RED ENSIGN STANDARD

The Red Ensign Standard has again been raised, this time at BumfOnline, featuring the a selection of the best posts from the Brigade's past two weeks.

Huck, of Bumf, suggests that I should have a good low-down on events in Indonesia. I appreciate the compliment - but I'm going to decline to post anything else today on the bombing. The attack has already been very well covered by Simon and Tim Blair.

The latest reports say that at least eight people (all locals) are dead. There are more than 130 wounded. It could have been much worse and I'm thankful that it wasn't on the scale of Dar es Salaam or Nairobi.

But I'm still more angry than thankful.

I've mentioned many times here that Indonesian security forces are unreliable and that its government officials are willfully ignorant of the problems in their midst.

I'm not going to apportion equal blame for this on Indonesian officials – as Michael Moore and others seek to blame Bush for 9/11 – the terrorists are the guilty ones. That said, there are a few Indonesian officials that should be slapped around until they wake up from their collective stupor.

For an example of the problem in Indonesia... the below report carries today's dateline.

Indonesia rebuffs U.S. travel warning
Jakarta, Indonesia, Sep. 9 (UPI) -- Indonesian Interior Minister Hari Sabarno said a U.S. advisory issued Tuesday, warning U.S. citizens against travel to his country, exaggerated the dangers

I usually fly the Newfoundland red ensign, today it's Australian.