It still means that you lost, Chris

I hear that failed Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis is pointing out to any who'll listen that he actually received the most primary votes in Page at the recent federal election. Newsflash, Chris. This still means that the people who didn't want to see you go to Canberra were more numerous than the total number who actually wanted to see you become the local member of parliament. 

Did senior US official discuss Iran sanctions with Gillard, Smith and Fitzgibbon?

On Wednesday US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns met with the new Deputy Prime Minister and ministers for defence and foreign affairs.

Did those discussions canvass America's desire to increase sanctions against Iran and did the new Rudd Government signal an agreement in principal with this course of action?

Australia has already been led down the garden path over the supposed threat posed by Iraq, with disastrous results.

Given that US intelligence reports that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program four years ago, surely Australia is not eager to continue obliging the Bush Administration's desire to bully the entire globe.

Being a friend to Bush's America is a rather dubious and dangerous state of affairs. It does nothing for Australia's international standing.

One hopes that the Rudd Government will be cautious with regard to any approach by the US relating to the Middle East issues.

The Age article yesterday:
 http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/US-to-press-for-new-Iran-sanctions/2007/12/05/1196812829798.html

Mungo's on the mark - - - yet again!

Mungo McCallum scores another bull's eye when writing in Byron Bay's Echo.

Read the full text of Mungo's column at :
http://www.echo.net.au/pg.php?issues_id=22_26&pg=10&view=gif

Mungo is, as usual, right on the mark. Mungo wrote, in part:

If you have any doubt that the election of a Rudd Labor government has changed the country, consider this: a year ago, did you imagine that the Prime Minister would be sending an openly gay woman of Chinese ancestry to Bali to ratify the Kyoto protocol on Australia’s behalf?

Kyoto, of course, has been one of the great symbolic differences between Labor and the coalition; another is Work-Choices, and Julia Gillard is already busy putting that to sleep so she can concentrate on what she rightly sees as her main job, implementing Rudd’s education revolution.

And the third major symbol will be the long overdue apology to the stolen generation, now being prepared, as it should be, not just by the government, but in consultation with Aboriginal leaders.

Will Australia cease being a rogue state anytime soon?

Now an education revolution is a fine thing for any government to undertake and it is an investment in the future, but if I hear about this Rudd Government priority one more time this week I will scream.

 

Children's education needs to include other things besides computers and the standard curriculum. Things like an understanding of ethical behaviour and the rights of others. Something they are not going to learn from examining Australian society at present.

 

For the last seven years Australian governments at both federal and state level have introduced a whole raft of legislation which attacks basic human rights and is often in prima facie breach of international law.

The Commonwealth Criminal Code now enshrines most of these abuses.

Since 2001 the Australian Government on a wink, wink, nudge, nudge, basis has condoned kidnapping, false imprisonment, torture and more.

The former Howard Government marched us all off to two wars which may yet lead to war crimes charges.

 

Less about computers and more about a review of all Commonwealth legislation to ensure it meets Australia's obligations under UN treaties and instruments, Prime Minister. We have been living in a rogue state for too long.

 

In The Age yesterday. A short summation of what the Rudd Government needs to urgently address:

  http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/the-coalitions-shame-file/2007/12/03/1196530572748.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Well, we had to do something during all those boring government ads!

Australia's population nudged over the 21 million mark in June this year. For the first time in years the annual birthrate is looking healthy at 1.85 babies per woman in the country.

Now some might say that the baby bonus encouraged a few more pregnancies. But I think that more people switched off the tellie to escape those long and boring federal government ads which ran during the last year of the Howard Government, and found much better things to do with their time than be alert and alarmed.

"The Australian" has a nervous breakdown after its horse failed to come in

The Australian gives space to Mark Steyn, a Canadian columnist and film and music critic, who laments the fall of the Howard Government as "A loss for civilisation".

After reading this unmitigated tripe, I was at a loss for words. Pity Steyn wasn't.

Though it was somewhat amusing to see John Howard's name still connected with this sort of clumsy attempt at a xenophobic scare campaign. 

The Australian Steyn article yesterday:
 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22857673-7583,00.html