Do conservatives really exist?

Newshounds on Fox:

BOR: Why should I pay $25 for this book/

JAN: Because it will show you how the government is so out of control, how the federal government thinks it can do whatever it wants, how it recognizes no limitation on its power, how it denies liberty that Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence called inalienable, and it will warn you - well, you know this because you have to put up with me almost every day - but it will warn the reader that it is time to do something that recognizes no restraint on its power. (Music is fading in.)

BOR: But Bush/Cheney says the power of the presidency has been watered down.

JAN: The power of the presidency has been expanded beyond our imagining, and these guys are just as bad as the Democrats before them when it comes to abusing power.

BOR: All right, there it is: The Constitution in Exile, Judge Napolitano.

Damn straight.

The AWB distraction

PM canes 'rubbish' postmodern teaching

"I feel very, very strongly about the criticism that many people are making that we are dumbing down the English syllabus," Mr Howard said.

Ah yes, the old ‘some say’ routine, allowing Howard to jump on the bandwagon, without actually committing himself to a position. Give us your opinion, PM, not some weasely statement designed to give you an out, if the facts prove the ‘critics’ wrong.

Australia's most distinguished literary scholar, Leonie Kramer, yesterday agreed with the Prime Minister's criticism of how English is taught in high schools. Dame Leonie, professor emeritus in Australian literature at the University of Sydney, said what worried her was "the notion that you have to read, let us say Shakespeare, in relation to contemporary preoccupations such as race and class".

Meanwhile the ‘Dame’ suggests that because Shakespeare included race and class in his writings, they are somehow ‘contemporary’ preoccupations. Hmm.. distinguished, indeed.

Believe me, or your lying eyes?

Newshounds:

"I’d like to know if somebody in my White House did leak sensitive information. As you know, I’ve been outspoken on leaks. And whether they happened in the White House, or happened in the administration, or happened on Capitol Hill, it is a — they can be very damaging. And so this investigation is ongoing and — by professionals who do this for a living, and I hope they — I’d like to know." [GWB 10/28/03]

Bush a hypocrite? No, say it ain't so!

In fact, this issue (leaky Bush) proves a lie of the idea that the Bush Admin is particularly focused on national security (of the U.S.). Politics and their agenda comes first, no doubt.

"Sor.., Sorrngh! So.., Sorrnghhh!!"

Tim Dunlop on the Leyland P76 Car Owner's Club:

This is not about point scoring; it is simply about addressing something I find a tad perplexing. I really don't see how you can say that I no longer think the invasion was a good idea but at the same time maintain you made the right decision at the time. Don't those who now think it was the wrong thing to do have to be open to the possibility that they simply assessed the information we all had at the time incorrectly?

Can the Fonz say 'Sorry'?

Apply peacefully

Uranium: signed, sealed, to be delivered:

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says he has signed two agreements with China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on supplying uranium to China.

The agreements, signed following a meeting between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Prime Minister John Howard, cover nuclear transfer and nuclear co-operation.

"These agreements will allow for the supply of Australian uranium to China's nuclear power program, and co-operation in peaceful uses of nuclear technology," Mr Downer said in a statement.

"These agreements establish strict safeguards arrangements and conditions to ensure [that] Australian uranium supplied to China, and any collaborative programs in applications of nuclear technology, is used exclusively for peaceful purposes.

"These agreements are consistent with Australia's long-term policy of applying safeguards and restrictions on uranium exports.

"The agreements also further build on and consolidate 25 years of development of safeguards requirements since agreements with other nuclear weapon states were first negotiated."

Uranium for everyone! Woo-hoo!

So Australia takes the money and runs, eh? Trouble is, the old duck and cover-in the event of a nuclear attack-routine has proven to be next to useless. I wonder if there's room in Howard's bunker at Kirribili?