News
Tiger Airways update: still screwed! CASA has announced that they will be applying to ground the airline until the beginning of August, which, even by Tiger's standards, is quite a lot of cancellations. And really starts to throw into question the ongoing viability of an airline that had a tendency to haemorrhage money at the best of times, let alone when it's entirely incapable of doing the one thing it's supposed to do.
The head of the Australian operation has resigned, and there will be no more flying until Tiger retrains all 100 of its pilots. Which sounds like the work of a couple of weeks, yeah?
The Government has announced the resumption of live cattle exports to Indonesia, proving (perhaps) that
threatening to kill 3000 head of cattle is a pretty good way of influencing Government policy. This will apparently only be under strict new conditions, although they stopped short of requiring that cattle be stunned before slaughter, merely saying that it is "encouraged". Like eating 2 fruit and 5 veg each day, or washing your hands with soap. The cows are, I imagine, thankful for the gesture.
Some light shock in inner city Sydney yesterday, when
the skeleton of a woman who had been dead for eight years was discovered in her house in Surrey Hills. Despite it being almost inconceivable that a penniless corpse could occupy such sought after real estate for so many years without local hipsters trying to evict her, she somehow managed to slip through every safety net our society has tried to erect. Puts Eleanor Rigby to shame, really.
Wow. China have delivered a stinging rebuke to Australia for
having an economy that is, essentially, too reliant upon them. Which it totally is, but that's just not what you say in civilised diplomatic company. You're supposed to simply let the poor dependent fools wander on, becoming ever more reliant upon you and your product until they're willing to sell you their mother's jewellery for the next hit. Oh, sorry. That's heroin. Eh, same diff.
The carbon tax is being diluted to the point of borderline non-existence, with the announcement that following the exclusion of fuel from its remit, it will now only apply to half as many companies. An initially bold and perhaps admirable move crippled by the fact that it's impossible to do anything approaching broad scale reform in a modern democracy, the carbon tax may well go down as the most ham-fisted campaign in Australian political history.
The Americans are still racing to avoid defaulting on their just goddamn astounding debts – well over $14 trillion at last count – with a flurry of meetings between Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the Hill. The main point of contention is under what conditions to further lift the debt ceiling, with Democrats only willing to do it if various tax breaks for the hyper-rich are removed, and the hyper-rich Republicans basically laughing in their faces and refusing to go anywhere near a deal unless billions are cut from medical programs benefiting the elderly, the disabled and low-income earners. Because that's where the moral equation sits in America right now. And it's making Obama all like this:
More News of the World delights with suggestions that the paper may have been hacking into the voicemails of victims of the 7/7 London bombings, British casualties in Iraq and the phones of multiple murdered schoolgirls, as well as routinely bribing people at Scotland Yard. Pressure is starting to tighten around Rebekah Brooks, the editor of the News of the World paper when the Milly Fowler incident occurred, now the chief executive of the Murdoch newspaper empire's parent company, News International, whose frantic attempts to plead her ignorance either brand her a liar or the worst editor in existence. With advertisers pulling their support, the UK Parliament considering putting on hold a terrifically valuable merger between NI and BSkyB and every other paper just having a goddamn field day, this is definitely my schadenfreude moment.
From the Guardian:
The rebels are creeping in Libya, making a loose push toward Tripoli from the south and east. While minor in character, this is notable primarily for being the first time any real movement has occurred in this conflict in a good solid month and a half, it now increasingly taking on the character of a particularly vindictive zoning dispute.
And in San Francisco, a man in sunglasses and loafers (no socks), walked into an art gallery,
picked up a Picasso and walked out again. Investigations are ongoing. WHO COULD THIS CRIMINAL MASTERMIND BE?!
Features
Slate on why the News of the World phone hacking scandal is perhaps
the worst, most unavoidable, unspinnable scandal that Rupert Murdoch has ever gotten himself into. Not that it poses any particular risk to Rupes per se, but he might have to sacrifice an underling or two to keep the angry mobs at bay. Rupert Murdoch: definitely alongside Robert Mugabe in the "why are they still here?" basket.
And welcome to Mauritania,
the country where slavery is still legal and some 20% of the population live as indentured slaves. Although, if Asterix taught me anything, and he did, it was that the lot of the slave was actually quite an enjoyable one, so I'm sure they're having fun. Those wacky slaves.
Oddities/Curiosities
A Victorian couple had an extra special holiday in WA after they became infected by gnathostomiasis larvae, a tiny worm with big ass teeth that
basically just calmly chews its way through your body. Quite capable of living in a person for 16 years, this is just another reason why I don't go camping.
Here's an article from The Onion dated January 17, 2001 about the imminent inauguration of George W. Bush. Have a read and see if you notice anything eerily familiar. As in, it basically predicts everything that happened in the following eight years. And this is why we should always trust comedy to make our decisions for us.
Video
Mystery animal of the week: the donkra! Half zebra, half donkey, all adorable. Until the handler starts talking about amniotic fluid...