The Editor

Sydney Morning Herald.                                                           September 6, 2005.  

‘The Bush administration has declared war on the world. The 450 changes that Washington is demanding to the action agenda that will culminate at the September 2005 United Nations summit don't represent UN reform. They are a clear onslaught against any move that could strengthen the United Nations or international law.

The upcoming summit was supposed to focus on strengthening and reforming the UN and address issues of aid and development, with a particular emphasis on implementing the UN's five-year-old Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Most assumed this would be a forum for dialogue and debate, involving civil society activists from around the world challenging governments from the impoverished South and the wealthy North and the United Nations to create a viable global campaign against poverty and for internationalism.

I had an uneasy feeling this morning (SMH 01/09/05). I agreed with Miranda from the start. All those pollies who blamed the media for the demise and suicide attempt of former Liberal Leader in New South Wales, John Brogden, were just trying to shift the centre of reality. Some pollies, including our “there-is-a-lot-of-laughing-in politics

Maybe it was just the August winds or the prime meanster simply laying false trails again, but someone sure put something in the Liberals’ drinks this past couple of weeks.

When federal liberal backbencher & former leadership aspirant, Bronwyn ‘Boadicea’ Bishop, recently posited that the recruitment age for the ADF be lowered to 14, her suggestion received all the serious attention that it deserved.