This story is a little confusing to the capsule narrative I have of Tanya Plibersek, viz. that she's about the most left-wing federal Labor MP in NSW. Here she appears as the right fringe of the Left, demanding action against WikiLeaks. It is hard to imagine how she can be called left-wing at all on this basis. It's an odd thing for her to say, because the ALP strategy for retaining her seat seems to be to compete with the Greens on a left-wing terrain. Perhaps with the precedent being set in Melbourne of the Libs preferencing Labor, a new strategy of wooing Liberal preferences is to be expected in the inner city.

Wikileaks reveals Mark Arbib's contacts with the US embassy.

Workers being forced to work through Christmas? This is surely something that will be generally understood as 'unAustralian', that the Right, with their defence of the family and Christian institutions, will oppose, in short, that finds no support within mainstream political opinion.

A cartoon character that represents Australia meets a kangaroo.

Terrorism (Police Powers) Amendment Bill 2010 passed in NSW

This is a rare act of wanton disregard of ecological concerns, representing a reduction of quality to quantity in an absurd way. In a state and a country that just seem to be getting worse all the time, this is beyond satire.

Marcus Strom on the absence of oppsition within the ALP to the war on Afghanistan.

Anonymous cyber-attacks on Australian government

I don't necessarily endorse the view that there is anything intrinsically desirable about a total freedom of 'information', but I do share the view that the Australian federal government's moves towards restricting the internet are extremely sinister.

This is a dark fucking day: the dependence of Sydney on a really unnecessary desalination programme is established.