Hi. Howard’s pretence might bite him back.

Most of us believed long ago that he’d already committed to war if the US pushed the button, and now George Bush has confirmed it. He could have done what Britain did and said long ago he’d go all the way with Bush in a unilateral strike. If he had, he’d be locked in, having already worn the flak for his decision.

But now Howard’s overseas on what he calls a peace mission rejecting the German/French peace proposal as “hypothetical”. He’s now in the excruciating position where, according to his word, he faces a decision whether or not to join a United States war as world opinion potentially rallies around a plan for peaceful disarmament. How would he justify his oft-stated preference for peace? That war is the very last resort….? Stay tuned for the next episode….

And don’t you just love the twist in the liar, liar tale? The US ambassador tells Labor that calling Howard a liar means they’re calling Bush a liar. Bush tells the truth, and Howard denies it – Howard calls Bush a liar?

I’ve just published Polly Bush’s very funny take on the terror kit Dear fellow Australian… and a detailed response to Scott Burchill’s ‘Counterspin’ piece by Ian MacDougall called Saddam as Stalin: The case for war. More from you in the next entry.

A word on last night’s Media Watch. I’ve been copping flak in the weblog world since I wrote in Let’s find our elders and give them a go about a couple of changes of habit I’ve adopted this year. They were buried in a piece about Rick Farley’s idea for an environment levy and a Sustainibility Commission, where I suggested that spreading some some basic info about how changing habits can help conservation would be a good idea. All I was doing was illustrating the big difference a lot of people changing small habits can make. Why pay $2 a bottle for water then piss the same stuff against the wall, so to speak? When I was little, a neighbour used the no-flush principle to save money – why not do it now to save what’s become a precious resource? My Mum and grandmother both took string bags to the shops – that habit died in a generation, producing dire results for the environment.

Ever since I’ve got the standard stuff – lots of ‘golden shower” jokes etc. Weird how the mention of certain bodily functions give permission to the anally retentive to get all excited. Anyway, the comments got a run onMedia Watch last night:

Margo Kingston should be made a Dame Commander for the stimulating ideas she pours into her famous Sydney Morning Herald web diary.

“After hanging round with greenies lately, I’ve done one little thing: stopped buying tailor mades and started smoking rollies instead. Thats 11,000 cigarette butts a year I won’t be inflicting on the environment.”

Margo, forget the environment. Save yourself. She had more.

“I’ve also learned that theres no need to flush the toilet after peeing its just wasting water. A little thing, but something.”

You’re right Margo.

Thanks, David. Since your kind remarks, a couple of experts let me know in no uncertain terms that rollies were WORSE for you than tailor mades. I know fags are bad for you full stop – but I had imagined that I might be doing a little better than I was health wise. It took a few days of withdrawal systems after I started on rollies to get used to the change, so I figured there must be other bad stuff in the tailor-mades. But no.

Bill King, VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, The Cancer Council Victoria: There is a need for more public health information about the dubiousness of widespread beliefs about ryo cigarettes and “chemical free” cigarettes. It’s amazing how widely held these beliefs are. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard “Rollies aren’t as bad for you because they haven’t got all the chemicals” and the variant “Why don’t you guys campaign to get the chemicals out of cigarettes and then there would be a lot less lung cancer.”

Simon Chapman, Professor School of Public Health, University of Sydney Thanks to Media Watch, the world now knows about your decision to switch to rollies. Often people say they are doing this for “health reasons” because rollies are more “natural” etc. You might be interested to a paper I’ve just done on additives in Australian cigs – roll your own tobacco is actually MUCH higher in additives and weird stuff than tailor mades …. sorry!!

Margo: Simon says he’ll put the paper on his website tomorrow. If you’re interested, go to tobaccohealth