Let us be unequivocal about this: the millions of people who marched against the war in Iraq were right. There probably never were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after Gulf War II, Iraq did not threaten the US or any other nation, and Saddam Hussein had no […] Continue Reading…

At last some real cricket again! I mean, what kind of game goes on uninterrupted for a whole working week without a result?
And what a great contest it was at the MCG last night. These are two well-matched sides (and Zimbabwe is just here to make up the numbers). […] Continue Reading…

This direct email (Word Doc 80 kb) from the Clark 04 Campaign came across my email intray today. It’s Madonna “rooting” (caution, US English language usage here) for General Wesley Clark, who is one of the front-runners in the Democratic Primaries.
This is not a gambit I’d recommend […] Continue Reading…

This is the same Michael Johnson who mounted a preselection challenge to the former member for this seat, John Moore, at the time when Moore was Defence Minister and overseeing the Army’s engagement in East Timor. As it turned out, Moore resigned before the preselection eventuated, forcing a byelection, but Johnson didn’t appear too worried about the effects of his endeavours on the Howard Government at the time.
[…] Continue Reading…

The Christmas road toll was one of the worst in years. I have commented before about how glibly we accept this price for automotive mobility, especially as it tends to kill and maim a disproportionate number of young people. Apparently the long-term trend is less bad accidents, due mainly […] Continue Reading…

On Line Opinion has just published an article by Mark Lawson querying estimates that said the world was about to imminently run out of oil. He didn’t dispute that it would run out some day, but he particularly instanced David Suzuki who claimed in an interview in the […] Continue Reading…

This article in today’s Australian tends to reinforce my view that the housing boom was starting to slow under its own weight without the need for an interest rate rise. Supply of investor stock apparently peaked in March last year.
Mind you it’s hard to get a straight […] Continue Reading…

If we were told that from now on all major decisions by our government had to be vetted and okayed by the US Congress there would be national uproar. After all, haven’t we fought in two world wars to maintain national sovereignty?
But our national sovereignty is draining away more […] Continue Reading…

Goodbye to Steve Waugh, and a nicely timed exit at that. Still near the top of his game, not keeping some deserving young batsman out of the team, and as canny a captain as ever. But his batting was going downhill, and he was right to go.
Steve Waugh embodied […] Continue Reading…

On my way into work every day I am confronted by a billboard. This morning it carried an ad, quite a clever one, from Castlemaine Perkins, the brewers of Fourex Beer. Ray Weekes, the Chair of the Brisbane Institute (one of our major sponsors), habitually describes […] Continue Reading…