News
Seriously, Gina Rinehart, shut up. The woman, Australia's richest and potentially most repulsive person, was yesterday
accusing the Government of burying the mining industry under red tape. Whatever the pluses of minuses of the claims they're supporting, watching a billionaire hem and haw over how hard done by they are is not the most sympathy inducing of propositions. Although, then again, there was that mining super tax incident...
Gillard has gotten all up in the grill of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa over
the many unresolved atrocity-related questions pertaining to their final crushing defeat of the Tamil insurgency two years ago. While it's subscriber only, even
the abstract of this New Yorker piece about the final months of the battle makes for interesting reading. The full article is pretty harrowing. Side note: CHOGM starts today! The happiest acronym on Earth. Seriously, say it out loud. It will make your day better.
The Turkish quake rescue effort continues, with occasional successes, but as emergency efforts cross the 60 hour post-quake mark the rate of the return has begun to drop noticeably. So far 459 people have been confirmed dead, with 1350 injured.
The EU summit which was supposed to be getting us out of this mess looks like
it will be unlikely to do so, at least not immediately. The markets, as they tend to do, get overly optimistic that everyone will fall down just the way they want them too, which usually leads to dramatic overcorrections. I'm sure we can expect some reasonable plunges today. Interestingly enough – and in what is perhaps a sign of exactly how serious the ramifications could be – both Russia and China have suggested that they would be willing to stump up some capital to try and save the eurozone. Given that both nations usually work against the geopolitical aims of the Western forces, such a financially burdensome act of solidarity probably suggests we should all be really scared.
The seventh billion person is expected to be born some point on Monday. Have your party poppers at the ready.
Speaking of birth, certain segments of America are
brewing citizen referendums that would classify a fertilised egg as a legal person. This would then bar anything – anything – that tampered with said fertilised eggs. No abortions for rape victims. No abortions for incest victims. No morning after pill. No IUDs. Potential manslaughter charges for people who destroy unneeded laboratory embryos or for doctors who terminate pregnancies to save the mother's life. I... just. Wow. The measure is expected to pass in Mississippi.
Herman Cain is now the most popular Republican candidate. Amazing.
Violence continues to brew in Yemen, where I'd say the only thing keeping this from being declared a civil war is the absence of recognisable battlefronts. 25 people died overnight.
Kenya appears to be getting increasingly involved in its border skirmishes with Somalia, or, more specifically, with the vile al-Shabbab militants that control much of southern Somalia. The militants have already been pushed back from one town, although this has been accompanied by rumours that the French have gotten militarily involved. The UN-backed "President" of the country has expressed his outrage, but given that he doesn't really have any power beyond Mogadishu itself and is reliant upon a 9000 person African Union army for even that, Kenya is probably free to safely disregard his cries of sovereignty. All in all though, this is probably one of the more welcome instances of cross-border harassment since Vietnam ignored the dithering of the international community and invaded Khmer Rouge-era Cambodia. I hope al-Shabbab crumbles like an Australian Government policy position.
Features
Alright, we'll classify this under "More interesting than it sounds":
a history of the potato and how it paved the way for the West's domination of the world. Also features some fairly dispiriting tales about our increasing inability to fight potato blight. If we lose potatoes, I have a lot of Irish relatives who will lose a primary reason for existence.
Scenes from the Libyan War Room and
how the Obama White House was convinced to intervene against Gaddafi.
Oddities/Curiosities
A 23 year old country Victorian man with a point to prove has been arrested after he snuck into local fun emporium Gumbuya Park and
blew the arse off their giant pheasant statue. His motive is, as yet, unclear.
An old favourite – Angry People in Local Newspapers. So many minor issues. So much anger. Here's "War hero, aged 91, barred from local pub".
Video
The Occupy X movement is in danger of getting some serious legitimacy merely due to the heavy handed actions of the police delegated to move them on. Yesterday an Occupy Oakland encampment containing around 1000 people was
dispersed with a combination of tear gas and flashbang bombs.
Watch this footage from a roving helicopter and tell me it doesn't immediately put you in mind of Cairo back in February. Or for a more close up view: