France will launch an international news network to compete with CNN and the BBC, Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin announced today. “This channel will promote a French vision that is more necessary than ever in today's world," he said.
Your challenge: to provide a slogan and/or graphic for the new network.
David Marr may think ABC reporter Gina Wilkinson only deserves a harsh lesson for encouraging Iraqi children to play Hamas activist with potentially explosive missile launchers, but Media Watch viewers -- some of whom could use spellcheck -- want her to be fired:
”Good on you for busting Gina Wilkinson. Are these people crazy? Doing a story on the danger to children of unexploded ordnance, and then getting them to play on it. She should be sacked. I think it is disgraceful.”
”I congratulate Media Watch for your work in presenting this dispicable act, however I remain at a loss as to what kind of person puts children on a missile launcher for a good story. She deserves not only to be sacked as a journalist, but repremanded for her inhuman act. This is not just an error of judgment - she new the facts and she disregarded them for a good story. Gina - your acts are dispicable, discusting and unforgivable.”
”She is certainly a criminal and should be sued for crime. It is not enough to scak her but even that the ABC management has not done due to unseen interest in her and her crimes which you ought to dig deep into to bring to the surface. I am going to sue her and ABC on behalf of teh Iraqi children who she tried to murder by forcing them to stand over the misiles.”
”Thank you Media Watch for exposing Jenna Wilkinson's shocking ethics. Not only did she disgrace journalism and the ABC, she displayed shocking personal values and was a disgrace to her family ...The ABC should take immediate action. I don’t want to see another news story delivered from this person again. I was sickened.”
”I beleive that Gina Wilkinson should be sacked for here recently exposed efforts in Iraq. Obviously she new that she was asking for the kids to be put into harms way ...”
Unlike Stephen Crittenden, Wilkinson thus far hasn’t even been suspended.
Why is Russia refusing to ratify Kyoto? The ABC finds an unbiased expert to explain:
JEREMY LEGGETT: As we know, the White House has essentially an oil regime in power, and the OPEC governments were very opposed to Kyoto. Russia is a major oil and gas producer as well, so President Putin will be torn between narrow, short-term national interests and the billions of dollars of investment that are going into Russia from American and European oil companies.
I love the "as we know".
In advance of Tony Blair’s Labour conference speech, David Aaronovitch writes the speech Blair should deliver:
Last year I told you that we were at our best when we were boldest. I could have added that we are at our worst when whingeing. But whingeing is all most of you have done since then. It has been a year of complaint.
A lot of that has been about Iraq. OK, some of you are pacifists, like Mahatma Gandhi, and you don't like war on principle. Fair enough, I suppose, until they turn up to cart you off to the dusty field. But many of you others don't seem to care how many Iraqis old Saddam was killing, just so long as we didn't kill any.
It doesn't appear to bother you at all that - according to all polls - most Iraqis still think the invasion was a good thing. You know better than they do. You are so certain that it would have been preferable to have left Uday and Qusay in their palaces, and the political prisoners in their torture chambers, yet you call yourselves internationalists!
Read on for the killer conclusion. Oh, and if you think you can do better, the BBC invites you to try your hand as a Blair speechster.
Posting will be light for the next day or so, as I think I’m coming down with Australian Flu. All the classic indicators are present: fever, chills, golfball-sized sacs of baby spiders erupting beneath the skin, sore throat, headache. Rest is required.
Alan Wood on the ”discredited” Bjorn Lomborg:
The ABC's Earthbeat program had a panel discussion a week ago on Lomborg's Australian visit.
The program's presenter, Alexandra de Blas, introduced the discussion this way: "Lomborg's book has been discredited by some of the world's premier environmental scientists."
But what about the credentials of those who so savagely attack Lomborg's?
Good question. Read the whole piece.
Here’s Margo Kingston on August 26:
In my view, Tony Abbott has just said goodbye to ever being Prime Minister ...The Australian people will never trust Abbott again.
Today, her own newspaper disagrees with her:
Mr Abbott leaves workplace relations frustrated by Senate resistance, but with a commendable record of achievement. At a testing time he brings a reformist zeal to the health portfolio. Success will smooth the bovver-boy reputation and enhance his leadership credentials.
And Margo now disagrees with herself:
Abbott is a good man to fix up messes and make new policy work ... If he gets it right - and Howard will back him with big bucks - Abbott could clean-up his image and restore his appeal as a future leader.
But how, Margo? The Australian people will never trust Abbott again!
This is terrible:
A Muslim man who cut his 16-year-old daughter's throat because she had a Christian boyfriend has been sentenced to life in prison.
And this is extraordinary:
Police believe there are a dozen such "honour killings" in Britain last year, half of them in London.
They only believe there are this many “honour killings”? What’s the problem, coppers? Muslim girls keep turning up dead and you’ve got no idea who did it? Hint: if you think they’re “honour killings”, interview the family.
Gareth Parker is right -- I could never have predicted that the ABC would urge Iraqi children to frolic on and around unexploded ordnance for the benefit of its cameras. I clearly underestimated the ABC’s willingness to harm kids. Congratulations to Media Watch for airing the story, although it’s hard to imagine host David Marr being this mild had he caught someone from a commercial network doing the same:
The leaking of the camera tapes is a harsh lesson for Gina Wilkinson, but no journalist should need to be told the appropriate way to film reports of this kind. Using kids in this way to get pictures is just not on.
A harsh lesson. Just not on. The big meanie! Anyway, let’s see what Marr has to say next week about his close friend Alison Broinowski and her new career in fiction, reported below.
Alison Broinowski -- you’ll remember her as the woman who believes beer is a root cause of terrorism -- now claims in The Age that the US would not defend Australia if it were attacked:
In all our wars, the aim is to assure the electorate that our ally will guarantee us protection in the future ... In fact, the US line on defending Australia remains the same, and our efforts in Iraq have not changed it. In Sydney on August 13, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage made that clear, saying "your system is yours to defend". If there were a future problem involving Indonesia, he added, Australian leadership would be "essential". In other words, unless American interests are threatened, we're still on our own.
On our own, are we? Let’s look at what Armitage actually said:
For China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, I believe that their behavior as states with global economic reach has perhaps now outpaced their behavior as states with global political reach. For all the Asian players, however, it is fair to say that this international system in which your fortunes are now so deeply vested is yours to protect and defend. Challenges such as terrorism, HIV/AIDS, trafficking in narcotics, trafficking in persons, and yes, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, these are challenges for us all. And this is the reality which Australia has long recognized.
He isn’t talking about cutting Australia adrift. He’s talking about a whole bunch of countries and a whole range of issues. Broinowski’s interpretation is wilfully idiotic (also, crucially, her version of the speech has it as “your system” rather than the transcript’s “this international system”). Now for the second Armitage quote:
This is a time when the world community needs to help restore Indonesia's faith in itself. Certainly by cooperating in counterterrorism and law enforcement efforts, but also by engaging across the board, in particular by helping this country along the road to economic and to political reform, and in so doing, to deny the terrorists the safe haven they often seek in misfortune and in turmoil. Without a doubt, it will be Australian leadership which will be essential in this regard.
He’s talking about Australia’s leadership in helping Indonesia generally, not some “future problem” that might require Australian military action and American aid. Broinowski omits the following section of Armitage’s speech:
In just two days' time we're going to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II. But that terrible, destructive battle was also the beginning of a special relationship between our two nations. At a time when much of the Australian military was in the Middle East and in Europe, defending allied interests, U.S. forces came here to defend Australia. We joined together then to protect our national security, but also to protect regional stability and to build a global system based on peace and prosperity.
We join together today for much the same purpose. I believe there will be a great continuity in our cause, forged out of the bones of our grandfathers and the blood of our children as we move forward into this millennium.
Why not send an email to The Age pointing out Alison Broinowski’s abuse of their op-ed pages?
Considering Steve Waugh’s charity work with Indian victims of leprosy, the Sydney Morning Herald might have come up with a more sensitive headline.
Presenting The Amazing Margo -- half human being, half Indymedia conspiracy squirrel:
Howard is getting away with it, in large part, because media supremo Rupert Murdoch has positioned his papers as government propagandists - by commission and omission.
Speaking of such things, Margo committed this on Sunday, and so far has omitted any explanation:
The frontrunner Democratic candidate for president, General Wesley Clark, revealed last week that he refused requests from the Bush administration to publicly link Iraq with S11 within days of the attack on the World Trade Centre because there was no evidence of a link.
No, no, no. In August Clark wrote to The New York Times:
"I would like to correct any possible misunderstanding of my remarks on 'Meet the Press' quoted in Paul Krugman's July 15 column, about 'people around the White House' seeking to link Sept. 11 to Saddam Hussein’.
"I received a call from a Middle East think tank outside the country, asking me to link 9/11 to Saddam Hussein. No one from the White House asked me to link Saddam Hussein to Sept. 11.”
That letter was published more than a month ago. Let's see how long it takes for Margo to wake up.
UPDATE. Corrected. Took three days.
Three new books -- all written by French authors, and published in France -- claim that France is on the way out:
The biggest splash is being made by La France Qui Tombe (Collapsing France) by Nicolas Baverez, an historian and economist.
Hostages to tyrannical state sector unions, farmers, subsidised film-makers and other interest groups, successive governments have squandered national wealth and heritage to maintain a protectionist, Soviet-style state, he says.
He also draws unfavourable comparisons with Britain, the favourite destination for French emigrants in the past decade. British per capita income has overtaken that of France, where taxes are now much higher. Britons pay 45 per cent of their income to the state in taxes, compared with ...
Wait for it:
... 75 per cent for the French.
Comedian Kathy Kinney entertains the troops in Baghdad:
"I know that you've been here for a long time. But the longer you're here, the closer the Olsen Twins get to being 18 years old."
Some nice lines in there from Drew Carey, too.
Tariq Ali on Edward Said:
With Said's death, the Palestinian nation has lost its most articulate voice.
And its best outfielder.
• The wit and wisdom and waffling and weirdness of Wesley “Help, Mary!” Clark.
• Via Simon World, this astounding story of corporate deceit. A must-read.
• Harry’s Place points out the wolfish, predatory behaviour of US troops in Iraq. Shameful.
• Bernard Slattery forecasts fun times ahead now that Amanda Vanstone is running Australia’s famous immigrant childcare facilities.
• Gary Sauer-Thompson presents an artistic memorial to Rockchucker Ed. Little Green Footballs has some excellent Palestinian artwork, too. And here’s the Professor’s say on Said. (Incidentally, Said was born in 1935, the same year as Jerry Lee Lewis, whose birthday it is today. Doesn’t sound like a happy birthday, however.)
• Also at LGF: all the thrills of the massively-attended anti-everything demonstration in London, including adorable little children aboard tanks seemingly camouflaged for conflict against the Wiggles. Dorothy is on the run.
• Crowrocker Ken Layne has sexed up his site, as the saying goes. T-shirts in two weeks!
• Caz confronts a mobile Mountain O’ Snoopies.
• This is the sort of thing that made me murder all those people in the early ‘80s.
• And finally, Lileks:
Gnat has an imaginary friend now. Name of “Sally.”
“Are you sure it’s not a demon?” I asked my wife.
Mark Steyn is running a California Recall Competition. Excitement! Prizes! Chicks!
Things got so bad in Italy that the trains didn’t even run on time. But there’s a silver lining to this powerless cloud:
Some Italians have worried that new power plants could damage the environment — a position that has slowed new plant construction. Also, national demand has shot up in recent years, prompting energy officials to warn of possible blackouts.
"I would like my fellow citizens to know that we must build new plants and networks on our territory or the situation will remain the same," Enel chief Scaroni said.
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi urged that "we must not slow down the construction of new power plants."
Si.
Richard Butler is looking kinda toasted.
Especially when you add this to the flames.
Hostile reaction to last week’s column for The Australian continues to build:
Just in response to Tim Blair's preposterous and partisan attack on rugby league: when will these AFL types stop bleating about and attacking league, a game enjoyed by millions of Australians?
As for his thesis that league is propped up and that AFL gets by on money from crowds – well that's just nonsense and untrue. The AFL wouldn't be operating today if it wasn't for the millions it earns from TV rights.
It must have really cut him up, by the way, to know that the league outrated the Swans on telly by hundreds of thousands of viewers. NSW and Queensland are league (and union) states and that's not going to change.
An AFL tragic like Blair attacking league has all the surprise and legitimacy of an attack on the unions by Tony Abbott. When will these AFL people be happy? Let other people enjoy their codes. The nationalisation of football codes smacks of homogeneity and as a Queenslander who loves the passion and tradition of rugby league I say vive la difference.
P.S. Brown
Wilston, QldLike many Victorians, Tim Blair mistakenly associates higher crowd figures with an overall superiority of his code compared to rugby league. In reality, Australian rules football is a game with soaring kicks, a lot of manoeuvring of players well away from the ball, and rapid shifts in the position of play. All of these factors make it a game which is best appreciated by live attendance, and television cannot do it justice.
League on the other hand has most play centred on the ruck area, and the skills are difficult to appreciate from a distance, so this game is more suited to viewing on television, rather than from the grandstands.
This may explain the differences in attendance, but as for watching either game, I'd rather walk around a restaurant with a Campari and soda.
Geoffrey McCowage
Annandale, NSWTim Blair talks a lot of sense in his article about the NRL clubs and poker machines. NRL clubs are living beyond their means by paying players more than they are worth. If the crowds are turning up by all means pay them well but it's just crazy relying on poker machines for revenue.
Blair then claims that the AFL "is the largest, most successful football code in Australia". I cannot agree with him.
Despite the big crowds for the two recent AFL games at Stadium Australia (where the AFL conceded many turning up were first timers), AFL doesn't hold much interest for Sydney-siders. I think the Swans average about 20,000 people for SCG home games, not many considering it's the only AFL team in this city.
There's no doubting the AFL is successful – you'd be wrong in suggesting it is the most successful.
Chris Jack
Dee Why, NSWYawn. Tim Blair trying to hype the AFL. Sydney isn't listening (apart from a few yuppies who trudge along to watch the Swans if they win a few games). This town's got a league grand final to look forward to and than a rugby World Cup to host. The AFL is irrelevant.
Richard Wright
Sydney, NSW
Speaking of the league grand final, my local team is in it again. Go Roosters! Don’t be boring!
UPDATE. The Grand Final was Australia’s most-watched sporting event of the year.
A journalist friend currently in Iraq writes:
We were sitting around last night and worked out that:
• War journos in the ‘60s and ‘70s had South East Asia, which was full of babes, great food, and great adventure.
• The ‘80s were all about Central America, a place full of babes, good food and some adventure.
• The ‘90s had the Balkans which has some babes, bad food and not much adventure.
• But we're left with the Middle East, which has women you can't look at, awful food (with a few exceptions) and not enough adventure. Oh well.
I blame George W. Bush. I don’t know why, but it seems to be the thing to do, usually.
Defeated by the G’Day/G’day conundrum, Margo Kingston now opts for an all-caps alternative:
G 'DAY. I quit smoking last week, after a 26-year heavy habit. It's a job best done alone, so there's no-one to cop the blame for the shakes, the headaches and the depression while your body works out how to live without the prop that's killing it.
Send your cartons of cigarettes to Margo care of The Sydney Morning Herald, 201 Sussex St, Sydney NSW 2000.
Maybe that explains my confusion when I read George Bush's speech to the United Nations on why, after he spurned the UN as irrelevant and invaded Iraq without its sanction and against the majority of world and expert opinion, the world had to give him troops and money to win his war.
Does anything explain Margo’s confusion?
For a shocked moment, I thought he was admitting he was wrong to wage a war of aggression against a country which posed no threat to it, because this turned Americans into the gangsters we want to defeat and pre-emptive wars make the world a more frightening, threatening place for us all.
Except for Iraqis who were previously frightened and threatened by Saddam Hussein. But who cares about them?
John Howard is the prop that's killing us.
The Prime Minister is a deadly tarlike carcinogen? But only a couple of weeks ago Margo was angrily refuting claims that she’d ever labelled the Prime Minister a “mass murderer”.
I'll never forget what the father of the US Senate, Robert Byrd, said on the eve of war. I cry every time I read it.
Reader of Margo’s Webdiary can relate. She seems easily able to forget Byrd’s Klan past, however.
Maybe tough old General Wesley Clark, who opposed the Iraq war and is standing as a Democratic candidate for the US presidency, will help Americans recapture the vision.
Yes, Margo. A vision like this:
”And I'm very glad we've got the great team in office, men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice ... people I know very well - our president George W. Bush. We need them there.”
Nicotine-deprived Margo just can’t keep up. Here’s her latest:
The frontrunner Democratic candidate for president, General Wesley Clark, revealed last week that he refused requests from the Bush administration to publicly link Iraq with S11 within days of the attack on the World Trade Centre because there was no evidence of a link.
This is an extraordinary statement from a paid journalist. Clark “revealed” this claim on June 15 last year. He’s since altered his alleged source, as George Will chronicles:
July 1: “A fellow in Canada who is part of a Middle Eastern think tank ... I'm not going to go into those sources. ... People told me things in confidence that I don't have any right to betray.”
July 18: “No one from the White House asked me to link Saddam Hussein to Sept. 11.”
August 25: It came from “a Middle East think tank in Canada, the man who's the brother of a very close friend of mine in Belgium. He's very well connected to Israeli intelligence ... I haven't changed my position. There's no waffling on it. It's just as clear as could be.”
But not clear enough for Margo, who doesn’t even have the excuse that smoke got in her eyes.
Have you donated to the Chief Wiggles Toys for Iraq appeal yet? No? Then maybe this link essay will inspire you.
Several PayPal donations have arrived at this site earmarked for the appeal, so I’ll be shopping this week for a cricket bat, a bunch of tennis balls to smack around, and an Australian Rules football to kick like it was Uday’s groin. Those speedy little Iraqi kids look like they’d make useful wingers.
The de-brutalising of Iraq continues, as Bernard B. Kerik writes:
Iraq is now a different country. The rebuilding of the infrastructure has begun and the streets are full of life, with bustling markets and shops. But reconstruction isn't just about bricks and mortar:Iraq's civic structures were in tatters, too, especially its Baathist police force, an organization that had, in any case, no credibility with the Iraqi people. My job was to assist in setting up this force again, with proper training, new values, a respect for human rights. The latter phrase -- "human rights" -- has been absent from Iraq's vocabulary for decades. Certainly, no one has heard it uttered, until now, within the four walls of a police station. The magnitude of our task can be measured from the fact that we had to teach cops that when you pull a man suspected of a crime into the station, you can't just hang him upside-down and beat him with an iron bar.
I’ll never understand why the “Free Mumia” crowd never embraced the chance to free a whole country.
According to Der Spiegel, the blackout in the USA proves the weakness of the American nation. But the blackout in Italy proves the weakness of two major power lines. David Kaspar has the story.
Someone oughta tell Oliver Stone: “Ollie, pal, the World Tard Record is yours. You’ve got a lock on it, baby! You don’t have to keep trying so hard!”
Stone asks Castro about elections, freedom and human rights in Cuba - questions that have become intensely relevant with renewed international condemnation last week. Castro has well-rehearsed answers and disappointingly, Stone doesn't push him.
"There's something El Greco-like about him," says Stone. "Don Quixote comes to mind. And he's tilting at windmills in the same way as Don Quixote, because after 40 years, he is isolated, he hasn't changed his position. But he has to stay firm to his revolution.
"He makes the point that if you sell out to the US one quarter inch, you lose, because that's where they get in. Once they put the first McDonald's, they keep coming."
A mention of McDonald’s is Godwin’s Law in burger form. Keep on truckin’, Ollie:
Since September 11 2001, Stone has found himself embattled at home. He was one of the few high-profile Americans who publicly questioned why the attacks happened. ("I made the point that I thought it was a rebellion against globalisation, against the American way, and Christopher Hitchens called me a moral and intellectual idiot.")
Not a difficult call to make. A Saudi based in Afghanistan who owns Russian weaponry sends a team including United Arab Emirates nationals, a Lebanese, and an Egyptian with links to Germany and Spain to crash jets into the World Trade Center, and this is a rebellion against globalisation?
Gawker, Winds of Change, and UberSportingPundit make the Sydney Morning Herald’s list of the world’s best blogs. Congrats!
So you’re a bright young conservative at university. What should you do? Keep your mouth shut:
The most common advice conservative students get is to keep their views in the closet. Will Inboden was working on a master's degree in U.S. history at Yale when a liberal professor pulled him aside after class and said: "You're one of the best students I've got, and you could have an outstanding career. But I have to caution you: hiring committees are loath to hire political conservatives. You've got to be really quiet."
Thus is dissent stifled.
UPDATE. Some people aren’t keeping quiet. They have since been silenced.
This is unbelievably sad, but illustrative of dangers not limited to war zones:
An Army reservist home on leave was struck and killed as she walked along Highway 69 early Friday morning.
Police have not released the victim's name. They did tell KMBC that she was home on leave from Iraq for her brother's wedding.
Imagine how the brother must feel.
Today’s US Grand Prix could deliver Michael Schumacher’s sixth world Formula One title. Contrary to this report in The Daily Telegraph, it is possible for the German to claim the title with a second-place finish, so long as Kimi Raikkonen finishes no higher than fourth and Juan Pablo Montoya no higher than eighth. If Schumacher wins at Indy, he'll take the title if Raikkonen is third or lower, and Montoya is no better than sixth.
After qualifying, however, those results seem unlikely. Raikkonen is on pole and Montoya is fourth, with Schumacher way down in seventh. If they finish in those positions (they won’t) Raikkonen will carry a one-point lead into the final round at Suzuka, ahead of Montoya and Schumacher tied on 84 points.
The qualifying data from Indianapolis is intriguing. Montoya and BMW-Williams teammate Ralf Schumacher were the only two drivers to top 350 kmh (217 mph) on the long Indy straight yet were beaten for overall lap speed by Raikkonen (10 kmh slower on the straight), Rubens Barrichello (5 kmh slower) and Olivier Panis (16 kmh slower). This points to Williams using shallow wing angles, which might influence tyre wear during the race.
Of course, it also indicates the BMW engine’s enormous power, something in excess of 900 bhp. Racefax has further details:
Also revealed is that the engine now revs as high as 19,200 rpm -- that's 320 crankshaft rotations and 160 spark plug firings per second -- but is held to 19,000 during races. The engine idles, if that's the term for it, at 4,000 rpm.
Power is a function of how much fuel and air can be usefully passed through an engine in a given period of time, and the BMW P83 inhales nearly two cubic feet of air per second (0.554 cubic meter).
Maximum piston acceleration is 10,000 g's, and the peak piston speed is 131 feet per second. Consider that the collective mass of the piston, pin, connecting rod and crankshaft journal are not only accelerated at that rate and to that speed, but have to come to a complete, if momentary stop 640 times a second, when the piston reaches the top and bottom of its travel through the cylinder.
All this from an engine weighing less than 200 pounds/90 kilos, and displacing three liters, or 183 cubic inches. For those who remember the '60s, that's the equivalent of five cylinders in the venerable 283-inch Chevy small-block V8, which in its original form had a maximum engine speed little higher than the BMW's idle.
And produced about 700 fewer horsepower. Still, those small-blocks always sounded so cool.
What the hell? After blackouts in New York, London, Sydney, and Memphis, now Italy has a complete power failure.
Those evil Segways are losing power, too.
It makes sense to Reuters:
Palestinians regard Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as major obstacles to peace and have regularly attacked them.
Brilliant. David Kaspar has more on the evasions of the newsagencies.
(Via reader Yoseph Malkin.)
Julie Flint in the English-language Lebanese Daily Star states that which cannot be stated often enough:
It is worth stating the obvious, so momentous is it: For the first time in almost half a century, Iraq has no executions, no political prisoners, no torture and no limits on freedom of expression. Having a satellite dish no longer means going to jail or being executed. There are over 167 newspapers and magazines that need no police permit and suffer no censorship, over 70 political parties and dozens of NGOs. Old professional associations have held elections and new associations have sprung up. People can demonstrate freely -- and do.
They’re doing better in Iraq than some in the west:
Organizers of the great anti-war demonstrations in Britain confiscated banners saying “Freedom for Iraq”.
Paul Sheehan on Australia and the US:
Beyond the US, there are 188 sovereign nations (give or take a microstate or two) and only one of them has fought beside it in every one of the major international wars the Americans have waged over the past 100 years.
Australia.
In the US's seven wars of the past century (not counting numerous and sometimes bloody military actions in Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Bosnia, Guatemala and elsewhere) - World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Afghanistan war, and the Iraq war - only Australia fought in all seven wars, and every one of them was fought far from Australia's shores.
Why would a nation so far from harm be so willing to fight? Two basic reasons. Australia is an altruistic nation. It stands for something. With allies, it is willing to fight expansive tyrannies. As for the other reason, when Howard committed Australia to the American cause in Iraq, he did so for the same reason five of his predecessors went to war: the need to be aligned with a superpower that can stop an invasion from Asia, and did stop an invasion from Asia.
There's lots more. Read the whole thing. And here's another Australian admired in the US -- for all the wrong reasons.
Congratulations to Brisbane, the finest team of the modern era.
Latest Grand Final updates:
Mick Malthouse has never seen snow.
David Williamson is a traitor who wishes he wasn’t.
Nigel Lappin might be suffering worse injuries than previously thought:
I spoke to somebody who works in the AFL staff and they said they were down at ground level and Lappin was coughing blood when he came off the ground.
Mick Malthouse possesses a certain feline quality:
"He and Leigh are both as hard as cats’ heads but they’ve changed their methods, too, over the years. It appears Mick’s more statesmanlike these days. He won’t like me saying this, but he seems as much a father-figure to those boys as a coach."
And a bus from Queensland was invaded by a Collingwood boy:
Hardcore Collingwood fan Scott Ingram ran the gauntlet by joining 23 Lions followers on a 24-hour bus ride to the Grand Final at the MCG.
The 26-year-old began the journey by brazenly singing Good Old Collingwood Forever to a chorus of jeers.
"He should be put off the bus and made to walk," one Lions fan said.
This year's trip suffered a major setback when it was found that no one had brought videotapes of past Lions victories to watch on the bus TV.
The Magpie intruder offered to play what he claimed was a director's cut of last year's Grand Final with a "new ending". No one was amused.
That’s all from me until the Grand Final ends. Pray for my black and white soul.
Regarding yesterday’s column, Mark Latham writes:
Tim Blair has shown his ignorance of Australian sport by asking: "how does one become Latham's sort of fella without betting on the races?" - a reference to John Singleton (Opinion, 26/9).
Blair needs to get his backside trackside. Singleton is best known as a racehorse owner, including the Group One winners Ha Ha, Sunday Joy and Belle de Jour.
I don't know about Singleton's gambling habits. What I do know is that every time he wins the Golden Slipper his acts of generosity at Rosehill are legendary. That's my sort of fella.
Unlike Tim Blair, who is always looking down his nose at working class pastimes like rugby league, the track and club-life. The Australian should not allow people to write about sport unless they know something about it.
Always looking down my nose at working class pastimes, am I? That’ll be news to anybody I know, or who reads this site. Latham’s defence of a millionaire mule owner reveals the disconnect between his tribal ALP fantasy and the reality of his cosying-up to wealthy, protected working class poseurs. Happy to debate this anytime, Mark.
Someone wrote to one of the papers recently suggesting this ... and now it’s happening. Free sheep for Iraq!
Australian livestock exporters will buy back the 53,000 sheep adrift in the Persian Gulf and give them to Iraq for slaughter at Ramadan, under a secret deal the Australian Government is brokering.
By the way, what is Ron Tandberg on about? Another slaughter?
Why do they hate us?
Football loyalties rarely invoke shades of grey and now it's there in black and white: Collingwood is the most hated team in Australia.
Very hated. 0ne-in-three Australians despise the Magpies more than any other football team in the nation, according to a NEWS.com.au poll.
Of the 5000-odd respondents, more than 30 per cent nominated this year's Melbourne grand finalists as the side they disliked most in football.
UPDATE. Even artificial intelligence conversation robots hate us:
User: Will Collingwood win tomorrow?
Jabberwacky: I will smash you like the bug you are.
My take on the current NSW clubs-taxation-NRL debacle. In The Australian.
Incidentally, the average NRL game this year attracted about 14,500 people. Collingwood had a greater attendance at its final training session, which was broadcast live on Fox TV and Melbourne’s ABC radio.
For the love of God, does anybody know of a bar in Oxford, England, where a man might view the AFL Grand Final? A former Brit, now an Australian citizen but currently slumming it in his country of origin, writes:
Would you believe it, just as your strangely beautiful game begins to capture my imagination, I can't find anywhere to watch the fucking Grand Final in Oxford. Doesn't Australia produce Rhodes scholars any more?
Unless a suitable venue is located he will suspend himself above the Thames in a perspex box like other distressed AFL fans. Please assist. While we’re on the subject of suspensions, here’s Patrick Smith on the Rocca penalty:
Rocca will miss perhaps his last chance to be a premiership player, not because he was malicious but because for a blip he was reckless. That is the fault of Rocca and not of the system.
He’s right. As soon as the incident was replayed I knew Rocca would get two weeks.
We’ll still win.
Sometimes -- well, all the time -- I’m inclined to agree with people who claim Australia has at least one too many tiers of government:
A plan by the inhabitants of Spike Milligan's Australian home town to walk backwards in his honour has been quashed by the local council on safety grounds, the organisers said.
In a turn of events that would no doubt have appealed to Milligan's sense of the absurd, festival officials have been told to change their plans by the local authorities, who fear that any injuries could land them with a hefty claim for compensation.
The organisers have come up with a compromise - festival-goers will walk normally but wear their clothes back to front, with face masks on the back of their heads.
But what if the masks cause breathing problems? Or the back-to-front clothing leads to permanent disorientation? The compensation claims for psychotropic medication will be gigantic.
(Via Simon A.)
David Steven has produced an analysis of the BBC reporters’ log during the war in Iraq. Among his findings:
* 76% of all posts that were sceptical of claims made about progress by either side raised doubts about Coalition progress.
* 58% of reports on Coalition progress focused on setbacks, which were also reported in greater details than the 42% of posts that dealt with Coalition successes.
* 60% of posts that analysed Iraqi strategy were positive and 40% negative, 69% of all posts that focused on Coalition strategy were critical and 31% positive.
* BBC reporters seemed much more sceptical about Coalition claims than they were about what the Iraqis were telling them.
A similar work is underway in Australia. Stay tuned.
Remember Amina Lawal, the Nigerian woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery? She’s been set free:
"It is the view of this court that the judgment of theUpper Sharia Court, Funtua, was very wrong and the appeal of Amina Lawal is hereby discharged and acquitted," judge Ibrahim Maiangwa said.
Now all that remains is for her to get the hell out before avenging Islamist gangs take matters to a “higher court”.
Roger L. Simon and reader Mike D. rate the Californian guberdebaters:
McClintock
Roger: Did well, but we will see if he extended his base. Was the most lucky not to have to answer questions on social issues.
Mike: Chief Running Third did well but not smoking. He'd sell like hotcakes in Nebraska or the antebellum South, but he's on the "drastically marked down" table here in California.
Cruz
Roger: As dull as ever. Sometimes you forget he's even there.
Mike: Barely held on, very rumpled looking and not too courteous to other debaters.
Camejo
Roger: An earnest socialist in an era when everyone knows socialism has been tried and failed hundreds of times. Touching, really.
Mike: Sounded more like a libertarian than a greenie, but was also way off message.
Arianna
Roger: One of the most bizarre human beings ever in American politics, the witch from the Wizard of Oz (and I don't mean Glenda!). Possibly a sociopath.
Mike: A national embarrassment. Disgraceful. She's insane and everyone knows it.
Arnold
Roger: Did okay, but spent too much time responding to the near sociopath above (did I say near?... How do you really feel about her, Roger?... Don't ask!)
Mike: Held his own, looked gubernatorial but did not kick butt.
UPDATE. And here’s another debate, over at The Independent. Your topic: The Soviet Union Was Good.
General Hugh Shelton’s criticism of Wesley Clark, a topic ’o the day throughout blogdom, has been noted by the NY Times:
A spokeswoman for the campaign, Kym Spell, said, "General Clark has served his country for 34 years and for General Shelton to make these comments came as a surprise and a huge disappointment."
I bet. It’s a surprise also that the NYT is among the first to run Shelton’s criticism. That paper could end up being quite influential one day.
UPDATE. The Boston Globe runs it, too. The weird thing about this is that the comments were made two whole weeks ago, and went unreported; in the 24 hours they’ve been in the public domain, they’ve caused a mini-firestorm. And here’s Deborah Orin in the NY Post:
Democratic Internet-land was frantic yesterday with e-mails zooming out a killer quote from Clark's ex-boss, respected former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Hugh Shelton, who sure isn't as crazy about him as Bill Clinton.
From (who else?) Reuters:
Israel Troops Kill Gaza Youth After Bush UN Speech
See, first Bush spoke, and then the kid was offed. Coincidence? Don't make me laugh! And Bush's speech? If you take every third word, replace the second vowel and fourth consonant in those words with the opening letters in Old Testament scripture that correspond to the flight numbers of the jets in 9/11 (starting with the largest number first, and working backwards), it spells out: "I AM ZOG. ALL DEATH TO ARIBS".
I guess he spelled "Arabs" wrong because he's not very bright.
(Spotted by hyperalert Zsa Zsa.)
• Via Tubagooba, the coolest thing ever seen on the internet -- an original 1966 Melbourne street directory. Draw lines between all the places I lived and it forms a pentangle, for some reason.
• Virginia Postrel asks a damn good question.
• He moved from New York to Sydney, from blogspot to blogspot pro, from blogspot pro to some other thing, and now James Morrow has moved again.
• Either Wesley Clark is lying or Michael Moore is. Brian Carnell reports, you decide.
• Scroll down a little for some old school Hamas stylin’.
• “I’m returnin’ that Noam Chomsky video you made me rent from you. I only watched like six minutes of it so I guess I should get like at least a partial refund.”
• Old Man Parker celebrates his 93rd birthday. “The umpiring life has been kind to me,” he reflects.
He’s the troll you can’t control! The dude who wants your food! The big buttmunch with his panties in a bunch ‘coz he’s kinda got a hunch that it’s all about lunch!
He’s Big Hawk (aka White Bread, aka Whatever, aka Labor Pimp, etc) and his strange lunch obsession has made him this site’s favourite comments entity. Hey -- only a few hours to go before lunch time! Let’s get in the mood with Big Hawk’s greatest food-related hits!
You truly excel yourself Tim. Where's lunch today.
When someone attacks Australia I'll fight, but I doubt Tim will. He'll be too busy pretending how important he is eating lunch.
... the reality is that Tim and his luncheon crowd are the real white trash of Australia ...
Be careful eating lunch now today, don't want you choking on a chicken bone do we ...
You send other people's sons and daughters to fight your wars and call anyone who doesn't agree with you a coward, a traitor or any other term of abuse you can come up with between your endless long lunches.
... he's got another long lunch to attend to today, where he and his fellow travelers can whine over another bottle of expensive wine ...
We need leadership out at the front in this great war against of civilization, not at the rear enjoying endless long lunches.
... your own club of admirers read this crap over lunch.
Just remember Tim, as you down another bottle of expensive wine - while someone's else son is on the frontline - that you are a chickenhawk and a hypocrite.
He’s also got a thing about expensive wine. Man, I’m hungry already! And thirsty!
Excellent Collingwood piece by Richard Hinds:
Collingwood's insular fanaticism is based on both their ancient and recent history. For the boot factory workers from the impoverished slums of Collingwood, football was an expression of pride and revenge. In latter days the club's spectacular finals failures have entrenched the feeling of victimisation.
Perhaps the sentiment that best describes Magpie supporters comes from 12-year-old fan Stephanie, who was asked on the website which opposition clubs she dislikes: "I hate them all because I am a true supporter and don't like other clubs," she replied.
Well said, Stephanie. Important news for readers in Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia, London, Toronto, Vancouver, Sachsenhausen, Guam, Paris, Hong Kong, Vientiane, Singapore, and Madrid: the Melbourne Age has compiled a useful list of places where you may gather to watch the AFL Grand Final. Be warned: some of these venues could serve alcohol. Exercise extreme caution.
It just goes from lame to lamer for Ben Butler. First my powerful nemesis lost interest in his stalker site, and now he’s been locked out of his workplace:
The editor of street magazine the Big Issue has been sacked and editorial staff locked out of their Melbourne offices.
Big Issue assistant editor Ben Butler said he and two colleagues - the remainder of the magazine's editorial staff - had been locked out of their offices.
"We've had no notice of an industrial dispute," Mr Butler said. "I'm still a bit flabbergasted."
At least he has his musical career to fall back on.
Jay Ambrose spots a minor flaw in Wesley Clark’s presidential plans:
Wesley Clark doesn't seem to have much of an idea of what he thinks about health care, jobs, education or any other domestic issue, and there's therefore a major question about his presidential candidacy. Why is he running?
Beats me. All I know is, at a time of international crisis, with manifold threats circling the globe like so many bloody-clawed jackals, what the US really needs is a President who knows when to yell: ”Mary, help!”
UPDATE. Reader KevinV in comments alerts us to a remarkable quote from Retired General H. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 9/11:
"What do you think of General Wesley Clark and would you support him as a presidential candidate," was the question put to him by moderator Dick Henning, assuming that all military men stood in support of each other. General Shelton took a drink of water and Henning said, "I noticed you took a drink on that one!"
"That question makes me wish it were vodka," said Shelton. "I've known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote."
Most of the news out of Iraq is bad news, which at least keeps the anti-US propaganda industry happy. It’ll be interesting to see how much coverage this new Gallup poll receives:
After five months of foreign military occupation and the ouster of Saddam Hussein, nearly two-thirds of Baghdad residents believe the removal of the Iraqi dictator has been worth the hardships they have endured, a new Gallup poll shows.
Despite the systemic collapse of government and civic institutions, a wave of looting and violence, and water and electricity shortages, 67 percent of 1,178 Iraqis told a Gallup survey team that within five years, their lives will be better than before the American and British invasion.
Only 8 percent of those queried said they believed that their lives would be worse as a result of the military campaign to remove Saddam and his Baath Party leadership from power.
Robert Fisk is a joyful blur as he races about tracking down those eight-per-centers. The Independent's go-to guy for jihad jizz is having the time of his life:
"I saw the Americans flying through the air, blasted upwards," an Iraqi mechanic with an oil lamp in his garage said - not, I thought, without some satisfaction. "The wounded Americans were on the road, shouting and screaming."
Even as I left the scene of the killings after dark, US army flares were dripping over the semi-desert plain 100 miles west of Baghdad while red tracer fire raced along the horizon behind the palm trees. It might have been a scene from a Vietnam movie, even an archive newsreel clip; for this is now tough, lethal guerrilla country for the Americans, a death-trap for them almost every day.
Fisk writes this not, I think, without some satisfaction. He’s an admirer of Iraqi street art, too:
I couldn't help noticing the graffiti on a wall in Fallujah. It was written in Arabic, in a careful, precise hand, by someone who had taken his time to produce a real threat.
"He who gives the slightest help to the Americans," the graffiti read, "is a traitor and a collaborator."
Bob’s in no danger, then.
(Thanks to Zsa Zsa for the Fisky link.)
UPDATE. U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), a Vietnam combat veteran, weighs in on the debate:
On Sept. 14, I flew from Baghdad to Kuwait with Sgt. Trevor A. Blumberg from Dearborn, Mich. He was in a body bag. He'd been ambushed and killed that afternoon. Sitting in the cargo bay of a C 130E, I found myself wondering whether the news media were somehow complicit in his death.
• An insect-eating mammal formerly believed extinct has turned up in Cuba. Incredibly, the creature is 96% literate.
• Scientists using scientific machines have captured an image of the seismic internet phenomenon known as the InstaLanche.
• Much beer has been stolen. Local Hamas operatives are not suspected.
• George W. Bush is a man of considerable taste: "After work, if I'm reviewing a speech or just want a little downtime, I'll have a ballgame in the background. Some people like to listen to opera - I like to have the ballgame.”
• The 5,000-year-old Warka Mask has been found by US investigators after having been looted in April. The mask, Iraq’s most cherished antiquity, celebrates the eight wickets taken by Australian medium pace bowler Max Warka in the final Test of the 1974/5 Ashes series. Still missing is the priceless Warka Book.
• Perverted and stoatlike French people annoy John Howard: "The French have been utterly opportunistic from the very beginning on this issue."
• They can’t defeat corn, so now protesters are trying to beat sheep.
• Deadly trouser snakes were apprehended Monday by Australian customs officials.
• And actress Toni Collette believes that the attractive and useful Mt. Whaleback iron-ore mine is disgusting.
Where was the US military when this orgy of looting was taking place?
The NSW corruption watchdog today recommended charges be laid against a former employee of the Australian Museum over the theft of more than 2000 rare artefacts.
In its report, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said Hank van Leeuwen, a former employee of the museum in Sydney, had stolen rare and scientific zoological specimens between 1997 and 2002.
The report describes as audacious some of van Leeuwen's activities - at times he used museum vehicles to remove specimens and displayed in his home a large stuffed lion that was a museum heritage item first exhibited in 1911.
The items stolen included skulls, skeletons, skins and complete animal specimens in alcohol.
That copy is a touch dry. Let’s Fisk it up a little:
Not since the Taliban embarked on their orgy of destruction against the Buddhas of Bamiyan and the statues in the museum of Kabul - perhaps not since the Second World War or earlier - have so many rare and scientific zoological specimens been wantonly and systematically stolen.
"This is what our own people did to their history," the man in the grey gown said as we flicked our torches yesterday across the piles of skulls, skeletons, skins and complete animal specimens in alcohol. "We need the American soldiers to guard what we have left. We need the Americans here. We need policemen." But all that the museum guard, Al, experienced yesterday was being a museum guard. "Look at this," he said, picking up a large stuffed lion that was a museum heritage item first exhibited in 1911. "This was Assyrian." The Assyrians ruled almost 2,000 years before John Howard.
Yes! Much better.
(Via reader Rob S.)
Michelle Grattan of the Melbourne Age puts in a late bid for craziest line of the year:
The MV Cormo Express has become the Tampa of the live sheep export trade.
According to the latest poll, Labor might win the next election if it replaces Simon Crean with any other carbon-based lifeform:
The Labor Party would be in an election-winning position if it dumped Simon Crean as leader, regardless of who took his job, new survey figures show.
The Herald-ACNielsen poll last weekend found 21 per cent of respondents would change their vote if Mr Crean were replaced. While not all would go to Labor, the net result would cut the Government's lead on primary votes from 11 points to four.
This must be the brilliant Crean strategy Margo mentioned the other day.
Mentioned in this week’s Continuing Crisis column for The Bulletin are the Big Merino, the Big Cow, the Big Cheese, Davina Jackson, Kath & Kim, Amanda Vanstone, the Big Lobster, Simon Crean, John Howard, Slim Dusty, the number 13, Bend it Like Beckham, Richard Butler, Saddam Hussein, and the Queen.
A late addition to my fixation with 13 and Collingwood: Leon Davis, who played on Saturday after not being selected since round 13, kicked the 13th goal of the match.
Could be that the war in Iraq just ain’t an election issue:
Almost 70 per cent of Australians believe John Howard misled them on his case for war in Iraq, a new poll shows.
However, about the same proportion still prefer him to Simon Crean as Prime Minister.
Significantly, the Herald/ACNielsen poll finds that two-thirds of those who felt deceived over the war believed Mr Howard had misled them unintentionally.
If the war isn’t an issue, well, better find something else to get freaky about, Labor puppies.
Michael Moore’s new book -- catching the zeitgeist of three whole years ago, it’s titled Dude, Where’s My Country? -- is due for release on October 7. What can readers expect?
When the powers-that-be succeeded in ignoring-and then silencing-the nation's widespread dissent over war, one man stood on an Oscar stage and, in front of a billion people ...
... was booed by them.
And now he's back — daring to ask the most urgent question of these perilous times:
”Can I have fries with that?”
Michael Moore is on a mission in his new book: Regime Change. The man who slithered into the White House on tracks greased by his daddy's oil buddies is one of many targets in Mike's blistering follow-up to his smash #1 hit Stupid White Men, the biggest-selling nonfiction book of the year.
He also topped the fiction charts.
Now no one is safe: corporate barons who have bilked millions out of their employees' lifetime savings, legislators who have stripped away our civil liberties in the name of "homeland security," and even that right-wing brother-in-law of yours (yes, we all have one) who manages, year after year, through his babbling idiocy, to ruin Thanksgiving dinner.
Michael has a vested interest in the ruination of dinners. Attack New York, send jets into the Pentagon, release anthrax ... all of that he can can cope with. But for the love of God don’t you bastards ruin his dinner!
Of course, his book will sell massively. Which is a good thing; after all, remember the awesome power of his anti-Republican Payback Tuesday rant. Thanks for the assist, porko.
Chief Wiggles is running a toy deal for Iraqi kids. I’m sending a cricket bat. If you’ve got anything small, fun, and toylike lying around the house -- a younger Minogue sister, perhaps -- package it up and mail it to:
Chief Wiggles
CPA-C2, Debriefer
APO AE 09335
John Pilger is going to destroy the entire military industrial complex with his fantastic scooping abilities:
Australian investigative journalist John Pilger says he has evidence the war against Iraq was based on a lie that could cost George W. Bush and Tony Blair their jobs and bring Prime Minister John Howard down with them.
Pilger uncovered video footage of [Colin] Powell in Cairo on February 24, 2001 saying, "He (Saddam Hussein) has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbours."
Some “uncovering”. This particular smoking gun is brought to you by the US State Department. Here’s the full quote:
We will always try to consult with our friends in the region so that they are not surprised and do everything we can to explain the purpose of our responses. We had a good discussion, the Foreign Minister and I and the President and I, had a good discussion about the nature of the sanctions--the fact that the sanctions exist-- not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein's ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction. We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they are directed toward that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was ten years ago when we began it. And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. So in effect, our policies have strengthened the security of the neighbors of Iraq, and these are policies that we are going to keep in place, but we are always willing to review them to make sure that they are being carried out in a way that does not affect the Iraqi people but does affect the Iraqi regime's ambitions and the ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and we had a good conversation on this issue.
The removal of Saddam may be considered a policy reviewed, thus ending forever Iraq’s destructive potential and liberating Iraqis into the bargain. Here’s a George W. Bush quote addressing the issue of imminent threat that you won’t find in Pilger’s comical television epic:
Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.
And now it’s not a problem.
UPDATE. Professor Bunyip has much more.
People say we Collingwood supporters are rancid of tongue and foul of temper. It’s just not right! To completely discredit this absurd myth, here’s a note from a Collingwood pal on the subject of Victorian premier Steve Bracks and his opposition to freelance economic initiatives:
the stupid little fuck has decided to show himself the socialist by trying to ban ticket scalping - at the behest of the fucking greatest scalpers of all - the AFL - so now if e-bay dares to let some punter sell their tickets for $400 they get prosecuted - but AXA and Telstra and CUB can flog you a fucking seat and some bain maree chicken in a tent for $1400.
Fuck.
Why cant the little cunt just admit he knows nothing about economics or markets and stay the fuck out of it? Blog him to death for me will ya? And let me know if there's any tickets about.
See? A fine, balanced missive, all loaded with nuance and stuff. By the way, I was prepared to go to $500 for a ticket, but that’s about $200 below current blackmarket levels -- if you can find anyone willing to sell, which I can’t.
Battle is joined as Greenpeace faces off against a boatload of genetically-modified maize! Who will win? Greenpeace has the numbers, but can a bunch of environmentalists outwit superintelligent cybermaize from the planet’s most evil secret laboratories? Following is a round-by-round account of the War of Veracruz from Greenpeace’s own weblog:
Early this morning we took action against a ship delivering an illegal shipment of genetically engineered maize to the Mexican port of Veracruz. Activists are currently on the anchor chain, preventing the offloading of the contaminated shipment. We put three inflatables in the water, and two activists climbed onto the anchor chain to prevent the ship from pulling up the anchor. The shipment has been stopped.
Round one is a big win for the Greenpeace kids! Take that, you evil maize! Now, on to round two:
The two activists chained to the anchor of the contaminated ship are in for the long haul. A boat from the Mexican navy is slowly circling, observing the action. The two activists, one from Argentina and one from Mexico, are set to stay where they are for quite a while.
This Greenpeace “dope-a-dope” strategy is causing all sorts of problems for hapless maize. Can the genetically-boosted supergrain recover? Round three will be crucial:
The ship Ikanu Altamira has turned around and headed back to the United States with its cargo of 40 000 tons of genetically engineered maize. We had sent a group to meet with the captain of the cargo ship, and videotaped him agreeing to leave Mexico with his cargo. He did not agree to sign an agreement. It was getting dark as the activists left their perch on the anchor chain. Greenpeace activists had spent twelve hours on the anchor chain, in two shifts. With the activists gone, the anchor was pulled up and the ship sailed out to sea. Three Greenpeace inflatables escorted the ship twelve miles offshore, out of Mexican waters and into international waters.
It’s a total victory for Greenpeace! Maize is vanquished! Let the celebrations begin!
After 24 hours of constant radio watch and 12 hours of action 40,000 tonnes of contaminated maize is on its way back to the USA. No violence, no arrests but a very calm and peaceful action. We even managed to get some smiles from the crew as they left the port of Veracruz with all the GE maize still on board. What a success not just for Greenpeace but for the people of Mexico. We did it for the campesinos. For the future of the children of Mexico. There is a wonderful feeling on board. Many people are tired after spending the day bobbing around in the boats or attached to the anchor chain. It is hard to unwind when your dream has just come true, but we have been playing some international football in the hold to get rid of any remaining energy.
But wait ... while the Greenpeacers are playing “international football”, maize has snuck up behind them with a sack of horseshoes! Watch out, brave heroes!
The ship that we had prevented from unloading 40 000 tons of genetically engineered maize at the Mexican port of Veracruz has returned, and is now unloading it's cargo. Unfortunately, we can't do all the work of the Mexican government, which is why we are taking them to court to make sure they do their job. I did not want to have to write this weblog entry. A few hours ago we heard a rumour that the ship Ikan Altamira had snuck back into the port of Veracruz to unload it's cargo. We had this story confirmed about an hour ago. Apparently, the less-than-honest captain had communicated with the port authorities and had received an escort into the port from the Mexican navy. They chose a route that we could not see from the Arctic Sunrise, and kept off the radio so we would not know that they were returning.
The winner: maize, by a brutal knockout. You can’t keep a good crop down.
(Via reader “bb”.)
UPDATE. Aieeee! It’s the Giant Sea Corn, come to kill us all!
Commie comedian Barry Crimmins has been giving this issue a great deal of thought:
Americans who drive SUV's for no legitimate reason should be made to put them to good use by converting them into hearses to transport the remains of the soldiers who have died in Iraq for our needless over-consumption of oil.
His list of “legitimate reasons” will soon be presented to the Central Committee for Approved Activities.
Congratulations to Jason Ross, who is singlehandedly responsible for The Daily Show’s best writing and best variety Emmys. Did you know that Jason, who is limbless following a childhood tractor accident, types all of his material with his nose? Well, he doesn’t. That’s just an internet rumour I’ve begun.
Gerard Henderson on Gilligan and the Professor:
Gilligan is an attack journalist par excellence. On this occasion, however, he has been caught in his own (friendly) fire. Yet he has damaged the Blair Government in the process. Many Brits (falsely) believe that they were deliberately lied to over Iraq's WMD. And few Brits know that the late David Kelly himself believed that Iraq possessed WMD and supported regime change in Baghdad. It's spin, BBC-style. But it does not do democracy or journalism any good.
Speaking of local columnists, I missed this on the weekend: Emma Tom is leaving The Australian.
Millionaire Phillip Adams recalls a discussion with millionaire Paul Keating in which the pair of millionaires tried to work out what had gone wrong with the Australian Labor Party:
Keating's response to the question was given in confidence, but it will hardly come as a surprise to his multitude of admirers - at least as numerous and enthusiastic as his detractors - that he's been appalled by the decline of his once great party.
Maybe it’s something to do with all the millionaires. Not a lot of Labor voters can relate, Phillip.
Mark Latham continues his slow march to the bullying left:
Poor people could be trained to save more if they gave up "wasteful spending" on cigarettes, alcohol and gambling, Labor's treasury spokesman, Mark Latham, said yesterday.
They could also save more if taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling were reduced. Help the poor people!
Hugh Mackay warned earlier this year of the dark and damaging neuroses lurking in Australian sport. What the hell would he know? Last night’s Brownlow Medal count delivered AFL's highest individual award to three of the least neurotic, most undamaged players in Australian Rules football: Sydney ruckman Adam Goodes, Adelaide hard man Mark Ricciuto, and Collingwood hero Nathan Buckley. Their speeches were brilliant:
Goodes: “I can’t believe I’m standing here with Nathan Buckley and Mark Ricciuto.” Believe it, Adam. Out of the three, he was possibly most deserving this year of a solo medal.
Ricciuto: “I don’t put myself in that category.” He was talking about players like Voss, McLeod, Buckley, and Wanganeen, all of whom he thought were more deserving. None are.
Buckley: “I’ve always been a big fan of [Ricciuto], and Adam Goodes epitomises everything in the modern game.” Damn straight. So does Buckley, whose victory champagne went unsipped (he plays in this weekend’s Grand Final) as he accepted his medal.
Check the ratings later this week for the Brownlow telecast. Expect big numbers, which might startle Sydney Morning Herald television writer Henry Everingham, who wrote: “This annual award is truly a most tortuously dull event ... This is bingo for the comatose.”
All who watched will disagree.
UPDATE. The ratings are in.
• James Lileks on cheese and warfare:
I’ve never understood why nations with great cheese don’t have better armies. Right now to my left I have a plate that contains six chunks of Stravecchoio Grana Padano, each wrapped in a gossamer-thin scarf of prosciutto. Any Italian worth his mettle would take one bite, contemplate the perfection this combination represents, and decide that his nation should - no, must muster the forces required to repulse anyone who would take such cheese from his countrymen. Cheese this fine would cause armies to cross the Alps to have it; surely they demand armies sufficient to protect it.
I mean, this is good cheese.
• The Wogblogger, a cheese fan, points to diet advice from Steve Irwin:
‘She wants chocolate. Mum's not lookin'. “Here. Have the whole bloody block.” And you know what? It works out. She's not a chubby little chocolate freak kid.’
• Margo's Curse -- she’s supported losers John Hewson, Kim Beazley, and Simon Crean in Australian politics -- appears to function internationally:
There's a bloke called Howard Dean who was considered a rank outsider in the US Democrats presidential race. He's the only Democrats contender who's been against the Iraqi war from the beginning, and through the internet he's garnered more money for his campaign than any other candidate. He's now a frontrunner!
• Blog elder Professor Bunyip spars with uppity upster Robert Corr.
• Alan Anderson has moved to a new address.
• Myself and the Professor stand accused of deception in the mysterious case of The Three-Cent Cheque. I can remember writing out the cheque, but perhaps my accountant stole the funds to finance a Brazilian holiday. Investigations continue.
• And Right Wing News has the latest poll results. Surprises aplenty!
An American speaks to Canadians:
American actor and activist Martin Sheen had kind words for Canada when he received an award for being a Christian role model, the Canadian Press reports. "Every time I cross this border I feel like I've left the land of lunatics," Sheen said Saturday, adding he was "proud" of Canada for not entering the Iraq war."You are not armed and dangerous. You do not shoot each other. I always feel a bit more human when I come here."
And Iranians speak to a Canadian:
Many of the people in the cabs in Tehran had the similar thoughts. "Tell George Bush to come and get rid of the mullahs for us." I was shocked by the openness of that statement. With one fellow I tried to discuss it with him in more detail to see if he really meant it or was just talking. I told him that if George Bush came and got rid of the Mullahs, it would not be to help the people of Iran; he would be coming for the oil. The fellow replied, "He can have the oil, its not doing us any good anyway and at least then we would be free."
UPDATE. Beets has more.
Chicago academic Robert A. Pape argues that suicide terrorism is nothing to do with Islamic fundamentalism:
I have spent a year compiling a database of every suicide bombing and attack around the globe from 1980 to 2001 — 188 in all. The data show that there is little connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, or any religion for that matter. In fact, the leading instigator of suicide attacks is the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, a Marxist-Leninist group whose members are from Hindu families but who are adamantly opposed to religion (they have have committed 75 of the 188 incidents).
But what about the suicide attacks committed by Islamic fundamentalists? Is it possible that suicide attacks committed by Islamic fundamentalists are evidence somehow of a link between Islamic fundamentalism and suicide attacks?
Rather, what nearly all suicide terrorist campaigns have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel liberal democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland.
Which leads us, eventually -- click on the above link for the whole mess -- to Pape's solution:
In the end, the best approach for the states under fire is probably to focus on their own domestic security while doing what they can to see that the least militant forces on the terrorists' side build a viable state on their own.
Well, it might work, so long as you can trust the sort of people who blow themselves up over real estate disputes to remain within the areas they “consider to be their homeland”. And so long as you can find non-militant terrorists with whom to negotiate. And so long as you have the gigantic military preparedness to deal with every aggrieved group on earth who would take this as a signal to launch their own suicide attacks over their own particular issues, having seen such tactics triumph in Israel, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Then:
Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has called for Tony Blair to resign if the Hutton inquiry concludes he was involved in naming David Kelly as the "mole" who spoke to BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan.
Now:
Andrew Gilligan is likely to lose his Today programme position as part of a wide-ranging BBC shakeup intended to defuse criticism of the corporation in the forthcoming Hutton report.
Typical American intolerance:
Religious symbols such as Islamic veils and headscarves for girls have no place in American schools, President George W. Bush said in a wide-ranging television interview.
"(Schools) should not be the place where people display their religious affiliations," Bush said during a two-hour appearance last night on the Fox News channel.
This anti-Muslim attitude will surely cause worldwide outrage.
UPDATE. OK, here’s a real Bush interview:
President Bush said yesterday he'll make no apologies to the United Nations for attacking Iraq without U.N. approval because "the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein.
"I do think it would be helpful to get the United Nations in to help write a constitution. I mean, they're good at that. Or, perhaps when an election starts, they'll oversee the election."
Via AAP:
A car has exploded in a car park near the United Nations headquarters in central Baghdad.
There have been no immediate reports on the cause of the explosion near the Canal Hotel.
Witnesses reporting for the Reuters news agency say at least one person has been killed in the blast, which came after attackers killed two American soldiers in a mortar attack and a third died from a roadside bomb blast.
UPDATE from the Wash Post:
"The bomber drove up and was engaged by an Iraqi security individual just before the checkpoint," a U.S. 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment spokesman, Capt. Sean Kirley, told reporters at the scene. That policeman was killed, although it was not clear whether he was shot or died in the explosion, he said.
Kirley said eight other Iraqi policemen were wounded. He said he didn't know whether any U.S. troops were near the scene at the time, but none was wounded.
By the way, yesterday was the UN’s International Day of Peace.
What’s that, Skip? A farmer is hurt? An emu farmer? He’s unconscious? Under a tree? Well,
