The Journal
Current Affairs
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Rudd – No One Got a Special Deal
Indonesia – Give These People the Same Special Deal People Smugglers – Hear, hear! Failing to acknowledge the crisis caused by its changes to Australia’s immigration policy, the Federal government is steadily digging itself into a…
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Aussies Triple Grog Intake Over Christmas/New Year
Wow! An alarming headline. But not a very informative one, unless we are told what that intake is being tripled from and to. Reading the small print we find that FebFast, another charity group no one has…
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Climategate – A Graphical History
Jo Nova has put together a massive wall chart of highlights (low lights?) from the FOI file of documents and emails from Hadley. It details more than twenty years of data fudging, bullying of scientists with alternative views,…
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Tiger and the Plastic Playmates
A few belated suggestions for Tiger and the plastic playmates. Tiger: Some women chase sports stars, or anyone who is rich and famous. When women approach you and offer to have sex with you, this is…
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A More Assertive China
I for one was grateful for China’s new assertiveness at Copenhagen. I am less impressed by the combination of insecurity about its internal politics and disregard of world opinion that is increasingly evident in China’s represssion…
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Yemen Attacks Al Qaeda
Yemen has conflicts with Al Qaeda in the South, and Al Houthis (a Shiite separatist group) in the North. Neither group has widespread support in Yemen. Al Qaeda is seen as a threat by the West,…
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To The ADF: Thanks, And Happy Christmas
Members of the Australian Defence Forces are currently deployed in the Solomon Islands, East Timor, Afghanistan, Israel and the Sinai, Sudan and Iraq, as well as in border protection around Australia. Some 3800 Australian service men…
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The Privileged Religion Of Atheism
Why do atheists insist on imposing their religious views on the rest of us? Atheists are a tiny proportion of the population in Australia. Seventy percent of Australians are Christians, or have some affiliation with a…
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Actions Have Consequences
The Christmas Island detention centre is so full that 30 illegal immigrants have transported to Melbourne. Another 35 have been taken from Christmas Island to Darwin. When I was about 12, I asked my Mum what…
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Now There’s An Idea That Could Work …
This is both funny and tragic because the words put into Obama’s mouth are true, and the plan would work. But it will just never happen. Imagine the posibilities, the hopenchangen. But, instead, real hope, and real change. Darn.…
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If We Are Not There To Win …
Why are we in Afghanistan at all? I noted a few weeks ago: Afghanistan was always going to be a harder fight than Iraq. It is also a fight that must be won – not just…
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Copenhagen – Agreement Reached
At an historic photo session in Copenhagen this morning, world leaders announced they had reached an agreement on climate change. French President Nicolas Sarkozy says all countries have agreed to the deal. “We have an agreement,”…
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Indigenous Health
Research shows the Northern Territory spends over $6000 on health for each indigenous person, compared with less than $2000 for each non-indigenous citizen. This suggests two things. First, Australian governments do take indigenous health seriously. Second, spending more…
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Hopenhagen Now Officially Hopeless
The Chinese leader skipped Obama’s session with selected world leaders. Well, why not? Wen Jiabao is not a schoolboy. He probably had better things to do. Polishing his shoes, for example. French president Nicholas Sarkozy wasn’t happy. According…
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Smug and Nasty
St Matthew’s Anglican church in Auckland is the epitome of everything a religious group should not be – self-righteous, inconsiderate of the feelings of others, happy to belittle the beliefs of people it considers inferior. Like Christians. Outside the church…