Gibson’s ‘Truth’ - posted by peter

I have not seen Mel Gibson’s film about Jesus, and I don’t intend to. An interpretation of one of the great narratives of history by a Hollywood movie star just does not attract me. I have heard some commentary here... More

‘Electability’ and US Politics - posted by peter

John Kerry looks all set to win the Democrat nomination for presidential candidate, but some problems are emerging for him. Indeed, he may have already peaked. Kerry did it so easily, especially in upsetting the early favourite Howard Dean, that... More

Violence and Drugs - posted by peter

It was a pretty ordinary 4 Corners this week on bank robberies – too much trying to get the victims crying, too little evidence and analysis (ah, standards are dropping at the ABC) – but it is interesting to see... More

Tuvalu – Polynesian for “Crying Wolf” - posted by Graham

There used to be a lot more point breaks for surfing on the Gold Coast than there are now. When I grew up as a kid listening to storms belt against the unsealed tin roof on the front verandah of... More

Losing Democracy - posted by peter

I’ve been reading about Nazi Germany and what can happen if democracy fails. In a few short years the country many would have said was the most civilised in the world became one of the most barbaric. One argument was... More

Greenhouse and the Weather - posted by peter

Graham’s blog entry on the extreme weather is clearly right in terms of the facts, but I think there are valuable lessons we should take from it anyway. We seem to get the weather here in Perth before it heads... More

It’s not the Greenhouse effect, it’s just hot wind - posted by Graham

According to Dad, in 1925 my grandmother sat on the back stairs of the workers cottage in East Brisbane where he still lives and said to my great grandmother – “Maybe they should just leave this land to the blacks.” More

Unique Oz - posted by peter

I’ve been enjoying the new doco ‘Wild Australasia” on the ABC. The commentary is pretty banal and Matt Day’s reading is ordinary, and of course it is loaded with the usual stupid terms designed, I assume, to pander to overseas... More

Bye Bye Howard - posted by peter

Once front runner Howard Dean is out of the race for Democrat candidate in the next US presidential elections. He somehow squandered a healthy lead and some $50,000,000 (whew! a lot of money for nothing). Now it looks like a... More

Old-Growth Forests Re-Run - posted by peter

Watching the ‘Four Corners’ report on the destruction of Tasmania’s old growth forests gave me a real sense of déjà vu. The slippery government dealing, the dodgy forest management agency, the huge private firm with tentacles everywhere, and the various... More

Politics, Power and Pay - posted by peter

This whole debate about politicians’ pay and superannuation is a classic example of self-interest being peddled as economic logic or public interest. There is enough hypocrisy flooding the airwaves on this to make even the most cynical politics watcher want... More

Reality for Some - posted by peter

The other night I watched on SBS (where else?) as a mother buried her child. It was in Sudan. She and the child had been chased for weeks around the burning deserts of Sudan by the Sudanese army searching for... More

On 'Anti-Americanism' - posted by peter

The Liberals are pulling out some of the oldest tricks in the book to hammer newly resurgent Labor. One of them is to accuse anyone who questions a whole range of developments of being anti-American. There are two basic problems... More

Is the Parliamentary Super decision the end of the beginning? - posted by Graham

“The end of the beginning.” J M Barrie’s clever twisting of the more common phrase seems an appropriate place to start a post about John Howard’s pirouette on Parliamentary super. The political dual between Latham and Howard is getting a Peter Pan feel about it. More

Monkeys and Peanuts - posted by peter

Yes, it’s the old ‘Pay peanuts, get monkeys’ argument as certain pollies (like Peter Costello) defend the incredible benefits ex-pollies get, such as very generous superannuation. Well, my response is that right now we pay our pollies big bananas, and... More

The Boys Are Back in School - posted by peter

I watched Parliament Question Time yesterday on TV to see how new boy Mark Latham did. He played it straight on a day dominated by the FTA, and governemnt gloating. It was definitely Mark mark II, careful and calculated. John... More

FTA – The Good and the Less Good - posted by peter

So, after what the media tells us was a Herculean struggle, a free trade agreement between the US and Oz was signed. It is a lot less than was promised by the government and the impression lingers that George called... More

President Kerry - posted by peter

Having just won Michigan and Washington in the latest democratic caucuses, it looks like John Kerry is a shoe in for Democrat presidential candidate in the next election. The bad news about this is that Kerry’s credentials as a senator... More

Reforming Parliament - posted by peter

Labor leader Mark Latham is talking about reforming federal parliament. He wants an independent speaker in the House of Representatives and an end to Dorothy Dix’s. Well, that would make a start, anyway. Federal parliament is a scandal, which would... More

Fifty Million Dead - posted by peter

“Fifty million dead’, now there’s a headline. That’s how many chickens are estimated to have been killed in an effort to stop the Asian bird flu spreading. Interestingly, it is the same number of human beings who died in the... More

The Federal Election: The Spin Begins - posted by peter

Well, apparently we are having a federal election campaign. And of course it will be another of those presidential style contests - Iron Mark versus Honest John. PM Howard and Labor leader Latham are stomping around opposite ends of the... More

Same Old Same Old in US Politics - posted by peter

The early indications that US politics was undergoing some kind of transformation, thanks to George Bush Jr, are diminishing as the selection of the Democrat presidential candidate proceeds. The argument was that Bush so polarised America (even many Republicans hate... More

Latham and Tanner’s New Job. - posted by peter

In his opening speech of the ALP federal convention, Mark Latham announced that he has appointed Lindsay Tanner, Shadow Minister for Telecommunications, as new Shadow Minister for Community Relationships. Tanner is in the ALP left – indeed he spoke strongly... More