eureka

joined 11 months ago
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[–] eureka@aussie.zone 4 points 1 day ago

Ah alright. Yeah that happens to us all these days, journos jumping the gun to get a scoop.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 7 points 1 day ago

Under the agreement workers will get a 12 per cent pay rise over three years plus back pay, they will also see an improvement to their conditions and technological advances.

Important to remember these negotiation aren't just about the pay.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

That string of attacks was determined to be a hoax, but I don't know where that claim of Jews is coming from. Police claim the fake caravan bomb plot "was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit" so members could hand over evidence or information to reduce their prison sentences^[1]^. The named key suspects are associated with the Nomad bikie gang and included Sayed Moosawi (Arabic names) and Sayet Erhan Akca (Turkish surname and believed fled to Turkey, so I assume they're most likely Turkish). Again, this was determined to be a criminal plot for their own benefit, not a real political act of antisemitism.

So unless I missed some announcement about these, I don't think Zionists or other Jews were behind that hoax. But I am wary that staged false flag attacks are a realistic possibility and we should not jump to conclusions.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I can't see it over there, I assume this whole reply chain doesn't get federated to them because I started it. But I don't know how mentions work so I'm curious too.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

https://aussie.zone/post/21229070

Some fake vote manipulation instances were spun up last month and apparently I'd downvoted some of the same posts that were getting brigaded (see Quokka's reply) so a lemmy.world admin jumped the gun and banned me for "Vote manipulation". I haven't had the time to bother appealing the ban since I didn't post to there often anyway, but I didn't realise that a few of their users post here and wouldn't see my replies so I'll send .world a message about it tomorrow or so.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Just realised OP can't see my post on .world, so if you found this interesting I'd appreciate if you share this link with them: https://aussie.zone/comment/17588950

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 4 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Thanks for sharing, definitely a huge leap from our situation over here. Monthly loss limits seem so obvious as an anti-addiction measure but I hadn't thought or heard of it.

As for the argument a Norwegian policy researcher quickly raises on personal liberties of citizens and which the US section expands on, I don't believe that applies well to machines designed to exploit human psychology to form addictions. Addiction is contradictory to liberty, it coerces a person to pressure them into a decision they likely would not make otherwise:

In 2007, the government ordered the removal of all slot machines that had been operating in public places. [...] Eidem said gambling support group members would cry with relief “because they were so happy they could go to the store and buy milk and bread without having to fight their way through the hallway with 10 slot machines.”

I think it's also interesting that they bring up this lad:

Gasparim said he doesn’t like to be told how much money he can lose. And he doesn’t appreciate the restrictions over what times he can gamble in Norway, especially since he likes to bet on U.S. ice hockey games that are in a different time zone. So he goes on foreign gambling websites that are illegal in Norway and have no limits at all. “I know that it's not healthy,” Gasparim said. “I could have saved all the money that I've spent all these years, but I do it because I think it's fun.”

[...] Magnus Eidem, the addiction specialist, says the foreign gambling sites are much more likely to lead to gambling disorders than the legal market; the more money people lose through unregulated play, the more they try to gamble it back. That includes young people who find foreign sites before they’re old enough to legally gamble.

So there becomes an element of pragmatic balance: if people feel too limited, they might just jump into fully unregulated territory and suffer more harm than the regulated solution. It's something to be careful of, and something which applies to all kinds of regulation.

Something I didn't see mentioned is that in Norway, the "gambling industry is run almost entirely by the government itself — one of the only countries with a state monopoly". Even casting aside US ideological issues over government ownership of industry, I simply wouldn't trust their current regime to balance, let alone prioritise, public health over corporate interests (profit). With Australia... maybe under Labor? Definitely more confident if Greens have the power to pressure them.


After the on-screen graphics spin for a few moments, the display lets him know he won 30 kroner. But you can hardly tell. There are no bells, no manufactured sounds of coins falling into a steel bowl. “All those sounds are meant to make you play more,” he said.

I recently came across an interactive article (similar to ABCs scrolling graphic articles) about some of the basic psychology and cues behind pokies. Not just triggers like the sounds and graphics, but also some tricks like 'losses disguised as wins':

For example, if you bet three credits on three lines, but only win one credit on one line, you might win back less money than you bet overall. This means you lost money, but because you get the flashing lights and reward from winning, you still get the good feeling of a win.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/ng-interactive/2017/sep/28/hooked-how-pokies-are-designed-to-be-addictive [sound warning]


Also relevant, and my account's banner image: FriendlyJordies and Boy Boy collaborated with whistleblower Troy Stolz [omg I didn't know he got elected to council last year!] to make a fun but educational video about laundering in NSW casinos through pokies. How Much Money Can We Launder In A Day?

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 7 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Horrible stuff. I'm glad no-one was injured, antisemitism has no place here (and attacking a synagogue and the surrounding community is certainly that).

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

oh yeah nah course we care about *checks notes* US lawmakers and their thoughts. utmost respect for em.

There is an interesting, complex conversation going on between the many different Australian advocacy groups here in the article, it's clearly got a few interesting angles to it. But if one thing is clear, the US lawmakers are not only ignorant of the discussion but incidentally hypocritical (see the Game Industry Council comment on US deer practices). They seem to mean well, in a surprising way, but that's no excuse for professional lawmakers to be so blatantly ignorant. Although, to be honest, I'd be surprised if any conservationist legislation went through their congress under this regime, so I doubt it will pass.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You should be aware of your speedometer even if you think you can safely drive at a speed...... Especially in urban areas, where I'd assume it's more likely in urban areas for your car will collide with people at no fault of your own, like a kid carelessly running onto the road. Lower speeds make crashes far less dangerous, I wouldn't be surprised at all if five 30kph crashes a month had a significantly lesser fatality rate than one 50kph crash a month.

edit: very relevant, someone else mentioned this video. Amsterdam set their speed limit down to the same 30kph.

[–] eureka@aussie.zone 2 points 3 days ago

What do you think when two organizations you trust say different things?

To be honest, I would have trusted Cancer Council much more than Choice before this news challenged my trust (not because of any particular thing Choice has done). The ABC article today about the Princeton Consumer Research test and allegations of its results being concerningly homogeneous has just made this a bit more complicated.

 

This video covers:

  • Why the NSN nazi org typically resort to cowardly flash-mobbing at 3:30am when no-one is around
  • What they aim to achieve through flash mobs, and in their own words, the effect they want to have in media
  • How the way we share news of these events can promote their group (increasing its funding and its ability to form a legal political party)
  • Exclusive footage of those nazis getting beaten up

Since this is an important topic, especially for social media users, please share this video to other communities!

(I was late to watch and share so that Anti-Racism Action event mentioned at the very end has already happened.)

 

OP article: 17 May 2025

Alternate article- Student general meeting demands USyd drop specious definition of antisemitism, cut ties with Israel - 18 May 2025

USyd response statement - University of Sydney does not condone student resolution: statement: 21 May 2025


Selected paragraphs:

Over 200 students packed a Student General Meeting at the University of Sydney this week, overwhelmingly rejecting the university’s new definition of antisemitism, designed to smear supporters of Palestine, and standing up to a crackdown on the right to protest.

The new Universities Australia definition of antisemitism, adopted by nearly all Australian universities, states that criticism of Israel can be antisemitic “when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel”. It draws heavily on the widely-condemned International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition which has been opposed by organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

In the end, only two students voted against any of the motions. It was an incredibly important moment for the movement on campus in a context where the right to support Palestine is under serious attack.

When two Zionist students spoke against the motions, calling pro-Palestine protesters antisemitic and condemning Hamas, the entire auditorium turned their backs on them. In response to their claims, an anti-Zionist student from a Jewish family spoke in support of the motion to support the one-state solution, telling the crowd: “I’m tired of being represented by Jewish people that think defending the state of Israel is valid, so I decided to come and speak for myself.”

In the lead-up to the meeting, the University had also threatened to cancel the room booking for the SGM unless the meeting was recorded and every student who wanted to attend presented their identification to security. These demands were dropped after opposition from the SRC.

 

A low-hanging fruit on YouTube/etc. is "[Nationality] TRIES [nationality] FOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME!!", you know the type, but a few of them are actually entertaining or have novel commentary and not just vapid "i lieked this/i didnt like vegemite" reaction filler.

Bonus points for any that involve actual recipes (e.g. a pavlova) instead of just packaged lollies, biscuits and spreads.

 

I love putting things in boxes, it's my hobby you see, so I'd like to hear other people's thoughts and perspectives on this.

But my point is pretty straightforward: there is an overarching aussie.zone community, and as long as the sidebars are well-connected to aid discovery (and they're already pretty good), there's no point in having news and politics spread across three different communities, and we just end up with redundant crossposting creating parallel conversations.

It would be great to clarify the relationship between /c/australia, /c/news and /c/australianpolitics.

 

I'm headed for the MUA march in town, it's great having a yarn with all the other workers in the pub afterwards.

 

This interview is notable for asking some questions from a different perspective to most opinions I've seen. The questions include: (paraphrased)

  • What are the aims of the tarrifs, and will they achieve it? (spoiler: lol no)
  • Do the US mega-rich support Trump’s tariffs?
  • How do they fit into Trump's broader foreign policy?
  • Do these tarrifs spell the end of globalisation?
  • Will these lead to further decoupling from the Global South, allowing them to pursue more autonomous development strategies?
  • What position should working-class forces take towards these tariffs and talk of retaliatory tariffs from other countries, whether in the Global North or South?
 

The "Nicole" spammer is annoying, but it's a great test of our anti-spam capabilities.

Spam is a real threat. efore this instance was made, there was a right-wing troll using open-registration instances to spam shock porn on every post they could until they were banned, then come back the next day. And with the increased popularity of Lemmy, commercial spam is more and more likely to begin.

If you have the capability to block text, could you try to block the Nicole spam messages?

 

Bewildered by our wildlife? Curious about our cuisine? Perplexed by our perspectives? Fascinated by the social implications of compulsory, preferential run-off voting?

Well don't bother with search engines, nah, just Ask an Aussie!

Link: !ama@aussie.zone

 

This is the B-plot of Utopia (2014) Season 4 Episode 8.

 

Summary:

Today, Australia’s 39 universities endorsed a dangerous and politicised definition of antisemitism which threatens academic freedom, will have a chilling effect on legitimate criticism of Israel, and risks institutionalising anti-Palestinian racism. They did so without meaningful consultation with Palestinian groups or diverse Jewish groups who are critical of Israel.

The Jewish Council of Australia strongly opposes the antisemitism definition developed by the Group of Eight (Go8) universities and adopted by Universities Australia. By categorising Palestinian political expression as inherently antisemitic, it will be unworkable and unenforceable, and stifle critical political debate, which is at the heart of any democratic society.

The definition dangerously conflates Jewish identities with support for the state of Israel and the political ideology of Zionism.

I was going to include some key dot points, but this statement is succinct enough that you should just read it, or at least skim it.

 

On Saturday the 25th of January, an Aboriginal inmate was bashed by the Corrective Services Immediate Action Team at Long Bay Correctional Centre.

After being tear-gassed and beaten by officers, he sustained head lacerations, a broken eye socket, broken ribs and ankle

It has been reported that he has not received any medical treatment for the past 5 days nor has he eaten anything since the incident,

This is inhuman behavior and unjustified. Withholding basic medical care and general health needs like food, nutrition and hydration is against the basic human rights.

The family will be attending this weekend on Saturday to protest and demand the end to brutalization in custody.

JOIN THE FAMILY THIS WEEKEND‼️ MEET ON THE CORNER OF ANZAC PDE & BILGA CR

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