In which the Riddster sorts out the reef and "Ned" sorts out the middle east ...

 

Good news, with the war between Kong and Godzilla simmering away ...

Trump Forces Murdoch, 94, to Give Him Regular Health Updates
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
The president said he’d delay his demand for an expedited deposition of Murdoch—under one condition. (*archive link)

As for the rest, there's a dreary, dreamy AI sense of staleness each day in the hive mind, so for a nanosecond the pond was excited to see the reptiles get traumatised by their new overlord, with an hysterical splash at the top of the digital edition...

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The 51 words which threaten the future of Australia’s creative industries
The Productivity Commission has proposed giving tech giants free access to a vast library of copyrighted Australian content for AI, sparking fears creators will miss out on compensation for their work.
By James Madden

The pond would have been more impressed if the accompany illustration hadn't clearly been so artificial and so clearly lacking of intelligence, a bog standard lumping together of assorted types...

How did Nicole Kidman, a Hollywood fixture, get dragooned into that wretched collage? Perhaps she's the reptiles idea of a babygirl?

Over on the extreme far right, the hysteria continued ...

For an awful moment, the pond thought it might have to contemplate the reptiles v. AI, down there with the President v. the Emeritus Chairman, with these two top of the world ma early in the morning ...

Profound consequences lurk beneath Productivity Commission’s dull prose
If AI companies are given the green light to hoover up anything and everything in their path, copyright owners will forever lose control of what was once theirs.
By James Madden
Media Editor

Hand it all over to the big tech titans? Content? Not at all. I’m outraged
When you write a book, or make a podcast, or put on a play, or pen a poem, you have the rights to it, and ­nobody can take it, without your permission. The big tech companies don’t like this arrangement – not at all.
By Caroline Overington
Literary Editor

Luckily the pond was saved from Caroline's rage by the return of the IPA Riddster.

At the same time, the pond wondered why the Riddster had chosen this moment, and then it became clear ...

Egads, gadzooks, and so on, there was the Graudian, carrying on about the drop, with the ABC worrying about an ecosystem under stress, and that wretched AIMS mob putting out a press release, with graphs and such like, as if it was an ABC finance report ...

Damn you, damn you all, another matter for the Riddster to set right ...

The header: The Great Barrier Reef is still doing fine despite ‘cataclysmic’ bleaching events, It is well recognised that most areas of scientific study are suffering a problem of reliability. Is there any other profession with such a high failure rate?

The caption below the snap of all that sweet, lovely stuff: Not much coral has been killed by climate change bleaching – at least not compared to the capacity of coral to regrow.. Picture: Libby Sterling

The mystical desire to head to the reef: This article contains features which are only available in the web version, Take me there

It was only a three minute read, but it was vastly reassuring ...

The latest 2025 statistics on the amount of coral on the Great Barrier Reef show the reef is still doing fine despite having six allegedly cataclysmic coral bleaching events in the last decade. There should be no coral at all if those reports were true.
The normalised coral cover dropped from a record high number of 0.36 down to 0.29, but there is still twice as much coral as in 2012. The raw coral cover number for all the last five years has been higher than any of the previous years since records began in 1985.
However, when one considers the uncertainty margin, the present figures are not significantly different from many of the previous years. The Australian Institute of Marine Science collects coral data on around 100 of the 3000 individual coral reefs of the GBR. Analysis of the data at smaller scales shows the GBR is doing what it always does – change. There is a constant dynamic as cyclones, starfish plagues and bleaching events dramatically kill lots of coral in small areas, while it quietly regrows elsewhere.

Excellent stuff, and the Riddster also featured in an AV distraction, again featuring a pristine reef in prime tourist condition, Marine Physicist Peter Ridd slams the misinformation pushed on the Great Barrier Reef’s inevitable destruction. Mr Ridd argues that there has been a huge exaggeration of climate change destroying the reef. “In the last three years, we’ve never had more coral,” he said.

That it's all a conspiracy goes without saying, though the Riddster will helpfully say it ...

Guess whether the “science” institutions emphasise the death or regrowth.
The institutions often justify this embarrassingly high coral cover as just “weed coral”. But the type of coral that has exploded over the past few years is acropora, which is the most susceptible to hot-water bleaching. How can we have record amounts of the type of coral that should have been killed, again and again, from bleaching? The acropora takes five to 10 years to regrow if it is killed.
There are two conclusions that must be drawn. First, not much coral has been killed by climate change bleaching – at least not compared to the capacity of coral to regrow. Second, the science institutions are not entirely trustworthy, and are in need of major reform.
And not just with regard to GBR or climate science. It is well recognised that most areas of scientific study are suffering a problem of reliability, which is damaging the reputation of science itself. It is well accepted that around half of the recent peer-reviewed science literature is flawed. Is there any other profession with such a high failure rate?

There then came a snap of "scientist" and "professor" - ain't the use of scare quotes cute? - in a splendidly heroic and defiant pose - Professor Peter Ridd

It was but a short step to then embrace the most excellent science being practiced under King Donald ...

This last point has been noted in the US, where American science is going through a process of genuine revolution. Scientists who were once victimised and ostracised have been appointed to lead science and medical research institutions. Among the more notable and encouraging appointments have been Jay Bhattacharya, who famously opposed the groupthink on Covid lockdowns, especially for children.
He is now head of the National Institutes of Health and is proposing radical changes in the funding methodology to break the cycle of groupthink.
He is also changing funding rules to encourage bright young scientists with new ideas rather than the present system that rewards older scientists who are wedded to conventional wisdom, and often enforce groupthink. In short, Bhattacharya is encouraging dissenters.
The US Department of Energy recently released a report on whether the conventional wisdom on climate change is entirely defensible. It is written by five eminent scientists, all with spectacular careers, who have consistently challenged the view that climate change is an existential threat. Their report includes data about the GBR that shows there is little to worry about. Significantly, it systematically addresses many other aspects of Climate-Catastrophe Theory, such as wildfires and deaths from extreme weather events. And it points out the oft-ignored fact that carbon dioxide is a wonderful plant fertiliser that has already increased crop yields and plant growth.

Take that religious cult, see a snap of the Riddster's hero Jay Bhattacharya

Why he'll have the planet fixed almost as quickly as Robert Kennedy can fix a measles outbreak ...

Most importantly, rather than shutting down critics, the report’s writers are actively encouraging criticism, which they will respond to. Science progresses through argument, logic and quality assurance systems that make sure debate always takes place. Groupthink kills science, and groupthink is being challenged like never before in the US.

Oh indeed, truer words have never been scribbled in a bid for AI harvesting ...

Why think of the many, many ways groupthink is being challenged ...

How the Riddster yearns for a King Donald down under ...

This revolution seems a long way off for Australia. But it will come, simply because US science, and science funding, dominates all other countries.
Australia’s science agencies would do well to contemplate whether they need to change their ways before the revolution comes to these shores. Better to adapt before the scientific guillotine falls.
Peter Ridd is an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Ah yes, hit the highway Jack, or settle for an IPA byway, and if you don't like it, there'll soon be a march to the guillotine, a notion that the papacy and Galileo would relish ...

Done and dusted, and with everything ship shape and in top condition, and with many future options available ...

Not quite satiated by all the good news supplied by the Riddster, the pond moved quickly on to nattering "Ned", standing by to sort out the middle east ...

The header: Benjamin Netanyahu is running out of options as tide of opinion turns, What problem are these Western leaders trying to solve: the Middle East crisis, or their domestic political challenges? They seem to have forgotten something: Israel is a democracy.

Is it? Is it really? It gives the impression of being a theocracy. It is, after all, defined as a Jewish state, and as a nation state constructed exclusively as Jewish. 

To cite the country's wiki, 

On 19 July 2018, the Knesset passed a Basic Law that characterizes Israel as principally a "Nation State of the Jewish People" and Hebrew as its official language. The bill ascribes an undefined "special status" to the Arabic language. The same bill gives Jews a unique right to national self-determination and views the developing of Jewish settlement in the country as "a national interest", empowering the government to "take steps to encourage, advance and implement this interest".

Yeah, it's a theocracy, with fundamentalist Zionists currently in control.

The caption for the hideous collage, with no human credit, just a source for the images: World leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian PN Mark Carney, bottom left, and UK PM Keir Starmer, bottom middle are applying the pressure over Gaza on Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Pictures: AFP/Getty Images

The magickal command: This article contains features which are only available in the web version, Take me there

It took "Ned" some six minutes - or so the reptiles clocked the read - of futzing around, to get nowhere much in particular ...

The flaws in the Gaza war campaign of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu grow more dangerous each day as casualties mount, images of starvation are transmitted around the world and Western democratic opinion turns against Israel.
The terrorist group Hamas, broken yet not extinguished, gains fresh leverage as Western leaders, desperate to be seen to act, use their coming recognition of a Palestinian state as a transactional weapon against Israel.
The fantasy in this process is that Western pressure can become a catalyst for a two-state solution, a transformation that will occur only when the two parties – the Palestinians and Israel – willingly endorse this leap. Western leaders, posing as statesmen but driven by politics, will deliver ­Palestinian recognition, its impact more likely to be counter-­productive than beneficial.
What matters is Arab opinion. With Hamas on its knees there is an opportunity in the recent statement by Arab nations condemning Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that called on the terror group to lay down its weapons, release the hostages and terminate its rule in Gaza.
This is a potential breakthrough moment. The goal is “an independent and sovereign Palestinian state” – a declaration to challenge both Hamas and Israel.

The reptiles interrupted with a snap, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong hold a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

"Ned" did his Chicken Little impression ...

In response, Hamas, purporting to speak for the Palestinian people, demanded “unconditional international recognition” – incredibly, this is the policy of significant public figures in Australia but not the position of the Albanese government. It would mean Australia recognising Palestine unconditionally, a stance of strategic irresponsibility and moral bankruptcy, no matter how many people crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Significantly, the declaration arising from a joint France/Saudi Arabia initiative, and signed by Arab nations and the EU, calls for a demilitarised Palestinian state next to Israel and, as an immediate step, the deployment of a temporary international stabilisation mission under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority that has signed up to the same principles.
Hence the pivotal role of the ageing, corrupt and anti-Semitic PA President, Mahmoud Abbas, whom Anthony Albanese spoke to on Tuesday morning as part of our diplomacy.

The reptiles again interrupted, this time with an AV distraction, Deakin University Global Islamic Politics Professor Greg Barton says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has never been a great “strategian” and is “hanging on for political survival”. “Social polling is pretty clear, he’s way underwater in terms of net popularities,” Mr Barton told Sky News Australia. “The Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, is riding a tiger; he’s scared of dismounting the tiger for fear of being eaten by the tiger. “Israel has focused on tactical operations and not thought strategically about where it wants to go. “In the absence of his own strategy, he gets pushed in the direction of those who are using leverage over him, and that’s producing very tragic results for everyone at the moment.”

At last "Ned" decided to serve a tepid dish of hubris to Benji and his mob ...

Palestinian recognition is now the cause that cannot be stopped. The test is whether it will help or hinder. Global sentiment has turned decisively against Israel – the singular achievement of Netanyahu. Israel’s legitimacy has always depended upon its moral standing in the world, a reality that derives from the origins of its creation. Netanyahu has gone far to extinguish that standing.
There is no point in saying it is the fault of Hamas. Netanyahu is responsible for the decisions he has taken and refused to take. Israel is the overwhelming military power in this equation – and it is judged on this basis.
Since he launched operation Gideon’s Chariots in May – an expanded Israeli military operation in Gaza – Netanyahu has been locked into a campaign of diminishing gains and escalating damage to Israel. The incremental military gains come at a disproportionate and unjustified price.
Israel’s supporters who deny this ignore the overwhelming evidence. The earlier decision to block humanitarian aid to Gaza to pressure Hamas has produced a devastating legacy.
Israel is fighting a war unlike any in the history of the Jewish state – a long war inflicting massive Palestinian casualties, in images sent around the world, the victims some of the most deprived peoples in the Middle East, with starvation now ignited as an alleged war crime by Israel.
Much of the moral standing, legitimate grievance and justified military retaliation that defined initial perceptions of Israel after the October 7 massacre have now been dissipated, diminished or lost. The damage has been accentuated by the right-wing extremist ministers in the government who promote the idea of dis­placement of the Palestinian people, more West Bank settlements, even the spectre of West Bank ­annexation.

Don't worry "Ned", West Bank annexation has been proceeding at an irretrievably fast rate, while pundits strut about clucking this sort of line, It would mean Australia recognising Palestine unconditionally, a stance of strategic irresponsibility and moral bankruptcy, no matter how many people crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The pond can't quite recollect when anyone in the current push decided that Hamas should be left in charge, but never mind, have a snap, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and France’s President Emmanuel Macron embrace during a joint press conference.

"Ned" then discovers a "new moralism", perhaps on the basis that old moralism thought mass starvation, mass ethnic cleansing and genocide constituted a jolly good thing ...

Penny Wong reflects the new moralism, saying: “There will be no Palestine left to recognise if the world does not act” – implicitly blaming Israel for the current slaughter and starvation. Albanese and Wong see the Harbour Bridge demonstration as reflecting the sentiments of the Australian people. On 7.30, Wong said the public felt “distressed, angry, upset, really horrified” by events in Gaza.
Pressed on whether Israel was using starvation as a war tactic, Wong said: “It is impossible to ­justify the withholding of aid from women and children.” Albanese says Israel is in breach of international law and brands Netanyahu’s denial of starvation in Gaza as “beyond comprehension”.
Casting Labor as the upholders of the peace process against a resistant Israel, Wong said Australia was doing what it could “to preserve the possibility of a Palestinian state.” Australia in heroic guise.
On display now is the collision between agitated and self-righteous Western leaders and a reckless Netanyahu whose response to the failure of his policies is to double down on them. Witness the latest reports from Israel that his plan is to fully occupy Gaza. Netanyahu’s office supposedly told the media that if IDF chief, Eyal Zamir, doesn’t like the full takeover, then he should resign.
There is now a legion of former PMs, military leaders and intelligence chiefs demanding an end to the war and repudiating Netanyahu’s tactics. The mistake Israel’s supporters in Australia have made is being too unforgiving of Netanyahu.

The pond had to read that last line a few times in a bid to make sense of it.

The mistake Israel’s supporters in Australia have made is being too unforgiving of Netanyahu.

Nope, it stubbornly refused to make any sense. This might have worked ...

The mistake Israel’s supporters in Australia have made is being too forgiving of Netanyahu.

Never mind, on with the read ...

When he launched his expanded campaign in May, Netanyahu said there were three aims – defeating Hamas, freeing the hostages and ensuring Israel isn’t threatened from Gaza. Yet in Netanyahu’s own judgment, he has failed on all three counts.
Hence the idea of taking full control of Gaza. But that won’t change the fundamentals: the damage to Israel will endure for years. What does “complete defeat” of Hamas constitute? Formal surrender? Netanyahu can’t deliver that.
Hamas is not a conventional army; it is a paramilitary force that lives within the population.
The deeper problem is Netanyahu’s military tactics are decoupled from any political strategy. He violates the essential rule of war: without a matching political strategy for Gaza, the military campaign cannot sustain a successful outcome. Netanyahu is resistant to legitimate Palestinian political aspiration. His pivotal calculation, it seems, came in 2024 in the Israeli cabinet when far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Netanyahu that if he did a deal for a ceasefire then he would have no government. Brutal as that.
Netanyahu kept his government, prosecuted the war and lost any hope for a settlement. Thinking that Israel can control Gaza’s future or annex more of the West Bank has no enduring political foundation. Netanyahu’s flaw is that he cannot offer Saudi Arabia the conditions it needs to make the decisive leap to diplomatic recognition of Israel – those conditions being an end to the war and Israeli concessions towards a two-state solution. Netanyahu lacks the courage to broker a settlement.

Be fair "Ned", he also kept himself out of the clink, as the reptiles produced a final distracting snap, US President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the West Wing of the White House on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.

And so to the final gobbet, and blather about democracy, and acceptance of annexation, and the end of any notion of a Palestinian state ...

The next step has been utterly predictable. Western progressive governments in France, the UK and Canada, moving to Palestinian recognition – and in the case of Keir Starmer, trying to threaten Israel into concessions using recognition as a weapon.
Albanese has been more restrained. He said Australia’s recognition won’t be a “gesture” – the test being it must promote the two-state solution. Albanese said that means excluding Hamas, guaranteeing Israel’s right to exist, and democratic reforms in the Palestinian territory, issues where Australia has no influence. These tests are heroic; hopefully the new Arab position can advance them.
Albanese is right to put conditions on recognition. That’s critical. But how can such conditions be met? What problem are these Western leaders trying to solve: the Middle East crisis, or their domestic political challenges?
They seem to have forgotten something: Israel is a democracy. You can’t threaten, intimidate or impose a two-state solution on Israel. Western leaders seem ignorant of the meaning of October 7 – that massacre told most Israelis there was no Palestinian partner for peace. Contrary to some misguided impressions in Australia, the Israeli public is deeply sceptical about a two-state solution.
Given his character, Netanyahu will want to demonstrate to the world that Palestinian recognition doesn’t work. Might he move towards annexation of the West Bank? The outsider with influence is Donald Trump. What role will he play?

Ah, the old "end with a rhetorical question" ploy, a cheap trick favoured by pundits lost in a wilderness of their own making.

Relax "Ned", annexation is well advanced, and soon Gaza will be annexed, and then there'll be a new Riviera, perhaps with coral that might outshine our local reef.

As for King Donald, a link at the bottom of "Ned's" piece showed the role King Donald will play. 

He's the chief peacemaker, guaranteeing that Israel will take a piece of this and a piece of that ...

And so on, and so to wrap up proceedings with the infallible Pope ...