Friday 29th of March 2024

the jonestown syndrome .....

the jonestown syndrome .....

Utopian fantasies have long transfixed the human race. Yet today a much rarer fantasy has become popular in the United States. Millions of Americans, the richest people in history, have a death wish. They are the new "Armageddonites," fundamentalist evangelicals who have moved from forecasting Armageddon to actually trying to bring it about. 

pots & kettles .....

pots & kettles .....

Mr Cheney made his remarks in a wide-ranging foreign policy speech during a conference on Middle East policy hosted by The Washington Institute, a research organization. During the 25-minute talk, he also took aim at Syria, accusing it of using “bribery and intimidation” to influence the upcoming elections in Lebanon, and made the case, as he has in the past, for the administration’s muscular approach in prosecuting terror suspects.

the importance of appearances .....

the importance of appearances .....

US troops in Iraq are not an occupying army. At least not technically: not legally.

Coalition troops are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government & that's important because being an occupier brings with it a host of rights & responsibilities under international law.

the value of reputation .....

the value of reputation .....

UK ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair has accused Iran of backing terrorism and warned the world faces a situation akin to "rising fascism in the 1920s".

Mr Blair told a charity event in New York that Iran was prepared to destabilise peaceful countries.

In his first major speech since leaving office, Mr Blair again defended the decision to go to war in Iraq.

handmaidens of peace ....

handmaidens of peace .....

There is an open secret in Washington. I learned it well during my 22-year tenure as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. All members swear to serve the interests of the United States, but there is an unwritten and overwhelming exception: The interests of one small foreign country almost always trump U.S. interests. That nation of course is Israel.

when the cap fits .....

when the cap fits .....

Chaser song despicable: PM …..

Prime Minister John Howard has labelled as "distasteful" and "despicable" a song by the ABC's Chaser comedy team that attacks famous dead Australians including Sir Donald Bradman and Steve Irwin.

the rattusmobile .....

the rattusmobile .....

John Howard has dared history, the Reserve Bank and the constraints on growth by claiming that Australia can grow indefinitely. He has recast economics as a matter of national attitude rather than a matter of the factors of production.

In a soaring Reaganite assertion of the power of conviction over the constraints of the concrete, he told the Herald yesterday: "We have to get out of our systems this idea that we can't be successful for a long period of time. We must throw off this cultural inhibition.

turned .....

turned .....

too many bosses .....

too many bosses .....

Costello launches ad attacking Labor's union links

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has launched a new advertising campaign attacking the number of Labor party frontbenchers with union links.

It signals that the Coalition will attack Labor's union links throughout the election campaign.

Mr Costello released a television advertisement that shows a long line of senior Labor figures and lists their union backgrounds.

inconvenient truths .....

inconvenient truths .....

At a Stanford University discussion, Gen. John Abizaid (Ret.), the former CENTCOM Commander, said what we all know:

"Of course it's about oil, we can't really deny that," Abizaid said of the Iraq campaign.

pork pirates .....

mass pork .....

from Crikey 

Kerr's campaign talking points

Christian Kerr writes: 

The Government’s tax policy is out – but why didn’t the tax cuts come sooner? The economy has been ticking along nicely for ages now.  

mini miracles .....

mini miracles .....

Ears to the pulpit, when it suits …..


Believe it or not, it now appears that Christian leaders in Australia can enter the political debate without being lectured concerning that which belongs to God and that which belongs to Caesar. Provided they choose a fashionable topic, of course. As in criticising the Howard Government's Work Choices legislation.

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