The USA

 Minnesota

I read the governor had pardoned a child rapist and said to myself what the hell is going on. I then found out the victim asked Waltz to pardon him. This was vital information yet it was missing. Why? So-called conservatives thought it irrelevant to the story showing they are not journalists but poor propogandists. Poor because once it was known they would be seen for what they are.

Iran

Trump is now planning to charge a toll on any ship using the strait of hormuz. Strange but when Iran threatened this people pointed out it was illegal. The more I think about it the more I cannot see a solution to the war Trump declared.

Lindsay Graham

He died from a heart attack on the weekend. his great claim was on foreign policy yet he was very poor on this. He fervently supported the war on Iraq despite Iraq not being a threat to anyone. He wanted Trump to invade Iran! that was nuts. At least he was right on Ukraine but even here he was impotent. His very last journey was to Ukraine. The Whitehouse was still saying russia held all the cards and was advancing on all fronts.  The white house believed russian disinformation rather than the facts on the ground.

ICE

ICE has killed yet another person and blatantly lied about it. They repeat the same lie after they kill some-one. The white house seem oblivious to polls showing how deeply unpopular this policy is. It is the single issue that has completely changed the 'latino' vote.

The similarities of Platner and Farage ( and Le Pen?)

 For those living on another planet Graham Platner recently resigned as the democratic  senate candidate for Maine. Nigel Farage resigned his seat for election but will re-contest it where his main opponent is count binface! Marie Le Pen will contest the French presidency but with an ankle bracelet!

Platner had a nazi tattoo for which he had no intelligent explanation for. Surely amber lights were flashing. then we had secting scandals and finally we had him accused of rape which was the final straw.

Farage has so many allegations of corruption I will outsource it.

Le Pen also has problems with corruption.

Both Platner and Farage pleaded innocent of all charges BUT said it was all the work of the 'ESTABLISHMENT'.

Both Farage and Le Pen wanted the voters to make decisions on their charges not courts or parliamentary committees specifically designed for such work.

Both Platner and Farage have been found out . When the heat was on then they had no satisfactory explanations and lashed out.

Both Farage and Le Pen want nothing to do with a proper investigation of their offences. They want voters to make a decisions whilst being uninformed. ( hopefully Count Binface will embarrass Farage to the hilt. Farage does have the look of a slimey crooked person!) Why is it the right wing populists are so open to corruption?

In Farage's case if he is found guilty by the parliamentary committee He will have to miss ten days of parliament and thereby  be recalled and hence a new by-election.

John McLaughlin and Jean Luc Ponty

John McLaughlin was one of the all-time great guitarists. Jean Luc Ponty the same with the electric violin.

They toured together here with the Mahavishnu orchestra and Ponty also played here with Frank Zappa  (when norman gunston was guest on mouth harp) both were at the hordern pavilion.

Around the Traps 10/7/26

 It is time again for Around the Traps.

Aussie,Aussie,Aussie,Oy,Oy,Oy

• institutional economics on too-lowe-for-zero
• Nick Feik on ruthless-cost-cutting-furious-staff Thanks Nick
• John Quiggin on class-not-cohortwhy-intergenerational-inequity-is-the-wrong-frame-for-thinking-about-access-to-housing-and-home-ownership-in-australia , telstras-triple-zero-failure-is-a-result-of-prioritising-neoliberal-competition-and-reaping-none-of-its-benefits
• Charles Livingstone on how-gambling-companies-use-the-grey-area-of-sponsorship-and-ads-to-reach-world-cup-viewers
• Alan Duncan and Steven Rowley on australias-housing-market-is-cooling-perhaps-our-expectations-should-too
• Steve Georgakis on the-socceroos-defensive-approach-ended-their-world-cup-dreams-they-have-some-tough-decisions-to-make
• Nicki Hutley on ai-artificial-intelligence-benefits-costs-datacentres-energy-water-environment
• Faraz Hasan on how-does-a-telstra-outage-bring-down-trains-a-telco-expert-explains
• Fei Gao and Richard Krever on how-australias-new-negative-gearing-rules-might-accidentally-favour-some-property-investors
• Peter McDonald on australias-migration-system-lacks-something-crucial-a-plan
• Alan Sunderland on abc-and-sbs-coverage-of-the-middle-east-isnt-perfect-but-the-proposed-solutions-are-ill-conceived-and-dangerous

OZ Climate

• thin-white-strips-on-brown-slopes-manufactured-ski-seasons-are-fuelling-the-climate-problem
  
• only-so-much-you-can-do-with-hydrogen-and-batteries-jet-fuel-made-from-cooking-oil-to-be-used-at-australian-airport
  
• planning-meeting-over-solar-and-battery-project-cancelled-after-none-of-133-objectors-bothers-to-show-up
  
• solar-sharer-free-power-offer-is-being-undermined-by-higher-network-charges-and-complex-tariffs
  
• renewables-remain-cheapest-new-power-option-and-avoided-us480bn-in-fossil-fuel-costs-in-2025
  
• electric-trucks-mines-and-farms-low-carbon-fuels-key-to-break-australias-foreign-fuel-dependence
  
• struggling-wind-projects-warned-their-unused-capacity-will-be-returned-to-future-cis-tenders
  
• coal-closure-interventions-are-stifling-investment-in-the-very-projects-needed-to-replace-them
  
• home-battery-market-undergoes-healthy-reset-as-rooftop-solar-lingers-in-record-territory
  
• home-battery-market-undergoes-healthy-reset-as-rooftop-solar-lingers-in-record-territory
  
• David Roche on after-home-batteries-could-the-humble-water-heater-be-the-next-big-step-forward
• Hussein Dia on fragmented-and-incomplete-why-isnt-anyone-in-charge-of-australias-ev-charger-rollout
• Em Murdock and Lucas Zeppetello on a-big-el-nino-is-likely-australia-needs-to-get-ready-now-for-drought-fire-and-the-unknown

Northern America

• the weekly dish on dude-lmao-this-is-a-gas-station Thanks Nick
• kruggers on bicentennial-memories , pump-and-dump-and-trump , the-pain-in-spain-is-mainly-in-trumps-brain , the-heat-is-on
• noahpinion on the-american-age-was-the-human-age , jd-vances-crusade-against-gdp-is-wrong-and-bad
• the conversable economist on declaration-of-independence-track-changes-version , shifts-in-non-cash-payments
• Menzie Chinn on canadian-gdp-nfp-recovers ,canadian-tory-recession-call-beware-the-revisions
• Katherine Ott on how-did-it-feel-to-be-an-american-colonist-in-1776-probably-itchy-achy-and-slightly-nauseated
• David Frum on trump-july-4 
• Isaac Chotiner on how-political-is-this-supreme-court
• Brad De Long on trump-surrendered-the-strait-of-hormuz-to-iran-and emptied-the-shelevs-of -americas-arsenal , financial-markets-see-core-inflation-as-the-problem , semi-crosspost-joey-brookhart-crystal-huang-and-dylan-patel
• Daniel Engbar on lab-leak-payback
• Jonathan Chait on graham-platner-allegations-maine-senate , trump-communism-socialism-central-control
• Ian Millhiser on supreme-court-maga-backlash-amy-coney-barrett
• Tyler Cowen on just-wondering-what-the-correct-model-of-iran-is-here
• Zack Beauchamp on democrats-israel-rahm-emanuel-speech
• Lev Manaud on slaughter-categorical-rule-cook-exception
• Paul Waldman on trump-communism

Europe

• Louise Perry on gone-to-australia Thanks Nick
• Ian Hill on russia-ukraine-has-tide-really-turned
• Tim Harford on the-uk-is-stuck-in-a-rollercoaster-queue
• renew economy on renewables-covered-record-58-pct-of-german-electricity-consumption-in-first-half-of-2026
• Tim Bale et al on why-nigel-farage-is-resigning-as-an-mp-only-to-stand-again-expert-analysis
• Mainly Macro on the-uks-falling-debt-to-gdp-fiscal-rule-is-a-rule-to-suppress-public-investment
• David Appell on the-european-heat-bomb
• Tim Bale et al on why-nigel-farage-is-resigning-as-an-mp-only-to-stand-again-expert-analysis
• Chris Dillow on unbusinesslike-government

Asia

• kvetch on contra-robert-manne-on-israel Thanks Nick
• noahpinion on no-china-did-not-manage-to-avoid-a-crash
• James Dwyer on chinas-submarine-missile-test-looks-routine-the-real-story-is-the-panic-it-triggered
• Oliver Nobetau on beijing-s-own-goal-in-the-pacific 
• Graham Fletcher on yes-china-does-seek-hegemony
• Tanmay Kadam on beijing-s-welfare-bill-that-no-one-wants-to-pay
• Tom Nicholls on iran-controls-war-trump
• Jessica Genauer on despite-trumps-wishes-iran-is-dragging-the-us-into-a-long-war
• Nitya Labh on south-china-sea-if-you-can-t-beat-them-build-islands
• home and away on the-state-of-the-jewish-state-july

Wonk

• Brad De Long on programmer-productivity-chart-of-the-day
• sensible medications on why-should-i-take-these-medications Thanks Nick
• Robert Gilles on who-decides-what-a-good-is Thanks Nick
• CPJ on record-number-of-journalists-killed-in-2025-israel-responsible-for-two-thirds-of-deaths Thanks Nick
• Nikki-Anne Wilson on what-is-mild-cognitive-impairment-and-does-it-always-lead-to-dementia
• Catherine Ordway and James Connor on why-reports-trump-pressed-fifa-to-overturn-a-decision-are-so-alarming
• Omar Bartov on the-judeo-bolshevist-target-jochen-hellbeck
• Keith Rathbone on after-the-red-card-scandal-has-the-shine-come-off-gianni-infantinos-world-cup

General

• Claire Allfree on out-of-the-depths-songs-concentration-camps-yiddish Thanks Nick
• Benjamin Muir on from-the-godfather-to-middlemarch-8-of-the-most-faithful-adaptations-ever

Climate

• Thomas Gernon on why-antarctica-froze-millions-of-years-before-the-arctic-new-research
• ocean acidification on assessing-early-oil-industry-awareness-of-the-impacts-of-fossil-fuels-on-coral-reefs-using-a-novel-ai-agent , reassessing-the-climate-mitigation-benefits-and-environmental-risks-of-coastal-seaweed-farming
• Bill McKibben on an-inconvenient-moment-for-an-extreme-global-heat-wave 
• skeptical science on new_research

Andrew Gelman ( mainly stats)

• a-new-episode-in-the-francesca-gino-case
  
• 2015-vintage-replication-crisis-junk-science-floats-into-the-news
  
• n2
  
• turning-chaotic-sensitivity-from-a-bug-into-a-feature-using-physical-modeling-and-deep-learning-to-alter-the-paths-of-storms-and-mitigate-extreme-weather-events
  
• can-someone-forward-this-to-carol-tavris-please
  
• survey-statistics-toy-example-for-energy-balancing-weights 
  
• is-fabricating-data-worse-than-fabricating-results-is-failing-to-correct-a-known-false-report-more-or-less-serious-than-making-the-false-report-in-the-first-place
  
• a-medical-journal-says-the-case-reports-it-has-published-for-25-years-are-in-fact-fiction
  
• Kaiser Fung on its-all-there-even-if-you-cant-see-it

Dianne Coyle ( quirky + book reviews)

• Suzy Freeman-Greene on cant-get-enough-of-the-world-cup-here-are-the-best-books-about-soccer-chosen-by-experts
• Alex Tabarrok on what-to-watch-and-not
• Brad De long on the-centuries-of-eric-hobsbawm-ii

Vox Wonk

• generational-challenge-turning-record-youth-surge-jobs-dividend 
  
• early-life-experiences-labour-markets-faced-others-can-leave-permanent-scars-mens 
  
• economic-footprint-europes-defence-build
  
• perceived-inflation-wedge-why-households-experience-inflation-differently-official 
  
• how-households-reason-and-behave-when-deposit-rates-become-negative 
  
• housing-affordability-reshaping-europes-social-fabric 
  
• eus-recovery-and-resilience-facility-experience-and-lessons-next-multiannual 
  
• how-higher-pensions-shape-work-after-retirement-lessons-germanys-earned-income 
  
• when-frances-legion-dhonneur-awards-move-stock-prices-market-signal-political-access
  

Who does Trump think he is kidding

 Donald Trump is the lowest of low IQ Presidents in my lifetime. It showed up bigtime when he went to war with Iran. He di not ask any decent questions and ignored some advice. see Tom Nicholls.

The 'short' war blew up in his face ( pun intended). The USA wasted for example patriot missiles against Iran. Those missiles did not help in subduing Iran at all. the USA again showed it is poor against asymmetric warfare . This should not be a surprise. the white house still believes russia is winning well against Ukraine ( who need patriot missiles now).

Given an airforce is unlikely to win a war  and it didn't even given Iran's decrepit defences then taking control of the strait of hormuz and therefore hiking up petrol prices was always going to hurt Trump politically more so in a mid-term year.

Thus any threats from Trump towards Iran are hollow and Iran knows it. Unlike trump they neither have to worry about their citizen's plight nor care.

Any further increases in 'war' will lead to a rise in petrol prices and thus hurt Trump. Trump know this , Iran knows this add to this how unpopular the war is and y

You can see how trump is kidding himself.

FIFA is a disgrace (again)

 The decision to remove the one match suspension for the american forward was a disgrace. The only time I can remember a  player being sent off and then playing was the great Roger Garrincha however back in 1962 there was no mandatory suspension.

At this stage FIFA has not even bothered with the excuse why the suspension was over-ruled. It becomes more worrisome when both actors in this situation are corrupts.

The Belgians were obviously fired up for the match whereas Trump's efforts appeared to have the opposite effect on the USA. As it was most people were barracking for Belgium because if the USA won there would be a dreadful stench about the result ( and future matches).

The World cup thus far had been a success. We cannot say that now. hopefully FIFA will have a new president after the cup is over!

If you want to do something about affordability then house prices have to fall

 I was amused to hear Dan Tehan both cheering for falling house prices and bewailing the fact they are falling.

We have a housing affordability problem and this has come about because housing prices have raced ahead of wage increases.

Thus either wages have to increase bigtime , which is impossible because of the inflationary consequences, or housing prices have to fall.  Read THIS article 

Thus far housing prices have started to fall ( because of rising interest rates) and this has contributed marginally to reducing affordability. The main target is to reduce housing prices without inducing a recession.

This is why most people would like to see housing prices continue to fall!