It seems to be the week for me to be political.

James Comey, the former Attorney General of the USA, at the Senate Judiciary Hearing on Gonzales (in short).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxHjWYA50Ds

The picture Comey paints of the current government of USA, while I knew in a subconscious way, is still very bleak and more than a bit disgusting.

Most of the time I appreciate the UN because it is like a sign of humanity's progress. Then my hope get shot down by events such as Rwanda back in the early 90's and what is currently occurring in Darfu Sudan.

Moving on: there's a list of things I want to talk about in more detail, but no time, so short sentences it is (not in any particular order).

+ Kingdom Hearts 1 (the ending is kind of meh.)
+ Hajime no Ippo (still one of my all time favourite anime series; Miyata and Volg in the same room would drown anyone in angst, and everytime I re-watch the series I am reminded of the coolness that is Sendoh.)
+ Suikoden V (the recruitment process is slow and painful.)
+ Final Fantasy 12 (the ending is LOVE! So MUCH love! Fran and Balfear should have hot sex, except I kind of don't want to think of them having sex either....)
+ I am in the painful process of writing a coherent article on JoJo. The coherency is rather lacking but I am coming up with pretty descriptive titles fro each part.

One more thing; who on my flist likes Hajime no Ippo? I need to fangirl so much about this series (I always feel like fangirling about this series after re-watching it. Hmm, I will eventually post my proper fangirl post about the series sometime in the future.)

Just because I know who Margaret Thatcher is and don't have a clue who Beyonce is does not mean I'm not awesome. I know literature, I know history, and I have a Major in Psychology, and really, Pop Culture Defeating me is not that bad.

For the record I thought Beyonce was some form of cheese.

Now I go back to my assignment.

Doing Law study, found something really interesting. The Australian Government have an equivalent to the Imperial Auditor. Yes, the same Imperial Auditor as that of Lois McMaster Bujold's Komarr series. Except the position is called an Ombudsman.

Don't believe me? Well, the Ombudsman (love typing this word) is appointed by the government, and their task is to investigate, report, and make recommendations concerning defective administration by those in public service. Now replace public service with 'The Emperor.'

See, things are bit clear now. Anyways, the Ombudsman has jurisdiction to review administrative actions undertaken by ALL departments and authorities. However, the Ombudsman cannot investigate activities of the courts or parliament (can an Imperial Auditor investigate the Emperor?).

Ombudsman may initiate an investigation, and Parliament may also request the Ombudsman to investigate a matter. They conduct their investigations in private, and obstruction of their investigation is considered to be an offense, and there will be consequences (fine of $250.00 and/or imprisonment for 12 months).

Once an Ombudsman's investigation is complete he/she may recommend an action to be taken, however, the recommendation can be ignored, BUT, an Ombudsman can report the ignored recommendation to the Premier, Parliament, or in an Annual report. As my tutor said, if you are a head of a department why the hell won't you follow the recommendation of an Ombudsman, the consequences of their recommendation making it to any of the above is -not- worth ignoring the rec. Apparently departments in the government shake in fear at the thought of an investigation done by the Ombudsman.

See, it is an Imperial Auditor. Unfortunately, our State's Ombudsman is female (and I'm not sure about the Federal Ombudsman). So no chance of an Imperial Auditor Ombudsman called Lord Miles Vorkosigan. Well, you can't blame me for hoping.