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No Last Post for Nguyen

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Nero fiddles while Rome burns and Howard plays cricket while civilization as we know it dies. THE PM’s XI cricket match should be called off because it is to be played on the same day of Australian Nguyen Tuong Van’s scheduled execution, a Labor senator says. Senator George Campbell said today it was insensitive for Prime Minister John Howard to attend the match on Friday.
Australian Democrats senator Natasha Stott Despoja agreed, saying she felt sickened by the prospect that Mr Howard would attend the game on the same day that an Australian would be executed.
 If we needed any proof that Nguyen’s imminent death is being used as a political cosh to attack Howard then this is it. Ian Moore in an article in todays Australian says Don’t blame PM for other people’s sins;
The belief seems to be that their predicament is not the result of their own illegal behaviour; it is all the fault of the Prime Minister. This is not some fanciful notion; this charge has come from the families of those concerned, and from Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, no less. The problem is, they appear to believe it.
 Michell Leslie
“What has really shocked me is the amount of anger levelled at me, especially from the Prime Minister,”
 Her Father, Albert
…complained about the “un-Australian” treatment of his daughter and blamed Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for taking no interest in his family.
 My father, Leslie Albert, always said
Son, once you are an adult, you are responsible for your own actions
 I hope the PM enjoys his day at cricket. God knows he doesn’t get much free time and I will spend Friday doing whatever I have to do. I will pause, and I think the PM will as well, and feel sad about Nguyens fate but I will not afford him the honour of a minutes silence. That I reserve for Veterans who died honourably in the service of their country.
Politics

Liberals trounced in by-election

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THE NSW Liberals have been trounced in the by-election to replace former state opposition leader John Brogden, losing one of the party’s safest state seats to independent Alex McTaggart.
Commentators had anticipated a backlash against the Liberal Party for choosing as its candidate Paul Nicolaou, who did not live in the electorate, and the way the party had treated Mr Brodgen.
I could be wrong but it looks like a local issue to me but the ALP/ACTU will be not see it that way. You watch tomorrows headlines…..Howard in trouble and the people are sending Howard a message – they don’t like the IR laws There could be a bit in that but IR will be dead issue by the time the next election is called.
General Musings

Howard not doing what Glen Milne wants

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PRIME Minister John Howard has made a deliberate decision not to consider his retirement despite pressure within the Liberal Party to make a decision over Christmas. I would think it’s more of despite pressure from Glen Milne. Glen has a weekly column where he raises the hope that Howard will retire. He is continually quoting back-bench pressure, Costello’s supporters, informed sources and his interpretation of his reading of the tea leaves that says retirement imminent. I think it’s just wishful thinking on Milnes part.
General Musings, Politics

Decaf Coffee bad for you

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DECAFFEINATED coffee may raise the risk of cardiovascular disease more than regular coffee does, Atlanta investigators announced at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2005.
The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: noncoffee drinkers, coffee drinkers and decaf drinkers, who drank three to six cups a day for two months.At the end of the study period, Superko found no significant differences in fasting glucose or insulin (measures used to diagnosis diabetes), total cholesterol, HDL2 (the very good cholesterol) or triglycerides among the three groups. However, decaf coffee significantly increased free fatty acid levels, which in turn led to an increase in apolipoprotein B, which is associated with LDL cholesterol.
Decaf always amazed me as the reason I drank coffee was for the caffiene kick. If there is no caffiene kick then what’s the point of drinking it?. You might as well wear baby clothes and drink warm milk.
General Musings

Bali mourners were terror target

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JEMAAH Islamiah mastermind Azahari bin Husin was planning a suicide bomb attack on the memorial service held in Kuta last month for the 202 people who died in the Bali nightclub bombings three years ago.
Intelligence sources in Indonesia told The Australian the document, found on a computer disc carried by one of Azahari’s JI colleagues, detailed the plan to bomb the memorial service. It was abandoned only because of the high level of security at the service.
Australian and Indonesians agents have saved lives but certain Australians will still complain about the draconian anti-terror laws that impinge on our rights yet enable the agencies to protect us. Strange.
War on Terror

Police aren’t the problem…governments are!

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VICTORIAN police were too trigger-happy and poorly equipped to deal with the mentally ill, the corruption watchdog declared yesterday, calling for drug and alcohol testing and urgent retraining of officers after a spate of fatal shootings. What about calling for better facilities for the mentally ill. A succession of state governments with their wacko ideas of closing politically incorrect Mental Asylums have put the problems on the streets. General hospitals can’t and won’t handle the criminally or dangerously insane so it’s left to poor old Constable Plod to handle the problem. His only answer to civilians, himself or his partner being in mortal danger from a mentally insane citizen is bang bang..two rounds…instant counselling and treatment. Constable Plod is traumatized by being forced to kill to do his job and the politicians have the temerity to criticize him. Not good enough.
General Musings

Who’s winning?

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A good post on just who is winning the war in Iraq from Samizdata
When it comes to the future of Iraq, there is a deep disconnect between those who have firsthand knowledge of the situation — Iraqis and U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq — and those whose impressions are shaped by doomsday press coverage and the imperatives of domestic politics.
 Both Samizdata’s post and the links are worth reading.
War on Terror

Jovicic will stay in Serbia

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THE Federal Government has offered a Melbourne man deported to Serbia temporary housing and medical checks, but is standing by its decision not to allow him back in the country. The Left will go beserk over this one. Another case of some poor sweet innocent deported with claw marks on the tarmac. Of course it could also be a case of a drug addict with a record of armed robbery being deported but that doesn’t make the government look mean enough.
…. last year, the Government deported him on character grounds after he had been jailed for committing a string of burglaries to support his heroin habit.
 Sounds reasonable to me.
General Musings

Teckno baby pics

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Tom Cruise has made an unusual purchase for his fiancee Katie Holmes – one that will let them see the development of their baby. A Sonargram worth anything from $34 to $270K
The 43-year-old actor said the couple would do their own ultrasounds to look at their unborn baby.
I hope he has better luck than me. When the twins were due, sometime last century, my wife and I went to have a ultrasound test of the babies. “Look, see them?”, says the operator. “No!” “Can’t you see their hearts beating?” “No!” Disadvantaged, not being a sailor, I had never done a Sonar Interpretation course. All I could see was a whorl of grey lines. Pre-birth snaps are quiet popular these days and when I’m shown them I say what all other savvy husbands say; “How cute, a whorl of grey lines.”
General Musings

Afghan opium plan not feasible: drugs board

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An oversupply of opium used for medical purposes around the world means plans to use Afghanistan’s illicit crops for such purposes cannot get off the ground, the world’s independent drug monitoring body says.
The Senlis Council, a think tank specialising in drug policy, said on Monday that Western countries were wasting millions of dollars trying to stamp out the illegal opium trade in Afghanistan.
Millions? What’s wrong…have we run out of Napalm?
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