The Republican presidential contest entered a new phase on Sunday as the campaigns descended on Florida for the first primary in which all the candidates are participating full force, using as their stage a state famous for divisive election battles.  

I'm feeling a bit sad tonight. The main reason that I orginally came here, to warn of the US military takeover of Adelaide, has been finalised over the last few days, and South Australia has had the last nails driven into the coffin of its independence from global events. In fact, we've been globalised "military style."

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[The Australian Paul Maley | January 19, 2008]

A BRITISH firm yesterday became the Australian Defence Force's biggest supplier, in a $775 million deal that also consolidated Adelaide as the nation's defence industry hub.

from Crikey ….. 

Thanks to high oil prices and hefty subsidies, corn-based ethanol is now all the rage in the United States.  

The Wall Street gurus who presided over the sub-prime mortgage crisis currently shredding global share markets have awarded themselves bonuses totalling $US33.2 billion ($38 billion). 

In a concession to the crisis - which has forced America's largest banks to write off billions in bad investments and raise billions more to shore up their capital reserves - the bonuses were down nearly 5 per cent on the previous year. 

keep power in our hands: campaign against NSW electricity privatisation …..  

By Dr Patricia Ranald 

A Pentagon office that claims to monitor terrorist threats to U.S. military bases in North America - and was once reprimanded by the U.S. Congress for spying on antiwar activists - has just awarded a multi-million dollar contract to a company that employs one of Donald Rumsfeld’s former aides.

“Australia has sacrificed the principles of science-based management and sustainable use that are the world standard (and which Australia uses in other international forums and for the management of its own wildlife) as a political expediency to satisfy the interests of non-government organisations. 

Surfer Swan hits heavy weather …..

English classic actor Michael Gambon once defended his right to keep some things private from an intrusive media by saying if an audience knew everything about a thespian say, perhaps, that he was a model railway enthusiast it would detract from the performance.

Sometimes, in a bid to appear human, aspiring politicians reveal just a little too much of themselves.  

A long-awaited final report from the Food and Drug Administration concludes that foods from healthy cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as those from ordinary animals, effectively removing the last U.S. regulatory barrier to the marketing of meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats. 

Pope Benedict XVI has cancelled a planned visit to a prestigious Italian university after a protest by academics and students attacked his views on Galileo, the Vatican confirmed Tuesday. 

The pope had been due to give a speech at La Sapienza university in Rome Thursday to open its academic year. 

Romney wins in Michigan primary ….. 

Republican Mitt Romney has won the US state of Michigan's presidential primary, beating Senator John McCain. 

Giving a victory speech to jubilant supporters as the results came in, Mr Romney said the win marked 'the beginning of a comeback'. 

 It's taken me a day to realise how bogus the "Filipino Monkey" saga truly is.  I now believe that using the story has been a "safety hatch," an trustworthy escape from a failed attempt at starting a new war. 

Vainly, I'd arrived at the connection due to my  name (the story only really came to Australia yesterday), but was far from disappointed to find that many bloggers have made the connection between Monkey and the Tonkin incident.  For those who don't know, the Gulf Of Tonkin was the location of a confrontation that was used as vindication for starting the Vietnam war, and it's now widely believed that the event was faked.

We'd better start at the battlefront.  Here's a taste from Fox News:

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from the Washington Post .... 

from The Evening Standard (London) ….. 

There is something unedifying about Tony Blair's joining of investment bank JPMorgan and I don't just mean on the part of the former Prime Minister.