There are few people in this world who would defend Gaddafi as a sane and viable leader of Libya; but I think there would be even less that would see the logic in the U.S selling guns to someone as psychotic as him and then parading about as world police.

It's the equivalent of a sheriff giving an outlaw a six-shooter and then acting surprised when he starts popping off the town folk. 

The second one U.S plane gets shot down by one U.S surface-to-air missile, all the military big wigs should get together and make a decision once and for all - "we have to stop shooting at tyrants we've given guns to".

What do you think about Libya? What do you think about the obvious contradictions in U.S foreign policy and how do you think they should be addressed? Tell us and remember...Disqus!  . . 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

I always found it strange that when Saddam Hussein was being compared to Satan at the onset of the Iraq war, that they CIA didn't just pop him off and be done with it - surely they had the skills to do it?

So again, with Gaddafi having proved himself psychotic and willing to kill his people; why can't a sniper on the roof or a drone in the sky explode the man that's apparently at the head of everything?

It says to me two things; either the CIA isn't the all encompassing scary spy organisation that could kill anyone in the world at any moment, or they don't really want Gaddafi dead.

In all likelihood it's the former; the U.S probably does want Gaddafi dead, but when you find out that a full 75% of the world's oil is in the hands of state governments - it makes sense why the U.S might not want to create a vacuum at the top.

The need for stability might overrun their desire for democracy. 

Do you think this a fair assumption to make? Or do you think the hesitancy to put in ground forces and really commit to this war might have more to do with Iraq and Afghanistan? Tell us and remember...Disqus!

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After Tunisia erupted in popular protests, pundits all over the world were writing about the event as if it was a trigger-point for similar rebellions to take place in similarly repressive dictatorships all over the Middle-East.

I like many was sceptical.

Pundits love to heap significance on an event as if it's world changing or the start of something special - most often they're wrong or are connecting dots that don't exist. 

It seems though that this time their predictions were right; Bahrain is splintering and the once fighting fit Gaddafi is lying on the ropes - looking as if he'll have to throw in the towel like Ben Ali and Mubarak. 

It seems like the implications of these protests can't be overstated. 

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As well as having the same stature as Napoleon, it turns out that Nicolas Sarkozy has the same grand ambitions of French global supremacy as that famous French dictator.

In recent days Sarkozy has been the first head of state to recognise the Libyan rebels as the official government of Libya and now France has been the first state to bomb Gaddafi.

If we see Nicolas riding on a camel along the Nile with some Egyptian artefacts under arm we'll know that his transition to Napoleon is complete; pity no-one will tell him that France is almost completely irrelevant to world affairs.  

Are you from le grande nation of Europe? Are you finding Sarkozy's new found assertiveness hilarious? Tell us....and remember Disqus!

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As the UN passes a resolution to Impose Sanctions on Libya, the question we have to ask is what's the point?

Sanctions are designed to show international condemnation to a state but primarly they're designed to cripple a regime by stopping the availability of important resources or capital.

Yet, an important factor is whether the state cares about condemnation and whether those in power care enough about the welfare of the citizens to ensure that a lack of availabilty to socially valued resources doesn't continue.

Judging Gaddafi it seems he falls into the category of psychopathic, egotistical narcissist; which makes it difficult to believe that Libyans' welfare is at the top of the agenda.

Might make the only victims of these Sanctions the Libyans themselves.

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With explosive protests and rebellions erupting all over the Middle-East and North Africa, dictators the world over must be quivering as they realise they're submissive subjects might not be so submissive after all.

Autocracies worldwide have responded in different ways.

Saudi Arabia is using its petro-dollars to pay off its populace.
Zimbabwe is arresting people going to political meetings.
Libya is in open war.

Now China's Premier has announced that political reform is necessary for China's future.

Bad idea.

If history, and especially the break-up of the USSR has taught us anything, it's that autocracies should never admit they should change. The second they show themselves fallible or unwilling to send the tanks into Prague they have problem.

A problem the people pounce on.

Probably best to do what the Chinese have always done and promise political reform but never deliver it.

What do you think about these revolutions? How would you (re)form a dictatorship? Tell us and remember.....Disqus!  . . read more

• Message 1 Reconciliation with our indigenous forebears to activate appreciation
• Message 2 Signing Kyoto to take a global position on the environment
• Message 3 Withdrawing troops from Iraq to break the U.S. sycophancy
• Message 4 Dramatically increasing the funding for public and university education to stimulate innovation and opportunity
• Message 5 Providing tax and financial incentives on the demand side for alternative and renewable energy

We're listening Kevin. Do you have the guts to tell? . . read more

Whatever.

Just three weeks after the clouds have lifted, we can see just how bad it really was. When we were in the frame we could not see the whole picture. Now we are outside, it's hard to imagine how and why we put up with it. Their meanness, lies, narrow mindedness and divisiveness have put enormous pressure on the youthful, creative and egalitarian culture of Australia.

Let's all pick up the challenge. The new millennium starts here. . . read more