News
Any hope that perhaps Tony Abbott in 2012 would have been mollified into actually becoming a politician of policy has been scuppered before the Parliamentary year has even begun.
His reaction to Gillard's Wilkie backflip has simply been to start attacking Craig Thomson again, evidently feeling like perhaps he could still get that early issue-less election anyway, Peter Slipper be damned. As to the actual pokies package that Labor has proposed, well, he's dismissed that out of hand (completely absent his own ideas on the topic or reasons for dismissal), but as far as media reporting goes the real story here seems to be "Abbott slams Thomson". Crucial.
Although, in slightly more optimistic yet largely unreported Australian political news (YARRR! POKIES!) it looks like
the 2013 election will have attached to it a referendum on removing the last vestiges of state-sponsored racism in Australia. While unlikely to have a vast practical impact on the day to day workings of the country, it's a symbolically rich gesture.
Things are getting hectic in Iran/EU relations, with
the EU's decision to impose an oil embargo on Iran being greeted with a threat to close the Strait of Hormuz AKA the only way of getting most of the world's oil out to the rest of the world. And then petrol prices would explode and then ordinary, hardworking Australians would be threatening to personally firebomb Julia Gillard for ruining their lives. That seems to be the general run of things these days.
The captain of the capsized Italian cruise ship has been hauled before a magistrate to answer charges that he was indirectly responsible for the deaths of at least 15 people in the crash. As expected, the story continues to get better (albeit more tragic, too) with one officer claiming the captain was distracted because he was entertaining people on the bridge at the time and that he returned to his room to collect his possessions before "tripping and falling" into a lifeboat.
The Arab League, in the face of widespread criticism that their mission to Syria was a farce, have officially called for Bashar "Beaker" Al-Assad
to step down from the Presidency. This has, of course, been dismissed out of hand by the Syrian government, whose public proclamations are increasingly taking on an edge of North Korean-style paranoia. Otherwise things continue as normal in the country - 150 000 people turned out for the funerals of 12 people who had been killed by the army in the previous three days. Oh, happy days.
Egypt's newly elected and Muslim dominated Parliament is sitting for the first time, days shy of the first anniversary of Mubarak's ousting. The Muslim Brotherhood controls just less than half of the seats, followed by the hardline Salafis with around a quarter of the seats and the splintered forces of Egyptian liberalism filling in the gaps. Their first order of business will be to try and weld together a constitution that in some way limits the authority of the still all-powerful army. Best of luck, people.
It's a couple of days old now, but man, this whole Megaupload arrest thing is pretty amazing. Not because of the arrests themselves - a slightly unnerving exercise in international criminal cooperation – but because of
the cavalcade of revelations about the site's founder, Kim Dotcom, and his lavish lifestyle. My favourite is the single room that had seven 60" televisions in it, each with their own Xbox and lazy boy. Because you're worth it, Dotcom. Also, the 30 Rock reference. Also, this:
With 35 credit cards and three valid passports,
Dotcom has been refused bail.
Features
As Andrew Wilkie turns from the Government and Julia Gillard backs down on yet another piece of vital reform, the commentariat have come out of the woodwork to bemoan Gillard's ever expanding credibility deficit. Here's
Malcolm Farnsworth on The Drum and
Bernard Keane in Crikey.
After Newt Gingrich's stunning win in South Carolina (well, less stunning and more disastrous for Mitt Romney and all representatives of rational humanity),
the New Yorker's John Cassidy explains why a Newt nomination is looking increasingly possible. And here's the other crucial moment from the South Carolina primary:
Rick Santorum getting glitter bombed by gay activists.
Oddities/Curiosities
Study shows that people who attach Australian flags to their cars for Australia day are more racist. I include this link advisedly, because methodologically speaking I feel like the study is a little bunk (representative sample and confirmation bias all over the place), but hey, that is definitely a premise I can get behind. Now someone needs to do a survey of the assholes who've started wearing the Australian flag as a cape.
A Scottish guy who attempted to live alone in the wilderness for a year a la Bear Grylls has died after less than a month. It is thought he perished due to exposure and lack of professional television recording facilities.
Video
Excerpts from the North Korean documentary designed to make Kim Jong-un look like a viable leader. I think the narrator really nails "tremulous awe".