http://hourann.com/blog/2006/11/21/when-a-full-post-is-just-too-hard Hourann’s illogical blog Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:56:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://hourann.com/blog/2006/11/21/when-a-full-post-is-just-too-hard/comment-page-1#comment-12279 The Pencil Guy » Archive » Sculptures, fluoro lamps, and foreign policy Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:38:00 +0000 http://hourann.com/blog/2006/11/21/when-a-full-post-is-just-too-hard#comment-12279 [...] Since I don’t exactly have a copy of The Diplomat in my back pocket, I can’t read the exact words of Kevin Rudd as he was reported last week. Apparently he is interested in being both an ally and constructive critic of US policy, which reminds me of a Kim Beazley speech I heard some years back: “Australia should be the friend America needs, not the friend America wants”. But he also talks about APEC and seems to criticise John Howard for supporting the East Asia Summit. I’m commenting on fragmented quotes, but he may be quite wrong, since APEC has thoroughly lost its way. His talk of revitalising APEC is good, as long as it involves reform, but I doubt it’s achievable — the Sydney meetings are straight before the election. As for the EAS, Howard deserves congratulations (not criticism) for representing Australia at a meeting that has much better prospects for earning long-term relevance. [...] [...] Since I don’t exactly have a copy of The Diplomat in my back pocket, I can’t read the exact words of Kevin Rudd as he was reported last week. Apparently he is interested in being both an ally and constructive critic of US policy, which reminds me of a Kim Beazley speech I heard some years back: “Australia should be the friend America needs, not the friend America wants”. But he also talks about APEC and seems to criticise John Howard for supporting the East Asia Summit. I’m commenting on fragmented quotes, but he may be quite wrong, since APEC has thoroughly lost its way. His talk of revitalising APEC is good, as long as it involves reform, but I doubt it’s achievable — the Sydney meetings are straight before the election. As for the EAS, Howard deserves congratulations (not criticism) for representing Australia at a meeting that has much better prospects for earning long-term relevance. [...]

]]> http://hourann.com/blog/2006/11/21/when-a-full-post-is-just-too-hard/comment-page-1#comment-9739 The Pencil Guy » Archive » EAS, round 2: energy deals grab broader attention Sat, 20 Jan 2007 08:27:09 +0000 http://hourann.com/blog/2006/11/21/when-a-full-post-is-just-too-hard#comment-9739 [...] I think it’s illustrative that our local daily gave a big chunk of space on the business pages to an AP story about the energy pact, which seems to mirror several other news services I’ve checked. In other words, talk of energy deals makes business leaders (or at least business press editors) stand up and take notice — which, if nothing else, has the benefit of giving the Summit some more widespread attention than it’d otherwise earn. On that front, the EAS has already done better than APEC meetings of recent years, none of which have produced anything quite as noteworthy. [...] [...] I think it’s illustrative that our local daily gave a big chunk of space on the business pages to an AP story about the energy pact, which seems to mirror several other news services I’ve checked. In other words, talk of energy deals makes business leaders (or at least business press editors) stand up and take notice — which, if nothing else, has the benefit of giving the Summit some more widespread attention than it’d otherwise earn. On that front, the EAS has already done better than APEC meetings of recent years, none of which have produced anything quite as noteworthy. [...]

]]> http://hourann.com/blog/2006/11/21/when-a-full-post-is-just-too-hard/comment-page-1#comment-7478 The Pencil Guy » Archive » A few random interesting things Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:46:57 +0000 http://hourann.com/blog/2006/11/21/when-a-full-post-is-just-too-hard#comment-7478 [...] Yesterday’s news that the PM wants to go ahead with an “Australian values” and English-language test for new citizens comes as no surprise in the wake of Pauline Hanson’s amazing comeback to politics (I see it lasting till election day, and no further). But they can hardly claim fair consultation, considering that the public comment period only closed three weeks ago (and this is the Immigration Department, do recall). Again, not surprising, particularly since the Issues Paper that supposedly asked “should we have such a test?” was almost entirely focussed on what should be in the test rather than whether or not it should exist, but still kinda disappointing. [...] [...] Yesterday’s news that the PM wants to go ahead with an “Australian values” and English-language test for new citizens comes as no surprise in the wake of Pauline Hanson’s amazing comeback to politics (I see it lasting till election day, and no further). But they can hardly claim fair consultation, considering that the public comment period only closed three weeks ago (and this is the Immigration Department, do recall). Again, not surprising, particularly since the Issues Paper that supposedly asked “should we have such a test?” was almost entirely focussed on what should be in the test rather than whether or not it should exist, but still kinda disappointing. [...]

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