Former Republican senator Chuck Hagel is to be the new US defence secretary – provided he's confirmed by the Senate. It looks as if Obama has picked the right man for the times.
Courts, cattle and constitutions – Australia’s ailing federalism
Mountain cattle grazing in Victoria becomes a constitutional issue. The Federal Court upheld the ban, but indicated that there were still limits to Canberra's power on environmental issues.
Hungary takes the John Howard route
Hungary's government comes to grief in an attempt to change the electoral law to its advantage, in much the same way that John Howard did in Australia.
Fiscal cliff: a Civil War postscript
One more thing to say about America's fiscal cliff, and it's on the regional breakdown of the vote to approve the legislation in the House of Representatives yesterday morning (Australian time). I can't claim originality for the idea – John Judis posted about it at the New Republic. But it was sufficiently interesting for me … Continue reading Fiscal cliff: a Civil War postscript
More to liberty than gun rights
So if gun rights need to be defended as a safeguard against tyranny, why are conservatives so cavalier about trashing other safeguards?
The perils of insular thinking
Melbourne's ticketing fiasco reflects the same sort of insularity that gave us compulsory voting and a broken school funding system, among other things.
And over the cliff we go – sort of
A deal dragged the United States back up the fiscal cliff, and the markets loved it.
Highlights of 2012: The top 10 elections
It was again a mixed year for elections, where the forces of change and the forces of stability both had their victories. Here's my top 10 for 2012.
Israeli Supreme Court backs democracy
The Central Elections Committee, a largely partisan body, had again tried to narrow the options available to Israel's Arab voters by disqualifying an anti-Zionist MP. Yesterday the Supreme Court stood up for democracy.
Well, isn’t that interesting?
A few days ago I said that Mario Monti, Italy's caretaker prime minister, had "left open the possibility of returning to government in some capacity." Now he's gone a step further, announcing that he will put himself at the head of a "centrist" ticket for February's election. The BBC reports as follows: The BBC's David … Continue reading Well, isn’t that interesting?
