Damien Huffer

The announcement today from the Albanese Labor Government to send an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to the Gulf and provide medium-range air-to-air missiles to the UAE shows Australia has been fully dragged into another US forever war.

We're so indescribably sorry to hear this, Michele... We can't offer novel words, just endless hugs.

In a First, Portugal Returns Looted Antiquities to Mexico In a sign of growing international cooperation in the restitution of looted artifacts, Portugal has returned three pre-Columbian objects to Mexico.

In a sign of growing international cooperation in the restitution of looted artifacts, Portugal has returned three pre-Columbian objects to Mexico. This will be the first time Portugal has repatriated unlawfully acquired antiquities to that country.

www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

The cover of The Complete Persepolis by Marianne Satrapi.

Now would be a good time for anyone who wants to learn about recent Iranian history to read this. It is well worth your time and money (I am sure your local library has it if you don’t want to purchase it).

Philadelphia CBP officers intercept Bronze Age swords and arrowheads from the northeastern region of Iran Securing America's Borders

CBP officers seized 36 copper-alloy short swords and 50 copper-alloy arrowheads on Feb. 18 that were unlawfully imported to the United States from UAE destined for Jacksonville, Fla. Likely looted in Talish Mountains region of Iran.

www.cbp.gov/newsroom/nat...

This is amazing.

www.getyourfuckingmoneyback.com

A new space race could turn our atmosphere into a ‘crematorium for satellites’ Planned ‘megaconstellations’ of satellites could cause unforeseen harm to the ozone layer and climate systems. Global regulation is needed before it’s too late.

Excellent piece from @astrokiwi.bsky.social @sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy & Laura Revell.

This one sentence is the crux of it all 👇

"There is no public mandate for a single company in one country to make changes on that scale to the planet’s atmosphere."

Highly recommended.

🔭🧪

Australia hands record prison sentence to reptile smuggler in trafficking crackdown The seizure of dozens of live Western blue-tongued lizards, bearded dragons and spiny-tailed skinks covertly packed into popcorn bags, biscuit tins and women’s handbags have led to the longest prison ...

news.mongabay.com/2026/02/aust... @counteringcrime.bsky.social

14,000-year-old ivory tools found in Alaska hint at how Clovis ancestors first arrived in the New World Ancient artifacts unearthed in Alaska revealed migrants from Asia might have come to the Americas via an inland route, and not a coastal path.

www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

If you plan to Boycott the #SOTU address
Let me see your 👋

I am creating a starter pack.

Repost

Gotta watch ‘em all? Pokémon-style app for birdwatching launches Users of Birdex get points for each bird they see and can compete with friends, with 200,000 sightings logged so far

Gotta watch ‘em all? Pokémon-style app for birdwatching launches

by @chrisbaraniuk.com

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Yesterday, those who teach Intro to Sociology at Florida colleges (as opposed to universities) received a ready-made curriculum from the state and were ordered to teach it.

Yes, you read that correctly. The *state* is enforcing a curriculum on college profs, complete w/ the following restrictions:

People poking penguins with sticks, handling 'by the neck' Each summer, tourists flock to Tasmanian beaches to marvel at penguins, but for some, admiring the birds from afar is not enough.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02.... Horrible!

Made it back to RADelaide. Lock and load for a busy week.

Brazen thief steals priceless Egyptian artefacts in night raid The historical items include a mummy mask and ancient jewellery.

7news.com.au/news/pricele... An unfortunate museum theft last night. @museumofloot.bsky.social

Epstein Files Contain a Big Clue About Cambodia’s Missing Masterpieces The documents indicate that billionaire Leon Black had a significant collection of Khmer Empire artwork.

url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/rTJgCE8wo2... @museumofloot.bsky.social

Good. It's both an unconscionable crime and systematic of all the illegality, corruption or moral bankruptcy that plague the "markets" or "industries" that turn the dead into products while pretending otherwise.

People booing JD Vance at the opening ceremonies in Italy is the first gold medal of the Olympics.

'That's terrifying': Fake AFP set found in Cambodian scam compound A fake AFP office staged by scammers who operated from a Cambodian scam centre reveals much about their tactics, experts say.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

True that

Not an artefact, but an ancestor: why a German university is returning a Māori taonga For the Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, the Hinematioro Pou is the material presence of an ancestor.

theconversation.com/not-an-artef... @museumofloot.bsky.social

'Rogue' tour guides threaten Gold Coast glow-worm population Last year two operators were fined for running glow-worm cave tours in the Springbrook and Tamborine national parks without the required permits.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02... Another reason why we can't have nice things?

French headquarters of Elon Musk’s X raided by Paris cybercrime unit Prosecutors’ announcement comes amid a hardening of European attitudes to social media firms

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

French Senate approves draft bill to simplify return of colonial-era artefacts The French Senate on Wednesday adopted a draft legislation to facilitate the return of artworks and other prized artefacts looted during the country’s colonial era. This new procedure could help addre...

www.france24.com/en/france/20... @museumofloot.bsky.social

Cambodia recovering looted treasures from foreign museums- UCA News Cambodia reclaims over 1,000 looted artefacts from global museums and collectors. The return of 10th-century sculptures from the Smithsonian and others marks a victory for cultural heritage.

www.ucanews.com/news/cambodi... @museumofloot.bsky.social

I won’t stop reporting the truth. The First Amendment is the bedrock of our democracy, and I’ll continue to fight to protect it 🤝🏾🇺🇸

babao.org.uk/new-article-... Was a treat to work on this article with my colleagues and to continue to contribute to larger efforts. @counteringcrime.bsky.social @museumofloot.bsky.social

The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”

That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.

480,000-year-old ax sharpener is the oldest known elephant bone tool ever discovered in Europe The "very rare" find provides an extraordinary glimpse into the ingenuity of early human relatives who lived around half a million years ago.

www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

Some of the oldest harpoons ever found reveal Indigenous people in Brazil were hunting whales 5,000 years ago The origins of whaling are highly debated. Now, some of the earliest signs of active whale hunting have appeared somewhere unexpected: southern Brazil.

www.livescience.com/archaeology/...