Advocates fear people like Graham are caught in Australia's next Robodebt https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-28/graham-crossan-mnd-ndis-funding-fight/106397572 #DisabilityAccess #HealthPolicy #AgedCare #NDIS #Disability

33 of the people pardoned by Trump for January 6 have committed more crimes including molesting children and killing people while drunk driving.

@KaraLG84 @MewProjects @TheQuinbox Nowhere near as efficient but in the interim you can go to settings on your Mastodon instance website and export your bookmarks as a file

We've been on X/Twitter for many years, but it's time to reduce our activity there and instead promote Mastodon as our main social media channel now. So we've done just that: https://x.com/LibreOffice/status/2026204949760131158 – Welcome to all our new followers here 😊

@CanvasesByPeter Why on earth would any developer get involved - they will get screwed over payments, never paid in full & tied up in Court for years over contract arguments

US Supreme Court rules Trump tariffs are illegal https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-21/supreme-court-rules-against-donald-trumps-tariffs/106371286 #WorldPolitics

@brian_hartgen @lulu_bear So sorry to hear this & the tough time for both of you. I truly hope you can be together

Lancet medical journal research shows deaths in Gaza between 7 October 2023 & 5 January 2025 were more than 75,000 people. It's 25,000 more than first thought. It includes 42,200 women, children & elderly. 570 have died since the October 2025 "ceasefire". https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/19/gaza-death-toll-higher-than-reported-lancet-study

Getting tired of every system setup to help vulnerable Australians turns into a cash cow for inverment funds that 'supply' these services.
Australia needs to do away with 3rd party suppliers and bring carers back into the public servant fold.
#auspol #ndis

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/advocates-call-for-oversight-amid-claims-ndis-providers-are-exploiting-vulnerable-first-nations-people/xsdckqe7d

"In Europe and worldwide, people are recognising that news publishers, progressive content creators, non-profits and civic society rely on platforms that don’t share our values. Platforms which optimise algorithms for surveillance, outrage and profit."

Wondering what we're up to at the Newsmast Foundation? 🤔

Then read the latest blog from our co-founder, @michael

https://www.blog-pat.ch/your-community-your-platform/

#SocialWeb #Fediverse #Newsmast #Blog #Mastodon

Brisbane is a river with a city problem. More development on the floodplain & more people taking the risk. Qld LNP at council & state level is unconcerned by the danger or the escalating housing situation; cash for highest first homebuyer bidders. #qldpol https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-17/how-the-flood-zone-is-affecting-brisbanes-property-boom/106299926

Angus Taylor has denied knowledge of an immigration policy that was looking to ban people coming to Australia from terror-declared areas. 

Busted trying to implement white Australia policy without calling it white Australia policy. #auspol https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-17/federal-politics-live-blog-feb-17/106352202

Reddit, Meta, and Google Voluntarily Gave DHS Info of Anti-ICE Users, Report Says
https://gizmodo.com/reddit-meta-and-google-voluntarily-gave-dhs-info-of-anti-ice-users-report-says-2000722279

Katia Diachenko was eleven. A young gymnast from Mariupol, killed by russia’s invasion. Her name appeared on a tribute helmet worn by Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych. For that helmet, he was disqualified — deemed a “political demonstration” under IOC rules.

When remembering a murdered child becomes sanctionable, neutrality stops being balance and starts looking like moral failure.

The idea that Donald Trump was a temporary anomaly in American politics that will go back to normal when he’s gone is sadly mistaken. He is a symptom, not the cause.

He recognized that 40% of the electorate loves white supremacy and if you throw in homophobia/transphobia and low taxes, you could get up to 50%.

Now the masks are off and they aren’t going back on.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/12/elon-musk-posts-january-white-supremacists

@bluemoon

One thing that all modern governments seem to forget is that bureaucracy and enforcement are not free. The amount of money spent to prevent "theft" often hugely outweighs the amount that would be lost if they were left alone.

Example: local councils in Australia which offer free gas barbecues in local parks rather than making people pay for using them. Savings were huge, mainly because vandalism of the barbeques dropped to practically zero. It also made the barbecues themselves cheaper, since there was no need to add a pay mechanism to them.

Negative example: the #NDIS in Australia has been hobbled by so many bureaurcratic hurdles added to "prevent rorting" and dealing with "budget overruns" that it is fair to say that the entire purpose of that department is now to prevent anyone getting any money out of it at all. And of course the budget overruns haven't been addressed, because all the money is being spent on needless tests and recertifications and endless red tape.

#PublicService #PublicPolicy

Homeland Security has reportedly sent out hundreds of subpoenas to identify ICE critics online
DHS asked for their names and other identifying details from tech companies, according to The New York Times

https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/homeland-security-has-reportedly-sent-out-hundreds-of-subpoenas-to-identify-ice-critics-online-135245457.html

@brian_hartgen @doubletap As usual you are very thorough and that is very helpful. Excellent start by them if they rapidly develop it further then could become excellent

@brian_hartgen @doubletap @bemyeyes If you don't get access to external paid people assisting you then it isn't really as revolutionary as they made it sound unless I am not understanding it correctly

@brian_hartgen @doubletap @bemyeyes Do you get access to paid human assistants rather than just volunteers through the standard BeMyEyes app? Just trying to understand whether it is an Aira replacement at least on computer