At its core, Zionism is fundamentally racist, extremist, undemocratic & militant:

* in espousing Jewish supremacy, exceptionalism & uniqueness as God's "chosen people;"

* in relying on occupation, oppression, violence & dispossession;

* in justifying a Jewish ethnocracy based on structural inequalities;

* in ruling by force, not coexistence;

* in choosing confrontation over diplomacy & the rule of law; &

* by denying Arabs & all others the same rights as Jews.

From the SMH

Like Uncle Fester, Abetz seems to carry an electrical charge and can doubtlessly light up a bulb in his mouth.

Then there is the notion that the old hands of the Howard era should be shown the door.

Poppycock.

Even though he himself admitted they had been, at times, both "polarising" and "controversial", Abbott seemed delighted to announce the resurrection of three political poltergeists: Philip Ruddock, Kevin Andrews, and Bronwyn Bishop.

One of the Coalition's most prominent climate change deniers and passionate advocates for nuclear power has complained bitterly about being left off of Tony Abbott's new front bench.

Dennis Jensen, the Western Australian MP who disputes man-made climate changes and led backroom efforts to convince colleagues, has expressed his displeasure on Facebook.

"Pretty damned disappointed at the lack of a frontbench guernsey," he writes.

from Crikey.....

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

Abbott's Catholicism fair game

One allegation I'd never thought I'd make about Tony Abbott is that of being a sook. The bloke loves a stoush and has always seemed to readily understand that if you dish it out, you have to be prepared to take it.

By PETER BAKER

Since 2003, the IAEA has consistently failed its obligations towards Iran as defined by the 1974 Safeguards Agreement. It has failed to facilitate refueling of a small reactor in Tehran, used mostly for short-lived medical isotopes. It has cancelled several key technical assistance programs with Iran, some of them related to nuclear safety issues, under pressure from the US.

from the Mayne Report .....

The campaign to get Woolworths to clean up its appalling pokies operation is gathering pace after the major hit at the AGM in Sydney on November 26.

We had a special briefing session on Manningham's new gaming policy last week and, in an unrelated exercise, I've just submitted the following motion to be debated at the December 15 council meeting:

Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce says he has accepted a job on the frontbench of the Federal Opposition.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, is expected to announce a reshuffle early this week.

Senator Joyce has told ABC1's Insiders, he has taken advice from several people before making his decision.

"I know what I'm going to be doing because I've had that discussion with Tony, but I'm going to leave it for Tony to announce it. I can tell you it won't be the Minister for Arts," he said.

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Radical change is coming to Harvard. Fewer professors, for one thing. Fewer teaching assistants, janitors and support staff. Shuttered libraries." The list goes on.

At Harvard! Which is, to quote a hedge fund manager who "counts Harvard among his investors," totally "fucked."

By now it has become clear why you were awarded the Nobel Peace prize -- a prize which was named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. Is it any wonder that Gandhi did not receive the prize, and the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini were nominated? Mr. Obama, your Afghan announcement and your position on Iran has made you one dynamite war president.

from Crikey .....

With the Copenhagen talks almost upon us it seems like an appropriate time to launch a scoreboard on how the world is progressing in efforts to limit global warming and the not-for-profit Sustainability Institute has this week done just that.

Honestly, if it weren't so grim, despite all the upbeat benchmarks and encouraging words in the president's speech, this would certainly qualify as Monty Python in Afghanistan.