I hope to be properly back on air soon, but in the meantime here’s the Monday Message Board. Civilised discussion and no coarse language.
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John Quiggin 
Meanwhile, in New Orleans
“Associated Press reports that at least five people shot dead by police as they walked across a New Orleans bridge yesterday were contractors working for the US Defence department.
A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said the victims were contractors on their way to repair a canal. The contractors were on their way across the bridge to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain, in an operation to fix the 17th Street Canal, according to the spokesman.”
Lessez le bon temps roulez.
Sorry, that should be
“laissez le bon temps roulez”
Keynes invented the Laffer Curve?
Well not really. Ibn Khaldun wrote about the concept in the 14th century. However the following quote from John Maynard Keynes pretty much somes up the idea perfectly. It seems that Keynes was more insightful than the Keynesians. Which should not surprise. For me it was a real gem to find this quote.
QUOTE:-
”
Nor should the argument seem strange that taxation may be so high as to defeat its object, and that, given sufficient time to gather the fruits, a reduction of taxation will run a better chance than an increase of balancing the budget. For to take the opposite view today is to resemble a manufacturer who, running at a loss, decides to raise his price, and when his declining sales increase the loss, wrapping himself in the rectitude of plain arithmetic, decides that prudence requires him to raise the price still more–and who, when at last his account is balanced with nought on both sides, is still found righteously declaring that it would have been the act of a gambler to reduce the price when you were already making a loss.
”
The quote is attribute to the following source.
John Maynard Keynes, The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes (London: Macmillan, Cambridge University Press, 1972).
somes = sums (doh!)
Compare and contrast this and this. Do these suggest a rapid swerve in Andrew Bolt’s position on Costello and Turnbull? I wonder what might be going on beneath the surface. Andrew Bolt’s surface, anyway.
Dave Ricardo, sorry, that should be, “Qu’on laisse le bon temps roule” – although, of course, that’s still not good French since it’s a literal translation from an English phrase. One irony is that “temps” means weather as well – which may suit Hurricane Katrina, making it the more likely meaning in context.
Terje, one thing that the Laffer Curve shows, if you know what you are looking at, is that the revenue amount is not very sensitive to deviations away from the optimum rate.
“Andrew Bolt’s surface”
That’s a hell of a lot of surface.
Blot is profoundly shallow.
P.M., I know, but the Cajun expression is as I wrote it (the second time).
For anyone following the ongoing attempts by Federal Labor MP Michael Danby to censor my forthcoming book on Israel/Palestine, today’s Melbourne Age enters the debate:
http://antonyloewenstein.blogspot.com/2005/09/saga-goes-mainstream_05.html
Well yesterday morning and being September the observa was in footy finals mode and was licking his lips in anticiaption over at LP with this-
‘For those of you who don’t know how to kick a footy or the illustrious history of kicking footies and butt, you couldn’t hope to start to understand it without the introduction to Port Adelaide FC.
You see it’s a bright sunny day in Adelaide and we Port Power fans are just lolling about the place in our scarves and beanies, or sleeping in before our game with the Kangas. We’re having a quiet chuckle at all the Crows fans, after a loss at home to St Kilda, who’ve had a sleepless night and have been up and about since the crack of dawn, on their prayer mats pointing toward Mecca, or off to church, praying to their God for a Kanga’s win against Port today. The stats are on their side, with the Kangas having a 12 out of 14 win ratio with the Power since entering the AFL.(funny how every club seems to have a nemesis team) As well Port haven’t won a match on the shifting sands of Telstra Dome since 2001 or something like that, which is a curious stat, since they finished Minor Premiers the last 3 yrs. Yep, with all that baggage and Port scraping into 8th spot, while the Kangas finished 5th, the Crows should be safe. However Chocko and the boys will have an extra spring in their step this morning, with a chance to have a crack at the Crows next week, if they beat the Kangas. Having won the minor premiership, and beaten Port in both Showdown matches this year, you can imagine Crows fans dreading Port knocking them out of the finals in straight sets can’t you? The Sunday Mail is full of their fearful anecdotes as a Showdown final with their old nemisis looms ominously on the horizon.
What you have to understand is this fear of Port goes back a long way as they were regularly trounced by a ‘bunch of wharfies’ for many years as supporters of their respective SANFL clubs. Port come September, were as formidable as Howard at election time and their record of premierships is second to none in any code. When Port decided there was not enough competition among this useless lot and rightly joined the AFL for a real contest, they all spat the dummy and went for their lawyers. The end result was they set up their amalgamated club of many colours and pinched Andy Mcleod off us to win a couple of Norm Smith medals and show them how to win a couple of premierships. Eventually not even their lawyers could stop us from taking our rightful place in the AFL, as last year’s results attest. You can imagine now how these chards sippers(columnist Michelangelo Rucci’s tag for them which has naturally stuck) are all feeling about the prospect of meeting Port in September now. I dunno what’s worse for us Port fans this morning, the ruckus of all the Crows Krishna chants, Aloa Akers, Ummmms, etc or the din of their clacker valves going ninety to the dozen! You can probably hear their fearful din all the way over in rugby land.’
Well, you reckon the sun isn’t shining brighter than ever today for some of us, in the city of empty churches for the other people that God has now forsaken and can’t appreciate the georgeous sun as they shuffle about eyes cast downward at the ground in trepidation. Those same wretches who poured scorn on a noble club and its trusty followers for ‘choking’ as the hunted in finals, now find themselves in the position of the hunted and remembering all their vile utterances. A dark shadow has crossed the hearts of this murder of Crows, as they contemplate their arch-nemesis, shooting them out of the finals in straight sets. Roll on glorious day!
This morning I was watching the French and Spanish evening weekend news from overseas satellite feeds and the diversity of views blew me away, with even some very critical perspectives that are so filtered out here in our media, it was amazing!
The actual voices came through much more directly, from actual people in the ground, and much less filtered, this being during the building fires in Paris, the outspoken opinions of Americans in New Orleans, political criticisms against their own local or Euro governments, etc. Very refreshing!
Amazingly, even in the States still some dissenting opinions do get through the media cracks. The following got through to an early live East coast broadcast, but was censored end edited out in the later broadcast to the West coast. Surprise, surprise.
In the real world some people don’t just read the auto-cue but instead still speak out their own mind:
Kanye West: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”
“I hate the way they portray us in the media. “If you see a black family it says they are looting if you see a white family it says they are looking for food.
“We already realize a lot of the people that could help are at war now fighting another way and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us.”
“George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Mike Meyers and even Chris Rock were floored…
More links:Comments & Video, More posts and criticisms
Fuller transcript:
Kanye West at the telethon Concert for Hurricane Katrina Relief:
Mike Meyers reads lines off prompter … switches to black singer,
Kanye West: “I hate the way they portray us in the media.
“If you see a black family it says they are looting if you see a white family it says they are looking for food.
“And you know that it’s been 5 days because most of the people are black and even for me to complain … I would be a hypocrite because I would turn away from the TV because it’s too hard to watch. I’ve even been shopping before giving a donation and so right now I’m calling my business manager what is the biggest amount I can give.
“And just to imagine if I was down there, those are my people down there. So anybody out there who wants to help with the set up, the way that America is set up to help … The poor, the black people, the less well off as slow as possible. I mean, Red Cross is doing everything they can.
“We already realize a lot of the people that could help are at war now fighting another way and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us.”
(Mike Meyers tries to get back on prompter, reads from script and then camera cuts back to Kanye, he pauses before continuing:)
Kanye West: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
Then camera abruptly switches to black actor Chris Rock, who’s shocked and fumbling…
You’re right Observa. Snowtown vs “The Family” may indeed be “A Murder of Crows”, no matter who does the choking.
Ooops – finger trouble. “Roule” should have been “rouler” (and it sounds better after “laisse” that at the end).
Yeah, Bush hates Blacks and Hispanics.
His former secretary of state, Coln Powell was black!
His former NSA and now Secretary of State is black, and who is also Female!
His Attorney General is hispanic.
I also believe that GW speaks Spanish. And His first overseas trip (the first ever by a US President) was to Mexico.
Yeah, Bush hates Blacks and Hispanics.
His former secretary of state, Coln Powell was black!
His former NSA and now Secretary of State is black, and who is also Female!
His Attorney General is hispanic.
I also believe that GW speaks Spanish. And His first overseas trip (the first ever by a US President) was to Mexico.
Yeah, Bush hates Blacks and Hispanics.
His former secretary of state, Coln Powell was black!
His former NSA and now Secretary of State is black, and who is also Female!
His Attorney General is hispanic.
I also believe that GW speaks Spanish. And His first overseas trip (the first ever by a US President) was to Mexico.
“And His first overseas trip (the first ever by a US President) was to Mexico.”
Since when did the Rio Grande become a sea?
And no one believes that GW’s trip to Mexico was the first ever overseas trip by a US President.
katz and AB – semantics!
So the earlier points should be equally dismissed!
Also, the SMH ran a web poll, and found that 63% of respondents stated that the Australian Gov’t re: NO and Aust citizenry should “Act now, talk later” . Frightening; imagine if US respondents said the same thing about a disaster here, and rescuing US citizens. Imagine the outrage from the usual gaggle of malcontents.
Elizabeth, the actual quote is: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.â€? Nobody mentioned hate, or even Bush hating blacks. It may be a similar thing but “not to care” is NOT the same as hating.
The whole point is that, just like hoWARd, they only care enough to trouble themselves when it comes to their rich donors and other powerful CEOs, like, say, Forbes… That they mostly happen to be “Stupid White Men”, is not coincidence – especially with USA’s history!
But the real issue here is poverty, power and money (or lack thereof). Just like with Iraq, nothing personal, only business.
My own point was to highlight diversity of opinion and media coverage overseas, especially critical, controversial views.
Instead true to form, you miss that point altogether and simply jump to defend the indefensible, by ramming it quite a few times… or were your fingers a bit too hypo? hehe. Watch it, stress is not good for ya!
More excellent coverage from local New Orleans reports in Triple J’s Hack. Live right now! (5.30 pm).
Check the downloads later today:
http://triplej.net.au/hack/mod_windows/mon.asx
PS: KAtz and AB, see the folllowing link for details of Bush’s firstt OS trip was to Mexico! http://www.usembassy.it/file2001_01/alia/a1012201.htm
“Bush’s first trip overseas will be a one-day visit to Mexico February 16, fulfilling a campaign promise, Fleischer said.
“Bush will travel to San Cristobal, Mexico, on February 16th, to meet with his Excellency Vicente Fox, President of the United Mexican States.
And Carlos, your post is full of typical conspiratorial nonsense, and dependent on word-play gymnastics. May I quote: “hoWARd”!
And thank you for you comment about my stress levels. They would be seriously reduced if there were less nonsense like your comments floating around cyberspace.
Crow baiting aside, this years AFL premiership race has been blown wide open and is the most even I can think of. The 2 form sides coming into the finals Adelaide and Sydney have only just been beaten and now have to do it the hard way. How hard? Well I’m not so sure that the rest week for WC and St Kilda is such a good thing. Unlike Port and Brisbane last year, who were clearly the top 2 sides, this years ‘week offers’ now, are not, and you need to recall how close Geelong and especially the Saints got to beating the Grand Finalists in their respective Prelims last year. It may be the sting of that loss that got the Saints across the line in their final at AAMI this year. That and maestro Rob Harvey, who had the perfect slow, wet conditions underfoot, to strut an old timers wiles for more game time than he could on a hot hard track. Which bloke in the Crows coaching box would have been most Rooing his previous weeks indiscipline, for not being able to join Harvey in their ideal conditions? Might have made the difference in the result.
The Saints and WC may be vulnerable to match hardened, fast starting challengers in the Prelims this year and if they are rusty and don’t settle down, they could be facing 6-8 goal deficits at half time which they can’t run down with fresher legs in tight second halves. If they don’t settle, they could get that sinking feeling and be blown away like the Kangas. This is why I have a hunch, the winner of this weeks game at AAMI will be the ultimate Premier(assuming no serious player depletion through injury). Port are on the rampage with the confidence and arrogance of last year returning with perfect timing. If they beat the minor premiers, they may be unstoppable. OTOH if the Crows facing all the doubts of their weekend’s loss and the fear of an experienced Port on the march, can overcome that psychological hurdle, it may well give them the belief they need to go all the way. Whichever team wins and makes the GF, they’d be hoping to meet St Kilda in the GF, for it is that team that will have to bear all the emotional burden of GF week in Melbourne, by Victorians hungry for a home town win. The Power or Crows, could slip into Melbourne at the end of the week, leaving their lesser home town hype behind and better focus on the task. That’s been a big plus for interstate teams of late. Put your smart money on the silverware coming to SA again.
Meanwhile, the right-wing putsch stays close to ground. Tony, gets away with it, yet again. John loves his work .
He should have been sacked for his recent comments about Brogden.
Beyond blue and totally nasty.
Joe2, I know Abbot has denied any involvement in the dirt campaign to get rid of Brogden, but I smell a rat! (then again I have no idea of the internal workings of the Libs and their internal sh*t fights)
What’s definitely beyond doubt is that hoWARd’s ministerial guide of conduct and conflict of interests is as useless and a complete hypocrisy. Surprise, surprise.
Elizabeth, play the ball not the man:
..They only care enough to trouble themselves when it comes to their rich donors and other powerful CEOs, like, say, Forbes… That they mostly happen to be “Stupid White Menâ€?, is not coincidence – especially with USA’s history!
But the real issue here is poverty, power and money (or lack thereof).
Just like with Iraq, nothing personal, only business.
There’s been talk about the impact of current events in the US on GWB’s Presidency. But I’ve yet to see anyone mention the person most likely to benefit from the present administrations incompetence. Perhaps we can pencil in the next US President:
Hilary Clinton.
Except for the total unreasoning pathological hatred of Hilary Clinton amongst the conservatives. Way to mobilise the base!
Erm, Elizabeth, so what if Bush visited Mexico first? They’re kinda close by, it’s no big surprise, especially for a (fake) Texan. Extraordinarily, this man had never left North America before he became POTUS – had to get a passport. This from such a well off man with so many opportunities gited him.
Of course, he was never going to Vietnam.
And, as has been stated, it’s not that Bush is an active racist who works to subjugate blacks, it’s that he’s profoundly indifferent to them and their concerns. The first ever meeting with the NAACP was only last week, post-Katrina.
That would be an extraordinary thing, if Howard had never met ATSIC in his first five years.
I doubt Hilary is going to be the next US president. She has to win the Democrat party’s nomination first. The netroots are going to have a substantial, possibly decisive, say in who that nominee is. Hilary has been racking up political record as a senator that is going to make it very hard for her to win much support from them.
But whoever Democrat eventually choose as their nominee is certainly going to have an easier job than usual with Bush’s record to run against.
Taking money for the following
Hilary v Jeb in 08, with Arnie being a bit long at the moment due to the constitution and the bush family grip on the base
Closer to home
Shorten v Combet
Howard v Jeannette (sorry costello no-ones buying)
Carlos Says: September 5th, 2005 at 10:54 pm “Elizabeth, play the ball not the man”
Whatever does that means? If it’s a sporting term, I prefer to ‘play’ the person!
wilful Says: September 6th, 2005 at 12:17 pm Erm, Elizabeth, so what if Bush visited Mexico first? They’re kinda close by, it’s no big surprise, especially for a (fake) Texan. Extraordinarily, this man had never left North America before he became POTUS – had to get a passport. This from such a well off
It matters because 1. of the conversation on this thread much earlier between myself and SOH vandals; and 2, Bush’s trip sent a strong signal re: the relationship btw the US and Mexico and the fact that it was the first time that a US President’s first OS visit was to Mexico!
And Bush had made two prior trips OS before he became Pres. But so what? there are many AUstralians I know who have only been OS once, some never. It seems odd to me that your very point was trotted out when Bush became Pres, and Left critics argued strenously that this fact alone signalled a renewed American isolationatist political position. Well, 9/11 sure changed that!
Elizabeth, New Orleans may have changed that!
Your beloved pres appears, “isolationatist”sic, to large numbers of his own population. Lets hope he picks up his act because it is not looking too flash, at the moment.
Elizabeth,
Playing the person may be more fun, but it means (in this context) that you have not been answering the question, just attacking the person asking the question. It may be an effective high school debating method but it does not convince as to your case.
Perhaps Carlos should look to his own debating method before critising the methodology of others. Seeming to imply that our Prime Minister is a war monger by emphasising a part of his name is a vintage method of playing the man – and an infantile one at that. Calling Steve Forbes a “Stupid White Man” (repeating someone else’s words) shows a lack of inventiveness, too.
thanks Andrew
Joe2, apologies for my typing. By the way he isn’t ‘…my beloved pres’.
But on the related point, sure the Federal agencies failed, but don’t forget that in the US system local/city and State authorities carry paramount responsibility, and they are ‘responsible’ for such events, and it is they that call on federal authorities for assistance. The “Feds’ just can’t march in and run the show!
The department of homeland security had taken over the show as of 9/11.
They ran a natural disaster situation as if it was an act of terrorism. Elizabeth, when people were in need of water ,food and sanitation the feds sent armed soldierskeystone cops. Australian consular officials were unable to enter, as if it was a war zone.
ps, far be it for me to pick on your typing.
Andrew, Elizabeth, et al..
our PM, John dubya hoWARd is a war mongerer,, not because of how I might misspell his name, but simply because together with Bush and Blair they lied to take us to war.
Lied and caused a war that still kill thousands of people. Full stop
Next. I was not calling Forbes himself to be the “Stupid White Man”.
I was referring to the long historical malaise affecting the USA of rich “Stupid White Men” (mostly!), who have power and who control institutions that can effect massive change or in this case, save lives. But instead do nothing, because they simply have very different priorities: money.
Next. I was referring to the taboo subject of CLASS, where poverty and race have a very direct correlation, and the long history of such injustice in the USA. Key to this is the extremely biased portrayal of such situations, or the way it is brushed under the carpet when in polite company… Specially in the context of rapper Kanye West’s comments:
“I hate the way they portray us in the media.
“If you see a black family it says they are looting if you see a white family it says they are looking for food.
“And just to imagine if I was down there, those are my people down there. So anybody out there who wants to help with the set up, the way that America is set up to help … The poor, the black people, the less well off as slow as possible. I mean, Red Cross is doing everything they can.
“We already realize a lot of the people that could help are at war now fighting another way and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us.�
Finally, stick the distracting talk of methodology where it belongs… your thesis or uni. Same goes with issues of “inventiveness” or an originality I never claimed.
One last time: my only focus was the way critical dissenting opinions are filtered out. The way the media and many commentators bury their head in the sand (or into other nastier orifices) to pretend they have no responsibility at all in this, to pretend that there is no deliberate killing, no war going on, and to simply ignore what kids or rappers could tell you: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.� Just like with Iraq, nothing personal, only business.
touché!
Amazing as it seems,the US media is now confirming reports that the 5 insurgents/looters/etc shot and killed by the police in New Orleans yesterday were actually contractors hired by Defence to work on restorating pumps . They were fired on by police and were armed,and returned the fire !,….Only in America !!!
>Carlos Says: September 5th, 2005 at 10:54 pm “Elizabeth, play the ball not the man�
>Whatever does that means? If it’s a sporting term, I prefer to ‘play’ the person!
To “play the man and not the ball” is to deliberately foul an opposing player to try and injure them sufficiently to force them out of the game – is that really your preference?
Tell me who is rightwing on the newspaper The Herald Sun in Melbourne is it the Editor or is it a Journalist,please comment.
Oh you could start with the owner!
Carlos,
You are accusing our PM of lying. While he has been proved wrong on WMD, being proven wrong is not sufficient for an accusation of lying – he had to have known, or suspected, that what he said on WMD was wrong. I am not aware of any evidence that he knew or suspected that what he was saying was wrong. If you have such evdence, it should be published and would probably lead to him resigning as PM.
If you have no such evidence, beyond saying “he knew, he must have done because I say he did nah, nah, nah”, please retract – and stop playing the man.
On the alleged “Stupid White Men”. They are not concerned about money – all of them are aware (as you do not seem to be) that money is a token for what backs it up – wealth. They realise, as you seem not to, that without wealth and in particular excess wealth, you are not able to help others without putting yourself into a place where you need help. Sure, they are not doing purely for altruistic motives, but if we beggar ourselves out of altruistic motives so that we need help, is that better than getting into the situation where we generate wealth and then are able to help others?
Let me ask a question – where do you think the Red Cross is getting the wherewithall to be able to help?
First off just to say I am so happy that Kanye West came out and spoke the truth at the relief efforts show for hurricane Katrina. I only wish he put it in better wording so it could have been spoken eloquently. It needed to be said. Plus, I was so upset that the media kept displaying my people as thieves and looters after they had been in complete isolation from the world it seems for 5 whole days. Without food, water, bathing, not sure where your family is, u tell me how you would compose yourself? Babies had not been changed in a week, BABIES!!! Your in a America where tax payers are spending millions on security but yet we can hardly secure our own American Citizens. YES AMERICAN!!! How dare the media call these devastated people REFUGEES!!! What the hell does that mean? Remember, Katrina hit a predominately black, poor area—>flip the script: A WHITE, RICH area in 2 minutes tops I am more than certain that helicopter baskets, ships, troops, police and the president would have been running around like wild banchees. You remember the tsunami? How fast did we get our WHITE AMERICAN tourist out of there?? Exactly. How come we can send 10000 troops to Iraq overnight but not to our own state in 1 day? It is either a CLASS or RACE issue we are dealing with (my vote is on both). NO NEED FOR ANOTHER TAX PAID INVESTIGATION ON SOMETHING WE ALREADY KNOW!!!
Still working on it – said “with Bush’s record to run against.”
Only one small problem – Bush won’t be standing, so while his record will be out there, the new Republican candidate will be their own person.
Go Condi ’08
Razor, what interest does an Australian citizen, which I presume you are, resident in Australia, have in a Rice victory in 2008 in the interest of the Republican Party?
Do you believe that she will breathe life into the now defunct neocon Project for the New American Century?
or
Do you think that she will serve as the acceptable face of retreat from that grossly misbegotten project?
or
Do you just hate Democrats?
Katz,
My interest in who becomes the next President of the US of A is based on what I believe is the best for Australia. And I believe that having a Republican President is much better for the World and for Australia than having a Democrat President.
I do not know what this Project for the New American Century is that you talk of. I have seen it mentioned before but never bothered to read up on it as it appeared to generally be a typical lefty beat-up and conspiracy theory.
I hold the Democrats in only slightly less contempt than the ALP. I do not hate them, as hate is a very strong word. I hate terrorists. I dislike socialist views.
Electing Condi would be a triumph of the American dream – a black women becoming POTUS. She is highly intelligent, cultured, graceful, attractive, and hard working. And her politics are good. I also believe she would give that hard-hearted bitch a whipping at the polls.
Your question “Do you just hate Democrats.” brings a wry smile as I believe you realise what a powerful threat Condi would be to that women, and so by nominating her indicates a hatred. Very interesting.
P.S. unfortunately Condi has already said that she isn’t going to run. (But it is a long way off and it is a women’s perogative to change her mind, isn’t it.)
“I do not know what this Project for the New American Century is that you talk of. I have seen it mentioned before but never bothered to read up on it as it appeared to generally be a typical lefty beat-up and conspiracy theory.”
So that’s what you think, eh, Razor?
OK then.
1. The PNAC gets 289,000 Google hits. Some are lefty sites. But wait, there’s more.
2. Here’s the Homepage for the PNAC:
http://www.newamericancentury.org/
You decide for yourself whether it’s a conspiracy. And having made that decision, then decide whether it’s a lefty conspiracy or a righty conspiracy.
FWIW, I don’t believe the PNAC is a conspiracy at all. Just a pack of idiots who wrote the fighting words for politicians who wanted to pass themselves of as messianic. The aforesaid PNAC idiots got the most dangerous thing in the world: what they prayed for.
Meanwhile, some ofthe pretend messiahs got huge contracts for their corporations.
And the people of Middle East and the United States got the shaft.
Katz
Razor is just making sure he remains in lock-step with others of his persuasion. To break ranks could have him quickly labelled a supporter of terrorism by his hysterical comrades.
Katz – thanks for the link. Had a quick glance. It obviously doesn’t fit as a conspiracy as it is in the public. If you have big issues with it then good for you.
I am not going to get into a debate about PNAC with you because I don’t know enough about it but if you think that the fact that:
1. The Taliban has been deposed.
2. Saddam Hussein has been deposed.
3. Eygpt is having it’s first multi-candidate Presidential Election.
4. Syria has pulled out of Lebanon.
5. Libya has come in from the cold and exposed the Pakistani/North Korean Nuclear proliferation activities. And
6. The American economy has performed particularly well given 11 Sep 01 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and the War on Terror efforts, (I could go on and on)
is proof that the Leadership of the US of A is doing the wrong thing, then you go on being a ‘glass half empty’ person.
I think they are doing a pretty good job despite the opposition they receive to making the world a better place to live.
How does this relate to Condi in ’08? Is she a signatory to some PNAC stuff?
Irrespective of whether (or more realistically the extent to which) Katrina was made worse by Global Warming, there is no serious scientific dispute that increasing emissions of Greenhouse gasses will mean more events like Katrina: in the US, the developing world, and here.
Rice, if elected, would certainly maintain the Bush administration policies on doing nothing significant to slow global warming (after all she’s also from a Big Oil background). To believe she would be good for Australia you have to also believe that a cyclone taking out Brisbane would be a good thing, or at least so unimportant that it can be ignored compared to some mysterious benefits a continuation of the Bush policies would provide.
And as to the US economy going well – I guess if you consider 800,000 more people living in poverty a good thing, in a year of growth, then Bush is your man.