Politics

And that’s saying a lot, considering the near-8 years of insidiously dreary, cobwebbed conservative Federal rule trampling my will to get out of bed in the morning. I realise I’m probably biased because the guy is my local member who grew up around Sydney’s lower/middle-class western suburbs like me (he also went to my high [...]

Continue Reading The day my interest and passion in politics was reinvested

John Howard won a fourth term based on a demeaning and deceptive campaign, former Liberal Party president John Valder said. Mr Valder, who backed the campaign of former intelligence analyst and Greens candidate Andrew Wilkie in Mr Howard’s Sydney seat of Bennelong, said he wanted the return of a Liberal government but without Mr Howard. [...]

Continue Reading Former Lib president criticises Howard

I’m up bright and early tomorrow morning to work as a polling officer at the Federal elections. It’s tedious, tiring work, and a long day, but I like it and the pay’s nothing to be sneezed at. I have to be realistic and predict a Coalition retain, with a resurgence of Greens Party popularity and [...]

Continue Reading Ah, me public…

Josie Appleton savages UK Home Secretary David Blunkett’s Criminal Justice Bill: Defendants’ rights matter in a civilised society, which has a particular view of the individual and the state – because we don’t know if the defendant did it; because he values his liberty; and because any of us could end up on the wrong [...]

Continue Reading Criminal Justice Bill

fDing Dong, the witch is dead Oh, happy day. Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been jailed for 3 years for electoral fraud. If you’re not familiar with her, and I sincerely hope you aren’t because I tried my best to ignore her moronic, xenophobic, right-wing ravings throughout the years and shuddered whenever I [...]

Continue Reading Former One Nation leader jailed for electoral fraud

Blair is getting seriously worried about opposition to the proposed EU constitution, if his reaction and the reaction of his government to the rising criticism is anything to go by. Let’s face it: he’s never going to convince enough people that a document publicly referred to as a ‘constitution’ has no constitutional implications for Britain. [...]

Continue Reading Opposition to the proposed EU constitution

NZ has voted (narrowly) to decriminalise prostitution. I’m all for it, though I baulk at the term “sex worker.” Isn’t it interesting how liberal instincts are scattered about across the political spectrum, from left to right, from economic liberalism to social liberalism? It just goes to show that you don’t need any Third Way nonsense [...]

Continue Reading Decriminalise prostitution

That was the exact reaction I had when I read the headline Britney Spears Weds Jason Alexander. Anyway, I’ve just been thinking about what an interesting little federal election system you Yanks seem to have. So, the big knobs in each respective party nominate themselves to run for President. They all tour the country (or [...]

Continue Reading Ever been simultaneously filled with horror and optimism?

John Howard returns from his whirlwind tour of the United States and eastern Europe tomorrow, the latter to participate in the pomp and ceremony of war remembrance which he so earnestly looks forward to (although it did provide the highlight of the last few months in which Howard, in his own inimitably disingenuous style, with [...]

Continue Reading United they stand…

Teachers warn of more strikes I’ve made my position quite clear about this before, namely that you can’t pay teachers enough in my opinion, and I hope the continuing strikes cause the arrogant and intransigent state MPs get really pissed off, along with the moronic parents who whine about the inconvenience of their personal child-minding [...]

Continue Reading Just warming up the guillotine…