By-election? I'll have a coalition with that! - posted by Graham

Liberals are scratching their heads about the new demand by Bruce Scott, the Queensland Nationals' new State President, that they form a Coalition with the Nationals before the Redcliffe and Chatsworth by-elections. Is this deliberate sabotage, or just incompetence? What... More

Primo amigo? - posted by Graham

The resignation from parliament today of Queensland Treasurer Terry Mackenroth forces Premier Peter Beattie to take a position on a by-election quinella. It also gives Liberal Party State President Michael Caltabiano a decisive part to play in proving that the... More

Can Queensland Opposition capitalise on Redcliffe by-election? - posted by Graham

Queensland's Labor Party appears to believe it is born to rule, and that could help the Queensland Opposition to win the Redcliffe by-election. That's as long as the opposition can convince the public that they are not born losers -... More

Faith to Faith? I'm sweating it out - posted by Ronda Jambe

Most of the US is sweltering, my pink and soft Canberra body (and spirit) no longer able to easily deal with the combination of heat and high humidity. It was hot in London, too, when we departed our hotel in... More

Model mummies the fat problem - posted by Graham

I was just playing and trying to provoke with my recent post asking whether obesity was a product of "mummy culture". I thought it was probably the truth, but not the whole truth. And I thought it was more to... More

Howard and Caesar's Slave - posted by Graham

The latest Newspoll shows the Coalition winning the same proportion of the vote now as at the last election (within the statistical margin for error). This is a very bad result for Labor as it comes at a time when... More

Is obesity a product of mummy culture? - posted by Graham

When I defended fast food against the charge that it was to blame for our increasing obesity, most comments said that obesity was the result of lack of exercise. I think that is a superficial explanation too, so I wanted... More

The obesity villain isn't fast food - posted by Graham

I've been described as a food fascist, and while I don't sit down at the dinner table singing "Tomorrow belongs to me" I do watch what I eat. And sometimes what I am watching is a Macca's Quarter Pounder. They... More

Brian Ray - posted by Graham

There is a thesis in why some deaths are more newsworthy than others. 50 people die in London and it is high news, more than that number die every week in Iraq, and we barely notice, while our need for... More

Primate monkeys around with industrial policy - posted by Graham

How's this for a variation on pundits predictions? If I had blogged on it I would have predicted that Philip Aspinall would become Primate of Australia, so can I count it as a successful prediction even though I never got... More

In the war on terror we are all footsoldiers - posted by Graham

Last time an event like the London bombing occurred I deliberately left this page blank in what I thought might be the blogger's version of half-mast. This time I just didn't post. It's not that I didn't care. It's that... More

They must be guilty - posted by Graham

Apprehensions of bias will create actual bias, at least in the case of two health bureaucrats who are threatening to take the Morris Royal Commission to court. Actually, one of the bureaucrats, Peter Leck appears to have stepped back, while... More

Can Schapelle come up with the goods? - posted by Graham

Schapelle Corby is to have her case reopened. This would appear to be her last chance to work out what the Indonesian justice system is really about. It is not about abstract notions of justice, it is about power, influence... More

Sandra Day O'Connor retires - posted by Graham

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court has retired. Justice O'Connor tended to be the swing judge on the US Supreme Court, with some difficult-to-predict decisions. For example, on affirmative action she ruled against... More

Roger, Dr Stone - posted by Graham

Another entry for my yet to be constructed database of predictions is climatologist Dr Roger Stone of the University of Southern Queensland and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries. On the first of June ABC Rural carried these pars: The... More

39th balance of power Senator - posted by Graham

Neophyte Senator Barnaby Joyce is hogging the limelight this morning on a false premise. While the Howard Government theoretically takes control of the Senate today, it is not because of Joyce's election, but that of Russell Trood, the third elected... More