Oz media made a desperate grasp for vested “meaningfulness” by deciding to manufacture a “contest” of the 2010 Australian Federal Election.
Whoopee doo.
Enter stage left ex-PMs: Big Mal, Silver Bodgie, Ruddbot The Loyal, but not Keato.
Enter stage Right: Mad Mark, El (Murali’s a chucker!) Rodentino and Bobby Santamaria’s Ghost.
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to E-Day…..
Aug 13th, 2010 by Enemy Combatant
Mars waning Venus rising
Jun 24th, 2010 by Catrina
From the ABC:
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, backed by factional Labor Party warlords, has made a tilt at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s leadership. Mr Rudd has told a press conference that earlier this evening Ms Gillard visited him to request a leadership ballot. Mr Rudd says the Labor caucus will vote on the party and Federal Government leadership tomorrow at 9:00am AEST.
The UK Election
May 6th, 2010 by Chris B
I had decided I was going to ignore the UK election. Like many others, I have been angry at the Labour Party for getting involved with Bush and the Iraq War and have found their policies to be far more conservative than I had liked. I had expected a lot more from British Labour, particularly on the European front. But what are they offering? No entry to the Euro. No entry to Schengen (borderless Europe). I see Europe as a major part of the many ways to world peace. Britain under Labour wasn’t leading.
But what was the alternative? A return to Thatcherism under the Conservative Tory Party. In other words, a lose/lose situation.
A Nation’s Health: the good, the bad and the ugly
Mar 22nd, 2010 by Enemy Combatant
An open thread in which to dicuss the ramifications of legislation currently being voted upon in The House. Will American citizens benefit as much as the Health Corps? Will the trillion-plus fistful of dollars be enough to make a dint in the diseases of the underclasses? And what will need happen for lawmakers to release a few dollars more to help their constituents in West Baltimore, ”South Central” L.A. and those who like to go Deer Hunting with Jesus (the one reputed to have been a legendary healer himself, in his day)?
Cracks in the Ice
Jan 4th, 2010 by Catrina
Reported in the AP, written up in the Weekend Australian, a couple of op-eds, and the NYT, but not a lot of attention …
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea called on Friday for an end to “the hostile relationship” with the United States, issuing a New Year’s message that highlighted the reclusive country’s attempt to readjust the focus of six-party nuclear disarmament talks.
In the meantime, an interesting snippet from of the The Mainichi Daily News earlier today …
This year, the Obama administration will continue to take various actions on the nuclear issue. The U.S. and Russia are heading toward an agreement on strategic arms reduction. Meanwhile, the U.S. is working on renewing the country’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) for the first time in eight years, and is expected to incorporate anti-nuclear terrorism measures. The nuclear security summit this April will aim for an international agreement on enhanced protection of nuclear materials, and in May, a review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — held every five years — will take place in New York.
Take a Deep Breath
Nov 30th, 2009 by Catrina
On this subject of carbon trading and suggestions that the government is not doing enough. Well, I’m not convinced. Thing is there is a bunch of legislation already passed that deals with the obligations of organisations to publish data about the energy levels they are consuming, the energy they are producing, and the emissions they are generating as a by-product. That legislation has a significant impact on these bigger companies out there (and ok, it’s a smaller number of companies but it is the industries that matter when we do the numbers). So right now those big industries (including those constitutional companies that we don’t talk about much) are doing the stuff necessary to meet the legislative reporting requirements (and this is both a cost for those organisations and a economic stimulus for those other organisations providing the info-technology to support this).
The Healthcare Debate
Nov 8th, 2009 by Chris B
Today is the day that will make or break the Democrats. The health care bill has finally arrived on the floor of the congress. After months of in fighting and scare mongering, we finally get to find out what the Democrats are made of. Failure will surely mean the Democrats will be wiped out in 2010. Success will mean the polls will sky rocket for the Democrats and plunge for the Republicans. The urgency and pressure will be immense. Already the Republicans have used bullying tactics against female Democrat speakers wanting to talk about how the health care bill will help women. There are tea baggers in the gallery ready to intimidate Democrat members of congress. The battle lines have been drawn. Let the battle begin.
The Big Trifecta
Oct 25th, 2009 by Catrina
In geopolitical terms – the big trifecta is Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India (that’s the yellow, dark-yellow, and the grey band just to the right of Iran).
On Unilateral Action
Oct 1st, 2009 by Catrina
I’ve been digging into some of the legal foundations concerning the Iran nuclear facility question over the last couple of days. In this process I should point out that getting the facts has not been at all easy. I can say that what is clear is that recent events have been either overplayed, under-documented, or more probably a combination of both.
G20: Iranian Nuclear Facility
Sep 26th, 2009 by Catrina
September 25, 2009
STATEMENTS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA, FRENCH PRESIDENT SARKOZY, AND BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BROWN ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITY
Pittsburgh Convention Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania