My prediction made earlier in this blog that all three major leaders of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ – George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard – would lose office by the end of this year is looking good. I did not predict Spain’s Aznar’s fall (because I didn’t […] Continue Reading…

Yesterday’s decision by the newly elected Spanish Socialist government to withdraw its troops from Iraq might decrease the chances of another Al Qaeda (assuming it was Al Qaeda) attack on Spanish soil for the short term, but it has to increase the chances of an attack on other countries […] Continue Reading…

Over the weekend I watched a trio of war movies on TV. “The Battle of Britain” was about perhaps the most important battle of WWII, “Thirteen Days” was about how we avoided nuclear war in 1962, and “The war of the Worlds” was about a fictional war with invaders […] Continue Reading…

Today’s Spanish election result where the Socialist Party beat the right wing Popular Party will resonate in Australian politics. It is said that the result of the election turned on the government’s reaction to the terrorist bombing, and that therefore Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar paid the price […] Continue Reading…

This post was sent to me be one of our most frequent readers:
“THE day after Peter Beattie named the date for the recent Queensland State Election I told my clients in a written brief I expected he would be returned to office with about 60 seats, and that Opposition […] Continue Reading…

Liberal MHR for Ryan, Michael Johnson won an easy victory today by 328 votes to 68 over his only rival, Stephen Huang. This doesn’t really say much about Johnson. Stephen Huang was not the candidate to beat Johnson who won originally three years ago by stacking the […] Continue Reading…

To continue my theme about the end of old politics and the rise of corporatised mass culture as the new driver of western and increasingly global civilisation, the latest talking point is the new eco-catastrophe movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. The $100 billion Roland Emmerich (yes, the same boy […] Continue Reading…

In the only speech I’ve heard Latham give in person (before he was ALP leader), he compared Labor’s position with that of the ALP under Gough Whitlam before the 1972 election. He said that the ALP had to do what Whitlam did, and present a genuine alternative to the […] Continue Reading…

Gary Morgan complains with some justification that this week’s Newspoll figures and last week’s AC Neilsen ones showing Labor in the lead are not new news at all. His figures were showing it as early as December.
In my view Morgan has been unfairly criticized for being the […] Continue Reading…

A week ago Teresa Mullan media adviser to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs lost her job. My post of three days ago has the details. I’ve checked the Premier’s press releases and no direct reason is given for the sacking. The release on her sacking is […] Continue Reading…