minky shines

Most ridiculous item of the day:

The Bush administration is preparing to declare that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps is a foreign terrorist organization, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

Its more than a little like declaring the US Marines a terrorist organisation, but then the Bushies are doing all they can to provoke a jump in the Republican polls by doing something nastier to Iran than just making any old shit up. Guess they must be getting frustrated with all those "intelligence reports" having gaping holes poked in them by anyone who's curious enough to think.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/world/middleeast/15diplo.html?hp

Followed by the re-emergence from hiding of Pauline Hanson, who apparently has forgiven the Asians for daring to bring down whitely by living in Australia, she now knows the real problem was them pesky Muslims daring to bring down whitely by living anywhere by Muslimvania. I wish her all the best mining that rich vein of public funding that goes with losing at an election, so much more lucrative than the dole, eh Pauline.

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Now I'm not one to rub shit in the face of a monkey, even if its the monkey who threw the shit in the first place, animals have the right to express their perfectly valid opinions in whichever medium they or evolution sees fit. So I shall just try and let these monkeys hurl it all in their own style. Off the record, of course.

background:

TREASURER Peter Costello vowed 2½ years ago to destroy John Howard's leadership if the Prime Minister did not hand over the reins.

PM Lyin Rodent:

"Mr Costello and I have a wonderful, harmonious, professional relationship."

Disgruntled Goat, Costello:

Now:

"I'm not going to get into an argument with them," he told reporters today.
"They have their recollections, I certainly have mine."

"I have never urged supporters of mine to carp against the prime minister nor have I ever urged supporters of mine to do anything which would undermine the Liberal Party," he said.
"In the course of that dinner a lot of things were said, a lot of very interesting things were said.

"But I want to make it clear that I have never carped against the prime minister nor did I ever go to the backbench."

A short time ago, in the far off distant land of Ticker:

he predicted Mr Howard could not win the coming election.
In a conversation that revealed the depth of his disdain for the Prime Minister, Mr Costello set a deadline of April 2006 for Mr Howard to hand him the leadership. If this did not occur, he vowed he would challenge the Prime Minister.
He recognised that he was unlikely to win such a challenge, but said he would go to the back bench and foment turmoil. He said he would "carp" at Mr Howard's leadership and "destroy it".

Liberal Party needed him as leader if it was to win this year's election. And he declared Mr Howard would have no chance with any other deputy.
Why would he risk everything on such drastic action, Mr Costello was asked. "Because he (Howard) will lose the election," the Treasurer said.
"He can't win. I can. We can, but he can't."

The possibly sober journos:

"We're simply putting on the record what he says that he never said."
Mr Wright said he took notes during the dinner, which was attended by him and his then-Bulletin colleague Paul Daley as well as ABC journalist Michael Brissenden.
He said the dinner became "quite spectacular in its language" about how Mr Costello wanted Mr Howard to step aside and allow him to become prime minister.
Mr Costello told them that if Mr Howard didn't stand aside or he lost a leadership challenge, he would "blast him out", Mr Wright said.
"(He said) if he didn't (win), he would be prepared to go on the backbench and carp .. that was his word," he said.

"I think it matters because it is about integrity and honesty."

the very reasonable, Federal Liberal Candidate Hamish Jones:

describing Victorian Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky as a "fuckwit" and a "bitch".

describes former federal Liberal minister Dana Vale as a "dickkhead" and says he was appalled that Holocaust denier David Irving received a three-year jail term.

describes the former premier as a "terrorist supporter" for failing to disendorse controversial Islamic candidate Khalil Eideh.

"If only Bracks, or one of his ministers, could be caught with kiddie porn, then maybe there would be some interest in this f..king boring campaign."

The one-time phone salesman supports parents having to obtain a "baby licence" to reproduce and boasts about taking on "union hack" Bill Shorten, the Labor high-flyer expected to win Maribyrnong.

LIBERAL backbencher Wilson Tuckey:

letter reportedly said it told Mr Howard that he continued to lag Kevin Rudd in the polls and "it was time to stand down".

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for the joys of bringing that old time religion to a school near u:

http://blog.au.org/2007/08/09/trouble-in-texas-school-board-chairman-seeks-religion-in-science-class/

states of delusion

Our PM?

The PM says the states are borrowing $70 billion, the PM also says the feds are saving $70 billion. Doesnt that mean the states are simply paying for what the feds are refusing to fund.

For me with my boring life, I hate to say it but the internet is too damned slow, and by that I mean that life is just too damned slow, I can see where its all heading, but it just takes too damned long to get there. I want it and I want it well before it happens. Fcuk the 24 hour news cycle, I demand the 24 minute cycle, with everything Ive thought in the past 24 minutes answered and resolved, preferably in a manner I approve of.

Evryday I am overwhlemed by the shere amount of panic that has overwhelmed the Howard Government, if its not the forced "crisis de jour" that Howard is inventing, its the ineptitude of his and his ministers response's and the blatant stupidity of his attack on Labor. Surely he must know that by inventing a crisis a day, it just focuses peoples attention away from whatever it is has achieved and makes them wonder where the hell the people in charge have been for the past 11 years, espcially as he is still running arguments based on Keating /Hawke years, which just open up the Fraser/Howard years to scrutiny, not something Howard wants in any way. So each day I read and think and wonder, when is the old fart gonna go and do what he threatens us with, letting the people decide.

Do I really have to wait till february for some good news Little Old Devious Johhny, cant I have just a taste of that free democracy you are promising the Queenslanders, right here, right now, before I have to see another one of those dozen or so bullshit government ad's that are interupting my spank fest while watching americas next top model.

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I, Terrorist

Virginia Trioli talks to Joseph Felter from the Combating Terrorism Centre

VIRGINIA TRIOLI: Let's go into just one more of those categories and that is the one lower down the list from demonstrated threat to associated threat. I will read out what defines that category. "If you had a connection to a member of Al Qaeda or another group, if you'd stayed at a suspect guest house, had travelled to three or more countries, were carrying large amounts of foreign currency...

Why is any of that or even one of those aspects enough to have you classified as an enemy combatant and have you locked up for six years?

JOE FELTER: That's why we called it an associative threat. We define it as activities or attributes associated would other terrorists. We're careful not to say any one of these in particular was enough evidence to warrant an enemy combatantant status but we thought it was something to be concerned about. If you were carrying many thousands of dollars in a remote province of Afghanistan, that's something to be concerned about.

I have done all of these things in my offical capacity as a tourist, each and every one, I can now offically be declared a terrorist and spend a few years on holiday in Gitmo. My reaction, bring it on, I am so sick of this shit, all of it.

But then again, here's a different story from the war on terror:

After years of almost total silence on his son's arrest and imprisonment, Frank Lindh sets the record straight about the 'American Taliban.'

http://www.alternet.org/story/31211/?page=1

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/10/2001351.htm

Howards lapdog, ex Peter Reith protege and sleeping partner, Peter Hendy is up to his usual Liberal inspired bullshit, pumping out an "independent" report (one of his many before the election no doubt) that claims that the world will end the moment a Labor Government is elected. I beleive they also link joining a union to instantly getting cancer and that non-unionists get more pussy or at the very least their kindly bosses are more then willing to negotiate "Pussy" breaks in their AWA's, unlike the Communist regime of Rudd which will do as Marx said institute "commmunal women". Am I scared, only by the shere amount of coverage this skewed, bogus report will get in the Murdoch press.

http://larvatusprodeo.net/2007/07/25/abcc-and-econtech-flawed-assumptions-biased-report/

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My favourite peice of spam for the week

Subject:
When I tried to give him oral sex, I practically choked. How do I do it without gagging? Please help!

body and answer:
Chicks always srieked at me and even blokes did in the not private toilet!Well, now I smil at them, because I took M E _G_A_D_ IKfor 7 months and now my phallus is extremely more than average

Needless to say, I have ordered six packets of Megadik and a manual on the Heimlich Manouver.
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what australian's owe the banks= $1 trillion dollars

Interest paid= $1 in every $8 earned

Average monthly increase in debt for australians over the past 12 months: $10 billion plus

Wheres that Liberal Party debt truck when you need to add it all up?

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Why would anyone not trust our PM, could it be that every sentence that slips from his mouth is parsed within a lawyers degree of the truth and riddled with strawmen.

7.30 report:

KERRY O'BRIEN: He (the reserve bank govenator) says that states borrowing money won't feed directly into the consumer price index.

JOHN HOWARD: I don't think anybody would suggest that unlimited borrowings by either a state or federal government has no impact at all on the inflationary environment and therefore some ultimate impact on interest rates otherwise we'd be turning economic theory of the last 30 years totally on its head.

Its true, nobody, absolutely nobody has ever suggested "unlimited borrowings" in any way shape or form except the PM.

On his intervention in the tasmanian marginal seat

JOHN HOWARD: Can I say that the Health Minister, Mr Abbott, went to Tasmania today and had a meeting with the Tasmanian Health Minister and to say the least the Tasmanian Government is being extremely uncooperative, which I think is very poor. I would have thought the Tasmanian Government would have welcomed with open arms the fact that we are willing to inject up to another $45 million to $50 million a year into the health system in northern Tasmania and for the Tasmanian Health Minister to say in effect well, we're going to spite the Federal Government because we don't like the idea of the Federal Government being involved, shows an arrogant disregard for the interests of the people in Devonport and the people of northern Tasmania.

Would you be co-operative with a burglar breaking into your home, maybe passing the dvd player out the ever so tight windows, just in case he injures himself on the way out?

Lets take a look at that one statement, "arrogant disregard", what do you call a dawn raid on a states hopital, for what even the PM says are purely political purposes where you dont bother contacting the states Premier or Health Minister (I imagine, so they dont spoil the photo op), threatening to cut off the states health funding and not being able to tell anyone on the day wether the $45-50 million will be coming out of the states allocation. A week later the PM sends his lapdog down to tell the Tasmanian minister what the PM is going to do, not consult, just tell, theres no arrogance in that, there's no spite in the accusations that the states are clearly to blame for evrything bad that has occured under the PMs watch either.

And cooperation, now why the hell would anyone co-operate with a government which has so far (well since polling shows it may be Howards only winner) blamed everything of the "incompetence" of the "2nd 11" of politics, the state governments, despite the fact that all the states governments are at least twice as popular as Howards fiasco ridden rabble. All thats good flows from me, all bad is yours to own, what a brillaint philosophy to work cooperativly with, edward de bono would be proud.

The funniest thing for me is the fact that the state of the state liberals is just laughable, to the point where in state elections Howard is loath to even appear on the same stage as the Liberal Leaders. Durring the recent NSW election spent many pained minutes at the side of the utterely hapless Debnam, with neither side willing to be seen in fulsome endorsement of the other. The Victorian election was the same, with Ted "the budgie" B, hardly glowing in his embrace of the IR laws (until after the election) and the PM in town only long enough to bring the already low standing of the state libs to a just above gutter level. For all the PM's huff and puff on the dangers of wall to wall labor, he really cant risk the electorate focusing on the state liberals who are in total dissaray across the country, either infiltrated by bizzarre right wing christian cults branch stacking (Qld, NSW, Vic) or letting their infighting spill blood across the frontpages (Qld, NSW, Vic, Sa, WA) or just plain old batshit crazy incompetent (NSW, QLD, VIC).

Howard has made the plea to his state counterparts to stop the infighting and at least pretend to have policies in place a few days before the elections are called, he has made the plea for at least the past six years, with little in the way of a response so far. Is it any wonder the Libs in Victoria are cutting funding for the state branch to focus on the federal election, neutering Ted B in the process and making him look like a fool with even less control over his powerless coalition. Or the Queensland Libs who fight each other harder in the press than they do the Beatie Government and who are constantly involved in scandals like the still unresolved "Printergate" one, which has so far immeshed three federal libs in the slime.

The question the electorate should be asking Howard is, what kind of shitbox state would this country be in if the Libs ruled the country, coast to coast, when clearly none of the state liberal leaders should be left in charge of a kitten or a box of matches without adult supervision and safety mittens on their hands?
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Pre-election cash giveaway

The worst aspect of it all is the shere fiscal irresponsibilty of the PM's pre-election giveaways, at the beggining of Indigneous Crisis, his handouts amounted to $7.5 billion and that was assuming that the intervention was going to cost "tens of millions", now we know that it will cost close to $600 million, the crisis intervention in Tasmania will cost a further $200-300 million over the coming years and the PM's ridiculous "who ever wants a referendum, can have one" pledge for queensland. Then add in the $10 billion for the Murray Darling, which still is really still uncosted, and a bit of a wild guess, much like the plans outcomes, which read like a pitch at a land far, far away, with the proposed outcomes and water savings not kicking in until, wait for it, 2024, and even modest gains not going to be recorded until 2012 (and even thats on the most opptomistic estimates, and they are the only ones given by Howard). If the Murray Darling plan is starting to sound more than a little like the PM's Global Warming strategy, dont do anything now, just push a truck load of dollars at the vested interest groups and promise to do something, maybe, in the distant future, well its all writen on the same envelope sitting in the PM's office if you want to check his figures.

He will be handing out lots of little gifts like the $4 million to a failing eden-monaro wood mill (amazing how his largess is largessly in marginal liberal seats), all of which will inevitably feed into the federal reserve needing to push up interest rates, and considering he hasnt as yet reached the campaign, which will bring about an absolute flood of cash for your votes, Mr stevens must be tearing his hair out with treasury sectretary Ken Henry worrying about what will happen IF the libs get back in.

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For a good laugh, go here, learn the horrifying secrets of the Greens, they have lesbians as members of thier party, and not just the good lesbians you see in those Penthouse documentaries, but the kind of "extremist" ones that wont let you watch. I was so shocked. We can be proud that such patriots are on the lookout for poor schmo's who may well be voting on such issues or be worried that thier local greens candidate is a communist, I know thats always my first policy consideration. Imagine, a lesbian communist extremist, makes Osama look like a boy scout. What next will we be making gay compulsory, we will if the greens get in.

http://www.greenswatch.com/

or

http://www.deadroo.com/index.php/greens-watch-kieran-is-a-crackpot/

which is equally as much fun, but slightly different, in a confessional kind of way.
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From Lateline Friday, more myths from the War on Terror:

Joseph Felter from the Combating Terrorism Centre at the West Point Military Academy:

We need to make sure that if we hold people there that we can demonstrate in the open source arena that we have information that is incriminating, that demonstrates they're a threat. I think it's up to 30 individuals that have been released from Guantanamo Bay have subsequently been picked up on the battlefield. That's concerning. We have to be careful who we let out on the streets so to speak and whether they're going to return to the battlefield and threaten or interests.

A completely made up fact coming from the Whitehouse and Pentagon, they can confirm that 3 people from Gitmo have been picked up on the battlefield, but then the battlefield stretches across the globe, the rest of the number is an approximation, including "unknown remains" from sucide bombings which may belong to ex-gitmo detainees, or just persons who have been in Gitmo who have been arrested in their own countries for anything or even re-arrested for the exact same charge they were orginally in Gitmo for and released.

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1 more reason why Rumsfeld should be in jail:

"I really find it hard to believe that the secretary of defence of the United States has no idea about the star witness for a criminal case being anonymous."

After Donald Rumsfeld blew his cover, he was bundled out of Iraq very quickly and lived under armed protection for the first six months.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6930197.stm

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From Iraq: only the good news

The Sunni's in the Iraqi Government have finally reached a concensus. The only problem is the concensus is that they no longer have any faith or trus to work with the Malaki regime and have all walked out.

Mosul Dam on Brink of Breach?

Catastrophic Flood Could Put 70% of Mosul Underwater

"It could go at any minute," a senior aid worker who has knowledge of the struggle by US and Iraqi engineers to save the dam told the UK Independent. "The potential for disaster is very great."
Flood waters resulting from a dam breach could destroy 70 percent of Mosul and inflict heavy damage 190 miles downstream along the Tigris. The humanitarian disaster that would result represents a nightmare scenario for the Iraqi and US government, as lack of disaster-response capability would make search and rescue extremely difficult.

http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3862/Mosul_Dam_on_Brink_of_Breach

the 499

Is it a record? 499 broken promises in under 5 hours.

Wednesday, the PM takes over a Tasmania Hospital. Says its one of many, a radical shift in the underlying ecology of the entire state/federal relationship and absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Braddon is one of the Libs most marginal seats, nothing, he didn't even realise it before jetting down there, he just assumed that every seat in the country was a safe liberal seat surrounded by evil labor state governments.

Thursday morning, Tony Abbott calls for any other hospitals in similar positions to call him and the Feds will look at doing the same. Claims that his phone has been ringing off the hook with queries and people just begging to be given that "special" treatment by the PM.

Thursday Noon, Tony Abbot is still on, "just call me, have we got a deal for you" this is of "seismic significance". Yes but can it be seen from the moon?

Thursday, 5.00pm, Tony now says the Tasmanian deal is a one off, "unique" situation, stop calling coz the deal he was spruiking a few hours ago was a mis-print and that in fact maybe he never said it at all, a very clever imitator had been wandering the nation selling false info.

The funniest thing is that as of 12.00 today, no paper is reporting Abbots "unique" comments, just his original offer, which leads me to wonder whether he has made another U-turn or if the media in general just forgot what he said coz he has made so many flip flops before that they may as well just report the one that seems right. Such details are so unimportant in comparison to a headline.

The AMA were quick to point out when the PM did the power grab that there were some 500 hospitals in similar circumstances, so that means that there are 499 broken promises by this government in a mere 5 hours, surely a world record. I would be happy to be contradicted on this.

Meanwhile, once the photo-op was over for the PM and the headlines read $45 million, the details just happened to get lost.

Was it $45 million in new money, or $45 million of old money taken straight from the Tasmanian budget, ummmm, who knows. Will the PM now cut the Tasmanian allocation of federal funding by $45 million? How did he get the figure of $45 million to run the hospital, all previous figures to run the hospital said the running cost was closer to $60 million, so that's a fair few layoffs to get to the PM's number. Was this another of the PM's back of an envelope jobs? What services would be provided, same, different, ....who knows?

Where were the doctors coming from? ummmmmm, who knows. Will the newly acquired federal staff be placed under AWA's? ummmm.... Some detail would be nice, any detail, please...? once the cameras stop, and the headlines fade, who the hell cares, the PM got front page and a lot of PR for doing little more than making a lot of hot air.

And if he now reneges on Tony Abbots earlier promises, does that mean the cost of adding a few percentage points to the libs popularity in one seat, will mean a loss of popularity in 499 towns?

PETER COSTELLO: Well look this is an announcement that's been made in relation to a particular hospital and I think it's very welcome. The hospital would have closed otherwise and the Federal Government has been able to step in and to save that hospital.

Then there's the government Lie's, the hospital was not about to be closed and petes not gonna stand by and let a general principle become a general principal. I am confused, one arm of Howard is saying that its for all hospitals in a similar position, Howard's other hand is waving about saying its not. Which is it,or is it on a polling margin by polling margin basis? More tax payer funded focus groups please so the government can sort out its next advertising blitz.

Of course, not that this has anything to do with politics, but Friar Abbot attacked Rudd, accusing him of "far too much fudge and waffle" in refusing to instantly agree with whatever it really is that Abbot and Howard have said, which is funny considering that Kevin Andrews attacked Rudd for agreeing with the government last week. In a pre-election atmosphere, being terminally confused and an unmedicated sufferer of bi-polar disorder as a strategy has a certain, cant lose, quality to it.

After yet another rash, brash, piece of purely political vote buying masquerading as policy, doesn't it just show how desperate Howard is to get his face on the front page of a newspaper with a good news byline, as opposed to his usual flailing panic stricken sunken self. Whats $45 million if it means the PM gets a few more votes, surely the country can afford to let the man give away pork barrelled sandwiches after 11 years of Sterling service to himself, the libs and various bizarre christian cults.

Meanwhile we just have to look forward to a government that governs on principals that are made up on the back of postage stamps, changes its stance hourly and by the minister you happen to talk to. The funniest thing to me is that the Australian today branded this a winner for Howard, when you walk all sides to the street at all hours, how can you lose?

Who do you trust to tell you whatever you want to hear? the answers not hard...its either fox news or.....

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Remember this statement from the Treasurer P. Costello
"the governments broadband policy will not cost the taxpayer one cent"

well it appears that the statement is true, it will cost one billion dollars, and grew in costs from $600 million when the government finally put away the envelope it normally works its costings on and bought a calculator. At least that's what Telstra are suing the Government for.

Telstra spokesman Jeremy Mitchell says the Minister has refused to provide documents explaining her decision to reject the company's bid.

"We just want to find out the truth," he said. "Were the goal posts changed and were others given information that we weren't entitled to?"

another revolving, evolving, flapping about policy from Howard, more amusing by the ever changing hour.

The NSW Liberal Right: a land of the bizarre, a home of the extreme

Michael Towke, the Liberal candidate for the New South Wales seat of Cook, has sparked a string of controversy with his dubious resume and complete refusal to talk to the media.

http://www.deadroo.com/index.php/dead-roo-profile-the-mysterious-michael-towke/

AWA fun:

get paid $3.00 an hour for the honor of being "employed", get charged $12,000 for the honor of being trained. As Joe Hockey says, "its complicated". Sure is, must be the "sophistication" of the union campaign that has the boss confused.

or

Ms Piper said she was sometimes made to wait around for up to an hour after she was due to start her rostered shift before management deemed the restaurant busy enough for her shift to begin. Mr Wilson said his agency was still investigating claims that young workers were made to supply their own money floats each day so that cash could be deducted when a customer absconded without paying the bill.

Nothing somistomphacted about that.

or

Two trolley collection companies have underpaid workers by almost $300,000, Workplace Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson says. Mr Wilson alleges some 135 trolley collectors have been underpaid by Risborg Pty Ltd and MK Angelopolous Pty Ltd.

Mr Wilson alleged Risborg underpaid some 130 of its casual trolley collectors by about $250,000. The company also paid the workers as little as $6.50 an hour - well below the federal minimum wage of $16.16 an hour, Mr Wilson alleged. He alleged MK Angelopolous underpaid five of their trolley collectors by more than $28,000. "Trolley collector workers are often the most vulnerable of the vulnerable in the workforce and in the community," Mr Wilson said in a statement. "Many of the long term unemployed and those affected by mental illness and other disabilities work in the sector.

mmm somiftificating. Must be the unions fault or Kevin Rudds.

mmm blair lite...so refreshing

finally Blair lite, Kevin Rudd gets his glutes primed and his message right, pump those ab's bitch, blitz through the pain:

Rudd launches attack on Andrews
August 2, 2007

Federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd has launched his strongest attack on Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews over the Haneef case, listing a string of inconsistencies in the minister's statements.
Labor has supported in principle the government's handling of the terror case against Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef but has called for an independent judicial inquiry.

Mr Rudd went a step further today, outlining a series of inconsistent statements by Mr Andrews since the minister cancelled Dr Haneef's work visa last month.

"Take this for example - on 27 July Mr Andrews says he would not release Dr Haneef from immigration detention, on 28 July he releases Dr Haneef from immigration detention," Mr Rudd told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"I don't know the basis for the change in that position.

"On 28 July, Mr Andrews claimed that he had no objection to Haneef leaving Australia; on 29 July Mr Andrews claimed Haneef's decision to leave actually heightened rather than lessened his suspicions.

"And on 29 July, Mr Andrews claimed that Dr Haneef attempted to fly home to India, his baby having been born for a month at that stage, and later he admitted it had only been born six days previous.

"All I'm saying is that these positions are difficult for us to understand, those most recent positions and statements by Mr Andrews."

The only way to restore public confidence that the case had been handled properly was through an independent judicial inquiry, he said.

"We're getting bits and pieces of new information every day and I think the view of your listeners and the public right across Australia is they would actually like to know the whole picture, the whole story," he said.

Rudd, Gillard and Garrett are starting to look comfortable in there roles, bring on the election.

smears aplenty

my bedroom for the night, bosra, syria, ahhh the stars

the nabatean streets, bosra, syria

view from my hotel window, Palmyra (tadmor) syria

I love experts, just throw out a word and suddenly a dozen experts will congeal around it to provide their all knowing oracle of wisdom. Has anyone been able to chart the growth in terrorism "experts" since the 9/11 attacks, lets be honest, the majority wouldn't know their arse from their elbow, yet because the world of "terrorism" and military intelligence is so absolutely murky, they can throw out any old shit and watch the media and the self serving government of the day lap it up eg from the age today and channel 9.

Second Life 'terror training tool'

Warren Reed says jihadists can use the game to rehearse attacks and recruit like-minded players to terrorist organisations.
"It's a very potentially devastating tool," Mr Reed told the Nine Network today.
"The majority of people using it probably are kids ... but woven through that you can have terrorist types doing their thing," he said.

I know that those who immerse themselves in the pixelised world are currently cowering in fear, rushing to their cybercafes to purchase virtual gaffer tape and virtual gas masks. Fear is a pixel that's been shredded, when will we learn, that a pixalated henchman that we kill in virtual reality on our way to kill the big daddy monster, has left behind a virtual family who will grieve for them. Oh the virtual humanity.

Even if in any way true what our erstwhile uber-paranoid expert says, the jhaidists are simply following the example of the US military who are using gaming as a recruiting tool themselves.

Either way, its like calling a fork an efficient killing tool or potential WMD, sure it'll kill, but what ya gonna do, eh.

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Haneef- the fun keeps on coming

http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&daysum=2007-08-01

Remember a few things, the report was most likely written after his arrest, everybody in the world has a connection to Alqueda (try the six degrees test, see how far you get), that the report contains not a single point of proof to back up its assertions....just raises some questions, and furthers the smears.

Also remember that the federal police have had 200 of their officers working on the case, yet not one of the them has apparently bothered to contact the Indian authorities, doesn't that let you know the level of competency of those guarding the nations safety.

for a little cynical truth to the rumour mill

In his opportunism, Andrews is not blowing a dog whistle but a set of bagpipes. And the noise he is making is as politically tuneless as it is desperately opportunist.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22175082-5013404,00.html

Can Mick Kelty and Kevin Andrews keep up the pretense until the election is called or it all falls off the front pages. Micks still bangin on about laying more charges, so he cant comment on what his is commenting about, and Kevin says he cant comment on what he is commenting on coz Mick is still investigating the comments he has been making about the things he said he cant comment on. Will the real circle of weasels please find a way to break its catch 22, find out any minute when Haneef is linked to Osama through a marriage to Mick keltys 3rd cousin.

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After the dawn raid on Tasmania by the PM, where he stole an entire hospital and held it hostage, will the PM now acknowledge that he will be giving blowjobs/sexual favours to anyone in a marginal Liberal electorate. He has promised that despite what any experts say, he will not insist upon "protection", he knows what the people want, and the people do not want sage advice, they just wanna "feel good" about themselves, no matter what the personal cost to the nation or the PMs battered knees.

Never let it be said that intelligent, rational, consistent or good policy will stand in the way of our PM getting re-elected, if he has his way. As the PM said, lets do this one hospital at a time, which means that one hospital gets federal funding in the weeks leading up to an election once every three years, times 500 or so rural hospitals in need of the funds ....you do the math, mine adds up to somewhere over a 1,500 years for the federal government to fix the problem. I know I can wait that long, can you? I'm eating my pork barrel sandwich as we speak, so liberally good in a marginal sort of way.

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Justice American style part two

A movement is growing in support of the Jena Six -- the black Louisana high school students charged with attempted murder for a school fight in which a white student was beaten up. The fight broke out after white students hung three nooses from a tree where the black students had sat. School board officials cut down the tree last week.

In September 2006, a black student at Jena high school asked permission from school administrators to sit under the "white tree." School officials advised them to sit wherever they wanted. They did. The next day, three nooses, in the school colors, were hanging from the "white tree." The message was clear. "Those nooses meant the KKK, they meant 'Niggers, we're going to kill you, we're going to hang you till you die,'" Casteptla Bailey, a mother of one of the students, told the London Observer.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/01/1435233

http://www.whileseated.org/photo/003244.shtml

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070307B.shtml

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Iraq: ever get the feeling u bin had

To add to the plane load's of AK 47's, flown from the ex-war zone Bosnia that just disappeared into at 2nd arms firesale, Iraq, last year we now have

The US government cannot account for 190,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to an investigation carried out by the Government Accountability Office. According to the July 31 report, the military "cannot fully account for about 110,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 80,000 pistols, 135,000 items of body armor and 115,000 helmets reported as issued to Iraqi forces."
The weapons disappeared from records between June 2004 and September 2005, as the military struggled to re-build the disbanded Iraqi forces from scratch.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84262

I feel so much safer knowing those weapons must be in the hands of our Friends, or at the very least in the hands of the enemy of my enemy, who by definition, must be a Friend. Lets just add it to the $4 billion plus of armaments the Australian Defences Forces cant account for.

Now of course we have the much vaunted Condi Rice Middle East peace plan, which actually reads more like a wonderful scam perpetrated by the US defence industries like General Electric etc. $60 billion dollars will be given to various ME nations in the form of the latest (-1) arms and equipment, with $35 billion of that amount being given to Israel and the rest split between a bunch of oppressive dictators such as Saudi Arabia (maybe to thank them for all the support they have given the Sunni's and Alqueda in Iraq). The rationale behind the midsummer madness giveaway is that the US will act as a santa claus style counterweight to Iran, who as we all know has invaded Saudi Arabia on at least a dozen occasions in the last few weeks and occupied Kuwait ...no maybe I'm mistaken on those facts...anyway all that's beside the point, Iran exists and that's just unacceptable, in any ones eyes.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I cant help but wonder if that $60 billion were used to set up a democratic regime in Saudi Arabia, check up on the state of the nuclear arms in Israel and finance the setup of a viable Palestian State, maybe peace would be a fractional bit closer than giving the money to the makers of the fa-18, but then I'm such a romantic fool and own no shares in Grumman or GE, like Dick Cheney.

Then again, maybe the US has a mindset that precludes anything except Iran, even when the evidence points elsewhere

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1647454,00.html

That cant be said for the ever intelligence reducing Republican Presidential candidates, who are just full of brilliant, well thought out, foreign policy ideas, like

Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo

"If it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on this homeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holy sites in Mecca and Medina," the GOP presidential candidate said. "That is the only thing I can think of that might deter somebody from doing what they would otherwise do. If I am wrong fine, tell me, and I would be happy to do something else. But you had better find a deterrent or you will find an attack. There is no other way around it. There have to be negative consequences for the actions they take. That's the most negative I can think of."

"If all of a sudden we are not a consuming engine of the world, the producing nations will collapse also. That is what they want, that is what they are looking for, to end Western civilization as we know it."

There you have it, after the next attack on US soil, the US will instantly nuke Saudi Arabia, if this utter fool is elected. Makes GW's Iraq/911 nexus plan seem downright plausible, if you take it in context. After all, one Muslim is the same as any other.

Keeping somebody safe, the Republicans.

Just not u.

weasle words can only come from the mouths of weasils

Fuk me to illustrate how much Kevin Andrews fuked up, 52% of herald sun readers have backed calls for his resignation, when the most conservative, lock em up, hang em and worry about guilt or innocence afterwards crowd calls your decisions fuked, you are truly fuked.

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Eels are slimy, but they taste great, weasels are, well weaselly, but I have no personal experience of how they taste, I just know that going on the previous few weeks, they must be a very dark, bitter, self serving flavour, topped by a big dash of hubris sauce and flambeed in arrogance by the grand chef of the elite, Downer.

smears and weasels

"He's done numerous press conference in India ... why didn't this bloke actually turn up and front the Australian media and let them ask questions?" he said.

Except that he was shepherded by a phalanx of immigration department staff, and he did give an exclusive interview to 60 minutes, so the minister is completely wrong.

"As far as I'm aware there's nothing that's been left out of that."

except the original, what we have is an AFP translation, maybe accurate, maybe inaccurate and we have been told all along that Haneef had a full and complete explanation in the still "secret" second interview which Andrews has not sought to be released.

Andrews received advice from the solicitor general.....

Yes, too true, the solicitor general told him that he does indeed have the power to make a decision, not that the decision was good bad or utterly fuked up six ways from sunday, just that he does indeed have the power of his own portfolio, weasel words of sage advice. If the minister had asked the same question, does the PM have the power of the PM, the answer would have been the same, yes, does that prove that he is not a sniveling little piece of shit, the answer is no.

Re: the phone calls haneef made to the british police

"I came to the conclusion I did, and as I said, nothing since then has altered the position I came to. Indeed other information provided to me heightens or reiterates that suspicion in my mind."

In other words, I did not consider any information that may conflict with my opinion. You are a brave man for a weasel.

Re: the tortured release of "secret" information.

funny it was all released two weeks ago, we now just get the bits andrews has decided show him in the best light, but laughably, none of the stuff that says the opposite. Funny that.

Andrews also goes onto say that the release of any other material is entirely up to the AFP, the AFP say that it is up to the Minister to ask for the material, the minister says its up to the AFP to release it, who wont until the minister asks...gets that weasel circle going. Same goes for the original chat comments in their original language..round we go.

"Hasty"

Kev makes sure to include that word and emphasise it before the word departure. eg

"The whole circumstances surrounding Haneef's attempted hasty departure, including the chat room conversations, when viewed against his clear prior association with the Ahmed brothers, led me to form a reasonable suspicion, as required by the Act."

The clear association, his two cousins he has admitted seeing 2-3 times in the 12 months prior to the bombing, but not in the last 5 months. C'mon.

From the master of disaster, Phil Ruddock

"The system is working as intended."

If that's the case, the system is completely debased and needs to be taken out of the hands of those who debased it and replaced with something worthwhile.

Mr Andrews said he would act in the safety and interest of Australians.

If that statement is in any way true, he would have resigned.