Politics: By the time you get to the top, you're already corrupted. Pity.
-Janis Ian, American Troubadour in SMH Good Weekend on Jozef's Name Day - 19 March 2005
George F. Kennan, a diplomat and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who formulated the basic foreign policy followed by the United States in the Cold War, died last night at his home in Princeton, N.J. He was 101 Long Telegram: Outsider Forged Cold War Strategy
Eye on Politics & Media Marshals: Carr's Long Haul: Taking Toll
There has been no open society in NSW, no Creativity, no Solidarity. There was, first of all, the meticulous efficiency of the Carr Sound Bite, which will keep the media machinery oiled for years to come.
He has a fear of being the swimmer furthest out off Maroubra because a shark might take the outrider. Anne Davies and Gerard Noonan look at the risk-averse Premier's decade in power.
When Carr became leader of the Opposition, you had state Labor governmentscollapsing because of economic irresponsibility. That is seared into Carr's mind. Asked to nominate his worst political moment, Carr does not hesitate: February 2004; that sweltering day when the Sydney rail system experienced what he calls "a general nervous collapse".
• Minus The Bakers Dozen [The Prime Minister has three media advisers; Bob Carr has five Tight and tireless grip on public perception ; I look forward to contesting the 2007 election: (You sneeze and Carl's there with a tissue) Extras audition daily for the lead ; Inadequate early warning systems and a dysfunctional work environment mean that it is only a matter of time before a Campbelltown-Camden-like crisis cripples other hospitals Threat of sick-hospital syndrome spreads in NSW; CityRail's transit officers (dressed in Stasi style uniforms) will come under scrutiny by the State Government after hundreds of complaints from commuters Complaints prompt rail staff inquiry ]
• · The blogosphere is gobsmacked by Eugene Volokh’s startling admission that he approves of this Iranian style justice: Intuitive Barbarity ; via Digby ; Werriwa: Labor expected to retain Latham's seat
• · · Ukraine admits exporting missiles to Iran and China ; What Iraq's checkpoints are like
• · · · The Bush administration's campaign against openness The Age of Missing Information ; The Liberal senator accused of smuggling cash, bribing officials and carrying a concealed weapon in Iraq faces censure or suspension from the Senate if he is found to have breached pecuniary interest rules. Register slip may hurt Lightfoot ; Money man says senator in the clear
• · · · · Chopper project should be reviewed: expert ; Just how much worse can Australian defence procurement get? Navy Seasprite helicopters are just the latest billion-dollar lemon in a procurement history pockmarked by acquisitions that run into cost and delivery overruns and fail to perform as promised. The $6 billion Collins-class submarines were too noisy and couldn't carry the torpedoes bought for them. The last of the Anzac-class frigates arrived 15 years after the first, its original communications obsolescent. The $1.2 billion over-the-horizon radar came five years late. The Bushranger utility vehicle is 10 times less reliable than the army wanted but its only rival was twice as bad again Getting fizzle for our extra bucks
• · · · · · Geoff Shaw is a man of considerable and many strengths but one, catastrophic weakness A $3000 fine, but a judgement that will last a lifetime ; Electors vote in substantial shadow of its missing man