Tuesday, July 24, 2007
ART MYSTERY
An apparent blogger suicide in New York City.
GALLOWAY GONE AWAY
Saddam Hussein’s British spokesman is thrown out of Parliament:
George Galloway, known for his fierce opposition to Britain’s role in the invasion of Iraq, was suspended for 18 days, following an investigation which found that a charity he set up was partly funded by the Iraqi dictator.
Galloway accused his opponents of hypocrisy ...
“None of the parties here, and all three of them are culpable, ever asked the millionaires and billionaires who gave them and lent them money where they got the money from,” he said.
Possibly because none had any reason to suspect their money had come from a genocidal dictator. Just a theory.
Monday, July 23, 2007
FISH FROZEN
Despite the warmenist theories of noted marine biologist Barbra Streisand - “They’re lying, while the globe is frying, and the fishes are dying in the world” - fish are actually dying because it’s too cold:
Thousands of dead tropical fish – some more than a metre long – [are] floating to the surface of Lake Moondarra, Mount Isa’s main water supply.
Authorities are blaming Queensland’s big chill [for] the mass fish deaths ...
The cold snap affecting the whole state has seen the mercury drop to as low as 3.2C in Mount Isa this month. And the fish deaths have forced authorities to grapple with another unwanted problem: disposing of the carcasses.
Send ‘em to Sustainable Al! And send the big guy a t-shirt, too.
(Via Ed Driscoll and Allan J.)
NOTE: In the Courier-Mail’s uncorrected copy, the line reads: “Authorities are blaming Queensland’s big chill on the mass fish deaths.” Fish cause coldening!
UPDATE. Blue State Sil: “Of course fish cause coldening. You’ve heard of ice fishing, haven’t you? Well, when you go ice fishing, you catch ice fish. Bringing ice fish out of the water causes them to go into Super-Duper Coldening Mode as they attempt to chill their immediate environment. It’s a survival mechanism. Unfortunately, what is a helpful adaptation underwater results in nothing but chaos in the air. I know all this because the voices in my head told me so, and I’ve never known them to dispense anything but absolute truthiness.”
AGAINST WITHDRAWAL BEFORE HE WAS FOR IT
Kevin Rudd, 2003:
Australia today is conjointly responsible for ensuring the security, health, food, shelter and clothing for 20 million Iraqis. That’s what Occupying Powers do. Put simply, if you invade a country, you get to run it afterwards until an Iraqi government takes over. And that is a long way off ...
Our view is that whatever people’s views before the war might have been, the fate of 20 million Iraqis now depends on the Occupying Powers and the UN cooperating in a fundamental way to ensure that Iraq does have a future.
Kevin Rudd, 2007:
Mr Rudd says the presence of Australian combat forces in the Middle East is making the country a target for terrorists.
He says the Government should be willing to discuss a negotiated exit strategy from Iraq.
He’s a flexible fellow, our Kevni. Last October he believed some 50,000 Iraqis had died in the war; lately he’s upgraded that to a Lancet-approved 600,000. The Labor leader is also impressively bendy on the subject of Saddam’s weapons.
SAVE THE CREATURES
The mighty plastic turkey once roamed the New York Times, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Guardian, and numerous other lush, verdant stupidfields the world over. Now this once-abundant imaginary bird is reduced to pecking around the scabby, seedless dumblands of DailyKos. Sad.
In other endangered species news, the Boston Herald reports:
Gore was in hot water over a Chilean sea bass scandal in which he was falsely accused of dining on the endangered species at his daughter’s wedding rehearsal dinner.
Wrong. Al Gore did dine on the endangered species; this isn’t in dispute. It’s just that Al’s meal came from “one of the world’s few well-managed, sustainable populations” of that endangered species, raised exclusively for rich folk to kill and eat.
A SIGN THAT WE’RE LOSING
Robert Fisk: “The bloggers are winning.”
GOVERNMENT STILL NOT BIG ENOUGH
“After Katrina, the national mood might alter,” declared the Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland in 2005. “Americans have seen where small government leads.” Well, let’s see how well Jonathan’s big UK government is coping with some summer floods:
Amid concerns that the government-run Environment Agency acted far too slowly in responding to serious flood alerts from the Met Office, parts of the West Country woke up this morning to another day under water and the Thames Valley now faces being inundated ...
The Times has learnt that the Ministry of Defence was unwilling to supply lorries and drivers without being guaranteed payment for their services. As a result there appear to have been delays in securing the use of high-sided vehicles that could deliver sleeping bags and flood parcels to the stricken communities.
In the area worst affected by the floodwater from the Severn and the Avon over the weekend, some homes were left without running water and supermarkets reported panic buying of bottled water and food, which is expected to create serious shortages for several days.
Other survivors huddle in the Worcestershire Saucedome, waiting to be rescued by Sean Penn.
NEVER REVEAL THE PURPOSE
A chilling email from Bird Observation & Conservation Australia:
Hello Mr Blair,
From our website statistics I notice that there were a significant number of access hits to our home page from timblair.net on 13 June 2007. Please explain what was generating these hits and their purpose.
Regards,
Webmaster
NATION SENT TO NAUGHTY CORNER
Hang your heads in shame, fellow Australians:
The United Nations Association of Australia has written a report strongly criticising Australia’s recent record on international issues.
The report gives Australia a ‘C’ on human rights, nuclear disarmament and aid, while on climate change and migration Australia gets a ‘D’.
Human rights? In Australia, we don’t jail protesters; we give them lots of money. Nuclear disarmament? Australia has no nuclear weapons. Aid? Apparently one billion dollars to Indonesia isn’t enough. Climate change? We only generate 1.5% of the planet’s warmy gases. Migration? According to leftoid Clive Hamilton: “Rarely in our history has a federal government pursued such a high level of immigration as the Howard Government.”
A former ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Woolcott, says Australia’s reputation within the UN has suffered over the past few decades.
Good. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe heads the UN’s commission on Sustainable Development.
“Of course it’s been greatly influenced by Iraq, I mean the Iraq situation has rather frayed existing alliances,” he said.
Not any important ones. In fact, they’ve likely become stronger.
“Then there’s the issue of style, there’s a tendency of Australia’s part now which partly stems from Iraq, to lecture more and listen less.”
Maybe we learned that from you, Richard.
(Via Alan R.M. Jones)
UPDATE. Fast Eddie responds:
Dear UN,
And proud of it,
Sincerely,
Australia.
PS Now get stuffed.
ONE RULE FOR HUGO
Hugo Chavez in New York, 2006:
Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.
I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday’s statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.
And Hugo’s latest idea:
President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that foreigners who publicly criticize him or his government while visiting Venezuela will be expelled from the country.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
“IT IS NOT NICE”
Islamic Rage Boy is outraged:
“I do not like being called Islamic Rage Boy, it is not nice.”
Presumably this will be the subject of his next protest. The Enraged One turns out to be eco-aware:
He walks to a protest if it is within six miles of his home and hitchhikes or catches a bus if it is further. Sometimes he is the only protester.
(Via those rage mavens at Nose on Your Face)
REBECCA IS OK
A message from commenter RebeccaH’s husband:
She had a heart attack Thursday night. She says she over-reacted and deleted her email address, and she’s sorry if any notes to her are being returned. I have read messages from your site, which is her favorite. Her prognosis is good, and we hope to have her home very soon.
Fantastic news. We’ll keep your other home tidy while we await your return, Rebecca. Best wishes from all of us here.
MAN OF NO TV APPEARANCE
Britain is doomed:
A police force withdrew plans for a televised appeal to help catch an Afghan suspected of sexually assaulting women after a race watchdog warned that it might spark a violent backlash.
Detectives were due to appear on an episode of ITV’s Manhunt to ask for help finding Noorullah Seddiqi, 34 ...
But the Chief Constable of the Devon and Cornwall force, Stephen Otter, told officers not to go ahead with the programme after the Devon Racial Equality Council, funded by and affiliated to the Commission for Racial Equality, said the appeal could lead to a racist backlash.
The BBC reveals that even general alerts on this chap apparently cause offence:
Police have been criticised for putting out a public appeal for Mr Seddiqi in April, three months after he broke bail.
(Via a senior crown prosecutor in the UK, who tells of “deep frustration” over police trembliness. To say the least.)
UPDATE. An open letter on related themes of nannying do-goodness.
WEALTH AVOIDED
Originally I aimed to be a photographer; gave it up to concentrate on journalism. Good career move, genius:
The past few years have seen an explosive rise in the prices paid for exclusive celebrity photos. Driven by the public’s desire for the nitty-gritty of celebrity life and celebrities’ moves to control - and profit from - their images, the photos on our list are testament to a maturing market worth tens of millions.
I’m open to offers for my 1982 press conference shot of Victorian premier John Cain.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
CHILLING SAGA CONTINUES
Latest column: more coldening.