Neil Francey, Independent 'small l' Candidate in Tony Abbott's NSW seat of Warringah drops by with a review of NHJ!, poking all-interested potential voters to his rather flash website hub.

Have a swizz around his cyber-empire and check out Neil's democratic pitch - especially if you're a north-shore local who's fed up with Mr Abbott's arguably less-than-honest brand of 'Honest Politics'. NHJ! readers will be bemused to learn that, according to MK, the AEC has (apparently) now decided to drop the whole AHPT Trust fund pursuit. (Keep an eye on Webdiary for more on this soon; I haven't checked out the AEC website yet myself, so if anyone's got more on this, let us know.)

Meanwhile, cheer yourself up by having a look at Barrister Neil's legal work on health and tobacco issues. His campaign slogan

This is not just a book. This is a document nailed to the hall of Australian history.

Author Margo Kingston's 'Not Happy, John' is a snapshot of the national moment. We needed it. Our country's children will be able to look back on this moment and see whether we learned, which path we took.

For all the effort taken in writing it, and for all the damage it uncovers, there is cause for hope. We must view this work in that light.

I am hopeful in that now that we have been given this gift of knowledge, we can each in our own way take a step towards the light. That it exists is cause for hope. That it is charting is tremendous cause.

You go girl.

And thank you.

Personally, my first impression is that this book is eminently readable. That surprised me, because I held with trepidation the nature of the subject matter, and wondered silently if I could as a citizen play a role in its understanding. No problem, the book rollocks along and the comple

A very interesting piece of news has just crossed my desk.

Amazon.co.uk has reportedly barred the release of a controversial book on the relationship between the Bush family and the House of Saud.

House of Bush, House of Saud is, strangely, currently available at bookshops around the UK, but Amazon is claiming legal issues is forcing their hand.

Never let it be said that Amazon stocks every book.

Letitia Davy at Sydney Dymocks advises:

'Margo Kingston will talk about her new book Not Happy, John! which burst onto the Dymocks top ten in its second week. Have a glass of bubbly with us, as we defend our democracy!

Wed 18 August @6pm
424-426 George Street
FREE event but bookings essential

Contact Letitia Davy 92309013, or [email protected]

NHJ! (JR): Be there, or be square.

Margo you're a bloody ratbag - spawning a 400 page rant that hardly takes a breath in its merciless gallop through the tatters of John Howard's grubby reputation. Any sensible journo of your experience would have taken a comfortable job with Murdoch by now...... Thank God you didn't. Keep on trucking, you mad bastard! (And why can't women be mad bastards too, in the best traditional Aussie meaning of that expression?)

In the new edition of Australian Book Review (August edition) the bestsellers for July come from Readings in Melbourne and Imprints in Adelaide.

NHJ is number 2 at Readings & number 1 at Imprints!

Once again, thanks for all your support.

Today sees the national release of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. A box-office record-holder and explosive shot to the heart of the converted and undecided, the SMH's film reviewer, Paul Byrnes, writes an interesting review.

He praises the film, generally, though points out that, 'Moore's standard of proof is sometimes too low.'

One of the more interesting areas, related in many ways to NHJ, is when Byrnes comments on the role of the journalist - and how they are constantly failing in their task.

Key quote:

'The job of an intelligence service, as we have been told a lot recently, is to speak truth unto power. At times, this is also the job of the documentary film maker, but Michael Moore inverts the role - he's an intelligence service for the rest of us. That is why he is a hero for the young.'

'Journalists are supposed to do this too, but I think one reason

I read in last Saturday's Icon (SMH 24/7) about the Carbon Defence League's plan (warning: For Adults Only) to remove George Bush. Conservative voters will be offered sexual favours in exchange for signing a pledge to vote for anyone but Dubya. I wonder if we can trust these voters? One may end up being screwed twice!

I gave it some thought but decided against starting something similar here so I will continue with my sticking NHJ stickers all over Jackie Kelly country. Thanks to Margo I have some which I have stuck in railway stations, cinema toilets and supermarket carparks. (BTW, Margo and John Valder were inspirational in Springwood last Sunday.)

NHJ! (JR): Cilla - there are about a thousand smarty-pants comments I'd love to add to that idea...but my wife would kill me. Be warned BEFORE YOU LINK, folks - when Cilla says the 'fthevote' website is 'adults only', she ain't talkin' about an archive titled 'Preliminary Notes For In

I have despaired about John Howard ever since he was my local member in Lane Cove (before he gerrymandered Bennelong and thankfully gave me some sanity in Ted Mack). If Howard has a vision it must be terribly short term and he must not be planning to live in the society he is creating. Prior to his election as Prime Minister he and his henchmen (particularly Peter Reith) destroyed the 1988 referendum (which he has probably regretted judging by his fairly recent comments about 4 year terms), he white-anted Hewson who would have given us a far fairer GST (Hewson promised to make it revenue neutral), he gave time to Pauline Hanson to build a party in not replying to her maiden speech for weeks (58 days?) etc etc - I thought I was alone in seeing my beloved country being divided and our democracy trampled by Howard. You have made me optimistic again.

I will have to start buying the SMH. Thank you, again and again Margo.

I found the book to be much more enlightening than I expected. I found the portion regarding Howard

Michelle Grattan writes in today's Age newspaper about the upcoming political campaigns of former Liberal Party President and John Howard confidante, John Valder, Andrew Wilkie and Brian Deegan.

Deegan and Wilkie will be running as independents in Mayo and Bennelong respectively, and Valder will be working to unseat Howard in Bennelong.

All three men come from vastly different backgrounds, but fundamentally believe that Howard, especially through the Iraq war, has made Australia a more dangerous place.

Deegan: 'We've become more of a terrorist target because of the war. I lost one child [in the Bali bombing]. I have three children - I intend to protect them as best I can.'

Valder lauched the Not Happy, John campaign last weekend, and Grattan mentions his inspiration as MK's book.

It's an encouraging sign that an increasing number of individuals ('angry outsiders',

It's great to see you've inspired so many people with Not Happy John. I wrote a review of it for a newspaper and wanted to say so much more than I could in around 650 words. Wanted to add: 'This is an activist book, a real act of altruism, very accessible, with an action-plan in the back, READ IT.' Someone in this review's webpage mentioned that it didn't tackle education & asylum-seekers (I mentioned this in my review also). But I think this would have weakened its non-partisan appeal, and turned away some readers. Someone else who read my review told me that I'd 'served you one' in the last sentence. [NHJ!: Katherine's Age review of July 17 ended thus: 'NHJ will appeal to general readers of any political stripe, especially those who see themselves as moderates. Yet while it emphatically distances itself from 'the old, outworn, left-right rhetoric', the book's findings (including those of its conservative contributors) are precisely those the Left and Greens foresaw as inevitable c

Congratulations Margo on an outstanding and motivating account on how to get rid of John Howard.

It is interesting to note though in past discussions with Don Chipp, I was amazed at how furious he was that Robert Menzies lied to Cabinet and the Australian public on the reasons to commit Australia to the Vietnam war. Maybe that's the only way seen to gain public support for wars that are questionable.

Even though the account of the Hanan Ashrawi episode is important to explain the political power groups that are at work in our community, I found this chapter a little tedious. Over all a wonderful insight into the operations of John Howard's government. I'm thrilled that you had the courage to put it all into print. I couldn't put the book down and read it in two sessions.

Would like 10 more stickers.

NHJ! (JR): Watch this space - someone's getting 100, 000 printed up as we chat...

Margo. Enjoyed the book: loathe the man; lost some sleep. There is one immediate way of getting involved. We've all got local members from both of the big sides: stir them. Ask them for THEIR positions on the FTA, on the Bush Invasion of Australia, on Iraq, and ask them why they never break ranks, whichever side they come from. Don't take the first answer if it's invasive. Be persistent but polite. Ask for an interview. Check on the electoral balance for their seat. Let them know you know what it is. Finally, your analysis of the Pauline Hanson phenomenon was spot on - and there is a real message there. Small, independent people can make a difference. She did. And scared me to death in the process!

Thanks very much for the book.

Keep smiling.