🧵 I often talk about VDA, Verification, Deliberation, Accountability, as the core functions that make democracy possible. But to understand what’s gone wrong, we need to look at how those functions have changed.

I was reliably informed by the Leftists that building more housing has no impact on house prices or rents

😬😳👀Senior German MP warns of ‘successful’ foreign manipulation of vote

Trade wars have bad collateral effects. Like major supply chain disruptions to the best manufacturing components in many industries, it lots of places incl #India and #Europe #criticalsupplychains. China tightens grip on tech, minerals and engineers as trade war spirals

What happens when you slice through the public service ? Frontline services go. Vulnerable people (here, US veterans) feel the most pain www.pbs.org/newshour/nat...

👀👀👀👀 #ebola globalpressjournal.com/africa/ugand...

Ottoman Empire v2.0? Turkey: will Erdoğan emerge as the big winner of the Syria crisis?

Don’t forget Valencia, Spain.

Don’t forget those who insisted that actions needed to avoid the #ClimateCrisis were “too expensive.”

Don’t forget all the record-breaking, historic or “100 year” events we’ve seen lately.

They’re not the “new normal.

It’s going to keep getting exponentially worse.

When grapes are protected with solar panels, yields rise and less irrigation is needed — win win #wine #vitculture #climate #energytransition www.pv-magazine.com/2024/11/29/a...

Why not here too? Be really interested to know!! Serious question www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...

Food for thought: the higher the interest rates, the higher the cost of building housing with debt funding. For everyone, including developers. So less new housing. Mortgages are mostly variable, so the pain for borrowers (and renters) is fast and sharp. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/economy...

Here's a 2024 update from Heron Island:

“It’s f_cking awful, the softly spoken scientist says, emerging from the ocean."

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Australia’s under-16 ban puts social media on notice

Over the past year, the ACT has built more homes per person than any state bar Victoria. The result? Rental affordability has *improved*. There’s a long way to go, but it’s clear that building more homes is the key to making Canberra more affordable for all.

“Not all states experienced a decline in rental affordability. Tasmania and the ACT saw slight improvements, with the ACT notably benefiting from rent increase limits introduced in 2019. These regulatory measures appear to have eased financial strain on renters”

sgsep.com.au/publications...

It drives me bananas walking into a store telling tech/ comms services in this case #Telstra #BondiJunction and being treated like an idiot by service staff because you are a) female b) in her 60s. It was just as annoying when I was in my 20s. When will patronising misogyny fade away?

Michael Koziol signs off feom covering #Sydney lots of food for thought. www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...