News
It increasingly looks as if another important piece of social reform is about to be derailed by an industry with a surplus of money and no compunction about using it for electoral destruction. The much trumpeted pokies reforms, surely one of the most unequivocal goods that this Parliament has considered, is
in danger of being diluted, delayed or shelved altogether following a campaign of mistruths, out and out lies and general misrepresentations from Clubs Australia. But CA has a lot of money to peddle these follies in the marginal seats that Labor needs to even think about holding power, so here we are. With its extra seat, Labor can of course now afford to lose the support of Andrew Wilkie, a brutal but understandable decision that's probably furnished by the fact that on day-to-day matters Wilkie will have even more trouble stomaching Abbott than he would Gillard. What fun.
Wikipedia's gone dark, Reddit and Cheezburger have followed, Google's blotted out its logo, the #factswithoutWikipedia hashtag has been beaten into the ground:
it's been a strange 24 hours in internet-land. Anyone who tried to access the English language Wikipedia for the last 24 hours has been greeted with the page shown above. It's all pretty hyperbolic stuff, but could probably be drawn as a useful counterpoint to the hilariously lopsided Senate hearings into the SOPA/PIPA legislation, which only proffered a single voice against the bills, in comparison to the many, many speakers they wheeled out from the mainstream media organisations. And if you need another reason to be suspicious, Rupert Murdoch supports them too, yesterday accusing the "blogosphere" of "terrorising" legislators who supported it. Unlike you, Rupert, who probably bought them cars.
The World Bank has encouraged the world to gird its loins for another 2008-style implosion, yesterday significantly downgrading its global forecasts for the next couple of years. This included halving the growth predictions for developed nations and even eying off a significant diminution of the strength of developing economies, long the lone shining light in the global market. It's all still hypothetical for the moment, but with the the EU and the US both busy consuming themselves, Japan stagnant and China slowing down, there's not a lot of good news stories to point to. My suggestion: convert all your wealth into gold, fortify your house (a moat is essential) and hire some mercenaries to protect your stash.
Aung Sun Suu Kyi has officially launched her bid for Parliament, contesting a by-election due for early April and marking a new highwater point in one of the most significant political turnarounds in the last half a century. As in, if you'd told Burma observers two years ago that ASSK would be running for Parliament in 2012 they would have laughed in your face. Which would have been very rude, but understandable.
Syria is rolling along in typically calamitous style, with perhaps 30 people killed on Tuesday as the government rejects Qatari calls for intervention and Russia, their most steadfast ally... for some reason (oiloiloiloil) tabling a reasonably weak resolution at the UN. Which the rest of the Security Council may have to agree to, because Russia keeps on vetoing anything that uses the word "condemn".
The Italian cruise liner incident is moving from tragedy to farce, with the beleagured captain of the vessel now claiming that the reason he was in a lifeboat with the women and children, rather than staying behind to oversee the evacuation, was because
he tripped and fell into the boat. While overseeing the evacuation. Superb.
Mitt Romney's extreme wealth could finally be coming back to haunt him. With a personal valuation of around $250 million, he revealed yesterday that he probably pays around 15% tax, putting him on par with most low-to-middle income earners. Also, he earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year as a professional speaker. Just another average Joe.
Features
Thinkers from the Left contemplate what the Right gets right. Interestingly, when faced with the inverse question, the thinkers from the Right didn't have many answers. This might explain why the Right consistently wipes the floor with the Left.
The Atlantic looks at the real story of the Stephen Colbert campaign: Super PACs don't matter, media presence does. A different opinion:
Super PAC ads have more of an impact than public appearances, handshakes and actually meeting constituents.
Oddities/Curiosities
The other big issue to be decided over the next couple of weeks:
whether or not the world will keep the leap second. At stake is the very nature of tiiiiiiiiiiime.
Could sheep shearing be the next sport to be inducted into the Olympics? The answer: no. But keep reaching for that rainbow, New Zealand.
Video
As we approach the end of the Wikipedia blackout (oh God, please come back), a quick video summary of what's at stake with the PIPA/SOPA legislation.