Margaret Barbalet
@margaretbarbalet.bsky.social
Writer, grandmother, former diplomat
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
These unconscionable cuts to a vital lifeline fund for some of the most vulnerable children & young adults in England are staggering - a 60% reduction from £7.5K to just £3K per child & even worse - these changes were introduced by the government without consultation, warning and no evidence base
🚨This is not what I expect from a Labour government
THESE SHOCKING cuts are staggering - a 60% reduction from £7.5K to just £3K per child - the Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund is a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable children & young adults in England
youtu.be/7roDSM-GPBY?...
THESE SHOCKING cuts are staggering - a 60% reduction from £7.5K to just £3K per child - the Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund is a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable children & young adults in England
youtu.be/7roDSM-GPBY?...
Devastating cuts for some of most vulnerable children in England is not what I expect from Labour
YouTube video by Peter Stefanovic
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 8:25 AM
These unconscionable cuts to a vital lifeline fund for some of the most vulnerable children & young adults in England are staggering - a 60% reduction from £7.5K to just £3K per child & even worse - these changes were introduced by the government without consultation, warning and no evidence base
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
JCO really is one of the finest posters we have. First the toe, now inducing a Musk meltdown? I will forgive every terrible opinion for the sheer internet of the woman
November 11, 2025 at 9:07 AM
JCO really is one of the finest posters we have. First the toe, now inducing a Musk meltdown? I will forgive every terrible opinion for the sheer internet of the woman
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Imagine praising a book in 2025 for being "sparse"? Look I enjoy sparse prose as much as the next, but we've been in a decades long Sparse Race of prose that you can increasingly just inhale like a delicate mousse and at some stage we will have to start making adjectives cool again
November 11, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Imagine praising a book in 2025 for being "sparse"? Look I enjoy sparse prose as much as the next, but we've been in a decades long Sparse Race of prose that you can increasingly just inhale like a delicate mousse and at some stage we will have to start making adjectives cool again
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Elon Musk, who is currently the richest person in the world with a net worth of $497 billion, is blocking food bank links on Twitter.
Spread the word please!
Spread the word please!
November 9, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Elon Musk, who is currently the richest person in the world with a net worth of $497 billion, is blocking food bank links on Twitter.
Spread the word please!
Spread the word please!
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
I spotted this on Mastodon and I find it horrible, not least for the speed with which this has happened.
November 4, 2025 at 9:56 AM
I spotted this on Mastodon and I find it horrible, not least for the speed with which this has happened.
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Dems should be all over THIS, not caving on a shutdown and healthcare premiums on which the publicly currently clearly blame Trump and the GOP for.
At least some people’s lives have improved in Donald Trump’s America.
November 9, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Dems should be all over THIS, not caving on a shutdown and healthcare premiums on which the publicly currently clearly blame Trump and the GOP for.
Yes, mine too. Writers gutted and tossed aside.
November 10, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Yes, mine too. Writers gutted and tossed aside.
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Any coverage is at least something, but this article feels like a bit of an opportunity lost http://lithub.com/8-australian-writers-you-should-know/
8 Australian Writers You Should Know
According to a survey undertaken by the Australia Council...
lithub.com
December 12, 2024 at 8:46 PM
Any coverage is at least something, but this article feels like a bit of an opportunity lost http://lithub.com/8-australian-writers-you-should-know/
Poor little boy! Russian War Criminals at it again.
At just 2 years old, a Ukrainian boy already knows what a Shahed drone is, and that when it flies somewhere nearby, it is necessary to hide in the hallway.
📹: Karyna Hlushenko/Facebook
📹: Karyna Hlushenko/Facebook
November 9, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Poor little boy! Russian War Criminals at it again.
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
I have just published my weekly update on modern war and strategic competition. This week: the Battle of Pokrovsk, Russian casualties, deep-strike campaigns, China's 3rd aircraft carrier commissions, as well as my recommended war and national security reads.
mickryan.substack.com/p/russian-ca...
mickryan.substack.com/p/russian-ca...
Russian Casualties Rise, Ukraine Strikes Russian Power Facilities and the Battle of Pokrovsk Continues - The Big Five, 9 November edition
My regular update on global conflict. This week: the Battle of Pokrovsk, Russian casualties and China's 3rd aircraft carrier commissions, as well as my recommended war and national security reads
mickryan.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:49 PM
I have just published my weekly update on modern war and strategic competition. This week: the Battle of Pokrovsk, Russian casualties, deep-strike campaigns, China's 3rd aircraft carrier commissions, as well as my recommended war and national security reads.
mickryan.substack.com/p/russian-ca...
mickryan.substack.com/p/russian-ca...
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
And now I spy the UK cover, coming in July 26 from Hutchinson Heinemann! www.penguin.co.uk/books/476509...
November 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
And now I spy the UK cover, coming in July 26 from Hutchinson Heinemann! www.penguin.co.uk/books/476509...
Absolutely
If I were in charge of a party that has made statements in support of Russia, I'd be dead against immigration to Britain too, because migrants are *improving* our economy, and we know Putin wouldn't like that 🤔
"Home Office data suggests that recent immigrants are more likely to be working than British nationals and make higher wages than them. They are also likely to be net fiscal contributors. Far from draining our welfare system, migrants are supporting Britain’s solvency." ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...
November 8, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Absolutely
Of course
The toddler has started saying “cuggle” when he wants a cuddle and a bit of me secretly hopes he never learns how to say it properly.
November 8, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Of course
Just do it @albomp.bsky.social !
‘Labor sources have told ABC Investigations the PM’s office has been putting pressure on advocates for gambling reform within the parliamentary Labor party to prevent them from speaking up.’
Arise, Caucus MPs! You have nothing to lose but your chains!
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Arise, Caucus MPs! You have nothing to lose but your chains!
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
'Broad, unspoken consensus': silent Labor MPs want action on gambling
Andrew Wilkie has asked the PM to allow a free vote on banning gambling advertising and it appears many Labor MPs would support it.
www.abc.net.au
November 8, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Just do it @albomp.bsky.social !
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Can’t say I’ve ever heard of this Jack Edwards fellow…but clearly, not the demographic! www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
‘It’s not just a book, it’s a window to my soul’: why we’re in love with literary angst
Why did an obscure Dostoevsky novella sell 100,000 copies in the UK last year? And why are TikTokers raving about a 1943 Turkish novel? The way young people are discovering books is changing – and the...
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Can’t say I’ve ever heard of this Jack Edwards fellow…but clearly, not the demographic! www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
I am no older in the night now than I was when a child; ghosts pepper shadows unevenly.
excerpt from ‘Old Ghost Dogs’ by Birri-Gubba and Mununjali poet Samuel Wagan Watson
portrait 📷 by Helen Kassila
excerpt from ‘Old Ghost Dogs’ by Birri-Gubba and Mununjali poet Samuel Wagan Watson
portrait 📷 by Helen Kassila
November 8, 2025 at 2:43 AM
I am no older in the night now than I was when a child; ghosts pepper shadows unevenly.
excerpt from ‘Old Ghost Dogs’ by Birri-Gubba and Mununjali poet Samuel Wagan Watson
portrait 📷 by Helen Kassila
excerpt from ‘Old Ghost Dogs’ by Birri-Gubba and Mununjali poet Samuel Wagan Watson
portrait 📷 by Helen Kassila
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Delighted that the University of Canberra has announced my appointment as Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas, and Director of UC's new Vice-Chancellor's Centre of Public Ideas. Looking forward to developing this exciting initiative from early 2026. www.canberra.edu.au/about-uc/med...
UC launches newly established Vice-Chancellor’s Centre of Public Ideas and appointment of inaugural director
UC to establish the Vice-Chancellor’s Centre of Public Ideas, and Prof Frank Bongiorno AM to take up Donald Horne Professorship as Centre director.
www.canberra.edu.au
November 7, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Delighted that the University of Canberra has announced my appointment as Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas, and Director of UC's new Vice-Chancellor's Centre of Public Ideas. Looking forward to developing this exciting initiative from early 2026. www.canberra.edu.au/about-uc/med...
Another bureaucratic mystery
The future of Australian medical research is being held back, not by a lack of ideas, talent, or urgency, but by the failure to honour a long‐held funding promise, a situation all the more perplexing given that the promised funds are already available.
Read more: www.burnet.edu.au/news/burnet-...
Read more: www.burnet.edu.au/news/burnet-...
Burnet backs calls to fully release MRFF: media release
The MRFF was established to transform Australian health and medical research. We are calling on all funds to be released.
www.burnet.edu.au
November 7, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Another bureaucratic mystery
Good.
On the night of November 6, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces struck several oil facilities in Crimea using FP-1/FP-2 guided strike drones.
Oil depots, two trains loaded with petroleum products, storage tanks.
Oil depots, two trains loaded with petroleum products, storage tanks.
November 7, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Good.
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
On September 10,Anna,a resident of Pokrovsk,Donetsk region,heavily pregnant,left the city by bicycle amid constant Russian shelling.The 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade reported that a Russian drone targeted her twice but,fortunately, missed
Soldiers of the brigade met Anna&evacuated her
📹hromadske
Soldiers of the brigade met Anna&evacuated her
📹hromadske
November 6, 2025 at 8:33 PM
On September 10,Anna,a resident of Pokrovsk,Donetsk region,heavily pregnant,left the city by bicycle amid constant Russian shelling.The 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade reported that a Russian drone targeted her twice but,fortunately, missed
Soldiers of the brigade met Anna&evacuated her
📹hromadske
Soldiers of the brigade met Anna&evacuated her
📹hromadske
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Shocking post by #walksydney -
5 pedestrians killed last week.
Look at the types of big vehicles involved
Shrink sizes, slow speeds
5 pedestrians killed last week.
Look at the types of big vehicles involved
Shrink sizes, slow speeds
November 7, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Shocking post by #walksydney -
5 pedestrians killed last week.
Look at the types of big vehicles involved
Shrink sizes, slow speeds
5 pedestrians killed last week.
Look at the types of big vehicles involved
Shrink sizes, slow speeds
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Nearly there! Popped in a few other useful things too- notebooks, pens, handbags...
#ItsInTheBag #ShareTheDignity
#ItsInTheBag #ShareTheDignity
November 7, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Nearly there! Popped in a few other useful things too- notebooks, pens, handbags...
#ItsInTheBag #ShareTheDignity
#ItsInTheBag #ShareTheDignity
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
Autonomous Systems: Learning the Right Lessons from Ukraine for Down Under. My testimony about the lessons of Ukraine and the future of autonomous systems in war for an Australian parliamentary committee hearing this week.
mickryan.substack.com/p/autonomous...
mickryan.substack.com/p/autonomous...
Autonomous Systems: Learning the Right Lessons from Ukraine for Down Under
My testimony about the lessons of Ukraine and the future of autonomous systems in war for an Australian parliamentary committee hearing this week.
mickryan.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Autonomous Systems: Learning the Right Lessons from Ukraine for Down Under. My testimony about the lessons of Ukraine and the future of autonomous systems in war for an Australian parliamentary committee hearing this week.
mickryan.substack.com/p/autonomous...
mickryan.substack.com/p/autonomous...
Reposted by Margaret Barbalet
November 7, 2025 at 5:21 AM