The Journal
Politics
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Defence Minister Resigns
Sad, really, because the Defence Department is notoriously difficult, and department staff and military personnel both seem to have respected Joel Fitzgibbon’s abilities. The trigger for his resignation was a lack of clarity about contact between Mr Fitzgibbon…
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No Complaints From The Left About This Murder
Two soldiers have been shot, one killed, at a military recruiting centre in Arkansas. The suspect, Abdulhakim Muhammad, a person of no particular appearance or religious views, has been arrested. Police found a small arsenal of weapons…
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Rudd’s A Ninny. This Makes Him Perfect For UN Secretary-General
So says Piers Ackermann. And so say all of us. A couple of excerpts: One of candidate Kevin Rudd’s big selling points other than that he was not John Howard was his experience as an Australian diplomat.…
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Defence Staff: We Didn’t Spy On Fitzgibbon
Well why not? If it is true that there has been no investigation of Joel Fitzgibbon’s relationship with Helen Liu, then senior defense department staff should be sacked. Joel Fitzgibbon is Australia’s Minister of Defense. He is the…
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White House Assurances: Sotomayor Cool With Killing Babies
I am not worried by Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor’s apparent belief that being a latino woman makes her wiser than a white male. That is just par for the course. Newt Gingrich is right to point out…
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Broadband Plans
One of the promises made by the Labor party during the last election was that there would be more transparency in government. I guess that means being honest about information sources, advice received, funding, and who will…
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Conservatives More Squeamish Than Liberals?
I don’t think so. Conservatives less likely to slap their dads, even if dad says its OK? Yes, that I can believe. Conservatives have less confidence in their own wisdom relative to that of our forebears and…
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Al-Qaeda Kidnaps Obama’s Teleprompter
One of the funniest things I have ever read on the internet. From the Peoples Cube. In an audacious raid Friday, al-Qaeda terrorists managed to slip past White House security and seize President Obama’s teleprompter. Their…
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Downer To Aussies – Stop Whining
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer has told Australians planning to travel overseas to grow up and take some responsibility. After about 10 minutes as foreign minister I was a little surprised to learn I…
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First Home Grants Hurt First Home Owners
Another one to add to the bleeding obvious list. Government grants (ie, giving other people’s money) to new home owners, amount to $21,000. Because they have a larger deposit, (sometimes the grant is their only deposit) first home buyers…
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The Most Important Speech Of Obama’s Presidency
And it was given by Dick Cheney. Regardless of your opinions about ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ you should read this. For good or ill (and I think good) Cheney’s speech gives clear understanding of the concerns and…
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Since Our Car Manufacturers Are Doing So Well
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has declared his intention to follow Barack Obama’s plan to impose strict limits on CO2 emissions from motor vehicles. This will increase costs, and cost jobs. CO2 is not a pollutant. It is…
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Conservative Women Are Better Looking
And brainer. And more fun. However, I can understand some of them being a bit disgruntled about a political ally posting photos of them on a website without their permission. Even if the idea was that the more hot…
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Ab Fab Gurkhas Part Two
The Telegraph reports this morning that the UK government will allow all Gurkhas with a record of honourable service to settle in the UK. All Gurkha veterans were finally granted the right to live in Britain…
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Stephen Long Doesn’t Know What Puerile Means
Otherwise this is a pretty good article about the problems with economics predictions, and the difficulty of developing policy on the basis of those predictions. Stephen seems to think puerile means pointless, because there can never be…