Wednesday, 21 May 2008
FAD FADING: Global Warming Hype Wearing Out
An anti-nuclear, Toronto-based, urban-loving, 1970s peace activist who opposes subsidies to the oil industry might be the last person expected to detail cracks in the science of global warming.
Global warming hysteria challenged
Book reveals how controversial the science is on climate change
May 20, 2008
Mark Milke
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 20, 2008)
An anti-nuclear, Toronto-based, urban-loving, 1970s peace activist who opposes subsidies to the oil industry might be the last person expected to detail cracks in the science of global warming.
But Lawrence Solomon has done just that in a short book with a long subtitle: The Deniers: The World-Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political Persecution, And Fraud (And Those Who Are Too Fearful To Do So).
The spark for the book came after an American TV reporter compared those who question the Kyoto Protocol to Holocaust deniers. But Solomon wondered about that, so he sought out the experts in specific fields to garner their views.
Consider Dr. Edward Wegman, asked by the U.S. Congress to assess the famous "hockey stick" graph from Michael Mann, published by the UN's International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which purported to show temperatures as mostly constant over the past 1,000 years -- except for a spike in the last century.
The IPCC claimed the hockey stick "proved" unique 20th-century global warming. But it didn't. Wegman, who drew on the initial skepticism of two Canadians who questioned Mann's statistical handling, found that his "hockey stick" was the result of a statistical error -- the statistical model had mined data to produce the hockey stick and excluded contrary data.
That mistake occurred not because Mann was deceptive or a poor scientist; he's an expert in the paleoclimate community as were those who reviewed his paper. But that was the problem: The paleoclimate scientists were trapped in their own disciplinary ghetto and not up to speed on the latest, most appropriate statistical methods.
Is Wegman the scientific equivalent of a medical quack? No. His CV includes eight books, more than 160 published papers, editorships of prestigious journals, and past presidency of the International Association of Statistical Computing, among other distinctions.
Opinions in The Deniers vary dramatically and Solomon, a non-scientist, does not try to settle the disputes. He instead attempts to give readers insight into how non-settled and fragmentary the science is on climate change.
For example, think the polar ice caps are melting? That's true at the North Pole but it's not certain at the South Pole, according to Dr. Duncan Wingham. A portion of Antarctica's northern peninsula is melting. But that's a tiny slice of the 14-million-square-kilometre continent. And confounding evidence exists.
Since the inception of the South Pole research station in 1957, recorded temperatures have actually fallen.
Wingham is cautious. He doesn't deny global warming might exist. But his data show the Antarctic ice sheet is growing, not shrinking, and the chapter on why ice measurements are tricky is another fine, informative part of The Deniers.
Is Wingham a flake, a denier in league with flat-earthers? Only if you think the chair of the department of space and climate physics and head of earth sciences at University College London, and a member of the Earth Observation Experts Group, among other qualifications, qualifies for such a label.
The most intriguing part of The Deniers is the attempt by dozens of credible scientists to point out what should be common-sense obvious: The sun might affect Earth's climate.
"We understand the greenhouse effect pretty well," Solomon writes, "we know little about how the sun -- our main source of energy driving the climate -- affects climate change."
But the IPCC refuses to even consider the sun's influence on Earth's climate -- it conceives of its mission only to investigate possible man-made effects upon climate. But that's akin to a hit-and-run investigation where police rule out all cars except one model before they even question witnesses.
No one who reads The Deniers will be able to claim a scientific consensus exists on global warming. (Some scientists even argue the planet's climate is about to cool.)
But it might leave honest readers with this question: So what? Why not spend billions to reduce possible human-induced climate change just in case?
Because, as Antonio Zichichi (a professor emeritus at the University of Bologna and author of more than 800 papers) argues, global warming is only one alleged calamity that faces the world's poor. As Solomon writes in his interview with Zichichi, "every dollar and hour diverted to a crisis that might not exist has real and tragic costs."
The "deniers" and The Deniers matter because the book is about the search for scientific explanations for a complex phenomenon by eminent scientists in a better position than most to judge whether a consensus exists on global warming. Their collective verdict, much varied in the particulars, is "No."
Game on.
PURGES: Canberra Libs Aim To Reunite By Expelling More People
Click above to read the article in full.
Is some old-time purging ready to happen?
Game on.
ATTACKED: We Offer The Victorian Nats Some Negative Ad Inspiration
The Gippsland by-election is Game on with the nasty ads and we can only hope the Nats fire up to bring Labor to account on their record.
They seem to be pledging not to do this, a big mistake but also very disappointing for those who crave negative attack ads.
We thought we'd give the Nats in their Collins Street bunker some inspiration with these two beauts shown in a current US congressional contest. The first one is one of the funniest ads we've seen in a long time. The second a response which is against negative advertising while delivering some low blows of its own.
Game on.
LEFT ON LEFT VIOLENCE: The Port Phillip Soviet Hits Back At The Age's Cruel Attacks Alleging Bias
Melbourne's Age newspaper is running another of its vendettas, this time against the bayside Port Phillip Council.
Age editor, Andrew Jaspan lives near the St Kilda Triangle development and has taken many opportunities to link the controversy to the likelihood that councillors will face opposition at the election, without disclosing his conflict of interest as a resident and possibly worse, has resorted to biased reporting of the council.
Also, as Nameless and Media Watch have reported previously, Mr Jaspan faces the influence and conflict of Fairfax chairman, Ron Walker as chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. The Port Phillip Council alone has called for the recommendations of the Victorian Auditor-General on the Grand Prix to be carried out. The council is therefore in direct conflict with Chairman Ron.
This week, Mr Jaspan widened his political opposition to his council by exposing a council contractor on the front page, describing her as a "white witch", giving details of her sex life (not involving council staff) and the costs. The contractor was dismissed a year ago, yet this week Mr Jaspan ran articles on Page 1 and Page 3 of The Age, plus an editorial, tying it into the council's forthcoming election and the St Kilda Triangle. While emphasising the impact on some disgruntled staff, nowhere did The Age report the net outcome of the program the contractor was employed to help achieve. This looks highly selective reporting to me.
Here are the brief facts on the council's change program: after four years, the council has gone from a perception of the "people's republic of Port Phillip" to one where all staff are accountable and have clear and measurable performance targets to achieve better services at a better price. In an era of council costs increasing greater than CPI, this particular council achieves rate rises far below CPI yet delivers better services at a lower cost and invests greater amounts in infrastructure than most councils in the state.
Some pain was felt by staff but that is in the past. Last year the CEO put out a message of regret to staff about the extra work and the particular contractor hired. Results now show that staff are happy that they all contribute something worthwhile to the community. Measures of low rate increases, high capital investment and cost containment puts this council above the vast majority of councils in Victoria, if not Australia. Mr Jaspan and The Age have ignored what has been achieved in council's change process; rather they focused on the cost of achieving it and the sex life of a consultant.
Mr Jaspan has refused to publish the Mayor's letter of reply unedited but has repeated the accusations three days in a row, in prominent positions in his paper. Not once has he balanced it with the excellent results achieved from the change process, which show the cost delivered a net benefit. This is bias at the extreme end and it is time for Mr Jaspan to reveal the conflicts that lie behind his paper's position.
Cr Peter Logan
City of Port Phillip
Game on.
A COMPLETE WANK: The Wealthy, The Powerful And The Well Connected Convene To Jabber About Disadvantage And Exclusion
And some Liberals believe they have no hope...
THE HON KEVIN RUDD MP
PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JULIA GILLARD MP
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
MEDIA RELEASE
21 May 2008
Australian Social Inclusion Board
The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister will today attend the first meeting of the new Australian Social Inclusion Board.
Every Australian should have an opportunity to be a full participant in the life of the nation. Unfortunately, too many Australians remain locked out of the benefits of work, education, community engagement and access to basic services.
This social exclusion is a significant barrier to sustained prosperity and restricts Australia’s future economic growth.
Promoting social inclusion requires a new way of governing. Australia must rethink how policy and programs across portfolios and levels of government can work together to combat economic and social disadvantage.
The Australian Social Inclusion Board which brings together leaders from around the country, will be instrumental in meeting this challenge.
Tackling disadvantage involves generating effective, practical solutions at the level of government, local communities, of service providers, employers and of families and individuals themselves.
The Australian Social Inclusion Board will consult widely and provide views and advice to the Government.
The Board will be asked to focus on the most disadvantaged geographic areas and communities in the nation.
In doing so the Board will be asked to make recommendations on policy that could change the lifetime circumstances of jobless families and children at risk.
The Rudd Government has already begun work on a number of priorities which are important to the social inclusion agenda, including work on homelessness, a disability and mental health employment strategy, closing the gap for Indigenous Australians and universal access to pre-school.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kimberley Gardiner 0434 159 84X (Gillard)
Ms Patricia Faulkner
(Chair)
Patricia Faulkner leads KPMG’s Global Healthcare practice and is also the National Partner-in-Charge for Health, advising both State and Federal Government departments and agencies. From 2000 to 2007, Patricia was the Secretary of the Department of Human Services in Victoria. She has held various board appointments over the years and is currently a board member of the Jesuit Social Services and the Melbourne International Arts Festival. Patricia held senior and chief executive roles in the Victorian Government during the 1980s and early 1990s, including Director of Consumer Affairs, Director of Occupational Health and Safety, and Director of Employment. In 1995-96, she chaired the Economic Planning Advisory Commission inquiry into the Future of Childcare in Australia.
Monsignor David Cappo
(Vice Chair)
Monsignor David Cappo is a Catholic Priest and is currently the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Adelaide, making him the deputy to the Archbishop of Adelaide. In May 2006, Premier Mike Rann appointed him to the position of Commissioner for Social Inclusion, in order to strengthen his ability to influence the development and implementation of social policy. Monsignor Cappo continues as Chair of the Social Inclusion Board – a role he has held since March 2002 – and is a member of the Economic Development Board of South Australia. Monsignor Cappo is a qualified social worker and a former National Director of the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission. He has made major contributions to national debates in social policy development and has been directly involved in national strategic planning and implementation of social programs.
Ms Elleni Bereded-Samuel
Ms Elleni Bereded-Samuel was born in Ethiopia. She has focused her life's work on strengthening education, training and employment for culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia. Elleni is now the Community Engagement Coordinator at Victoria University. Her dynamic leadership has resulted in new solutions for community to access and participate in society. She has brokered partnerships with international and local community organisations, as well as local, State and Federal government departments. Elleni is the first African Commissioner for the Victorian Multicultural Commission. She is on the Board of Directors of the Royal Women’s Hospital and chairs the Community and SBS Community Advisory Committees.
Dr Ngiare Brown
Dr Ngiare Brown is an Aboriginal woman from the south coast of NSW and one of the first half-dozen identified Aboriginal medical graduates in Australia. She has a clinical background in acute care and primary health, as well as experience in medical education, policy and research. Her past positions include Indigenous Health Advisor to the Federal AMA and Foundation CEO of the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association. Ngiare is currently undertaking doctoral studies in human rights, human rights law and public health and holds joint placements in the Child Health Division at the Menzies School of Health Research and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.
Dr Ron Edwards
Dr Ron Edwards is a founding board member of the Graham (Polly) Farmer Foundation supporting Indigenous youth. He was awarded a Doctorate in Education (UWA 2006) which investigated the factors that can promote social inclusion within society, particularly in an educational context. Ron has been actively involved in programs that seek to enhance social inclusion amongst Indigenous, homeless and disabled people, as well as in the establishment of low fee Anglican schools. He was a Member of the House of Representatives from 1983-1993 and now works as a project consultant in the private sector.
Mr Eddie McGuire
Mr Eddie McGuire is host of some of Australia’s most popular television shows. Eddie became President of the Collingwood football club in October 1998. He also established – and is Chairman of the Trevor Barker Foundation and works for many other charitable organisations, including the Brainstorm Appeal, the Alfred Hospital Foundation, the Leukaemia Research Fund, the Burnet Research Institute, and the Alannah and Madeline Foundation.
Dr John Falzon
Dr John Falzon, a sociologist working in the area of social justice and social change, is Chief Executive Officer of the St Vincent de Paul Society National Council. He has written and spoken widely on the structural causes of marginalisation and inequality in Australia and has long been involved in advocacy campaigns for a fairer and more inclusive Australia, especially in regard to welfare legislation, housing justice, homelessness and poverty. John has worked in academia, in research and advocacy with civil society organisations, and in community development in large public housing estates.
Mr Ahmed Fahour
Mr Ahmed Fahour joined the National Australia Bank in September 2004 as an Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Australia. Ahmed is responsible for managing the Australian and Asian region which includes retail, business and corporate banking. He also oversees MLC, which includes retail investments, insurance and wholesale superannuation. Ahmed holds a Bachelor of Economics from La Trobe University and a MBA from the University of Melbourne. He won a number of prizes during both degrees. He is a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and was appointed by the Premier of Victoria as Business Ambassador in Melbourne’s North in Victoria. Ahmed is Melbourne-based and is married with four children. He has an active interest in sports and working on developing social cohesion in Australia.
Professor Tony Vinson
Emeritus Professor (UNSW) and Honorary Professor (University of Sydney) Tony Vinson has worked with disadvantaged communities to strengthen the problem solving capacities of individuals and groups. Since the mid-1960s, he has researched the priority needs of communities and has taught social workers and trainee doctors how to work effectively with them. Tony has extensive experience researching social disadvantage, which culminated in his book Dropping Off the Edge (2007), on the distribution of social disadvantage in Australia. He has direct involvement in community development projects, was Chair of the Independent Inquiry into NSW Public Education in 2002, a Foundation Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics in the 1970s, and one-time Head of the NSW Department of Corrective Services.
Ms Linda White
Ms Linda White is the Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union, the largest union working in the social and community services sector. Linda is also a Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. She has been at the forefront of the union’s work nationally and is involved in the enhancement of skills in the sector through her role as chairman of the review of the Community Services Training package for the Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council. She is a solicitor of over 20 years’ standing and has worked with clients and trade unions for over ten years at Maurice Blackburn & Co.
Ms Kerry Graham
Ms Kerry Graham has committed herself to addressing the disadvantage and exclusion experienced by parts of our community. She has worked with Indigenous Australians, children and young people, as well as homeless, mentally unwell and dually diagnosed people. Her experience includes working as a solicitor with Aboriginal Legal Services and she was the founding lawyer of the NSW Youth Drug and Alcohol Court for which she received the National Children's and Youth Law Centre award. Kerry is the CEO of the Inspire Foundation, a national non-profit organisation which creates opportunities for young people.
Mr Tony Nicholson
Mr Tony Nicholson has dedicated almost 28 years to improving conditions for those living on or close to the edges of society. A feature of his work has been his ability to collaborate with colleague social justice organisations, governments and business to achieve reform in public policy and service delivery to the benefit of disadvantaged Australians. Tony spent 14 years as Chief Executive Officer of Hanover Welfare Services, a Melbourne-based organisation in the field of homelessness. Tony is currently Executive Director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence in Melbourne, an agency at the forefront of knowledge development and practice of a genuinely Australian approach to social inclusion.
Dr Chris Sarra
Dr Chris Sarra hails from Bundaberg in Queensland. The youngest of 10 children, Chris experienced first-hand many of the issues faced by Indigenous students throughout their schooling. Chris has had an extensive and noted career in education, with a focus on the pursuit of improved outcomes for Indigenous children. In the late 1990s, Chris took on the challenges of Indigenous education as the principal of Cherbourg State School in Queensland. Under Chris’ leadership, the school became nationally acclaimed for its pursuit of the Strong and Smart philosophy. Chris is now the Executive Director of the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute.
Professor Fiona Stanley
Professor Fiona Stanley is the Founding Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Chair of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, and Professor, School of Paediatrics and Child Health, at the University of Western Australia. Fiona has spent her career researching the causes of major childhood illnesses and strategies to enhance health and well-being in populations. She sits on the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, as well as the Australian Statistics Advisory Council. For her research on behalf of Australia's children, she was named Australian of the Year in 2003 and in 2006 she was made a UNICEF Australia Ambassador for Early Childhood Development.
Game on.
THE POWER OF ONE: Premier Carpenter Imposes His Own Preselection Candidates
WA Premier Alan Carpenter has got away with imposing his well on the ALP's preselection process, appointing his COS Rita Saffioti and various other friends and mentors such that people now refer to the "Carpenter faction".
It's a worry because his choice in mates is not always so sound. One, Attorney-General and leftard Jim McGinty excelled himself last week claiming that pedophiles vote Liberal. McGinty reckoned "It was meant as a joke, people ought to lighten up a bit." Charming.
THE PARTY PRESELECTION PROCESS IS A JOKE
While the preselection processes of the political parties remain such an elite and exclusive affair, decided only by those who go through the trial by ordeal necessary to maintain membership putting up with the Ken Aldreds and the Diane Andersons, then it will remain very vulnerable to party leaders, especially those in government, announcing who the candidates will be via press release with a minimum of consultation.
In Victoria, we saw the previous Premier appoint his own COS Tim Pallas who wasn't such a bad choice but then felt the need to distract from appointing his own man by appointing a demonstrated outsider hated by both factions Evan Thornley who not only had a lot of Louis Vuitton bags but had more baggage than Louis Vuitton (he slightly redeemed himself in some eyes by joining the moderate faction Labor Unity) which then created an opportunity for the Socialist Left to appoint Khalil Eideh, also a multi-millionaire but one who'd sworn allegiance to the President of the Syrian police state while informing on those he thought were acting against the regime's interests.
Pallas wasn't so bad and would have been preselected for something eventually otherwise, Thornley a bit of a shonk but showing signs he might redeem himself and Eideh a disgrace so profound it still shocks he's in Parliament. It's hardly the proudest record of Premier intervention.
IT WAS THE LEFT WOT DONE IT
It's ironic that the Socialist Left played such a big part in discrediting the old process now have so much to lose from its dismantling. Many of their candidatards are not the sort likely to appeal to the average Premier's office. It's a messy situation of their own creation too. They took branch-stacking of the ethnic kind to a whole new level in the 1970s and 80s, pioneering multiple recruitment campaigns across many immigrant communities. It didn't take long for their factional rivals to wise up and get much better at recruiting than the Left ever were, partly because their values had much more in common with the potential recruits, many of whom had fled socialist regimes of one kind or another.
So the Left got very narky and whined repeatedly about the injustice of defeat to their favoured outlets, Four Corners, The Age and the SMH about how corrupt the system was because they kept losing. They won the argument, partly because the preselection system is largely undefendable, with some MPs elected with very little grass-roots support. As one example, there are said to be only forty ALP members in Lynne Kosky's seat of Altona, a seat she is said to be contemplating leaving. So if you'd stumped up with fifty of your closest personal friends and mentors in time, joined the Carr militant tendency of the Left, made nice with Kosmos Samaras (and possibly joined the Army Reserve or at least got a buzz-cut) and it could have been yours. The Libs, Nats and Greens Party have similar horror stories of rotten boroughs. The system is a joke.
The truth is we'll see much more of party leader's unilaterally selecting candidates until there's a genuine reform that permits all party supporters to have a vote in selecting party candidates. All taxpayers pay the bills of these parties, pumping in many tens of millions of dollars. The vast majority of people live in seats which never change hands, are always either solidly Liberal or Labor. It's time that vast majority actually were given some say in who represents them. In many cases, this would be a formality because many of our MPs do a fine job. But those who didn't get the balance right, who were too low-profile, too indolent, too unpleasant, corrupt or whatever would be made vulnerable in their hitherto safe seats.
Until our elected representatives accept the need for this kind of genuine democracy, a good number of them will continue to be vulnerable to their party leader telling them their number is up.
Game on.
TELLING IT HOW IT IS: Scratch Someone Who Hates Israel And You'll Find A Heart of Darkness
From today's Australian, Barry Cohen's words flow like a mighty stream:
My favourite definition of an anti-Semite is "a person who hates Jews more than is absolutely necessary". Susan Chandler, the former Victorian Liberal Party campaign manager who described a colleague as a "greedy f..king Jew", appears to qualify.
The object of Chandler's affection was Adam Held, the Liberal candidate at the recent federal election for the Victorian seat of Melbourne Ports. Held is Jewish, as is his opponent, the sitting member Michael Danby.
It appears Held earned Chandler's ire during the campaign when he committed the unforgivable sin of doing an Oliver Twist and asking for more. It wasn't gruel he was after but extra political pamphlets for his campaign. Chandler obviously thought it was a plot by the Elders of Zion to corner the market in political pamphlets. Today pamphlets, tomorrow the world.
One would have thought that in view of Held's work ethic a more apt description would have been "a hardworking f..king Jew".
Clearly, Chandler is not the sharpest knife in the Liberal drawer. Anyone with an IQ above room temperature would not have committed such terms of endearment to email. Nor would they have been outraged at the suggestion that they had done anything wrong. "Anti-Semitic? Moi? Some of my best friends are Jews." She may have a few less in the not-too-distant future.
It's strange how anti-Semites rarely recognise their own prejudice. As a young and promising golfer I indicated to my boss, a charming and cultured man, that I was interested in joining his golf club. "Sorry, son, no Jews, jockeys or jailbirds." He couldn't recognise his responsibility as a human being to take a principled stand against anti-Semitism.
In the 1940s, when Jews were unable to join any of the A-grade clubs in Sydney or Melbourne, they decided to build their own clubs and were immediately attacked for being exclusive. That the clubs had non-Jewish members was conveniently ignored.
After World War II, and the attempt by the Nazis to destroy European Jewry, there was sympathy and support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the mandated territories of Palestine. When the UN voted in November 1947 to create an Arab and a Jewish state, the neighbouring Arab countries attacked the Jewish state.
That Israel survived was first met with disbelief, then awe and finally anger. Those, particularly on the Left, who had wept openly for the murdered millions, started to resent Jews no longer being victims.
How dare Jews win? How dare they defend themselves against those who wished to destroy them? How dare they refuse to accede to the absurd demands of the people who had created the problem by refusing to accept the UN decision? Jews had decided that they no longer wanted the sympathy and tears of the liberal Left. They wanted to survive, on their own terms.
As Israel repulsed attempts to destroy it, the anger of the liberal Left increased in intensity. As internationally famous lawyer Alan Dershowitz stated, "Throughout the world, from the chambers of the UN to the campuses of universities, Israel is singled out for condemnation, disinvestment, boycott and demonisation."
Anti-Semitism? "No! No!" cried Israel's critics. "We don't hate Jews, just Israel." For many, Israel became the pariah state. Anti-Semitism became acceptable again. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman responded: "Criticising Israel is not anti-Semitic and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction, out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East, is anti-Semitic and not saying so is dishonest."
It's the double standards by which Israel is judged that incenses Jews and their supporters.
Dershowitz's story of Harvard University president A. Lawrence Lowell's attempt to limit the number of Jews admitted to Harvard in the 1920s because "Jews cheat" is the classic double standard. When an important alumnus objected on the grounds that non-Jews also cheated, Lowell replied, "You're changing the subject. I'm talking about Jews."
In Australia today many journalists are incapable of recognising their own deep-seated prejudices. When I asked one journalist why he and many of his colleagues felt it necessary to mention that certain businesspeople were Jewish, particularly those who had brushes with the law, he bridled at the suggestion that this was anti-Semitic. "It's part of the story," he spluttered.
"Really?" I replied. "How, exactly?" He was unable to give a coherent reply. I asked, "Do you know and mention the religion of James Packer, Rupert Murdoch, Christopher Skase, Kerry Stokes or Alan Bond?"
"No," he replied, somewhat shamefaced.
"And nor should you," I told him, "Because it's irrelevant."
Others were more astute. No mention of religion. They just pointed out that the person they were writing about was a regular visitor to Israel. More clever still was the television program about a Jewish businessman who had just been released from jail. No mention he was Jewish, just a shot of him with his rabbi. Anti-Semitic? Perish the thought.
Then there's the sinister Jewish lobby. One Canberra journalist becomes apoplectic on the subject. Again, no mention of the Catholic, Protestant, Islamic, union or dozens of business and special interest groups that continually lobby governments. No suggestion that they are insidious or sinister.
Oh dear, no. Selective indignation, dear readers, is anti-Semitism.
As a young boy growing up in the aftermath of World War II, I hoped that anti-Semitism would gradually fade away. Regrettably, that has not been the case. It is alive and well and, it would appear, still common among what was once called polite society.
Barry Cohen is a former minister in the Hawke government.
FROM THE RED TED FRONT: The War That Will Not Die
■ Many legal threats appear in a form so strange that one is entitled to think them a practical joke. Certainly that must have been former Liberal secretariat staffer John Osborn's reaction when he received a legal threat regarding his supposed breach of confidence for commenting on his departure from his employment. It was of course his former boss Julian "J-Rat" Sheezel and Leader Red Ted Baillieu who breached their confidentiality deed in the first place by issuing written statements and holding press conferences on the issue. It really is a clown show in there at the moment.
■ Two of Ted's Men, Michael Kapel and Simon Troeth have failed to deny their personal involvement in leaking Liberal party staff emails to Australia's most left-wing daily newspaper, The Age.
■ Tony Nutt is resisting efforts to complete his investigation early, insisting that good things (like a complete whitewash of Ted' involvement) take time and everyone can wait til June 5.
Game on.
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