Thursday digest

- Prime Minister of Oz John Howard delivered a
red-meat speech today in Ottawa. Despite some recent reports suggesting that the coalition of the willing is weakening, not so as far as Canada and Australia are concerned. Germany is slowly coming around under the leadership of Angela Merkel and watch for Nicolas Sarkozy in France as well, a no-nonsense conservative on the rise. It seems that those who wish the war on terror would just stop are going to have to wait a little while longer.

- Looks like the PM isn't going to line up to kiss any journalistic ass any time soon. And good on 'em. It's about time the Parliamentary Press Gallery was reminded that in a democracy, it's the elected guys who are in charge. Just because you have a degree in jsm (pronounced: jism) from Carleton and know how to write a lead doesn't make you some kind of expert on the economy, international affairs or the intricacies of parliamentary procedure, so get off your high horse and go back to playing colour by numbers.

- Recently, Margaret Trudeau disclosed her battle with bipolar disorder. Now, Mike Wallace is admitting that his depression was much worse than he ever let on. I truly admire these individuals for their candour. Mental illness is something that needs to be dealt with head on and the first step towards that is destigmatization.