Ben Cubby

Some heroic assumptions about the behaviour of rugby league players here

@SteveMascord Mr Aye Eye 😊

"Let's not kid ourselves" is a favourite of Mr Aye Eye when fabricating quotes, in my experience.

“My job is to tell the story of what happened.” Great to read Kate’s thoughts about covering the war, with so many compelling images. She talks here with Peter FitzSimons. smh.com.au/national/meet-…

In 1900, Paris’ Exposition Universelle featured a 3.5 kilometer wooden moving walkway, captured on film by Auguste and Louis Lumière.

Far too many anti-Matildas comments on the timeline. Can I just say: shut up ⚽️⚽️

Let me explain exactly why every new subdivision in America looks like the top photo, because the math is wild. A mature tree increases a home's value by 7 to 19 percent. On a $400,000 house, that's $28,000 to $76,000. A single shade tree produces the cooling equivalent of ten room-size air conditioners running 20 hours a day. One tree on the west side of a house cuts energy bills by 12 percent within 15 years. The bottom photo is worth more, costs less to live in, and sells faster. This has been documented by the University of Washington, Clemson, Michigan State, and the USDA. The data is not in dispute. Removing those trees saves the builder roughly $5,000 per lot. Concrete trucks need twice the dripline radius of every standing tree. Utility trenches need flat ground. A bulldozer flattens 200 lots in an afternoon. Preserving trees adds weeks and thousands per home. So the developer pockets $5,000 in savings and the buyer eats $50,000 in lost value for the next two decades. The person making the decision and the person paying for it have never been in the same room. The Woodlands, Texas is the proof of what happens when they are. George Mitchell bought 28,000 acres of Houston timberland in 1974 and preserved 28% as permanent green space. He forced McDonald's to build behind the tree canopy. That McDonald's became one of the highest-volume locations in Texas. The first office building, designed to reflect the surrounding forest so you couldn't see it from the street, leased completely. The Woodlands median home price today: $615,000. Katy, a comparable Houston suburb that clear-cut: $375,000. Named #1 community to live in America two years running. Fifty years of data. The trees are worth more than removing them saves. Developers clear-cut anyway because they sell the house once and leave. You live in it for 30 years.

I think @Rachwani91 deserves an award for his reporting on Australia’s Prime Minister being chased out of a Sydney mosque on Eid:

Today, MEAA members at the ABC are taking industrial action. We’re calling on ABC management to put forward an offer that delivers secure, fairly paid jobs – because those are the conditions that make quality journalism possible. #QualityNewsQualityJobs

@Leo_Puglisi6 @deniseshrivell @6NewsAU Nice work comrade

Not always sure how @6NewsAU is still going (having started it as something to do while bored), but massive thanks to everyone who supports us, especially the entire team – past/present – who have made this possible Really looking forward to tomorrow night!

@parnellpalme I thought the Reuters piece was exceptional, but this made me pause for thought. Was it really worth it?

Unmasking Banksy is embarrassing the people who worship his bland street statements… abc.net.au/news/2026-03-2…

There is war in our backyard and we have forgotten all about it smh.com.au/world/asia/the…

Albanese confronted by protesters at Lakemba mosque smh.com.au/national/nsw/a…

A real possum appears among plush toy animals in Australian airport gift shop apnews.com/article/austra…

@GeorgesStPaul1 @Peter_Fox59 @MichaelWestBiz

Speaking about the deep contradictions in human nature, Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada said: “Some people dream of having a swimming pool at home, while those who have one barely use it. Those who have lost a loved one feel a profound sense of loss, while others often complain about the relatives still in their lives. Those without a partner long for one, while those who have a partner often fail to appreciate them. The hungry would give anything for a meal, while the full complain about the taste of their food. Those without a car dream of owning one, while those who have a car are always looking for a better one. The key to happiness is gratitude—to truly see and value what we already have, and to understand that somewhere, someone would give everything for what we take for granted.”

Just found out that 51 is divisible by 17. I feel fucking sick. I can't breathe.

@jamie_dunkin I think Butcher, Farina and Crook were worse. But this is still not anywhere near where we should be

Club needs a reset #SYDvMCY

@antimendacious Sydney. They’re in another one of their low ebbs

@bencubby Which club ? Syd can't defend MCY can hit the goal