Get ready for the next one. When politicians talk about a financial crisis it pays to take no notice. History tells us that they are just like the presidents of football clubs: assurances that the coach is safe are invariably followed by a sacking. Hence we should be very wary of this aspect of the statement overnight on Europe’s efforts to bailout the bankrupt Greece:

“As far as our general approach to private sector involvement in the euro area is concerned, we would like to make it clear that Greece requires an exceptional and unique solution. …

“All other euro countries solemnly reaffirm their inflexible determination to honour fully their own individual sovereign signature and all their commitments to sustainable fiscal conditions and structural reforms.”

For me, that denial of additional defaults just raises the question of “when”.

Marvelling at ingenuity. The creativity of carbon tax opponents is glorious to behold. Every day we get told of another amazing consequence of the Government’s plans. This morning it is the turn of the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia which warns how dearer aviation fuel will hinder aerial fire bombers combating bushfires, lead to greater environmental damage, more carbon dioxide emissions and drive up costs.

Just how these terrible consequences will come about was not actually explained when what the Association was really saying was that its members would have to charge more for their services. Big deal.

A race meeting for punters. A strange thing happened at Grafton this month. They banned under 18 year olds from the Grafton Cup meeting. The club decided that the cost of stopping under age binge drinking spoiling the occasion was too great. Perhaps the Melbourne Cup organisers should follow suit.

A Parental Guidance sign for the National Gallery. With federal politicians now calling for art galleries to be covered by a classification system like that for films I suppose this work will soon have to be exhibited with a PG sticker:

That would surely have amused the artist Lucian Freud who died overnight. His picture After Cezanne was one of the Australian National Gallery in Canberra’s most expensive purchases this century.

A brave fellow. The Liberal Party has long boasted that it is what John Howard calls “a broad church” so it will be interesting to see what attitude Tony Abbott takes to the latest bit of truth-telling by Malcolm Turnbull. While the man Abbott replaced as leader might deny that his speech on accepting the verdict of the nation’s scientific experts was  not an attack on his now leader, he knew it would be interpreted that way.

In his speech Turnbull argued that on the issue of climate change “there appears to be a licence to reject our best scientists both here and abroad and rely instead on much less reliable views” and that it was embarrassing to keep referring to Chinese and Indian emissions when Australia’s are much higher per capita. Those caps certainly fit nicely on the Abbott head.