The blog is taking a break for a while. Back on deck next month.
The dire state of US STEM research
The US was already having problems with the performance of US academic institutions in scientific areas when Donald Trump arrived with the mission to nobble universities.
The extent of the problem is highlighted by the latest Nature Index of Research Leaders which ranks leading academic institutions based on Nature data (11/6) about publications and other measures. In the latest 2025 table Harvard is ranked number one (the rankings are based on 2024 counts of papers and other criteria with the next highest US ranking being Stanford 12th followed by MIT and Oxford. All in all 14 of the top 20 universities are Chinese.
What Australians think about Trump and the US
While the Murdoch media – and most of the pontificators writing op eds for the rest of our news outlets – are having conniptions about whether and when Albanese might get a meeting with Trump is all happening at a time when the Australian public have little trust in the US and even less in Donald Trump.
What the world thinks of Bibi
The massive almost universal support nations have provided Israel since the Hamas attacks is eroding around the world and new research indicates that most people surveyed over 24 countries now have negative views of Israel and Netanyahu.
The Pew Research Center (3/6) found that in 20 of the 24 countries surveyed around half of adults or more have an unfavourable view of Israel.
What the world thinks of Trump
It’s early days on what the world thinks of Trump and his war on Iran and then his ceasefire agreement – although as would be expected Israel and Australia have leapt to say they agree with it.
Trump is probably hoping this will be enough to ensure his long-yearned for Nobel Peace Prize but the judges will probably wait a little while given his unpredictability and whether the ceasefire is real and enduring.
Trump dead last in presidential polling history
Donald Trump is definitely exceptional – so exceptional that he is now the most unpopular President in the history of Presidential polling.
When asked in a Quinnipiac poll if they approved or disapproved of the way Trump was handling his job as President, a majority (52%) said they disapproved while just 38% approved and 8% said they didn’t know.
Nobel Prize Winners dub Trump a Fascist
For some time I’ve been contemplating writing something on whether Trump was a fascist or not. Part of the problem is that fascist has become such an over-used term of abuse that it has become almost meaningless. But a group of Nobel Prize winners and scholars of fascism have produced a joint letter about Trump’s fascist threat to the US. They single out for comparison with Trump not Hitler but Mussolini. Mussolini is a good comparison in one way because Trump’s posture is very reminiscent of Mussolini – particularly the way Trump holds his head. Compare photos of both of them and the similarity is striking. Trump will not end hanged upside down by partisans as Mussolini was but history will probably judge him as being a fascist and wannabe dictator. This is what they said.
There’s something about Jacqui
Jacqui Lambie is no Cameron Diaz but the title of one of Diaz’s most loved films, There’s Something about Mary, might be a useful way of thinking about her. There is, after all, definitely something about Jacqui.
The political parties she’s been a member of include the Liberal Party and The Palmer United Party. She worked for Tamanian Labor Senator Nick Sherry; had to resign over the dual citizenship problem which caught many MPs and Senators; and, has been most recently narrowly elected Tasmanian Senator for the Jacqui Lambie Network. The last after a very tight race.
Class – when you got it and when you don’t
Class is a word used in many, many contexts and with many, many meanings – from social stratification to categorisation of many things. The phrase – a class of their own signifies this expansion of meaning.
In Britain from time immemorial to today it has has a mainly social application dating back from when the aristocracy placed themselves above all the other classes – exemplified by the creation of the House of Lords. The fact that some of those who have sat in the Lords over the centuries were descended from thugs, marauders and murderers was irrelevant.
A great opportunity – if we can seize it
Australia has an historic opportunity to expand its scientific research and reap significant benefits.
Sadly, while the Albanese Government is celebrating the acquisition of a controversial former Greens Senator and even compromising its timid superannuation change, much of the rest of the world is gearing up to attract US scientists being deprived of funding by the Trump Government.