Good to see the Weekend Australian arrive early yesterday instead of in the afternoon . At $4.40 a copy , it should be delivered to the door in a stretch limo along with a bottle of Grange Hermitage.
A pleasing feature of the weekend revamped Australian newspaper is that columnist Phillip Adams has been brought from the rear of the magazine to the front of the book . For one terrible moment , turning to the back of the magazine , I felt the unspeakable had happened, Adams had been dropped. He is worth his weight in gold and genuine Egyptian antiquities. Not so the Australian’s Christopher Pearson, who reads increasingly like the reincarnation of Bob Santamaria in his pontifications , suited more for readers of the Opus Dei Monthly who go in for self- flagellation.
Apart from his writings , Adams's presentation of Late Night Live on the ABC is masterful His quips, such as the ones that Colonel Gaddafi of Libya seems to have had the same plastic surgeon as Michael Jackson and that the estimable Dame Leonie Kramer had been the Nullarbor Nymph , though cheeky , delight.
Replaying of classic interviews with guests is most edifying , particularly the recent disturbing one with French intellectual, Bernard –Henri Levy , about his searing book dealing with the 2002 kidnap and beheading of the Wall Street Journal’s South Asian Bureau Chief, Daniel Pearl . Levy’s on air comments about the Pakistan secret service, Afghanistan and the motivation of key players in the area should be closely studied by Australian political leaders , especially as the West seems inexorably drawn into a quagmire in Afghanistan . The safety and protection of our defence forces demands that we tread very carefully . Though Levy’s interview took place in 2003 , his comments are pertinent to the present and could even be reflected in the attitude of President Obama towards Afghanistan and the Iranians.
One final point . Peter Costello recently complained about the so called ABC bias and mentioned Phillip Adams in particular , branding him as really a Labour mouthpiece. The ABC’s Counterpoint radio show had not balanced the bias , he moaned, yet again screwing up his kisser. The sooner Costello gets himself to a nunnery the better.
A pleasing feature of the weekend revamped Australian newspaper is that columnist Phillip Adams has been brought from the rear of the magazine to the front of the book . For one terrible moment , turning to the back of the magazine , I felt the unspeakable had happened, Adams had been dropped. He is worth his weight in gold and genuine Egyptian antiquities. Not so the Australian’s Christopher Pearson, who reads increasingly like the reincarnation of Bob Santamaria in his pontifications , suited more for readers of the Opus Dei Monthly who go in for self- flagellation.
Apart from his writings , Adams's presentation of Late Night Live on the ABC is masterful His quips, such as the ones that Colonel Gaddafi of Libya seems to have had the same plastic surgeon as Michael Jackson and that the estimable Dame Leonie Kramer had been the Nullarbor Nymph , though cheeky , delight.
Replaying of classic interviews with guests is most edifying , particularly the recent disturbing one with French intellectual, Bernard –Henri Levy , about his searing book dealing with the 2002 kidnap and beheading of the Wall Street Journal’s South Asian Bureau Chief, Daniel Pearl . Levy’s on air comments about the Pakistan secret service, Afghanistan and the motivation of key players in the area should be closely studied by Australian political leaders , especially as the West seems inexorably drawn into a quagmire in Afghanistan . The safety and protection of our defence forces demands that we tread very carefully . Though Levy’s interview took place in 2003 , his comments are pertinent to the present and could even be reflected in the attitude of President Obama towards Afghanistan and the Iranians.
One final point . Peter Costello recently complained about the so called ABC bias and mentioned Phillip Adams in particular , branding him as really a Labour mouthpiece. The ABC’s Counterpoint radio show had not balanced the bias , he moaned, yet again screwing up his kisser. The sooner Costello gets himself to a nunnery the better.
