Hail to the Emperor of Snake-Oil Salesmen

John Howard celebrates 10 years in office next week.

Whether that is a matter for rejoicing will depend on what you value as important to you in 2006 and how you assess what has been gained and lost in those 10 years. Sadly, probably most Australians will view the Howard-years through the prism of how it has affected their hip-pocket nerve. Never mind the spin, the lies, the lack of ministerial responsibility, the ever-sharper division between haves and have-nots, etc. etc.

In his inimitable style Mike Carlton in his weekly column in the SMH today puts his stamp on how he views the last 10 years of a Howard-led Government.

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Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

There is no gain-saying that Robert Fisk, fiercely independent and feisty to boot, is the veteran journalist and author covering the Middle East. Who doesn't he know or hasn't he met over the years in reporting from Beirut - where he lives? In his latest op-ed piece for The Independent he lays out his predictions for the Middle East for 2013. Read the piece in full, here - well worthwhile - but an extract... "Never make predictions in the Middle East. My crystal ball broke long ago. But predicting the region has an honourable pedigree. “An Arab movement, newly-risen, is looming in the distance,” a French traveller to the Gulf and Baghdad wrote in 1883, “and a race hitherto downtrodden will presently claim its due place in the destinies of Islam.” A year earlier, a British diplomat in Jeddah confided that “it is within my knowledge... that the idea of freedom does at present agitate some minds even in Mecca...” So let’s say this for 2013: the “Arab Awakening” (the t...

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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