from Crikey

West Atlas spill the tip of the iceberg: WWF

Conservation director for the World Wildlife Fund Gilly Llewellyn writes:

The fire on the West Atlas oil rig platform is out and the first stage of plugging the leak is completed. But this is not the end of the story.

We need to find out what went wrong and further, improve the regulations that have allowed the untrammeled exploitation of one of the worlds last great marine wildernesses.

From Ms Albrechtsen

By North America correspondent Lisa Millar

The American General who led coalition forces in Iraq during the surge has been presented with an honorary Order of Australia.

The head of US Central command, David Petraeus, was appointed an honorary officer of the Order of Australia at a ceremony in Washington.

The four-star general was nominated for his leadership of coalition forces in Iraq for 18 months from January 2007.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has vowed to remove the "stigma" of corruption, a day after winning a new five-year term.

In his first remarks since being declared winner on Monday of August's fraud-marred poll, he also pledged to lead an inclusive government.

And he called on "Taliban brothers" who have been fighting an insurgency against him to "embrace their land".

The Taliban said in a statement it would continue its fight and called Mr Karzai "a puppet".

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from Crikey .....

WA cops get frisky

The Western Warrior writes:

Ah WA, you little police state, you.

New legislation, set to be introduced into state Parliament in next month, means police can now stop and search people and vehicles in designated areas without having to prove reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place. Yes, that's right, WA Premier Colin Barnett has proposed laws with the express purpose of stopping, searching and interrogating folk for no reason at all.

Pointing an accusing finger at the US, the Palestinians yesterday said Washington's backing for Israeli refusal to halt Jewish settlement expansion had killed any hope of reviving peace negotiations soon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, buoyed by new-found support from the Obama administration, urged the Palestinians to "get a grip" and drop their settlement freeze precondition for restarting talks suspended since December.

from Crikey ....

Drugs expert shown the door for disagreeing with government

Greg Barns writes:

from Crikey .....

Mungo: Tough stance on boat people borders on the ridiculous

Mungo MacCallum writes:

"Border protection" - the very phrase is ominous.

Former Howard government treasurer Peter Costello is to be appointed to the federal government's Future Fund Board of Guardians.

Mr Costello was treasurer from 1996 until the coalition lost the 2007 federal election to Labor.

The announcement of Mr Costello's appointment comes after former opposition leader Brendan Nelson was appointed as an Australian ambassador to the European Union in September.

'To have the experience of someone like Mr Costello on the Future Fund board will be of great benefit,' Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said in a statement.

By TOM ZELLER Jr.

NEW YORK — News last week of the first major influx of Chinese capital and wind turbine manufacturing expertise into the renewable energy market in the United States — a 600-megawatt wind farm planned for the plains of west Texas — had many readers of the Green Inc. blog in a state of agitation.

settlements or peace?

JERUSALEM: Dealing a blow to the Obama Administration's efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has failed to persuade Palestinian leaders to accept an Israeli proposal that would slow - but not stop - the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Former prime minister Paul Keating has criticised Kevin Rudd's decision to appoint Peter Costello to the board of the Future Fund.

Mr Keating says the former treasurer squandered 11 years of economic growth and stood by as Australia's overseas debt sky-rocketed.

Mr Keating says Mr Rudd is a "goodie two-shoes" who has shown disloyalty to the Labor Party by not considering former MPs for the job.

He has described the former treasurer as a "policy bum of the first order" who squandered 11 years of economic opportunity.

Was it Kim Jong-il? Or was it a fake North Korean leader that entertained Bill Clinton on that mission to Pyongyang to retrieve the two imprisoned American journalists?

In the absence of fact, the Hermit Kingdom has long been a free-fire zone for outlandish rumour. And they got more outlandish than ever after Mr Kim reputedly suffered a stroke in August 2008. Mr Kim was variously said to be close to death, about to be toppled by a coup, or desperately fixing the succession for his youngest son. Or was he really someone else?

By ETHAN BRONNER

JERUSALEM —Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautiously endorsed on Friday American-backed efforts to limit Iran’s nuclear program through shipments abroad of its enriched uranium. He made his remarks as an intensive Middle East diplomatic effort got under way, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton due here on Saturday.

Next time you see a junkie sprawled at the curb in the downtown of your nearest city, or read about someone who died of a heroin overdose, just imagine a big yellow sign posted next to him or her saying: "Your Federal Tax Dollars at Work."

During the Vietnam War, the CIA, and its Air America airline front-company, were neck deep in the Southeast Asian heroin trade. At the time, it was Southeast Asia, not Afghanistan, that was the leading producer and exporter of opium, mostly to the US, where there was a resulting heroin epidemic.