Submitted by rickeyre on
Indymedia to U.S., U.K., Swiss and Italian Authorities: "Hands Off Our Websites"
http://www.indymedia.org/or/2004/10/112083.shtml
Submitted by rickeyre on
October 11, 9:54 am.
http://www.empirenotes.org/#11oct041
October 11, 9:54 am. Here's the text of my latest radio commentary, Iraq, Algeria, and Civil War. ...
Submitted by rickeyre on
How on earth could we have put this scheming, mendacious little man and his miserable claque back in office for another three years? Worse, how could we have brought them to the very brink of absolute control of the nation's entire parliamentary process and authority?
Very easily, as things turned out, to the cost of the rest of us and our national self-respect.
For almost nine years this Government, incompetent in most everything except mediocrity, debauched its word and the people's trust, along with voters' gullibility, their ignorance, their taxes and, in the end, their greedy self-interest.
Submitted by rickeyre on
This nation stands on the threshold of a new era of great achievement.
- John Howard, victory acceptance speech, 9.10.04
It is 3145 days since the Liberal and National parties were elected to government. Looks like we will have them for at least another thousand.
The best thing that can be said about the Labor Party's performance in the House of Representatives is that they did not lose any major talent. Those Labor MHR's who appear to be on the way out are: Michelle O'Byrne (Bass), Con Sciacca (Bonner), Sid Sidebottom (Braddon), Sharryn Jackson (Hasluck), Jann McFarlane (Stirling), Kim Wilkie (Swan), Martyn Evans (Wakefield). Sciacca was a junior minister in the Keating days.
Submitted by rickeyre on
October 10, 4:15 pm.
http://www.empirenotes.org/#10oct041
October 10, 4:15 pm. Two of the 15 Afghan presidential candidates (Karzai was the 16th) who said they wouldn't recognize the election results backed off of that position and said they would accept the findings of an independent commission set up to evaluate it (Mohammed Mohaqiq, the Hazara candidate, and Masooda Jalal, the only female candidate, were the two). And, in fact, such a commission will ...
Submitted by rickeyre on
I have just learned of the passing of Australia's greatest ever all-rounder, Keith Ross Miller. AAP has a brief report that Miller, who was 84, died this morning at a nursing home on Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.
He was one of my real cricketing heroes, indeed one of my favourite Australians of all time.
Submitted by rickeyre on
October 9, 11:05 pm.
http://www.empirenotes.org/#09oct041
October 9, 11:05 pm. Apparently, insult is now being added to the injury that is the Afghan presidential election. After all that's been done (some of it encapsulated here, here, and here), now we find that some of the voters's thumbs were marked, not with indelible ink, but with easy-erase ink. This is significant because, of course, the 10.5 million voter registration cards included huge number ...
Submitted by rickeyre on
Australia entered a new era last night. Australians roundly rejected the once compelling appeal of 'a fair go', which must now be considered a relic of our past rather than an expression of our essence.
- Margo Kingston, SMH Webdiary, 10.10.04
It still feels the same this morning. Australia has spoken, and it's given the wrong answer. Well, not really all of Australia, but it is sure to paint a bad image overseas. I'll wrap some of the reaction internationally once the Sunday papers in Europe and the US hit the web.
Submitted by rickeyre on
I'm not going to offer congratulations or anything like that. Tonight's election result is a worse outcome than I could possibly have imagined. The Liberal/National coalition led by John Howard has been returned to office with an increased majority.
Most disturbingly, there is a distinct possibility that the government could gain control of 50% of the seats in the senate. This would give Howard, certainly in his eyes, a mandate to pursue his neo-conservative post-Menzian vision for Australia to the hilt.
Submitted by rickeyre on
Iron Chef Chinese has won the Bamboo Shoots Battle. Shane Warne is one off Murali's world record and stands a great chance of gaining it in his own right tomorrow. And we have a new niece, born in Adelaide this afternoon.
Now back to that bloody election.
The Greens challenge is over in the lower house. It just remains to be seen how they do in the Senate.
They have lost the Wollongong seat of Cunningham, coming third with 20% of the primary vote. They've come third in Grayndler, also with 20% of the primary vote. Jenny Leong had high hopes of beating the talented Tanya Plibersek in Sydney, but has also finished third at 22%. They also had hopes of knocking off Lindsay Tanner in Melbourne, but he succeeded in picking up most of the former Democrat vote. The Greens came third here as well, with 19%.
