Denise Beale

It's happened recently in NSW ( Rory Amon in 2024) but as far as I can tell Sam Groth is the first Victorian lower house MP to cause a by-election by resigning in their first term in parliament since James Fairbairn quit to switch to federal in 1933. #springst

2075 #cassowary #birdphotography #birding
#NaturePhotography #nature #bird

A print featuring a row of winter trees behind and reflected in a large puddle in a flooded green field

'Lakeside Puddles' linocut created by printmaker Alexandra Buckle #WomensArt

If this is the first time you've seen one of our earthquake maps, welcome! They are routinely posted, but may not contain any notable activity. They exist to show that we are not without earthquakes in southeast Australia. This one is from 19 January to 1 February. Largest magnitude was a 2.4 in NSW

Not long ago, they made movies about being stranded on an island signaling distress.

Now they’re outside a large continental city signaling distress and PM’ing our island for refuge.

Makes you wonder.

A red hat, inspired by a symbol of resistance to Nazi occupation, gains traction in Minnesota A Minneapolis knitting shop has resurrected the design of a Norwegian cap worn to protest Nazi occupation. Its owner says the money raised from hat pattern sales will support the local immigrant community.

A Minneapolis knitting shop has resurrected the design of a Norwegian cap worn to protest Nazi occupation. Its owner says the money raised from hat pattern sales will support the local immigrant community.

Bridget the cat infiltrates the 'Abbey Road' cover shoot and becomes THE definitive fifth Beatle.

THREAD.

My parents' cat Bridget vanished. As the weeks dragged on they became ever more worried, so to distract himself my dad began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time and popping up at some of art & music's most important moments.

I've collected his work here...

Democratic Penguins Republic - Trade War (Official Music Video) YouTube video by demonflyingfox

If you've been following the story so far (if not scroll back)...

The Trump regime declares tariff war on the Australian territories of Heard Island and McDonald Islands.

The inhabitants form the Democratic Penguins Republic.

-demonflyingfox youtu.be/HJ8qGOe2K0o

I've moved house 41 times. There's lots of things more daunting than moving house

Not content to roll back vaccination in the US alone, the extreme anti-vaxx activist & conspiracy theorist RFK Jr is taking his anti-vaxx crusade worldwide

It is children in low- & middle-income countries who will suffer the most from his awful anti-science policies

Let’s talk about that

A 🧵

Pelicans and cormorants in a golden sunset.
Menindee, New South Wales.

Victoria has officially recorded its hottest temperature ever in the town of Hopetoun in the state's north west.

At 4.04pm this afternoon, Hopetoun's temperature soared to 48.9ºC, beating the previous record of 48.8ºC in the same town during the Black Saturday bushfires.

This is climate change.

Censorship is not the answer to Bondi - Kenneth Roth A democratic society should debate a broad range of views, the former Human Rights Watch executive director writes

Australia keeps getting the response to the Bondi massacre wrong - censorship is not the answer, writes Kenneth Roth

www.deepcutnews.com/p/censorship...

Screenshot Adelaide 34.7C

Apparently it was the hottest night on record in Adelaide - it’s already 34.7C at 7:20am

It's amusing reading about the rest of the world economically decoupling from the US and approaching China on trade when you're Australian. We've been doing that very thing since the late 70's. It's OK, you won't get commie germs you know. Trade and security aren't the same thing when they're not.

We did patrols around Harcourt the day after the fire came through & hosed down old trees along the roadsides that were still burning. Terrible to see the loss. And that was before they did 'clean up' for safety. The cumulative loss of old trees is hard to bear.

False claims spread about Bondi royal commission head Falsehoods about the record of former high court justice Virginia Bell have circulated amid criticism of her appointment.

Falsehoods about the record of former high court justice Virginia Bell have circulated amid criticism of her appointment.
www.aap.com.au/factcheck/fa...

Trump’s dismantling of climate science, including at Hawaii’s CO2 Mauna Loa monitoring station, bleeds into global politics. China, EU and Australia must now lead the way in earth’s biosphere conservation .. or there won’t be an intergenerational economy. Nick O’Malley 👇SMH 17/1/26.

In the most cleared state in Australia, Victoria’s native wildlife needs our help after fires The Victorian fires burned though diverse environments across the state. Native animals suffered through heat and smoke, including thousands of dead flying foxes.

"As a wildlife ecologist and conservation expert, these fires bring an unwelcome but familiar mixture of deep sadness and intense frustration. As the climate gets hotter, such events will only become more likely and more severe."

My article about Victoria's fires
theconversation.com/in-the-most-...

Ash on my patio last night and this morning. Thinking of everyone involved

The US island that speaks Elizabethan English English recently became the US's official language. But on a tiny island, residents still speak the country's most English version of English, and many Americans don't understand it.

What a curious and fascinating story .. www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

Bad day ahead in Victoria. Wind is picking up in Buninyong. 28 degrees

09/01/2026 - Catastrophic Fire Danger 8 Jan - 9 Jan 2026 CATASTROPHIC FIRE DANGER - Friday, 9 January UPDATE: 14:20 Due to catastrophic fire danger ratings forecast for the North Central, Northern Country, South West and Wimmera districts on Friday, 9 January, all V/Line train and coach services scheduled to operate through those fire districts will be cancelled. All train services scheduled for the Albury, Ararat, Bendigo, Echuca, Maryborough, Seymour, Shepparton, Swan Hill and Warrnambool train lines will be cancelled, with no coach replacement services.

This is a rather big deal.

For anyone in one of the Catastrophic Rating areas tomorrow If your bushfire survival plan involved a V/line train or bus tomorrow, your plan did not survive contact with the enemy.

www.vline.com.au/Service-Chan...

#Bushfires #Victoria

Four images of embroidery work, all featuring stylised representations of flowers, two in symmetrical circular designs, the largest image to the left shows a stylised fruit tree entwined with plant vines

The work of multitalented English embroidery designer May Morris (1862-1938). She was crucial to the Arts and Crafts Movement, elevating embroidery to a fine art, challenging its perception as low value 'women's work', while also supporting fellow female artists #WomensArt

Yes, forest trees die of old age. But the warming climate is killing them faster The warming climate is killing Australia’s forest trees at a faster rate. This offers a glimpse of what may lie ahead for forests globally.

I hear from friends in WA, where the trees are dying.
I hear of the loss in the Adelaide Hills.
I see it here in Central VIC.
I see it across the higher mountains.

The fact that ecologists still manage to function in the face of ongoing loss is a daily miracle.

theconversation.com/yes-forest-t...

Weaponising Grief The media’s response to the Bondi tragedy

nickfeik.substack.com/p/weaponisin...
This analysis from Nick Feik is profound especially as there is talk of the PM caving to a shameless campaign

The Venezuela Crisis: Australia needs to do much more than issue a general “Get-Well” card The abduction and subsequent arrest of the President of Venezuela is a dramatic re-statement of America’s dominance of the western hemisphere and its willingness to do whatever it takes – including de...

"The Australian government cannot just sit on its hands, issuing a kind of global get-well card hoping that everything ends as best it can."

My excellent colleague Allan Behm in @thepointau.bsky.social

thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

WINE YAY PEN

Deborah Friedell · Lifted Up: Pepys Deciphered Pepys was a meticulous – some might say compulsive – record-keeper. Into his diary’s pages went social debts (who...

‘Into his diary’s pages went the most intimate aspects of his life, from bodily functions (including what has been called “one of the best documented attacks of flatulence in history”) to sex.’

Deborah Friedell on the engaging but contradictory Samuel Pepys:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...