January 2005 Archives

The euphamism 'tired and emotional' is often used to describe a politician who's found to be pissed in Parliament. Now a new term, 'confused,' refers to when a pollie is handed an envelope full of cash by a property developer and doesn't realise it is a bribe.

The former mayor of Strathfield has told the the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that he agreed to accept a $200,000 bribe from a property developer because he did not know how else to handle the situation.

Alfred Tsang stood down as Strathfield mayor after a video surfaced in the media late last year showing him receiving a pile of $100 notes from Sydney property developer Michael Saklaoui.

Excerpts of the video have been played at the ICAC today, revealing that Mr Tsang also agreed to a $200,000 bribe from Mr Saklaoui in return for council approval on a Liverpool Road development.

Under cross examination, Mr Tsang said he was confused at the time of the offer and did not believe it was genuine.

He has told the inquiry he only agreed to the payment because he did not know how else to handle the situation.

[Sounds of grunting and flapping of wings could be heard in the courtroom!]

I wonder what it would have taken to make him twig it was a bribe? Title deeds to a south coast holiday home? Offers to pay his kids private school eduction fees? Keys to a new Mercedes?

I bet the ICAC commissioner was impressed by his explanation!

Here's a suggestion for Mr Tsang and all those other 'confused' pollies. Just hand the envelope back. Guaranteed to prevent further embarrassing questions and gaol terms.

In The Australian on Australia Day, a report of an opinion poll showing a drop in support for an Australian Republic.

Public support for a republic has crashed to its lowest level in five years, with less than half the population now backing the appointment of an independent head of state.

What the report didn't emphasise is that a majority of people, 46%, are in favour of an Australian republic, where only 35% were against. A whopping 19% were uncommitted.

In affluent but insecure times, and with a Prime Minister who shows no interest in changing the status quo, it's hardly surprising that the issue has waned. Royalist conservatives desperately want to think that the issue is dead, but in reality it wouldn't take much to build on the 46% support level if the subject was revived.

A determined government could see in a republic, but the process would need to be multi-staged and consultative. The case for change makes perfect sense. The difficulty is in the detail.

With the Liberal Party constituency voting solidly in favour of change at the 1999 referendum, it's not inconceivable that the push may eventually come from a conservative government. There are many committed Republicans within the current conservative government. I seem to remember one Malcolm Turnbull was a keen supporter, as was the Treasurer.

Realists, however, know that nothing is going to happen until Labor regains power. Then we can expect a Howard-less opposition to give the issue what it really needs.

Bipartisanship.

What... I feel I fail as I fall short, but all my own ego can call it is arrogance...

What arrogance then, as an 'artist', and it is with no idle quill that I parenthesize that word, whether practicing or no, and in this case no, to look down our faces at any one single entity who practices, or professes the desire to practice, simply because, for some reason or another, whether education, experience or exposure, we deem ourselves to be better. What right? No right, merely our insecurities, our own faults and failings, turning jealousy over to the self-righteous side of the cloth, then to call ourselves superior. Tucked away in our little nook we scribble our medium, ducking up at intervals to make sure no one's watching, we scramble for the trashcan when those who would love us come near. What right? No right, merely the opportunity to raise our voice to the throng, to sit at peace and humbly lift our gift up to the song.

Ahhh... that feels so much better. Thanks for the rant. Welcome back Tony, nice job on the fingers.

I'm sure those who have packed the kids and ancillary equipment in the car for a family beach holiday can picture this.

The car (a people mover) is packed, bikes mounted on the rack, kids (3) are strapped in. SWMBO is inside the house locking up. Start up the car with intent to move it out of the garage, notice the door ajar light is on. Check passenger doors; all closed. Track problem to the rear door.

Problem is, you can't open the rear door far because the bikes are in the way. The door needs a fair slam to close it properly. So, supporting self with left hand, lean between the car and bikes, open rear door as far as possible, close with all your might, jamming little and ring fingers of the left hand in the door.

Swear profusely!

Release door off fingers. Swear somemore!

We hadn't even left the house before having a major calamity!

The ring finger got off relatively lightly, but little finger was broken above the top joint. Nail root crushed. Repair work meant no swimming for five days. Bugger!

Could have been worse, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm back. Thanks to Mark for looking after the shop.

And finally, to wrap up our US, Iran and Israel circle for the time being, to be found at the BBC on the same day as The Post article, (January 22)

"Israeli soldiers have shot dead a Palestinian boy who was playing with a toy rifle, after apparently mistaking him for a gunman."

There are plenty of snide asides that could be made about this, linking it to Dick's permission for Israel to have a go at Iran, and when I conceived this series I was fully intending to do so. Now though, I just don't have the heart, not for sarcasm or pretty twisting of words. I'm paranoid, but I'm no cynic; I firmly believe that the world can be changed, and that I can be part of this change happening. And until I work out the best way to do it, the best way for me to make a positive impact, I guess I've just got to keep writing.

Continuing yesterday's post. When talking about the intelligence which has given impetus for the US 'and its allies' to believe that Iran is acting contrary to what they said they would on November 14 last year when they agreed to suspend their uranium enrichment program in exchange for incentives offered by European Nations, this is what The Post had to say:

"The White House and Pentagon say the report is "riddled with errors". But Mr Bush said on Monday that Washington would not rule out military action against Iran... if it was not more forthcoming about its nuclear program."

Sure, I can understand swallowing a war if we're led to believe that weapons of mass destruction can be launched within fifteen minutes, and the country in question's got a history of aggression towards its neighbours. But if this one happens, after that, I don't know, I just don't.

This is utter lunacy. Sheer and utter. The Washington Post reported on January 22 regarding Dick Cheney's statements on Iran, and a couple of passages leapt to my attention, such as;

"if the US and its allies fail to resolve the stand-off with Tehran diplomatically, Israel may take matters into its own hands,"

Words are made to be twisted, and I'm sure when Dick says 'may' he's talking about probability. To my paranoid mind though it sounds like the US is giving permission for Israel to go ahead and flex their airforce if and when they feel like it. Thanks Dick.

Sitting around the campfire last night, an American couple broke the latest news that they'd found down the smoke infested net cafe earlier in the afternoon. Evidently, Seymour Hersh has come up with another front page grabber. It seems that the US Government has begun making not-so-secret plans for an invasion of Iran. A more prestigious source, analysis and response than a hostel in the Czech Republic can be found here.

The feminine of the couple remarked, "If that happens, it'll be the end of the world! We won't be able to do anything!" She's a writing major, and they do tend to be a little melodramatic.

Doogie, my co-worker from Dallas, Texas, when informed of the proposed plans, remarked, "Well, we've got plenty of room for more stars, don't we?" I think he was joking.

Personally, I think that Junior, Johnny Rotten, and the rest of the 'Coalition of the Willing' will be biting off a whole lot more than they can chew with this one. We'll see.

By the way, have you noticed that if you take Junior's surname and split it in half, you get the first halves of two words which perfectly sum up the reasons given for invading Iraq?

Nice.

US Construction worker has a lucky break here:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Its-a-pretty-rare-injury

From the picture this little piggy wonders whether there was much in there to destroy before that happened, or whether this is the side effect of his injection...

I read in the Guardian, a year or so ago, about a sociologist who was doing research into indecision. His basic conclusion was that people these days had too many choices. I agree. How much easier if I had been apprenticed into carpentry at twelve - by now I would be making some pretty damn fine wardrobes. Instead I have the distraction of choosing between a job offer at my previous employment in London, or staying in the Czech Republic and seeing where the wind takes me. In a nutshell, it's guaranteed money and financial security versus chasing the dreams I've had since I was an ankle-biter. It's an easy decision in an ideal situation... but if the world was perfect, how bored would we be?

The chief pig is having a break so there may or (more likely) may not be any posts from me in the next week or so.

The sty's foreign correspondent may fill the void. We'll have to wait and see.

Bye for now.

A Liberal voting work colleague remarked to me yesterday that the electorate's misgivings regarding Mark Latham were right.

Although we usually partake in a lot of friendly political banter, I couldn't give a sensible reply to that comment. Sadly, he's probably right.

Latham's actions over the past fortnight were stupid beyond description.

If you think that he'll survive this latest Labor leadership fiasco, cast your mind forward to the first Federal Parliamentary session of 2005, with the Labor Party still headed by Mark Latham.

Imagine Peter Costello flying into Latham during question time about being supposedly too sick to comment on the Asian tsunami, while being spotted in the swimming pool at a NSW Central Coast resort.

The Labor party isn't going to get traction on any issue while he remains leader.

These thoughts will be in the minds of the parliamentary party as they ponder the year ahead.

Prediction: He'll be gone, one way or the other, by mid February.

If you're an Australian traveling abroad, and you get into trouble with local authorities, it's generally accepted you'll receive some assistance from the local diplomatic representatives. They will try to ensure that you obtain the benefit of protections afforded to the citizens of the country you are in.

Admittedly, those protections may be minimal, and in the end, you're on your own. But at least you'll get some advice and possibly some support to ensure the legal process is followed.

In the case of Terry Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, Australian citizens incarcerated by the US for three years without charge, there was little support offered by the Australian government's representatives in the US. In a country where locals have comprehensive rights before the law, the Australian government did nothing to ensure that these Australian citizens received similar rights from their captors.

By fair treatment, I mean being charged and tried, or released, within a reasonable period of time.

Now the US is releasing Habib.

Three years captive, no charges laid, and amid allegations of torture and mistreatment, and all the Attorney General, Philip Ruddock can say .....

..... the Government had consistently told the US to either bring charges against Mr Habib or release him. [Ruddock] said he was disappointed with the way the US had handled the case.

I doubt Ruddock (or his predecessors) ever expressed publically any support for the detainees.

At almost every opportunity, the Howard Government has been the accommodating US ally, happy to sacrifice the rights of Mr Habib and Mr Hicks.

And it looks like the harassment is not going to let up.

He [Ruddock] said Mr Habib would "remain a security interest - I don't intend to elaborate on that".

The Australian government's inaction in supporting the two Australians was disgraceful. They shouldn't compound this by harrassing Habib now that he's released.

The lie's finally been admitted.

You could say I was a little out of touch with things. Out of Australia for the last four years, I hadn't really paid too much attention to anything besides the Wallabies, Powderfinger and the sometime aggressive policing of our marine borders. Something's changed.

After last year's Federal Election I said, "one down, two to go," thinking that if Howard, Bush and Blair got re-elected then we'd have something to worry about. It was inconceivable to me that the populaces of Australia, the US and the UK would all re-elect leaders who had so obviously misled and lied to them, who had led them into wars which so many people, myself included, were against. I was wrong.

Being in a democracy is not supposed to be like supporting a football team: it's not where we sit back and watch while waving our flags on the sidelines; it's not where we let the success of our team dictate our mood, from week to week, from term to term; and it's not where between matches we chat with Hoo Hah and So-and-So about how we think our team's performing. It's not supposed to be like that. Feels a bit like it though, doesn't it.

Gonna have to get m'self a pig gun, uh huh.

Hi. Thanks for letting me come play.

Australia's trade deficit is getting bigger.

Australia's monthly trade deficit has blown out to nearly $2.7 billion, the second worst performance on record and well above economists' forecasts of $2.4 billion.

The figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the month of November showed an increase of $287 million from an upwardly revised October shortfall.

The final deficit for the month was $2.66 billion, a figure which has only been exceeded by the $2.76 billion shortfall registered in April 2003.

The value of imports is up 2 per cent to a record $15.5 billion.

When Paul Keating was treasurer, figures like these would have sent the dollar into a downward spiral. To protect the currency, interest rates would have been raised.

Now the markets just shrug, and it's business as usual.

How long can it be till the markets react and the government (or the Reserve Bank) is forced to reign in the economy?

It won't take much tightening to cause severe pain to many over indebted home owners.

I've often wondered if the current economic good times were built on anything more substantial than cheap credit, a housing boom and an artificial tariff barrier caused by a weak dollar. Now the dollar is stronger, exporting is more difficult, and imports are cheaper. Hence we spend more than we earn.

Howard's battlers would do well to reduce their debt quickly down to manageable levels.

How to get your case off to a bad start in one easy lesson. Just trivialise well publicised crimes. Works every time.

A lawyer for Charles Graner, the accused ringleader in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, has compared piling naked prisoners into pyramids to cheerleader shows and says leashing inmates was also acceptable prisoner control.

"Don't cheerleaders all over America form pyramids six to eight times a year. Is that torture?" Graner's lawyer, Guy Womack, said in opening arguments to the 10-member US military jury at the reservist sergeant's court-martial.

Graner and Private Lynndie England, with whom he fathered a child and who is also facing a court-martial, became the faces of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal after they appeared in photographs that showed degraded, naked prisoners.

And this ....

Mr Womack said using a tether was a valid method of controlling detainees, especially those who might be soiled with faeces.

"You're keeping control of them. A tether is a valid control to be used in corrections," he said.

"In Texas we'd lasso them and drag them out of there."

He compared the leash to parents who place tethers on their toddlers while walking in shopping malls.

What happened that caused them to be covered in shit in the first place?

I'm no lawyer, but surely this approach would antagonise the jury?

Apart from arguing that the methods were not illegal, Graner's defence is that he was following orders.

And that's the crux of it. If Graner and his cohorts were following orders, then it's their superiors who should be on trial, not them. Pity the defence council didn't solely concentrate on exploring that interesting possibility.

Is the US planning 'special forces' units in Iraq to take on insurgents? Tim Dunlop raised the possibility, linking some sites that discuss the issue. The possibility is depressing; using state sanctioned terrorism to fight terrorism. Where will it end?

I did a quick scout around the Australian media; the only reference I could find was buried in another article here about Secretary of State Powell's concerns about Iraq:

[Powell] also said he knew nothing about a reported Pentagon plan to set up elite "hit squads" to target militant leaders in Iraq, along the lines of the Reagan-era operations against leftist guerillas in Central America.

As if he'd tell us if he did! In a few days he's out of a job, and it's said he was never a favourite of the hard line inner sanctum. I'd like to think he wouldn't be comfortable with the idea. We'll have to wait for the memoirs.

Tim's piece is also worth reading because he's put together an Iraq time line, from before the invasion to the present. It's worth a read to remind yourself of the events.

To continue the bitchy mood I'm in, the question needs to be asked whether it was really necessary for John W Howard to go on national television last night?

Did he add anything that we didn't already know?

I'm not downgrading the magnificent contribution the his government has made to mitigating the tsunami disaster. It's just that contributions should be given while resisting the temptation to grandstand.

I suspect that the polition's instincts to reinforce the message of what a great job they're doing is coming to the fore.

A new blogger is moving into the sty.

Mark is my nephew and currently lives the the Czech Republic. He's been traveling and living overseas for some years.

Unlike the chief pig, Mark has natural writing skills and I'm sure will be a welcome addition to the Porcine Airport.

Driving to the airport tonight to put Twin Two on a plane to Queensland, I had the misfortune to listen to the fund raising concert being played live on the Sydney Opera House forecourt.

As happens with these things, there was too little music and too much gushing by a swag of minor celebs basking in the glory and good feelings of doing something useful for someone else. (For a change?)

Yes, I know. Bitchy, bitchy!!

It's not all bad, though. They're raising a bucketload of money.

Following in the footsteps of Chris Shiel, the Currency Lad has signed off from the blogging world so he can concentrate on writing a book.

I agree in essence with Rob Corr's opinion that "CL is the best writer of all the Australian RWDB bloggers." However, CL's blog was not a typical RWDB. (See here for an example of one.) CL was rare in the right wing blogging fraternity because his blog made a forceful and articulate (albeit, IMHO, sometimes misguided) contribution to the political debate, unlike most other RWDBs that simply consist of character assassination and rank snarkiness.

I wish him well on his writing project and hope that he makes a quick return to the Blogosphere.

In a surprise move, the US has dispanded the tsunami relief 'core group' of nations to allow the UN to run the relief effort.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday in Jakarta that the United Nations will take over coordination of the relief effort from a core group of nations.

The reason?

"The core group helped to catalyze the international response," Powell said, according to a prepared text released by the State Department.

"Having served its purpose, it will ... now fold itself into the broader coordination efforts of the United Nations."

Powell is stretching the truth when he says "The core group helped to catalyze the international response." The US was slow off the mark in realising the seriousness of the situation. Admittedly, they quickly caught up with events, but by the time they convened the 'core group' three days after the tsunami, many other countries and relief organisations had already swung into action.

One hopes that ceding the relief effort to the UN marks a new era of multilateral cooperation by the US.

More likely it means they saw the reality of the situation. The US has more than enough on its plate without taking on another major crisis.

Either way, they made the correct decision. The UN is more experienced and better placed to continue the task in the years after the politicians and the public have lost interest in the event.

Surfing around different blog sites, I've noticed that many bloggers are moving to Wordpress. I wasn't aware of WP when I started my blog; if I had known about it, I may have gone that way from the beginning.

Having forked out A$90 to MT for the privilege of getting support, I won't be moving anytime soon. The new version, 3.14, combined with MT Blacklist, has (for me) fixed the problem of comment spam.

I note that some WP users are having spam problems.

Also, I've invested too much effort in the templates to change now.

MT will force the change when it brings out a new version and wants more money for it, and / or if the new version requires extensive modification of the templates. I predict that will happen within 12 months.

Local Iraqis are not happy about the lack of polling booths for the upcoming elections. Families in Perth think Melbourne is a bit far to travel to vote.

Someone should tell the Iraqi electoral body about postal voting. If asked nicely, I'm sure the AEC would tell them how it's done.