tardigrada

Central to Australia’s cultural and political identity is the notion of a “fair go”. But recent elections, including in the United States, have highlighted the challenge of maintaining shared norms and support for institutions when many voters don’t believe they’re getting a “fair go”.

Australia has maintained a reasonably high satisfaction with democracy. However, this satisfaction is slipping.

A recent study, published by the Australian National University in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs Strengthening Democracy Taskforce, explored this issue further. It analysed how perceptions of income inequality relate to satisfaction with democracy.

It found concerns about income inequality in Australia are strongly related to dissatisfaction with democracy. This suggests Australia’s satisfaction with democracy is at risk. It may erode further if voters think the major parties aren’t sufficiently responsive to the economic pressures they are under.

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Archived version

Though it’s already been overshadowed in the deluge of post-election analysis of Donald Trump’s victory, Tuesday also marked a serious escalation of Russia’s global campaign of sabotage and intimidation targeting the US and other Western powers.

Polling sites in several states received bomb threats — later determined not to be credible — which the FBI said in a statement “appear to originate from Russian email domains.” The threats forced several polling places to close temporarily in the swing state of Georgia. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters on Tuesday, “We identified the source, and it was from Russia.” Polling sites in the swing states of Michigan and Arizona also received threats, though it’s unclear if these was part of the same campaign.

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As anyone following American politics over the past decade knows, the Russian government has tried to meddle in US campaigns before. As was the case in the past two elections, the Russian government was believed to prefer Trump, who speaks frequently of his good relationship with President Vladimir Putin and has been critical of both NATO and US support for Ukraine.

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Andrei Soldatov, an investigative journalist and analyst who has written several books on Russia’s security services, says this year’s campaign targeting the US election differed from past efforts. It was also different from recent alleged campaigns of fraud to help Moscow’s preferred candidates in elections in the former Soviet states of Georgia and Moldova.

“The goal was not actually to change the results of the election,” Soldatov told Vox. “It was about posturing, about reminding Americans what’s at stake, and sending a message about what might happen if America continues its support for Ukraine.”

Though the election is over, Russia’s efforts to transmit this message are not, and they ultimately might take forms that are more violent and destructive than empty bomb threats.

Out of the gray zone and into the blue

Two days before the election, the Wall Street Journal reported that Western security services believed two incendiary devices seized on board planes in Europe over the summer were a test run for a Russian operation to start fires on US-bound planes. The devices detonated without injuries at logistics hubs in Germany and the UK, but the head of Poland’s intelligence agency said, “I’m not sure the political leaders of Russia are aware of the consequences if one of these packages exploded, causing a mass casualty event.” The Russian government has denied involvement.

This follows a campaign of arson and sabotage across Europe that intelligence officials say demonstrates an increasing recklessness on the part of the Kremlin. As the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6 put it, “Russian intelligence services have gone a bit feral, frankly.”

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Central to Australia’s cultural and political identity is the notion of a “fair go”. But recent elections, including in the United States, have highlighted the challenge of maintaining shared norms and support for institutions when many voters don’t believe they’re getting a “fair go”.

Australia has maintained a reasonably high satisfaction with democracy. However, this satisfaction is slipping.

A recent study, published by the Australian National University in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs Strengthening Democracy Taskforce, explored this issue further. It analysed how perceptions of income inequality relate to satisfaction with democracy.

It found concerns about income inequality in Australia are strongly related to dissatisfaction with democracy. This suggests Australia’s satisfaction with democracy is at risk. It may erode further if voters think the major parties aren’t sufficiently responsive to the economic pressures they are under.

[...]

Archived version

Though it’s already been overshadowed in the deluge of post-election analysis of Donald Trump’s victory, Tuesday also marked a serious escalation of Russia’s global campaign of sabotage and intimidation targeting the US and other Western powers.

Polling sites in several states received bomb threats — later determined not to be credible — which the FBI said in a statement “appear to originate from Russian email domains.” The threats forced several polling places to close temporarily in the swing state of Georgia. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters on Tuesday, “We identified the source, and it was from Russia.” Polling sites in the swing states of Michigan and Arizona also received threats, though it’s unclear if these was part of the same campaign.

[...]

As anyone following American politics over the past decade knows, the Russian government has tried to meddle in US campaigns before. As was the case in the past two elections, the Russian government was believed to prefer Trump, who speaks frequently of his good relationship with President Vladimir Putin and has been critical of both NATO and US support for Ukraine.

[...]

Andrei Soldatov, an investigative journalist and analyst who has written several books on Russia’s security services, says this year’s campaign targeting the US election differed from past efforts. It was also different from recent alleged campaigns of fraud to help Moscow’s preferred candidates in elections in the former Soviet states of Georgia and Moldova.

“The goal was not actually to change the results of the election,” Soldatov told Vox. “It was about posturing, about reminding Americans what’s at stake, and sending a message about what might happen if America continues its support for Ukraine.”

Though the election is over, Russia’s efforts to transmit this message are not, and they ultimately might take forms that are more violent and destructive than empty bomb threats.

Out of the gray zone and into the blue

Two days before the election, the Wall Street Journal reported that Western security services believed two incendiary devices seized on board planes in Europe over the summer were a test run for a Russian operation to start fires on US-bound planes. The devices detonated without injuries at logistics hubs in Germany and the UK, but the head of Poland’s intelligence agency said, “I’m not sure the political leaders of Russia are aware of the consequences if one of these packages exploded, causing a mass casualty event.” The Russian government has denied involvement.

This follows a campaign of arson and sabotage across Europe that intelligence officials say demonstrates an increasing recklessness on the part of the Kremlin. As the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6 put it, “Russian intelligence services have gone a bit feral, frankly.”

[...]

Archived version

Australia's national intelligence chief has sounded an alarm about an "emerging axis" of countries supporting Russia in its brutal invasion of Ukraine, cautioning that the strategic development was "profoundly troubling" for the Western countries supporting Kyiv.

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Andrew Shearer, Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence, said the nexus, which included China, Iran, and North Korea, warranted thorough evaluation.

Naming North Korea and China as the main pillars of the Axis, Shearer stated that Moscow's ongoing aggression has been made possible largely by Beijing's consistent diplomatic and economic support.

"The massive provision by China of dual-use assistance to Putin, and economic support and diplomatic support is keeping Putin's army in the field in Ukraine, killing innocent Ukrainians just as surely as if they were providing artillery ammunition and missiles," Shearer said.

Archived version

Australia's national intelligence chief has sounded an alarm about an "emerging axis" of countries supporting Russia in its brutal invasion of Ukraine, cautioning that the strategic development was "profoundly troubling" for the Western countries supporting Kyiv.

[...]

Andrew Shearer, Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence, said the nexus, which included China, Iran, and North Korea, warranted thorough evaluation.

Naming North Korea and China as the main pillars of the Axis, Shearer stated that Moscow's ongoing aggression has been made possible largely by Beijing's consistent diplomatic and economic support.

"The massive provision by China of dual-use assistance to Putin, and economic support and diplomatic support is keeping Putin's army in the field in Ukraine, killing innocent Ukrainians just as surely as if they were providing artillery ammunition and missiles," Shearer said.

Archived version

Gwinett County elections director Zach Manifold said that there have been threats to polling places in his county and Fulton County.

Manifold said, “We have had one incident, just recently. I don’t have additional information yet. I will share it when we get it. But we have had one incident, just recently.”

There has also been a precinct evacuated that as of the time of the interview remained evacuated. There have also been two non-credible bomb threats to Fulton County, GA. Joe Biden won both Gwinett and Fulton Counties in 2020 as part of his narrow flipping of Georgia from red to blue.

The fact that counties with large numbers of Democratic voters have been targeted with threats suggests that this might be the work of some Trump supporters who are trying to hold down the vote in Georgia to help Donald Trump.

[Edit typo.]

A registered foreign agent of Russia has repeatedly paid a right-wing influencer account to post memes and even promote a bogus voting fraud hoax, according to a report. (Photo credit: JRdes / Shutterstock) A registered foreign agent of Russia has repeatedly paid a right-wing influencer account to post memes and even promote a bogus voting fraud hoax, according to a report.

Simeon Boikov, a podcaster known online as “AussieCossack," paid the person behind the X account @Alphafox78 $100 a piece for about 10 posts, CNN reported Monday night. The account has about 650,000 followers and CNN obtained documents showing Boikov is a registered foreign agent for Russia in Australia.

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“Earlier today, our office became aware of a video purporting to show a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia ID’s claiming to have voted multiple times,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement Thursday. “This is false, and is an example of targeted disinformation we’ve seen this election.”

Raffensperger said the video was created and distributed by Russian influencers.

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The man deleted the post after it was viewed more than half a million times.

Archived link

At a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, Donald Trump said he would be OK with someone trying to assassinate him by firing through a group of journalists. “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much,” Trump said, when discussing the bulletproof glass protecting him.

The Trump campaign tried to clean up the Republican candidate’s comments…by suggesting people should not believe what they heard, and repeating baseless claims that Democratic rhetoric was to blame for the assassination attempts against him. Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, claimed in a statement that the ex-president “was stating that the Media was in danger, in that they were protecting him and, therefore, were in great danger themselves, and should have had a glass protective shield, also. There can be no other interpretation of what was said. He was actually looking out for their welfare, far more than his own!”

Archived link

The most concerning elements of Musk’s role in Trump’s campaign, and in Trump’s potential second administration, have arguably nothing to do with Musk tanking the American economy or causing what he calls “hardship” by gutting the federal government. They have instead to do with underremarked revelations from last week: As the Wall Street Journal reported, Musk is in “regular contact” with Russian despot Vladimir Putin, acting as a back-channel with Moscow.

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For years, he has increasingly regurgitated Kremlin talking points, especially regarding Ukraine. In late 2022, with Russian troops starting to be pushed out of much of eastern Ukraine, Musk began broadcasting Kremlin talking points to halt Ukrainian advances. He started peddling Russian propaganda claims that Ukrainian territories like Crimea are “absolutely seen as a core part of Russia by Russia”—and that Russia would resort to nuclear war if Crimea was threatened by Kyiv. He further peddled a supposed “peace plan” that would not only return Ukraine to neutrality—the same neutrality Ukraine enjoyed when Russia first invaded in 2014—but further force Ukraine to give up its claims to Crimea.

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For those familiar with the region and Russian politics, Musk’s additional calls to have Ukrainian water flow to the peninsula, while also dubbing Ukraine’s claims to Crimea as “Khruschev’s mistake,” were immediate red flags, directly parroting Kremlin rhetoric. “It’s very clear that Elon Musk is transmitting a message for Putin,” Russia expert Fiona Hill said at the time. Soon thereafter, we learned that Musk had specifically blocked a Ukrainian military mission from targeting the peninsula, with Musk waffling in the face of Russian nuclear threats—arguably the only time Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling has actually worked.

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Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, every state-level campaign to limit abortion has failed. But that hasn’t stopped Catholic organizations from stepping into the fight again this election year.

Catholic organizations are bankrolling campaigns against abortion-rights measures, spending more than $1.9 million so far in five of the 10 states where such measures are on the ballot, according to a joint investigation by National Catholic Reporter and Mother Jones.

In Florida alone, dioceses and bishops have spent more than $1.1 million, and church entities in South Dakota have recently ramped up spending as the election nears. In other states, the church’s hierarchy may be sitting out financially, but wealthy individuals with well-established associations with the Catholic Church, or church-affiliated groups—like local parishes and Knights of Columbus chapters—have stepped into the fray.

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In all 10 states with abortion ballot measures, Catholic groups and dioceses are working to oppose abortion-rights amendments with mailings, bishops’ statements, videos, prayers and other resources in English and Spanish. Says Morris of Missouri: “It’s kind of an all-of-the-above approach.”

Yet, the effectiveness of church attempts at persuasion are questionable. A recent poll of Catholic voters in seven battleground states found that the hierarchy’s influence on voters in their flock is extremely limited. Only 32 percent said bishops were very or somewhat influential in voting decisions, and 37 percent said priests were, according to the poll, which was conducted by the National Catholic Reporter.

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Luke Radel, a student journalist at Syracuse University, asked Johnson (R-La.) about Trump's recent comments that the CHIPS and Science Act is "so bad."

"You voted against it," said Radel. "If you have a Republican majority in Congress and Trump in the White House, will you guys try to repeal that law?"

"I expect that we probably will, but we haven't developed that part of the agenda yet," said Johnson before attempting to pivot to talking about Rep. Brandon Williams, a Republican who represents New York's 22nd District, where a $100 billion Micron Technology chipmaking facility has benefited from the CHIPS and Science Act.

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The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) echoed the congresswoman [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's] sentiment, saying Johnson's plan to repeal the CHIPS Act would impact "tens of thousands of IBEW jobs created by this administration."

"We are NOT going back," said the union.

Johnson's remark got the attention of other politicians whose states have benefited from the law, including [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)], Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

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