drought of ideas

28% and falling, thats Toowombas water supply
51.5% and fluctuating thats Melbournes water supply
62% number of people who voted against using recycled water in toowomba referendum.
5% water in queensland that has flouride added
68% of americans dont believe in evolution
15% number of statistics that are made up

when will they learn, democracy just doesnt work
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for the latest in american child abuse dressed in strange clothes

http://www.indigochild.com/

pet care for your indigo child, remember to avoid Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, coz if we dont the earth is doomed, if we do they will bring a New Age of Peace, so watch out, one bad shampoo will kill us all.

http://www.ofspirit.com/julierosenshein1.htm

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/shampoo.asp

from the nation that brought you satanic cults and combined them with repressed memories in the 1980/90's

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcmartin/mcmartinaccount.html

http://www.religioustolerance.org/ra_mcmar.htm

while the IDF throws mud into the claims of another massacre at Qana, will they admit that thier intial words were in fact lies, or will they continue to repeat them:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/744332.html

terrorism by any other name

http://www.etzel.org.il/english/ac10.htm

u n, we n, r n (lets call the hole thing off)

A recomendation:

http://www.nysoundposse.com/

some truly great podcasts, the Hitchens/Galloway debate is vitriol at its best, the understanding Jhiad, more than worth a listen and the evening with my favourite journalist, Robert Fisk, is as wonderful as it is depressingly informative.
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Can anyone spot the impasse here:

Israel refuses to recognise Hamas or Hezzbollah.

Hamas and Hezzbollah refuse to recognise Israel.

You play diplomat and try to see where this state of affairs gets you.

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It didnt take long for the IDF to muddy the waters for its impartial investigation, and for the rabid to make a big mudshake and drink down heartily

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283816,00.html

much like the gaza beach shelling, the idea is that you bomb, kill, then spread as many distortions as you can, while promising a full investigation including any distortions, and in your conclusion, make sure that the distortion eg hamas planted a explosives on the beach, just near where the shelling occured (proof missing), or that the building was not hit by a US supplied smart bomb, but was in fact blown up from within by hezzbollah muntions stored within (proof missing). Also make sure that any timeline of events conforms to the IDF timeline rather than what occured and only interview IDF personelle, the fair and balanced will report the claims.

Spanish journalist Monica Leiva: “I am at the site of the bombarding at the moment. Here the people are still trying to pull the bodies out from under the ruins. At the moment they are trying to free the bodies of the children killed in the Israeli air raid. The bombarding continues. What more can I say? Israel is firing at everything – buildings, roads, vehicles. It is practically impossible for the locals to leave the area, as there is no guarantee that they will not be fired at while trying to escape the war zone. The people are very scared. The air raids started during the night and continue. There are no Hezbollah activists in Qana. There are only civilians here."

HEZZBOLLAH USING HUMAN SHEILDS

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,19955774-5007220,00.html

screamed the headlines and repeated on numerous news services, the story is a little less than the headlines. The idea that a 1940's anti aircraft gun can bring down an F-16 is not quite my idea of anything other than a bit of a joke and illustrates the david and golliath nature of the conflict. Once more it begs the question, if the IDF can reduce to rubble all the nations in her immediate vicinity, can Israel still claim to be faced with annihilation at the hands of those very same people.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/28/hezbollah/index_np.html

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one mans extremist (is probably still extreme)

The red cross (of the Red Cross fame) is not, nor has it ever been a christian cross, it is the inverted Swiss flag which was taken as a symbol for the Red Cross. While you could argue that the Swiss flag is based on the christian cross, that does not make the Red Cross symbol an inherently christian peice of symbolism it is according to its founder a "symbol of neutrality".

http://www.redcross.org/services/intl/0,1082,0_448_,00.html#conflict

Life can be truly ridiculous, and the media have a hand in making it all that much more so. As if the Inteligent Design movement were not a symbol of all that is so very wrong with how we have accepted radical christian thought as somehow mainstream, or how we accept that Jewish extremists in the guise of the settler movement are never seen in the same terms as Hezzbollah, despite their claims to all the land:

On that day, God made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river the Euphrates. The land of the Kenites, Kenizites, Kadmonites; the Chitties, Perizites, Refaim; the Emorites, Canaanites, Gigashites and Yevusites." - Genesis 15:18-21

from sea to shining sea, and are the root cause of much of the present day conflict.

We now have the US media giving those preaching "end of days" philosophy as experts on the conflict in the middle east.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200607270003

This is pure batshit crazy, in line with asking someone as batshit crazy as Ken Hovind, the recently jailed ubber-creationist, to comment on the latest in stem cell research or enter into the Hobbit (Flores) debate, or asking me to pick the sexiest apostle.

http://www.drdino.com/

The problem here is the Big Furry Bush, apart from supporting the teaching of "the controversy" (when there is no controversy, the creationists are pure loons with batshit for brains, that is hardly controversial), he was asked in a perfectly serious Q&A with the usual pre-screened crowd wether he thought that all the current turmoil in the Mid east was prelude to the raputure and the "end of days". Now rather than simply bitch slapping the dumb-ass questioner into her seat with a simple of "NO, fuck off, dont be so fucking stupid, there have been about a million prohecies fortelling the end of the world all coming from the bible over the past two millenium and so far, they all bin just a little shy of marginally possible. Why did you waste the time of the worlds number one man with such a stupid question? Did you hear me, fuck off, NO!" Instead, He, the leader of the free world, the Decider, waffled on for five minutes and refused to give an answer.

Never alienate your comitted base, even when your base should be committed and cerified.

So now we have this base of un-reality based folks giving the normally unhinged fox news an edge that very few in the west are prepared to look into the abyss from.

As Mose's said when faced with doing renovations on the pyramids, "let my people go".

I can understand the ACLU defending the right of a known nutjob like the Pastor Fred Phelps to protest, it is after all not their job to say who is right or wrong, they purely look at a persons right to do, not their cause.

http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/index.html

But please, lets not get him on any form of media as an expert on anything other than his own big brown bag full of shit.

insecution (imagine theres no intelligent design)

History is a burning bridge with a thousand opposing people standing at each end, brandishing torches, each accusing the other of starting the conflagration. We all know Ronald Regan won the cold war and brought down the soviet union, we all know Mikhail Gorbachev brought down the soviet union from within and won the cold war by ending it through glasnost and perisroika, we all know that the same is true for Lech Walensa for different reasons.

Imagine, if you will, a world where the neo-cons who hijacked the US government foreign policy had in fact been reigned in, if GW had taken his fathers advice and seen these "crazys" and "extremists" for what they are, crazy extremists.

Imagine if in the days after the attacks on the world trade centre, we didnt have dick cheney, donald rumsfeld, wolfowitz et al, saying lets find some evidence to pin this on Iraq and all that has flowed from there, if a few sane voices had emerged, we know the attack was orchestrated and planned from Afghanistan, with the blessing of the Taliban regime (ok, we can if we want argue over the culpability of the Taliban, but I am taking a sweep of history here, not trying to get to the minuetia) and its there we need to concentrate our desire for revenge, rather than accept rumsfelds word that there weren't enough good targets there.

Imagine if the invasion of Afghanistan had of been prosecuted with half the vigour and troops of the Iraq fiasco, that the US hadnt been focused on the next war, hadnt fought the war with money paid to their proxy army the Northern Alliance, hadnt simply staged the invasion as series of photo ops for the gullible. Imagine the state of the world today with a truly secure Afghan government backed by a world wide coalition of forces building its own defence and legitimacy behind that shield.

The Kharzi government has a total budget to work with of less than US$500 million dollars per year, a figure that is considerably less than the money flowing into the NGO's within the country. Now imagine that there is a truly multi national force of sizable proportions (with half or even a quarter the number of US troops that are currently stationed in Iraq) patroling each province, with the abilty to disarm the multitude of warlords ruling each region and that the US commitment in terms of cash supplied were somewhere in the order of $1 billion per month, less than a sixth of what they are spending in Iraq each month. Imagine that aid money being spent to improve the lot of the people of Afghanistan, to provide health care, education and infrastructure that had been utterly destroyed by thirty years of constant war fare, much of it part of the bloody chess game of cold war politics. Imagine if the Kabel-Harat Highway were able to be built properly, not one again, used as a photo op, where raw ashpalt was poured over uncompacted dirt to give the impression that it had been built.

Would this war torn, war weary, divided nation be Denmark, no, but at the very least the world and the people of Afghanistan would not have to stretch thier imagination to see that we were serious about their plight. The mothers and fathers would not need to send their children to maddrass's that preach radicalised Islam as the only way for them to learn to read. The rule of law practised by a centralised, legitimate authority could be given a chance to undermine the self serving policy of local strong men. Radical Islam would have an opposing voice in action and deeds, rather than the current fleeting glimpses of US guns chasing shadows with bullets, to answer to. The arab street would be able to see a tangible expression of the concerns of the west rather than the paper thin veneer of our hypocrisy and Pakistan would have as a neighbour a country on the rise as a democracy that could possibly work in true partnership with the west and as a model for the future.

In Iran I continually ran into Afghan refugees in markets and on the street who would beg me sell them my australian passport, in halting english they would offer me US dollars (a thousand was the highest I was offered) and try to tell me of just how bad it was in Afghanistan, and of how difficult it was to be a refugee in a country that just didnt want them. Remember that Iran has been flooded with not only Afghani's but also Iraqi's fleeing the turmoil of their country, placing huge pressures upon a nation that can barely maintain its own peoples standard of living, an apartment in Tehran will set you back $1000 a month, while a monthly wage is $400.
The frustration of knowing that the best I could do for these refugees was to buy them lunch and offer them a few dollars and do as all tourists do, leave them to their fate, walk away from their misery.

Instead of this type of "success":

July 27 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends First, "We have a real success story to tell you about this morning. More than 600 suspected Taliban have been killed in the past month in Afghanistan." (Or that Donald Rumsfeld has declared that the Taliban have been defeated three times, so far)

We could be talking of a nation that is making genuine headway in its battle to become a successful member of the world of nations. As it is, we are looking once again, as a forgotten backwater in the war on terror and touting bullshit and death as progress. Historicaly, September 11 will be seen as a direct result of our neglect of Afghansitan after we used them as a proxy battlefield for out cold war delusions, already we are making the same mistakes, living under the same delusions and using them as a proxy battlefield for our delusional "war on terror", will the results be the same? Will the poppy fields bloom in the war on drugs?

welcome to the status quo

Dag Hammarskjold, UN secretary generall in 1957 on Israels retaliation policy:

"It should not be any surprise, but I note with regret that the Israeli government can never transcend its one sided view of how matters may be straightened out. When has Israel ever admitted any responsibility or expressed regret in cases where their people, unprovoked, have violated a ceasefire?"

General Burns, commander of UN force, 1957 on yet another Israeli massacre:

"It is a very sad proof of the fact that the spirit that inspired the notorious Deir Yassin massacre in 1948 is not dead among some of the Israeli armed forces."

Head of gaza UN observation force, L.Col. Bayard, 1957:

"Israeli soldiers were trying to prevent UN obeservers from seeing actions they are taking against the civilian populace. I have come to the conclusion that the treatment of civilians is unwarrantedly rough and that a good number of persons have been shot down in cold blood for no apparent reason. Many key UN relief work personnel are missing from the camps and are believed to have been executed by the Israelis."

General Burns, commander of UN force, 1957 on the annexation of the gaza strip:

"Israel had a record of getting rid of Arabs whose lands they desired. I have been credibly informend that what the Israeli authorities really had in mind was to absorb only about 80,000 (of 200,000) of the Strips population. That this is not a slander on the IDF is, unfortunately, only to well attested, incidents in which they took severe repressive measures against Arab civilians, killing large numbers of them."


From todays Age:

In the Gaza Strip, scene of another Israeli offensive, Israeli forces killed 23 Palestinians, including at least 11 militants, three children and a handicapped man, during fighting.
Israel has killed 140 Palestinians in a month-long campaign to recover a captured soldier and stop rocket fire from Gaza.
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O'Dea had met the commander of Ireland's Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Jim Sreenan, and had also spoken by telephone to the most senior army officer in Lebanon, Lieutenant Colonel John Molloy. O'Dea said Molloy had told him that he had personally given six "very specific, very detailed'' warnings to the Israelis.

"Obviously they weren't taken on board. Even after the hit had taken place a number of Indian soldiers who went to rescue the dying and the injured were also fired upon.

"At the very minimum I would have to describe the actions of the Israeli army as grossly reckless at a minimum,'' O'Dea said.

"I can't say for definite whether there was deliberate targeting but if it was an accident, it was a most extraordinary accident.''

there were 21 strikes within 300 metres of the observer post during the six hours before it was completely destroyed.

While there was speculation Israel may have been targeting Hezbollah positions near the Khiam post, Holl Lute said there was no Hezbollah fire coming from near the outpost.
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Last night on Lateline the Israeli spokeman declared that while he could give no details of how the "accident" occured, claiming the "fog of war" and general confusion, he could however say with certainty that Hezzbollaz were firing rockets from close to the base. Never let it be said that bad news travels fast, with the IDF, favourable news travels exceptionally quickly, bad news must wait for an offical report, and to top it all off, the IDF have refused to allow the UN to be apart of the investigation, only the IDF can investigate the IDF. Nothing to see here, call back in about three months when its findings are handed down on the blameless IDF.

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Could it be that the Neo-cons and fox news are once again back in charge of foreign policy at the whitehouse, all the talk of the blame being pointed directly at Iran and Syria (with none at Israel) leads me to assume that this is the proxy beginning of the so, so desired war/invasion/strategic bombing of those two countries. There are two strams of thought in this regard, one goes that the US president will want to attack Iran to shore up his chances in the Novemeber mid-term elections, the second goes that if the mid-term elections do not show the swing away from the republicans and they keep control of both houses, then this leaves a lame duck president to do as he please on Iran. This means that as the president does not need to fqace re-election he will be more likely to launch an attack on Iran, whereas a new president would not be so foolish, as he has to face the voters again in the wake of another potentially greater fiasco than Iraq.

The white house demanded that Syria pull out of Lebanon so that it could no longer interfere in the countries politics, now the white house is demanding that they must interfere in the politics of Lebanon. Consistent policy is not what the current adminsitration is very good at, now spin, Pavlov style, they are very good at. Staying on message, no matter how blatantly false, misleading or devoid of reality is what they are past masters at.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/10962352/iran_the_next_war
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From John Pilger:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14211.htm

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A perfect summary of the motives for the "War on Terror, from a judge aquitting defendants in another ridiculous "dirty bomb" trial:

the motives were "money on the one hand and selling newspapers on the other".

Add stealing votes through unfounded fear, and you have the Long War in a nutshell.

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To compound the disinformation, 60% of Americans now believe that WMD's have been found in Iraq, this goes along with the 60% who dont believe in evolution, and the 80% who cant find Iraq on a map. Who said that the issue was dead, the numbers who believe the great lie that WMD's were found in Iraq is up over the past year, not down. Can we have a clear statement from someone with a booming voice and bit of authority smack down this is utter crap. Maybe Dik Cheney can do it? Or would that be a bit of a flip flop on the propaganda he has consistently peddled over the past three years.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200607260005

While we are at it we should try to dispel a few other myths

1/ Howards tale of the Iraqis put through a paper shredder under by Saddam, told to parliment and a right load of old bullshit. Closest anyone came to confirming it was an Iraqi who said that he once saw a paper shredder in one of Saddams offices, somehwere, but even that couldnt be confirmed.

2/ GW telling the world, "Saddam tried to kill my daddy" in one of his many jsutifications of going to war, based on an urban myth that was spread about GW 1 when he visited Kuwait after the first gulf war, a real load of old cobblers.

lets wedge it fission style

Johnie Howard is licking his lips at the prospect of another wedge non-issue being blown to the voting public, the nuclear debate. While awaiting his somewhat skewed panel to answer the skewed questions it is being tasked to investigate, the Labour Party is about to revisit the thorny question of the three mines policy, a policy that in most peoples minds is one of those little bit pregnant ideas that should be re-addressed. There is no question that this will be debated hotly within the Labour Party and cause dissension, hence bringing a big smile to Little J's face after all the rancor spilling from the Liberals over the last few weeks. And there is no question that his workplace relations (as in conjugal) legislation needs a little time off peoples minds.

The question for little J to answer is, where will he be placing his nuclear power station and enrichment plant, and I am taking it that the real question he wants answered is already answered in the affirmative. Which elecorate will he be willing to sacrifice, or which national party seat is currently being run by a batshit crazy loon (wilson tuckey please sit down)?

Little J:"Well, we should look at uranium enrichment. Of course we should. We as a nation for generations have lamented the fact that we had the finest wool in the world, but we sent it overseas to be processed." (we still do little J.)

"All I am wanting is this country to be open-minded enough to have a look at the alternatives and then in the fullness of time, and we're not talking about the next two or three years, we're talking about a longer time frame than that, a look at all of the alternatives and see where we're going. And I can't, for the life of me, understand why people are being so short sighted and narrow minded and backward looking." Short sighted may be defined as seeing one option, nuclear, as being all the alternatives, but maybe I am nitpicking here.

The panel has its answers it can now relax and work on the conclusion, before is needs to look forward to all those rich delicious, information fueled energy company lunches and weekend retreats in French and US nuclear villages. Much like the Cheney energy plan, written and concieved by the US energy industry, this inquiry will bring down findings that are fair and impartial, but we wont get to see the inner workings, just the outer spin.
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The way the right in this country salivates at the thought of not only using the nuclear issue as a good political wedge, but as sound policy, makes me laugh in my free market boots. Solar, wind, geothermal and wave power are all derided as economically foolish and a drain upon the poor tax payers pockets, yet the nuclear industry was but a twinkle in a few physists eyes a mere 70 years ago, before the public funded the Manhattan Project and made it a reality. The Manhattan Project is acknowledged as the worlds largest tax payer subsidised venture ever undertaken, why in this time of acknowledged need and danger is the same not called for today? Why? Maybe its because the australian coal industry is currently writing policy for the governement and making sure that all alternatives are but one, the ridiculously overblown and non-existant geosequestration. Make a hole, fill it with co2, walk away and forget, thats the current answer to global energy problems coming from our government, oh and I shouldnt forget the nuclear reactor on the mornington peninsula.

The other great load of crap in the debate is the idea that the nuclear commision will be incorporating the CO2 outcomes of current emissions and including that in their economic forcasts, where as the other potential power scources are not permitted to be viewed through that particular economic lense, they must stand or fall on a pure dollar cost balance analysis. Hypocrisy never gets better than a government wanting an outcome form a "fair and balanced" inquiry.

Then theres the little matter of the 1 in 1000 year chance that an orange bellied parrot will lose an elecorate for the national party to divert hundreds of millions of dollars out of our burgeoning wind farms industry. Now that was the most shameful bit of politics driven energy policy I have seen a very long time, well since the last time Senator Campbell tried to re-open the dargo high plains to cattle.

http://geothermal.marin.org/pwrheat.html

http://geothermal.inel.gov/what-is.shtml

My main problem with nuclear is not its safety or its efficacy, my problem is that it is the least efficent way to boil water the world has so far invented. We use less than a single percent of the energy generated, and all it does is boil water to turn turbines. A billion dollars for a cup of coffee, only starbucks would create something so disapointing.

on the iraqi side of the world as it is being told to the americans
Iraqi PM Mr Maliki said:

"The security situation has got worse since the Government took control because the terrorists realise this is a government that can achieve security. All the groups involved in terrorism have escalated bombings, kidnappings and other actions."

Bush speak for, of course its a lot worse, that how we know its better.

Throw in another round of "last throes" from Cheney, a couple more "the next 6 months will see the turning points" from Thomas Friedman (so far 15 stretching from late 2003 to now) and top it all off with a "mission accomplished""heckovajob" combo from Bush, and we have the makings of one delicous bullshit pie. As Tony Snow might say, while smacking his lips "You can really really taste the shit in this, its even chunky, so you know its good and fresh for ya"

despatches from the War on Terror:

"Innocent passengers are being entered into an international intelligence database as suspicious persons, acting in a suspicious manner on an aircraft ... and they did nothing wrong," said one
federal air marshal.

These unknowing passengers who are doing nothing wrong are landing in a secret government document called a Surveillance Detection Report, or SDR. Air marshals told 7NEWS that managers in Las Vegas created and continue to maintain this potentially dangerous quota system.
"Do these reports have real life impacts on the people who are identified as potential terrorists?" 7NEWS Investigator Tony Kovaleski asked.
"Absolutely," a federal air marshal replied.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9559707/detail.html

never be amazed that human decency can be overridden by a contract that gives you an extra few dollars if you do override human decency. Just ask any Wakenhut employee.
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On the back of the US Sears Tower plot (why the Sears plot, coz one of the "terrorists" had been to Chicago, I am not kidding) where those charged had, no explosives, no plans, no weapons, no means and apparently little clue but still "exteremely dangerous" in their "aspirations", comes the trail of the melbourne/sydney terrorists. Once more, no explosives, no plans, no weapons, no means and apparently little clue but acording to the prosecution, they were all "aspirational".

Should this be a new level on the terror alert list, just above Green (dont panic, put your feet up and have a beer), Aspirational Aqua (feel slightly uneasy, make sure beer is within easy reach to grab on the very slender chance you need to potentialy walk slowly to safety)



from the I could have told them that for half the price column:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/alternative-health/mushroom-magic-put-to-test/2006/07/20/1153166500708.html

mmmmmmmmmmushrooooommmmmmmmmmsssssssssss

hell no we wont go: but we may leave the past as our future

On July 28, 1989, we kidnapped Sheikh Obeid, and on May 12, 1994, we kidnapped Mustafa Dirani, who had captured Ron Arad. Israel held these two people and another 20-odd Lebanese detainees without trial, as "negotiating chips." That which is permissible to us is, of course, forbidden to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah crossed a border that is recognized by the international community. That is true. What we are forgetting is that ever since our withdrawal from Lebanon, the Israel Air Force has conducted photo-surveillance sorties on a daily basis in Lebanese airspace. While these flights caused no casualties, border violations are border violations. Here too, morality is not on our side.
So much for the history of morality.


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/742257.html

Another day of slaughter, after the deliberate targeting of ambulances by the IDF (hardly the first time) and the usual reply of "well hezbollah use these vehicles as a taxis service" (as if stating it makes it true), comes the news that once again the IDF has targeted UN observers, as it has done on more than a few occasions (see Qana for one of the most heinous). During the Suez crisis the UN regularly complained that the IDF were deliberately targeting their observers and observation posts as a means to stop them doing the very job that they were authorised to do, observe, and to quote the UN forces commander at the time, "to stop them observing Israeli attrocities".

According to reports filtering through the UN observation post had been shelled some 14 times over the previous day, forcing the blue berets inside their bunker, which was then hit with a aerial bomb. Was the bomb one of the bunker busters and flown by one of the F16's delivered to the IDF the day that Condi Rice sat down to discuss tying in Olmerts election plans with those of the Republicans November desires. After all a good spin is the need for a steady, hold the line, we are the only ones strong on defence, WW3 is upon us and we need to be with the president in these turbulent times series of ads to bolster the case for voting republican.

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN Observer post in southern Lebanon,'' Annan said in a statement.

A forceful statement from a man given to bending over backwards to appease all sides.

Here lies the problem with the calls for sending in force of peacekeepers, as opposed to observers, diplomacy. Diplomacy is the art of balancing both sides and making a coherent statement towards actions or words and for it to work it needs the voice in the centre making sense of it all to be an honest broker, neutral if you will. So far all calls for a force to be sent into Southern Lebanon have been made under the explicit knowledge that they will essentially only be operating to disarm Hezzbollah, therefore, simply acting as proxys for the IDF and doing the same job that the IDF is currently destroying Lebanon for. No one has even remotely suggested that the UN/NATO force will confiscate the IDF's F16's or artillery, or has imagined what would happen if they in fact "observed" an Israeli breach and clashed with the IDF. In 18 years of Israels occupation of the south, the IDF failed completely to erradicate Hezzbollah and at the end of the occupation, actually strengthened Hezzbollah by allowing them to adopt the title of "defenders of Lebanon".

Besides all that, which countries would be even remotely be acceptable to both sides or be prepared to have their troops used as fodder in between these forces. Iran? Pakistan? India? Moorocco? So far no one has been to willing to put their hands up, but many have made the call.

On another point, is it time to start calling Israel the proxy for the US, I have heard daily the call each time Hezzbollah is mentioned that it is a prox for Iran and Syria, as though the actions of one is directly guided by the other. Surely the same is very true for the Olmert government, and it is as true that the Israel's take as much notice of the Americans, as Hezzbollah does of Syria and Iran.

Which leads me onto a pertinent quote from Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjold, Secretary-General of the United Nations (died 1961) here I believe he is speaking on the Suez crisis. (more on this tomorrow:

The Assembly has witnessed over the last weeks how historical truth is established; once an allegation has been repeated a few times, it is no longer an allegation, it is an established fact, even if no evidence has been brought out in order to support it.

Those who invoke history will certainly be heard by history. And they will have to accept its verdict.

to Israel PM Ben-Gurion, 1957:

You are convinced that the threat of retaliation has a deterrent effect. I am convinced that it is more of an incitement to individual members of the Arab forces than even what has been said by their own governments. You are convinced that acts of retaliation will stop further incidents. I am convinced that they will lead to further incidents….You believe that this way of creating respect for Israel will pave the way for sound coexistence with the Arab people. I believe that the policy may postpone indefinitely the time for such coexistence…. I think the discussion of this question can be considered closed since you, in spite of previous discouraging experiences, have taken the responsibility of large-scale tests of the correctness of your belief.

On February 11th, 1957, Mr. John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State, submitted certain Proposals to the Israeli Government which were, in effect, that:
"Israel should withdraw her troops from the Gulf of Aqaba region and the Gaza Strip, in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations General Assembly.

iraq

A band of anti-American insurgents has named itself the "1920 Revolution Brigades," and the most important Shia cleric Ayatollah ali Sistani in a newspaper advertisement asked Iraq's influential tribes to remember.

"We want you to be revolutionaries ... you should have a big role today, as you had in the revolution in 1920," the ad said. (Miami herald, jan. 2004)

There is one thing that the Arab communities are good at and that is remembering the past as tho it were only yesterday. Whereas we, the MTV generation, can barely remember the lies of the past two weeks, so in order to give a bit of an update on the past and how well it will serve for the future, a quick peak a the rebellions fo the 1920's, the last time a western power (the english) decided that they should decide the future of Iraq.

From the past, a big fat blast of the present:

you can easily swap any name of the british middle eastern raj for the players of today. It seems neither language nor ideas have changed since 1932. Maybe its time for the US to pull another "Mission Accomplished" and abandon Iraq to the Iraqis. Let the spin doctors fight it out at Fox. This is mainly a compendeum from a Foriegn Affairs article from march/april 2006.

From T.E Lawrence:

Meanwhile, our unfortunate troops, Indian and British, under hard conditions of climate and supply, are policing an immense area, paying dearly every day in lives for the wilfully wrong policy of the civil administration in Baghdad.

Yet our published policy has not changed, and does not need changing. It is that there has been a deplorable contrast between our profession and our practice. We said we went to Mesopotamia to defeat Turkey. We said we stayed to deliver the Arabs from the oppression of the Turkish Government, and to make available for the world its resources of corn and oil. We spent nearly a million men and nearly a thousand million of money to these ends. This year we are spending ninety-two thousand men and fifty millions of money on the same objects.
........
We say we are in Mesopotamia to develop it for the benefit of the world. all experts say that the labour supply is the ruling factor in its development. How far will the killing of ten thousand villagers and townspeople this summer hinder the production of wheat, cotton, and oil? How long will we permit millions of pounds, thousands of Imperial troops, and tens of thousands of Arabs to be sacrificed on behalf of colonial administration which can benefit nobody but its administrators?

Colonial secretary Leopold Amery noted that critics of thier policy and calls for a pullout of Iraq by newspapers " a reckless disregard of the honour of their country", emboldening thier countries enemies and exposing their country to even greater danger.

British High Commision on insurgency: "the only grave injury done to Iraq has been inflicted by wild reports manufacturing scare after scare"

Senior British Advisor: "there will be a bad slump in the adminsistration (of Iraq) that will continue until someone strong enough to dominate the country emerges"

On the use of gas against rebellious Iraqis, Churchill said. ‘I am strongly in favor of using poisoned gas against uncivilized tribes.. It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gases: gases can be used which cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected.’ ”

an fuller overview:
http://www.casahistoria.net/iraq.htm#3._The_British_Mandate,_1918-32

THE BEGININGS OF FAILURE from november 2003

http://www.squall.co.uk/squall.cfm/ses/sq=2003112301/ct=9

from the land of the freely scripted, just to prove that your either with us or in jail.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060722/ap_on_re_us/bush_protesters;_ylt=AtHbNzr.SVq.MIoCgaNq0Kms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-

the perfect recipe for an honest peace broker: bombs n rice

Could we be worse than Saddam?

"We've already discovered just so far the remains of 400,000 people in mass graves," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair on November 20 in London. The United Nations, the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) all estimate that Saddam Hussein's regime murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent people. "Human Rights Watch estimates that as many as 290,000 Iraqis have been 'disappeared' by the Iraqi government over the past two decades," said the group in a statement in May. "Many of these 'disappeared' are those whose remains are now being unearthed in mass graves all over Iraq."

death counts are not morality, but: this comes to 14,500 people per year who died under the despotic hand of our friendly (from1979-91, 91-2003 hitler meter rating 10) dictator

current death toll in Baghdad alone: 21,900 people per year and climbing

"The US occupation is butcher's work under the slogan of democracy and human rights and justice."

speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani. Democracy in action.

history is memories and hangovers

Ive only spent one weekend in Beruit, a blur of alcohol, illicit substances, music, fun and lack of sleep, arriving from Damascus on a thursday night and leaving on Sunday, my head foggy and my wallet considerably lighter than when I left. I am so glad that I have had just that trifling, muddy, glimpse into the country as the Israeli government is now determined to "set back the country 20 years". I saw little of the scars that were left from 30 odd years of civil war and invasions, my memories are only of balmy warm summer breezes, throbbing clubs and bars, expensive, tho delicious food and warm friendly people, before I made my way back to the considerably poorer, but no less friendly, Syria. My memories are at best like looking through snowstorm onto a white mountain, but thats what you get for enjoying yourself. Another lost weekend in a life that contains more than a few lost weekends.

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a US military perspective of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon:

OperationPeace for Galilee was launched to meet five national strategygoals:
(1) eliminate the PLO threat to Israel's northern border;
(2) destroy the PLO infrastructure in Lebanon;
(3) remove Syrianmilitary presence in the Bekaa Valley and reduce its influence inLebanon; (4) create a stable Lebanese government; and
(5)therefore strengthen Israel's position in the West Bank.

In brief, the Israeli Defense Force conducted a successfulcombined arms offensive which achieved every military objectiveassigned it, but which revealed certain weakness in forcestructure and tactics. Strategic goals were initially met withthe evacuation of much of the PLO from Beirut and the defeat ofSyrian forces in the Bekaa; however,long term results have been arenewed PLO presence in Lebanon, the rise of militant Shi'afundamentalist militias in the south, the almost total collapse ofany semblance of a Lebanese government, restored Syrian presenceand influence, deep domestic divisions in Israel concerning thewar, and increased political violence in the West Bank.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1987/SGC.htm

I will read the report over the weekend to figure out how the US government can claim to be making such roaring progress in Iraq and the middle east in general, statements such as "a successfulcombined arms offensive which achieved every military objectiveassigned it" are breathtaking in their stupidity.


Voices from the past reflected in voices of today, want to replace kissinger and regan with anyone we know:

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger defended the Israeli operation: "No sovereign state can tolerate indefinitely the buildup along its borders of a military force dedicated to its destruction and implementing its objectives by periodic shellings and raids" (Washington Post, June 16, 1982).

"On Lebanon, it is clear that we and Israel both seek an end to the violence there, and a sovereign, independent Lebanon," President Reagan said June 21, 1982. "We agree that Israel must not be subjected to violence from the north."

from a somewhat distorted view of the time

"The Israelis would fire back and sometimes miss, inadvertently hitting civilian targets.
In numerous instances, the media mistakenly reported that Israel was hitting civilian targets in areas where no military ones were nearby."

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Lebanon_War.html

pinpoint, restrained and ever moral. However a look through the library to see any mention of the Qana massacre, reveals little if not a bit less than that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qana

I find the wikipedia a somewhat useful tool as long as you take care to not accept everything as fact rather than opinion, what I find a lot more interesting are the discussion pages as thats where the battle for history is played out in all its ugly glory. Here is a bit of the discusion on one of the greatest journalists of our times, Robert Fisk, a resident of Lebanon and frequent critic of Israeli and Arab governments, who lived though the times in situ, unlike the contributing authors cited here. Remember that Fisk broke the story of the shabra/chatila massacres and was in the camps while the massacres were occuring, so he is obviously an unreliable scource:

Robert Fisk Reference

Is this reference to Robert Fisk really necessary in this article? The paragraph describing Israeli killing of civilians seems out of place and misleading. What is the purpose of mentioning this? Why are there no factual statistics accompanying this point? Simply saying "often to children" in reference to phosphorous shells leaves a quesitonable account of the events that transpired in this war. Moreover, Fisk has a reputation and a history of being very biased against Israel and the US. Is the intention of the author of this article to relay a one-sided, biased account of the 1982 Operation for Peace in the Galilee? If not, then perhaps the opinions or writings of another journalist with less bias to either side would be appropriate here.
-ecl26

Responding to your points in order:
1. No, the reference to Robert Fisk is not really necessary to this article.
2. Yes, the paragraph describing Israeli killing of civilians seems out of place and misleading.
3. The purpose of mentioning it is to demonize Israel.
4. There are no factual statistics accompanying it because Fisk didn't provide any; he was more interested in criticizing Israel than providing factual accounts.
5. Yes, saying "often to children" in reference to phosphorous shells leaves a questionable account of the events that transpired in this war.
6. Yes, Fisk has a reputation and a history of being very biased against Israel and the US.
7. Yes, the intention of the author of that particular part of the article was to relay a one-sided, biased account of the 1982 Operation for Peace in the Galilee?
8.Yes, the opinions or writings of another journalist with less bias to either side would be appropriate here.

Hope that was helpful. Jayjg (Talk) 18:49, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:1982_Lebanon_War


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for those wondering what ever happened to those glorious seers of the future, the neocons

the christian science monitor has a resonable primer, tho dated:

http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html?s=spusa

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2006/07/19/war-without-end/

I have a personal deep and unabiding hatred of Samuel Hunntington and his bullshit theory of civilisations clashing. Firstly I find the book tedious in the extreme, thirdly I think the entire thesis is pure and utter crap cobbled together to create an enemy, coz a fabricated enemy makes for a non fabricated load of cash and power. Try to view the US/Saudi relationship through the eyes of sammuel and it ceases to exist within his framework.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20011022/said

more on the ever shrinking fantasy world of neo-conservatism later, much more. Have they got one thing right that they didnt fabricate?

i believe the children are our future (thats why its all so hopelessly grim)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060717/481/c8723701e8f644f0b5befd7df750e8ea


I woke this morning knowing that when I turned on the news I would hear nothing of peace in the war on Lebanon,what I didnt expect was to find the roots of the next generations wars. How can there ever be a peaceful resolution when both sides are inculcated with such hate from such a early age. We condemn as war crimes of the highest order the Lord's Resistance Army when they brainwash ten year olds and force them to kill in Uganda, yet surely this is of a similar ilk when the children of the region are encouraged to hate with such innocent venom.

So often we only hear the voices of the extremists, as though they are the only voices available or the only ones who are able to steer the narrative forward. We hear the usual bullshit about the Israeli attack upon Lebanon being yet another proxy war in the "war on terror", drawing strings out to embrace a justifcation of what is surely an unjust collective punishment of an entire nation.

How can a war of terror defeat a war on terror. Just like the war in Iraq has now been conviently morphed and carefully packaged into the Long War, these daily atrocities are now just part of the accepted rationales for any action, regardless of consequences . From robert fisk in 2000, just change the names, replace assaination with the captured Israeli corporal and he could have written it yesterday:

"Let's go back to June 1982. Southern Lebanon. A UN ceasefire is in place between Yasser Arafat's PLO guerrillas and Israel. In London, a Palestinian tries to assassinate the Israeli ambassador; his potential killer belongs to the anti-Arafat Abu Nidal faction, intent on provoking an Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Israel bombs Arafat's men in Lebanon. After several days under attack, they fire Katyusha rockets over the border into Israel. And what happens? Israel invades Lebanon because it is under "terrorist" attack and suggests – wait for it – that "Arafat cannot control his men".
Sound familiar? There's more. By the time cameras were recording the thousands of civilian casualties of the Lebanon war, the Israelis were asking why the "terrorists" were hiding behind the civilians. Why did the Palestinians use children in their war? Israel said it did not intend to kill children, even the ones I found in the Makassed hospital in Beirut, their bodies still on fire from the phosphorus shell that killed them, and blamed their deaths on the PLO."

Sadly I fear that like most conflicts, demands for a ceasefire will not grow until we have an incident which all the worlds press can define as a massacre, the deaths of a family here, a bus load of fleeing refugees there, the slow drip of collateral damage is easy to ignore and place in a plus and minus column, 312 Lebanese in one, 29 Isrealis on the other, like it were a macabre tennis game. In order for the world to finally demand action from both sides a hundred plus mutilated bodies must be piled in a sickening twisted heap from a single action. Then the inevitable murky shadows of the facts will be deliberatly blurred, but at least these things sadly provide a circuit breaker of revulsion.


do we need another Sabra and Shatila or Qana before we act.

Listening to the news as we speak, 35 dead civilians in a single incident, a village bombed, and it barely makes a dent. The IDF dropped leaflets on the village telling them to leave, "forgetting" that they had bombed the bridges, roads and were indiscriminatly firing missiles at any vehicles on the roads. 35 dead civilians still buried beneath the rubble of their homes is not a massacre, it is just part of the "calm and measured" response.

http://abc.net.au/worldtoday/podcast/20060720worldtoday.mp3
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I loved our foriegn mininster, alexander downer, informing Australian citzens in Lebanon that all they needed to do was steer clear of any Hezbollah "infrastructure" and they would be safe. He neglected to point out (or be asked) what the hell that actually means, it is clearly just more weasle words in place of a condemnation of the actions of israel. If you are an Australian in Lebanon and you die, it is your fault, you were deliberately standing next to some terrorist "infrastructure", like a milk factory or a car or a house. Fucking meaningless weasle words from a fucking weasle.


http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2006/07/19/louise-arbour-killing-of-civilians-in-lebanon-gaza-and-israel-may-be-war-crimes/

I am trying to find progressive Jewish voices, the monolith of opinion that the media portrays, who seem to get their words from the same talking points sheet, that are the current voices of the Israeli side needs to be balanced. I know that many many Jews do not support the current policies of the present adminsistration in either Lebanon or Gaza or the West Bank.

Talk of the attacks on Lebanon continuing until the "infrastructure of terror" is dismantled is just ridiculous. In 18 years of occupation of southern lebanon, the IDF could not erradicate hezbollah, on the day they invaded rockets were fired into Israel, on the day they left, rockets fired into Israel, the only change was that Hezbollah were widely acknowledged as heros who defied and defeated the might of the IDF by a majority of Lebanese, radicals gained further adherents and 20,000 Lebanese civilians lay dead in the fields of rubble.

One could say that the current polling of Israelis supporting the attacks (some 80%) is due to their relative peace being shattered by the hitherto unexpected reach of the Hezbollah rockets. It has been a long while since the conservative heartlands of Israel have felt a genuine threat to life, as the Gazans do everyday. The result of war is always the radicalisation of those who hold moderate views, it is the way Hamas and Hezbollah have grown in popularity and support. Today we are hearing from Israelis who describe themselves as normally against military action, suddenly giving one hundred support to it. Funny what a threat to your life can do to your beliefs.

http://danielscounter.blogspot.com/

http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=2927

I havent had time to go through his site, but when work slows, I will continue my search for those Jews who have an alternate view of the current crisis. Perhaps I should google "self-hating jews" as that is undoubtedly what they will be labeled, as I could easily be labeled anti-semetic, despite the fact that I fully support the right of Israel to exist in peace (within its own borders).

from more peaceful times, a snapshot of the most "moral army in the world"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16886-2004Nov27.html

guns for whores

I love a man who can sign 145 execution warrants when governor of texas ( one less death than Saddam is currently on trial for) and still preach of the sanctity of life.

tony snowjob: “The simple answer is he thinks murder is wrong.”

GW: “I felt like crossing this line would be a mistake, and once crossed we would find it almost impossible to turn back,’’ Mr. Bush said. “Crossing the line would needlessly encourage a conflict between science and ethics that can only do damage to both, and to our nation as a whole.’’

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/19/politics/main1818040.shtml

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/washington/20bush.html

a lesson on ethics from this administration truly makes me feel ill and want to call a reputable doctor and speaking of such its funny that GW cant count on Terry Schiavos head of paliative care, the right honorable scumbag, Bill Frist

"I am pro-life, but I disagree with the president's decision to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act,"

Must be coming up to election season and the christian right arent throwing enough money at him, or else the big pharmacueticals are fattening his account a bit more.

maybe Pat Robertson should call for his assasination in that good old time christian way he does well, after all it is the end of days (tm. christian coalition, see ralph reed, he aint doin much besides selling a few insurance policies to elderly black folk) and we might as well have some fun while were at it.

more is less, peace is war, 1982 all over again

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/07/19/video-of-israeli-bombs-fa_n_25412.html

a clear blue sky theory from last nites lateline.....

TED LAPKIN: Well, again, this started when Hezbollah violated Israel's border and violated Israel's sovereignty in a completely unprovoked and pre-meditated attack.

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2006/07/19/facts-about-israel-the-media-isnt-telling-you-2/


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/16/wmid16.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/16/i

suddenly the sky is not so clear.

Despatch from the duly elected PM of Iraq:

"I condemn these aggressions and call on the Arab League foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo to take quick action to stop these aggressions. We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

meanwhile in gaza, from the NYT:

Israel’s operations against Palestinian militants continued in the Gaza. Israeli forces killed six Palestinians today after tanks moved into a refugee camp in central Gaza under cover of machine-gun fire, the latest incursion in Israel’s three-week military push in the seaside territory.
Separately, in the West Bank city of Nablus, three Palestinians were killed when the army surrounded a prison where wanted militants were apparently hiding, Palestinian officials said.

an updated report: now up to 14 dead

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1691398.htm

meanwhile the carnage in Iraq doesnt just continue, it gets bigger by the day:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html?ei=5090&en=9183fb4f01b6dadc&ex=1310961600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all


while the new american century lies through its well funded teeth:

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/19/kristol-iran/

Kristol, who claims not to be apart of the neo-cons, or the new american century project despite writing articles for it, signing letters on its behalf and stumping for its agenda, wants war, no matter how wrong he has been on every issue so far this new century.

"It is, but also the Iranian people dislike their regime. I think they would be – the right use of targeted military force — but especially if political pressure before we use military force – could cause them to reconsider whether they really want to have this regime in power."

He is a little right (no pun intended) in saying that the average Iranian does not like the present, I spoke to probably a hundred ordinary people throughout the central cities of Iran, all said the same thing, and all said that if Americans invaded, they would defend thier homeland. A policeman I had a good chat with late one night at a train station in Yadhz told me that he gave the current regime about 5 years before it would go, but that it would not go from the outside, only from the inside. He was extremely hopeful for the future (as were most I spoke to), complaining as all did about the influence of the mullahs, (number one complaint of everybody was the cost of living) but provided the Iranians were allowed to settle who governed their country by themselves, not by a reimposition of the Peacock Throne by the US (although the zorastrians had a lot more love for thier ex dictator than anyone else).

William Kristol talks through his arse and conservatives clearly prick up thier ears whenever sodomy is mentioned. Espcially if it means fucking up any country, including their own.

Key words you will hear repeated ad nauseam in any discussion of Israels use of force:

terrorists (anyone the IDF kills eg “Terrorists use the population and live among them” which of course means the terrorists are civilians)

surgical strikes (dropping the bombs exactly where the bombs fell)

pinpoint (dropping the bombs where we think they fell or a little to the left)

strictly military targets (we dont know where the bombs landed)

Israel wants to avoid (sure the f-16 hit the clearly marked ambulance, but we wanted to avoid it,)

respond (what we did in retaliation to what we provoked)

unprovoked (we did it, you prove otherwise)

provoked (someone did it, maybe us, maybe them, depends on when you figure the day started)

self defense (we have the right, you don't, and to suggest otherwise is anti-semetic)

security (we have the right to it, you don't, and to suggest otherwise is anti-semetic)

anti-Semitism (used an awful lot to describe any critism of Israel or the BBC as a whole)

security reasons (insert into any discusion for any reason you like regarding any actions, its all linked)

violation (only others do it)

Morality (as in the "IDF is the most moral army in the world", we own the copyright, like fair and balanced)

conspiracy (only applies when critisism of Israel comes from more than one person)

factual errors (even if you are 100% right I can still claim you are wrong and 90% of people wont bother check to see who is right)

legitimacy (we are 100% right, just ask any settler living in the westbank)

UN resolutions (give legitmacy when it suits, can be completely disregarded when inconvient, see also bush adminsitration for this one)

protocols of the elders of Zion (like a charge of anti-semitism used more to change subject or stifle debate, brought up when an argument fails, does any thinking person in the last fifty years bring up these old forgeries to make a point, yes we know that anti-semetism has and does exist, but to berate liberals/anyone who question Israeli policy with this, is try to smear what could well be useful thought with utter garbage.)

hell eh loo yah

the first of what I hope to much good news to arrive in 2006 from the US electoral cycle, a scumbag bites the dust, now to go clean some santorum off my sheets.

http://www.11alive.com/specials/local/decision2006/decision_article.aspx?storyid=82155

A loaded gun won't set you free (but it will clear a path through a crowd)

"The War on Terror" has to be the most cynical political exercise ever foisted upon the general public since the Mc Carthy era. Even at the height of the cold war, when the fear of communism pervaded nearly every decision the Australian government made, at least the general public were both informed enough and intelligent enough to reject a Menzies sponsored amendment to our constitution banning the Communist Party, would they do the same today if they were asked to vote on banning "terror"?

The question of banning "terror" is vague enough for anyone to agree that it is a bad thing, I mean "terror", who would oppose such a thing, or murder, who wouldn't want to ban murder if there were a War On Murder. I know this is a straw man argument, to a point, I am just waiting for the moment the Howard Government decides that it is electoral trouble and makes such a thing an issue. Already the banning of organizations is a secretive, near totally discretionary matter, dealt with by shadowy government departments and only saved by the fact that the government was instructed not to make the banned groups list retrospective.

"If a group is listed as a 'terrorist organisation' it is an offence to:

direct the activities of the organisation;
recruit persons to the organisation;
receive training from or provide training to the organisation;
receive funds from or make available funds to the organisation;
provide support or resources to the organisation;"

I have no problem with the laws, apart from them being unnecessary in that if individuals or groups are planning on committing any crimes, they were already covered by existing criminal laws. The laws are used to bring prosecutions that are simply political shams and stunts eg so many US charges

http://terrorism-news.blogspot.com/2006/06/tall-story-of-terror-chilling-warning.html

In Australia there are numerous terrorism related offences awaiting the scrutiny of trial, and if the Jack Thomas case is anything to go by, where he appeared to be given 3 year jail for making the judge a bit miffed at having his court labeled the venue for a "showtrial", rather than his proven offence, how else do yo make sense of a first offender being sentenced for what he was convicted on, passport tampering. If I were up on the same charge, being a first offender, I would receive a fine and that's about all.

I've tried to follow the evergrowing number of persons charged, tried and convicted in the US, simply because the roots of these laws have grown from the scary world of GW, where:

on Gitmo and "the worst of the worst" "killers"

"One detainee was deemed to have committed a "hostile act" when he fled a US bombing attack. Another detainee deemed to be "associated with the Taliban" who "engaged in hostilities" despite the fact that he was apparently a "cook's assistant who fled a Northern Alliance attack and then surrendered to the Northern Alliance."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/16/opinion/courtwatch/main1807212.shtml

and obscene travesties of justice like the Lakawanna 6

http://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/031204.html

where guilty pleas were coerced out of the defendants, lest they wind up in legal black hole of Gitmo. The prosecution deny this, yet their plea agreements specifically state that in return for their guilty pleas they will not be sent to Cuba, hardly a typical inclusion if the threat was not made.

Almost all the terrorism related charges laid in the US have been tinged with such bullshit, and all have been proudly trumpeted before the press by the Bush admin. Despite the thinness of their case. Lets face it, even without trumped up charges, getting a jury to do their patriotic duty and convict, must be, to use gorgeous George Tennents phrase "a slam dunk." If you have no problems placing one in seventy five of your fellow citizens behind bars (over 2.5 million and rising despite the ever declining crime stats), then throwing away the keys in revenge for 9/11 must be easy, and I do assume that theCheney, one percent doctrine, is the order of the day.

My government simply asks them to trust them, despite a long history of lies and distortion to further their political agenda. Frankly, I find it insulting to be asked to trust the current mob with vague laws which can place a fellow citizenn in solitary confinement for life on words extracted under torture or on the testimony of unreliable witnesses who can never be fully questioned because of "national security". What's worse is that the way the laws are framed, merely ackowledging that you are charged or under suspicion can lead to two years in prison, the same goes for reporting on the matter in a newspaper, and the man in charge of upholding these laws, the right hon scumbag, phil ruddock, had his previous portfolioofficiallyy described in a revue as dysfunctionall" and "incompetent" along with a lot worse. I feel so much safer knowing that the laws upon which my own freedom rest are in the hands of the arrogant tool.

just like spring rain

i know we cant hold more than one crisis in our heads at the same time, so while we all stare at the bombs raining down on Lebanon, Israel continues to rain bombs down on Gaza.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1689268.htm

"Operation Summer Rain" has left at least 87 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier dead since July 5."

We should perhaps remember that for the previous year of "relative" peace, Israel has lobbed on average 300 high explosive shells per week into Gaza, with some weeks hitting a high of over 800 artillery shells exploding in the area that they claim was handed soveriengty. If you pull out of an area and claim to have handed it back to its rightful owner, isnt it a little disingenuous to then blockade their borders and constantly use it for target practice.

......................................................................................

capitalism, personally I am fond of it, but it does have its more than a little amoral side, one could almost say that it preys upon tragedy in the way a funeral director passing out business cards to troops leaving for Iraq would.

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2006/07/post911_option_.html

I will defend my right to take the KKK public this year, a float is just what that organisation needs to make it big on the worlds markets.

Just like Hillsong Ministries, god and mammon are equal partners:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18964888-2702,00.html

http://www.rickross.com/groups/hillsong.html

http://www.answerway.com/viewans.php?pgtitle=&expid=drgade&category=633&msection=0&quesid=45421&ansid=194299

It is evident that when Jesus told of the suffering of the poor some 147 times in the new testament, Hillsong took this into thier hearts to mean that they (the poor) should become that little poorer so that next time they get a few more mentions in an updated newer new testament. Perhaps Jesus could be a little clearer next time he comes to visit, pointing out that his reference to the poor was not as marks for crooked evangalicals to steal from, but as the folks christians should be helping or are christians just jealous that he bequeathed the meek & poor the earth and christians feel that they are just spending what they are owed. He might also want to make mention that he didnt have a word to say on abortion or gay marriage or flag burning or setting up a theorcracy (other than to oppose it) or the war on drugs or.....please place right wing mass distraction agenda here...then give all yor money to Hillsong

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speaking of the indefensible, I have just recieved my first donations for my Iraqi charity fund.

a new day dawns (looks just like the last one)

once again Robert Fisk gets it right, if only more journalists were imbued with his foresight and courage.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1688889.htm


meanwhile, the death toll inexorably rises:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/death-toll-rises-to-200/2006/07/18/1153166347823.html


further to the right, the desire to expand this war is growing stronger, I predicted that the GW war machine would let a few missiles fly at Esfehan in October 2006 as a good way to boost the GOP chances in the november mid term elections. It is traditional for the incumbent to let loose a volley at whoever is the chosen enemy of the day (or whoever scores highest on the the weekly hitler-meter) espcially if they are flaggin a bit in the polls. Trawling through the mutterings of the american right, diplomacy is a filthy word, where as war is the most beautiful thing that has ever been invented, a one stop cure all for the worlds ills. Fox is non stop in its call for the erradication of iran and syria (war is great for ratings, brilliant visuals and you get to use all those "experts" you employ to comentate as tho it were a game of football) and a thousand right wing pundits are baying of for the blood of innocents.

I recall watching the BBC from my hotel room in Tehran in december, when on came the familar site of one of the biggest dumbass's ever to lead anything, anywhere, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (my fascination with the slow motion train wreck that is US politics worries me), he rejected any attempts at diplomacy, using the shoot first and question the corpses later approach of GW mark 1.01, to call for the immediate bombing of targets in Iran. I saw this as one of the first shots in the escalation in the war of the decline in the GOP poll numbers. Naturally enough the Iranians responded with some dumb ass rhetoric of thier own, seven moths down the track, I can still see the Iranian words being used as though they were spoken in a vacuumm, whereas the American vitriol is forgotten. If the leader of the senate (a position at least, if not more, powerful than that of the Iranian President) can call for the destruction of another country, why cant the other country reply. I know that two wrongs dont make a right, but all countries do have the right to defend themselves (see current bush doctrine on Israel, disregard when applied to Iraq or any country other than Israel).

Sean Hannity “We’ve got to decide: Are we going to be at war with Iran eventually or not?”
The chicken hawk with the raised fingers is obviously just dying to put his NRA membership to good use in meeting foreign people and argue with his life on the line, or maybe he will just cheer from the sidelines as usual and let others do his dying for him.
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for all the reasons why we have no peace and no hope of peace in the middle east, espcially regarding the ocupation of Palestien, the comments pages on my local daily give the usual tit for tat round of ideas, both sides are right as both sides are wrong:

http://blogs.theage.com.au/yoursay/archives/2006/07/the_lebanon.html

my answer is that peace can only be achieved when a two state solution is equitably negotiated between equal partners, and I know what a stupid statement that is.

............................................................................................

Brilliant show on four corners last night:

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/

I take an intense interest in the culture wars pervading america mainly because I know that the same questions will be raised in Australia. Here we have a hard right conservative religous agenda working in the shadows to overthrow our way of life. When HillSong Ministries or Opus Die can hijack the agenda of my beautiful, tolerant country, then I do want civil war.

It really is bad enough that our esteemed Minister for Science can call for Inteligent Design to taught in science class's, or for our Minister for Health, the right scumbag asnd self confessed liar, Tony Abbot to foist outragous hardline catholic lies and disinformation in the guise of reproductive legisaltion, now we are treated to the ugly face behind the agenda's. We can all be extremely thankful that the nations state liberal branches are so utterly inept, looking more like the post Thatcher Conservatives of the UK, rather than a potent political force.

Always be wary of any leader running on law and order issues in a peaceful country, it means they have no ideas apart from throwing you in jail to solve any problems.

timelines are all part of the middle easts myths

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2006/07/12/CU2006071200913.html

where does one start in a timeline with the palestian/israel coinflict, this one begins where the Israelis say that it started. It ignores the beginnings of the current conflict, the deaths on a beach of a palestinian family from Israeli artillery fire which caused Hamas to call off its truce, leading to the capture of two Israeli soldiers. The Israel perspective wins the war on history again and no one bats an eyelid.


Where is the moral equivilance or fairness when the NYT can devote numerous columns to the deaths of 9 israelis in Haifia, then brush off the deaths of over 70 civilians in Lebanon with barely a line.

"They yesterday heard an Israeli Radio broadcast of an ultimatum, demanding the evacuation of southern Lebanon.

"We hear shells and aeroplanes and bombing on the village and we don't know what's happening outside, if people are being killed or houses are being destroyed. We can't move," she told The Age last night.

"(Bang) Can you hear that? (Bang) That's bombing. If we leave by car, they will shell the car. That's what they did to the 20 people from Marwahin. You feel that you're not safe, even if you leave the house.

"(Bang) Can you hear that? It's within the village, within 500 metres of our house.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/conflict-comes-close-to-home/2006/07/16/1152988412334.html

know that the answers are not cut and dried, but to declare one side guilty while ignoring the abuses on the other as GW did at the G8 summit smacks of fairly typical hypocrisy that has become a natural hallmark of the US position in the middle east. The US is marginallized in this whole affair because the Israelis will simply ignore any calls for restraint (and the calls from the US asre about as meek as one can imagine), knowing that they will receive unconditional backing no matter what they may do, where as Arab/Palestinian calls will be roundly rejected. To then tie this all into the continueing call for military action against Iran (and from some Syria) smacks of the Iraq misadventurre all over again. The road to peace in the middle east did not lie through Bagdhad, it has always been through the rubble strewn, blockaded checkpoints of the Westbank and Gaza.

For Condellese Rice to say over the weekend that that area is simply in flux is too gruesome for words, and for her to also say that the Iraq invasion has made the area safer, more stable and that these current events are just long awaited deck chair rearrangements that needed to be carried out is just, to use her word, "grotesque"

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/TW-Conis-Iraq-Israel.wmv

from the "anti-semetic" BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5066496.stm

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/20/israb13595.htm

search through a pro-israel, lets go in all guns blazing daughter of samuel huntingon type for the usual distortions on a distorted situation

Israel can wipe out the surrounding countries, turn thier cities into "rubble" but doesnt because of its inate kindness, yet faces "genocide"? which is it?

http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/?p=1283

"There has never been a single instance where the accuracy of MEMRI’s translation of Arabic documents has been called into question. "

a simple check will find that this statement is blatantly untrue.

http://www.juancole.com/2004/11/bloggers-respond-weblogging-community.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEMRI

I know, a lazy mans excuse for fact checking, but I am working and the world is moving fast.

I just find the instant resort to accusations of anti-semetism by anyone who critises Israels actions and policies to frustrating for words and such a slander on so many good journalists and critical thinkers. The waters are muddy enough without these bullshit merchants.

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Is it a war crime?

To deliberatly target civilian infrastructure under the geneva convention

"It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population "

In both Gaza and Lebanon Israel has done just that. But then if Sharon can get away without having to ever face justice, why shouldnt Olmert.

The IDF proclaim that they only shoot terrorists, therefore anyone the IDF shoots is a terrorist. Are Canadians terrorists:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/07/16/lebanon-canadians.html

timelines are more about myths than truth

where does one start in a timeline with the palestian/israel coinflict, this one begins where the Israelis say that it started. It ignores the beginnings of the current conflict, the deaths on a beach of a palestinian family from Israeli artillery fire which caused Hamas to call off its truce. The American/Israel lobby wins again and no one bats an eyelid.


Where is the moral equivilance or fairness when the NYT can devote numerous columns to the deaths of 9 israelis in Haifia, then brush off the deaths of over 70 civilians in Lebanon with barely a line.

"They yesterday heard an Israeli Radio broadcast of an ultimatum, demanding the evacuation of southern Lebanon.

"We hear shells and aeroplanes and bombing on the village and we don't know what's happening outside, if people are being killed or houses are being destroyed. We can't move," she told The Age last night.

"(Bang) Can you hear that? (Bang) That's bombing. If we leave by car, they will shell the car. That's what they did to the 20 people from Marwahin. You feel that you're not safe, even if you leave the house.

"(Bang) Can you hear that? It's within the village, within 500 metres of our house.



I know that the answers are not cut and dried, but to declare one side guilty while ignoring the abuses on the other as GW did at the G8 summit smacks of fairly typical hypocrisy that has become a natural hallmark of the US position in the middle east. The US is marginallized in this whole affair because the Israelis will simply ignore any calls for restraint (and the calls from the US asre about as meek as one can imagine), knowing that they will receive unconditional backing no matter what they may do, where as Arab/Palestinian calls will be roundly rejected. To then tie this all into the continueing call for military action against Iran (and from some Syria) smacks of the Iraq misadventurre all over again. The road to peace in the middle east did not lie through Bagdhad, it has always been through the rubble strewn, blockaded checkpoints of the Westbank and Gaza.

For Condellese Rice to say over the weekend that that area is simply in flux is too gruesome for words, and for her to also say that the Iraq invasion has made the area safer, more stable and that these current events are just long awaited deck chair rearrangements that needed to be carried out is just, to use her word, "grotesque"



from the "anti-semetic" BBC





for the opposite side, which blames hamas for the massacre, and for lots of excuses for many more massacres: