‘“The whole racket this time was designed to dissociate the loan contracts as far as possible from their company of origin, and then to slice and dice the liabilities of ownership so finely that all the lawyers theoretically ever producible in the life of this universe, or several like it, may never succeed in patching together a coherent skein of ultimate responsibility.

This one's for the true believers ……

John Howard appeared to YouTube viewers at 5am yesterday, enticingly perched
on the cabinet table & inviting the youth of Australia to join the army.

By 7.30pm, he and the Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, were beaming live to nearly 900 churches around the country. All without leaving the shadow of the Parliament House flag.

As the YouTube election gathers pace, it is quaint to think that reaching 100,000 Christians might once have taken a month of Sundays.

a BUZZFLASH editorial …..

It's become a bit of a cliché to compare the rise of Cheney-Bush fascism to the ascendancy of the Third Reich, but the analogy does reveal a fundamental truth about power and politics.

Fascists or Bolsheviks (just look at the short-lived Alexander Kerensky republic in Russia that fell to the Soviets in 1917) proceed on a premise that liberals are ambivalent about asserting power - and take full advantage of that weakness.

Sol's salary unreasonable: PM …..

Telstra boss Sol Trujillo's huge salary is unreasonable, Prime Minister John Howard says.

Mr Trujillo's total pay packet increased by $3 million last financial year to $11.78 million - 38 times the prime minister's salary.

"I'm not complaining about the salary I get," Mr Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

‘US business travellers and tourists flying to the European Union are facing the threat of the same laborious registration requirements that Washington has demanded of Europeans in the latest US security crackdown.

In its first reaction to the new US visa law, the European Commission said it was “considering” a so-called electronic traveller authorisation scheme – similar to the American plan – that would require foreigners heading to the EU to give notice of their travel plans before departure.

‘The war in Iraq passed a significant but little remarked anniversary this summer. The conflict that President George Bush announced was in effect over on 1 May 2003 has now gone on longer than the First World War. Like that great conflict almost a century ago, the Iraqi war has been marked by repeated claims that progress is being made and that a final breakthrough is in the offing.

‘A dossier compiled by Liberal strategists Mark Textor and Lynton Crosby found voters had lost faith in Mr Howard, seeing him as dishonest while Mr Rudd was seen as genuine and accessible.’

Howard Has Given Up, Says Rudd

“I am aware and the government is aware that this decision will hurt some home buyers … and will have an effect on household budgets,” Mr Howard said.

The PM said he was thankful that the Government’s finances were in such a state that he was able to deliver tax cuts, increases to childcare payments and pension supplements in the May Budget.

Facing his fifth interest rate rise since the 20004 election, fought on a low interest rate pledge, Mr Howard said he had no hesitation in repeating his pledge of 2004 that interest rates “will always be lower under us than under a Labor government”.

from the Sydney Morning Herald

Rates, states and red herrings .....

Australians are entitled to blame their state premiers for many things, but rising interest rates are not among them. The Liberal Party's internet advertising blaming state borrowings for a widely anticipated rise in mortgage interest rates is both irresponsible and wrong.

Rates, States & Red Herrings

from the ABC …..

Labor's getting cocky: PM

The Prime Minister has told his backbenchers that federal Labor has become cocky and has started eyeing off the trappings of government.

With today's Newspoll showing Labor soaring ahead by nine points on the primary vote, one Liberal MP described the mood in today's joint party room meeting as "realistic".

from the Sydney Morning Herald …..

‘While homebuyers may be dreading another possible interest rate rise tomorrow, new research shows that almost half of mortgagees don't know what interest rate they are currently paying.

A report by accounting body CPA Australia also shows that almost one in four homebuyers didn't know what the interest rate was when they took out their loan.

from our ABC …..

'Kevin 07' just a media tart: Govt

Federal Government MPs have launched a ferocious attack on Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, as he launched his own 'Kevin 07' website.

A dozen Labor staff arrived at Parliament this morning wearing T-shirts with the slogan 'Kevin 07' to promote the new website.

‘Other, more pedestrian presidents have had as their goals freedom and prosperity for our country and peace on a single planet – ours, no less. But President Bush, has a grander vision, based perhaps on his father’s "thousand points of light." This president is committed to the defense of the moon and Mars.

When Bush first started talking about Mars, the joke was that maybe that’s where we would find those elusive "weapons of mass destruction" that we were unable to find in Iraq.

And back in 2006...

Audit finds many missing U.S. weapons in Iraq

Government report: About 14,000 weapons - 1 in 25 - unaccounted for

WASHINGTON - Nearly one of every 25 weapons the U.S. military bought for Iraqi security forces is missing and many others cannot be repaired because parts or technical manuals are lacking, a government audit said Sunday.