“Never paint your wife or your mother” — George W. Bush, dropping knowledge in his new book
Abroad | Pakistan school massacre
THE GIST. The Taliban broke into a school in Peshawar, Pakistan and killed at least 132 students and nine staff members. A spokesman for the terrorist group says that the murders are retaliation for the Pakistani army's military offensive against the Taliban in the country's Waziristan region.
CONTEXT. The Pakistani government has been fighting militant groups in Waziristan (the North-West of the country) since 2004. In February the government entered peace talks with the Taliban and reached a ceasefire agreement. The brief peace ended in March when militants executed 23 Pakistani soldiers.
CONFLICT. Militants attacked the international airport in Karachi in June, killing 28 people. One week later, the government commenced operation Zarb-e-Azb - an intensified assault against the Taliban. It is this operation that the school massacre is said to be 'revenge' for.
UNCLE SAM. The heavy hand of US foreign policy has had its clutches on Pakistan throughout the War on Terror-era. America has been pressuring Pakistan to do more to fight the militant groups in Waziristan for years, and has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to encourage the effort. It's also been more actively involved, as Pakistan has been on the receiving end of a long list of drone strikes for a decade.
Home | MYEFO essentials (not an oxymoron)
THE GIST. On Monday the Federal Government released the Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO).
101. Every year, the Treasurer is legally required to give an update (the MYEFO) on the government's performance against the strategy set out in the budget. The law setting out this requirement is called the 'Charter of Budget Honesty Act'. Oh boy.
THE DEETS. The MYEFO is full of numbers. If you're going to remember two, make them these: the budget deficit will be $40.4 billion for the year, which is $10 billion more than expected. One sentence explanation: government revenue (through taxes) is way down, thanks to falling wage growth and worsening commodity prices.
WHO SAID WHAT. Labor spokesman Chris Bowen managed somehow to be both pithy and repetitive: "The surplus has been put off to the never never". Joe Hockey (wait for it) disagreed: "the budget is on track for a credible surplus."
HONESTLY. Governments of all persuasions fudge the figures on budgets. But this time is different according to Hockey, who says there's been "no massaging" of the numbers. Unfortunately, Ross Gittins has busted the government in the proverbial massage parlour of ill-repute, by exposing some of their "creative accounting". Looks like this year's MYEFO will be without a happy finish.
Small-talk
Man’s best canvas. The New York hipsterati have spoken: it's now trendy to tattoo and/or pierce one’s pets. Unfortunately, NY's fashion-illiterate Governor has reacted by banning the practice, calling pooch-piercing “animal abuse, pure and simple”.
Licence to llik. Britain is apparently looking to recruit dyslexic spies. While people with the disorder can find it harder to perform everyday tasks like writing or reading, they can be uniquely talented in various types spatial awareness crucial for code-breaking. Message received: mixing b's and d's makes you James Bond.
Masterchef Crimea. The most googled ‘recipe’ in Ukraine this year was for Molotov cocktails, according to the search engine’s end-of-year statistics. Word has it Vladimir Putin disputed the results, claiming ownership over the recipe: “Everyone knows this cocktail is traditionally Russian, anyway”.
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