Iran Expels British Ambassador

There are three things that Iran hates the most, Israel, the US and the British. Israel and the US don’t have an embassy in Iran but the British do and now they are getting their people out. Memories still linger about what happened when students stormed the American embassy in 1979 and took 52 hostages that were held for 444 days.

They still see America as the “Great Satan” but believe the British have had a hand every major upheaval in their country over the past 150 years. Ayatollah Khamenei once said that Britain is the epitome of Western imperial arrogance saying it “has a history of humiliating nations, destroying cultural and civilization heritage and taking control of their resources.”

So what’s their side of the story, why are they so angry with Britain? Majid Shahriari was an Iranian nuclear scientist who was mysteriously killed a year ago and they believe that Israel and British intelligence carried out the assassination. They are also angry about the UN report on their nuclear program and believe it was written under pressure from America to justify airstrikes on Iran.

They say they did everything they could to protect the British at the embassy, that police officers freed six British staff members who had been surrounded by the Qolhak Garden protesters and that 12 of those protesters were later arrested. Police eventually used tear gas to disperse some protesters inside the embassy grounds, and a number of protesters were wounded.

But their main complaint is Britain’s new economic sanctions that will undoubtedly hurt. The embassy attack followed legislation passed by Iran’s Parliament to expel the British ambassador and downgrade diplomatic relations between the two countries.

So are we (the west) gearing up for a war with Iran?

It's A Wonderful Life

Sicilian-born Frank Capra knew how to make feel-good movies and his “It’s A Wonderful Life” is just another example of his insight into human nature. Made in 1947, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, it has just been voted Britain’s favourite Christmas movie.

It’s about a bank manager who wanted to do great things with his life but is convinced that his contribution to the world is insignificant and ordinary. So he decides to commit suicide on Christmas Eve but a guardian angel intervenes and changes his mind. Capra pushes the point that battling on day after day on a small scale should be reward enough.

Ironically in 1946 the film was a box-oiffice failure and Liberty Films only made one other movie but over the years it has become a Christmas cult classic. Corney? Probably, but the world badly needs some good news, and here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ne13Zft9Q

Stalin's daughter dies

Svetlana in 1967

Svetlana Stalina, only daughter of tyrant Josef Stalin died this month of colon cancer aged 85. Her defection to the West during the Cold War was a huge embarrassment to the ruling communist party and in 1970 after her defection, she married an American and became and remained Lana Peters.

She became famous mainly because people were curious to know more about Stalin’s only daughter and she used the infamous Stalin name to write two best-selling autobiographies. Stalin doted on his little daughter and called her his “little sparrow” and showered her with presents. She became the equivalent of Shirley Temple in her country and thousands of babies were named Svetlana after her.

But she was restless and couldn’t settle, always on the move visiting India, England, France, America and she went back to Moscow in 1984. She once lived in a cabin with no electricity in northern Wisconsin, a Roman Catholic convent in Switzerland and in 1992 was living in a shabby part of West London in a home for elderly people with emotional problems.

Her mother, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Stalin’s second wife, committed suicide in 1932 and Svetlana, who was 6 at the time was told that her mother had died of appendicitis but later learned the truth. Stalin was ruthless, even with his own family. His son Yakov was captured by the Nazis who offered to exchange him for a German general but he refused and Yakov was killed. Stalin also sent his daughter’s first love, a Jewish filmmaker, to Siberia for 10 years.

“You can’t regret your fate,” Ms. Peters once said, “although I do regret my mother didn’t marry a carpenter.”

Muslim medical students boycott Darwinism

Dr Usama Husan

Muslim medical students are walking out of lectures on evolution because it conflicts with how the world was created in the Koran. Professors at University College London are worried over the number of biology students boycotting lectures on Darwinist theory which is an important part of the syllabus. Muslims believe that Allah created the world, mankind and all known species, similar views also held by fundamentalist Christians.

Steve Jones, professor of human genetics at the college teaches introductory genetics to about 300 first year students, a fifth of whom are Muslim. He remembers having similar clashes years ago with kids who were fundamentalist Christians, they too were outraged and thought the subject should not be included in the syllabus.

A British science lecturer at Middlesex University and member of the Royal Astronomical Society Dr Usama Husan, caused outrage earlier this year when he said that Islam is compatible with Darwin’s theory of evolution. In a lecture at the Masjid al-Tawhid mosque in Leyton UK, he outlined why Darwin’s theory and Islam were in harmony.

But he received death threats and was forced to retract his claim and his return to the mosque was cancelled on the advice of police fearing for his safety. Instead Dr Husan’s father Suhaib, head of the mosque’s committee of trustees, issued a humiliating statement on his son’s behalf – “I seek Allah’s forgiveness for my mistakes and apologise for any offence caused.” Dr Hasan stepped down from his position as vice-chairman and imam at the mosque.

The Bible and Koran don't agree with Darwin. In the Quran it says "The Originator of the heavens and the earth and when He decrees a matter, He only says to it, "Be" and it is." The Bible in Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Incredibly, even today, with all the scientific evidence at our fingertips, the debate still rages.

Peter Slipper needs to watch his back

Stern looks from the Opposition as Slipper is traditionally dragged to the Speaker's Chair.

Labor knows what it feels like to have a "rat" in the ranks. Mal Colston was a man totally destroyed by his colleagues for defecting to the other side and Peter Slipper needs to watch his back. He has something in common with Colston - he also lied about his parliamentary entitlements.

When Mal Colston felt slighted about being passed over for deputy presidency of the Senate, he defected to the Coalition. Labor members were furious and went for the jugular. Veteran Victorian senator Robert Ray said “Anyone who rats on the Labor Party will get exactly what this quisling Quasimodo from Queensland got.”

Senator John Faulkner also had his two bob’s worth ''I want to speak about someone who is venal, I want to speak about someone who is unscrupulous, I want to speak about someone who is mercenary, I want to speak about someone who is contemptible and despicable, I want to speak about someone who is the most useless and abominable representative the federal Parliament has ever seen. That person is a person who last night skulked into this chamber, slimed into the chamber quite slowly to collect his travel allowance cheque.”

The gossip has already started and only Harry Jenkins can stop it. Rumours abound, among them is the theory that Harry took a sizeable drop in salary for the good of his party but will be compensated and looked after, possibly in the same way they looked after Kim Beazley. The government says that the first time they knew about Harry’s intention to leave was on that very morning and if this is true, he should say so.

Another theory is that Jenkins was tired of criticism from his Labor colleagues and was stung by the dressing down Cream gave him a few months ago. Come on Harry, give us the drum.

Peter Slipper - New Speaker of the House

Peter Slipper takes over

Tony Abbott was taken by complete surprise yesterday when he realized that Julia Gillard had done a deal that would keep him further away from his goal of becoming Prime Minister. She manoeuvred a Liberal turncoat, Peter Slipper, into the position of Speaker and now the government has the prospect of 76 votes to the Opposition’s 73, previously the ratio was 75-74.

The government now needs only three cross-benchers to pass legislation, instead of four. It seems there was some angst about Craig Thomson being found guilty of paying for prostitutes and other expenses with his union credit card and if found guilty, he would be forced to resign.

Peter Slipper has a reputation of using his parliamentary entitlements to the max and was caught out lying when he made claims of $20,000 which he had to pay back. Yesterday in his acceptance speech, he admitted that he had past ‘transgressions’ and as one politician said yesterday, “They don’t call him Slippery Pete for nothing”.

In March he took his wife on a “study” tour of Europe that cost $25,000. His Queensland constituents were so outraged by his spending habits, they signed a petition calling for a full audit of his expenses which was tabled in parliament in September. The Dept of Finance is seriously thinking of launching an audit of his entitlement claims over the past 10 years.

Popular with everyone, Speaker Harry Jenkins resigns

The move also reduces the danger of Andrew Wilkie being able to threaten the government’s survival if they can’t deliver his poker machine reform. But after a meeting with Julia Gillard, Wilkie said “The government is not so foolish as to think they could burn me because they know they may need me for any number of reasons” he said. How true.

But the thing that everyone wants to know is why did Harry Jenkins suddenly decide to leave? Rumour has it that he loved his job and his salary will now drop from $245,000 to $168,000 and you have to wonder why he would willingly take such a backward step. At one stage in his departure speech yesterday, he became so emotional, he could hardly speak and his reason for leaving - to become more involved in Labor Party policy making - just didn’t add up. So did he sacrifice himself for the good of the party?

Last week Peter Slipper made a fatal error, he invited Kevin Rudd to a function in his electorate rather than attend a function with the long-serving former Liberal Prime Minister, John Howard. Complaints against him were discussed at a meeting of the state executive on Wednesday and it's pretty clear that he jumped before he was pushed.

So is the new speaker intimidated in any way by the bad feeling that surrounds him? Not in the least. He demonstrated that he is well up to the job, booting out 4 Liberal ministers for unruly behaviour not long after taking over. This man must have the hide of an elephant.

Teenage parents forced to finish school

The Labor Party has done something the Liberals would never be game enough to do - use a big stick to get kids an education. But they've pulled it off - the new law, already passed in both chambers, will mean that when a teen's baby turns 6 months, they will have to make arrangements with Centrelink to finish Year 12 or have their welfare payments cut off. The first trial of 4,000 will start next year in 10 locations across Australia.

There were only two dissenters of the bill - Greens MP Adam Bandt and Bob Katter. Mr Brandt was worried that it could stigmatize young parents and Katter thought it has strong racial overtones and would lead to a new wave of “child thieving”. He said the new law would only deliver power to a “self-opinionated, know-it-all university-class” of social workers who would then control the young mothers.

Another trial will start in July involving 22,000 long-term unemployed parents aged under 23. They too will have to attend Centrelink meetings and follow a participation plan to help become job ready once their children are at school.

Well done Labor.