Angela Priestley

I am so sad and sorry to hear about this.

Wellbeing of women goes hand in hand with wellbeing of nations – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) In 2024, 676 million women lived in proximity to conflict, that is almost every 6th woman in the world — the highest number and proportion ever recorded.

Not since the end of the Cold War have so many women lived close to armed conflict.
www.prio.org/comments/1867

40% of teenage boys believe women lie about domestic and sexual violence: new research An Australian study of anti-feminist attitudes shows up to 30% of boys surveyed expressed agreement with various forms of violent extremism.

The more urgent story about IWD is the backlash.
And this part of the backlash is particularly disturbing.
Especially given existing efforts to address this.

theconversation.com/40-of-teenag...

The Taliban cannot take your pen: Margaret Atwood’s message to Afghan women I am writing this letter to you, the brave women of Afghanistan, who are struggling to preserve a few shreds of human dignity. Over the past four years, I have read a lot about the Taliban and the gro...

Margaret Atwood has penned a letter for Afghan women following request by women-led @zantimes.bsky.social
"Schools are shut to them. Women are forced to stay at home... reduced to reproductive organs & to roles as domestic servants, as they are in the Republic of Gilead
zantimes.com/2026/03/02/m...

The Pentagon strongarmed AI firms before Iran strikes – in dark news for the future of ‘ethical AI’ Questions about ethical AI may go out the window when democratic norms are collapsing.

Trump directed all US federal agencies to cease using Anthropic tech, saying he would “never allow a radical left, woke company to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars!”
So OpenAI signed a deal.
theconversation.com/the-pentagon...

Nanny vouchers and tax offsets floated by Liberals Angus Taylor has challenged Anthony Albanese’s legacy goal of universal childcare, saying it is too expensive and too inflexible.

Vouchers to pay nannies might be one of the worst ideas i've heard on childcare.
Vouchers add more administration, are typically hard and annoying to access and help for about a week of expenses or a one-off.


www.afr.com/politics/fed...

Italy’s famous Lovers’ Arch collapses into the sea on Valentine’s Day Rock structure which served as backdrop to countless proposals disappears into the Adriatic after violent storm

Feels eerily symbolic. Italy's Lovers' Arch collapses on Valentine's Day
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

The Assassination of The Washington Post by the Coward Jeff Bezos New crotch-related ski jumping scandal dropped.

"It turns out “Democracy Dies in Darkness” wasn’t a warning so much as a mission statement."

www.todayintabs.com/p/the-assass...

I actually thought one of them WAS Thomas Sewell for a second there.

Lindsey Vonn’s horror accident was mere hours ago. There is little known about her condition other than that she is “stable”.
But cue the “reckless” headlines about a woman in her forties who dared to push through.

Good term!

40 pills, 5 peptides: Why this CEO spends $70k a year on health Andrew Raso’s daily regimen includes 40 supplements and a cocktail of experimental peptides. For him, it’s the price of high performance.

This CEO thinks too many of us "normalise being tired all the time".
He spends $70k a year on health & takes 40 peptides daily.
He is also 36, rich & seemingly has no caring responsibilities - but surely it's the peptides that enable the productivity!
www.afr.com/life-and-lux...

“Something I will be most proud of when I’m 90”: How Jeff Bezos used to talk about The Washington Post, and what’s changed Jeff Bezos used to talk about The Washington Post with real curiosity, and the things he said were interesting and specific. Over time, that changed.

Jeff Bezos once said The Washington Post would be somthing he "will be most proud of when he's 90".
Today, more than 300 jobs are being cut from the newsroom.
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/some...

From cute dogs to Turning Point: the journey of an influencer aiming to breathe rightwing Christian values into Australian politics Emboldened by major successes in the US and UK, the conservative Christian organisation Turning Point has its sights set on Australia’s political ecosystem

Timeline of a far right influencer: George Mamalis was once posting cute dog pics, later moved on to anti-vax content
He's now a leader of the Australian branch of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point
And posting about 'mass migration', trans issues & replacement theories
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Andrew Hastie & Angus Taylor got together to decide who should replace the first woman to lead the Liberal Party.
They met at a private residence just before the memorial service of their former colleague, Katie Allen.
How thoughtful of them.
#auspol
www.afr.com/politics/fed...

The care, calm and light of Alex Pretti’s masculinity Those who knew ICU nurse Alex Pretti were unsurprised to learn that his final recorded words were, "Are you ok?"

“The care, calm and light of Alex Pretti’s masculinity” by @angelapriestley.bsky.social on @womensagenda.bsky.social

Trump misspoke at Davos. Karoline Leavitt told reporters not to believe their ears. - Poynter During a speech, Trump repeatedly referred to Iceland while talking about Greenland. Then the press secretary denied what the video plainly shows.

"His written remarks referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because that’s what it is. You’re the only one mixing anything up here.’”

Karoline Leavitt replying to journalist who said Trump appeared to mix up Greenland with Iceland around 3x during WEF speech

www.poynter.org/commentary/2...

'Had we let this go, we wouldn't have been true to ourselves.'

Inspiring stuff, David Littleproud.

We all know how much you stand for.

#auspol

Solid.
My @smh cartoon.

Mark Carney has delivered a strong opening speech at Davos, positioning Canada as a middle power willing to respond to the "rupture" in geopolitics in ways that go beyond adaptation.
How many other leaders will stand up?
www.policymagazine.ca/the-old-orde...

Sounds like it'll be a super productive trip for Trump.

Caitlin Cassidy Darwin students celebrating the VCE The only school offering the VCE outside of Victoria has received its best ever results this year. At Haileybury Rendall School in Darwin, 40% of students received an ATAR of 90 or above, placing them in the top 10% of students nationwide. Its median ATAR was 86.5, marking the school’s highest performance in its eighth year of operation. Ten of the Year 12 students to complete their certificate were Indigenous and travelled from remote parts of the Northern Territory to attend the school. Its principal, Andrew McGregor, said the “best-ever” results were a testimony to brilliant teaching, a positive school learning culture and hard-working students: Our students have absolutely smashed it this year and shown what young people in the Territory can achieve with the right support and high expectations. Haileybury was founded in Melbourne in 1892 and now has four campuses in Victoria, one in China and a virtual campus, Pangea in addition to its Darwin outpost. Some 14% of students at its Darwin campus are Indigenous and 31% have a language background other than English. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/dec/11/vce-atar-results-victoria-social-media-ban-reactions-abs-employment-figures-queensland-parliament-aukus-meeting-washington-dc-anthony-albanese-labor-sussan-ley-coalition-ntwnfb

Just forget about the country that used to be the USA & read some good news from the NT - finally!
"Ten of the Year 12 students to complete their certificate were Indigenous and travelled from remote parts of the Northern Territory to attend the school." #AusPol

Australia sanctions Afghan Taliban officials over women’s rights abuses Canberra said the Taliban officials are guilty of oppressing women and girls, as well as 'undermining good governance'.

I (wrongly) assumed Australia would already have financial sanctions and travel bans on the Taliban govt.
It happened on Saturday, with Penny Wong citing the deteriorating human rights situation in the country, particularly for women and girls
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...

Every single person who is anti-trans is a slight scratch away from going full racist. It is basically a gateway drug for racism/bigotry.

It seems fine. You pretend it’s about protecting women. You can point to famous people on your side.

But it is only ever about hate. Disgusting & cruel hatred.

Exclusive!! The Australian’s anti-trans campaign continues with a source who “doesn’t work at the ABC but knows more about its inner working than most who do”.
They are an IT professional “by day” and an “internet sleuth by night” running ACON Exposed.

Hold the front page!

News Corp attacked by school leaders over NAPLAN rankings Forty-one signatories to an open letter say they are "dismayed" and that school rankings cause "harm to our communities".

It’s great to see teachers fighting back against News Corp. Unfortunately though, asking News Corp to act ethically by stopping their offensive and obsessive ranking of schools is like asking News Corp not to exist. The class-based snobbery is the point of News Corp!

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

12 years have passed since this great moment in Australian newspaper history.

The humanoid so real they had to cut it open XPeng’s viral humanoid robot IRON was cut open on stage — we saw it up close at a private demo to understand how it works and why it looks so human.

I can't. We can't. None of us can feel good about this.
mashable.com/video/xpeng-...

Scientists have a point!

Guardian Essential poll: only a quarter of older Australians believe climate change can be prevented Results show a ‘general sense of gloom’ as fewer Australians now believe climate change is caused by humans compared with March

One of those days.
Schools closed in NSW due to fire risk.
Elevated fire danger in parts of QLD
And a new poll shows a "general sense of gloom" on climate change. Less than half believe world will be able to do anything to prevent dangerous temp rises
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...