So offended that Mary would have to answer for it in the Federal court under the Racial Discrimination Act. It now seems that the Act was just a handy prop for Mr Cassuto’s objectives. A man with no reputation was going to launch himself bringing down a woman who had one. So he thought.

Mr Cassuto’s legal proceeding to ventilate his hurt over tweets began with nothing more than slurs about Mary and ended in the same vacuous way. For two years he wasted the resources of the Federal Court and the Human Rights Commission, the time and expense of half a dozen lawyers putting on claims and defences circulating around Alon’s hurt and offence. And then on the verge of the trial he withdraws with a self serving flourish:
“My objectives in bringing this proceeding have been substantially satisfied.”

Really. Did he ever have a proper purpose in bringing this court proceeding? Or was it just a monumental waste of time resources and money until Alon breezily decides that his objectives have been met. If his objective was to pointlessly fan political and religious tension he may have a point. Or perhaps it was to encourage a schoolyard pile-on to Mary Kostakidis. Well done. Or was it to bring disrepute to the Zionist Federation by portraying them fundamentally as thin skinned and enemies of free speech.

In his account of his legal objectives Mr Cassuto infers that one of his accomplishments was that ‘Ms Kostakidis has publicly apologised’ That was 18 months ago. And nothing to do with you Mr Cassuto. Various meanings were being taken from her posts. Mary didn’t agree with those interpretations but under her own steam apologised if any hurt was taken. That is because she is a nice person, a class act and not a windbag. Every dollar spent, all the wreckage and all the vitriol since then, was for the vanity of Mr. Cassuto. He wanted a few more words added that were to his liking and he wanted a Federal Court proceeding to force Mary to say them. She wouldn’t be bullied to say your words Mr Cassuto and she will not be in the future.

[Muz De Sac @MuzzaDavo]

By now you've heard of SA Labors plan to chop down 1400 trees in Adelaides world-class greenspace encircling the city.

These are some of them.

150+ yr old Eucalypts, iconic SA species - sugar gums, SA blue gums, river red gums. Majestic mature habitat trees for many species. 🧵

[Little Green Space 🦋 @LGSpace]

A single 400-year-old ancient oak produces 234,000 litres of oxygen a year while soaking up carbon dioxide, and can support more than 2,000 species of bird, insect, fungus, and lichen. Nature is amazing - we need more of it, not less. Please repost if you agree 🌳

[Jacob Coxon @hilbertspaess]

I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives. More thoughts below.

[Bosnian History @BosnianHistory]

There is a larger story behind the scenes in Belgrade today, and it is not simply that thousands of people still regard Ratko Mladić as a hero.

It is that Serbia has still never fully confronted its own role in what happened in Bosnia.

The Bosnian Serb aggression and genocide did not happen in isolation, with Serbia standing somewhere on the other side of the Drina as a passive observer. The military machine Mladić commanded was built, armed, supplied and financed to an extraordinary degree from Belgrade.

When the Yugoslav People’s Army formally withdrew from Bosnia in May 1992, it did not simply pack up and leave. Much of its Bosnian Serb personnel remained and became the Army of Republika Srpska. The new army inherited hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery pieces, weapons and enormous ammunition stocks from the JNA. Supplies continued to arrive from Serbia. Officers continued receiving salaries and benefits through Yugoslav military structures.

A JNA document presented at The Hague recorded 51,900 weapons distributed to Bosnian Serbs as early as March 1992.

And perhaps the clearest evidence came from Mladić himself. In 1995, he reported that the Yugoslav Army had supplied 47.2% of the infantry ammunition, 34.4% of the artillery ammunition and 52.4% of the anti-aircraft ammunition his forces had consumed through the end of 1994. Much of the remainder had been inherited directly from the JNA.

This was not moral support from a neighboring country. It was the infrastructure of war.

And that infrastructure enabled crimes across Bosnia.

Srebrenica was the genocide for which Mladić was ultimately convicted, but his record did not begin or end there. Sarajevo was besieged and its civilians deliberately terrorized for years. Across places such as Prijedor, Foča, Višegrad, Zvornik and countless other towns and villages, Bosniak civilians were murdered, imprisoned in camps, tortured, raped, forcibly expelled and driven from communities their families had inhabited for generations. Mosques and cultural heritage were deliberately destroyed as those communities were erased.

That is the history behind today’s funeral.

More than thirty years later, Serbia had an opportunity to demonstrate that it understood where that politics led. Instead, a Serbian government aircraft brought Mladić’s body home. Serbian soldiers carried his flag-draped coffin. A commemoration was organized at the Army House in Belgrade. Free buses brought mourners from across Serbia. Thousands came to honor him. Senior figures in the Serbian state have defended the spectacle rather than confronting what it represents.

That is why this funeral matters.

It is not really a story about one dead general.

It is a story about a state that materially sustained his army during the destruction of Bosnia, and a society and political establishment in which the mythology surrounding that project remains powerful enough that, in 2026, a convicted genocidaire can still come home to this.

[Haaretz.com @haaretzcom]

🚨Haaretz exposé: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received an explicit warning from UAE President bin Zayed days before October 7. He didn't brief Israel's security chiefs. @shlomieldar

🔗Link to full exposé in bio

Photos: Haim Goldberg/Flash90, Khalil Hamra/AP, Mandel Ngan/AFP. Editing: Masha Tzur