What is Obama thinking? No, really.

   There's a few concerns around the place regarding the US getting itself into yet another military involvement in Iraq. Some query the action itself (what even is it going to look like? is this really such a good idea?) and many a journo is also questioning Obama's reasoning, his arguments for taking action. The reasons themselves sound a bit weak, and the President's selling of the whole deal is rather reminiscent of Bush - whom Obama spent so much time pre-election dissing for just that kinda thing.

The Plan

Of course, one hopes these actions (whatever they are) won't backfire and make things worse as occurred in Bush's case: creating a vacuum in Iraq that ISIS, amongst others, has since freely jumped into. And looking to Syria: experts have concerns that a weakening of ISIS is likely to have the unwanted outcome of strengthening Assad. American officials have warned "there are risks that escalating airstrikes could do the opposite of what they are intended to do and fan the threat of terrorism to American soil."



Meanwhile, the 'plan' itself has been seen as heavily flawed by some in the military and a few government officials. Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis said “the decision not to send ground troops poses serious risks to the mission." The military recommendation to send Special Ops forces to advise and assist the Iraqi army "was cast aside in favour of options that did not involve U.S. ground forces in a front-line role."


A couple of things adding to the complexity:

Wall Street Journal: "In Syria, officials have repeatedly raised the problem of adequately vetting rebels to ensure the people trained and armed by the U.S. don’t join the ranks of Islamic State"

 (Been there, done that.)

USA Today: "As airstrikes increase, Islamic State militants are likely to mingle more among the population, making targeting more difficult and increasing the risks of civilian casualties."

(Unfortunately, been there, killed that too.)


Obama v Bush

I've read some interesting analysis in The Atlantic. Conor Friedersdorf examined how hypocritical Obama's approach has been considering his earlier castigations of Bush's arguments for charging into Iraq. To start with, the article notes both Presidents argued that the enemy was unique.

Obama:

"In a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality."

Bush, 2002:

"Some ask why Iraq is different from other countries or regimes that also have terrible weapons. While there are many dangers in the world, the threat from Iraq stands alone—because it gathers the most serious dangers of our age in one place."

Obama:

"They execute captured prisoners. They kill children. They enslave, rape, and force women into marriage. They threatened a religious minority with genocide. And in acts of barbarism, they took the lives of two American journalists."

Bush 2002:

"On Saddam Hussein's orders, opponents have been decapitated, wives and mothers of political opponents have been systematically raped as a method of intimidation, and political prisoners have been forced to watch their own children being tortured."

Hence we can see, yeah, ISIS... not so unique after all. How much lovelier the world would be if indeed they were the only group to be decapitating, torturing and raping. As noted by the Guardian last month:

"While the world's attention was focused on Isis, a like-minded Shia militia attacked a Sunni mosque in the Iraqi province of Diyala on Friday, killing nearly 70 worshippers. This militia is linked to the government and has fought alongside the security forces against Isis."

Friedersdorf explains: "Bashar al-Assad turned chemical weapons on children. Is that somehow less brutal than beheading journalists? How can a man [Obama] who regarded the Iraq War as stupid, despite the fact that the regime we overthrew was every bit as brutal as ISIS, now cite the supposed "unique" brutality of ISIS as a primary justification for taking America to war in Iraq?"


Friedersdorf also argues Saddam Hussein (regardless of that 'surprising' dearth of WMD) posed a bigger threat to the US and its allies than ISIS does. Yet Obama did not support that war.

"If Obama thinks the lack of WMDs fatally undercut the 2002 case for war in Iraq, how is it that he now thinks national security requires intervention against a group with no WMDs or ballistic missiles or highly trained international intelligence apparatus?"

Essentially, Obama is giving Americans - and US allies who will be pulled into any conflict led by the US - the same reasons for military intervention in Iraq as Bush did in 2002 & 2003. Even worse, ISIS is not as well-armed, trained or in such great numbers as Hussein's threat - plus, Obama plans not only to attack sections of Iraq, but also to venture into Syria.


Associated Press has explained that most analysts "estimate the number of Islamic State fighters in both Iraq and Syria to be about 20,000. The Iraqi military and police force are estimated at more than 1 million. The Syrian army is estimated at 300,000 soldiers. There are believed to be more than 100,000 Syrian rebels, including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the powerful Islamic Front rebel umbrella group, currently fighting the Islamic State group in Syria. Tens of thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga forces are fighting the group in Iraq."

They argue there's "been an inclination to exaggerate" ISIS’s capabilities: "While the group has been successful at seizing parts of Iraq and Syria, it is no unstoppable juggernaut. Lacking the major weaponry of an established military" its influence comes from spreading ideology, its use of social media and has made gains mostly due to making the most of divisions among rivals.


The ISIS Threat

And "if ISIS lacks the motivation and capacity for anything close to 9/11," i.e. aren't even as geared up and trained as Hussein's army, "then President Obama’s stated justification for even an air war looks weak. So far, the press hasn’t done a good enough job of determining if this is the case." (Peter Beinart)

Also, the argument of preventing a "lone wolf" attack make attacking militants in Iraq and Syria seem a bit of an overkill. Another dude with explosives in his underwear isn't likely to take the lives of anywhere near 3,000 people as occurred on 9/11 (and, in case you're interested, here's another unique way to look at it - some big picture thinking). 

Regardless, it's worth noting that thus far Obama has only said ISIS "could" attack the US "if" the terrorists are "left unchecked". And those Westerners who have ventured over to be trained by ISIS "could" return to their home countries and attempt an attack.

Here, Beinart queries just how much of a threat ISIS is to the US: "Press coverage of ISIS often ignores the fact that, in the past, the group has not targeted the American homeland. Jihadist groups, even monstrous ones, don’t inevitably go after the United States. Al-Qaeda began doing so as part of a specific strategy. [...] It was only when direct efforts [to overthrow regimes of Egypt and Saudi Arabia] failed that al-Qaeda hatched a new strategy: attacking those regimes’ patron, the United States."


As that is still al-Qaeda’s strategy, "the U.S. has arguably had more to fear from those Westerners who have joined the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, than from those who have joined ISIS." A worse realisation is, al-Nusra may be end up benefiting from US attacking ISIS by taking current ISIS territory.



There is (so far) the difference that there'll be "no boots on the ground". (Note: On Wednesday Obama said 475 more U.S. military advisers would head to Iraq, raising the number of American forces to 1,700. If not boots, well, that's a few shoes of some description on the ground...) Yet, as Friedersdorf points out:

"if America didn't successfully eliminate violent extremists in Afghanistan or Iraq even with tens of thousands of boots on the ground, if extremists in those countries began to gain more power as soon as Americans left, if we didn't manage to successfully train their armies even during a years-long deployment of our best forces, why do we think that a foe Chuck Hagel characterizes as the most formidable we've seen in the War on Terror can be beat with airstrikes and a few hundred advisers?"

The Obama Sell

Gotta say, as yet, Obama's rationale for military strikes against ISIS are far from convincing.

""I have the authority to address the threat from ISIL," he told the nation, with no further explanation offered, despite the fact that he went on record as a presidential candidate with a war powers standard that would plainly forbid acting as he now plans to without Congressional approval. [...] Meanwhile, multiple authors at Lawfare are openly scoffing at the new legal theory that he has suddenly adopted."

Not only is Obama not running this by Congress, he has yet to explain: the objective, role of allies, length of the engagement, limits of cost, whether the US will be arming future potential enemies - in fact, who they plan to arm at all.



Yet, if Obama asked Australia this very moment to add its strength militarily, we know PM Abbott would say yes in a heartbeat. No questions asked. And to think Americans and Australians live in democracies. In both nations, not even those elected, apart from the few most elite, are given a say. And unfortunately, the Australian media seem more excited about the drama of the whole affair than being at all critical. As Bernard Keane recently pointed out, we don't even question our heads of intelligence. Australian journos treat them as sacred and their word as gospel.


Anyway, good news! ...it's not a war. Nope. John Kerry said it's fine if you want to call it a war but it's really it's just "a major counterterrorism operation". As Obama explained, this type of counterterrorism has been "successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years" - the Guardian and others have queried the President's definition of "success" as "in both Yemen and Somalia, al-Qaida’s affiliates have proven durable." And "no end is in sight against either al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen or al-Shabaab in Somalia – an ominous indicator for a war against the far more capable and financially flush Isis."


Considering senior government officials have explained they won't be "telegraphing" actions but will act "as necessary as we develop targets," this does at least sound along the lines of counterterrorism more than outright war. Though it's a fine line and the former could too easily swell into the latter. One wonders if John Kerry realises this.





And hopefully he's not naive as he sounds when he speaks of the absolute simplicity of breaking ISIS's hold on the region: 

"It is going to be our policy to separate (al-Assad), who is mostly in the western part of Syria, in a certain corridor from the eastern part of Syria, which he doesn't control. ISIL controls that part. So it is clearly ... not a very difficult task to target ISIL." - John Kerry.

The US is currently encouraging its Gulf allies to target and stop the flows of both funding and foreign fighters heading to ISIS. And, for Sunni states like Saudi Arabia to dissuade other Sunnis from being drawn to the ISIS ideology. All that makes the Iraq aspect "seem easy,” a US general said, speaking anonymously. “This is the most complex problem we’ve faced since 9/11. We don’t have a precedent for this.”

Obama's approach to this complex problem, into which he is voluntarily adding US military to some unknown extent, is thus far clear as mud. Hopefully he will explain the US's planned course in much greater detail when he chairs a UN General Assembly meet later this month.


[P.S. -- I must add, it would appear al Qaeda didn't disown ISIS due to a queasy response to the group's violent extremes. In fact, "the reason Zawahiri denounced the group was not its cruelty but its refusal to follow his orders and merge with another extremist organization. In other words, the dispute between ISIS and al Qaeda was not about the conduct of the former but about who was in charge, a regular feature of regional power dynamics." - On the Origin of ISIS.]

Leveson Inquiry - in pictures

 

Um....

 

 Hmmm...

The truth?

Well...

 

 Do you want that much?

 

 You know, perhaps I could give you this much? If you like.  I'm trying to help you here.

 Oh, hey! You mean about Mr Hunt?  Oh man.  I can give you this much!

 Oh, you mean, did I...?  

Uh, can't say I recall.  No.  I don't recall.  

I WOULD HAVE remembered then I would think. 

And I would have likely phoned/emailed/met them in all innocence. 

Other than that I don't remember.  

I, I, I, I don't recall. ...

 

(Wow. I think they're really buyin' it!)

  

The good and the ugly.

Good

The editor of The West Australian "newspaper" has resigned. Hurrah. Mayhap WA will have an actual newspaper again one day. I've heard that when he started he instructed staff to only write articles that were controversial and anything that wasn't defined at controversial was to be made controversial, and all else (ie. 'news') excluded.


Bizarre

a) Medals of Freedom given to the guys who helped Bush start a war. Freedom... War... Ah! What's the diff!

b) Little Johnny Howard being called 'the man of steel'.










Ah! What's the diff!


Great

My holiday! Didn't get to do as much as I'd planned sightseeing-wise (hey, there's always next time!) but had lots of fun and it all went too quickly. Am looking forward to my next holiday now. More! More! More! I was totally spoiled and loved it. Went to some great shindigs, got some lovely Chrissy prezzies and had all sorts of bizarre and unique offers New Year's Eve (some of which could have lead to my arrest had I agreed). So, much fun was had (and additionally contemplated) all round. Lucky, lucky me.


Hope you all are having a lovely start to the new year.

Tips on saving water

When showering:

• In the shower I find it most useful to use a bucket to collect water which I can later use in the garden.

• In addition, of course, one also wants to use less water, and the most effective way of ensuring one has as short a shower as possible is to have a rather large, ugly and slightly aggressive white tailed spider in the corner above the shower about to jump down and attack you. As their bites are quite painful and occasionally cause serious permanent damage, this is quite an effective method for saving water.

(Or so I've found.)

Useless Information! (Ears, Segues, Segways & Tequila)

1. You can make diamonds from tequila. And they're small and useless. Apparently even more useless than the ones used for jewellery - although, I'm thinking if you could rehydrate them somehow, they'd actually be far superior...


2. From Mexican scientists to sentimental scientists: The little Phoenix bot on Mars has gone nighty-night now due to the lack of solar power and the cold. Of course, brave little thing, it had actually soldiered on - sending info and pictures of snowfall (!) back to Earth - for much longer than expected.

Glen Nagle, a spokesman for the Canberra Deep Space Communication complex said "this little spacecraft" may still survive the cold however, and it has a wee program on board call 'Lazarus mode' which will allow it to call home if it gets enough power. He added:

"I actually find them quite amazing in terms of their resilience, their ability to actually last far longer than we ever expected. And for their human controllers here on Earth, [they are] quite attached to these spacecraft because it just shows sort of tenacity to keep on operating far beyond their lifetime."

Phoenix is already being missed by not just the scientists. The robot's personal Facebook page and blog has been inundated with farewell wishes.

The last message text message sent to 30,000 Phoenix fans via the robot's own Twitter mobile phone account was written in binary and translated to "triumph", with a heart shaped emoticon.

Cause robots have feelings too.





No they don't.



Anyway.


3. There's good news re the global financial crisis (yes, rly!). Well... for some locals of United Arab Emirates at least.

Emiratis have fretted for years over the loss of their culture, as social norms became more a product of the newcomers than of the nationals. Now, some are pinning their desires for a cultural salvation on the global economic downturn, which they hope will reduce the numbers of foreigners pouring into their country and give them a chance to reassert their customs and way of life.

“This is a blessing; we needed it,” Abdul Khaleq Abdullah, a political science professor at United Arab Emirates University, said of the fiscal crisis. “The city needs to slow down and relax. It’s good for the identity of our country.

A blessing indeed, as it may be the end of such images as this:





4. Obama's election victory, however, is not all good news. Quite depressing to some actually.

"Obama's election is great for our country but bad for comedy," said Michael Musto, a columnist for New York City's Village Voice. "He is an earnest, intelligent person trying to rescue a country in crisis and that's not all that hilarious."

Well, perhaps they could put Bush and Palin in charge of something like NASA or the FDA. Nothing like legally doped up astronauts hooning about the atmosphere to create comedic inspiration.

And hey, they could launch the first moose in space!



Of course, Sarah Palin would just go and shoot it down...


5. More presidential news: Peru has offered a hypo-allergenic dog to the Obamas (their daughter being allergic and all).

Claudia Galvez... director of the Friends of the Peruvian Hairless Dog Association.Galvez has a 4-month-old pedigree puppy to send to the Obama family. For now, she is calling it Ears because it has two large, perky ones.

"But if we send it to the United States, its official name will be Machu Picchu," she said, referring to the ancient Incan citadel, Peru's top tourist attraction.

Sticky-out ears eh?

This is sure to happen (you know the old chestnut, dogs look like owners and all that)!













Awww. They're both adorable if you ask me.

Dressing as Putin for Halloween. Boo. Eeek.

Some scary facts to scare you for Halloween:

Russia's political leadership has undergone a total ideological transformation over the past decade. Long gone is its co-operation with the US and the EU. Instead, its leadership now emphasises its ideological hostility to the West. Somewhat like China, ultra-nationalism, suspicion of foreigners and a restoration of state power have become the regime ideology.

Russia has increased its military budget by almost 500% since 2000. Making it the second biggest military spender.

Just as scary: The biggest spender is China. (And who knows just how much they're bloody spending as they always lie about it. "Trick or treat?" Trick. Trick. Tricky.)

Still scary: Both Russia and China are spending these great wads of cash on modernising their nuclear weaponry. Modernising. Making dem a lot betta. So much so that they'll have a more superior, efficient and secure nuclear force than the US within the next decade. (Although this week the US saw it might need to start modernising... somehow... Uh. Can we do it without testing????)


And a couple of guys writing in the US journal The National Interest, also note that Russia is happily testing out their capabilities with large scale military exercises. (Practice makes perfect!). Of course China joins in on these too. So nice to see nations playing together.
Oh, and back onto what the guys have said: the US nuclear deterrent could lack credibility if Russia gets ahead of them... Such a weakening of US might would have terrible consequences for Japan and South Korea (and possibly us!) as they rely greatly on the US for their security.

Mind you... The same journal also says, "Russia’s present financial difficulties are likely to force Moscow to accelerate economic integration with the West, which will force the Kremlin to moderate its foreign policy." Their stock market as fallen by 70% since May, and the "ruble has lost two year’s worth of appreciation".
So, we may finally be able to say, 'Yay for the economic crisis!'
Unless it just levels us all out of course, and the West weakens just as much...

Um...

OK. Well let's just talk scary North Korea...!

(Fingers crossed Kim Jong-il will be garbed as a ghost this year!)

Feeling Newsy! (yes, there's news other than the financial crisis - which I won't mention... promise.)

Just reading some news today.

It's variously...

Good:
The army chief is sticking to his decision to axe the Royal Australian bagpipe band. Hooray! Finally they're seeing some sense that the sound of (handsomely-skirted) men squeezing and torturing kittens in bags just to hear them squeal is not a good idea (except in a serious skirmish). Perhaps that is why they are taking these *ahem* musicians and turning them back into (much needed) soldiers.

News that's less good:
"Lt-Gen Gillespie said he had instructed the army director of music to maintain a pipe capability for ceremonial occasions when bagpipes were needed." NEEDED!!!? And that this "would be done through reserve pipers..." Ah, so close...


Good-ish (for some):
NSW politicians are continuing to provide the nation with amusements as their Nationals party leader said something about a Liberal MP: "If I had my way, I'd march him out at dawn, put a blindfold on him and shoot him."

Quite succinct and clear really. I don't quite see the problem.

Although he's apologised, the mamby-pamby MP refuses to accept the apology as he is still enjoying sulking. He said "the comments represented a threat to himself, promoted violence and were offensive to the victims of gun crimes." Ah, nothing like pollies for some neat hyperbole.
(Approaching it with humour would be much more charming... although pouts do suit some people.)


Seriously good:

"Australia has expanded financial sanctions against Burma, targeting more of the nation's top officials, ministers and military leaders."

Less good:
McCain and Palin (who only took on the task of VP nominee because the Republican party was more than happy to spend $225,000 on her wardrobe) have some fodder to attack with by taking one of Joe Biden's remarks out of context. He said basically the new president will be tested by an international crisis (yup, I'd say one or two are happening already). So the Republican argument is that McCain has been tested already.

Yes. And found wanting.


Good news:
Obama is 10 points ahead of McCain. And only 2 weeks to go! And this on top of (and likely due to) the wonderful news of Republican Colin Powell supporting him (boy, did that make my day)!

Also noice:

Mr. Obama’s favorability is the highest for a presidential candidate running for a first term in the last 28 years of Times/CBS polls. Mrs. Palin’s negative rating is the highest for a vice-presidential candidate as measured by The Times and CBS News. Even Dan Quayle, with whom Mrs. Palin is often compared because of her age and inexperience on the national scene, was not viewed as negatively in the 1988 campaign.

But sadly of course, his grandma ain't doin' so good, so he's going to go see her for a couple of days. Tragically he never got to his mother's death bed in time when she died, so he's obviously not wanting this to happen again.
If one can find anything good from this it will be that voters may have some empathy for him, think he's a nice grandson and also be reminded that half his heritage is white ('Lookit dat Billy-Bob!! He gots a white gran'ma like me!!! Hey. Maybe he ain't so black afta all!')


Strange news:
French Prez Sarkozy (I love saying 'Sarkozy'... don't know why; especially in the French manner, Sar-ko-ZEE!) is threatening to sue a company making voodoo dolls. I think the one offending him is the Sarkozy doll actually.

It has quotes of his over it and instructs the owner to insert pin 'here', eg: "Get lost you pathetic arsehole." (I hope that's actually in French: Obtenez-perdu vous abruti pathétique!)

He's not annoyed about the pins and sudden pains about his person so much as his exclusive rights to his image... and copyrighted insults.


And, again, Good: A new vet hospital in the US is helping wounded military vets.
In case that's confusing I'll be clear: a $15 million animal hospital has been opened at "Lackland Air Force Base, offering a long overdue facility that gives advanced medical treatment for combat-wounded dogs."
Maybe less than 'good' news really as the article points out that about 2500 dogs work with military units - finding explosive devices, drugs (for their handler's r&r) and land mines. Poor puppies! And do they get paid??

Dogs injured in Iraq or Afghanistan get emergency medical treatment on the battlefield and are flown to Germany for care. If necessary, they'll fly on to San Antonio for more advanced treatment -- much like wounded human personnel.

The hospital includes "CT scanning equipment, an intensive care unit and rehab rooms with an underwater treadmill and exercise balls" (the trainer's apparently). Plus, a "behavioral specialist has an office near the lobby." (I'm hoping there's some Schmackos in there.)


But also 'good' news because I get to use this photo again:

'Man, this better earn me some Schmackos...'

It's just a flesh wound!!!!!!!!!

Well, thank goodness I began my new routine of regularly meditating before all the kerfuffle of this global financial crisis and ere I had to listen overly much to the cheesy drivel of a persistently winking Sarah Palin. Urgh. And then I also had to focus on my breathing and tend to the stress of my emotions when McCain was prowling around in the last debate, acting for all intents like a used car salesman (as my mum rightly noted... and in the harsh tones of one who has no regular meditation routine).

Terrible (and under-reported) findings of the CCC (re Mallard and WA police), prison riots and even perhaps the fear of flying Qantas lately, fade into the background when our market and dollar are dipping into the plunge pool, Iceland (which may possibly be sued the by UK) is drowning alongside other uncertain doggy-paddling nations, and economists are as confused as the actual workings of the financial markets.

*Ohmmmm* At least I don't live in the US... *Ohmmmm* ...with a mortgage, potential job(s) loss and no real health care... *Ohmmmm* ...with a current national public debt of $10,245,247,740,307.58

Today I read (on a US site)-

The U.S. Government now borrows nearly $10 million every minute. This is precisely why our national debt crossed the $10 trillion threshold for the first time. The famous “National Debt Clock” in Times Square has run out of digits forcing the operator, the Durst Organization, to remove the dollar sign and replace it with the number “1.” The Durst Organization is now refurbishing the clock to allow up to one quadrillion dollars...

It may, however, be of some benefit that few in the US would even know what a quadrillion is.

(It's a thousand trillion. Comforting to know a debt of 100 times the current one is being prepared for...)


*Ohmmmmmmmmm*

Job vacancy!

I heard these guys are needing crane operators...





...frequently.


(Best if you click on the photo for a larger version. Uh, unless you suffer from vertigo of course...)

T'was the week of the long goodbye

"Yes I would dearly have loved more time," Mr Carpenter said. "But that is the nature of politics and life, you don't always get what you want."

I quite liked (our now ex-premier) Alan Carpenter.


But, if he wanted more time in the job, he probably shouldn't have called an early election...




Just sayin'.

Micromanaging in the chaos

On Denton's 'Elders' last night, Bob Hawke reminded me of a recent post of mine when he said: "There are no great political leaders around." He also noted the depressingly obvious world situation of overpopulation/poverty/women's education, food shortages and climate change... and how our moral compass seems to be somewhat screwed as news of Paris Hilton becomes a priority over such issues.


But what I wanted to blog about was when he went into his 'political-voice' to make a point. Denton asked him about how one deals with being PM.

Well by making sure it’s not the work of one man. Look at the duration with Carter, President Carter. Insisted on supervising who was going to be using the White House tennis court. Come on. I mean it’s a question of prioritisation and delegation and if you haven’t got that capacity for prioritisation and delegation then you’ll be on the road to the bin.

Am I alone in thinking he may be giving a hint to Rudd? Everyone knows he's a micromanager. As John Lyons reported in The Australian in late June, Rudd's office is "chronically under-experienced... in a state of disarray, largely reflecting a leader who on the surface appears to always be in control, but is, in fact, becoming so locked into micromanaging that around him chaos is breaking out." He also noted that unlike Hawke, who was "surrounded by an A-team of political operators, all of whom could - and did- say no to Hawke on occasions", Rudd's advisers are yes men and two of the three are highly inexperienced (and increasingly rude, especially Harris and especially to female reporters - but he even has abused a leading Labor frontbencher). One article concluded:

The lack of experience around Rudd is becoming an issue.

Jordan's only experience before joining Rudd six years ago was to work for "a Queensland MP"; his official CV doesn't even identify that MP. Yesterday, Harris did not know who the MP was.

Harris's CV says that as well as working in Labor headquarters in the 2004 election campaign and briefly for Robert McClelland and Swan, he has worked "for other community-based campaigns".

One senior government staffer said: "You've got no idea of the level of paranoia in Rudd's office at the moment. Kevin doesn't know half of what's going on."

So besieged has the office become that it took several attempts to even receive confirmation that Jordan and Harris are 28. Their ages do not appear on their CVs.

Rudd's third adviser is...

his chief of staff, David Epstein. [But...] It's the ticking time bomb of the PM's office. Epstein is married to Sandra Eccles, who was promoted three months after the Rudd Government's election to run the Canberra office of lobbying firm Government Relations Australia.

Epstein admitted to The Australian this week that he was forced to call in a witness to a conversation with car giant Mitsubishi because of a possible conflict of interest with his wife's firm.

It adds yet another problem to an already troubled office. The Prime Minister has an angry public service, an increasingly alienated media, and a chief of staff who more than likely will have to call in more witnesses as his wife's clients chase what they're paying big money for: to influence the people in the Government who make the decisions.

But really, Lachlan Harris wins:

Another female journalist recalls talking to Harris on his landline when his mobile rang. He told whoever was calling: "I'm on the other line, let me just piss this other call off." The woman about to be pissed off listened with dismay. "He would have known I could hear," she says.

The Sun-Herald's Kerry-Anne Walsh also experienced the Harris blowtorch. Walsh tracked down several members of a family who disputed Rudd's story that Rudd and his mother had been evicted from a property and were forced to sleep in a car on the side of a road. The family named by Rudd was outraged. One of the daughters of the farmer alleged to have evicted the Rudds said of Kevin Rudd: "He's dragged our father's proud reputation through the mud time and time again."

Because the versions were so different, Walsh sent some questions to Rudd via Harris. The response from Harris was nuclear. According to a version in The Sydney Morning Herald, which Walsh has confirmed, Harris began "ranting like a lunatic", claimed Rudd would "hit the roof" and if the paper published, which it did, "we'll have 100 people ready to roll tomorrow morning to trash you and your paper".

The treatment of women by Rudd's office has now become an issue. One female reporter told how Harris walks into her office and goes straight past her to discuss a story she has written.

On one occasion she went and stood between the bureau chief and Harris and said: "Hey Lachlan, I wrote the story!"

That bit in bold is rather interesting I think. Reminds me of yesterday's post. Obviously threats are the go in the Rudd government.

Of course, this post in part began with how the media values celebrity news over serious issues, so one can't really embrace the media wholeheartedly, but still... those that are trying to report on political issues (even if they occasionally go for the dramatic angle - all too easy with such as Belinda Neal around!) should be treated with some respect. It's not wise for a government to get the media offside.

Hmmm

Glenn Milne has said today:

I was warned on Saturday by one of the most senior - and I mean one of the most senior elected office holders in the land - that if I reported claims in a new book that Julia Gillard had been Kevin Rudd's preferred choice as treasurer I would not be dealt with again by the Government. And to his credit, the person making those threats wasn't Wayne Swan.

Sadly adding:

At least whatever punishment is dealt out to Brendan Nelson, even by his own side, he doesn't behave like that.

I'm guessing it's van Onselen's book, 'Howard's End'. What's the big deal after his shocking, I mean, really shocking!!!!! revelation that Rudd has "somewhat of a potty-mouth". Which was disappointingly dulled by the addition that he uses the f-word much less in female company.



SEXIST PIG!!!!


From this, and the revelations that Rudd has quite a nasty temper, we can assume that Milne was actually told by Kevin Rudd himself to "Fuck off Glenn, and don't you fucking dare write of such vile fucking things as my intentions for Julia's fucking role in fucking government you fucker" giving Milne a kick in the ass as he booted him out the front door of Parliament.

Can I just add that, um, it seems a bit of an overreaction to try to censor journalists from reporting something already published...? You know, just thinking...

Heil Rudd!

I suspect our PM is becoming a bit of a Nazi!

Firstly he's opined that art works he hasn't laid eyes on are "revolting". And said art works (by Australia's third greatest photographer) have been taken away by police as suspected pornography.

When really he would have won a lot more political points if, instead, he started a rumour of the artworks' pornographic and pedophiliac merits.......

And THEN announced that Malcolm Turnbull owns two.

Oh! For shame!


I think, in fact, all pornography should be only legally allowed as art - so at least pedophiles will have to pay a hell of a lot more for it.

Or even better, only public art. That way we can catch all the pedophiles in the art gallery just as they're about to pull out their old fella!




Second, he's working public servants to the bone! And makes no apology for expecting people to "burn the midnight oil".


It seems though that he's just enjoying his mighty power!! (As he did in Queensland government.) He will arrange a meeting with staffers, and then not turn up as they all sit around and wait for him. Also:

"What the public services is angry about is not so much that they're asked to do reports and to spend all night working on them, but once they deliver them to the Prime Minister and other Ministers, nothing happens with them for weeks and weeks and weeks...

"That's what's making them angry - that they give up their nights and then there are no decisions coming from the Government arising from their work."

And our dear little PM's reply? THERE'LL BE MORE!!!! YOU SLACK BUGGERS!!!! As he busily shuffles his (is it 18?) piles of paper about in front of him:

"I understand there's been some criticism around the edges that some public servants are finding the hours a bit much," he said.

"I suppose I've simply got news for the public service - there'll be more.

"This Government was elected with a clear cut mandate, we intend to proceed with that. The work ethic of this government will not decrease, it will increase."

And so what work is he getting done? He's just blathering on back and forth about petrol prices!

Note today's (yes, a bunch of troops came home today, hurrah! maybe he's not quite so much of a Nazi after all...) news:

The Opposition argues that the Government is happy to have issues which divert attention from prices at the bowser.

It says that the spat between the Prime Minister and the public service over working hours and the end of combat operations in Iraq are both distractions from the petrol issue.

When surely the whole petrol thing is a distraction in itself!!!!

Opposition MPs say they will continue to question the Government in Parliament this week about what it can do about rising petrol prices.

Oh great. So Rudd's going to have to work even harder at not getting any work done cause they're still going on about this petrol nonsense just so Nelson can show he can raise his voice and go red in the face with the best of them. "I HAVE CAJONES TOO!" he'll scream.



But, and here's my third point, he has made time to tell all his staff, office and household, they have to take down their Facebook pages.


Hmmm...


Pot... kettle... black:

Rudd has too many web friends
Posted Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:42pm AEST

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's popularity in cyberspace is continuing to rise.

Mr Rudd recently joined Facebook, a popular social networking website similar to My Space, where people can join and become friends with others online.

A note on Mr Rudd's site says he now has reached Facebook's cap of 5,000 friends.

It says the Rudd team is in negotiations with Facebook to increase the cap so they can respond to all the requests to become friends.

Tsk.



Now. If he starts burning books....!!!!!!!!!!

Suu Kyi - They done it again

Yes, it's that time of year again already!

Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest has been extended for another 6 months by the Burmese junta.

I think the reason they've made it only 6 months this time, instead of usual 12, is because it's against the law for them to hold anyone for more than 5 years (which it will be in November) without trial.

And, of course, her supporters have been seized by police... so say some prayers or whatever.



Poor bloody Burma...

Jeepers Creepers

Anyone figured this one out yet?

Fourth severed foot washes up on Canadian coast


Another severed human foot has been discovered washed ashore on Canada's Pacific coast, but police are no closer to solving the gruesome mystery.

The foot, still wearing a shoe, was discovered on a small uninhabited island south of Vancouver in the Strait of Georgia.

It was the fourth right foot discovered in the region in the past 10 months.

The previous cases all involved right feet still in sneakers, and each was found on a different island.

DNA testing has failed to link the earlier discoveries to any missing person cases.

I was going to say it's really got me stumped...



...but I won't.





Could it be some tribal island cannibals are on the Right Foot Free Diet?


And, when someone now says they have two left feet... are they suddenly a suspect?


I have so many questions!!!!


(Of course I know this is quite serious - but it's just so bizarre!)

B is for...?

The budget may be requiring "tough decisions" (and no bunnies out of bonnets), but surely there are also tough decisions for voters of Big Brother housemates'!*

Yes. I have just watched almost an entire episode of Big Mouth. Never managed to watch one of its previous incarnations as BB Up Late (the only snippets I caught once were of males bragging about female prey they had caught: "Yeah, mate. She really wanted me." etc, etc, with details too gory to repeat. That was enough for me.) But, of course, tonight Paul McDermott and I are too excited to sleep on Budget Eve (yes, I saw a bit of Good News Week too, oh the shame of admitting to all this Channel 10 viewing when surely you'd pictured me permanently glued to good ol' wholesome Aunty/ABC (with a bit of oh-so-raunchy SBS on the side... (and I'm just talking about the banter between its news hosts (riveting!)))).


Anyway, in case you missed it, here's some highlights:


One guest was Angela Conway from the Australian Family Association. (Egad, I'm yawning just typing that!) Yes, the audience was as thrilled as you would expect (and yes, this show has an audience - grown men did 'woo hoo!' in a loud and exuberant fashion). Being a kind of expert she confidently explained that it was 'not suitable' to put 17 year old Corey on the show because it has 'put him in the spotlight'. Yes. Poor Corey. By getting an agent and organising an 'east coast party tour', you know, which he had to 'postpone' due to 'media commitments', you could tell that he's really been trying to avoid that spotlight thing.



Another guest was newly-evicted Saxon. Oh, Saxon. Gosh. Won't you be missed. He looks like beefy, tattooed Popeye but with a Kewpie Doll head.

It's lovely to know that he's changed from being a bigoted skinhead to a... uh... ummm....


Well, anyway... In the house he brightened up the conversations:

Saxon: "I was like, so close to getting a swastika tattooed on me"
Flabbergast housemate: "Shut u-u-up!"
Saxon: "Yeah man. ... Full on lucky I didn't..."


Also re housemate Dixie - rather musically: "Baa baa fat chick, Dixie is a fool."


Just endearing really.


Thankfully Dixie, although often whingey, has some sense occasionally: "I'm in a house with a bunch of fuckwits."

Indeed...



Saxon also seriously and quite cleverly pointed out to the female host (Rebecca Wilson? who knows... the hosts are that engaging they're near invisible) re his 'cheeky' behaviour with the lads: "It's what boys do. I mean you're a woman, you should understand that."

Uh... yeah...


And what would this BB show be without some nudity (...well, non-existent one would guess)! So, we get to perve *cringes* on narcissistic Rory stripping off to flaunt his manhood (and I use the term 'man' oh so generously) next to Dixie. "You happy you saw dick Dixie?" Not getting quite the reaction he'd hoped for: "I don't want to see your penis. You're like my brother." (Uh, pre-pubescent?)


Other sexual areas of discussion include housemates revealing exciting locales of their (either few or hyperbolically numerous) sexual exploits. And when I say exciting...

I don't mean it.


The panelists also define Nathan (who apparently is quite the honey... but I have (and I proudly admit this) not watched enough of Big Brother to even confidently identify who Nathan is, so this quality of his has gone entirely unrecognised) as "a cryer". Yes. The women have obviously pondered upon him in a profound fashion during their quiet moments and have concluded that he would be the type to cry after sex.

...!


Had enough yet?

But I haven't told you how one guest described 'old nanna' Terri!: "She's no Madonna." (No kiddin'.)

And that the panelists, although they hated Corey to start with, now think he's "a really nice kid"! (Although, one of them was momentarily sensible: "Throwing things at Corey sounds like a great way to spend time!")

Or even how they liked Ben at the start, cause he was all intelligent and that, but now they see there might be a 'dark side' to Ben, that he's 'a bit NQR' (yep. she said 'NQR'. obviously up to speed with the youth of today. impressive.) and that he's actually "not a very nice person... not a very lovely boy". Oh gosh, oh dear. Could that be due to comments such as (re very-blonde Brigette, and in front of very-blonde Brigitte): "I was surprised that a girl with her looks had only been tapped once."

Well, as one half of the barely noticeable hosts said: "You've gotta be completely shallow."

Indeed. And splashing in the shallow end can be somewhat useful when you've been overloaded with depressing news (personal and global) along with the very wonderful and important but even more depressing Four Corners.
So 'on ya!' empty-headed entertainment and the momentarily distracting triviality of Big Bother Brother (look, Brigette is weeping uncontrollably cause she can't wear her own clothes! Oh my!)! And, as Big Mouth concluded:

"VOTE EARLY! VOTE OFTEN!!!"

* Yes. A Big Brother post. Oh!!! Will the (whatever is remaining) dignity of my blog ever survive!?!!!!!

Willy. Stolen. Reward given!!!

And the excuse used to be, 'Sorry honey, I've just had a little too much to drink'!

Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread...

Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week... They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.

'Rumours of penis theft...'.

Beware of men with gold rings!

(Love it!)

Purported victims claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear,

[not a skill I would be bragging about...]

in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.

"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station.

Jeez. You'd think one salesman could recognise another.



Unfortunately, people being accused of this kind of witchcraft (hide your wedding band people!) are being beaten. There've even been 'attempted lynchings'.

Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs.

"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke," police chief Oleko said.

"But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it?'," he said.

Hmm. Good point. (I think...)

Where have YOU been!!???

OK. I sincerely appreciate that people are making a meaningful statement when they do this...

One of the high-profile torch bearers has pulled out of the Olympic torch relay which will run through Canberra on Thursday.

The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) president and the ACT Australian of the Year, Lin Hatfield-Dodds, says she is taking a stand for human rights.

Ms Hatfield-Dodds says the recent scenes in Tibet are disturbing.

"I felt I really needed to be very clear in my stance, which is very pro-human rights obviously, so I've chosen not to run."

Ms Hatfield-Dodds says it was a difficult decision.

"I'm passionately committed myself to standing in solidarity with those who are vulnerable and marginalised as are the organisations I have leadership positions in, the Uniting Church and ACOSS," she said.

But, uh... so... what are you saying... This was not a problem when you signed up for the task? You thought China's human rights were quite alright up until now???


*scratches head*

*quotes Joel Brinkley (former Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times and now a professor of journalism at Stanford University) in order to clarify point*

Despicable as China's actions in Tibet may be, protesters should take a larger view. They should realize that China has become the chief patron of the vilest regimes in the world — undercutting at most every turn, and every place, the West's efforts to promote human rights.

How can the United States, Europe and the United Nations effectively isolate rogue states when China is more than willing to lend them money, buy their oil, sell arms and offer warm relations to most anyone who asks, no matter how murderous or corrupt.

... China is the chief benefactor for Sudan's genocidal leaders. In violation of a U.N. arms embargo, Beijing provides the weapons and ammunition that President Omar al-Bashir uses to arm militias that have slaughtered more than 200,000 people in Darfur.

China buys 90 percent of Sudan's oil exports and has given the regime more than $1 billion in so-called "concessional" loans. They come with low interest — or none at all, and China has been quick to forgive them altogether. All of this for a state that the rest of the world regards as a pariah.

Sudan is hardly the only questionable benefactor of Chinese largess. China remains Burma's most important ally. You may recall that Burma's military rulers ordered troops to shoot and kill dozens of Buddhist monks during pro-democracy demonstrations last fall. Once again, China buys oil and natural gas from Burma and sells weaponry to the junta.

And then there's Iran. In 2004, a few months after the United Nations found that Iran was secretly processing nuclear fuel that could, eventually, be enriched for use in nuclear weapons, China signed a $100 billion deal to import natural gas from Iran over the next 25 years. What is more, China provided much of the equipment Iran first used to process nuclear fuel — and trained Iran's nuclear technicians.

In recent years, China has struck energy deals with Hugh Chavez in Venezuela. The Chinese have begun oil exploration in Cuba. They made a mineral-exploration deal with Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, who now appears to be stealing the presidential election there.

Meantime, China remains North Korea's closest friend and protector. China provides about 70 percent of the renegade state's food and nearly 80 percent of its fuel.

And let's not forget human rights abuses in their own country.


So. Can I just repeat... "I felt I really needed to be very clear in my stance, which is very pro-human rights obviously".
"Very"...?
"Obviously"...?

Uh... Seriously????

Just awaiting council approval

Seriously.

Brewer Ross Smith plans to recreate the original Stonehenge on his property at Margaret River in time for the next summer solstice on December 21.

The structure will be made with 2500 tonnes of granite quarried from Esperance on WA's south coast.

"I'm doing it because I can," Mr Smith told AAP.

[Unlike the original] ...anyone visiting the Australian replica will be able to touch and play around a new and complete [Hey, "complete"! So surely superior] version of the monument, Mr Smith said.

The Henge, as it will be known, [guess he doesn't have to worry 'bout copyright...] will span 33 metres in a two-hectare area on his Margaret River property.

"I think it will attract a lot of tourists to the [er, tourist] region, about 200,000 to 300,000 per year," he said.

It will be hired out for weddings and a visitation fee will be in place, said Mr Smith, an entrepreneur [no kidding].

The plan has its critics in an area renowned for fine wine, chocolate and cheese.

"It's been mixed (the reaction)," Mr Smith said.

"You're always going to get your knockers but I don't mind.

"Thirty years ago Margaret River was infested with dairy cows and there was no wine here." [Nor, funnily enough, ancient Celtic architecture. And how we have felt the lack!]

Mr Smith says the local council has backed his plan, but it has yet to be approved.

The area, well known for its cheeses, will soon have a lot more cheese it seems. Jeez, just all class. Why can't he be sensible and erect a giant structure of fruit like other states!!?

Important things to remember:

1. When dining out don't complain that your seafood dish is taking too long as apparently the customer is not always right.











2. Keep your distance from icicles, these too can be fatal.









3. Don't complain that Cate Blanchett is not women enough for the start of the 2020 Summit, as there are actually six co-chairs that are women cause they're of the politician hand-holding side, which means seven of the ten working groups will have a woman co-chairing although this really means six women will have mere "leadership" roles and Cate Blanchett will be the only one to have ideas heard...


Um, am I feeling better yet?


I will point out however that the Opposition's Sussan Ley is surely more correct than even she realises when she says "I doubt it would have happened under John Howard."
True. I reckon if he was ready to listen to Australians' ideas he might have done it some time during the 11 years he was PM! I mean, is not like he was losing touch or anything... Not like that's why he LOST THE ELECTION!!!

Who's losing touch now eh Sussan dear?



4. The Coalition appears to have learnt ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from their massive loss at the last election. (Especially Ms Ley who was obviously pushing her point a bit too far. Howard! Listening! To Others! *bwhahahahahahaha!* Ahhh. Oh. Yeah. Janette maybe.)





PS - Howard has said he is actually really looking forward to the 2020 meet. He loves his cricket!