News
Victoria is to become the latest state to ban the synthetic marijuana analog Kronic, due to its... uh... danger, I guess. I mean, there haven't really been any reports or studies done into the effects of Kronic, but it's a bit like pot so definitely must be bad. Right?
Rudd is flying into Burma today, ostensibly to have a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, although the Burmese government has just announced that she is banned from meeting any foreign organisations, so that could become diplomatically uncomfortable. He's also due to meet with the President of the country, which would strike me as akin to having to sit down and chat with a giant, venting, pus-filled sore for a couple of hours. Burma's leaders are... not nice people.
The Australian dollar hit its highest ever rate against the euro (75 euro cents), its highest rate in 26 years against the pound (66 pence) and a reasonable height against the US dollar ($US1.07) after Greece averted the financial apocalypse for another couple of months yesterday.
While Greece's passing of a further wave of austerity measures guarantees they can avoid bankruptcy for another couple of months, and makes it more likely that they'll receive more money from the EU and the IMF to continue to help them to do so, it does strike me that the country is already, quite obviously, bankrupt, and has no real plan for turning itself in to a viable nation again. I guess nobody cares as long as they can service their debts, but make no mistake, right now everything that is being done is being done for banks, Europe and the world rather than the Greek people.
As the United States similarly faces up to an unfolding debt crisis – unless the Congress authorises a rise on the debt limits available to the American government by about $US2 trillion, they will default next month –
Obama has fronted an extensive press conference and berated the Republicans for not raising taxes on oil companies and rich people. It was about as animated as Obama has been for the entire duration of his Presidency, so it will be interesting to see how Republicans respond. My prediction? Badly.
The Syrian military has pulled out of Hama, one of the nation's most populous and restive cities, in the face of growing and seemingly indomitable protests against the regime. This accompanies withdrawals from a number of other towns and areas throughout the country. Nobody really knows what the reasoning of the regime is quite yet, but Hama are taking it as a victory. Let us just hope that Assad isn't simply biding his time to unleash MECHAGODZILLA upon them!... Yeah, I probably shouldn't make light of this... Oh what the hell.
United Nations: the system works! North Korea has just taken over the Presidency of the UN Conference on Disarmament. Well, that dream's over.
Justin Timberlake has, for some reason, bought MySpace. Well, he bought it with some other folk, but at $35 million, how could you resist?!... If you'll remember, News Limited bought the website less than 6 years ago for $580 million. Meaning Uncle Rupert made a loss of around $545 million on the investment. Which just kinda makes me happy, y'know?
Features
With the ratings success of Go Back to Where You Came From last week, a couple of interesting contributions to the question of "what value did it have?"
Jonathan Holmes with a well-reasoned piece about its broader worthiness versus a more cynical article over at The Conversation about
its air of strident back-patting for those already equipped with certain refugee views.
So, the Budget passed last week. No real amendments. Not even from Abbott, who claimed certain parts of it were tantamount to "class war". Indeed, quite a number of measures have been have been passed over the last year with bipartisan support, even after the Coalition has leapt on them in the media and howled about their general vileness to anyone who'd listen.
Annabel Crabb writing on the curious fact that Abbott and the Coalition increasingly seem to be all Opposition, no opposition.
Oddities/Curiosities
Now, this will take some relationship rebuilding. A prospective mother-in-law in England sent her son's fiancee a withering assessment of her deportment on a recent trip to the family home, which caused the fiancee to send it to a few friends, which
caused her friends to send it to the whole goddamn internet. The letter is full of good advice, including "You do not take additional helpings without being invited to by your host" and "When a guest in another's house, you do not lie in bed until late morning in households that rise early. You fall in line with house norms" before finishing off with the fantastic "One could be accused of thinking that Heidi Withers must be patting herself on the back for having caught a most eligible young man. I pity Freddie." And that's what you get for being a dick over email.
Woman sprays police with breast milk. Winning quote: '"This is a prime example of how alcohol can make individuals do things they would not normally do," [Sheriff] Davis said.' You never know. That could be her shtick.
And, now: LIGHTNING.
Video
Man, Jamaican news is funky. They canna cross!