‘The second cricket Test match of the recently concluded test series between India and England played at Trent Bridge was important as it went on to underline the success that the Indian cricket team has been enjoying on foreign trips in the recent past.

'The Bush administration has leaped toward war with Iran by, in essence, declaring war with the main branch of Iran's military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which it plans to brand as a terrorist organization.

A logical evolution of US President George W Bush's ill-defined, boundless "war on terror", the White House's move is dangerous to the core, opening the way for open confrontation with Iran. Thismay begin in Iraq, where the IRGC is reportedly most active and, ironically, where the US and Iran have their largest common denominators.

ben eltham writes …..

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson: shopaholic

When it comes to problem shoppers, one Australian is in a class of his own: our Defence Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson. There aren't too many of us wealthy enough to shell out $6 billion on a whim. Brendan Nelson is. And he's not afraid to slap the plastic down on the spur of the moment.

This week rattus announced the sale of uranium yellowcake to India & that it was also considering sales to Russia.

The rodent solemnly declared that no yellowcake will be sold to India, unless the Indian Government agreed to a set of strict conditions aimed at preventing that uranium from being used in nuclear weapons. Of course the little trickster ignored the obvious fact that India’s current uranium supplies would be able to be redirected into its nuclear weapons programs, as they are replaced with uranium from Australia.

‘Someday, we will undoubtedly discover that, in the term "surge" - as in the President's "surge" plan (or "new way forward") announced to the nation in January - was the urge to avoid the language (and experience) of the Vietnam era.

’Given the nation's tottering infrastructure, imperial overreach abroad and vandalized constitutional process by a lawless executive branch, what will it take to scare the general public, mainstream press and political classes into immediate action to bring about meaningful change? At this twilight hour of the American republic, there must come a paradigm shift of seismic proportions or else the republic will perish. I'm less than optimistic.

Peter Andren

Peter Andren, the Independent MP for Calare, has announced that cancer has forced him to withdraw from his campaign for a Senate seat. He has been a strong campaigner for democratic integrity as well as a supporter of the Audit. We send him our very best wishes for his recovery.

Victorian premier resigns

After eight years in office, Victorian premier Steve Bracks stepped down on 30 July 2007. His contribution to restoring democratic practice in the State, including entrenching the independence of the Auditor-general and of the Director of Public Prosecutions, is discussed in this article by Joseph O'Reilly in New Matilda:

‘Investigative journalist Mark Schapiro discusses why companies that manufacture hazard-free products for the European Union often produce toxin-filled versions of the same items for America and developing countries.

‘The concept of a pre-emptive war should be an abomination to every American. Pre-emptive war is a war of aggression. It was the policy of Hitler's Germany and of the Japanese imperial government. To our national shame, apparently many Americans support the concept. They should never again criticize the Japanese for Pearl Harbor, the Third Reich for the invasion of Poland, or the Soviet Union for the invasion of Afghanistan. Click your heels and salute. You are no different from the people who cheered for Hitler.

from Crikey …..

Revelations that Peter Costello shot his mouth off over dinner with three senior Canberra journalists in 2005 should probably be filed - along with the small legion of other Costello indiscretions - under P, somewhere between petulance, Peter Principle and pique. None of these continually reported digs amount to much more than verbal pouts, and none look likely to trouble Costello's stubbornly persistent nemesis, the PM.

’Attacking Iraq was a war crime, and to sit back now and debate how much control we are entitled to is disgusting. With typical U.S arrogance, our Congress, and the White House, now debate if, how, and when, to leave Iraq, and also about how many troops we should leave for a "training force," if we are to leave troops there.

What they are blind and deaf to is the cold and bloody fact that the people of Iraq have already spoken, and they have told us to get all of our troops out in a very loud voice.

from Crikey

bush rains on howard's APEC parade ….

Alex Mitchell writes:

Prime Minister John Howard’s scarcely concealed attempt to turn next month’s APEC summit in Sydney into a platform for his re-election is turning sourer by the day.

‘The war of words between Moscow and the west over missile defence intensified over the weekend as Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, declared a new radar station near St Petersburg to be “the first step in a large-scale programme”.  

Moscow has said it would bolster its air defence capability in response to US plans to site early-warning systems in the Czech Republic and missile interceptors in Poland to protect against attack from Iran or North Korea.

On Thursday, bushit left for a weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine, and his family's summer compound, Walker's Point. On Monday, he heads to his Crawford retreat, where he has spent all or part of 418 days of his presidency, according to Mark Knoller, a CBS News White House correspondent and meticulous record-keeper.

The presidential vacation-time record holder is the late Ronald Reagan, who tallied 436 days in his two terms. At 418 days, and with 17 months to go in his presidency, bushit is going to beat that easily.

mike carlton …..

Stick to the script & nothing can go wrong

Transcript of Prime Minister's news conference Parliament House, Canberra

PRIME MINISTER: Ladies and gentlemen, I have called this news conference to comment upon the decision of the Reserve Bank to lift the official cash rate by 0.25 of a percentage point. Nobody regrets this rise in interest rates more than me. But it is the result of my Government's outstanding track record of responsibly managing the economy …