Absence and More..

Terribly sorry to have left the blogging community uninformed about the recent events in the international scene, unfortunately have been working quite hard and writing some of the old political essays!

In other news though.... Japan again
Now the worlds largest recipent of gross foreign aid, from previously the 5th largest gross donor!
Such a downward spiral seems unfortunate but is it all a part of the downward economic spiral and continued stagnation? At one time a major rival of the US, it seems that China, still a poor country by per capita standards gets more press attention and fear nowadays. Japan shouldnt be forgotten however as one of the worlds top three economies and a major exporter and importer (of Australian goods anyway =)). I had always thought that we were a primary exporter of beef to Japan, but did you know we have a bi-lateral trade agreement with Chile which concerns beef and red wine among other things?
Anyway going a bit off topic here, but i'll be sure to keep the blog updated regularly from now on!

Hi,
My name is Silvio Berlusconi an I am the most badass politician you will ever meet.

Seriously though guys, this guy is the Charlie Sheen of politics.

Bribing judges, falsifying testimony, dodgy accounting, drug trafficking, possible mafia collusion and government corruption to name few of his exploits. He does everything he feels like and still rules a country. In his situation I wouldn't do nearly half the things he has done, but the fact that allegations against him are so numerous and crazy shows that he has his hands in some dodgy stuff. Seems like history repeats itself sometimes (sorry for the cliché) Japan has nuclear issues.. Italy has fascist issues. Someone once said they have a love hate relationship with this guy.. and I agree, he is so crazy and wild that it deserves some attention and perhaps congratulations, for getting this far.

No more get smart in China

"China has ordered TV stations across the country not to air any detective shows, spy thrillers or dramas about time-travel for the next three months."

We all know that China has somewhat more control over its citizens than the west, but this often comes to light in disturbing ways. The recent move in the lead up to a celebration of Chinese state propaganda... so why not celebrate it with a massive exercise in media control?
The advantages of such a move are very debatable.. But I guess if you can simply tell the mainstream news that they cannot broadcast something that would cast suspicion, Wouldn't you?  I guess it will take longer than thought for democratic impulse to truly have an effect

PNG Facility

Just going to throw out some extreme disappointment with the Gillard Government here, the refugee detention facility in PNG was never a good idea and is not a good idea now.
We realise that you feel like you need to move to the right politically to capture conservative voters, but there is a reason that Howard was voted from office. The "Pacific Solution" amongst other things... The failure to get a deal with the Timorese seems not to have taught you anything. Most illegal immigrants are european backpackers overstaying their visa's anyway.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/04/3207784.htm

Not extremely relevant to international relations, but its fun to see the wild headlines about 4.8m crocodiles being pulled out of rivers in the northern territory still! Glad to see there are still some wild paces left in the world

Serious Blogging Time:

It's been a rocky start to my world of blogging with International events of Importance taking pace at a somewhat rapid pace (see Pakistan.. Japan). In this case, it is definitely time to step back a bit, and enjoy the more comical (excuse me for the literal pun) sides of relations between countries: Superman.
 You read correctly.
In a shock move, Superman is handing in his American citzenship and I for one say it's about time.
America seemed to have all the superheroes, and the realization that any such person should not want to be related to government interests is a great step forward for superheroes!
This may be a small movement in a big week, but in the wake of recent events, its time we all enjoyed the humorous side.

Bin Laden Dead?

Bin Laden dead?
Still waiting on confirmation other than by US Prez!