John Bolton was spinning the failure of the Hanoi summit as a success in an interview earlier today:

The Prime Minister has brushed aside the resignations of two more senior ministers, insisting the Coalition can still win the federal election in May.

Key points:

Christopher Pyne says it's time for renewal and still believes the Coalition can win the election

Defence Industry Minister Steve Ciobo told the Prime Minister of his resignation weeks ago

Linda Reynolds will be promoted to Defence Industry Minister

Defence Minister Christopher Pyne and his junior minister Steve Ciobo have today announced they will not recontest their seats, adding to a swathe of senior Government figures departing politics.

A fellow called Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733) — an Anglo-Dutch philosopher, political economist and satirist (we may have mentioned him before on this site) — explained the advantage of ignorance thus:

It is manifest that in a free nation where slaves are not allowed, the surest wealth consists in a multitude of laborious poor... To make society happy and people easy under the meanest circumstances, it is a requisite that great numbers of them should be ignorant as well as poor...

 

 

The BRICS are considering an internal gold trading platform, according to Russian officials. When this happens, the global economy will be significantly reshaped, and the West will lose dominance, predicts a precious metal expert.

cotton

This is how stupid identity politics have made our country:

In the early 1900s, Wally King travels 600 miles to outback South Australia to occupy land he has leased from the government. He is accompanied by his wife Ma, children Emma and John, and friends Tommy and Mac. Despite warnings from a local trooper, the bigoted King clashes with an Aboriginal tribe who depend on water located on what has become the family's property.

In an article about JJ Rousseau, we already explored the idea of philosophers' sexism, but here is another story about one of the least sung mind-twisters who influenced a lot of Western philosophy from Nietzsche — to the Deconstructionists by default. 

I have wicked dreams… The new Premier of New South Wales, Gladys, is inaugurating her new stadium. She has managed to demolish the perfectly adequate Sydney Opera House and replaced it with a sports Arena with an open-and-shut roof looking like a modern version (more rounded) of the Old Building — a roof made of glass, steel and cardboard. 

Former Australian prime minister John Howard has submitted a character reference to the court for George Pell, who has been convicted of child sex offences.

Australia’s emissions are rising and projected to continue increasing without credible and comprehensive climate and energy policy.

darwin's monkeys

OPEN LETTER TO THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES

The Planning of a Coup against Venezuela: Chile, September 11, 1973: The Ingredients of a Military Coup. The Imposition of a Neoliberal Agenda

Chicago Economics: Neoliberal Dress Rehearsal of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)