Wednesday, January 19, 2005



Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.
-Pericles (430 B.C.)

It was as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he worked the room at half-time in the premiere of the light Prokofiev opera. NSW Premier, Bob Carr had a big smile on his face at the Sydney Opera House Tuesday night: The Love of Three Oranges

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: The Battle for Political Headlines: Latham v Beazley v Egan
Looking for Webdiarists' choice for Labor leader
I’m certainly not the first to notice the fact that some amazing political battle for media attention and primary real front page story space is being staged in Sydney and its media satelites Down Under Who is trying to drown whom ... and why?

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd has a chance to win the federal Labor leadership over Kim Beazley, says NSW ALP president Senator Ursula Stephens.
Senator Stephens said Mr Beazley, the former leader who yesterday became the first caucus member to throw their hat in the ring to replace Mark Latham, was not necessarily a shoe-in.
"At this stage I think the situation is still very uncertain, because although Kim has indicated his intention to run for the leadership ... I know there are others who actually are considering their options," Senator Stephens told ABC radio.


Daily Terror rightly points out that NSW Treasurer Michael Egan is the state's longest serving in 150 years. After delivering 10 Budgets and seeing out 27 years in Parliament, he said he had tired of combative politics.
Rudd in with chance to beat Beazley: senator [Chances of Beazley; Mercy Buckets Costa off the rails as Carr reshuffles ]
• · Like potholes after a southerly storm in Sydney spin doctors will surface to explain the sound bites Spinmeister and Power
• · · Eleven government bodies massively misspent public funds, breaching the Constitution, an audit has found "The closer one gets to elections or wars, the further one gets from the truth." -- Tony Blankley
• · · · In the Courier Mail, 19/01/2005, Letters section Grace du Prie writes: The think tank members who thought up the idea of different fines for different income earners compare this to the tax system. It's fair, they say, people who earn more will pay more. Aren't the wealthy earners those who evade taxes more successfully? A proposal to punish people based on income is flawed "The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a bit longer." -- Henry Kissinger
• · · · · Artists accuse city of biased grant system, politician says his venue deserves the cash Prague: it's a fight over money. It's a fight over financial transparency. It's a fight over art "[Politicians] -- they'll give you everything you want to your face -- and then, as you walk away, they'll shoot you in the back because it's fun to watch you die." -- Bob Crandall, former president, American Airlines
• · · · · · Nobody else conveys so much through the slightest angling of eyebrows, the merest twitch of face muscles, the faintest curl of lip, the millimetre-perfect positioning of shoulders. His qualities are often debated. What is certain is that he would be a very bad poker player. Why we need a strong state more than ever "Politicians and bureaucrats are hopelessly addicted to running other people's lives." -- Geoffrey Neale