No blood for oil part 2 - posted by Graham

"No blood for oil" - the defining chant of the anti-Iraq war protestors. Let's assume for a second that they were right, that the US action was all based on access to oil. Why should that preoccupation only apply to... More

McsKewered - Labor fixes Howard's expectations management - posted by Graham

The preselection of Maxine McKew by Labor for Bennelong could be just what the PM ordered. The biggest risk to Howard this election was a protest vote. It was probably the only way that Beazley was going to win. One... More

Why Howard and Blair are at odds on Iraq - posted by Graham

There is a simple reason why John Howard is sending extra troops to Iraq and Tony Blair is withdrawing them. There are votes for Howard on Iraq, but none for Blair. Blair's constituency is by-and-large anti-war. While there are some... More

Deputy Sheriff shoots the Marshall - posted by Graham

Vladimir Putin steps onto German soil and almost immediately throws the gauntlet down to the US, raising the spectre of another Cold War and what is the Australian commentariat and Opposition obsessed with? John Howard’s comments about a junior senator’s... More

Keep the bastards honest - another reason to vote Howard. - posted by Graham

Friday's breakfast meeting between Rudd and the Labor State Premiers suggests Howard may have another potent weapon to shift voters away from Rudd. Labor is in power in every state in Australia, and with the possible exception of South Australia,... More

Flannery of the Overflow - posted by Graham

Posted for William York with particular apologies to Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson I HAD written him a letter which I had, for want of better Knowledge, sent to where I met him on the Murray, years ago, He was boating... More

Quantum mechanics and entrepreneurs - posted by Graham

It's 107 years since Max Planck first theorised quantum mechanics, but it's only lately that people appear to be applying it to all sorts of non-physical fields. I recently wrote about research where it was hypothesised that causation could run... More

Climate change could work against Rudd - posted by Graham

You wouldn't think it from yesterday's question time, but global warming could be a bigger political problem for Rudd than Howard. Howard is currently being criticised for appearing to suggest that the link between CO2 and climate is still unproven.... More

Putting heart into fast food - posted by Graham

I was recently very critical of a Cancer Council NSW study into fast food advertising. The award of Heart Foundation ticks to some McDonald's meals puts the study into more trouble. McDonald's has paid $330,000 to the Heart Foundation, and... More

IPCC ought to be feeling the heat. - posted by Graham

Imagine the outcry if BHP published the executive summary of its results, but kept the accounts under wraps for another couple of months. ASIC and the stock exchange would both issue notices, financial journalists would release thunderbolts from their op-ed... More