If Australia had implemented a resource tax regime similar to Norway’s — particularly Norway’s sovereign wealth fund model built on high taxes and royalties from oil and gas — the country would likely be substantially wealthier and more economically resilient today. Here’s a breakdown of the key differences and what Australia might look like under such a model:

⸻

What Norway Did Right

Norway’s approach to resource wealth is often cited as world-leading. Key features include:
1. High Resource Rent Tax: Norway imposes a 78% effective tax on oil company profits (including corporate tax and a special petroleum tax).
2. Sovereign Wealth Fund (The Government Pension Fund Global):
• Started in the 1990s.
• Now worth over US$1.6 trillion.
• Invests globally for long-term returns.
• Explicitly designed to benefit current and future generations.
3. Strict Regulation & Transparency: The system is managed transparently, with strong public oversight and limited corruption.

#australia #norway #resourcetax #sovereignwealthfund #oilandgas #economicresilience #wealthmanagement #resourcerenttax #governmentpensionfund #transparency #publicoversight #longterminvestment #economicpolicy #resourcewealth #taxreform

@Thumptastic3

COVID is really unique, but not many people get that. Wuhan markets had all kinds of animals that could be the culprits...but ultimately it may go back to bats>other animals>humans.

So far, my partner and I have avoided it through getting every dose of vaccine, masking when needed, and common sense. Most people lack common sense when it comes to health and are woefully ignorant. Nor, are they willing to learn. And it's never 'just the flu' either. The flu is dangerous and killed millions during1918.

For people like us, it's not just a hobby, but part of living healthy as healthy a life as possible. Everyone should want that.

https://www.sciencenewstoday.org/what-is-covid-19-the-story-of-a-virus-that-changed-the-world

@Schouten_B @tobinbaker @broadwaybabyto I'm surprised you're willing to have an opinion about the risks of long-term COVID sequelae when you're not familiar at all with the literature. Permanent cognitive decline is a very well-reproduced result at this point. Here's an op-ed full of links to studies: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-leaves-its-mark-on-the-brain-significant-drops-in-iq-scores-are/

Those studies are just a drop in the bucket.

Just did my latest followup for the Johns Hopkins Covid Long study.

This is a long-term study into people's health in the age of covid. I think it's an important one, and it's super easy to contribute - minimum is a one-time ~20 minute survey. With or without covid or long covid diagnosis or symptoms, your input could be useful!

https://covid-long.com/

Most Americans want COVID boosters. Makary knows that, because he has been told repeatedly.

This is perjury in an attempt to cause mass death.

Require that Congress remove Prasad, remove Makary, #ImpeachRFKJr, and ensure that everyone can get their shots; United States.

QT Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com‬
2025 May 22

FDA Commissioner Makary: "By the way, America doesn't want covid boosters."
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lprhkf7mbk2g

🇦🇺Australia: Record-breaking surge in respiratory illnesses.

Reported cases since the start of the year:

🔹Flu: 80,105 (19 May)
🔹COVID: 58,322 (4 May)
🔹RSV: 41,800 (4 May)

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/may/22/australia-news-live-nationals-liberals-coalition-sussan-ley-floods-flooding-nsw-rescue-hunter-ntwnfb

United States has dispensed with heabeas corpus and rule-of-law at the federal level. Australia needs to reconsider our extradition treaties with that nation.

Short of that, anyone in Australia holds reasonable prospects for challenging an extradition request based on the grounds they will be unfairly treated and refused a fair trial.

#auspol #uspol

In case you needed a playbook for responding to would-be dictators. From the NYT:

"The funny thing is that there’s a playbook for overturning autocrats. It was written here in America, by a rumpled political scientist I knew named Gene Sharp. While little known in the United States before his death in 2018, he was celebrated abroad, and his tool kit was used by activists in Eastern Europe, in the Middle East and across Asia. His books, emphasizing nonviolent protests that become contagious, have been translated into at least 34 languages."

“I would rather have this book than the nuclear bomb,” a former Lithuanian defense minister once said of Sharp’s writing."

"A soft-spoken scholar working from his Boston apartment, Sharp recommended 198 actions that were often performative, ranging from hunger strikes to sex boycotts to mock funerals."

“Dictators are never as strong as they tell you they are,” he once said, “and people are never as weak as they think they are.”

"The Democrats’ message last year revolved in part around earnest appeals to democratic values, but one of the lessons from anti-authoritarian movements around the world is that such abstract arguments aren’t terribly effective. Rather, three other approaches, drawing on Sharp’s work, seem to work better."

"The first is mockery and humor — preferably salacious."

"Wang Dan, a leader of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy demonstrations, told me that in China, puns often “resonate more than solemn political slogans.”

"The Chinese internet for a time delighted in grass-mud horses — which may puzzle future zoologists exploring Chinese archives, for there is no such animal. It’s all a bawdy joke: In Chinese, “grass-mud horse” sounds very much like a curse, one so vulgar it would make your screen blush. But on its face it is an innocent homonym about an animal and thus is used to mock China’s censors."

"Shops in China peddled dolls of grass-mud horses (resembling alpacas), and a faux nature documentary described their habits. One Chinese song recounted the epic conflict between grass-mud horses and river crabs — because “river crab” is a play on the Chinese term for censorship. It optimistically declared the horses triumphant."

http://nytimes.com/2025/05/21/opinion/authoritarianism-democracy-protest.html

@briankrebs 💯

This is great. The maga crowd doesn't respond to facts and logic. They're being manipulated using shame and fear, just like any other cult followers. That's why it's more effective to make them feel ashamed to be a part of that movement, and/or to give them another movement they can join (ours) where they don't have to be ashamed.

So, I ask Gemini what areas in climate policy the Liberals need to address to improve public support which I’m sure they will jump on asap.

“The Liberals need to address a few key areas to regain public support on climate change. Firstly, they could commit to more ambitious emissions reduction targets, aligning with the growing global consensus. Secondly, investing more heavily in renewable energy and phasing out fossil fuels would demonstrate a stronger commitment to a sustainable future. Finally, developing clear policies to help communities and industries transition away from coal and gas would ease public concerns about economic impacts.”

I’m sure the Party review will say no, not like that.

Not just a stadium blowout but also…

“The training and administration centre is a requirement for the Tasmanian team's entry into the AFL.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-19/tasmania-devils-afl-high-performance-centre-delays-cost-blowout/105306576

Your future doctor is using ChatGPT to pass medical school, so you better start riding a bike and eating healthy now.

Peter Dutton was all in on this garbage. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9vvljen0xo

#AudleyWeir vs the utes. It’s on.

(In the background, someone backs a small hatchback out of the garage and heads off to work. Fate awaits.)

Racist Felon does it again.

Via Bill McCarthy:

“Look, here's burial sites all over the place. These are all white farmers that are being buried,” Donald #Trump said during today’s White House meeting with South Africa’s president.

The image he was holding up, however, is of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

@dangillmor
How do you plan to make money?

Bluesky CEO: "Subscriptions are coming soon. The next steps are to look into what market­places can span these different applications. Other apps in the ecosystem are experimenting with sponsored posts and things like that.

I think ads eventually, in some form, work their way in, but we’re not going to do ads the way traditional social apps did. We’ll let people experiment and see what comes out of it."

There you have it.

#SocialMedia #Bluesky

18/05/2025 - I was supposed to be looking for big trees near Inverness today but somehow I ended up by mid morning half way down Loch Ness and off to Corrimony Chambered Cairn! I'm not complaining as this Bronze Age Clava type cairn is pretty wow!

#StandingStoneSunday #BronzeAge

This WHN editorial breaks down the long-term health, economic, and policy consequences of unchecked COVID spread. From Long COVID and immune disruption to labor force impacts and public health failures, the evidence is clear: silence is costing us.

Read the full piece: https://whn.global/scientific/the-unspoken-consequences-of-covid-19/

#LongCOVID #PublicHealth #COVID19