So I have just witnessed our oh-so-endearing Prime Minister address the nation, with that deer-in-headlights facial expression that he always uses in front of TV cameras (is the man capable of showing any emotion?). At least there was some taste in the choice of background, subtlety in the use of the flag (unlike the in-your-face nationalism of the “we are sending troops to East Timor” address), and some acknowledgement of the severity of this disaster.

That said, I have to hand it to John Howard. If I’ve learned nothing from eight years of Howardism, it’s that the little man knows how to play the game, and he knows how to win. Not only does this billion dollars represent a long-overdue shift in foreign policy to our own region (albeit at the expense of others), but it’s just the ticket for scoring political points, particularly with folks who were doubting his humanity (vis-a-vis asylum seekers, and all that). And it’s a strong boost to Aussie patriotism, what with it being the largest government donation so far.

As for myself, I’m still recovering from Daniel’s big LAN, even though it ended days ago. Apart from being accused of being a massive nerd (oh wait, hang on …) and leeching more Red vs Blue than I could possibly ever download, I also learned a new respect for network hardware makers, after the utter thrashing we dished out to Daniel’s switches.