Aircraft downings now and then: Putin’s different responses

Plus Guy Rundle dons his tinfoil trilby and bangs out a beauty on Gough and the CIA.

Shot down I. Prime minister Tony Abbott, statement, July 30:

Russia’s veto of the United Nations Security Council resolution to establish a tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the MH17 atrocity is outrageous. Two hundred and ninety-eight innocent people, including 38 Australians, were murdered when the aircraft was shot down above Ukraine just over a year ago … Russia had an opportunity to join the international community in this effort. Its actions reinforce concerns Russia is protecting the perpetrators and continuing to assault the sovereignty of Ukraine.

Shot down II. Reuters, yesterday:

Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday, saying the jet had violated its air space … Russian President Vladimir Putin said the plane had been attacked when it was 1km inside Syria and warned of “serious conse­quences” for what he termed a stab in the back administered by “the accomplices of terrorists”. “We will never tolerate such crimes like the one committed today,” Putin said.

The big issues. The Age, yesterday:

Are these Christmas carols too religious for school? Jingle Bells: pretty safe; Little Drummer Boy: religious but catchy; Silent Night: religious but beloved; Away in a Manger: clearly preaching.

Weighty issues. From Fairfax Media’s The Vocal website:

In a world that is becoming more and more switched on to the realities of racism, sexism, religious intol­erance and other forms of discrim­ination, the issue of fat stigma is still one that is poorly understood. Fat people are subject to harassment and micro aggressions from all directions: in the street, at work, at the doctor, while watching TV. In recent years, the size acceptance movement has sprung up to promote the radical idea that fat people should be able to go about their lives without anyone bugging them … bravely campaigning for fat rights and facing down the backlash that comes with it.

Meanwhile on the grassy knoll. Guy Rundle, Crikey, yesterday:

A missing part of the puzzle concerning the dismissal of the Whitlam government might have been hiding in plain sight for some time — buried in the memoirs of senior public servant Sir Arthur Tange, permanent head of the Defence Department during the Whitlam years … It’s long been argued that the sacking of Whitlam was prompted partly or substantially by his threat to “out” CIA agents working in Australia … The events around the dismissal weren’t first and foremost a constitutional or supply crisis — they were a security crisis … They were part of a war between a permanent security establishment and an elected government — itself part of a wider war of this type across the Anglosphere. The dismissal was a supply crisis that was used to “solve” the security crisis — ie for a permanent security establishment to inflict a blow on elected governments.

Smoked meats? The Guardian, Tuesday:

Taxing meat to simultaneously tackle climate change and improve global health would be far less unpalatable than governments think according to new research … The research, from the international affairs think-tank Chatham House and Glasgow University … found that … restricting people’s behaviour could be accepted if seen as in the public interest as … with smoking bans.

Thanksgiving traditions. Writer and policy consultant James Morrow, Facebook, yesterday:

Well, I guess we all know which Turkey Obama’s gonna pardon this year.