Tim Lyons
@picketer.bsky.social
Ex union boss. Organising, political economy, labour markets, tax, pensions, climate, China, Spinoza. Proud @UnitedWorkersOz member since 1990.
NM AFLW
I figure Ken Burns has one, maybe two big documentary series in him before he fully retires. What do you think they should be? My votes include Football, Hip-Hop, World War 1, Reconstruction (though Skip Gates did this one well), Iraq/Afghanistan, 19th Century Expansionism.
November 25, 2025 at 8:19 AM
NM AFLW
GenX holiday couples are much worse than Boomers on planes. WTF is wrong with you? Some sort of team-choreographed thing to occupy overhead bin space like they are annexing the Sudetenland and then plugging shit in like we are days after a Cat4 cyclone.
November 25, 2025 at 3:25 AM
GenX holiday couples are much worse than Boomers on planes. WTF is wrong with you? Some sort of team-choreographed thing to occupy overhead bin space like they are annexing the Sudetenland and then plugging shit in like we are days after a Cat4 cyclone.
Reposted by Tim Lyons
Bong rip: Maccas apologia is now unambiguously bourgy proleface www.latimes.com/business/sto...
Fast food is losing its low-income customers. Economists call it a symptom of the stark wealth divide
These customers are feeling the pressures of higher prices on groceries and apparel and the growing costs of rent and child care, the company's chief executive said in a recent earnings call.
www.latimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Bong rip: Maccas apologia is now unambiguously bourgy proleface www.latimes.com/business/sto...
Poorline and Barnabus on the telly eating a Family Court Dad Meal Deal cooked in an office kitchenette is somehow the Platonic form of our media-political culture: vile idiots doing dumb things given publicity about nothing.
November 25, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Poorline and Barnabus on the telly eating a Family Court Dad Meal Deal cooked in an office kitchenette is somehow the Platonic form of our media-political culture: vile idiots doing dumb things given publicity about nothing.
"My great grandfather learned how to make these dumplings while *visiting* Manchuria in the 30's"
November 24, 2025 at 11:32 PM
"My great grandfather learned how to make these dumplings while *visiting* Manchuria in the 30's"
Reposted by Tim Lyons
There's been a lot of shit ideas recently, this one just about tops it.
Trevor Phillips proposes banning "remittances" (ie: imposing currency/exchange controls on international cash transfers by foreign nationals from Britain). He says this would disincentivise immigration, in a Times piece saying the Home Secretary needs to go [much] further
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 10:55 PM
There's been a lot of shit ideas recently, this one just about tops it.
Reposted by Tim Lyons
this interview, and the subsequent reporting around it, was absolutely infuriating. any other sector's big business lobby wouldn't get this kind of uncritical, uninformed, wildly inaccurate coverage, yet disabled peoples' essential services do [little 🧵]
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
NDIS described as 'trainwreck' - ABC listen
A market failure is happening now in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, with many not-for-profit providers heading to insolvency.
www.abc.net.au
November 24, 2025 at 9:32 PM
this interview, and the subsequent reporting around it, was absolutely infuriating. any other sector's big business lobby wouldn't get this kind of uncritical, uninformed, wildly inaccurate coverage, yet disabled peoples' essential services do [little 🧵]
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Reposted by Tim Lyons
The guy who was given Barrangaroo for free and found unfit to run a casino. That guy.
November 24, 2025 at 9:14 PM
The guy who was given Barrangaroo for free and found unfit to run a casino. That guy.
On a Beef Wellington…….
November 24, 2025 at 9:32 PM
On a Beef Wellington…….
I feel like we are fed another total bullshit "enormous AI servers in space are almost here" yarn about every five weeks. www.theaustralian.com.au/business/the...
www.theaustralian.com.au
November 24, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I feel like we are fed another total bullshit "enormous AI servers in space are almost here" yarn about every five weeks. www.theaustralian.com.au/business/the...
This is excellent work from TWU members here - a collective agreement and a minimum wage for food delivery workers. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Minimum wage proposed for gig economy workers - ABC listen
Drivers working in the gig economy for Uber Eats and DoorDash may soon be earning a minimum wage if a deal with the union is passed by the Fair Work Commission.
www.abc.net.au
November 24, 2025 at 8:17 PM
This is excellent work from TWU members here - a collective agreement and a minimum wage for food delivery workers. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Something very rotten in the NZ cops here, but can we pause to laugh for one moment about the perp / Deputy Commissioner having the name "Jevon McSkimming"?
‘Atrocious on every level’: sex case findings shame New Zealand’s senior police culture
Inspector general will be inaugurated to oversee service after report on how top officers steered investigation of Jevon McSkimming, who went on to become deputy commissioner
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Something very rotten in the NZ cops here, but can we pause to laugh for one moment about the perp / Deputy Commissioner having the name "Jevon McSkimming"?
Good Q. Or why, in Australia, in we let them be governed in such an insane way when they are (almost all / any you'd care about) creatures of statute law and survive on public funding and policy decisions.
i really struggle to understand why centre left parties do not like universities, do not like the soft power we wield (imagine getting to educate the children of your geopolitical rivals!!!! IMAGINE!!!). i dont believe that albo, starmer, etc are this stupid, it's got to be hatred. but y.
November 24, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Good Q. Or why, in Australia, in we let them be governed in such an insane way when they are (almost all / any you'd care about) creatures of statute law and survive on public funding and policy decisions.
A thing about your independent auditor saying you were trading while insolvent is the shit tends to spray around the room in elaborate patterns. Best to try and say "that's absurd" with your mouth closed.
The auditor-general who said Tasmania's ferry operator was operating while insolvent, has been told his comments were "causing real harm to the company and its stakeholders".
Spirit of Tasmania boss says auditor-general insolvency argument 'absurd'
The auditor-general who said Tasmania's ferry operator was operating while insolvent, has been told his comments were "causing real harm to the company and its stakeholders".
www.abc.net.au
November 24, 2025 at 4:21 AM
A thing about your independent auditor saying you were trading while insolvent is the shit tends to spray around the room in elaborate patterns. Best to try and say "that's absurd" with your mouth closed.
The Nationals: "too dumb to stand in the shade on a hot day."
What sheep know about the benefits of wind turbines that Australia's National Party doesn't
November 24, 2025 at 3:47 AM
The Nationals: "too dumb to stand in the shade on a hot day."
1) Arthur Calwell
2) Tripe and onions
2) Tripe and onions
That brings us to tonight's #HATM questions:
1) Who do you want to see a biopic of?
2) And what is on the menu at your home tonight?
1) Who do you want to see a biopic of?
2) And what is on the menu at your home tonight?
November 24, 2025 at 3:35 AM
1) Arthur Calwell
2) Tripe and onions
2) Tripe and onions
American elite journalism has become: "We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the Kennedy scion, after [redacted], decided to [very redacted]"
“There are some stories where there are no winners—only losers. This is one of those stories.”
Moral rot in elite journalism is killing the whole field
The Nuzzi/RFK Jr. mess and the revelation of Epstein’s journo pals lay bare a profound moral absence at the heart of our free press.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 24, 2025 at 3:12 AM
American elite journalism has become: "We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the Kennedy scion, after [redacted], decided to [very redacted]"
Reposted by Tim Lyons
What sheep know about the benefits of wind turbines that Australia's National Party doesn't
November 23, 2025 at 6:57 PM
What sheep know about the benefits of wind turbines that Australia's National Party doesn't
The platforms make money from predators and Nazis and are overrun with bots but the real issue is all of us having to upload ID to poast about some shit we saw in The Age or a our walk in the park. Makes sense.
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 AM
The platforms make money from predators and Nazis and are overrun with bots but the real issue is all of us having to upload ID to poast about some shit we saw in The Age or a our walk in the park. Makes sense.
Reposted by Tim Lyons
If you want to see the political cynicism at the heart of Australian politics, look at this policy. It will not work. Everybody involved knows it will not work. It was rushed through without consultation or debate. It is designed to take effect when parliament is out and most of the public tuned out
I spoke to @australia.theguardian.com about the unworkability of Australia’s #SocialMediaBan for children and young people:
Labor has brushed aside concerns over the social media ban. But what if it doesn’t work as promised?
If Meta, the world’s biggest social media company, expects problems after a year of preparation, then what should the rest of us be expecting?
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:21 AM
If you want to see the political cynicism at the heart of Australian politics, look at this policy. It will not work. Everybody involved knows it will not work. It was rushed through without consultation or debate. It is designed to take effect when parliament is out and most of the public tuned out
no girl cooties amiright my dudes just some real men eating shit cold food in a car park that smells like piss living the dream
November 24, 2025 at 1:49 AM
no girl cooties amiright my dudes just some real men eating shit cold food in a car park that smells like piss living the dream
$100 million for a failed website (that has no registered users / password access / consumer data / paywall / ecommerce etc etc etc) is truly insane. $78 million for "design"!?!?! www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
Total bill for BoM’s new website came in at $96 million
In his first interview, new Bureau of Meteorology chief Stuart Minchin has revealed the eye-watering true cost of its lambasted new website.
www.smh.com.au
November 23, 2025 at 10:30 AM
$100 million for a failed website (that has no registered users / password access / consumer data / paywall / ecommerce etc etc etc) is truly insane. $78 million for "design"!?!?! www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
This joint, at its nadir a decade or so on, would’ve been perfect for a 90s indie comedy-drama where a body had to be disposed of.
November 23, 2025 at 6:41 AM
This joint, at its nadir a decade or so on, would’ve been perfect for a 90s indie comedy-drama where a body had to be disposed of.
Today: I saw a weird poast.
1987 in Chicago: I had Dr Who on the telly and this happened.
1987 in Chicago: I had Dr Who on the telly and this happened.
It's my favorite day! It's the 38th anniversary of the Max Headroom signal broadcast intrusion!
1st incident lasted 25s during the 9PM news on WGN-TV in Chicago; The 2nd, 2hrs later, lasted ~90s on PBS affiliate WTTW during Dr. Who.
You can watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqge...
1st incident lasted 25s during the 9PM news on WGN-TV in Chicago; The 2nd, 2hrs later, lasted ~90s on PBS affiliate WTTW during Dr. Who.
You can watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqge...
Max Headroom 1987 Broadcast Signal Intrusion Incident
YouTube video by andrew867
www.youtube.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Today: I saw a weird poast.
1987 in Chicago: I had Dr Who on the telly and this happened.
1987 in Chicago: I had Dr Who on the telly and this happened.
This wouldn’t really pass muster for Pol Sci 101 but will get you one of the best paid jobs at the ABC.
For most of our Federation's history, the two-party system has been an efficient organiser of the population. That has all changed.
Australians have made the Senate the government's worst nightmare
For most of our Federation's history, the two-party system has been an efficient organiser of the population. That has all changed.
www.abc.net.au
November 23, 2025 at 5:17 AM
This wouldn’t really pass muster for Pol Sci 101 but will get you one of the best paid jobs at the ABC.