A further contribution to the archive of remarkable judgments.

This is a test of the "blog this" extension I have installed, and I have picked an ABC News item more or less at random.

Scary food. Take the tour.

Get Your War On 24

I've been rereading Iain Banks' 'culture' novels. Banks' 'A Few Notes on the Culture' sketches out the, ...well, physics, economics and sociology supposedly underlying his plotlines.

A nice referral from John Quiggin. Thanks.

A roundup of some current media commentary on the leadership of the Labor Party.


The Bulletin article which started the most recent outbursts.

Paul Kelly speaking on the ABC's Insiders.

Michelle Grattan writing in the Sunday Age.

Geoff Kitney in the SMH.

Best blog discussion I've seen so far, sparked by this post from Ken Parish.

Margot Kingston in the SMH webdiary.

Heck. Can Jack White write lyrics, or what?

I came close to living a different life. A life where, like jebni, one pays attention to, and nurtures, one's collection of fonts.

Memo, apparantly circulated some years ago by Newt Gingrich to his then-colleagues in the House of Representatives. Via Bryan Alexander's links page.

Some readings on liberalism, democracy and Iraq. More work. Extended comments to follow, but here's the first question for now: Where, exactly are liberal justifications for a enthroning the American occupation as a grant of democracy going to be played out? Where are these texts going to be relevant? There seems to be nothing to suggest that the Bush Administration requires, cares about, or is even aware of the problems liberals are posing for themselves.


Readings #1: Review, by Ian Buruma, of Paul Burman's Terror and Liberalism in the May Day edition of NYRB.


Readings #2: Stanley Kurtz' article in Policy Review, Democratic Imperialism: A Blueprint.

John Howard staggers out on Thursday morning, burbling the following nonsense at a press conference:

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I’m sure that people all around the world who believe in the principles of freedom and liberty would have been greatly moved by the scenes of jubilation that have been witnessed in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. I haven’t seen such exhilarating scenes since the implosion of the Soviet empire in the late 1980s, and what we have witnessed is something that the Iraqi people wanted the world to know and that is that they’re glad to be rid of the loathsome dictator Saddam Hussein.

"The action occurs when the action occurs – and everything thereafter is speculative or investigative": General Vincent Brooks.

Beautiful posters from my favourite film.

Affleck/J-Lo Casablanca remake? Just say No. Sign the petition.

The Elements by Tom Lehrer, courtesy of Mike Stanfill.

Get your war on 23

The High Court of Australia stands at the apex of the appellate system of this country's courts. Much of its business, therefore, is resolving legal questions that have been considered in the intermediate appellate courts, and the trial courts, of the Federal and state jurisdictions.

The High Court also has original jurisdiction for certain matters arising under the Constitution, not least of which are the prerogative writs.

There are other matters in which the Court has original jursdiction, including acting as the Court of Disputed Returns under the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

One whimsical beauty of the original jurisdiction of the Court is that it can be, and not infrequently is, invoked by litigants in person who have not had to fund or conduct lengthy litigation in the courts below.

Litigants such as Theodore J Rout.

The North Australian Aboriginal Legal Service Inc has obtained special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia.

That Full Court decision was a decision on an appeal from an order made by a Judge of the Federal Court, Weinberg J, dismissing an application by the appellant, the North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service Inc for an order declaring as invalid the appointment of the first respondent, Hugh Burton Bradley, to the Office of Chief Magistrate of the Northern Territory.

Weinberg J summarised the underlying controversey in the following way:

The genesis of this proceeding is to be found in the resignation, on 20 November 1997, of Mr Ian Gray, the former Chief Magistrate. Mr Gray's resignation was well publicised, and was said to arise, in part at least, out of the introduction of the mandatory sentencing regime in the Northern Territory.




In the months that followed, Mr Bradley was approached to take the position of Chief Magistrate. After extensive negotiations, he was appointed by the Administrator, on the advice of the Executive Council. A large volume of documents relating to his appointment was produced on discovery by the Northern Territory. It emerged that concurrently with that appointment, the government was considering the introduction of contract or fixed term appointments for magistrates.



The evidence makes it clear that these two processes became conflated during the early stages of negotiation with Mr Bradley over his remuneration and allowances. The proposal to introduce contract or fixed term appointments, and the belief that Mr Bradley would be appointed on that basis, attracted much criticism from within the legal community in Darwin and from other sources.



NAALAS relied upon two grounds in support of its claim that Mr Bradley's appointment was invalid.



The first was that the appointment was made for one or more improper or extraneous purposes. NAALAS alleged that the Northern Territory had, by negotiating a two year Special Determination regarding Mr Bradley's remuneration and allowances, improperly secured what was in effect a fixed term appointment, thereby subverting the requirement in the Magistrates Act 1977 that magistrates be appointed to the age of 65 years. It contended that the appointment defeated an implicit requirement of that Act that judicial independence be protected. This put Mr Bradley in the position of being beholden to the government for his future remuneration. It should be noted that the allegation of improper or extraneous purpose was directed solely against the Northern Territory, and was not directed against Mr Bradley.



Secondly, NAALAS contended that the special remuneration package negotiated with Mr Bradley was ultra vires, or beyond the powers conferred by the Magistrates Act, because it applied for a period of two years only, limited to expire before he reached the age of 65, and made no provision for his remuneration and allowances at the end of that two year period.

Powell says that it is "the coalition" which is doing the heavy lifting in Iraq, and it will be the coalition that rules Iraq afterwards.

Downer thinks that the UN should have some kind of role.

"I think the Americans are relaxed about having a special representative or a UN co-ordinator, whatever title you would use," Mr Downer said. "I think they accept the point that somebody in that position would be able to liaise effectively with an interim administration in Iraq and would be able to co-ordinate UN agencies on the ground, play a very important role."

Rumsfeld is still complaining about Syria.

CIA is still complaining about Rumsfeld.

The Americans have control of Bagdad airport. Um, no they haven't.

The White House will consider "a role" for an "international entity" to verify American discoveries of banned weapons of mass destruction. However,

Hans Blix, UNMOVIC's executive chairman, said in an interview Wednesday that the commission would not accept "being led, as a dog" to sites that allied forces choose to display.