Friday Frolyks

I am going to be very busy later in the day so I thought I’d put the Friday thread a bit earlier than normal.
Here are some stories of note to start discussion:

A military judge at Guantanamo Bay on Thursday rejected President Barack Obama’s request to suspend the trial of a Saudi accused in the 2000 [...]

Peter Costello and Friends and Family in Christ

Fellow blogocrat Adrian of Nowra, has drawn our attention to this recent speech by Liberal backbencher Peter Costello.  
“Good morning to everybody that is meeting together in the Melbourne Town Hall on this Australia day.  I can’t think of a more important thing to be doing than to Unite in Prayer on this, our National [...]

Unions. Let the Turf Wars Begin!

An article in The Australian recently outlined some of the misgivings about the industrial relations legislation of the Rudd Government, soon to be considered by the Senate. One of the critical issue of concern is the facilitation of “turf wars” by union that become hungry for membership.

Watching the INTRADE World Crisis Index

INTRADE are following the global financial crisis. Although this is not meant to be a free ad, ‘Intrade, is The Prediction Market where you can buy and sell “shares” in financial, political, weather and other important subjects’.
Their latest email from John Delany on 28 January claims:
The Intrade World Crisis Index will tell us whether the [...]

Unhealthy NSW

Cross post from Politcial Duo (the boyf’s site).
According to a latest Sydney Morning Herald report, a spokesperson for the Premier of NSW, Nathan Rees, said he was too busy with other issues when asked to comment on the sorry state of Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS).
The SMH ran a series of articles recently highlighting [...]

Midweek Mayhem

I have been scolded (in a nice way) for not putting up the midweek mayhem thread – my excuse is that reb is away galavanting around SE Asia and he normally puts up the thread.
So – here it is, play nicely folks.

Thailand and refugees

I don’t know if anyone has been following this story, but the details are very disturbing.

The latest boatload of Burmese migrants to arrive in Thailand has been handed to the police rather than the military, after an outcry over their treatment.
The Thai military picked up 78 Rohingya boat people, who are Burmese Muslims, and handed [...]

Seriously ‘Unaffordable’ Housing

Here’s something of interest, but what happens when housing has been overpriced and unemployment and job insecurity run counter to the market:
“Both Treasury and the Reserve Bank have been counting on the lack of housing supply in Australia to stop prices from plunging as they have in the US and Britain.”
I thought I’d post this [...]

Cash for Peers

The Times in London broke a story over the weekend that peers in the House of Lords were allegedly “offered to change the law in return for fees of up to £120,000″. 
BARON TRUSCOTT of St James’s took a bite of his teacake before explaining to the two lobbyists in front of him just how much [...]

Australia Day brings on a stoush

A cross post:
It isn’t a quiz answer from the film Slumdog Millionaire but January 26 is one of India’s national days celebrating independence from colonial Britain. It is also Australia Day. The difference is that our day is the anniversary of European occupation in 1788, known by many as invasion day.
An online debate about [...]