The Canberra School
Economists are extremists
of irrational faith,
acolytes of daily newsprint
parsing icons of inflation and recession
with fringe benefits
doctrines of gain through pain,
while wealth breeds wealth by stealth.
Keynes, Smith and Friedman –
Thatcher, Keating, Reagan,
the pedantic pantheons
and sacrifice of certainty.
Economists as pampered disciples,
their J curved recursive credos of trade and ego
hardening malleable hearts to stone,
resounding hollow in
less speculative souls.
I’d like to turn the tables in the temple,
and for every new presumption,
make them reimburse the poor.
Jinjirrie 1992
To our sisters on #IWD2011 – equal rights : stand with the oppressed not the oppressor : end imperialism : capitalism is not woman-friendly
Australia Links
“Are you really sure what the phrase ‘Aboriginal perspectives’ means? The first step in understanding, respecting and eventually incorporating Aboriginal perspectives is simply by understanding the nature of perspective.”
Doing the Trained Monkey Dance
Nation of unrepentant pirates costs $900m
Racist Facebook Hater of the week
Gillard arrives in US for busy tour
Ms Gillard will become the first foreign dignitary to address the new US congress and only the fourth Australian prime minister to ever do so.
Her speech is expected to commemorate 60 years of the ANZUS alliance.
The other big moment will be a meeting with Mr Obama, where the exit strategy for the Afghan war and the global economic recovery will be likely topics.
But Ms Gillard has already indicated she will steer clear of difficult territory, including Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
She will also discuss global security during talks with other senior administration figures, including secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the CIA director.
The global economy will dominate discussions with Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and the head of the World Bank.
There will also be dinner with former Labor leader and now US ambassador Kim Beazley, lunch with News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch and talks with UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
Palestine / Israel Links
Egyptian diplomat says new leaders could ease travel restrictions on Gaza Palestinians
“It appears the policemen escalated the situation, and the suspects were dragged into the unrest. During the tumult some demonstrators incurred blows and violence unleashed by police.” The judge rejected the police’s request to expel the detainees from Sheikh Jarrah.
Protesting Israeli Diplomat Joins Sheikh Jarrah Demonstration
Palestinian with Jewish wife denied permanent visa : Son of Tul Karm’s Adel Hussein served in an IDF combat unit.
Yediot Finally Publishes Story of Kidnapping of Gaza Engineer
Liberal Senator calls for apology for Evian “hurt”
Choice of JStreet ‘mascot’ raises questions about Jewish identity
Saudis ban all demonstrations
Anglican bishop of Jerusalem sues Israel over visa refusal
Israel’s diplomats are spineless propagandists
Jewish people in the French capital live in the shadow of hatred
The right to live in Jaffa
The Israeli occupation echoes from Cairo: Amira Hass reminded that the Palestinians are under occupation when almost all Egyptians refuse to meet with her because she writes for an Israeli newspaper.
Kevin Rudd’s Jerusalem Press Conference
Steve Weizman, AFP: Without going into details Minister, did you in your talks with the Prime Minister raise your concerns about settlements.
Mr Rudd: I don’t go into those details, because my relationship with the Israeli Government is longstanding, with the Prime Minister it’s longstanding in various positions he and I have held over a long period of time. Therefore I leave those deliberations to themselves.
Of course, the wider question of settlements is a continuing issue in the international debate, as are the broader questions concerning the final status issues which I referred to before.
Libya Links
SAS and MI6 officers released by Libya’s rebel commanders
White House chief of staff sceptical about Libyan no-fly zones
Obama’s Libyan Abdication
Wikileaks Links
CRIMINALIZING THE TRUTH TELLERS – AN ANALYSIS BY DR. LAWRENCE DAVIDSON
Other Links
Talk Doesn’t Pay, So Psychiatry Turns to Drug Therapy
NATO allies warn US on too much defense scrimping – While the Pentagon tightens its financial belt, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has hinted at reducing American troop levels in Europe. However, Washington must reconcile a smaller force with traditional NATO obligations.
America Is Not Broke : just morally bankrupt
Put merchants of death out of business
Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, is pushing for the arms embargo slapped on China after the Tiananmen Square massacre to be scrapped on the grounds that relations with Beijing need to be nurtured for strategic reasons. Proving that she suffers from the same lack of scruples as other top players in New Labour, she is more concerned with drumming up business for the arms industry than in China’s oppression of Uighurs in Xinjiang or Buddhists in Tibet. Proving, too, that mollycoddling the arms industry transcends party lines in British politics, David Cameron toured the Persian Gulf last month with a few of his country’s leading arms traders. Critics of the trade are “completely at odds with reality”, the prime minister thundered.
It is right that a fresh ban on weapons sales to Libya has now been introduced. But we know that such bans can be lifted on the flimsiest of pretexts.