RUDD SIGNS KYOTO - A TREATY HE CANNOT KEEP -

BBC:

Australian Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd has been sworn in as prime minister, following a landslide victory in parliamentary elections last week.

Immediately after the ceremony, he signed documents to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, reversing the previous administration's policy.

"This is the first official act of the new Australian government," he said.

Australia's new stance on Kyoto will isolate the US as the only developed nation not to have ratified the treaty.

Mr Rudd is due to attend the UN climate change conference in Bali next week with four of his ministers.

When they heard of Mr Rudd's decision, delegates at the conference erupted in applause.

Mr Rudd's appointment as prime minister ends more than 11 years of conservative government under his predecessor John Howard.

As well as signing up to the Kyoto Protocol, the new government is committed to withdrawing Australia's combat troops from Iraq.

• BOTH OF THESE MUCH HERALDED MOVES ARE PURE GRANDSTANDING AND HAVE NO EFFECT ON ANYTHING REAL - EXCEPT TOP APPEASE ECO-NUTSIES AND JIHADISTS.

• AUSTRALIA PRODUCES ABOUT 1% OF THE GLOBAL CO2 AND EVEN IF IT COULD REDUCE THAT TO ZERO BY 2012 (WHEN KYOTO EXPIRES) IT WOULD HAVE ZERO EFFECT ON MAN-MADE CO2 TOTALS AS CHINA AND INDIA WOULD EASILY MORE THAN MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE.

• AND AUSTRALIA'S 550 TROOPS IN IRAQ ARE ALSO MOSTLY SYMBOLIC - TO REMOVE THEM ONLY SAYS TO THE ENEMY THAT AUSTRALIA IS A COWARD WITHOUT HOWARD.

• SYMBOLIC GESTURES SOMETIMES HAVE WEIGHT; THIS TIME THEY ARE MEANINGLESS EXCEPT AS MOVES MEANT TO APPEASE BAD PEOPLE WITH BAD IDEAS.

• AS WE ARE NOW DEFEATING THE ENEMY IN IRAQ, AND PROVING THAT MAN-MADE CO2 HAS NO EFFECT ON CLIMATE CHANGE, THESE MOVES TAKE ON ADDED SURREALITY.

THE LEFT IS TRULY AND MADLY AND DEEPLY MESSED UP.