Shalom!

Israel will re-open its NZ Embassy (closed since Oct. 2002) here in beautiful Wellington. That's a welcome announcement from our Minister of Racing. I'm happy; never a good idea to get offside with God's chosen iwi.

One might have hoped that Winny would've been equally vociferous as his opposite number in condemning the crazy Iranian prez who calls for Israel's annihilation. Alas, he offers up a gutless mouthful of diplomatic blithering that's almost an apologia for the Palestinians - it bugs me no end that we just gave $1 mil of "aid" to those nutcases. He labels Ahmadinejad's vicious diatribe "unhelpful" to the M.E. peace process. Unhelpful? I'd say it's a casus belli if ever I heard one, subscribing as I do to the "Nuke 'em before they nuke you" doctrine of foreign relations. Rodney Hide's description of Peters (& Dunne) as Helen's ''neutered poodle(s)" seems ever more apt.

Oh, so that's why...
The NBR links to a Teletubby spiel (Nov. 2004) about the trade & diplomatic history between the Islamic Republic and our own Socialist Godzone. Still, my most immensely dashed hopes with this new, lame, tame man-on-world stage version of Winny. I expected the pugilist headliner of old. The upgraded Winston-lite has as much bite as a paper marionette; with about as much autonomy, too.