Month: April 2008

Who are happier – left or right wingers?

Posted by Chief Blogger – 24 April, 2008

Arthur Brooks, author of the new book Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America—and How We Can Get More of It, found that conservatives are twice as likely to be happier than secular (small l) liberals. Religious conservatism equals happiness, while secular liberalism equals unhappiness. Surprisingly, liberals were found to be wealthier than conservatives. Would that mean, by implication, that liberal nanny-state policies are unwanted by their poorer conservative friends? It would seem.

Liberals are unhappier because they feel they are the victims of circumstance, prejudice and guilt – even though they are wealthier. The larger absence of marriage, children, religious commitment and charitable work also explains their lack of happiness – while the general presence of these factors helps to explain why conservatives are happier.

If you want visual proof of left wing unhappiness then look no further than this:

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Olympic Torch Relay: So much for the locals, Part II

Posted by Chief Blogger – 24 April, 2008

As reported this morning, it appears the Chinese designed the torch relay to maximise Chinese propaganda value:

ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope confirmed the Chinese Embassy in Canberra was closely involved in helping transport up to 10,000 Chinese students, ensuring pro-China demonstrators vastly outnumbered Tibetan activists…

Police said up to 15,000 pro-Chinese demonstrators were at the relay, swamping the estimated 2000 pro-Tibetan activists.

Just imagine the millions in China watching the nightly news of 15 000 Chinese swapping the national capital, a city of only 350 000. This has to of been the largest Chinese Government operation on Australian soil ever. The level of Chinese mobilisation also likely dwarfed all other torch relay events so far. It shows how much power and support the Chinese Government can muster on Australian soil when it needs to. From The International Herald Tribune:

Tony Ho, an Internet trader whose family left China 25 years ago at the end of the Cultural Revolution, had brought his two young daughters to see the finale of the torch relay. He said China was moving forward as fast as could be expected, and needed to be encouraged rather than threatened. He gestured to the sea of red flags that surrounded him and said foreign pressure would only lead to more nationalism within China. “The harder you push, the more red you’ll see,” he said.

He translated the final lines of a rousing rendition of the Chinese national anthem at the closing ceremony: “It says, ‘Braving the fire of the enemy guns, we still go forward.’ “

Spoken by someone who clearly knows very little about the Cultural Revolution. And what about these enemy guns in Tibet?

Inflation and Central Bank Jungle Juice

Posted by Chief Blogger – 23 April, 2008

With the release of the latest inflation figures showing a 16 year high in Australia, maybe its time for new solutions. Ever since my London School of Economics days I’ve been skeptical of adjusting macroeconomic policy in response to every quarterly economic figure. Central bank people are a different breed, they really think the economy should revolve around them and they use what tools they have to make sure that it does. So when Alan Jones does his nut at them, I take a step back. Further, according to my calculations a 20 per cent growth in M3 money supply over the past 12 months has not done inflation any favours. This has been mostly ignored by the media, but it might go some way to explain our high interest rates compared to the rest of the world, see table at the end of this thread.

I noticed just this moment that the issue was picked up by The Australian from MAN Financial chief economist Dr Frank Shostak:

“The Reserve Bank claims that it does not print money, but merely accommodates demand, but printing money is exactly what it is doing,” Shostak told The Australian in Sydney this week.

“Most people define inflation as a general increase in prices, but what inflation used to mean is an increase in the quantity of money, which is the primary long-term cause of general price increases.

“The money supply is out of control. The Reserve Bank balance sheet has increased by over 35 per cent and, according to my measurements, during the year to February there has been in excess of a 21 per cent increase in money supply. This can only result in general price increases.

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A Political Contrast

Posted by Chief Blogger – 23 April, 2008

As I indicated some time ago, something is going on here:

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain isn’t expected to attend the state Republican convention in Houston in June. But a presumptive GOP non-nominee — former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney — will be the featured speaker at a June 13 fundraising banquet at the convention site, the party confirms. (Yes, Romney will be speaking on Friday the 13th.)

More than likely a senior Republican Party position for Romney. Meanwhile, dumb just keeps getting dumber:

Former Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee has signed a contract with Creative Artists Agency (Hollywood talent agency) in Los Angeles, daughter and senior advisor Sarah Huckabee tells CNN.

Australian Olympic flame tour: local’s not invited

Posted by Chief Blogger – 23 April, 2008

Well, after repeated assurances from ALP Government’s across the country that the Chinese Olympic security forces would not become involved in defending the Olympic flame as it tours Australia, this now happens:

Beijing spokesman Qu Yingpu said the attendants – branded thugs for their heavy-handed tactics — would take matters into their own hands if a torchbearer was threatened. He said the guards would “use their bodies to form a kind of defence for the torch bearer”.

They were “trained security personnel with the ability to cover and evacuate the torch bearer in the case of an emergency”, Mr Qu said as he read from the BOCOG relay manual.

“Flame attendants are deployed alongside and behind the torchbearer to respond to any immediate threat against the flame or the torchbearer.”

So much for local authorities being in control.

The remarks derailed attempts by ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and his police chief to persuade the public local authorities were in control of the event.

They were seen by Australian relay organisers as a deliberate act of provocation by the Chinese, who have been told for months that they would not be allowed to have a security role.

It is believed the BOCOG document also contains clauses, not read out by Mr Qu, stating that any security activity by the flame attendants would have to be at the behest of local authorities.

A clearly furious Mr Stanhope, sitting metres from Mr Qu, said there were “communication issues” about the Chinese guards’ role.

Looks like the whole thing will descend into farce. And in all of it, where are the locals going to be?

Canberra is bracing for the biggest security event in its history. Police expect up to 10,000 Chinese nationals to descend on the capital and deliver raucous support for Beijing, while a further 3000 Tibetan sympathisers are also expected to attend.

The huge police operation will effectively shut Canberra down from early today until the relay’s completion just before midday, when Ian Thorpe takes the flame to Commonwealth Park.

The Howard Legacy

Posted by Chief Blogger – 22 April, 2008

The first inside assessment of Howard’s Government came out this month, from the Institute of Public Affairs entitled, ‘Reflections on the Howard Project’ by one of Howard’s former speech writers John Kunkel.

While Kunkel argues that Howard followed the classical liberal ethos of avoiding a grand vision (unlike some today) in favour of less intrusive government operations, he does concede that:

…John Howard challenged many of the comfortable verities of late twentieth century Whitlamite progressivism so beloved by Australia’s self-proclaimed ‘public intellectuals’. He was, in an important sense, an anti-establishment politician. Perhaps the most salient feature of the Howard Project was the belief that the political class is no better than the rest of the Australian community; that it is not the role of government to ‘reform’ society by dragging it up to what the intelligentsia defines as an appropriately elevated moral plain.

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2020 Summit Summation

Posted by Chief Blogger – 22 April, 2008

The 2020 Summit had enough ALP spin to make a top dizzy:

2020 Summit Rebellion

Posted by Chief Blogger – 22 April, 2008

I blogged earlier this week about how the 2020 Summit was really a de facto ALP caucus. So it is of no surprise that delegates felt used when they read the final outcome of the Summit. Ideas straight from the ALP, not from the Summit itself. Just one example among many:

A participant in the productivity stream, Jennifer Buckingham from the Centre for Independent Studies, said what was projected on the screen at the closing ceremony did not reflect discussion among the group.

“There was an executive decision made about what was going to go up representing our group, and it didn’t represent that at all,” she said.

There was never any “explicit endorsement” of Mr Rudd’s idea for one-stop parent and child centres, and she would have voiced reservations about the cost of the scheme if it had come up for discussion.

“It just appeared at the end,” she said. “It was overlaid on top of what we had discussed. I’m sure there were some in our group who liked the model, but we certainly didn’t discuss it.”

The Golden Griffith Madrassas Coast

Posted by Chief Blogger – 22 April, 2008

Revealing article from The Australian:

Queensland District Court judge Clive Wall also accused Griffith of becoming an “agent” through which the Saudi Arabian embassy was propagating extreme Islam.

Judge Wall, a deputy judge advocate-general in the Australian Defence Force holding the rank of air commodore, told The Australian it was clear what brand of Islam the university would be teaching through its Saudi-funded Islamic Research Unit. “It would have to be Wahabism, similar to many of the madrassas in Pakistan who receive funding from Saudi Arabia,” he said….

The Australian revealed yesterday that Griffith asked the Saudi embassy in Australia for a $1.37 million grant for its Islamic Research Unit, even telling the ambassador that certain elements of the controversial deal could be kept a secret.

It was also revealed through documents that Griffith – described by vice-chancellor Ian O’Connor as the “university of choice” for Saudis – offered the embassy a chance to “discuss” ways in which the money could be used.

Celebrities and Politics, just add Public resentment

Posted by Chief Blogger – 22 April, 2008

The musing of a Republican journalist at the lack of success in changing the constitution:

So in the minds of many voters we had celebrities urging constitutional change – to some, abrupt change – on an issue they thought had been settled nine years ago. And there will be voters who strongly believe there are other priorities for a better Australia….

Roughly 10 years ago there was another celebrity-driven republic bid with Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward and others involved. It failed.

Liberal Senator George Brandis, a member of the governance group who voted against a new campaign for a republic, sees a danger in this for republicans.

“Nobody likes these people (giving political lectures). They like to watch them at the cinema,” Brandis told me.

“They leave it to politicians who they feel they can despise if they don’t like what they do.”