Richard Lawson

On August 19th 2007, an oil tanker off the coast of Australia split in two, dumping 20,000 tons of crude oil.

Senator Collins, a member of the Australian Parliament, appeared on a TV news program to reassure the Australian public.

Politicians often think like Sen. Collins, but rarely do they articulate their thoughts with his directness and clarity.

Israel's stated aim in its invasion of Gaza is to stop the rocket attacks. The practical way to achieve this is to have a ceasefire, and set up a for a third party trusted by both sides to patrol Gaza with units led by dogs trained to identify the odour of rocket fuel. They would be able to react to caches of Qassam rockets, which could then be confiscated and destroyed.

Gush Shalom - Israeli Peace Bloc

Brilliant article here. 10,000 demonstrators in Tel-Aviv. No mention of this on the BBC.

Pithy, powerful summary of the case for peace, accusing that the Israeli action is a vote-gathering game.

Given the current deep polarisation between the governments of Israel and Palestine, and the supporters of both parties, it might be useful to consider the difference between a people and their Government. They are not the same thing, even in an (ideal) perfect democracy.

Bush says Hamas to blame for Gaza.
Hamas says Israel and Bush are to blame for the attacks.
Israel says Hamas is to blame.
Hamas says Israel started it.
Israel says Hamas provoke them to do it.

And so on and so on, an infinite regress, a regress ad absurdum, or more likely, a regress ad nihilo.

And all over the world commentators are pitching in on one side or other of this insane infinite regress.

The Hedge Fund Implode-O-Meter - tracking the hedge fund implosion - leverage, speculation, SIVs, CDOs, arbitrage, interest rates, credit bubble

Useful link.

The New Year is the time when hedge funds present their accounts. Should be interesting.

Sea Shepherd Drives Japanese Whalers Out of Australia’s Waters - Sea Shepherd
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship Steve Irwin has driven the Japanese whaling fleet out of the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone. "We have chased the whalers for over 800 miles since last Saturday through bad weather and heavy ice conditions," said Captain Paul Watson. "They have fled eastward and they are continuing eastward and we are on their tail and we will keep on their tail."

Israel rejects Gaza truce calls: "Mr Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were reportedly opposed to the ceasefire plan [of a 48 hour truce to let humanitarian aid into Gaza], while Ehud Barak, the defence minister, was said to be inclined to examine it...a government spokesman, Mark Regev said that Israel was not looking for a "band aid", or something that would expire a month from now. But he said dialogue would continue.

Tony Blair is to be at talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
We must all hope most fervently that the talks are productive, but it is a pity that Tony Blair is the speaker for the Quartet - UN, US, Russia and EU.

Israel's defence Minister says this is "war to the bitter end".

The "bitter end" is a nautical term, and refers to what happens if you chuck the anchor over the side without first making sure that the anchor chain is attached to the boat. It refers to the nasty feeling that you get as the end of the anchor chain disappears into the water, leaving the boat without the expected benefit of said anchor.