As Doctor Nelson, the former leader of the Australian Liberal Party, graces the doldrums of the parliamentary hills with his affable nature, his heroic grandstanding on global warming is only belittled by his own insistence to give a tax rebate of 5 cents a litre on petrol back to the punter, so they can add more CO2 into the atmosphere...  

Vice President-elect Joe Biden is getting a tour of his new home from the outgoing occupant, Vice President Dick Cheney. 

Biden arrived Thursday at the Naval Observatory, the home for vice presidents, with his wife, Jill. They were greeted with smiles by Cheney and his wife, Lynne. 

There really isn't any doubt any more about whether the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has the killer instinct. 

The problem tends more to be how to drag her off the victim's body. 

So far, so good. 

The first week of Barack Obama's transition to the presidency has gone about as well as anyone could imagine. His few public appearances have been gaffe-free, and his initial decisions in setting up his administration have been strongly reassuring.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has also been criticised for questioning whether Mr Henry would be sacked if it was revealed he misled Treasury over advice given by regulators prior to the release of the Government's economic stimulus package.

But today in the Coalition party room meeting, one MP warned against attacking public servants.

Opposition frontbencher Andrew Robb says the Treasury's latest economic figures have got "the smell of manipulation" about them because they differ from the Reserve Bank's. 

The Reserve Bank yesterday released figures which show it expects growth to slow to 1.5 per cent, compared to Treasury's prediction of 2 per cent.  

When Barack Obama met George Bush for the first time four years ago, it proved an unhappy encounter.  

Matters were not helped at the start when a presidential aide squirted sanitiser on George Bush's hands before they shook. 

The international financial crisis has given world leaders a unique opportunity to create a truly global society, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown will say in a keynote foreign policy speech today. 

In his annual speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, Brown - who has spearheaded calls for the reform of international financial institutions - will say Britain, the United States and Europe are key to forging a new world order. 

Barack Obama will move swiftly to unpick many of what he sees as the most egregious acts of the Bush administration when he enters the White House in January, including restrictions on stem cell research and moves to allow oil drilling in wilderness areas, a leading member of his transition team said yesterday. 

John Podesta, a former chief of staff to Bill Clinton whom Obama has put in joint charge of his transition process, indicated the incoming president would use extraordinary powers to force through rapid change.

An op-ed in the conservative Wall Street Journal (June, 2008) provides another example of how there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats, especially when it comes to foreign policy.

The op-ed, entitled “Don’t Expect a Big Change in US Foreign Policy” by Timothy J. Lynch and Robert S. Singh, argues that no matter who is elected president — McCain, Obama, or Clinton — foreign interventionism will continue to be the order of the day.  

President Nicolas Sarkozy would like to emerge as the economic “president” of Europe until 2010 - overseeing a united response to the world financial crisis by the 15 Eurol and nations and Britain.  

The French president has launched a diplomatic and media campaign to suggest that his current role as conductor of the European Union economic orchestra, due to expire in December, should be extended informally, until the end of 2009.

as the murray-darling collapses ….. 

The Federal Opposition says the Government needs to provide evidence that its new industrial relations laws will make people's jobs safer. 

Workplace relations spokesman Michael Keenan says many businesses are seeking answers, particularly in the context of the international credit crisis.

US President George W Bush has said he and Barack Obama will discuss issues such as the global financial crisis and the war in Iraq "early next week". 

In a speech at the White House, Mr Bush congratulated the president-elect and said he would make every effort to ensure a smooth handover on 20 January. 

from Crikey ….. 

Tears and laughter. This is what Obama means 

From Washington DC, US correspondent Guy Rundle writes: 

Some serious misunderstanding has arisen between Kevin Rudd's office and George W. Bush's White House. It concerns a telephone conversation between Bush and Rudd. Let me give you the chronology.