Richard Farmer’s chunky bits

The Laborslide continues. A new low point for federal Labor on the Crikey Election Indicator. The chance of the government being returned is now put at just 11.6%. Back at the end of January it was 26.9%.

A Greens campaign poster. If the polls are right on the swing to the Liberals and Nationals, the biggest worry for the Greens should be that they are caught up in the anti-Labor mire. To my way of thinking the best way of avoiding that is to go back as quickly as possible to the kind of campaigning that got them started. My suggestion for the campaign poster? This moving image from treehugger.com

Worrying about Syrian training. It is not just Australian intelligence services that are worried about its country’s nationals fighting in Syria and eventually returning home as a new breed of Australian jihadists. The German government is expressing the same concern.

The Weekend Australian on Saturday had a thoughtful description of the involvement of Australian nationals in the Syrian conflict that included this comment by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus:

“In recent months we have seen that the number of Australians going to Syria has increased … We are concerned about (these) Australians being radicalised in extremist doctrines while participating in the conflict in Syria and returning home with skills that terrorists could use.”

Der Spiegel has a similarly disturbing piece on its website:

“Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich officially confirmed for the first time that there were German ‘jihadists’ in Syria. Friedrich particularly expressed concern about ‘calls for those Europeans who have been trained in battle (in Syria) to return home and pursue jihad’.”

News and views noted along the way.

• Emeli Sandé breaks Beatles record for Top 10 debut — “Her album, Our Version of Events, has now spent 63 weeks among the top of the charts, overtaking the Fab Four’s 1963 album Please Please Me.” Emeli Sande performs “Heaven” off of her album  live at The Living Room in NYC.
• Will the rise of the rest mean the decline of the US? — “There can be no doubt America is in relative decline. Its economic and diplomatic power are not what they were. And there is no doubt it bothers many Americans.”
• Long live China’s slowdown — “China doubters around the world were quick to pounce on the number, expressing fears of a stall, or even a dreaded double dip. But slower GDP growth is actually good for China, provided that it reflects the long-awaited structural transformation of the world’s most dynamic economy.”
• Abe starts four-nation trip; sets off for Russia — “Abe is the first [Japanese] prime minister in 10 years to officially visit Russia. The summit with Putin on Monday is the latest effort to restart stalled talks on a territorial dispute that has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty ending World War II.”
• Want to boost the economy? Ban all meetings — “David Cameron has had the cabinet table extended so more spads can fit around it. Wave goodbye to productivity at No 10.”
• A back seat for safety at the F.A.A. — “… the Federal Aviation Administration and the industry it regulates share a cozy relationship that sometimes takes a front seat to safety. This relationship contributed to the grounding of the 787 Dreamliner in January and the astonishing swiftness with which the airplane was approved to return to commercial flight.”
• You might have been five inches shorter – “How child labor made a ‘race of pygmies’.”
• Why Britain has reason to be grateful to Rupert Murdoch — “Far from being a malign influence, Rupert Murdoch has helped to transform Britain.”
• Mind-bending parasite permanently quells cat fear in mice