Cricket Australia's decision to nominate John Howard as its candidate for the top job at the International Cricket Council is as pitiful as it is disrespectful. Howard's knowledge of cricket is more characterised by enthusiasm than depth or imagination. Plain and simple, he is not qualified for the job. Moreover, the way in which he has been plucked from the sidelines shows CA in the worst possible light.

You will have read some of the reports. "His body is a mass of suppurating sores..." "A baby is on her back, her belly bloated and pronounced..." "This is what hell looks like and the people of Haiti are adrift in its lake of fire..."

The earthquake in Haiti has not only exposed the fragility of that Caribbean state - it has also revealed the British media to be stuffed with wannabe hack novelists more interested in providing horror-porn than factual analysis.

When President Barack Obama took office last year, he promised to "restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great." Toward that end, the president issued an executive order declaring that the extra-constitutional prison camp at Guantánamo Naval Base "shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order."

from Crikey .....

C'mon, Kev, show some guts: tell us where we're weak

Glenn Dyer writes:

Speaking to the Herald after announcing his plan on Thursday night for a permanent environmental workforce of 15,000, Mr Abbott said he would work out the details in conversation with green groups.

When asked how much an employee could expect to earn in the green army, Mr Abbott cited current standards for trainees and minimum wage-earners '' from $12,000 to $26,000''.

Media images appear to be prime motivation this week in a collective, mobilized response underscored by Western guilt. Bombarded with dust-covered corpses, blood and broken bones, and bodies rotting in the hot sun, millions around the world have donated their money to various relief organizations in support of Haiti. The United States has even organized a text message campaign which allows cell phone users to donate as little as ten dollars by texting the word "Haiti" to a central national phone line.

Palestinian resistance to the theft of their country reached a critical moment in 2001 when Israel was identified as an apartheid state at a United Nations conference on racism in Durban, South Africa. To Nelson Mandela, justice for the Palestinians is "the greatest moral issue of our time."

Over the course of his first year in office, Barack Obama has shown himself to be a skillful and savvy politician, saying the things Americans want to hear while stealthily and inexorably moving forward the government's agenda of centralized power. For example, in one breath, Obama pays lip service to the need for greater transparency in government, while in another, he issues an executive order that will result in even more government secrecy.

from Crikey .....

ASIO, not the government, calling the shots on refugees .....

Jeff Sparrow writes:

So ASIO says that five of the unfortunates from the Oceanic Viking constitute a threat to national security.

Well here's a first - Alastair Campbell quoting the Bible. The moment occurs in an extraordinary blog he's posted today following his one-man show at the Chilcot Inquiry yesterday where he stood by "every single word" in the not-at-all-dodgy dossier and praised his old boss Tony Blair for "his deep conviction and integrity" as he made the difficult decision to follow George Bush to war.

A source close to Mr Blair has confirmed that he in the final stages of negotiating a deal with Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, which he is expected to begin working for later this year.

"There is an agreement in principle but nothing has been signed yet," said the source.

"Mr Blair won't be joining the board but he will be acting in an advisory role, working very closely with Mr Arnault.

"In particular, his job is likely to involve attracting new clients."

Forget about oil, occupation, terrorism or even Al Qaeda. The real hazard for Iraqis these days is cancer.

Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment.

Thank God for Helen Thomas, the only person to show any courage at the White House press briefing after President Barack Obama gave a flaccid account of the intelligence screw-up that almost downed an airliner on Christmas Day.

After Obama briefly addressed L'Affaire Abdulmutallab and wrote "must do better" on the report cards of the national security schoolboys responsible for the near catastrophe, the President turned the stage over to counter-terrorism guru John Brennan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.