A rough week in parliament does not mean surrender

Whether it was the airline food, or thoughts about life on a kibbutz that affected Andrew Bolt on his return to Australia, I know not; but this tosh is not worthy of him:

Malcolm Turnbull has been destroyed after relying on explosive claims contained in a fake email sent to Godwin Grech, a Treasury official who has apparently been a long-time leaker to the Liberal Party.

'Destroyed'? I'm sorry - I thought Turnbull was still the Leader of the Opposition.

Malcolm Turnbull was on the receiving end of the blow-torch in parliament last week precisely because he confronted Rudd and Swan with some very serious issues, and they didn't like it. So they returned fire. Rudd was particularly incandescent - probably the first display of anger the public has seen from him. They should get used to it.

Turnbull finally put Rudd and that incompetent fool Swan under the microscope. My only question is: what took him so long?

Tony Abbott got it right when he said that people needed to take a cold shower over this Utegate matter - a cold shower which should extend to writers and journos intent on using hyperbolical language - unless they wish the general public to see them as favouring one side; or else desperately wanting someone to fall or to challenge for the leadership, simply to satisfy their relentless desire for the sport of politics, whatever the outcome.

***

Famous people who have died on the same day

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson join a most intriguing cohort of famous persons to have walked the 'golden staircase' together, reports Daily Press.com

***

The Climate Change change

The Wall Street Journal has discovered Steve Fielding - not to mention a growing number of climate change skeptics world-wide.

Steve Fielding recently asked the Obama administration to reassure him on the science of man-made global warming. When the administration proved unhelpful, Mr. Fielding decided to vote against climate-change legislation.

If you haven't heard of this politician, it's because he's a member of the Australian Senate. As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to pass a climate-change bill, the Australian Parliament is preparing to kill its own country's carbon-emissions scheme. Why? A growing number of Australian politicians, scientists and citizens once again doubt the science of human-caused global warming.

---

Credit for Australia's own era of renewed enlightenment goes to Dr. Ian Plimer, a well-known Australian geologist. Earlier this year he published "Heaven and Earth," a damning critique of the "evidence" underpinning man-made global warming. The book is already in its fifth printing. So compelling is it that Paul Sheehan, a noted Australian columnist -- and ardent global warming believer -- in April humbly pronounced it "an evidence-based attack on conformity and orthodoxy, including my own, and a reminder to respect informed dissent and beware of ideology subverting evidence." Australian polls have shown a sharp uptick in public skepticism; the press is back to questioning scientific dogma; blogs are having a field day.

What a heart-warming article. The truth will prevail - it will be a drawn-out affair; but it is starting.

Politican with spelling problems

I don't know what contribution parliamentary newbie Darren Cheeseman MP has made in Canberra so far, but, from the way he has filled in his Register of Members' Interests (pay particular attention to page 3, entry no. 6, 2nd line) then I don't expect much. 

I hope this is not the standard of literacy and penmanship of our elected officials, for if it is, then we should all be appalled.

Mr Cheeseman's RMI also indicates that he doesn't even live in his electorate. Tsk, tsk.

***

Steve Fielding is my new hero ... at least for the next 90 seconds

Good on Senator Steve Fielding for finally coming to the conclusion that global warming is a load of old horse poo.

***

Alas, poor Godwin

Amid all the tendentious reporting, together with the cacophonous displays of debauched boof-headedness by the knuckle-dragging Government front-benchers this week, the person I feel for most out of this whole Ute-gate affair is Treasury staffer (presumably soon-to-be ex-Treasury staffer), Godwin Grech.

When Mr Grech delivered his stunning testimony to a Senate committee hearing last Friday, ABC political editor Chris Uhlmann got it right when he said on the news that night, that whatever the outcome, Godwin Grech's life "will never be the same." Or words to that effect (I can't find a transcript).

I, and propably four score and ten others, look forward to hearing Mr Grech's version of events with great interest, because some of the very serious accusations being levelled at him (if we are to believe what a conscientious, diligent and kind man he is - and I've no reason not to) really do beggar belief.

***

No cause for any politician to fall on their ute - yet

I know it's a bit nippy in Canberra at the moment, but a cold shower wouldn't hurt a few people.

Calls for Malcolm Turnbull's resignation over 'utegate' are preposterous. You would have a better chance of seeing Rudd become secretary of the flight attendants' union.

The performance yesterday and today of the Labor Party in Question Time in the House of Representatives was petulant and diabolical. A disgrace.

Also a disgrace is how this matter has been reported. If you ever wanted evidence of how much love exists between the press in Australia and Kevin Rudd and his ALP cronies, then just have a look at the newspaper headlines today.

Have a look at the ABC's 7.30 Report from last night, too. If you missed it last night, I'm sure tonight's episode will essentially be a re-cap. UPDATE - It was.

It is times like this I really wish newspapers published according to a partisan political agenda, as happens in the UK. It is the only way the conservative side of an arguement will get an airing. 

There are conservative columnists here in Australia - not many, mind you - but they do exist. The problem is they are outnumbered, stifled and suffocated by the lefties on the newspapers they work for - newspapers which are all as red as the setting Pyongyang sun.

PETA enlists Guevara's granddaughter; animals all hide.

"It's a homage of sorts to her late grandfather," a PETA spokesman said. "It very much evokes the tag line of the ad, which is 'Join the vegetarian revolution'."

---

"We say the best way to save animals is not to eat them," a PETA spokesman said.

It gladdens my heart when I see stories involving high-profile people and organisations that are riddled with irony, as it often makes both the story and its subject appear utterly ridiculous.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has announced that Lydia Guevara, will be the face of PETA’s push for vegetarianism in South America.

That this loopy outfit should want to pay "homage" to her brazen, murderous, psychopathic, political extremist grandfather, is testimony that the organisation likes being outspoken - speaking its mind because it's got nothing to lose.

***

Is the end nigh for Kevin Rudd?

If this story plays out, it could well be.

UPDATE - 22/6/09 8:58pm

I don't know who or what to believe. This story has more twists than the Kings Highway.

I should have taken my own advice...

...here.

I am a bit under the weather, having developed the sore throat from hell during yesterday evening and overnight. I remember overnight well, as I could barely get any sleep.

I took myself off to the Doctor this morning (no, not that doctor - thank God) - a nice chap whom I have seen previously for a tetanus shot, after I accidentally pricked myself with a syringe containing an antibiotic I had just subcutaneously administered to Basil.

Basil (2004 - 2008)

Anyway, this doctor said that there is a lot of what I have going around. He told me to have the day at home and suggested I gargle with Difflam-C (does seem to help, although tastes vile), and basically the symptoms should disappear without antibiotic treatment (veterinary or otherwise!)

I hope to be back at work on Monday, as losing a day's pay is something I can't afford to do.

There are a few stories that I would like to blog about, but I really can't be bothered. Don't really feel like doing anything at the moment. 

Sorry to ramble.

Enjoy your weekend, stay warm.

***

Video for the Week 19/6/09

The Peter Costello announcement - pre-selection

A friendly word of advice for the pre-selectors in Higgins: be careful.

The Liberal faithful expect them to choose someone well-credentialed, intelligent, capable and with a sound grasp of the economic vicissitudes afflicting the country. And I'm sure they will.

But, I would caution them strongly against anointing someone who wears aspirations to greatness on their sleeve; for the very last thing the Liberal Party needs as a result of the Higgins election is more leadership speculation.

***

An interesting mix of potential candidates for the abovementioned pre-selection is emerging.

A name that amuses me on said list is one Andrew Bolt.

I would call Andrew a big long shot. Bolt himself has said he is not interested - although not very convincingly, from where I have seen it reported - but I take him at his word ... until he changes his mind.

Andrew stirs the pot nicely from the sidelines and his move to Canberra would be a loss to the Australian conservative blogosphere of an already rare species.

Aside from that, MP Bolt would have to toe the party line. Speaking out with views contrary to those of the party would see him out of favour with Turnbull, ostracised by his colleagues and immediately pounced on by the fourth estate as being a contender for the inevitable ensuing leadership challenge (re-read the third paragraph).

Back to Costello's announcement, and Liberal powerbroker (whatever that means), Michael Kroger, gave a glowing tribute to his long-time friend:

"Politically speaking it's an extremely sad day to see the end of a brilliant and glittering career," Mr Kroger told The Australian. "He was Australia's greatest treasurer and led the economy in a way no one before him or after him ever could. He's a first-class human being who the nation will miss.

Hear, hear.

***

UPDATE

It was reported on National Nine news tonight that Kevin Rudd has raised the the possibility of giving Peter Costello a government posting, a discussion that Costello confirms took place.

***

Peter Costello announces he is to leave politics

Peter Costello, Member for Higgins and immediate past Australian Federal Treasurer, has stunned everyone today by announcing he will not be seeking pre-selection.

From Andrew Bolt’s blog this afternoon:

I long predicted Costello would actually stay because I doubted he would do himself this much harm with this much self-indulgence. As I argued last August:

So wait on, Costello. Time will suit you. Or, of course, destroy you. And here is what is inexorably driving Costello to challenge. The longer he waits, the more unforgivably self-indulgent will seem his great will-I-won’t-I tease.

He will be seen forever as a wrecker who distracted and damaged the party by feeding hopes he never had the courage to fulfil. He’d be finished. A permanent joke. The big tease.

He may be a friend, but I must now stand by that judgment. Nothing became his political career less than the leaving of it. For more than a year Costello has hurt the party, but without of the excuse of then offering it the leader it needed when the times were right.

I like Andrew’s blogs very much. But, as much as I am a fan, he is trumpeting the hackneyed media line that Costello has damaged the party.

This is arrant nonsense.

Since when was representing the people who re-elected you such a crime?

Andrew, the ones who have sought to damage the credibility of the Liberal Party are those in the press gallery who concocted a crisis where there wasn’t one. It was Costello himself who said, upon losing the last Federal election, that he would not seek the leadership of the party. He was a man of his word.

Peter Costello will go down as the greatest treasurer this country has ever seen – and the best prime minister we never had. The latter being thanks to the pig-headedness and disproportionate arrogance of John Howard in refusing to step aside when the time was right. When Howard knew the time was right.

Costello’s legacy was twelve federal budgets - eleven of them in surplus, and policy that helped everyday, aspirational Australians achieve a level of material success not seen in this country in two decades.

Many will miss his humour, repartee, and candid assessments of the economy, although I’m sure Messrs Rudd and Turnbull will not be so effusive – at least not in private, where I imagine some corks will be popping tonight.

I hope Peter Costello continues to be involved in public life in some form or another, and I wish him every success in whichever direction his future might lead him.

***

To ', or not to ', that is the question

The dreaded apostrophe rears its head again.

I found an amusing piece on the subject of whether to apostrophise place names from a blog by Christopher Howse in Telegraph.co.uk:

There is no telling whether an apostrophe should appear in a place-name. Take Earl's Court in London. The exhibition centre says "Earls Court". Earl's Court Road has an apostrophe on the road sign, but not in the A-Z. Harry Beck's famous map of the Underground, published in 1933, had Earls Court. In 1951 the London Underground inserted an apostrophe in the name of the station, and that is how it has stayed. Barons Court, the next stop along, remained innocent of any apostrophe. Why?

The incorrect use of the apostrophe makes me ataxic and diaphoretic; but, on the subject of place names, I happily defer to the official policy as used in my beloved Australia. I don't know where this 'policy' comes from, but, when it comes to place names, it is the one instance where I can cope with the intentional omission of the apostrophe:

Australian place names involving a possessive form do not take an apostrophe (Kings Cross, Coffs Harbour, Surfers Paradise, Queens Road).

Also, apparently:

Terms such as United States, when used adjectivally, do not take an apostrophe either (United States trade policy).

So now you know!

***

Crack open a bottle of red - it really is good for you

An ingredient of red wine really is a 'wonderdrug', claim scientists, after research suggested it kills cancer cells and protects the heart and brain from damage. Researchers claim moderate drinking of red wine appears to reduce "all causes of mortality" and protects people from age-related disorders such as dementia, diabetes and high blood pressure. They said that the key ingredient appears to be resveratrol which in small doses acts as an antioxidant protecting organs but in larger quantities kills dangerous cancer cells.

Useless but intriguing fact: the above story comes to you based on research from Australian scientists, reported in an English newspaper, via an entry on an American blog!

Masters and Apprentices

I am a recent convert to the Channel 10 series, Masterchef. I don’t know what I have missed in the series so far – apart from the de rigueur elimination of contestants - and I don’t really care. It’s the sort of show you don’t actually need to have watched from episode no 1 to figure out what’s going on, and they’re the kind I like.

Masterchef moves along at a decent pace; the food (for the most part) looks great; and, to be honest, I really don’t need that many excuses to watch a cooking show. It would help if Rick Stein or Nigella Lawson made an appearance, but, you can’t have everything!

Two small observations: George Calombaris is one of the two pros on Masterchef. The other being Gary Mehigan, to whom George used to be apprenticed.

I can't quite put my finger on why, but for some reason George looks uncomfortable. He is certainly familiar with working in front of the cameras, being one of the resident chefs on Ten's Ready, Steady, Cook. But on Masterchef he comes across as being a bit too belligerent, and almost as if he’d rather be somewhere else. In saying that, he can actually be quite comical to watch, but I just don’t know whether reality TV is his apple crumble.

Finally: one of the remaining contestants, Chris – whilst looking like a top chef in the making - is so intense and so dour. The boy needs to learn to smile. Maybe that grotty hat he always wears is tightening his facial muscles.

***

Video for the Week 12/6/09

I'm a bit late again. 

Time for a bit of frivolity - although certainly not for one of the chaps in this classic blooper.

Rudd's 'fair dinkum' act getting tiresome

George Megalogenis writes what so many of us poor souls are feeling, as our eardrums bleed at the monotonous verbal spew coming from our Prime Minister.

Kevin Rudd sounds robotic and stilted speaking normal, Queen's English. But when he tries to bung on the fair dinkum Aussie act, he still sounds robotic and stilted - as well as unambiguously vacuous.

There must be some bad Karma happening, because I find myself living in a time when three world leaders - sorry, two world leaders, and one peon - have the most incredibly irritating voices. The fact that one of them tries hard but unsuccessfully to use idiomatic phrases, just makes it impossible to comprehend the meaning of what he is trying to express in the first place.

Kevin, try to learn how to speak with clarity and tone, and drop the ockerisms and cliches, unless, of course, you like people thinking you sound like a complete dickhead.

***

Palin's back (interview on Fox)

Sarah talks about Obama's profligate spending (the likes of which seem to have spread to Socialist-lead countries around the world, including this one.)

Tracy gives Gordon his just desserts

Tracy Grimshaw has been one of my favourite TV presenters for as long as I can remember. She's smart, witty, engaging, and a true pro.

So, I was delighted to see Tracy dish it out to Gordon Ramsay last night, in response to Ramsay's appalling, unjustified, and totally incorrect comments and imputations towards Tracy.

This is what (some) of the fuss is all about):

Gordon, piss off back to England.

No Baloney from this Burgher

Story courtesy Tim Blair on a Burger King franchisee in Memphis who dares to speak his mind, viz:

Seems very reasonable to me.

'Global Warming is Baloney' - a baloney sandwich...actually, a bologna sandwich. 

Personally, I prefer Berliner

'Global Warming is Berliner'!

'Global Warming ist Fleischwurst'!

'Global Warming is a sausage'! or, the PC version (courtesy, and apologies Yes, Prime Minister): 'Global Warming is an emulsified, high-fat, offal tube'!

Aah, now we're on the money!

Anyway, Berliner...bologna....call Global Warming whatever you like. Be my guest. Just make mine a Quarter Pounder, thanks. 

Cullerin turbines now blowing in the wind

I was driving past the Cullerin wind turbines this afternoon (actually I drove past them this morning but they were covered by fog). Anyway, it was the first time I have seen them actually moving since their recent erection. A tremendous sight. I wish I had some video to post - alas, I was sans camera today.

One hopes that the development company builds a viewing area for the general public. You can't miss them as you are travelling west on the Hume Highway (as the picture shows), but there is a temptation to crane your neck to get a better look as you drive past the last one - which is very close to the road.

***

Video for the Week 5/6/09

Actually, there is no video on this one, but I hope that won't matter. You can certainly appreciate this piece by sitting back and closing your eyes.

It's the end of a dreary and sad week for many. I hope one of my favourite pieces of Italian baroque lifts your spirits.

Prof Chris O'Brien dies

Former head and neck surgeon at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and star of the Nine network medical program 'RPA', Professor Chris O'Brien has died of brain cancer after a two-year battle with the disease.  

Prof O'Brien's type of cancer is so rampant that those poor souls with it typically succumb to it within 12 months of diagnosis. It is testimony to the pluckiness and optimism of this remarkable man that he was able to prolong the inevitable for as long as he did.

I can't imagine a cancer surgeon being on most people's "must meet" list, but if it meant your life might be saved if you did, then I would be hard-pressed to think of anyone who would trump Chris O'Brien for top of that list.

From all reports he was an outstanding doctor, mentor, friend and colleague. But, more importantly, he was a devoted family man, and that shone through in interviews I have seen, and in his colleagues' and friends' statements in the press today.

Australia will be the poorer for Chris O'Brien's passing, but we should all be forever thankful that he was with us for as long as he was, and for his incredible achievements during his very full 57 years.

To paraphrase that well-known poem: Let us mourn Chris, but not dwell on his passing for too long, as that is self-indulgent; but honour his life with a promise to live a little better for having known him - whether personally, or through the TV, as most Australians did.

According to an ancient tradition, God preserves humanity despite its many transgressions because at any one period there exist 10 just individuals who, without being aware of their role, redeem mankind.

I never met Chris O'Brien, but I don't believe I am being presumptuous in saying that  I am sure he was such a man.

My sincere sympathies to Professor Chris O'Brien's family, friends and colleagues. 

"The learned and the wise will shine brightly like the splendour of the firmament, and those who instruct many in virtue will shine as stars for all eternity." (Adapted from Daniel 12:3)

***

Aussie Defence Minister resigns

Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian Defence Minister, has fallen on his bayonet.

Joel Fitzgibbon has resigned as Defence Minister over a series of meetings involving his brother Mark, the head of health insurance company NIB, US health giant Humana, and the Government.

In a letter to Kevin Rudd, Mr Fitzgibbon said he could not be "satisfied" that he had "entirely conformed with your ministerial code of conduct".

In the letter, Mr Fitzgibbon said: “You will be aware of a question in Senate estimates last night regarding meetings between Humana, my brother and the Ministers for Veterans’ Affairs and the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel.  

“Having read the transcript of proceedings I decided to thoroughly examine the nature of any contact between Humana, my brother and my office.

"Having done so, and despite having made it clear to all parties that it was important that I not be involved, I am not satisfied that contact between the various parties leave it clear that I have entirely conformed with your ministerial code of conduct. 

“In particular, I have learned that one meeting between the parties was held in my ministerial office. Further, I understand that members of my staff sat in on a number of meetings ...

“On that basis, and to protect the integrity of the Government, I have decided to resign as a member of the Executive, effective, immediately.” 

If only Treasurer Wayne Swan would follow Fitzgibbons' lead.

Swan's (economic) crimes are far more heinous than Fitzgibbons' ever were - such as his reckless, shameful and unjustifiable borrowing saddling Australia with a budget deficit of $58 billion, together with an interest bill that will take decades to pay off.

For all that (and there's plenty more) Swan's job seems perfectly safe.

There is no justice in politics.

Early winter rain for Canberra

Canberra and region have had some nice early winter rain today after a rather dry autumn.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Canberra received (at 8.35pm) a total of 7.6mm of rain from 9am this morning.

It seemed more than that to me.

The rain certainly had me on the edge of my seat as I was driving home along the Tuggeranong Parkway tonight.

It was pitch dark, I was in the right-hand lane, wipers on full blast, whilst trying to keep one eye on the road and the other on the concrete barrier separating me from the oncoming traffic. Not easy. Made that much harder because said barrier is not lit. A few hard-to-see reflectors every so often is not my idea of an appropriate traffic safety measure on what is one of Canberra's busiest roads. But it is as much illumination as I have come to expect from Stan Nohope's incompetent circus.

All in all, this evening's commute was damn hard work - but a nice stiff Scotch was my reward when I got home!

***

Peter Costello gets it right, calls Wayne Swan a 'moron'

A headline and story that made my day. 

FORMER treasurer Peter Costello has fired up in parliament, labelling his successor Wayne Swan a "moron".

And for good measure, Mr Costello told Prime Minister Kevin Rudd he was "nasty" man and "a dope".

Mr Costello, who normally keeps a low profile in question time, perked up at government remarks on recent economic history.

"You're a moron," he heckled Mr Swan.

No true economic conservative could ascribe to Swan a more appropriate label.

Kevin Rudd "a nasty piece of work", some voters reckon

The Daily Telegraph reports that more than 40 percent of Australians think PM Kevin Rudd can be "a nasty piece of work". 

"Kevin Rudd continues to be perceived as the best leader although the poll suggests his recent behaviour may have removed some of the gloss," Galaxy Research chief executive David Briggs said. Mr Briggs, referring to reports of tensions with his staff, said "the Prime Minster's recent outbursts have not gone unnoticed by voters".

The polling found that 43 per cent of voters agreed Mr Rudd was someone who can turn nasty if he doesn't get his way, compared with 31 per cent for Mr Turnbull.

An example of our PM's 'nastiness' is not hard to find (viz: this story from Andrew Bolt's blog), and, frankly, I am surprised the figure is as low as 43%.

***