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Bannerman has become aware, thanks Tuesday’s Senate broadcast on ABC Newsradio, of the Doomsday Clock having been altered in mid-January. According to the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago, the current state of play in global politics and international affairs requires that the Doomsday Clock move closer to midnight.
Bannerman listens to Parliamentary broadcasts almost religiously. In fact, it’s the most fun you can have with a radio while working without actually having to listen to it. Closely that is.
So says the most accomplished teller of falsehoods the Australian political process has ever produced.
Saturday, March 3 2007. Adelaide Street Circuit
Sunday, 4 March 2007 - Adelaide Street Circuit.
A news poll taken amid the fall-out over politicians’ connections with former Western Australian premier turned lobbyist Brian Burke shows support for Labor is at its highest level in 11 years.
How sweet it is!
Bannerman is thrilled to see that the franchise remains alive. Now, if Paramount can just keep William Shatner away from the filming, all should be well.The next motion picture of the Star Trek franchise, tentatively titled "Star Trek XI," will begin filming this fall for theatrical release on Christmas Day 2008.
SEVERAL Federal Liberal MPs, including a former minister, are embroiled in a police investigation into alleged abuse of electoral allowances.
(via Courier Mail)
Hearing this issue aired on this morning’s news broadcasts hardly surprises Bannerman.
"Now I think the best we can hope for is for the JSF to buck the trend in aviation projects and deliver the promised capability on time and on budget."
Andrew Davies - Program Director for Operations and Capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
An interesting, if succinct article on the government’s rather strange decision to outlay A$6billion on what is regarded as a stop-gap measure by purchasing 24 Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) F/A-18 E/F fighter attack aircraft. The questions Davies asks are valid. Are we, the taxpayers, being hoodwinked into believing that the JSF program is not in trouble and subject to delays? Is the government outlaying funds on a temporary stop-gap which is likely to turn into the first of two probable purchases of an aircraft which will in all likelihood be out-moded by the time any penny, with reference to the JSF program running into protracted delays and budget escalations, drops?
From Bannerman’s research into the Super Hornet, it is entirely unsuited as a replacement, either short or long term, for either the existing F-111 or F/A 18A aircraft fleet. By engaging in this purchase now, Australia is all but locked into further purchases should the JSF program be proven to have run into serious problems.
Well worth a read.
Bannerman would like to invite all and sundry to yet another playground for the inanely stupid, in terms of internet forums.
Debate and Relate, it calls itself. Never was a name more poorly chosen. This forum is one in format only because it uses PHP2 BBS software and templates. It’s moderated, apparently, but you’ll never see any moderation performed. The various sub-forums all deal with the subject of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, and if you’re really lucky, you’ll get the occasional thread dealing with domestic politics. Mind you....this board is Australian in creation and presentation. The underlying theme of the forum, you ask? Well there’s one self-declared white supremacist, several lesser radical, but openly bigoted anti-non-white Caucasian ’enthusiasts’, half of which are - surprisingly - female. No thread escapes the influence of the anti-muslim influence of the overall board’s ethos. The moderators are American and Australian. Male and female respectively, apparently. It’s difficult to tell on the ’net, as the reader will surely appreciate. Bannerman suspects one has the hots for the other but how that is determined remains a mystery. Perhaps they have the hots for themselves?
You know, reader, Bannerman thought PA was a crook show. He was sorely mistaken.
Further to the last post, which apparently excited the owners of the ineptly named ’Debate and Relate’ forum something chronic, I thought I’d treat readers to a slice of what passes for rationality among some of the inmates.
Osama bin Laden, if he’s alive, celebrated his 50th birthday on Saturday
Well ..... as Bannerman would say.....’Bugger me!’ So, the man who dragged the world kicking and screaming into the realisation that poverty, discontent and religious fanaticism is a volatile mix, just happens to be the very same age as Bannerman. Well, not exactly the same. The ageing Bannerman doesn’t surrender his fifth decade until much later this year and that surrender will be something momentous, to be sure. There will be a commiseration the following day of a type Osama has more than likely never experienced. Kind of makes one wonder, doesn’t it, reader? Is being an Islamic fundamentalist who sleeps rough in the back blocks of Pakistan, never touches alcohol (supposedly), better off than a beer-loving atheist who constantly over-indulges while spending his free time circle-jerking a mob of wankers on the internet and wondering why life is such a crock 98.7% of the time?
Maybe David Hicks had something way back in 2000.
Prime Minister John Howard has defended a security pact to be signed with Japan this week, despite concerns from China and South Korea.
Sixty-two years ago Australia saw off the empire of Japan as the greatest threat to this country’s future security ever faced since the first fleet dropped anchor in Port Jackson. Today, we’re offering to stand by that nation, protect her and her citizens should she ever come under attack, as she supposedly pledges to stand by this nation likewise. The connotations are more than a little un-nerving.
The man to whom this tome is dedicated would spin in his grave if he had one.
Of course, a slightly more than skin deep appraisal of this ’security pact’ reveals a distinct flavour of Pax Americana. In conjunction with the security pact between Japan and the U.S., the Australia-Japan Defence Pact is aimed squarely at North Korea. The linked article’s oblique reference to the ’U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative’ is sufficient to qualify that claim.
Australia is no longer a nation with an independent position on issues of concern and import throughout the world. She is merely the obedient serf of the hegemonic master.
Harry Belafonte called President Bush “the greatest terrorist in the world” on Sunday
MSNBC.com
Bannerman was fortunate to listen to an interview between Stephen Evans of the BBC and Belafonte on NewsRadio this morning. Belafonte’s statements regarding Rice and Powell, as black American’s in the house of a white master would appear quite relevant. Especially when one considers that neither individual are revered as important individuals anywhere in the world.
Then again, the master is hardly revered anywhere in the world either. Out of interest, Bannerman came across this transcript from an American radio show, ’Democracy Now’ where Belafonte was interviewed. It’s good reading.
Guys, ever wondered why sex is such a sleep-inducing pastime? Ever wondered why ’getting it up again’ takes time and you’d rather watch TV instead of snuggling your partner?
Well, no, neither has Bannerman, but we all know, do we not, that the aforesaid are all part and parcel of being male. Bannerman came across this fascinating article recently, and thought his fellow male bloggers might like to take note and even bookmark it so that next time their significant others complain about post-coital somnolence, conclusive scientific research can be pointed to.
Women don’t have a patent on hormones as an excuse, it seems.
Well, reader, Bannerman has been a tad busy of late, what with switching jobs, buying cars and teaching right-wing rabble how to conduct themselves in public. It’s been an amusing experience, but sadly, one which said RWR just couldn’t hack any more of. A brief word of advisory to those of you looking for a place to exchange opinions and discuss issues of import in a rational environment. Don’t bother with Debate & Relate. There’s none of either going there. There is, however, a whole lot of bigoted racial intolerance and cultural vilification, especially against Muslims, and general white supremacy ranting and raving from various of the so-called members. Almost all of whom are RWR, completely dismissive of any opinion but their collective own.
Why is it that those of a right-wing ideology always wind up exhibiting the most hypocritical of on-line personas?
During a speech in Canberra last night, John Howard said Iraqis need patience and resolve, not a timetable or retreat.
Round Two of the V8 Supercar Championship kicks off today at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia.
Sunday used to be race day for the touring car circus, but these days, with the refined and fully commercial, made for television competition, Saturday and Sunday hold equal importance for fans and teams alike.
Bannerman has decided, probably against his better judgement, to resurrect the ThinkTank Forum which he initially created in December 2006, but locked off due to time constraints. ThinkTank is intended to be a discussion forum for mature adults who look for online interaction with like minds in the analysis of important issues which impact everyone daily. If you’re of a mind, and can’t find a suitable place to express your opinions and discuss issues of import without the almost inevitable personal abuse, innuendo and logical fallacy which seems to pervade almost every online forum, then Bannerman extends an invitation to you to sample ThinkTank.
Get in on the ground floor and help to create a place where freedom of expression in a proper, mature environment is the norm.
"Nick Minchin has let the cat out of the bag this morning, he’s admitted that the Future Fund will comfortably meet its target by 2020, well ahead of schedule" - Wayne Swan
ABC News Online
Well, maybe Nick did and maybe he didn’t allow the feline freedom. This is politics at it’s most desperate. It’s "he said", "no I didn’t" type of stuff you’d normally hear in a junior school yard.
Greens Leader Bob Brown says Hicks’s guilt will always be in doubt, despite the guilty plea.
"His guilty plea is simply a plea for release, for exit from the inhumane Guantanamo Bay gulag, and that’s a human response."
ABC News Online
Finally, after five long years of inaction on the part of the Australian government and a tacit promotion of a clearly unfair and illegal system of so-called justice, David Hicks has taken matters into his own hands in a bid to secure his own release from the Cuban hell hole which has been his cage.
That's how Bannerman sees the so-called prosecution seeking and achieving a 20 years sentence for David Hicks, following his guilty plea to the Specification 1 of the charges levied against him.
However, digression, whilst satisfying, doesn't address the issue of just what sentence Hicks' will wind up with. Will it be 20 years as rumoured? Well, as the post title states, Bannerman believes that occurrence to be unlikely. Bannerman believes an accommodation between the US and Australian governments has already been reached, which would explain the gag order on all concerned with yesterday's hearing and the end result. Bannerman believes that David Hicks will be back in Australia before the end of April, indeed, may well be back before the end of next week. What remains to be seen is just what Hicks will be sentenced to, whether it be additional incarceration in this country, which seems grossly unfair, and whether Hicks will be effectively silenced by the Australian government regarding his story.
Snapped by New-Horizon’s Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) as the spacecraft passed the innermost Jovian moon, Io on it’s way out of that system.
"Integrity never goes out of style, and it is integrity which will allow any aspirant to survive the constant examinations of political life." - Santo Santoro
Indeed, real integrity, statesmanship, and personal honesty outside of party politics are admirable qualities for any prospective political aspirant. Bannerman finds the statement by Santoro to be extremely ironic, in that his integrity both as a Senator and political animal within the Queensland Liberal Party is evidently suspect. Perhaps Santoro fell victim to the all too obvious arrogance and hubris which oozes from the Howardian cabal these days? This appears evident in another of his insights into the political life.
"There is no point pretending that the media cycle will get shorter, one’s personal life will remain private or that one’s financial activities will remain unexamined."
And neither they should, to the Bannerman’s mind. Public life is exactly that. Public and accountable. If you’re not prepared for the voyeuristic demands that public life imposes, don’t enter the fray and then whine about it when sprung.
Pieces of space junk from a Russian satellite coming out of orbit narrowly missed hitting a jetliner over the Pacific Ocean overnight.
Mercopress
This is a rather disquieting occurrence, especially given this piece of news from the International Space Station. Bannerman wonders whether this supposed ’satellite’ or ’space junk’ which passed relatively close to the Lan Chile A340 was in fact a space-going garbage scow? NASA doesn’t think so because the timings are wrong, but who’s to say NASA isn’t covering some Russian arse?
Seems a little coincidentally suss
"There are many countries near to us - Indonesia comes very much to mind - where an initiative such as this will be very much welcome" - John Howard on the launching of his governments ’tree initiative’
(via ABC Online)
Bannerman’s having a hard time understanding the impetus on this one. Australia is contributing $200 million Aussie tax-payer dollars to places like Indonesia and Malaysia to plant more trees and help stamp out illegal logging of precious natural forests and their associated habitats, yet nothing towards doing the same thing at home???!
Just how close are we to a federal election? This question occurred to Bannerman earlier today while toiling away, listening to ABC News Radio in the background. He noted two articles in particular, both of which featured that ever-lovable Treasurer, Peter Costello.
Well, no, it’s not good. In fact it’s downright disgraceful and disgusting. Not especially surprising in any particular aspect, but extremely distasteful none the less.
