koz
auskoz.bsky.social
koz
@auskoz.bsky.social
Born 1955.
Australian. Novocastrian.
Here for politics, current affairs, etc.
#auspol
Reposted by koz
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.

I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Epstein had many known connections to Silicon Valley CEOs, but less known was how he made money from those relationships.

We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Mandelson's involvement certainly raises huge questions. But what about the involved of Epstein — that's not even mentioned.

It's pretty clear from the latest releases that Epstein was tied to Israel and Palantir had significant funding via Epstein. This is a legitimate security concern for the UK.
February 5, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by koz
"We at the EU in Brussels have NO questions about Mandelson. Why would we?

He was only our Commissioner of Trade"
February 5, 2026 at 1:17 PM
A fast-growing social media app is in the spotlight at a technology conference in Qatar's capital.
UpScrolled has seen a meteoric rise in downloads.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mjv...
UpScrolled: Fast‑growing, censorship‑free TikTok and Instagram alternative
YouTube video by Al Jazeera English
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:12 PM
#auspol
About time the funding of our own 'think tanks' such as IPA were scrutinised and made transparent.
Baroness Finn, stating that this would "risk a disproportionate intrusion into civil society", asks minister to confirm that the "current arrangements" will not change, but gets a strong response from Anderson:
February 5, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by koz
The pigs are getting restless! The troughs might dry up!
February 5, 2026 at 5:26 PM
#auspol
#Palantir is in the thick of it.

All hell breaking loose in the UK Parliament over Trump and Epstein’s connection with Peter Mandelson, the former Ambassador to the United States, and the growing scandal could topple Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s government
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFpZ...
All HELL BREAKS LOOSE in UK Parliament over TRUMP and EPSTEIN
YouTube video by MeidasTouch
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by koz
By fine Australian cartoonist Peter Broelman.
February 5, 2026 at 6:37 AM
Reposted by koz
The New South Wales Minns gov is considering how Palestinians Syrians Jordanians Lebanese etcetera - FEEL - about Herzog’s imminent arrival in Australia? Course not.

@australianlabor.bsky.social is so fuckin racist
February 5, 2026 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by koz
Genuine question: why is anyone listening to James Carville? He's been wrong and wrong and wrong some more. You're 81, retire, stop spitting out asinine 1990s establishment Dem takes.

He said the regime would crumple on its own w/i months. He discouraged Dems from resisting. His takes are ass.
Carville: Pritzker has best shot to win 2028 Democratic nomination
Democratic strategist James Carville said he favors Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) as the party’s nominee for president in the 2028 election. “If I had to say one guy — I really don’t know him…
thehill.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:54 AM
Reposted by koz
Clearly it’s time to appoint a permanent officer in the government to look over all the festival programs. Some fellow in a centralised office where all the art can be submitted beforehand, to make sure it’s socially cohesive. Some kind of Chief Approver, if you like www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
Questions about Randa Abdel-Fattah inclusion in NSW writers festival
The NSW government makes contact with the board of next month's Newcastle Writers Festival about the inclusion of Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, the ABC understands.
www.abc.net.au
February 5, 2026 at 7:00 AM
He talks to 'the forty percent'

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_yb...
Jordan Klepper Went to the “Melania” Movie So You Don’t Have To | The Daily Show
YouTube video by The Daily Show
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Trump's poll numbers sink to deeper depths as he grows more vocal about his intention to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections, making sure his own narrative is the only one people hear by cutting off access to reliable information about his administration
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMZS...
Plummeting popularity sets Trump on a war against the truth
YouTube video by MS NOW
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:27 AM
President Trump made misogynistic comments to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Speaker Mike Johnson claims to know more about The Bible than the Pope, and journalists are outraged at Jeff Bezos over mass layoffs in the newsroom at The Washington Post
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Irn...
Donald Trump Is Nothing To Smile About | Mike Johnson vs. Pope Leo XIV | Bezos "Murders" Journalism
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Reposted by koz
Shocked. Shocked I say that venture capital has a large number of names in the Epstein Files.
“How Jeffrey Epstein Helped His Publicist [Masha Bucher aka Drakova] Become A Big-Time Venture Capitalist” * Drakova’s Day One Ventures is now invested in Valar Atomics, a *nuclear reactor startup* with a DOE contract. Valar did not respond to comment requests. By Iain Martin, 2/4/26… 1/
How Jeffrey Epstein Helped His Publicist Become A Big-Time Venture Capitalist
Masha Bucher is one of the more high profile female VCs in Silicon Valley. New emails released from the Department of Justice reveal a deep, years long relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffr...
www.forbes.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:12 AM
Reposted by koz
Thanks to @michaelwestbiz.bsky.social for the updates on who is funding the #AtlasNetwork linked Advance astroturf front group. Mega-rich funding faux-battler grievance. Zionist money continues to be a feature from founding on. michaelwest.com.au/the-billiona...
#Auspol
The billionaires bankrolling rightwing astroturfer Advance Australia - Michael West
Gina Rinehart, James Packer, Mark Leibler and other business figures the major backers of right-wing lobby group Advance Australia. #AEC
michaelwest.com.au
February 5, 2026 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by koz
If this is true, it must be either the benchmark for complete & utter stupidity or the precedent for the most heinous of crimes against our Earth's future & against our kids. What evil drives their minds, I wonder. Whatever it is ... they need a new 'fuel filter'.
Big Oil "purchased solar and EV patents to ensure others couldn’t use them, solicited control of renewable markets and then abandoned them, and funded powerful institutions to promote false solutions, all while using trade groups to downplay the harms of fossil fuels, according to the complaint." 😠
A Secret Oil Cartel Might Have Killed Our Clean-Energy Future
In a landmark antitrust case, Michigan alleges oil companies colluded to “capture and kill” clean-energy and electric-vehicle efforts.
www.levernews.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:22 AM
This helps explain why figures like Bill Gates may have been interested in Epstein long before their publicly acknowledged meetings, and why media scrutiny remains strikingly selective.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsw2...
"This Looks Exactly Like A Massive Cover-Up" | Whitney Webb
YouTube video by Investigative Insights TV
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:44 AM
#auspol
Labor, supposedly centre-left, fills the centre-right and sometimes, just flat-out conservative areas.

Note: UK Labour 'have', and US Dems 'were', hit by the same apathy
thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...
Make no mistake, the Liberals are already history – and Labor should be worried
Some people just always try to focus on the bright side of life. Jane Hume must be one of them. The Victorian Liberal senator presented a cheery face on Wednesday when speaking of the Coalition’s futu...
thepoint.com.au
February 5, 2026 at 1:02 AM
#auspol #AtlasNetwork
"I was Ayn Randed, nearly branded"
Paul Simon, sometime in the 60s.

In 1976, a famous economist found himself standing in a farm paddock in north Queensland ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
A discreet intellectual network has been reshaping the world for 70 years. Here's how
A constant battle of ideas reshapes the world we live in, and few groups have been more successful in winning the war than the little-known Atlas Network.
www.abc.net.au
February 4, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Reposted by koz
Cory Bernardi, new One Nation pick, went to America to train in climate denial with #AtlasNetwork’s Heartland Institute. This One Nation, like Farage’s Reform, is a tool of reactionary billionaires determined that no fact will stand between them & profit. #Auspol

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How Cory Bernardi was inspired to push climate denial from US conservative groups
Climate science denial group the Heartland Institute helped inspire Cory Bernardi and Malcolm Roberts to push back against policies to cut emissions
www.theguardian.com
February 3, 2026 at 10:09 PM
#auspol

Rinehart is the only exposed funder of the opaque Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), the body that is the prime Atlas Network partner promoting culture wars in Australia, with a program dedicated to “defending” Western Civilisation

lucyham29.substack.com/p/maga-polit...
MAGA politics being fostered in Australia and the UK
There are many parallels between the growth of Nigel Farage's Reform in the UK and Pauline Hanson's One Nation. They deserve our focus.
lucyham29.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:15 PM
#auspol

Meaningful reform would include:

Strict limits on corporate donations.
Immediate public disclosure of all donations.
Strong enforcement of lobbying rules.
Public funding of election campaigns.
Media reform to reduce corporate dominance.
theaimn.net/why-corporat...
Why Corporate Donors Influence Politics and Decisions
By Denis Hay Description Why corporate donors influence politics in Australia, shaping major political decisions through donations, access, and policy capture. Introduction If you have ever wondered w...
theaimn.net
February 4, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by koz
I think it's best for everyone to understand that the unified class project of billionaires right now is to do to white collar workers what globalization and neoliberalism did to blue collar workers.
February 4, 2026 at 7:41 PM