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July 24, 2008

Afghanistan snow for Obama?

Aggregated from: Labor View from Bayside

Whoever wins in November, the US, and Australia will be in Afghanistan for a very long time. Certainly longer than the Soviet Union. The only question seems to be whether Bush or his successor has the first surge. Their optimism about Iraq may prove to be illusionary, either in the short term or the...

July 18, 2008

Jews on Jews

Aggregated from: Antony Loewenstein

The 60th anniversary of Israel’s birth saw a flurry of praise by the worldwide Zionist community. The Australian Jewish News editorialised that “Jews all over the world feel Israel is the most special place on earth”. Furthermore, “the Israeli Defence Forces are the envy of the world … ...

July 16, 2008

Obama & McCain: Click Go the Smears

Aggregated from: Labor View from Bayside

There is a blue corner and a neutral corner in the US campaign game called Fight the Smears. Barack Obama has an official site www.fightingthesmears.com:Does he have a birth certificate? Is he patriotic? Sometimes the “truth” is as troubling as the rumour. Judge for yourself. An apparently indep...

July 15, 2008

Shooting Obama in the Sandal

Aggregated from: Labor View from Bayside

The campaign is hotting up:The cover of the New Yorker magazine has caused an uproar in the States. It's hard to believe that they are pro Obama. Obviously the editor doesn't understand the cliché about Americans having no sense of irony.The Stump at The New Republic was typical of the response:Whe...

July 11, 2008

Presidential election minus 17 weeks

Aggregated from: The Poll Bludger

A new home for another fortnight or so’s worth of top quality US election repartee. I’m only one minor irritation away from pulling the plug on these threads, so please try not to annoy me (annoy each other by all means, but not me). UPDATE (9/7/2008): After careful reflection, I have de...

July 10, 2008

Trying to get a handle on Barack

A quick taste of recent Australian bloggers comments on things US. There has been more interest in Barack Obama but then he is new on the scene unlike the old warrior John McCain. Many find it hard to separate the personality from the policies. Mark Bahnisch, a very active member ...

Vanishing American democracy

Aggregated from: The Road to Surfdom

Anyone who takes even a passing interest in events in the USA will be aware of public discussions about warrantless eavesdropping that have been going on since 2005. I’m not going to attempt to summarise the long, involved saga. My purpose here is to note one of the arguments that has been made by...

June 19, 2008

Global: “I'm Voting Republican”

"I'm Voting Republican", a short film created by Charlie Steak and SyntheticHuman Pictures, has quickly gone viral and created quite a stir on the internet. A sample quote from the parody:   I'm voting Republican because I think new drugs should be made available immediately, whether they've been tested properly or ...

June 9, 2008

Global: The World Has a Say!

A number of websites to poll readers from around the world on their choice of who the next president of the US should be have popped up recently. And while non-Americans do not have a vote in the elections, they are still having their say online.

June 4, 2008

“No decisions tonight”

Aggregated from: The Poll Bludger

The headline says “CNN projects Obama clinches nomination”, but during what in many ways has sounded like a concession speech, Clinton has declared: “I will be making no decisions tonight”. ...