Why Farmdoc's voting Liberal

Last Monday Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith (pictured) announced Australia’s expelling an Israeli diplomat in retaliation for Israel’s alleged forgery of four Australian passports in connection with the murder of Hamas terrorist and arms dealer Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh [1]. Here are my responses:

A. The federal opposition Liberal Party says Australia’s action was aimed at currying favour with Arab countries because Australia’s seeking a UN Security Council seat [2].

B. Liberal Party Deputy Leader and Shadow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia has used and forged foreign passports in intelligence and other covert activities [3].

C. Prime Minister Rudd’s rebuke of Ms Bishop in the interests of national security [4] is tacit confirmation. Why wouldn’t he deny it if he could truthfully do so?

D. A federal election’s due later in 2010. Though I’m ideologically more aligned with Labor than the Liberals, due to this expulsion I’m voting Liberal. For me all else is background music.

E. In his blog Steve Lieblich asks three pertinent questions: If Australia could have prevented the Bali bombing by forging some passports and killing a terrorist, would it have done so? What protest has the Australian government made to the Dubai and other governments openly allowing terrorist activity? And if that protest is weaker than this action against Israel, why [5]? Indeed, Steve.

F. In the battle against the rising tide of Islamist terrorism, Israel’s the gold mine canary. If Israel can’t hold the line then heaven help the rest of the so-called civilised world – including Australia. But Messrs Smith and Rudd can’t see past their noses – which currently are distinctly brown.

G. Screw them. At times like this I’m ashamed of my country’s Prime Minister and Government.

The iPod, the terrorist and the police chief

Sweetheart Vivienne recently became an iPhone owner. And I in turn inherited her iPod Touch. Naturally I’ve been downloading Apps – free ones, of course, because I’m a parsimonious old guy. One of my favourites so far is AppBox Lite [1] which contains many utilities. One utility calculates the number of days between two dates. Which is how I know 103 days have elapsed since 19 January when Hamas terrorist and arms smuggler Mahmoud Abdel Raouf Al-Mabhouh met a timely death in his Dubai hotel room [2]. And 45 days have elapsed since 18 March when Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner Simon Overland was detected carrying live bullets on a Qantas domestic flight [3]. Both these events have vanished from the media. Like sunk stones. Without trace. Because, self evidently, in each case there have been no new developments. In relation to Al-Mabhouh all investigations by Dubai’s police, Scotland Yard, the Australian Federal Police and Interpol have seemingly come to nought. What welcome news. Whoever killed him did the civilised world a favour. In the Overland case, the metaphorical sunk stone is unwelcome because it demonstrates the Rule of Law doesn’t apply in Australia, i.e. the law doesn’t apply equally to each citizen. I’ve been waiting for a wag to put some bullets in a pocket and walk through airport security to see what happens. But so far no takers. I think, now, both stories are gone forever. Ho hum.

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Randy Cohen (pictured). He’s an interesting fellow. Wikipedia says that after obtaining an Arts degree majoring in music, he spent several years writing humour pieces, essays, and stories for leading US newspapers and magazines. For seven years from 1991 he was a writer on 950 episodes of Late Night with David Letterman, winning three Emmy Awards along the way. His fourth Emmy was for his work on TV Nation. Since 1999 he’s written ‘The Ethicist’ column in the New York Times Magazine. I subscribe to, and love, his weekly Ethicist podcasts. They’re succinct, fast-moving, and highly thought provoking. Nowadays, when I come across situations – in my life or in the news – with ethical connotations, I ask myself ‘What would Randy say?’ Two recent examples are: What would I have done had I, like Messrs Briggs and Jones, found $125,000 cash in a handbag in a supermarket carpark? And what would my reaction have been had my passport data been used by one of the team who bumped off Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January? Sweetheart Vivienne and I discussed these two questions over dinner last night. I can predict fairly accurately what Randy would’ve said about the money. But his response to the passport matter’s less certain. You see, he received his fifth Emmy Award as a result of a clerical error. And he kept it. So how could I not add him to my list of favourite journalists [1, 2]. Keep it coming, Randy.

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Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. I came across Greenpeace’s recently released Guide to Greener Electronics 14th Edition [1]. Makes for interesting reading.

2. the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reported on Australian research which concluded that among the elderly, having a Body Mass Index in the overweight range (25.0 to 29.9) may confer a lower mortality risk than having one in the normal range (18.5 to 24.9) [2]. Counterintuitive, but interesting. More research is needed.

3. top Hamas commander Mahmoud Abdel Raouf Al-Mabhouh, who was in charge of smuggling weapons and explosives from Iran into Gaza, died in his Dubai hotel room [3]. He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.

4. Hepburn Wind announced it had placed an order with a German company for the supply of two wind turbines, and their installation at Leonards Hill (near Daylesford) [4]. Wonderful news – for the community and the planet.

5. current Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry, was appointed a patron of RSPCA Tasmania. He’s the brother of RSPCA Tasmania director Suzanne Cass [5]. WTF – ignoring the nepotism, the good professor doesn’t even live in Tasmania.

6. I read and liked this Journal Watch Psychiatry titled ‘How to Stay Healthy’ [6]. Sounds eminently sensible to me.

7. Nutrition Diva wrote that to get the most nutrient from citrus fruits, when you peel them, leave some of the white pith attached to the fruit [7]. Why not.

8. Darling Indi, Jazzy and Zephyr started the new school year. I hope they have a fun time. And that they learn a bit along the way – which they’ll do if they have a fun time.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.