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Last updated on March 6th, 2018 at 12:30 am
* Alison Broinowski warns that Australia may face disaster if we oppose the UN: “When the US imperium ends, as it will, or when it clashes with China, as it may, Australia will need the UN and the boundaries that stand between us and chaos.” When Alison shuts up, which she won’t, we might consider her previous wise claims.
* Is Europe getting the Dubya message? John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge believe so.
* “Ten million Afghans voted for the first time. Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim nation, held a stable, orderly presidential poll. And a ham-fisted attempt to rort elections in the Ukraine was overturned by popular demand. As the year ends, these were all encouraging signals of the spread of the democratic impulse around the world.” – The Age’s Tony Parkinson.
* “There have been worse years in recent history than 2004, but not many.” – Professor John Quiggin, the original Mr. Misery Pants.
* Fraudsters are trying to swindle tsunami relief donations via spam fundraising emails, The Age reports. A similar scam was noted here earlier.
* Norm Geras reviews the Guardian’s year. Brave man.
* Nice piece from Alastair Moffitt on Australian F1 driver Mark Webber, who this year will drive for the speedy Williams team: “Michael Schumacher has yet to come head to head with Webber in anything close to resembling a competitive situation. When that finally happens, the great seven-time world champion may finally find a rival with more determination, guts and bloody-mindedness than himself.”
* Was interviewed on 2UE yesterday by Paul Kidd and George Moore. Subject: blogging. Both of them read blogs (Sullivan is a favourite), so it was a fun, informed chat. Afterwards, an email arrived from musician Roz, who was inspired by the interview to create her own site; behold SpiritualBlog! I encourage peace.
* Bogus tsunami images are circulating.
* Reader Dave S. urges comments mavens to launch their own sites: “The comments sections is AAA ball. Go to The Show.”
* The inaugural Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards are underway. Nominations phase. So go nominate.
* N.Z. Bear proposes a spend-and-help plan for tsunami-hit economies, with particular blog-related angles. Please visit.
- Alison thinks the UN is all that stands against the US reshaping the world in its own interests?
YES!!! We win!
Posted by richard mcenroe on 01/03 at 06:16 AM • #
- Australia will need the UN and the boundaries that stand between us and chaos.
Little does she seem to realize that the UN is one of the biggest producers (or at least enablers) of chaos worldwide nowadays. Yup, that’s who Australia should want to send in the bespectacled, golden fountain pen-holding cavalry if China ever gets uppity.
- Ms. Broinowski writes: The UN, imperfect as it is, is all that stands between the Bush Administration and its ambition to reshape the world in its own interests.
So the purpose of the U.N. appears to be, according to Ms. Broinowski, thwarting the ambitions of its largest contributor, and the one nation that lends any legitimacy to it as a body.
In some ways, the U.N. is perfect. Perfectly corrupt, perfectly undemocratic, perfectly useless.
- Some of my favorite bits from Broinowski:
“But in less spectacular ways, Australia has abandoned what Gareth Evans used to call “good international citizenship” in favour of naked self-interest.”
Australia won’t bend over for the thugs and moonbats who currently run the UN.
This is bad for Australia? I should think she’d be glad to live in a country run by people who have the balls to act in Australia’s best interests, even when that best interest is not what the UN feels it should be. (Screw the UN.)“Why is the Government defying the UN and so much that it represents?”
As noted above, because Australia’s leaders have the balls, and brains, to put Australia’s interests FIRST.
Just WHAT is it the UN represents these days anyway? => Graft, corruption, child rape, and incompetence are a few that come to my mind, but I’m sure there’s lots more.
”… the Prime Minister decided as early as 2000 to march in lockstep with the US President, and that included defying the UN whenever it suited them.”
One reason I like Pres. Bush is that he won’t bend over for the UN. Bush puts the US first. (It’s part of his job.) I’m sure Australians are equally as glad to have PM Howard care more for Australia than he does the UN.
“The US has always resisted being told by the “unelected UN Security Council” what it can and cannot do, and, as its largest contributor, has mostly got away with it, occasionally making and unmaking secretaries-general to prove the point.”
When any US official takes his/her oath of office there is NOTHING in the oath that states he/she will abide by what the UN says.
On the contrary, we EXPECT our officials to look out for the US. If this means telling the UN to shove it, fine by me. That’s what their job is.
I am NOT a citizen of the UN. I don’t owe allegiance to the UN.
From Quiggen (linked above):
” Just thinking of names like Abu Ghraib, Beslan, Darfur and Fallujah is a reminder of how terrible a year it was.”
How can anyone put Abu Gharib in the same sentence as Darfur as he has done? It sounds as if he thinks they’re equal.
(Norm Geras is VERY good. If you want some laughs go check him out.)
Posted by CJosephson on 01/03 at 08:20 AM • #
- How can anyone put Abu Gharib in the same sentence as Darfur as he has done? It sounds as if he thinks they’re equal.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Abu Gharib was supposed to be HUGE, it was supposed to cause the “Arab street” to rise up, but all that happenend was that MSM became almost orgasmic over it, Arab talking heads spluttered angrily while most Arabs (especially the Iraqi’s) looked on in amazement wondering what all the commotion was about.
Seeing people still trying to desperately build Abu Gharib up into a histroy changing event reminds me a little of those “half dozen or so” people camped outside Kerry’s residence still hoping to overthrow the US election result.
- “But in less spectacular ways, Australia has abandoned what Gareth Evans used to call “good international citizenship” in favour of naked self-interest.”
and she says it like its a bad thing.
“Why is the Government defying the UN and so much that it represents?”
Because that is what we elected them for and pay them to do.
I’m personally a lot more confident that, if we are attacked by China, the USA and UK will turn up to help than the UN.
And given that it is the USA and other western allies that provide most of the actual firepower (let alone the high end military equiopment and logistics) to any UN operation, god help us if we are ever reliant on a UN without the USA for our defence.
Posted by Harry Buttle on 01/03 at 03:36 PM • #
- On a semi-related note to the last item on the brieflets list, using the tsunami tragedy as a starting point, the New York Times discovers there are a few loons posting on the Democratic Underground website. The reporter is at pains to note that much of the discussion that follows is grounded in reality, but if the Times had noticed this phenominon a few months ago and written about it during the presidential election, perhaps the Democratic Party as a whole would have taken a look at themselves in the mirror and not run off the rails the way they did.
- The Times U.K. took a swipe at the U.N. printed in Oz today. Journo Rosemary Righter. Also Oxfam for its “mindless piety” in insisting on the U.N.’s leading role.Even “experts” from U.N.Family planning are packing flights to Asia she saysmShe includes this snippet (pun) from a 1971 report by the Secretary General–“the bodies best equipped for emergency relief (were) governments, the Red Cross and voluntary bodies, and that the U.N.system is not geared for actions of this kind, nor is it realistic to suppose that, given its structure, it could become so”.
- Re those bogus tsunami images, Channel 9 put them as the first item on the Sydney news last night – swallowed them hook, line and sinker (they attributed them to some obscure Liverpool paper which should have been their first clue).
What’s the bet they don’t issue an apology or clarification?
Posted by ArtVandelay on 01/04 at 10:58 AM • #
- Where would those like Ms. Broinowski be without their trendy and shallow anti-U.S. obsession?
This reflexive opposition at all costs to U.S. foreign policy…whether the U.S. takes action or it doesn’t…even manifests itself when it comes to thwarting progress. It’s worth noting that these self-proclaimed ‘progressives’ were for maintaining the status quo in both Iraq and Afghanistan. So much for progress ‘eh!?
Ms. Broinowski, like others of her ilk, is quite simply a FRAUD!
- I’m sure Roz has a beautiful spirit 🙂 but who gets to clean the bathroom?
And all these blogs, with hyper links to other blogs, is it a case of look at me?
- Time to eat my words: channel 9 apologised for “any confusion” over those bogus images last night. Amazing!Posted by ArtVandelay on 01/05 at 10:23 AM • #
If this poor fool thinks the UN is going to protect Australia from a predatory China, she’s nuts. What PREVIOUS action of the UN does she base her statement upon?
While she’s waiting for the UN to protect her, she might as well drop her drawers and bend over. That will do about as much good.