The Briefing Are we ‘mission creeping’ into Iran? + The Trump buddy running your world
Mar 8, 2026
Roben Farzad, business and media journalist and NPR host, breaks down the Ellison family’s expanding reach. He maps Larry and David Ellison’s tech-government ties, the blockbuster Warner bid, and worries about concentrated media influence. Short, sharp takes on power, profit and what a mega-acquisition might mean for politics and journalism.
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Floods Made Crocs Ubiquitous In The Northern Territory
- Northern Territory residents were warned that crocs are "absolutely everywhere" after catastrophic river floods reached record levels.
- Sacha Barbour-Gatt cites the Bureau of Meteorology and the Incident Control Acting Commander warning people not to enter floodwaters.
Use Multioption Age Checks To Limit Child Exposure
- Implement age verification for adult sites to reduce accidental exposure of children to porn and explicit content.
- Sacha Barbour-Gatt outlines verification methods: photo ID, facial estimation, credit card checks, or parental confirmation under new Australian laws.
Oracle Is The Government's Digital Backbone
- Oracle has deep government integration, running cloud and database services for US agencies and hosting sensitive data like health records and Pentagon secrets.
- Chris Spyrou explains Oracle was an early CIA customer and now runs AI over government data, expanding its Canberra secure data centre role in Australia.