Jesus saves, enough for a middle class tomb.

Oh tired, grumpy, old, little johnny, now even the Greeks hate you.

The Greek embassy's press officer said yesterday that Mr Howard's comments were "out of context". Amin Saikal, director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University, said it was impossible to compare violence in Iraq to that in Greece.
"Name me one country in the world where more than 3000 people are killed every month. How is it normal?"

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/greeks-fume-over-terrorist-comparison/2007/02/27/1172338625803.html

Pay close attention to what they say and what they say is not in any way quite what the Bush team wants to hear about Iran. Ok, they have no idea where the stuff comes from, but it sounds good

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/world/middleeast/27weapons.html

Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Woodside Petroleum

When the Taliban destroyed the Bhuddas of Afganistan we all condemned it as an act of cultural terrorism, now we are doing the same in the name of economic progress or at the very least at the behest of one of the largest donors to political parties, Woodside Petroleum. Would we complain if 15% of Paleolithic cave art at Lascaux were scrubbed out to make way for a new highway or 10% of the Sphinx were relocated to make way for a new hotel?

Well thats just what we are doing, the W.A. government has approved it, even though the relocation and destruction has already started, and Malcolm Turnbull, our erstwhile Uberfuher of the Enviroment, has taken the line that a study needs to be completed before he will make a decision, even though this report was promised by the yellow belly parrot Ian Campbell last year and has yet to surface (it was meant to take 2 months as of October 2006) or as far as I know done anything besides consult Woodside Petroleum.

Ian Campbell, then minister for the enviroment: You need the benefit of good, clean West Australian natural gas going to North America, going into China, going to Korea, going to Japan, replacing oil and coal burning fire power stations to massively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the world. And that will take place up on the Burrup in the future, and it can take place in a way where a majority of that rock art can be protected in perpetuity.

With freinds like these looking after the enviroment who the fuk needs that pagan whore, nature. But then his friends are equally as caring, from Woodside:
In the 1980s, when we began construction of gas facilities near Karratha, we made considerable efforts to avoid high-density and significant areas. At the time, we recorded about 9500 engravings on our North West Shelf leases, many of which remain undisturbed today. About 1800 were relocated. Today we are doing it differently.

As a result, Pluto will avoid more than 90% of rock art and we are working with local Aborigines to minimise impact on the remainder. Of the estimated one million engravings on the Burrup, fewer than a dozen sites may be lost due to the Pluto development.

There are a million or so art engravings on the Burrup. The Western Australian Department of Indigenous Affairs estimates that between 2% and 5% of the rock art on the Burrup Peninsula may have been affected by development of the port and the industrial estate.

Most of the affected art has not been destroyed.

So 10% will either be relocated or bulldozed. Most of the ancient rock art has not been destroyed, considering that even Woodside admits that there are "possibly" a million peices of rock art or more, thats a hell of a lot of destruction, considering that these are only estimates and there is yet to be a final report on the full scope of the rock art, it is cultural vandalism on a scale not seen outside of Taliban era Afghanistan or present day Saudi Arabia. And what percentage of the art that is destroyed is most, 51%, 60%, we will never know, its already been destroyed.

To add to the destruction woodsides own figures on emissions from already existing plants in the regions (which will be added to when the new plant is built) are:

The Karratha Gas Plant emits about 12,000 tonnes of NOx to atmosphere each year from gas turbine and furnace exhaust stacks. The plant emits very little (about 8 tonnes) of SO2 a year, and about 18 tonnes of hydrogen sulphide (H2S).

The rock art faces an uncertain future due to these chemicals eating away the outer coating of the rocks, without the need to resort to bulldozers.


To our eternal shame


http://www.petroglyphs.us/article_burrup_peninsula_rock_art.htm

Sign it and hope it aint a front company for Woodside

http://www.petitiononline.com/dampier/

Wangsway..the ancient art of wedging

wedge 1..nuclear

Prime Minister John Howard says Melbourne businessman Ron Walker told him last year about his plan to start a nuclear energy company. "The Government is not having any secret discussions," Mr Howard told Parliament. (we just didnt think it was worthwhile telling anyone about it)

and a nice little secret chicken and the egg scenario for our increasingly weasily, PM. So how about a referndum on the matter at the next election, how about calling it now.

wedge 2 ...immigration

new citzenship tests, the "values" and "history" tests and of course, the english test. Will there be a burqua test, eg if you wear a burqua, or if you want to push it a bit further a scarfe, you fail. Never underestimate the power of a percentage of the Australian electorate to vote them immigrants elsewhere, even while eating a souvlaki or wolfing down some yum cha. WhiteAustralia will make a values laden comeback, I think that "White Power" t-shirts should be compulsory at all citzenship ceremonies, that should sort the wheat fromthe shovels.

Prime Minister John Howard seems to be appealing to supporters of Queensland politician Pauline Hanson with his package of change to citizenship laws, Australian Democrats leader Lyn Allison says."It's very difficult to understand why the government is doing this, except to say it's part of the prime minister's package of demonising those who come from other countries, appealing to the Hansonite supporters of this world who essentially don't want to see Australia as anything but white Australian."

wedge 3..iraq/afghanistan/war on terror

god, so many good political opportunities, just dont call Iraq a civil war, push the domino theory and then scare the elderly into o.d.ing on thier heart pills and you have a winning formula, providing Brendon Nelson doesnt say anything. I mean anything. If you do mention Iraq, throw in the words Alqueda just to be on the safe side. Oh and there are lots of terrorists running around australia, right now, sure we would arrest them, but as Phil Ruddock says, that would just tip them off to the fact that we know who they are and they live NEXT DOOR TO YOU, not that Kevin rudd would care. Watch out for lots of the "alqueda inspired" as opposed to anyone who is really in alqueda, saved our bacon with the "WMD related Programs", language its so flexible, you can make facts just disapear into a void.

Wedge 4...Climate change, no not global warming, you have no idea do you, but we do and its already fixed, cant you understand this. We have fixed it, with no loss of jobs and no need to even bother that hideously expensive blazing orb that circles around the earth several times a week, the sun, thats the one.

Wedge 5...performance pay for teachers. Despite the fact that no evidence can back up the notion that performance pay helps educate or aid teachers (and a resonable amount to suggest it does the opposite), the Labor party are purely against this on ideological grounds and the fact that they are in the pocket of the terrorist inspired unions. Good on so many fronts, especially if you are planning on transfering a goodly amount of the public purse away from public schools and giving it to weirdass Christian sects, not that you will notice it. Parents want "choice" and choice means of course that you are about to have something stolen out of your wallet.

Wedge 6...Pork and plenty of it..find a marginal electorate, give them a couple of million for a steam train no one even knows existed until that moment, then tell them labor have promised to burn the train and kill children if they win office. Best one at the moment though, is the University compensation money for the erradication of the VSU, of the $55 million in the fund, $40 million has gone to marginal electorates in NSW and Queensland, with my state Victoria recieveing less than $1 million. Guess we know how the Liberals polling is going, follow the money.

Wedge 7...Industrial Relations...that is until the full and complete figures for AWA's emerge for the beaurea of stats. Women have never had it so good, sure they work longer hours for less money, now, but thats thier choice to have babys and work those longer hours for less money. Choice people its all about how long you can hide the facts. Ok, we shall have to rely on the small business vote and the those chinese guys who we imported to work for $5.00 a hour, i think we can give them a temporaryvote visa.

Whatever you do dont mention this speech given at the HR NICHOLLS SOCIETY by SENATOR NICK MINCHIN, FINANCE MINISTER: We do need to seek a mandate for the Australian people at the next election for another wave of industrial relations reform.

No need to be alarmed, he was just making a joke about how little we mentioned IR reforms last election, now laugh and pretend you havent a clue. Ahh, isnt that better.

Wedge 8..interest rates...oh shit, tried that, well worked once and you fell for it, cant hurt to try, its your wallet and kevin rudd is smart enough to steal it when your distracted by the terrorists he plans to employ to look after your children. He told me himself, thats what he wants to do, believe me people.

Wedge 9...Kevin Rudd is to smart to run the country, you heard me, he is an egg head, and is so much smarter than you. You dont want someone like that running a country do you, it would make you look stupid in front of your kids. Think of your children. Dumb voters have been making smart choices for ten years now for a really not very inteligent reason, why stop, we are just getting this party started.

Wedge...10..Ideas and strenght(well slogans)...Labor are all over the place, they are trying to be all things to all people, they are having it both ways, then having it all ways, and then some. Our focus groups are telling us this is a winner, so we are gonna pound it into your heads. Its a little like flip flop, but not quite as catchy, so look forward to a marketable phrase in the near future. Ok, so the Labor party have been against the Iraqi Situation of Blossoming Success from day one, but Rudd has said that he wants our troops to wear a yellow armband, well isnt that typical, he has flip flopped and wants to hold all positions on the matter. Its just him playing politics and wanting to walk both sides of the street. Us we never change our minds on anything, once we see something we do it, even when its completely wrong and causes a complete disaster, we will hold true to our orginal thought, no matter how unpopular or wrong. Unless it cant be wedged somehow and then, well, we will do something different when Alan Jones tells us to.

Wedge 11...The US...we love em, and they all live in the Whitehouse, which is a wonderous place of candy and the sun shines every minute of the day on the blessings that they are given by virtue of the fact that they are never, ever, wrong about anything. We hope that there is never another change of government in the US and we will be working towards that. Bush is the greatest. Labor spits on Americans and will abort their babies, on demand.

Wedge 12..David Hicks..dont tell anyone, he will be brought home during the election, but only if he promises to say that "John Howard is the greatest and has enriched my life". if not, fuk him, let the communist rot.

water..opaque, translucent but definitely not transparent

The National Water Initiative?

Can anyone find a shred of detail on the commonwealth takeover of the Murray-Darling Basin, weve seen bizarre consortiums of various states mixed with farmers federations and lobby groups all going hammer and tongs on a plan which seems to be absent of any detail. I heard on the radio this morning a representative of the Victorian Farmers Federation complaining that this plan is nothing more than a backdoor method of privatising the entire basin, while Malcolm Turnbull has insisted repeated that privatisation is completely off the books. Rice growers are threatening cotton farmers, cotton farmers are waving sticks at various state and federal agencies, cats are performing cunnilingus on dogs, but I cant quite figure out why when no details beyond rumour and innuendo are before anyone besides the state leaders and the commonwealth.

The plan had been a "long time in the making" and subject to expert analysis, Mr Turnbull said. "A lot of thought went into it, a lot of calculation and assessment went into it, a lot of people were consulted," he said.

But what the fuck is it? Is it $10 billion over ten years for all states to split (including WA and the Northern Territory), or just specific to the four states that have the Basin? Who is going to be the overseers of the project? Will it turn into another exercise in pure federal pork barreling with the majority of the money being targeted to buy votes in marginal electorates like so many grand iniatives from this Federal bank of mellifluous skanks? Will it be as transparently guided as the current situation where we, the people who are meant to be judging the rights and wrongs of the project, are left with a million blanks to fill in, but told that this is so important that it will only be once in our lifetimes that this opportunity will come about? And if this is so important (and it is important) why the god almighty hurry to get an agreement on an agreement which to me looks like a lot of hastily scrawled signatures on a blank sheet of paper.

As the Labor members at estimates in the Senate rightly asked, IR uber reformer (dont tell anyone about plans for after the next election) Nick Minchin, if a $225, 000 peice of pork was discussed in cabinet and treasury, why wasnt this $10 billion legislation discussed by those two erstwhile bodies?

And what happened to the November water iniative the premiers and PM signed up to and loudly trumpeted by the PM as australias water savior? Why were the premiers signing onto an agreement that the PM said was already outmoded as his relevant departments were privately working on this agreement while they scribbled the ink on the other? What kind of mess is this Federal Government really in when the most important, once in a lifetime scheme, just looks more and more like what many have descibed it as, legislation worked out on the back of a cigarette packet.

Would you trust this Federal Government with anything like the blanket powers they are seeking, with such little detail provided, with no secure oversight, with no review, no sunset clause, no appeal, no ...well, anything that may actually resemble a plan other than a wink and a grin of "you can trust us, were very trustable" Like fuck. If this agreement is so important, it needs at least a bit of public input and time to digest the details and comment. It really is the least we should expect. It is important, vital for the the eastern seaboards future, and I demand some answers, and the death by firing squad of that dipshit, Christopher Pyne. And I want them now. When the last few years plans to improve the health of that most beautiful of creatures, The Murray (and her equally stunning tributaries), have so far yeilded 0% of their outcomes, what hope do you give this current plan of working? Its pure ugly grandstanding politics in an election year, led by the man who makes love to cameras like Browyn Bishop at a press convention, Malcolm "Flashbulb Smile" Turnbull.

The Age interviewed Australia's top water experts — economists, environmental scientists, irrigation specialists — about the PM's proposal. Like Bracks, all noted the lack of detail and the back-of-the-envelope whiff about a plan that did not pass under the nose of cabinet. But almost all said it contained the right sentiments about putting the system on sustainable footing.
Three major problems emerged:

_ The plan does not properly separate water and politics.

_ There are significant concerns about whether the $6 billion in infrastructure improvements will be well spent.
_ Doubts exists about the ability of the Federal Government to administer the system and make the tough calls.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/the-turning-point/2007/02/22/1171733950536.html

John Kissupkickdown Bolton

I am getting as little tired of the plethora of governement ministers and extreme "conservatives" eg Dik Morris and fuckstiks like John Bolton being given excessive air time on Lateline, especially when they are not challenged by Tony Jones on the utter shit they spread.

Bolton, one of those who agressively pushed for the Invasion, still refuse to acknowledge a single mistake out of the myriad that they made in the war, insisting on such utter shit as

"the threat that Saddam posed, was having broken free of UN sanctions and UN inspectors would he have returned to possessing weapons of mass destruction and would he be a threat in the region and around the world?"

So, even tho all the evidence points to the UN weapons inspectors haveing done a more than brilliant job, Bolton still pushes the WMD line as though invasion was the only possible way. I thought he would trot out the "mushroom cloud" illusion.

He pushed the same old tired lines of 9/11 links to Saddam, the same myths that have permeated and perpetuated this entire sad fiasco. What the fuck are Saddam's "nuclear Mujahadine", what kind of bullshit delusion is this lackey living. He then pushes the latest Bush barrow about iran having been pursuing nuclear weapons for the last 20 years, which is utter shit, as Ayatollah Khomhemy, called the nuclear industry evil and shut down the entire industry.

Jones did not once call Bolton on his complete fuck up of the North Korean talks. Bolton was the first Bush appointee to head talks with Nth Korea, and walked into the talks with a very simple, very agressive delusion to beat the Nth Koreans about the head with, namely that every thing they said was a complete lie. He repeated his bullshit last night as though it were a fact:

We have estimated and indeed others have estimated North Korea's probably had nuclear weapons since the early to mid 1990s, so what has happened in the past six years has been a playing out of a strategy that North Korea has also been pursuing for decades.

Now I dont trust Nth Korea, but there was absolutely no proof whatsoever to the above statements, it was just a neo-con dreamed up fabrication used to justify the breaking of Clinton era agreements and halt all talks with the North. Foriegn Affairs magazine (a very conservative, in the old sense, mag) wrote of what a complete fool bolton was and of how he undermined the talks a couple of years back, refuting all of Boltons lies and basically blaming Bolton for the failure of US policy in the region. The man deserves to be more than sidelined in any debate, he needs to be trashed from the moment he opens his frothing, warmongering lips.

Basra, Shining jewel in the success that is Iraq.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2296829.ece

And who could ever forget our wonderful defence minister Brendon "Mr ALP" Nelson, lowering the bar for success in Iraq yet again, "victory" is now not possible, in fact should not be spoken of ever again. Just how low do we need to go before we declare that complete catastrophy is the surest sign that we are indeed winning. If you shit in my hand and call it candy, dont expect me to eat it.

now onto Iran:

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/11/fakhravar.html

coalition of the unwilling say Go Alqueda, we've switched sides

Lets give a big hand to the boys at the recruiting office of AlQueda Pty Ltd, they are scoring big time in the HR department. At a time when the US military are having such a bitch of a time that they have let their standards drop to include hardcore felons and soy eaters to make up the numbers, AQ goes from strength to strength. Big name players like Tony Blair, the Danes, the Spanish, the Italians, Kevin Rudd, the Democratic Party, the majority of the US/UK/Australian populations and Melbourne Football Club round out a great end to the financial year.

Some have suggested that by kicking too many own goals, the Forus Coalition Inc, have no one but itself to blame. But then weve all heard the same tired old excuses from the Carlton Football Club for years and never get tired of watching the "own goals" sail through.

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2007/s1854103.htm

Anyone who has ever read a history book on Iraq would instantly recognise the strategy for the UK "redeployment" from Iraq.

Declare success, then leave, sure it may take year or so, and a good ten years less than thier previous occupation (1914-1930's).

Watch the Bushies use the same rehtoric in a short while.

Regardless of the facts on the ground, scream "mission accomplished" and then run like hell.

I am all for the "redeployment" of all foreign forces out of Iraq, but there is the knowledge that we do owe the Iraqi's a enormous amount for the damage we have done to their country (and the damage that they are doing to their country), and my real worry is not so much the chaos that will ensue after a withdrawl, but that we will simply wash our hands of the whole affair, as we did with Vietnam.

Nixon was able to secure an "honourable" peace with the North by promising them billions in reparations in return for a ceasefire to allow the US to get its troops safely out of the country. These promises were quickly reneged upon by that notoriously corrupt regime once the South had fallen and the Vietnamese had to foot the bill for the horrendous damage done setting reconstruction and theri economy back decades. Along the same lines, when the French left Indochina, they did pay reparations to the North Vietnamese, and suprise, suprise, the Vietnamese "found" dozens of French POW's that had somehow gotten lost in the North, you will notice that this is in stark contrast to the lack of US missing who returned in the immediate aftermath of the war. Im not trying to buy into the right wing conspiracy of US service men still sitting behind bars in the North, I find that hard to believe after so many years, just trying to point out that sugar works better than waving your dick at someone and cursing them when they are out of range.

Still who could trust a single Iraqi politician (see the laughably corrupt Achmed Challabi for a great example of the calibre of representative they have) with anything more than a sharpened pencil, let alone the many, many billions we should be distributing after we leave. I just know, that like the US after the Vietnam quagmire, whatever administration will find a convienient trigger to stop the bleed from thier treasury.

For all Alexander Downers hysterical denounciations of Rudds position, his passionate defence of the Iraqi democracy, his "12 million Iraqis voting, three times", it should be pointed out that nearly 70% of Iraqis now say that they would not have voted for their representative and that the vast majority really had no idea who they were voting for. Why? The election campaign was confined to watching the candidates on tv with the streets just not safe enough to have anyone move outside the greenzone or thier campaign headquarters in Jordan or Oman. With a vast majority of the same Iraqis Alex loves to embrace saying that their vote was meaningless, will we ever see another vote. Will we ever see a "free and fair" election? Or is this just a another step along the road to the next Saddam?

For all that I may say about us getting the fuck outa dodge, its still very true that by our lies, corruption and incompetence, we broke the china, we gots to pay for it, regardless of how it may end. Me, I am hoping to see that worm Howard in tears with a gun pressed to his temple and a dead hooker beside him in a cheap motel room after he loses his seat of Bennelong at the next election (current status he will lose his seat by a margin of 10 percentage points according to the latest opinion polls). But thats a personal dream, and one I would gladly video tape and send to you free of charge.

Scooter Libby trial update:

Jury still deliberating after 1 day

cant decide wether to call Cheney "an asshole" or "a vacation for shit in a suit",

ask Judge wether they can say both in their guilty verdict

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

The Great Chained Granny Outrage

Couldn't let this one pass, while flicking the dial on TV, caught the apology and didnt stop laughing for a lot of ACA moments. Commercial news and current affairs? Please, stop, your killing me.

On Tuesday night, the current affairs show's host Anna Coren had told viewers about an "extraordinary situation that's reached boiling point".
"As we go to air tonight, this 84-year-old grandmother remains locked up in her nursing home room chained to a cupboard.

So what has she done to deserve this?"

The only catch was that Boot himself had brought the chains along to the woman's aged-care facility, something he failed to mention in his report.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/chain-stunt-truth-unlocked/2007/02/22/1171733932163.html

I love the smell of meth labs in the morning

Me telling these two wiseasses that no god, no matter how wonderful, would ever live a the top of so many friggin stairs.

My wonderful guides (Mehdi and the other guy) at the zorastrian site of Chakchak letting me know that UK PM Blair was indeed praying for the fall of the west and that they had personally witnessed him smoking a water pipe with Osama Bin Laden. Bin Ladens only comment was to scoff at suggestions claiming forcefully that he wouldn't be caught dead with Blair until he refunded the money he gave for his (Osama's) seat in the house of lords.

Oh what a wonderful day for our PM Howard to declare that all Labor Party's thoughout the world are in the employ of Alqueda. Wedge it baby, you know the bitches will take it, and they will like it.

Blair tells Bush of Iraq pullout plans.

Alexander "battered" Downer: "It makes good sense, what we are all trying to do is increasingly transfer responsibility for security to the Iraqi security forces"

But, Rudds plan is a win for Alqueda, go figure

and smell this middle finger of hypocrisy and or expediency

for near good real time overviews of the

ongoing stunning success that is the Iraqi Blossoming

http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?code=ennewsen

http://www.iraqupdates.com/index.php

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

From the only in America or the Tribal Areas of Pakistan comes:

the tale of one student and his teacher

LaClair taped a teacher of his saying to students in a history class "that if they do not believe that Jesus died for their sins, they 'belong in hell,'" writes McGeehan. On the same recordings, the article continues, the teacher is heard telling the students "that there were dinosaurs aboard Noah's ark and that there is no scientific basis for evolution or the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe."

LaClair has reportedly been "the target of harassment and a death threat from fellow students and 'retaliation' by school officials who have treated him, not the teacher, as the problem," McGeehan says.

Bring back the taliban, those guys did education right, by the book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/nyregion/20teacher.html?partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

and for the liberal jewish perspective with a more than useful recording of the good christian himself:

http://www.jewsonfirst.org/06d/kearny.html

sure they killed christ, but it didnt make the papers at the time, so no bigee.

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

wedgie in a post-partisan world

Is the Iraq War the most blatantly politicised war in history?

Its difficult to pick another where almost each and every decision is dictated not by the military, but by reactions to political considerations. Why are we there, because the republicans in the US determined that we should be. Why are we sending more troops into Iraq, because a democrat on the election trail suggested that our PM was given smaller than average testicles. Also it means that our PM can vainly attempt to wedge his increasingly more popular opponent on a single issue. The political football being kicked around here is so immoral, perhaps the australian electorate is finally getting a little tired of the constant fudging of the facts and the laughable excuses which were sounding tired three years ago, and now just smack of hysterical over reaction to a downward spiral in the polls for the Liberals.

From AM, GILLIAN BRADFORD: So how long have you been sitting on this advice from the chief of the Defence Force, that we need to send in more trainers?

BRENDAN NELSON: Well, the Chief of Defence, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston and I, in response to discussions we've had with the Iraqis and as I say with Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister last year, and discussion with the Iraqi security forces and army, the British Defence Secretary and also our American allies, we've been developing a plan since before Christmas to give options to the Australian Government to send more trainers to Iraq.

(then comes the wedge, the reason why ..and ours is not to reason why)
But it does really beggar belief that Mr Rudd on the one hand criticises the Iraqis for not doing enough to look after themselves, and on that basis demands that Australian and allied troops leave Iraq, and then on the other hand he refuses to support the decision to send more trainers to Iraq to actually get the Iraqis to be able to look after themselves.

But here comes the rub, rather than allow himself to be wedged, as Beazley could be with his blanket agreement on any security issue, while at the same time trying to hold onto Labors consistent troops out message, Rudd answers thusly

AM

HAYDEN COOPER: But isn't this what Labor and you have been arguing for, helping the Iraqis help themselves? How can you argue against sending in military trainers?

KEVIN RUDD: We've argued for a long time that there are different ways in which you can provide security assistance to the Iraqis, one of which is to provide training services in Amman in Jordan, to bolster Iraq's border security defences. We've argued that consistently over a long period of time.

HAYDEN COOPER: Is that, just on that, is that really feasible though? Sending troops across a border and training them, and then bringing them back?

KEVIN RUDD: It's sufficiently feasible for a number of other governments to have been doing this for quite some time, in Amman in Jordan. It's a practical form of security assistance. And on top of that, the whole rationale of the Baker-Hamilton strategy of a staged withdrawal over time is to place pressure on the Iraqi political system, the Sunni and the Shia, to fashion a political compromise to end the civil war. It's that civil war which underpins Iraq's continuing strategic instability.

Check

KEVIN RUDD: You know Mr Howard's political tactics on this Iraq debate sounds increasingly desperate. Desperate because Mr Howard is trying to dig himself out of his gross error of judgement on Iraq in general, and in particular, why are we having this debate now?
Because he's trying to dig himself out of a debate he began 10 days ago when he accused the Democratic Party of being the terrorists' party of choice.

check

Mr Howard's strategy on Iraq is the greatest single failure of national security policy since Vietnam, and Mr Howard himself represents a national security risk for this country in the future. Why? He's refused to say that he's learnt any lessons from this Iraq debacle, and he's the man who says that Vietnam still stands up as a success of his party's foreign policy.

not yet checkmate, but its gotta hurt.

One more poll leader for the Liberals (national security) is not simply neutralised, it gives a clearly defined choice that is entirely feasable and reasoned, and closer to the mood of the electorate. I know its still politics, but at least its good politics, a clear articulation of the central theme that Labor has consistently held, get the troops out and condemn the entire basis for why we are there. Something neither beazley not latham could do with anything like the degree of clarity that has emerged from Rudd.

a good line which could equally apply to our PM from the Guardian:

George Bush is a man of conviction and clearly a hard man to change. When reality confronts his plans he does not alter them but instead alters his understanding of reality.

No, not a line from Colbert, but the truthiness is there in shovel loads

Vulture Funds

While listening to Democracy Now a day or so ago, I came across a topic that I felt should be much more widely known, considering the amount of press third world debt relief gets. Campaigns such as Make Poverty History draw large crowds of celebrities and well intentioned citzens, but like much of the celebrity driven poverty reduction programs, scant regard is paid beyond bumper sticker sloganering on incredibly complex issues. Should a country with notoriously corrupt rulers be given aid to cover thier own disasterous policies which left their peoples in a dreadful mess, and by what criterea do we judge that the same rulers have changed? What role does our aid play in heightening poverty, after all, our country and especially the US, place conditions on aid such as only buying goods from us, thereby destroying the internal markets of the country we are trying to help, while boosting our own?

And then there is debt relief, a noble cause, fur sure, but also incredibly tangled, especially in light of the workings of numerous funds whose chief aim is buying up third world debt at hugely discounted prices, then sueing the debtor country for the full amount of the debt.

eg Peruvian debt bonds bought for $US3 million, Peru is then sued by the vulture fund for the full debt value in US/UK courts, result, Peru is forced to pay $US 58 million or face being in default before the courts and its permanent record stained. Net profit for the billion dollar fund $US 55 million, a neat little earner. The nom de plume of the head of this particular Vulture Fund is Goldfinger (real name, Michael Francis Sheehan owns Debt Advisory International), and suprise, suprise, he is a massive donor to one G.W.Bush and his cronies.

They have so far netted hundreds of millions from many 3rd world countries across the globe in full knowledge of 1st world governments, with bush and blair particulary culpable due to their refusal to legislate against the practice in full knowledge of its morally bankrupt aims, and in light of the knowledge that their debt relief efforts are also being funnelled directly into the pockets of these Vulture Funds. Both Bush and Blair have spun an incredible amount of goodwill their way through championing 3rd world debt relief, while at the same time directly benefiting in terms of campaign contributions from the vulture funds.

A win for all, except those in poverty.

In making poverty history, it pays to read the fine print and the footnotes, they are a lot more damning than the slogans we cling to to make us feel ever so good about ourselves.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f9684f5c-bf78-11db-9ac2-000b5df10621.html

check through the archives, several shows on this (mid feb, 2007), all more than a little eye opening, and ....well lets just say my overheated hate machine lost its telfon coating.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/15/1528209&tid=25

http://www.democracynow.org/

Christopher Pyne is a total fuckcake with excrement icing.

think you know the facts, your world is about to be shattered....

http://www.fixedearth.com/

be amazed, be very amazed. the truth is

The Earth is not rotating...nor is it going around the sun!

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

Speaking of nonsense

Headlines on the age/sun websites

Dope no longer cool.

Pot no longer hot.

3/4 of adults surveyed think the above.

(only 1/3 of "young adults" think that)

the problem lies with what they really think.

Nearly half believed cannabis can cause schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorder to a moderate or large degree.

A big fat unsupported lie, no study has ever found that, not even the one that is most quoted and used by conservatives to support their "war on drugs"

http://www.drugwardistortions.org/distortion18.htm

(lots more links to "that" study and its utter distortions, ifn u want em)

About 40 per cent think cannabis is always addictive, and one in five said it is always a gateway to harder drugs. And 68 per cent thought cannabis use could lead to other crimes.

Three big, complete lies and fabrications.

So we find that what the survey reflects are that those being surveyed dont have a clue besides what they read in bullshit headlines.

the herald sun:

The report's only bad news, said Mr Dillon, was that many beliefs people had about cannabis - like the fact it leads to harder drug use - were actually incorrect

the headline we didnt see was this one:

Dope may protect from lung cancer

the link is on a previous post, so check it out my little rastifarians.

The Howard Government said the data vindicated its tough stance on marijuana use. Parliamentary secretary for health Christopher Pyne said it showed young people were starting to recognise that cannabis and mental health were linked.

So we know that a complete load of right old, scientifically baseless, utter shit is being used to justify government policy. Christopher Pyne is my enemy de jour, a snide, fundementalist conservative, who always reminds me of a fervent Stalinist of the 1930's whose opinions are naught more than regurgitations of classical lines of tripe in order to justify misery being heaped upon others. Oh and win the votes of the clearly misinformed, shitscared elderly.

I have dementia, and i vote liberal.

I also think its saturday and Nixon is president of australia

Christopher Pyne is a total fuckcake with excrement icing.

thats the headline I want to see.

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

confess

confession 1:

Reporter to Tony Snow on Iraq:

"What went wrong?" the reporter reasonably asked.
Snow replied: "I'm not sure anything went wrong."

Here's a little reason why, a declassified report from prior (2002) to the Iraq Invasion giving the good oil on what would be the most likely outcome:

following the release of military documents from 2002 that revealed that the U.S. expected that by now (well end of 2006) a token American force of 5,000 would be able to keep things under control in Iraq -- and the occupation would require only a two or three month "stabilization" period.

the follow up question brought a howler of a response:

Q: But this estimate was monumentally wrong. So would the President, knowing what he knows today, still have decided to go into Iraq?

MR. SNOW: Yes.

and you wonder why people are talking of war with Iran, stupid people do stupid things and you cant then blame for exercising their stupidity, even when the facts are piled high atop their heads. The exact same people are compiling and planning the dossiers on Iran as we speak.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6364507.stm

Confession 2: (hypothetical)

Imagine you are a juror on a trial.

You are presented with a signed confession by the accused (Mr X) stating that he murdered Mr.Z (not his real name).

You are then shown a video of the confession, the accused is shackled to a chair and beaten with a baton for 12 hours straight until he signs the confession.

Do you convict on the basis of the "confession"?

Confession 3: (allowed under US miltitary tribunal)

You are a juror on a trial.

You are presented with a statement by Mr A, which reads, "I heard from a friend of mine Mr Y, that Mr X had attempted to or wanted to murder an American. No I have never met Mr X."

This is read into court documents as a fact, not as hearsay, the basis being that Mr X was within a radius of say 60 miles of where Mr Y was and may have been present at a given location. Giving the hearsay a probability that it is materially correct and factual.

You are not given a video of Mr A being shackled to a chair for up to 6 months, 8 hours at a time, with his hands handcuffed to his feet in a freezing room while cold water is poured into his nose and mouth. He has also not had more than 20 minutes sleep a night for more two weeks, and the statement is dictated by a CIA operative, this treatment continues until he signs the statement. Prior to his arrival into the hands of the American military justice system, he had been shipped off to Egypt by the CIA where he was held in a dungeon for 6 months while his fingernails were torn out and he was tortured everyday of the time he was there.

None of what the CIA did to Mr A in the American system is classified as torture.

The American justice system does not acknowledge that Mr A was in any way mistreated in the Egyptian dungeon and even refuses to acknowledge that Mr A was ever in Egypt on the grounds of national secturity.

The only fact you know is that Mr A is treated as a witness and the system believes his statement to be materially factual, therefor perfectly legal and admissable evidence.

Do you convict?

Welcome to David Hicks country, feel the fairness.

Emboldenilation: debating the issues will lead to your death.

Here's what you cant do or a terrorist will seek you out and kill you, dead. Or at the very least the Terrorist will feel emboldened, have his ego massaged by your very thinking of the following things. The answer of course, dont think, its dangerous and likely to kill you, DEAD, no ifs or buts, DEAD. You have been warned.

DONT

Nominate benchmarks for progress in Iraq.

Just know that despite what you read, see or hear, everything is going according to the plan.

Talk about the plan

as though it has an outcome you can measure in real terms, thats benchmarking. You will die people, stop it.

JOHN HOWARD: It is very unwise to be nominating the benchmarks

Dont call it a civil war, its clearly not, its:

Civil disturbance, sectarian strife, a fraught and difficult situation, chaos, chaotic, the Iraq war, the Iraq conflict, the current situation, recovering from tyranny, a hiccup in the restoration of security, a conflict, an escalation of violence, sectarian bloodletting, a tide of violence, rosey (cheney), an outstanding success (cheney), the pointy end of the war on terror.....

Talk about deadlines.

This will lead you to thinking about benchmarks and you may accidentally think about the plan, which will make terrorists bigger than big, stronger than strong and you deader than dead.

PM Little Bush: "It is dangerous to be naming dates because they encourage those who want you to fail to prolong the strife and the carnage until that date arrives." After that, well...

mention an Exit Strategy

Plan, benchmarks, deadlines, you have killed a thousand people just by reading the words and made the entire globe a pawn in the hands of terrorists. We got into this by having no idea, and we shall get out the same way.

Mr Downer told Parliament

"It would destabilise the Middle East as a whole, it would have disastrous consequences for the war against terrorism, embolden terrorists around the world and bring terrorism closer to Western countries"

These people are clearly looking to buy land in Sweden if we ever leave Iraq, and thats disasterous for all "free thinking" western democracies.

Accept any responsiblity for the current situation

Its Al queda, Iran, Syria and that guy you met in January who tried to pick up your girlfriend, thats who's to blame for the somewhat disheartening, yet still winnable rubble that is the flowering bloom of democracy, Iraq.

Debate any aspect of the War in Iraq

This "will embolden terrorists in every corner in the world. We will give Iran free access to the Middle East," said Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio. "And who doesn't believe the terrorists will just follow our troops home?" So if you are being followed by terrorists, its because in your head, your debating the war, they know this, they have psychic powers which can kill you DEAD.

Investigate the reasons why we are in Iraq

Embolden, people, do I need to say that you will be faced with a 70 metre tall Osama if you start to wonder why? We know why and as long as the terrorists dont, we are safe and the terrorists unemboldened. They feed on the energy inherent in the word, why, they dont eat, they suck the question from your brain and grow to enormous size.

Question the prosecution of the war.

You are just inviting the chaos to come into your childrens bedrooms and be smeared like an oozing jelly on the soul of your little ones. We all have tonnes of cash lying around in bricks, what, you dont? Well come to Iraq, have we got a bargain for you, no work or experience necesary, and we do mean its necesary to have no experience. Sure for the first three years we fed arms and cash to some of the militias, now we only send them arms and cash if they agree to a full inventory every few years. No forget that happened, I have no idea where the money went to, what money? Sunni, shiite, kurds, so many forms, so many, and they all look alike to me, best pay them all and let the bullets decide who to bribe next. Death Squads? Just a bunch of scamps from next door, they look a lot worse than they are, relax big guy, have this brick of hundreds to sleep on.

Mention the similarity between the thoroughly discredited "domino theory"

and the current rationale for being in Iraq.

Al queda is praying that you do, and god answers all prayers, unconditionally within 48 hours. Its a fact, scientifically proven.

PM Howard at an Exclusive Brehren BBQ lunch "My deep concern is that if America is defeated in Iraq a humiliated, enfeebled America might withdraw its interests in our part of the world," he said."And it would be a catastrophe for the West if America were defeated in Iraq."

Query the connection between the War on Terror

and the Current Stunning Success that is Iraq

What are you, Osamas bitch? You may take it and you may like it, but Saddam was there before you. Feel like a cheap whore, you said it, Im just agreeing.

Talk of defeat for the US

Sure the situation is hopeless, but really what is hope, a plan for the future based on facts as you know them. And you know nothing or you would be asking why, and why will kill your grandmother in a very horrible, horrible way. So being in a hopeless situation should give you strength to know that the terrorists are not following you, they are quagmired elsewhere. See its all good. Mmmmmmm prestigous....

Lets face it, us and the US are in the Iraq forever and the sooner you accept that fact and stop emboldening terrorists, the sooner we can invade Iran.

Speaking of things that you shouldnt ever talk about:

The Education Department has confirmed that, during 2004, Dr Nelson had representations from the Brethren, and agreed to give them an exemption from testing the computer literacy of year 6 and year 10 students. That year, computer literacy was made a condition of Federal Government funding of private schools, but at the time the Brethren shunned computers, believing them to be instruments of the devil.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/exclusive-brethren-thanked-minister-over-schools/2007/02/14/1171405295312.html

Young Iranian boy in Shiraz, beggin me to invade his country and turn it into another showpeice of democracy. Why wont we listen to the children? Why? Oh, shit sorry, forgot, dont ask why

a big valentines day kiss to the people of Iran

american prestige, u want it, u know u want it..

Ok so he has said it before many times, but its just so patently absurd, why are we in Iraq, "American prestige", so says our great and good sherif of the pacific rim, PM Short Bush Jnr. While all the other reasons for this fiasco have fallen beneath the steamroller of reason in the cold light of day, we can always count on the architects to find one more justification for why their building is both on fire and falling into the open sewer upon which the entire premise was built. If I can mix any more metaphores, I will, it has that kinda Bushie Iraq solution feel to it.

American prestige is damaged precisely because of the myraid lies that led up to the invasion, has been damaged further by the utter incompetence of the occupation, and the subsequent looting of the Iraqi and US peoples money by Bush cronies on a scale that is beyond mendacity.

And Little Aussie Bush Jnr, just wants to keep the ball rolling along as though he were on the verge of transforming Iraq into the Denmark any day now. There has not been one word of criticism from our erstwhile government, no doubt mirroring the RNC mantra, that even debating the issues just "emboldens the terrorists" or in PM Likspittle Jnr words, destroys "american prestige." What kind of tortured logic is this utter shit.

American prestige in this case means nothing more than the willful toadying to the Bush Regime and the RNC, especially as PM shrilly shrub jnr has declared the Democratic party a terrorist organisiation. Is he now in the loop for the daily talking points handed out to Republican shrills, clearly that fat old toad is.

the latest scandal, close bush ally and No.3 installed bush appointee at the CIA, indicted for fraud. American prestige, its naught more than hubris wrapped in flag draped coffins.

Federal indictments named Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, executive director of the CIA until he resigned in May, and his close friend, San Diego defense contractor Brent Wilkes, both 52, according to two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because grand jury proceedings are secret.
In a separate indictment, Wilkes was charged with conspiring to bribe Cunningham in return for government contracts. A man who was described as a co-conspirator in Cunningham's 2005 plea agreement, John T. Michael, was also charged.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/13/national/main2469286.shtml

for good coverage, with full and sordid context (and context is king)

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/

................................................................................................
Success is such a relative term.

Korea agrees to suspend its nuclear program in exchange for oil.
Korea restarted its nuclear program after John Bolton, on orders from the Bushies, stopped the Clinton brokered deal of no nuclear power in exchange for oil. Boltons style guaranteed confrontation and the suspension of previous agreed to deals.

so success is going backwards to the deal that was in place in 1994. hmmmm, I can see why cheney thinks Iraq is such a sterling success, in his mind its 1929, he is leading the British forces and they are having a smashing time bombing Arabs on camels into submission from airplanes, a cant lose situation.

Now the bushies are saying that Iran can take some lessons from this, except...they dont talk to Iran. The sticking point for the Nth Koreans for the past few years has simply been getting the Bush regime to sit down and talk, which Rice et al have said they would not do, until Nth Korea exploded its supposed "nuke".

So the lesson for Iran is, if you want diplomatic relations and talks with the US, build a nuclear device and explode it. The policy has all the hallmarks of the great Bush legacy on foriegn policy, if it aint broke, break it, if it is broke, broker it a bit more, but refuse to talk when in the same room, furthermore, what was I saying about lame ducks and .......lets call the whole thing off.

Or at least pretend to explode one, which is most likely what the Nth Koreans did. Nevermind, it work the way Kim Ill Jong wanted.
...........................................................................................................
In the beginning was the word, and the word was hooray (with a sigh of relief)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The Kansas state Board of Education on Tuesday repealed science guidelines questioning evolution that had made the state an object of ridicule.
The new guidelines reflect mainstream scientific views of evolution and represent a political defeat for advocates of ''intelligent design,'' who had helped write the standards that are being jettisoned.
The intelligent design concept holds that life is so complex that it must have been created by a higher authority.

the stench and darwin day

Happy 200th Birthday Mr Darwin

http://www.darwinday.org/

How to spot a secretive christian fundementalist part one.
look to the right of any Liberal MP, they are ones handing out literature on Bob Brown being a gay wife beater who burns flags (while beating his wife or significant other).

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/ruddock-grilled-over-brethren-dealings/2007/02/13/1171128947578.html

Speaking of Darwin, we had an anti darwinian on lateline last night.

Brendan Nelson (as he was then, minister of education)
RE: Inteligent Design:

BN:Do I think that parents in schools should have the opportunity, if they wish to, for students also to be exposed to this and to be taught about it? Yes, I think that's fine.

NOW HE IS MINISTER FOR DEFENCE AND HIS CONCEPTS ARE AS FULL OF SHIT AS EVER..witness last nights late line.

Apart from looking a lot like a mechanical repetition machine, Brendan Nelson, Defence Minister and great believer in Inteligent Design (what was the AMA thinking when they let this loon into the bag), pours shit on top of more shit and calls it a sweet scented mound of victory. Tony Jones brought up some uncomfortable facts on Lateline:

TONY JONES: Well, as I understand it, the Obama plan is actually based on the phased withdrawal idea that was actually put forward by the Iraq Study Group, which, of course, was led by the former Republican Secretary of State, James A. Baker. His interests and those of terrorists aren't coincident, are they?

TONY JONES: I understand what you're saying, but the point is when the Iraq Study Group's plan for withdrawing half the American combat troops in Iraq came out no one described it in this government, as far as I know, as a victory for al Qaeda.

TONY JONES: All right, you have made that point. Let's go to the Iraq Study Group report. When it was released late last year, Alexander Downer described it as a good piece of work, a useful contribution that "draws all the right conclusions about the ultimate objectives".

Pointless giving B Nelsons robotic defense of the PM's call for the proscribing of the Democratic Party in the US as a terrorist organisation, suffice to say it revolved around a simple chant. Now repeat after me to reach nirvana and have your vote always counted as Liberal

Al Queda, Al Queda
failure in Iraq
is a disaster for america
disaster for the "thinking world"
Al queda Alqueda.

Repeat until you have cast your vote.

The one moment that Brendan did get to break from his wooden shell was funny, his voice quivered in anger as he glowered at the camera and said:

Let us not forget that, as you and I have this discussion, there are Iraqis with death squads, Shiah and Sunni, insurgents supported to some extent by people from other countries, al Qaeda and terrorist networks that are doing everything possible to see that those people don't have the freedoms you and I take for granted, for which our forebears have given their lives.

You could feel the gallipoli diggers cheering in their graves as we fight another war based on a lie for someone else's benefit dressed up as our own.


The bushies need to get their spin straighter, some are just not with the program.

top American military officer, General Peter Pace
"We know that the explosively formed projectiles are manufactured in Iran. What I would not say is that the Iranian government, per se [specifically], knows about this," he said. "It is clear that Iranians are involved, and it's clear that materials from Iran are involved, but I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."

for a very good summary of the "evidence" against Iran

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100879.html

It was up to Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher and blogger Glenn Greenwald to put Gordon's own report in context.

"What is the source of this volatile information?" Mitchell asked. "Nothing less than 'civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies.'

"Sound pretty convincing? It may be worth noting that the author is Michael R. Gordon, the same Times reporter who, on his own, or with Judith Miller, wrote some of the key, and badly misleading or downright inaccurate, articles about Iraqi WMDs in the run-up to the 2003 invasion."

So the closest we get to IED is an improvised elucidated diatribe. Get ready for a steady drumbeat of utter crap to flow through the Bushies regime and into the arms of "responsible" journalists. If it aint war, it aint worth fightin for.

streets of iran

vote for the terrorists (at least they know what they are doing)

Smell that sweet stench of panic in the blue liberal air.

all the roosters that howard has trivialised and degraded are starting to come back to haunt him, it seems that he can no longer run on the mining booms back with the economy and cant hide from the electorate on enviromental issues or the iraq war or the war on terrorism.

With even the ex reserve bank chief destroying his smear on Labors ability to run the economy, Howards allies at the Brethren will need to put the extra millions into thier smears and include the labor party, not just the hapless greens.

Issues that until yesterday the PM Mr Rubbery Shrubbery jnr could not give a flying rabid bats arse about:

global warming
David Hicks
the labor party
the iraq war
clean, renewable energy
sucking dick cheney or GW's cock in full view of the public gallery


he has flipped so totally on all these issues, surely no one could have a collective memory so bad that they dismiss his last ten years of neglect and disregard. Surely, you gold fish are getting sick of the bowl by now.

My take is that the electorate have been waiting for an effective opposition, or at least a credible opposition before they noticed the stench of the current liberal party (though why they gave him a majority in the senate will forever be beyond me, listen up voters, you are all fuckwits, pure and simple). With the last few rate rises obliterating the PM's "trust me" campaign on the economy, voters are now feeling "comfortable and relaxed" about the ecomomy and looking to something other than their wallets to vote for, and the big issues of the day are exactly what Howard has trashed, mangled, degraded and ignored for the last ten years. He must be feeling the pressure in his spine of needing to do so many backflips to kiss his own arse. Watch for a slew of wedge issues to try and destract.

Like Going nuclear (but no mention of where these reactors will be placed)
anything to do with gay rights (maybe banning being gay written into the consitution)
or flag burning gays
or immigrants needing to play australian trivial pursuit to get into the country.
or anything to do with banning youth's breathing in the vicinty of elderly (they are out of control you elderly voters)
states rights (we need a takeover, not now, sooner, let me fill in the details afterwards)
single mothers on welfare burning flags they bought at gay weddings with Bob Brown.
extreme, extreme, extreme greenies like Tim flannery
the abc and its gay flag burning socialist agenda
unions and thier extreme power over global warming
ducks
old reactionary, populist moles, like bromwyn bishop (he will wedge her into the labor party just to turn off voters)
and whats the bet, race will play a part in the election campaign

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/11/politics/main2458520.shtml

Our PM Little Bush jr:

"If I were running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats."

The inherent message is simple, the war on terror and the war in Iraq are naught more than political playthings, an extension of internal party game playing for the benenfit of a conservative base. Wars fought for purely ideological vote buying exercises? How incredibly sad. To reduce what they describe as a battle for the survival of western civilization to a partisan level simply highlights the bankrupt nature of the current regimes in the US and Australia.

It reveals what we all know underneath, the war on terror, is a war to terrify you into voting Liberal and the Iraq war an uglier extension of that. Blood for Oil is now Blood for your Votes and Oil.
To reduce our relationship with the US to voting conservative negates the entire relationship.

The question to Howard is, if a democrat is elected, does that mean we are no longer allied with the US?

Barack Obama "It's flattering that one of George W. Bush's allies feels obliged to attack me" he then goes on to ask Little Bush to place his hands in his pants and really grip them big balls of his like he means it, by sending in another 20,000 australian troops.

PM Shrilly Shrub jr: "You either rat on the ally or you stay with the ally," he said. "If it's all right for us to go, it's all right for the Americans and the British to go, and if everybody goes, Iraq will descend into total civil war and there'll be a lot of bloodshed." Wonder if its alright with the Iraqi's, it was once their country.

So will you now admit that your policy and your war and your handling of the war is what threatens this very thing? Will you, O great warrior prince, take any responsiblity for the fiasco that is the Iraq War, just a little would be ok, you dont even have to say sorry, just put up your hand and say, "Yes, miss, I broke the vase, can someone else fix it."

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

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/09/douglas-feith-under-secretary-of-lies-obfuscation/

Why is it necesary to still be holding hearings about why we invaded Iraq? Isn't it right and fair that we simply move along and take the matters in hand, the pressing problem that is Iraq today? After all we are talking all of four years ago, and so much sewage has flowed beneath the bridge.

The simple answer is that we still dont know why we orginally went to war, the ever changing rationale for the invasion has been shot down peice by peice, and each peice that has been shot down has had to be extracted with industrial pliers and a legal team the size of the average gathering at Mecca durring the Hadj. We still have Dik cheney et al, repeating the same lies they told before the war started, we have a sizeable chunk of the population believing such things like WMD have been found or that Saddam had a hand in 9/11. (see any poll of Fox veiwers)

But the most urgent reason why we need to keep on pushing for answers is that the exact same lies and disinformation are being pressed into service for the upcoming bombing/invasion of Iran. Its a word for word retelling of the same fiction.

Iran: WMD, regime change, supporting terrorists, being terrorists, threat to world peace, imminent danger, it goes on and on.

Apart from waiting for the artificial trigger point (see UN resolution 1441, gulf of tonkin, USS peublo or any one of the dozen phony reasons cooked up to invade another country) and the US is doing all it can to provoke a response from Iran (kidnapping acredited Iranian diplomats, carrier groups hovering on international boundaries, claiming Iranian arms are in Iraq without bothering to show proof etc).

I am personally waiting for the "Hitler Meter" to start running. This is when the right wing smear machine starts comparing Iranian leaders to Hitler, always a good sign of imminent cruise missile launches. The more mentions of Hitler, the closer we are to invading.

Whats equally as frightening is the knowledge that those who should know better, who are in positions of immense power are just plain nuts, stupid and fucking idiots. This from Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), the former Chief Deputy Majority Whip, the highest appointed position in the US House of Reps on MSNBC:

Matthews: …why did the president ask for approval of Congress before he went to Iraq?

Cantor: Well, you know, I certainly think that his counsel gave him guidance as to why he needed to do that, but at the end of the day the Constitution gives the commander and chief the right to send our troops into battle.

Bush can repeat the Iraq war with nothing more than a nod of his head. He is the decider after all.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17086418/site/newsweek/

At least one former White House official contends that some Bush advisers secretly want an excuse to attack Iran. "They intend to be as provocative as possible and make the Iranians do something [America] would be forced to retaliate for," says Hillary Mann, the administration's former National Security Council director for Iran and Persian Gulf Affairs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/world/middleeast/11cnd-weapons.html?hp&ex=1171256400&en=5d356debadef0bd5&ei=5094&partner=homepage

During the briefing, the senior United States military officials were repeatedly pressed on why they insisted on anonymity in such an important matter affecting the security of American and Iraqi troops. A senior military official said that without anonymity, for example, the military analyst could not have contributed to the briefing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/opinion/10sat1.html?em&ex=1171342800&en=f6f2b1387b2cee37&ei=5087%0A
.....................................................................................................

On torture and the denial that it has ever occured. Havent we accepted enough complete bullshit from the Bush regime, cast yourself back a mere week and our government was more than happy to accept the bushies assurances over Hicks torture claims. Well straight from the horse's mouth a confession of that which has never occurred according to all "investigations", of US torture.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020801680.html

"The story of Abu Ghraib isn't over. In many ways, we have yet to open the book."

same can be said of Gitmo
.....................................................................

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2251354.ece

For us to withdraw from Iraq, Bush, Little Bush jnr and Bean Bush jr will need to eat more than a little humble pie, they will need to rim sum sunni arse and munch on "terrorist" beaver in the full glare of the world. Fair enough, I say, its not my style of porn, but then I dont play with the big boys.

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

Whats the best way for an Israeli politican to divert attention from a myriad scandals and fuckups.

Visit the Al Aqsa mosque (Sharon) or as they are doing today, start any kind of work on the precinct without bothering to consult the other side. Its quick, guarnateed to get a reaction and will only cost a few dozen lives.
...........................................................
another hypocrit comes clean on the sweet, sweet herb:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2010584,00.html

but dont panic just because a conservative politician loves to get a bit giggly, new research shows he was just using it as a way to prevent lung cancer.

"We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer and that the association would be more positive with heavier use," he said. "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect."

Federal health and drug enforcement officials have widely used Tashkin's previous work on marijuana to make the case that the drug is dangerous.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/26/MNGAKJ2S481.DTL

bless me Jah and fill my pipe. Will we see this positive drug story reach the government booklets and information leaflets distributed to all those kiddies. Who am I kidding.

the election campaign has begun, lets see those wedges

The slime always rises

Federal Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella has been linked to a secret supporters' fund that raised tens of thousands of dollars not declared to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/mp-tied-to-secret-tobacco-fund/2007/02/09/1170524282964.html

now lets get the libs to start talking about thier contributions from the Exclusive Brethren

heros of the new age

Marine Corps Sgt. Heather Cerveny

Could be charged with filing a false statement for raising the matter.

With newspaper and television headlines proclaiming that an investigation of abuses at Gitmo had cleared all and sundry of all and every accusation, it pays to dig just a few millimetres under the facade.

Investigators conducted 20 interviews with "suspects and witnesses," the Southern Command said. Bassett did not interview any detainees, said Jose Ruiz, a Miami-based command spokesman.
"He talked to all the parties he felt he needed to get information about the allegations that were made," Ruiz said by telephone from Miami.

Remember General Gonzales, the fuckwit in charge of Iraq after all the important people went home to get medals from GW, who investigated abu grahb and declared the place a sunny little slice of Geneva, then the photos came out? Any of this sounding so familiar.

US army investigates US army, finds nothing, investigates little, then does all it can to smear and prosecute those who use their moral compass to alert the world of wrongdoing.

Marine Corps Sgt. Heather Cerveny deserves a hell of a lot more than the shit she will undoubtedly be given for speaking her mind.

The same can be said for all the "investigations" of abuse of David Hicks and the myriad other detainees.

On Dick Cheneys birthday, do your self a favour and shoot someone in the face and let the US army investigate, its the most fun you can get away with, legally. Who knows you may be able to get the shootee arrested for impeding a bullet.

Whistleblowers of the world take heed, you need to be armed with more than the truth, its a very poor weapon in the face of an avalanche of bullshit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/guantanamo_abuse_probe

the art of war

Start the day with a smile:

http://www.citizensforethics.org/execcorruption/

all the juicy shit that you just cant make up

FRANK FIGUEROA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security: On October 25, 2005, Mr. Figueroa was arrested for exposing himself and masturbating in front of a 16-year-old girl at the food court of an Orlando, Florida mall.

Claude A. Allen, assistant to the president for domestic policy:
A Target video captured Mr. Allen purchasing a Bose theatre system for $525 and a Kodak printer for $237, leaving the store and re-entering the store moments later without the merchandise. Mr. Allen then selected the same theatre system and printer, brought them to the counter and had a sales clerk refund the items to his credit card, even though the merchandise he originally purchased remained in his car.

ROBERT T. SCHOFIELD, U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
In June 2006, Mr. Schofield was arrested and charged with illegally granting residency
and issuing naturalization certificates to more than 100 unqualified immigrants as part of an
eight-year long scam run out of his Fairfax, Virginia office.

BRIAN J. DOYLE, U.S. Department of Homeland Security: charged with seven counts of using a computer to seduce a child and 16 counts of transmitting harmful materials to a minor.

JOSE M. MIRANDA, Broadcasting Board of Governors:
Mr. Miranda claimed that he had no income other than his $103,000 government salary 6 when, in fact, he was receiving over $100,000 in kickbacks.

these are just some of the backdoor beauties in the top 25.

now back to the long war

With Willie Brigitte on trial in France for possessing a copy of The Art of War, a subversive tome if ever one was written in the 6th C BC, we have the hub of nearly all terrorism charges in australia on show. Once again, make it big, but dont back it up with evidence:

French investigators claim he was planning a large-scale terrorist. Judge Jacqueline Rebeyrotte said that an al-Qaeda member under questioning had said that a large-scale attack in Australia, possibly involving the Sydney Opera House, had been planned.

A sidelight on the last sentence is important, because the unknown Alqueda operative never said that Brigitte was involved, still just saying it condemns, like Saddam and 9/11. Hearsay as non-evidence masquerading as evidence in the headlines.

Why is that so many terrorist cases stink of a poor rehash of Minority Report. Or are slowly revealed to be a right load of old bollocks only after a thousand headlines have scared the living bejesus out of anyone who reads a newspaper or switches on a televison or radio. Like:

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2245696.ece

In a statement after their release from Coventry's Chace Avenue police station in the early hours of today, the men said there had been no mention to them by police of a plot to kidnap or behead any soldier.
Their solicitor Gareth Peirce said: "They have left the police station without any better understanding of why they were there than when they first arrived seven days ago.
"Not a word was ever mentioned to either of them about a plot to kidnap or the grizzly suggestion of a beheading or even of a soldier at all.
"Both have been met with a consistent refusal over seven days for any explanation for their arrest.
"They are convinced that others in the police station must be as innocent as they and urge that they also be swiftly released."

We have days of headlines repeating outrageous claim after claim that we are all about to die some horrible death unless these people are arrested, then when charges have to be laid at the end of their "interviews", its all revealed to be bullshit. The case that these raids are all about covering over the myriad scandals rocking the Blair Government grows stronger, as do the Bush and Howard "terrorist plots".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2005667,00.html

Sami Al-Arian has been in prison for the past four years. The Palestinian professor and activist was found not guilty over a year ago of 17 charges against him yet he remains in jail and the US government seems unwilling to release him.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/07/1546227

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Good to see Tim Flannery getting a good run on the media at the moment, especially as the essential subtext of his message is the Howard Government has wasted the last ten years in office (always a good one to get out in an election year).

His Lateline appearance followed two ultra conservative nights to open the year, one with Little Johny, the other with US uber-sleaze bag and smear merchant, Dick Morris. Morris has one claim to fame in the political arena which allows him to be seen on Fox network as a neutral by stander, he worked on Bill Clintons 1996 election campaign before his "tenure on that campaign was cut short two months before the election, when it was revealed that he had had an extramarital affair with a prostitute (named Sherry Rowlands) and allowed her to listen in on conversations with the President."(wikipedia)

http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=dick+morris

each and every smear Tony Jones allowed the scum bag to utter has been refuted a dozen times over, yet his only critisism was to say "well we know what the republican talking points will be during the election". To grant this factually challenged, republican talking head a minute of my ABC's time is an insult to any viewers intelligence. Almost as much as the PM's utterances.
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The soy eating set gets clever and takes the gay bashers at their word, listen up ACT Government and make it so, wedge that baby good:

An initiative filed by proponents of same-sex marriage would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else have their marriage annulled.

Initiative 957 was filed by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance. That group was formed last summer after the state Supreme Court upheld Washington's ban on same-sex marriage.

Under the initiative, marriage would be limited to men and women who are able to have children. Couples would be required to prove they can have children in order to get a marriage license, and if they did not have children within three years, their marriage would be subject to annulment.

All other marriages would be defined as "unrecognized" and people in those marriages would be ineligible to receive any marriage benefits.

http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washington/stories/NW_020507WABinitiative957SW.546c6a4d.html#

Here is what the Bush Regimes $US15 billion of AIDS funding in Africa is being spent on:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070207/D8N4L6LG0.html