The US is meant to be a Libertarian's wet dream, yet the Federal Government tells you which substances you can't consume and prevents certain groups from exercising rights which are enjoyed by the majority.

Gay marriage is still illegal and idiotic drug wars are being fought to stop adults from doing what they want.

Obama though in a landmark announcement seems to be turning the tide on this paradox by pulling his support from the idea that marriage can only be between men and women.

So, after repealing"Don't Ask, Don't Tell", Obama is definitely shaping up as the most gay friendly President in history.   . . read more

Since the days of Alexander the Great, binge drinking has been a very popular past time - leading to him apparently killing a friend and burning down Persepolis while drunk.

Those are some Great shoes to fill.

Yet, governments, schools and the media have repeatedly tried to teach us of binge drinking's dangers. 

Dartmouth University has taken the lead, instigating a new nationwide policy to curb heavy drinking by their students.

Pour me another glass.

Binge drinking is defined as "the consumption of five or more drinks in a row by men — or four or more drinks in a row by women — at least once in the previous 2 weeks. Heavy binge drinking includes three or more such episodes in 2 weeks."

Seems I don't know anyone who isn't a heavy binge drinker.

Do you think this definition should be changed or should we change people's attitudes? Or should you follow HPD's no fools guide to drinking a lot but not dying?  . . read more

Today the U.S congress has agreed on a budget cut plan that will see $38b cut this year. Doesn't seem like it will do much to bring down a trillion dollar deficit but it might be damaging to some public works and public jobs. 

What was interesting about this though was how much the process symbolised the U.S.

It wasn't really a great win for either party, it avoided making serious changes and a serious analysis into the country's problems and it was replete with the kind of melodrama that would embarrass soap opera directors.

Congress' inefficient and reductive policy programme reminds you of the old saying that says "the opposite of pro is con, therefore the opposite of progress= congress."  

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Apologising is a uniquely human action, it involves taking responsibility for a mistake and admitting you erred. In someways it also involves asking for forgiveness.

Kevin Rudd, Australia's former PM who was sacked by his own party last year, apologised last night for "killing" his Emissions Trading Scheme which he says brought about his downfall.

Whether this is true or not, his apology echoes another one he made in his first week in government. That "sorry" was to the aboriginal people of Australia who since British colonisation were oppressed, marginalied and literally stolen from their families. 

His apology in that instance was personal and was seen almost universally as a positive step towards reconciliation and healing. It didn't lead to a better livelihood for indigenous Australians and has to be seen now as a symbolic act without much substance behind it.

Hopefully this second apology for failing on climate change can lead to asking for real forgiveness by making some real progress.    . . read more

I've always wondered this; do crazy people who walk around the streets muttering to themselves and yelling about Jesus realise they're crazy?

Or do we seem insane to them?

I ask this because North Korea is supposedly about to name its next heir.

Re-read that.

This is a country that has the world's largest single importer of Hennessy Cognac as its head of government, has an enormous penis on one of its flags and the largest mine-field in the world on its southern border- but this remains the craziest thing to come out of the hermit kingdom. 

How can a country in 2010 still have a completely unrepresentative government, which operates entirely behind closed doors giving dictatorial power to some Communist party cadre for life?

Do the elites seriously look at the democracies of the world and think they're doing it better?

Or do they know how crazy they are?  . . read more

No amount of technology, diplomacy and political manouevering can hide the fact that to achieve innovation when it comes to global action on climate is a matter of ethics. And that ethical outcomes are themselves dependent on what we want to do.

The geopolitics of who goes first, the economic compensation programs, the views of scientists are all second order issues.

You can’t give up smoking unless you want to and once volition is in play then it’s pretty easy.

Ditto the inconvenient truth.

Let’s create an ethical harmony based on desire before we try and nut out the programme for implementation. That requires a universal accord and not one driven by the power brokers.

‘All for one and one for all’.  . . read more

Yet what other choice does the US and Obama have?

The political realities of today tell us that the world and its international institutions will soon be distorted as another lumbering giant enters the fray. It's also a reality that for any successful tomorrow China will have to feature prominently; something that due to inherent cultural and governmental differences will cause friction with the established Western/Free Market model so deeply ingrained in today's thinking.

So how seriously can we believe Obama? Well really we'll just have to wait and see, but if history tells us anything, the rise of China will be anything but 'pacific'.   . . read more