Independence redefined, Trump and tantrums, and the Fin costs Peter Costello his seat
The Australian of the Year guilty of mansplaining? AAP, yesterday: David Morrison has called on women to be more strident in calling out sexism. The former army chief says not enough progress has been made â€¦ but believes we have reached a tipping point where women's voices are being heard. "This is not about fixing women; this is about fixing men," he told a Business Chicks event on International Women's Day.  
"Me and my white, Anglo-Saxon, middle-aged mates have largely set the system that we all operate in. And we've written the rules as well." No wonder the Greens agreed to Senate voting changes with this on the horizon. Suzanne Carbone, The Age, yesterday: The Wellbeing Party is floating into Australian politics ... to improve the feel-good vibrations of individuals and politics. Party founder Ben Irvine aims to contest the next election in the Senate and revolutionise political discourse through his "compassionate communications" policy â€¦ Mr -Irvine, a former researcher and social-change activist at the Australia Institute ... became burnt-out campaigning in the "social-change scene" and gravitated to teaching meditation and yoga at North Yoga in Fitzroy. "After a year of big change and teaching meditation full time, I wondered: 'What if you could create a wellbeing-based political movement' â€¦" For the party's launch â€¦ lunch was by chef Ricky Raw and his vegetarian/vegan/raw and gluten-free dish was roasted root-vegetable curry with pickled-beetroot rice.
Credibility is everything with economic modelling. Ross Gittins, The Sydney Morning Herald, yesterday: John Daley, of the genuinely independent Grattan Institute ...
That would be the genuinely independent Grattan Institute founded with â€¦ From its 2008-09 annual financial report: An endowment of $15,000,000 from the Rudd federal Labor government. And: An endowment of $15,000,000 from the Brumby state Labor government.
Threats. The Hill, yesterday: Miley Cyrus pledges to leave US if Trump wins.
And situational analysis. Alan RM Jones, Facebook, yesterday: Know-nothing entertainment vulgarian put off by know-nothing entertainment vulgarian.
House of Cards is back. "Frank Underwood" on Brexit, The Times Red Box website, Friday: Where will Europe be in ten years' time? Without borders, without a coherent currency, without leadership ...
If I were a Brit I wonder if I'd be more afraid to stay in the EU than to leave ...
There was a time when Europeans rode chariots and sailed ships, had ambition, ideas, built great empires. They had two thousand years as the centre of the world but ask yourself: When did Europe last peel any potatoes? Their leaders have sat so long on their marble thrones that not only have their balls turned to concrete but their minds, too.
But watch your watching. Monita Karmakar and Jessica Sloan Kruger, The Guardian, Saturday: Is binge-watching bad for your mental health? Our research shows that binge-watchers are more likely to report higher stress, anxiety and depression. What we don't know yet is whether the link is causal.
Try the next seat to the south. Dominic White, The Australian Financial Review, yesterday:Peter Costello â€¦ the former member for Kooyong.