This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies  in Big Politics and Big Media. ]

Indeed it’s the tv version monitoring task similar to what Nelson Mandela refers to here in his book Long Walk to Freedom (1994, Abacus) written in Robben Island prison (where he was meant to die like other African resister chiefs of history in the 19C), at page 208

“..newspapers are only a shadow of reality; their information is important to a freedom fighter not because it reveals the truth, but because it discloses the biases and perceptions of both those who produce the paper and those who read it.”

Just substitute ‘Sunday tv political talkie shows’ for "newspapers" in the quote above.

For actual transcripts go to web sites quoted below except with Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

Media backgrounder:

Significant shifts this week in media coverage. Wheels fell off AWAs re Big media/govt/corporate complex re polling bad for govt, ALP/unions hang tough, budget no bounce, wages (no) growth stats shows unequal rewards of boom.

Big Media in existential angt navel gazing over 9's CEO bailing out in the press last 2 days but really boring as batshit?.

Weird quotes - Bryan Frith crusty in Murdoch press 'transparency is not good for the market' - WTF? Terry McCrann against lowering of the company tax rate - again WTF? [references in due course]

Hard to read a compass on the political high seas with stuff like this, not least Murdoch himself going carb neutral green in rhetoric at least.

- major story of Nigel Wilson buried re India Pakistan Iran gas pipeline like the US$70 Billion oil supply deal to China from Iran in 2003 or so. USA under Bush promoting Global Nuclear Energy partnership as counter influence energy geo politic with Canada/Australia yellowcake in their sphere of control, counter that is to Middle East 'Great Game' over oil powering western economies.

- this thesis echoed by Hamish McDonald on Japan looking at departing USA assurances vis a vis nuke detterence provision, go nuke weapons for self, which Howard surely wants to do also by enrishing uranium here also, as per Marian Wilkinson (all quality journos and thinkers, Wilson, McDonal, Wilkinson).

- it finally struck this writer re Spiderman 3 movie US$250 million investment - its a homily on the poison of revenge after Sept11 WTC terror to the voters of the USA etc, and a lesson well taken judging by

Picture: Harvard educated, former interim Defence Minister, finance minister now author on SBS Dateline last Wednesday repudiates the Occupation as 'rank amateurs, swaggering disaster', calls for international political solution with neighbours, effectively rebutting the article in today's Sunday Telegraph on p88 "Aussies are crucial to a stable Iraq" quoting comparative political light weight - Istrabadi, a UN diplomat and constitutional author presumably based in New York not the country itself which would focus the mind no end.

- strange reverse smear on "old fogey" Gerard Henderson who went the full on sledge against light and cringeful Jacinta Tynan articles p89 of Sunday Telegraph.

- NASA's James Hansen freaks me out holding firm to 5 metre sea rise quite possibly in next 90 years or so in scientific paper late March cross references here via pdf link at Grist news site (also have access to Murdoch etc) An interview with renowned climate scientist James Hansen |  

 "I've actually written a paper and submitted it called "Scientific Reticence and Sea Level Rise" [PDF], because it just seemed to me that there was a gap between what scientists really thought and what was in the public knowledge in regards to ice sheet stability and sea level rise."

at the pdf

"Under BAU forcing in the 21st century, sea level rise undoubtedly will be dominated by a third term (3) ice sheet disintegration. This third term was small until the past few years, but it is has at least doubled in the past decade and is now close to 1 mm/year, based on gravity satellite measurements discussed above. As a quantitative example, let us say that the ice sheet contribution is 1 cm for the decade 2005-2015 and that it doubles each decade until the West Antarctic ice sheet is largely depleted.

That time constant yields sea level rise of the order of 5 m this century. Of course I can not prove that my choice of a 10 year doubling time for non-linear response is accurate, but I am confident that it provides a far better estimate than a linear response for the ice sheet component of sea level rise." Dr James Hansen NASA

10 Meet the Press 8-8.30 am

 Sunday Mail 'Carter says Blair obsessive with Iraq'.

Footage of Andrew Robb ex Party organizer, re skills shortage attempt to neutralize Budget in Reply by Rudd. Looking grey haired like his boss. Echoes Costello in press looking grumpy.

Goes straight to the polling against the govt. Tuning out he says. Politics free week. Getting a bit sick of it all. Draws attention 4^th term, do another term, do it well. Talking Rudd’s case – bad start for Robb. Respond appropriately – climate change matters. [as per Australian lead story re carbon trading via APEC summit]

Q. desperate measures go to Costello like Hawke 1983 –  absolutely the wrong strategy. Work harder.

Radio footage Costello, would jump out with the parachutes leaving Rudd Gillard to die in a plane crash. [ Echoes the ruthless nature of his character in hawks arrogance in Iraq.]

Footage of Rudd 2650 trade training facilites. Robb as minister of vocational training carps and reacts – sounds like an Opposition.

Panel Jennifer Hewitt now with The Australian, Peter Hartcher Herald – Robb pressed on money ‘wasted’ on policy backflip ‘will monitor week to week [meaning if polls change, rort of tax funds].

Robb sounding very tired, misses his cue to wind up 3 times.

Rubbery figures by Nicholson off the Australian has Howard and Rudd scrapping to meat the Dalai Llama to celebrate peace and love to be reborn as cockroaches.

Ist ad break public education junior schools theme.

2^nd half – Hicks return to Australia today. Civil Liberties expert Dr Kristine Klugman Civil Liberties Australia.  PB asks issue neutralized? Takes the principle line not the politics so possibly out of her depth.

APEC controls draconian. Iraq involvement is main problem. Army carrying guns in streets? Gun culture like USA.

Hewitt presses re threat level, justified? Says people may agree for temp suspension but afraid of ASIO raids on Muslims in lead up to election based on Tampa electoral choreography [my word] experience. As a deliberate strategy in the election period. Yes.

Came across as a bit woolly but its becoming very clear atmospherics around APEC are the next big political chronology in federal politics – climate policy, muslims alleged threat, Iraq drawing trouble unlike NZ or Canada.

Picture: The govt definitely has whiskers on it now with polls suggestive of a Davy Jones Locker result next election, the question being do Australians really want an economic pirate for a Prime Minister (Howard/Costello in the alternative)?