News
Queen Elizabeth has been in power for 60 years! And just think of the memories. There was, um, the, uh... she was here recently, yeah? I think she caught a tram. And then a guy mooned her. Prior to that she... did... some things. Yeah. What a 60 years.
Is it just me, or after over a year has the headline 'Greece's economic future in balance' started to mean nothing? Apparently things are still less than controlled over there, with the Government on the verge of once again not being able to move necessary economic changes through Parliament, these changes being such palatable things as reductions in the minimum wage and the removal of already scant state benefits. And these being necessary because without them nobody will give Greece money to pay its debts and then it'll default and possibly take down Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain with it. A worst case scenario, but there's not that many best case propositions circulating in the EU these days. The next crunch moment for Greece comes next month when its various creditors decided whether or not to pull the plug. Although if you want a picture of exactly what they're up against,
here's the penniless shepherd who personally owes over 10 million euros.
After six years of schism, Fatah and Hamas, the political organisations that rule the West Bank and Gaza respectively,
have announced the formation of a national unity government to further advance the Palestinian cause. Whether this will actually do so, given that Israel and the US have long said that they will never negotiate with a Hamas-affiliated government, is another question, but Israel and Palestine haven't really been negotiating for the last few years, so it's not like it can get all that much worse. It does, however, give other nations less of a stick to beat Palestine with when it comes to their jockeying for statehood, especially given that Hamas have surrendered the leadership.
Egypt is asserting its newfound independence by
pursuing prosecutions against 19 Americans suspected of illegally financing nonprofit groups. While there may be a case to answer somewhere in there, the timing and severity of the charges pressed smack of a government shooting a warning shot across the bow of one of their major allies. It's thought to be the doing of the still dominant military council, pissed that America would have the temerity to remain involved in their affairs and looking to capitalise on US antipathy in the country to distract from their own mess at home, although its playing out like a judicial game of chicken where the prize is the $1.5 billion in aid that Egypt desperately needs from the US.
If you like your political uprisings pretty then look away now because if Syria gets out of this shitstorm with anything less than uncontrolled civil war, than it will be a Christmas miracle.
The US has just closed its embassy, the only diplomatic gesture looming is a pro-Government delegation from Russia and
a call from Hillary Clinton for a coalition to support the opposition, the opposition is inchoate but armed, sectarian violence is on the up and the Government still seems to have no qualms about indiscriminately shelling civilian areas on the slight suspicion that there might be opposition sentiment there. Indeed, the Russian and Chinese vetos seem to have emboldened a teetering Government who now well understands that there is almost zero chance of external intervention in the unfolding conflict. But the lack of cohesion on the part of the opposition means there's no true, single enemy for them to try and destroy, while the government's vastly superior arms guarantee they'll still be doing most of the destroying. This could get grim.
Features
Ben Eltham skewers the uselessness and vapidity of the journalism surrounding supposed leadership tensions in the Labor party. And they wonder why people feel disconnected from the political process.
The New Yorker looks at the Facebook IPO and what of yours it actually suggests the company can sell.
Oddities/Curiosities
The Economist explains the travails of being gay in the various countries of the Islamic world. Has a handy chart of likely punishments for those looking to, uh, explore the scene.
Fantastically creepy -
photos from an abandoned leper colony on an island outside New York, abandoned for over 50 years. Looks like those lepers had all the fun.
Video
Clarke and Dawe provide a pretty good summary of what the average modern day news media organisation stands for.