Geoffrey de Q Walker is a conservative legal academic for whom I usually have a fair amount of respect. However, his opinion piece in today's Australian , claiming that Australia's tax system undermines the rule of law, does nothing to enhance my opinion of him. For a start, W...
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I'm not currently blogging - you didn't notice? Oh. Anyway it's terrific that Ken is blogging. The reason I'm not blogging is pretty much directly related to a deadline drawing ever closer. Early next week I'm due to deliver a draft submission in respect of the Australia/US Fr...
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Jason Soon has lost no time in taking advantage of the Movable Type extended page facility at Catallaxy's new home . He's posted a long-ish rant about the benefits (and to some extent the problems) of a flat tax system . I'm inherently sceptical about flat tax, although I cert...
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I've never been much impressed by Mel Gibson, either as an actor or a man. Moreover, the manufactured controversy over his Passion of the Christ didn't exactly fill me with joyful anticipation at the prospect of going to see it. So it was almost a shock to discover that the mo...
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Robert Corr sums up my attitude to Germaine Greer's latest repugnant attention-seeking effort in the Sydney Morning Herald, about footballers and gang rape. I just chose to ignore the pathetic old cow to avoid gratifying her increasingly pathological desire to be noticed. But...
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You'd have to wonder why a prestigious national broadsheet newspaper like the Australian would give column space to an utterly discredited shyster like US pro-gun "academic" John Lott Jnr . Have a read of the redoubtable Tim Lambert's blog if you think I'm being overly harsh o...
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What do these 2 stories from today's media have in common? Escaped pederast gets 4 months A CONVICTED pedophile claimed he had turned his life around after realising his "abhorrent tendencies" needed to be channelled into creative activities, a Perth court heard yesterday. Pau...
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One of the many things I like about Professor Bunyip is his utter contempt for anything remotely resembling politically correct sentiments. His latest post is a typical example: The Professor gave up on the disadvantaged some years ago, having finally accepted Jesus' admonitio...
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News today from Rhea County, Tennessee where county commissioners have just voted 8-0 to ban homosexual acts. "We need to keep them out of here," said Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the motion - and who appears to be blissfully unaware that the US Supreme Court has r...
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The day started badly. I'd forgotten I had a "share accommodation" ad in today's paper, until the phone rang at 7.20. "Randall here. When can I come round and look at the room you've got for rent?" "Aaaaah, why don't you just give me your phone number and I'll ring you back la...
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An interesting OpEd in The Washington Post considers the health benefits that have accrued in eastern Europe since the Iron Curtain rusted through. In Poland, rates of smoking, cardiovascular disease and alcoholism have all plummetted (despite the presence of western product m...
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British journalist, Simon Jenkins, in the latest issue of the Spectator - published on March 11 - offers this no doubt enduring testament to the importance of timing: "Nothing to fear but fear itself: Simon Jenkins says that Tony Blair's Sedgefield speech was just another atte...
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I seem to have developed an Iraq obsession over the last couple of days. I'll try to make this my final post on the subject for the moment at least. However, Alan from Southerly Buster has now posted his promised article on the Iraq interim constitution. It's well worth readin...
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Alan from Southerly Buster flags another promising move in US democracy-building in Iraq: the Americans have enlisted the help of India in providing governance training for large numbers of Iraqi bureaucrats. It's a positive indication, although I can't help feeling a little n...
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Today marks the first time I can remember when those self-styled "blog twins" John Quiggin and Tim Dunlop have disagreed with each other. Tim opposes John Howard's announced desire for federal control of hospitals, and reckons Howard is " a control freak who wants as much as p...
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It's true. According to a study reported in the Oz "members of the elite Special Air Service (SAS) were exposed to lead, teargas and explosions in training, and experienced high levels of physical trauma and stress." Who knew? To be utterly even-handed, the Study does dwell at...
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The signing of Iraq's interim constitution by the Iraqi Governing Council is great news for everyone who sincerely hopes that the US intervention in Iraq will result in positive, liberal-democratic reform in that war-ravaged country. Although it's by definition a political com...
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It's 1.20pm in Sydney. The annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Parade and Party is due to get underway in around 8 hours time (though the parade is always late in starting) and - wouldn't you know it? - it's raining. This may be due to the influence of a cyclonic low moving south fr...
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The Federal ALP's Shadow Attorney-General Nicola Roxon publishes an opinion piece in today's Australian boasting about her "commitment" to reforming the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act . Opposition parties are always remarkably keen to profess enthusiasm for beefing up...
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Yesterday's decision by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal to order a retrial of Tayyab Sheikh, one of the notorious (alleged) participants in the Bilal Skaf pack rape crimes committed in south-western Sydney, will inevitably put the ("alleged") rape victim through a huge amount...
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Alistair Cooke's " Letter from America " has been running on the BBC, the ABC and a host of other English-speaking public broadcasting systems, for much longer than I've been alive. It all began in 1946 and no fewer than 2,869 Letters have gone to air since. But this week, age...
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The always entertaining Professor Bunyip - surely Gianna's first choice for Godfather of the newly arrived Harley - waxes eloquent. In a, "you might get what you wish for," cautionary tale, about the perils that that might await maritally-inclined poofs, he offers this gem: "A...
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When I worked in the NT Anti-Discrimination Commission a few years ago, one of the earliest lessons I learned was that there are always at least 3 stories in any situation: the applicant's story, the respondent's version, and the truth. I could embark on a reverie about multip...
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As poor old Baroness Thatcher might say - were she 100 and had the Tory party not bribed her medical advisors to gravely inform her that she was no longer capable of speaking in public. Yes! I note, in passing, that I've just racked up my posting century here on the Northern T...
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Chris Sheil , who recently opined that someone named Ryan Adams is the legitimate heir to Dylan and Springsteen, won't be pleased to hear this . Erratum (Chris points out that he was merely passing on the views of others - and is, quite possibly, as vague as I am on the oeuvre...
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It's not every day that a Leader in a Very Important Newspaper can make you laugh out loud. In fact, all things considered, it's probably preferable that it should not. But this one, from the UK Telegraph , is hilarious, and worth posting in full. "Killer pouffes (Filed: 29/02...
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