If you were told that this man was planning to visit Australia, would you let him in?

"On 22 December 2006, the delegate of the Australian Electoral Commission wrote to the following political parties to advise them they would be deregistered on 27 December 2006, as required by Schedule 3 of the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Act 2006..."

- Media release, Australian Electoral Commission, 22.12.06

Molly Ivins, that wonderful, savage but witty writer about Texan culture and American politics, died on Wednesday of breast cancer at the age of 62. I've quoted her on one occasion in my blogs, and I really enjoyed reading "Shrub", her account (co-authored with Lou Dubose) of GW Bush's career prior to the 2000 Presidential election (which he lost, but was awarded anyway).

A great commercial opportunity goes begging with the closure of the .um domain originally created for "US Minor Islands".

CNN takes up the, um, story.

It slipped by unnoticed at the time, but John Howard mentioned "Darfur" by name for, I believe, the first time, in his Christmas message to the nation on December 24, 2006.

Even if it was as part of one sentence which looks like it was inserted into the speech almost as an afterthought:

It's also a time to remember some of the tragic trouble spots of the world; areas like Darfur in Africa and the troubled Middle East.

"People can say a lot of ridiculous things and they should be able to say ridiculous things in a democracy..."

CARIBBEAN: Special Cricket Visa Irks Tourism Industry
- PORT OF SPAIN, Jan 29 (IPS) - It's billed as the third biggest sporting event in the world after the football World Cup and the Olympics.
[Inter Press Service]

Repeat after me:

Miserable failure.

There was great anticipation and excitement in Sydney on Australia Day with the news that Google Inc. had chartered an aeroplane to photograph the city for an update of Google Earth. Many parties, giant signs, marriage proposals etc were arranged for the morning. The plane turned up after everyone had gone home.

The Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/google-botch-

With any luck, he'll be our Prime Minister by the time Australia Day comes around again: