Delusional Liberals rage at Howard .... but he was not alone.

It is fun to watch the Liberal Party trying to tear itself apart. And even funnier to see them all blaming John Howard. But I have a word for them (and the Labor Party). The last Government surrounded itself with "Yes Men", Toadies and sycophants. Nobody was providing the "Frank and Fearless Advice" which was the hallmark of the traditional Public Service.

Everybody was desperate to read the mind of the person above them, and to tell that person what they wanted to hear. And I speak of this pattern right down into the middle and lower ranks of the Public Service. This is the true meaning of the Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tale - of the "Emperor's New Clothes" - where all the courtiers were too weak, too beholden to the Emperor, to tell him what was as plain as the nose on his face, (or elsewhere, in that case).

"Children Overboard" is my supreme case in point, but just one of many examples. Right through to the David Hicks Case, the AWB Scandal, and the Dr Haneef case. People who knew the truth were rewarded for hiding the facts. The AWB scandal is possibly the largest ticking bomb, still buried within the Fairyland World of the Dept. of Foreign Affairs. Lets hope someone finds the moral fibre to stand up and tell the truth - at last.

From Day One (today) the Labor Party must ensure that they go back to that old principle of good governance - that Politicians and Public Service all provide "Frank and Fearless Advice". Otherwise, they will be destined to repeat the recent history of the Liberal Party Government.

---

But let us look at the Liberals for just another moment - for it is such fun.

Michelle Grattan, writing in "The Age" this morning has some wonderful quotes:

• "And, as anger mounted in the party towards John Howard, Peter Costello's father-in-law, Peter Coleman, declared "Howard's egomania" had blocked Mr Costello's "great promise". Mr Coleman, a former Liberal MP who writes a column for the ABC website, said Mr Howard had "a fatal flaw which brought him low and devastated his party. It is his colossal egotism."

And on Tony Abbott's withdrawal from the race for Liberal Party Leadership...

• "Mr Abbott described it as the "last supper at the Lodge for quite some time".

DJW writes: Typical Tony, Catholic mythology confused with myopia. No Tony, it is not "the Last Supper at the Lodge" - just the last one YOU are likely to be invited to. But that is a measure of nothing, when it comes to history, Tony. As they say: "Why is it all about you, Tony?".

• And Tony Abbott again: "I was a member of John Howard's praetorian guard, you might say. I always regarded myself as the honorary life president of the John Howard fan club."

DJW writes: Nice quote Tony. Thanks for that. We shall file that one away, if you don't mind.

Bloody Idiot.

He displays a lack of judgment, right to the bitter end.

Its as good as his "People Skills" quote from a couple of days before.

The Day after D Day

Well, the news of the demise of the Howard "Government of Shame" is well and truly published. My Canadian mate, Leo has sent me this email critique (already).

Hi Denis,

Apparently you lot follow the great Can-eh-djun tradition of voting against, rather than for. Or do you only have 2 parties? Anyways, I hope your new b*stard works out better for you than our new b*stard has for us. ie keeps to the principles which he has espoused over the long term (not necessarily the same ones as he may have campaigned on!) More to the point, hope your new one has principles (and continues to have) ...

Its a timely comment (prescient, 0ne could say).
Miss Eagle and I have already have a similar discussion via her blog.

The really interesting thing is what is starting to happen in the Liberal Party, after Howard stubbornly led them to a crippling defeat.

Fireworks within the Liberal Party,
AFTER THEIR ELECTORAL DEFEAT

Alex Downer admitted on the ABC Insiders program this morning that he has expected the defeat. That admission begs the question as to why the Party power brokers were too pathetic to challenge Howard.

Peter Costello (Treasurer and Deputy-Leader of the Liberal Party) has today announced that he will not seek the position of "Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition".
What a wimp! It confirms the impression of how weak he always was (refusing to challenge Howard, when he had the chance).
But are we surprised? Hardly.

Costello enjoyed the power of office too much, and when looking at his "former Young Liberals" and Victorian Branch "power-broker" pal Michael Kroger, Costello must see it as being just too easy and too attractive to enter business, and make a killing.

• "I want to spend more time with my family ... They have paid a heavy price."
• Mr Costello inferred that he would enter business once he left politics, but said initially he would continue to serve voters in his Melbourne seat of Higgins and mentor new MPs.

Hmm, The prospect of Peter spending more time with them might be an even heavier price to pay...

I am predicting Joe Hockey might get the job, over Turnbull, and Abbott, Nelson (surely not even the Libs could be so stupid!) At least Joe looks cuddly, and won't scare the kiddies!

Sunset of a Career? D Day today.

Today is Decision Day. If you have read any of my recent posts, you will know from whence I come.

• NOTE: It's not just my view, by the way. Miss Eagle has a similar view, and a link to the Age, with a brilliantly written comment by Tracee Hutchinson - check it out here. For her part, Miss Eagle has been working on the theme of Howard's "Chooks coming home to roost" (she is a country girl at heart). Today is the day, Folks.

I recommend voting to get rid of the little lying "weasel-word" specialist.

Defend the spirit of justice in Australia. Remember the injustices we have written about - from Iraq to the Northern Territory, and to Guantanamo Bay. Don't let him continue to lie about Clean Coal, or deny Global Warming. Its too late for that.

Did I say, vote with vengeance? That's what I feel like doing. Enjoy giving little Johnnie something to take away with him - a sense of humiliation which he thoroughly deserves.

Don't take my word for it. Here is part of the Sydney Morning Herald editorial from 23 November 2007.

• "We have waited for the vision of the next era of conservative government, but it never came. Instead, we have seen only attempts to rally or panic sections of the community with pork-barrelling and scare campaigns. We have said in the past that Mr Howard was entitled to choose the time of his going. But we also said that in doing so Mr Howard should bear in mind the need for a smooth transition. He has done the former, but neglected the latter. He is now asking Australians, in effect, to vote a lame duck into office - and then wait 18 months or more to find out what that really means. It is too much to ask. It is a matter of the greatest regret that the Prime Minister has mishandled his chance to choose a time to step down."

Lastly, let me say that for every small businessman I know, for whom John Howard pretends to govern, there are very few who have survived the voracious hunger of Big Business. Just ask any shopkeeper, trying to pay the rents which Westfield, etc, charge them. The rich are getting richer. The small are getting poorer, by being forced out of business.

Enough from me. You know what I think.

Is this the Sunset of John Howard's Career?
He deserves to go - now!

Sunset of a Career? D Day minus 2

Tomorrow, Saturday 24 November 2007 is Decision Day for Australia. Are we about to see the sunset of John Howard's career?If the Polls and tomorrow's headlines are any guide, it seems highly likely.

I would have to say there are good reasons.

• Iraq
• The "NT invasion" of Aboriginal communities - with fanfare, but little or no positive effect, in terms of positive outcomes for the children. Remember the children who were at risk? Invading Australian troops were supposed to bring about a change in their safety. Strangely, we have heard nothing about that since the election started. It always was a ruse. It had little or nothing to do with the safety of the children.
• The AWB Scandal - where some $30 million was sent to the Saddam Hussein regime, as kickbacks. A regime which was supposedly so awful that we needed to go to war against it - leaving Australian troops facing military forces paid for, in part, by Australian bribes. Do you remember that?
• Weapons of Mass Destruction?
• Climate Change - John Howard denied that it was real - for 10 of the last 11 years, then said it might be a real event, but we dare not risk the economy to do anything about it.
• Refusal to sign the Kyoto Agreement.
• "Clean Coal". Clean Coal is a myth. It is an oxymoron. It just gives the Government an excuse to continue allowing the Multinational Mining Companies in Australia to continue with business as usual.
• GST - remember that one? The tax we would not have.
• Rising Home Loan interest rates.
• David Hicks. Remember him? Poor bastard nearly rotted in Guantanamo until Howard eventually realised how embarrassing it was. Offenses against Human Rights, committed by the greatest "Democracy" in the world, in the name of "Freedom". And the little Toady went along with it until even he could ignore the embarrassment no longer.
  
• "Work Choices" - that fraudulently named program which gave all the choices and the power to the Employers, and bugger all, except an AWA Ultimatum, to the workers.
  
• Etc, etc, etc.

• The fraudulent Lindsay Election leaflets are just a symptom of the problem of a corrupt Government.
  

Howard's Promise is yet more "Weasel Words".

Miss Eagle has given run the ruler over John Howard's statements on a "preamble" to the constitution, to acknowledge "the special status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first peoples of our nation". You can read her conclusions here.

For my part, I know for a fact that one claim in Mr Howard's statement is a self-serving lie.

Prior to the Howard Government being sworn in (but after it was obvious that he had won his first election (in other words, before he even took up office), I wrote to Mr John Howard, as Prime Minister designate. I suggested that he make a visit to the Northern Territory, to sit with some of the Aboriginal Elders, and that he make this his first tour out of Canberra. I recall saying "make this your first trip - before you run off to Washington or London".

What happened? Nothing!

After about 3 months, I rang Howard's office to ask why I had had not even an acknowledgement to my letter? (I had worked much of my career as a Ministerial Correspondence Clerk, so I knew that my letter ought have been handled better than that - even if the Prime Minister (or his staff) disagreed with the point of my letter. I was entitled to have my letter responded to.

I got a letter back, about 2 weeks later, from Mr Graeme Morris, who was then Chief of Staff to John Howard. He had the impertinence to rebuke me for the tone of my letter. Unfortunately I no longer have his reply (that's what happens when you move house several times). As an exercise in democracy, this process was an insult. It was an appalling way for Howard (and his Office) to treat me, as a voter.
But anyway, we all know that it took Howard many years before he visited any Aboriginal community. (Miss Eagle has documented this.) Meanwhile he had made numerous visits to Washington, and London, and other overseas destinations. So, we know he ignored the Aboriginal situation for a number of years.

I read in his statement the following: "I’m the first to admit that this whole area is one I have struggled with during the entire time that I have been Prime Minister."

So, when I read that sentence, and recall my letter and the reply I got back from his office (eventually) - then I say: Bullshit, John Howard, pure bullshit!

*****

The promise is meaningless anyway - he promises to put forward a proposal for a referendum to include some words in the Preamble to the Constitution. Big deal!

It will be meaningless, insignificant and anyway, and it might well be rejected by the people (as his previous pathetic "preamble" was rejected).

This is John Howard doing what he does best - spouting "Weasel Words". Wikipedia quotes the original use of "Weasel Words" as follows: "Why, weasel words are words that suck the life out of the words next to them, just as a weasel sucks the egg and leaves the shell." Thus, weasel words suck the meaning out of a statement while seeming to keep the idea intact, and are particularly associated with political pronouncements. Elsewhere Wikipedia points out that the problem with "Weasel Words" is that: "it is entirely easy to write an irrelevant, misinformative, slanted article composed of nothing but true statements".

My favourite of the various responses from the Aboriginal Community representatives is this:

"Central Land Council spokesman David Ross has described Mr Howard as a snake that has shed its skin. "He's got a brand new skin, but he's the same old snake, he's got the same old venom," he said."

Source: ABC News. 12 October 2007

Death Penalty "debate" is a disgrace.

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

It violates the right to life.

************

The media is whipping up a feeding frenzy over Kevin Rudd supposedly "rebuking" the ALP's Foreign Affairs Spokesman, Robert McClelland for a statement he made yesterday about the Death Penalty.

The really disgusting thing is the way in which Alexander Downer has been whipping this issue up.I vividly remember Alexander Downer welcoming the announcement of the imposition of the Death Penalty on the Bali Bombers. I was appalled at the time, by Downer's statement, for it is in direct contradiction of Australia's bi-partisan stance in opposition to the Death Penalty - whether in Australia, or overseas. It is also in contradiction of Australia's ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. So much for Australia's Foreign minister representing this Government's official policy on international law. It is another example of the Government of Shame, in operation.

And Downer made feeble efforts to have the death penalty waived on an Australian citizen in Singapore (on the grounds of Australia's "high moral principle") - but let us not forget that the person concerned there was an Australian of Vietnamese origin. I would not dream of suggesting Downer is a racist bastard - you can make up your own mind on that. Hypocrite? Certainly!

As the Indonesian Lawyer Wirawan Adnan, who is defending at least one of the Australians convicted of drug charges in Indonesia (the so-called Bali 9) has said - this debate weakens Australia's arguments against executions of our citizens (abroad).

• We perceive this as a little bit inconsistent with the death penalty and makes it difficult for the Bali nine to go for a lesser sentence than death," Wirawan Adnan said.

  Another lawyer for the Bali bombers, Achmad Michdan, called Australia's position hypocritical.

*************

Here is a draft letter to Alexander Downer from a website about the Death penalty.

• [insert date]
• The Hon Alexander Downer MP

Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
PO Box 6022
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia

• Dear Minister
• The worldwide trend towards the abolition of capital punishment is undeniable and Australia must establish itself as a clear opponent, unafraid to express its views.
• We failed in our pleas for clemency for Van Nguyen hung in Singapore in Dec 05 by campaigning too little too late, our apparent double-standards and inconsistent stance was widely noted at this time and surely had some bearing on the outcome. Now six more young Australian citizens, three of whom were teenagers when incarcerated, face the firing squad in Indonesia for being drug mules. Australia cannot be content with the death penalty, even when courts have discretion in imposing it. We must press for better protections of human rights, and awareness throughout the world that there cannot be a justice that kills.
• We acknowledge the need to address serious crimes, but there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments. Surely one of the principles of sentencing is rehabilitation; the death penalty renders this impossible with no opportunity to make better choices or the chance to return to society with a positive contribution, a second chance. The death sentence represents the ultimate failure of justice.
• Officially Australia has a long-standing principled opposition to capital punishment. In 1990 Australia signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which commits signatory nations not only to abolish the death penalty, but to undertake "an international commitment to abolish the death penalty". Australia's traditionally strong position on the death penalty has been undermined in recent years by what appears to be double standards. If we are to restore credibility when arguing for our own citizens to be spared, Australia must maintain a clear and principled stance against capital punishment in all circumstances.
• Yours sincerely
• [Insert Name and Address]

Tony Abbott is right - he WAS wrong!

Tony Abbott, the nastiest of the Howard Government Ministers (there are some contenders for that title, but let's not quibble) is right. He was wrong to attack Julia Gillard for lacking life experience.

• "FIREBRAND Health Minister Tony Abbott has accused fierce Labor rival Julia Gillard of lacking "life experience" to be Australia's deputy prime minister. "Voters expect a bit more humanity, a broader range of interests and experience than that of a political apparatchik," Mr Abbott told The Daily Telegraph yesterday. "It would be a lot easier for her to realise her ambition if there was evidence of a broader lifetime experience."

Tony Abbott is hardly the person to boast about the breadth of his "life experience" - unless he regards making a series of mistakes as qualifications for public office.

Making mistakes can be valuable, Tony. But you are meant to learn from them. In your case, you keep making them. What the point, or value, of that? How does that advantage the Australian people, who you are meant to be serving?

And what part of your background is not that of a "political apparatchik"? That's all you are, Tony, and all you will ever be.

As reported on the Channel Nine website, at the time of the debate about the Abortion Pill RU 486:"Mr Abbott, a staunch Catholic, rejected claims that his opposition to the drug was dictated by his religious beliefs. "One of the things which has very much disappointed me about this debate is the suggestion that there is a problem with ministerial decision making here, because as a Catholic I can't be trusted to make an objective decision," Mr Abbott said.

As a person raised as a Catholic, Tony, I can say the problem is not your Catholic background - it is your stupidity, and your religious bigotry, and your narrow "life view". Those are your attributes which get you into trouble. You are a disgrace to your "religious" background.

As the Telegraph website reports today:

• "Mr Abbott insists he was not personally attacking Ms Gillard, who he debates on morning TV every Friday. The thing about (Ms) Gillard is that she is very bright, just uber-professional and a formidable debater," Mr Abbott said. "(But) it would be a lot easier for her to realise her ambition if there was evidence of a broader lifetime experience. It's very hard to be a leader in a democratic society if your life has been consumed by the job." Last night, Mr Abbott sought to retract his remarks.

• "I should not have said anything that could be construed by anyone as a personal attack on Gillard," he said.

I ask if that constitutes a "withdrawal" by Tony Abbott? Here is Nicholson's view of Tony Abbott on "the withdrawal method".

Bob Collins's passing - and the politics of hatred.

The death of former NT Senator Bob Collins has unleashed the "Politics of Hatred".

The News.com.au webshite - the "Newspulse", the email "flier" they send out - has a foul headline "Bob Collins killed himself- Report". The article to which it links is slightly more considered - but the NEWS LIMITED website editor had no such qualms - he states Collins's death as suicide, as fact. That is outrageous.

*****

News.com.au states:

"FORMER Northern Territory Senator Bob Collins may have committed suicide, according to a report to be published today. The report, by Darwin-based writer Paul Toohey in The Bulletin, says the Northern Territory coroner is to investigate whether the Labor icon took a drug overdose three days before his trial for child sex offences.
The article also says Mr Collins:

• TRIED to kill himself by driving his Toyota LandCruiser into a tree at high speed in Kakadu after the child abuse charges were first laid in 2004; and also
• TOOK an overdose of pills in hospital in Adelaide while recovering from bowel cancer.

Toohey told the Northern Territory News last night: "Collins didn't die of cancer - I know that for a fact."

*****

The Howard Government might now be thinking that they ought allow Parliament to return for another session, which would allow the Howard "Government of Shame" team of headkickers, and haters free reign vent their collective spleen in the safety of "Coward's Castle" under Parliamentary Privilege.

A proposed State Funeral offered to Bob Collins's family is likely to be withdrawn, or rather the family is being asked to reconsider their acceptance of a Government offer (in accordance with the Protocol Office standing rules). How gutless is that little dodge - putting pressure on the family, rather than the Government actually making a decision of its own.

So a major Politician, a former leader of the Opposition in the NT, and a former Senator for the NT, is to be buried under a slur of sexual abuse, which can never be tested in the courts.

Let me just say that from people who know some of the characters involved in this story, there are two sides to this whole business.

Let us not pretend that the Politics of the NT is above the Politic of Hatred. It is not. Lots of "respected people" in the NT resent the good things which Bob Collins did for the people of the Northern Territory. Those same people are prepared to listen to "tittle-tattle" from individuals with whom these "respected people" would not normally share the same room.

But if there is some "scuttlebutt" to be aired about Bob Collins, anything and everything is suddenly credible enough to be printed.

This is the Politics of Hatred - nothing more. It reveals the depths to which politicians and journalists will stoop.

"I Know Nothing". Howard's "Manuel" defence.

It has started. Mad political smearing, lies and innuendo. Cop this lot, from a single article in today's Fairfax Digital news feed, from the Age.

1. A gay sex allegation, initially blamed on the Labor Party, turns out to have come from the Liberals themselves.
2. The Big Business funded "Pro-Work-Choices" Ads used persons with criminal records to play the Union guys. Then Joe Hockey defended it, as "method acting"!!!
   
3. Then the Liberals claim that the Labor Party is being funded by the TWU, and demands "TWU candidates" for the Labor Party be disendorsed. It turns out that one was once a TWU worker more than 10 years ago, and the other candidate left the TWU in 2000 (7 years ago).

Read about it here:

Gay sex smear traced to Liberals

Misha Schubert and Ben Doherty
September 24, 2007

AMID an escalating brawl over political mud-slinging in the countdown to the election, the latest smear on a Liberal figure has been traced to his own party.

Claims that a married federal minister visits gay bathhouses and sexually harasses other men in political circles surfaced yesterday in News Limited papers, which said the Government blamed Labor for smearing the minister, who has children — although the articles made clear Labor was not the source.

Veteran journalist Laurie Oakes, the Nine Network's political editor, said he too was fed the same story by a Liberal as part of an internal power struggle. Prime Minister John Howard refused to comment on the innuendo, which he said he knew nothing about.

*****

The exchange came as big business was reeling from revelations by The Sunday Age that two actors playing "union thugs" in its pro-WorkChoices advertisement were notorious criminals with records for drug offences and violence. One had also faced sex charges. The ads were pulled on Saturday night.

ACTU president Sharan Burrow was incensed by the depiction of the unionists. But Workplace Minister Joe Hockey suggested the men were "method acting" — because "we have a number of union officials out there who have criminal records".

*****

In another controversy, the Transport Workers Union was accused of running a secret multimillion-dollar slush fund. Mr Howard and Mr Hockey demanded Labor leader Kevin Rudd investigate to ensure the union was accountable to its members.

Mr Hockey accused the TWU of funnelling more than $3 million to the Labor Party in recent years, and demanded scalps.

"If Kevin Rudd is fair dinkum about his zero tolerance approach to the unions' dirty tricks, he will return the TWU money and disendorse his TWU candidates — Corio candidate Richard Marles and Victorian Senate candidate David Feeney," he said.

Mr Feeney has not been employed by the TWU for more than a decade, and Mr Marles left the union in 2000.

With AAP

Source: The Age - Fairfax Digital.

Prime Minister Howard is desperate, and is relying on the defence used by "Manuel" from Fawlty Towers all those years ago - "I know nothing".

NOW HERE'S A GOOD IDEA.!!!

LET'S RELEASE ALL THE KNOWN BADDIES OUT OF PRISON WHEN THE AP*ECKERS COME TO TOWN.

THIS SHOULD GUARANTEE SOME BAD-ARSE BA*ST*RDS ARE ON THE STREETS FOR THE PO*LIS TO ARREST, OR HARASS; OR AT LEAST GIVE THEM SOME HEADS TO BASH IN, OR AT LEAST SQUIRT INTO THE GUTTERS (WHERE THEY OBVIOUSLY BELONG) WITH THEIR NEW WATER CANON.

ACTUALLY, IT IS NOT QUITE AS BAD AS THAT, BUT IT MIGHT AS WELL BE. THE NSW GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE WEEKEND DETENTION PEOPLE DO NOT NEED TO TURN UP THE WEEKEND WHEN THE AP*ECKERS COME TO TOWN. THIS IS TO MAKE ROOM FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THEY INTEND TO ARREST - BUT REMEMBER - THEY DO NOT INTEND TO ARREST PEOPLE ULESS THEY NEED ARRESTING!!!

The ABC News site tells us this:

Two-hundred prisoners will be allowed to sleep in their own beds over the APEC long weekend of September 7-9 to free up jail cells in preparation for the mass arrest of protesters.

Federal and state police have asked the New South Wales Government to make space for up to 500 who might be arrested during the summit in Sydney.

Protesters arrested during APEC will be denied the presumption of bail.

Parramatta jail and a refurbished section of Long Bay jail will be set aside for the plan.

******

REMEMBER - I DID NOT MAKE UP THIS SH*IT. THIS IS THE IDEA OF THE FE*DERAL AND STA*TE PO*LICE - ACCORDING TO THE ABC NEWS SERVICE.

*******
FOR THE RECORD, I ADVISE ANYBODY WHO HAS ANY POL*ITICAL "VIEWS" ON THE "WA*R ON TE*RROR", OR WHO HAS ANY STRONG VIEWS ON OTHER ECONOMIC OR SOCIAL JUSTICE "ISSUES" WHICH MIGHT PROMPT THEM TO OPPOSE THE VISITORS AT AP*EC -
FOR GOD'S SAKE,
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND STAY AT HOME.

I HAVE SEEN POLICE BRUTALITY AT FIRST HAND,
(I WITNESSED A RIOT IN MILAN IN 1968 WHEN ITALIAN
POLICE AND ARMY KILLED A PROTESTER,
AND TEAR-GASSED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE.
IT WAS NOT PRETTY, NOR WAS IT "FUN".
I HAVE ALSO WITNESSED "RIOT CONTROL"
GET OUT OF HAND AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA)

AND I CAN SMELL A DISASTER LOOMING.
PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THESE BA*STARDS THE
SLIGHTEST EXCUSE TO THUMP ANYONE.

STAY AT HOME, AND LAUGH YOUR HEAD OFF
AT THIS "GOVERNMENT OF SHAME".

Rudd "strippergate" a complete distraction.

The Kevin Rudd "Strippergate" story is a complete distraction from the real story of this last week. The world economy is in melt-down, and yet all Australian journalist want to talk about is the temperature in Kevin's Jocks. (That post is the worst-taste item I have seen published, so I give you the link, just in case you wish to see how bad Australian journalism can get - The Journo concerned (Jack Marx) apparently got sacked for it - but he should have a future writing "books meant to be read with one-hand" (p*rnography).

Back to the real story - it is not just the American "Sub-Prime" lending market - did you know that the Australian Dollar lost 10 cents in the last week (against the US Dollar)?

Source: http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/AUD/graph120.html

Nope? Well, that's hardly a surprise. The ABC radio and television has been completely consumed by the Strippergate story. It is a disgrace (their lack of "perspective" I mean.) They have completely missed the real story of the week.

So, Alexander Downer, or whoever did leak the story, has done a huge favour to the Government of Shame. The real story has been buried, in favour of journalistic opinion based upon rumour, based in turn upon sordid memories of journalists and politicians.

Folly of Kevin '03 steals the show from Kevin07 - The Age - 84 related articles »
MPs laugh off strip club visits as Rudd pain continues

(Google search result "Bob Brown" + "Kevin Rudd"). Did you see that - 84 related articles! 84! That proves my theory, I believe.

*****

Meanwhile, remember next time you hear John Howard say that the economy is in great shape - that it is simply a lie. Wrong in fact. Wrong in "understanding" of economic fundamentals. We are skating over very thin ice - in a time of global warming, that's not a good strategy.

Remember also this telling line by Dr Bob Brown: Going to a strip club is nothing compared to sending Australian troops to war, Greens Senator Bob Brown says.
(Reuters | Monday, 20 August 2007)