So long as John Howard remains on the ash heap of history, who cares?
Posts Tagged ‘Australia’
Australian Election Summary
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010The Odds Of Terrorism Down Under
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010Leaving aside the fact that Australia has never had a domestic terrorist attack, what are the odds that an Australian might be a terrorist?
Approximately 1 in 525,000.
Gorilla says: “Or slightly less than the odds of an Australian dying by falling out of bed”.
Rudd Nipped In Bud
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009Climate change legislation has gone down to defeat in the Australian Senate.
The carbon trading scheme was rejected after the opposition Liberal party replaced its leader for supporting the legislation.
Australian PM Kevin Rudd’s government will have another go at passing the legislation next year. In the meantime, Rudd will be one of the negotiating point men attempting to arrive at another meaningless international agreement in Copenhagen.
It’s fairly clear that there simply isn’t the political will in most developed nations to deal with a problem that, while troubling, isn’t on the horizon for several more years. Politicians don’t do long-term and polluters don’t do shared sacrifice unless they can make a buck on it.
Gorilla thinks: “How green was my valley!”
The Blog Goes Down Under
Monday, October 19th, 2009Gorilla’s heading for two weeks in Australia, so posting will be a bit unpredictable.
This week will be mostly spent in transit, but some service should resume after the weekend.
1937 Again
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009Australia’s become the first G-20 country to raise interest rates!
Inflation is the worry, what with the mines booming and the economy growing, so it’s time to take away the punch bowl…
This is exactly what happened in the US in 1937. Having slightly clawed our way out of Depression depths, the government decided to raise taxes and balance the budget.
The result? Right back down to the bottom!
The Oz case may be different, in that they’ve got the insatiable Chinese on their doorstep. And it’s a very small country, with a population only slightly larger than the number of unemployed in the US.
On the other hand, if the dollar carry trade bubble’s really driving this bus, then the Ozzys are in for a rude awakening when commodity prices dip again.
Gorilla thinks: “There may be no wonder in being Down Under!”
“Give Me A Fatwa, And Hold The Terror”
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009We’re in the midst of another terrorist roundup, today’s took place in Australia.
What’s hard to figure out about these swoops is the timing. They always seem to happen when something’s not going quite right for the incumbent administration, and result from years of watching and waiting by the security services. Obama’s been losing ground steadily on health care, then suddenly the FBI’s got a bunch of very dubious guys from North Carolina who are hot for foreign jihad.
In Australia, a 7-month investigation sprung into action, although the suspected terrorists apparently wanted but hadn’t obtained a fatwa to authorize their operation, which consisted of going to an army base and shooting anybody they saw.
Gorilla says: “What about the real terrorists, you know, like the ones who attacked us in 2001 and we still haven’t captured in Pakistan? Doubt they’ll be waiting around for a fatwa or some Holy Land BBQ”.
