Richard Tonkin's Snippets

The First Cane Toad In Adelaide- Brought To You By Halliburton

2008-02-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

The first cane toad has arrived in Adelaide. It came, it would seem, down from the tropics on Dick Cheney's Adelaide-Darwin railway, hopped out at the main railway marshalling yard, and into the mosquito misted wetlands that adjoin the Kinhill (yep, Kinnaird's forerunner to HAL Australia) developed defence technology suburb of Mawson Lakes. and turned up in a back yard on Tuesday.

Take your omens where you find them, I always say.

Thanks a lot, Halliburton.

An extra thought. best to keep an eye on components going to Woomera. Now that Foley has signed the contracts to launch the US's new military communications satelites..... Cane Toads In Scpace? What if they manage to hop on to a passing exploration probe? The new dominant lifeform of the galaxy? Aaargh!

Les Mots de Alexander Downer

2007-11-15T07:05:00.000-08:00

J'avais finirai, il y a un minute, le joie qu'on trouve dedans le piece par Mlle Helen Razer sur Nouvelle Mathilde, en lisant les mots en francais qui avait ete parle demain par M. Alexandre Downeur, et maintenant je n'ai pas besoin de croir que mon francais est horrible. C'est vra que c'est horrible, mais jamais assez mauvais comme celui la parlait par notre envoi.

[The Google autotranslation of this post can be found here]

Downeur, il me semble, se croit comme il peut parler le francais comme Kevine Rurd parle le langue chinoise. Tant pis. Ca ne va jamais etre.

Ici on trouve les mots que Helen croit que vous disez:

C’est vrai que je parle français. Mais, alors je suis le ministre des affaires étranger d’Australie. Il y a faux pas en anglais si vous êtes Australien.

Voulez vous, Alexandre, me le traduire entre Anglais? Le voici:

It's true I speak French. But, then, I'm the Foreign Minister of Australia. There are fuck-ups in English if you're an Aussie.

Pardon? Vous me direz que vous preferez a parle en francais parce que il y de moins des chances a fair un fax pas? En passant, un question: Quand vous disez aux Americains que l'Australie veulait les aider en Iraq, croyez-vous que (avec votre mauvais anglais a la mode Australien) que vous avez demande le soup du jour du Maison Blanc?

Votre Francais est merde. Votre Anglias est merde. Dites-moi un plusier fois- qu'est-ce que c'est que vous avez pour un metier?

Pardonnez-moi. Je n'avais pas ecrit assez beaucoup des mots en francais pour le dernier vingt-cinq ans. Mais, alors, je n'avais jamais le pouvoir a commencer une guerre.

How To Help In A Dirty Bomb Drill

2007-10-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

Time magazine has just released a piece suggesting that the dirty-bomb exercise being conducted this weekend will be lacking because of the absence of media and public. The US Portland Mercury (sounds like they've been infiltrated by The Chaser) has some suggestions:

While there will undoubtedly be plenty of over-emotive community theater actors on hand, moaning about their fake radioactive burns... that's exactly what our local officials are expecting. Therefore it's up to YOU to diverge from the script—even if you weren't invited to participate—and give our high-caliber public servants the test they deserve. Naturally, the Mercury has a few suggestions for your role (of a lifetime!) in TOPOFF 4....

DRESS UP LIKE BATMAN

The location of this test/attack will be at the Portland International Raceway—so besides having your suit cleaned and ready to go, it will help if you have a Batmobile. Having the Batman on the scene of any disaster always elicits a "calming effect" on the populace as well as the police. Plus, you may be needed to swing down on your Batrope to rescue a small child from being crushed by a falling girder. Don't bring along Robin—he makes you look gay.

DRESS UP LIKE A TERRORIST

It's a proven fact that criminals often revisit the scene of their crime. Why would terrorists be any different? Put on a turban and a fake long beard. Show up at Ground Zero, laugh maniacally, rub your hands together, and say in a screechy Arabic voice, "BOOYAH! In your face, despicable American bitches! Did you like my 'dirty bomb'? Well, I got another one underneath my burqa, and this one's even FILTHIER!" This is a great way to test the physical fitness of our police department as you lead them on a merry chase through a radioactive wasteland of blood and gore.

THE MAYOR'S ACTUALLY A ROBOT

Put on a scientist outfit, and when you see Mayor Tom Potter surveying Ground Zero, run up to the crowd and loudly proclaim him to be a robot from the future—sent back in time to declare martial law and pave the way for his robot brethren to enslave mankind. Best case scenario: Everyone will be so shell-shocked by the disaster, they'll take a scientist's word as law, and start disassembling Potter on the spot. Worst case scenario: Potter sleeps through the exercise.

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

Yes, there is! And that doctor is YOU! Look, no one has to know you barely finished high school, and have spent the last year and a half playing World of Warcraft in your grandma's basement. If there are people acting like nuke victims, then it's perfectly fine for YOU to act like a doctor. However! If you want to really separate yourself from the EMTs crowding the radioactive landscape, you'll need a gimmick. Walk around with a comically big syringe that has "DIRTY BOMB ANTIDOTE" printed on its side. (What's that? Oh... sure, I guess you can be a gynecologist.)

THE LAST ACTION HERO

True, Batman's already made the scene—but when it comes to rescuing the victims of a terrorist attack... the more the merrier, right? You'll need a few friends for this one: Each of you will dress up as an action hero who has shown a previous knack for helping out in situations just like this: 24's Jack Bauer, Die Hard's John McClane, any character played by that pony-tailed idiot Steven Seagal, the Terminator (who can fight robotic Mayor Potter), Blade (you need a black vampire), and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Naturally, there will be more heroic helpers than victims, which will force these action stars into a no-holds barred battle royale! I don't know about you, but I think cops need to be tested to see if they can break up a fight like that.

REPOPULATE THE EARTH

Think of it this way: If the terrorists are crazy enough to fake dirty bomb Portland, Phoenix, and Guam, the rest of the world can't be far behind. That means we are on the verge of a very fake human population crisis. Men of Portland: Do your part. Show up at the site of the attack, and offer to impregnate any woman whose ovaries haven't been turned into the equivalent of microwaved Kentucky Fried Chicken Bits. (Note to gals: Just like in the rest of this exercise—and my bedroom—you can pretend to enjoy it.)

A Ballad For APEC

2007-08-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

The devil wore a crucifix
his preacher drove a Porsche
and together they rode the world
to plunder and debauch.
The blood red moon in Sydney's sky,
one day they'll write it down
as the worst of bad moons rising
as the king put on his crown.

The message spread across the land
of what was yet to come
as congregations gathered
to march to Freedon's Drum
The king's best town criers
called us rotten to the core
And the minstrel roamed the cities
cursing the Masters of War

Last night I had the strangest dream
of sickness in the sky
It was put there by the king
to stop us asking why.
Be conquererd or be slaughtered
was the message that he spread
Surrendering your liberty
is better than being dead.

In shock from what they saw, the people
did as they were told
And as they gazed into the sky
the king took all their gold
He said that he'd protect us
and fled across the sea,
and left us here to wonder why,
in chains of misery.

Thanks, Fiona Reynolds, for the inspiration

Dubya's Daughter's Wedding

2007-08-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

David Letterman: Here is some great news: One of the president's daughters, the lovely Jenna Bush, is getting married. How about that. ... It's going to be an expensive wedding. And I guess this is no surprise, the $3 billion contract has gone to Halliburton.

Boom Boom!!!

Wild Rover

2007-08-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

I've been a wild Rover for many a year
and I've spent all my money on Halliburton shares.
but now I've resigned, I'm running out the door
and I never will play the wild rover no more.

I went to the WhiteHouse I used to frequent,
and I told George and Cheney their money was spent.
They asked me for credit, I answered them "nay,
the IMF gave you all that yesterday."

I'll go home to PNAC, confess what I've done,
and collect my commission, gold bullion, lump sum.
I'll get myself ready for the Third World War,
and I never will play the wild rover no more.

A "Psychic's" View Of 2007

2007-07-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Finding this a second time, I couldn't resist posting it here:

Astrological shots in the dark, by Phil O'Blarney.

Just because I'm psychic doesn't mean I can see into the future, otherwise I would've bought and sold thousands of shares of Microsoft by now. My evil twin however has a crystal ball that he swears works pretty well, so I'll let him indulge in predictions for the new year, although I think he's been looking at some other solar system.

1. Bush will not be President by the end of the year. Of course, he never has been.

2. The Moslem equivalent of Martin Luther will nail 95 Theses to the door of a bombed-out mosque in Baghdad. He or she will be shot on sight, but will be revered in martyrdom, and these revolutionary ideas will lead to an Islamic Reformation in about 250 years.

3. Hilary Clinton will have an affair with Barak Obama, and they will spawn a love child named Tito who will eventually grow up to become King of the United States of North America.

4. Internet videos will surface showing a sex tape involving Jerry Falwell, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, Vice President Dick Cheney, and a recently sacrificed goat named Chelsea. Cheney responds by shooting Chris Matthews in the face with bird-shot and screaming that he hasn't been able to have sex since he found out that his daughter was Lebanese.

5. A Democratic contender for the White House will be seen as the clear front-runner for the 2008 election. Liberal Democrats from Massachusetts need not get their hopes up.

6. An Evangelical TV preacher will be caught having sex with an alien space monkey while free-basing shredded $20 bills.

7. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will get much worse before they get any better, and a Peace movement will build in the US. My little buddy Mister Whiskers typed that one.

8. Fidel Castro will make the ultimate transition, and Cuba will be renamed Miami Island.

9. A scientist from Bob Jones University will announce his theory that black holes are created by gay penguins living in San Francisco.

10. It will be revealed that the 2000 US elections were rigged in Florida, and Al Gore should have become President after all. A laughing Gore responds to the news by saying that he made the whole global warming thing up.

11. There will be earthquakes and floods. This obligatory prediction fulfills a law that astrologers have taken an oath to uphold.

12. The Ford Motor Company will unveil a new SUV called the Land Barge to fill the void left by the discontinuance of the largest Hummer. The marketing campaign will target short, fat, rich Republicans with small penises.

13. The US dollar falls to 90% below it's value of just ten years ago. The Federal Reserve Bank asks the Republic of Ghana for loans.

14. Al Qaeda terrorists send a suicide bomber to blow up the Skull and Bones temple at Yale. The specters of Bob Hope and Doris Day arise from the smoke and ashes to sing a duet of "On the Good Ship Lollypop."

15. Michael Jackson will record a new CD entitled "I'm Not Sure, But I Might Not Be Normal."

16. Hurricane Zsa Zsa will devastate Rehoboth Beach Delaware, Fire Island New York, and Provincetown Massachusetts. FEMA rushes to build a fence along the Mexican border.

17. A scientifically conducted poll at year's end reveals that individuals who practice alternative spirituality now outnumber those who call themselves Evangelicals. Pat Robertson, Supreme Commander of the Flat Earth Society, responds by saying that gay penguins from San Francisco living under his bed are the result of satanic influences that now control scientists brains, and that all future polling should be conducted by using Diebold touch-screen voting machines.

Tricking The Set Top Box

2007-06-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

Brompton, where I've lived for ten years, has always been a bit dodgy for telly reception. I was given an Ultravision box, and was grateful enough that the thing gave me my first clear ABC in a decade. However, Aunty and Channel 10 were all I could get.

Played around with the Program Guide button tonight. The unit came to me without a manual and in dire need of a lot of gaffer tape, so I hadn't gotten around to finding it yet.

Flicking through, I found that pictures from most of the stations came up in a little box above the schedules when you clicked on the station's program guide.

Once you've got a picture, hit Exit. Voila. Brilliant reception on everything except SBS. No worries. I get that brilliantly anyway.

My only question is, why do I have to trick the bloody thing into doing its job? It reminds me of a Liberal Cabinet.

Ruddock On Protecting ASIO Officers' Names

2007-06-11T04:50:00.000-07:00

The following Chaser extract is reminiscent of something that made me almost sh*t myself two weeks back. I'm not legally able to tell you what it reminds me of:

[Excerpt of ABC TV's Chaser's War On Everything (2006) courtesy of ABC Radio National's Media Report]

Julian Morrow: Minister, you've outlined the government's counter-terrorism strategy this morning, but can I ask you, in entertainment what is Austin Powers' middle name?

Philip Ruddock: Who is Austin Powers?

Julian Morrow: Well it does bear on your portfolio, Minister, Austin Powers is a super-spy?

Philip Ruddock: Is he; for whom?

Julian Morrow: The British government I believe.

Philip Ruddock: I see. I don't ever know the names of spies, and I certainly don't know the names of intelligence officers, nor should you.

Julian Morrow: Okay so I shouldn't tell you that the answer is in fact Danger is his middle name....

Philip Ruddock: No, you shouldn't tell me the names that may be a nom de plume of agents when you may expose their lives to danger.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Let's just say that things are tightening up.

The Moral To The Joke?

2007-06-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

Y'know" said the Scotsman, "I still prefer the pubs back home. In Glasgow there's a little bar called McTavish's. Now the landlord there goes out of his way for the locals so much that when you buy four drinks he will buy the fifth drink for you."

"Well," said the Englishman, "at my local, The Red Lion, the barman there will buy you your third drink after you buy the first two."

"Ahhhhh, that's nothing," said the Irishman. "Back home in Dublin there's Ryan's Bar. Now the moment you set foot in the place they'll buy you a drink, then another, all the drinks you like. Then when you've had enough drinks they'll take you upstairs see that you get laid. All on the house." The Englishman and Scotsman immediately scorn the Irishman's claims but he swears every word is true. "Well," asked the Englishman, "did this actually happen to you?" "Not me meself, personally, no," said the Irishman . . "But it did happen to me sister."

(Thanks Chip)

From the Mouths Of The Masters- AWDs 'n' Missile Shields

2007-05-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

"In December 2003, Australia announced its decision to participate in the U.S. Missile Defense program. Subsequently, the U.S. and Australia signed in July 2004, a Framework Memorandum of Understanding on Missile Defense Cooperation, and a Research & Development MoU was signed in October 2005. Three specific cooperative projects -- involving the Over-the-Horizon Radar, modeling and simulation, and fusion and tracking technologies -- are currently under discussion. On August 16, 2005, Canberra announced it had chosen the U.S. firm Gibbs and Cox as the preferred designer for their navy's air warfare destroyers worth up to $6Billion Australian Dollars. Three vessels are currently funded, with the first scheduled to be operational in 2013. Each will be equipped with AEGIS sensors and will be interoperable with the military forces of the United States and with those of other future coalition partners. Although Australia may not currently see a ballistic missile threat to its territory, its purpose for pursuing bilateral U.S.-Australia Missile Defense cooperation is based on maintaining a close alliance relationship with the United States and providing Australian industry with an opportunity for industrial cooperation and technology transfer."

- Paula A. DeSutter, Assistant Secretary for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation
Remarks at the National Defense University Foundation Congressional Breakfast Seminar Series
Washington, DC
April 4, 2006

[As prepared]

Available here
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/rm/64126.htm

Ch 7 Anzac Day Sunrise.. No Kevin Rudd

2007-04-10T04:01:00.000-07:00

I guess the story about the Vietnam broadcast was a fraud. Let's face it, the scam had Tony Aboot's name written all over it long before Seven put out today's media release:

Sunrise on ANZAC Day
Author: Seven Network | Apr 10, 2007, 15:17

In a very special television event, Channel Seven’s Sunrise program will broadcast on ANZAC Day from Currumbin Beach on the Gold Coast.

From 6am on Wednesday 25 April 2007, Sunrise cameras will capture the Elephant Rock Dawn service commercial free.

The service is organised by the Currumbin Palm Beach RSL Club and features a veterans’ parade and fly-over.

“The Elephant Rock service is one of the most beautiful in the country,” says Executive Producer Adam Boland. “It’s impossible not to get goose bumps when you see the light horseman on the beach.”

The entire Sunrise team will be on location at the Currumbin Surf Life Saving Club overlooking the service.

After 8am, attention will return to the beach as arguably Australia’s biggest band takes to the stage in a celebration of Australian freedom. The top secret act will perform four songs. Details of the act will be announced on Monday April 16.

“ANZAC Day is a day of thanks and reflection on what a wonderful nation we live in, “ says Ron Workman, President of the Currumbin Palm Beach RSL. “In highlighting our freedom, the children of our Community will be able to enjoy a live Benefit Concert on the beach. We at the RSL believe the Freedom Concert is aptly named. We thank Sunrise on their approach to a day of national significance.”

The beach backs on to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Throughout the morning, weather presenter Monique Wright will be inside the Sanctuary’s wildlife hospital which desperately needs re-building.

More than 4,000 sick and orphaned native animals are brought to the hospital each year. The current facility can no longer meet demand – so Sunrise is putting its weight behind the appeal.

“We aim to raise $1 million dollars and we’ll be appealing to Corporate Australia as well as Mums and Dads to dig deep,” says Michelle Monsour, Chief Executive of Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. “With climate change and increased urbanisation, we need to protect our precious and fragile Aussie wildlife for future generations.”

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is operated by the National Trust of Queensland on a not-for-profit basis.

Shelley Kovco Calls For Inquiry Finding Overturn

2007-03-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

After the flood of emotions I"ve been through since receiving a post purporting to be from Shelley Kovco, I'm having trouble believing that it was from the same person appearing in the reports coming out this morning. On the strength of the report commissioned by the NSW Homicide squad, Shelley has called for the military finding of death by skylarking to be overturned. Kovco's mother is calling for an inquest.

The Homicide squad's report says that ""insufficient evidence [is] available ... to determine whether the trigger was pulled deliberately or accidentally".

Here's the current version from The Age.

What do I make of the missive from "Shelley" now? Shelley Kovco has said today that all she wants is for the word "skylarking" taken out, so that the verdict is simply that Kovco died of a gunshot wound to the head. Fair enough. What I still would like to know it that if, as claimed in the post, there is footage of Kovco being worked on, why hasn't it been mentioned till now?

One thing I know for sure is that I've only had a very minor taste of how Shelley Kovco might feel. I feel so sad for her. However, if there is going to be an inquest then I will be following it closely.

An Apology To Shelley Kovco

2007-03-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

I have recieved, from Shelley Kovco, this reply to my last post, and reprint it here so that everyone can see the hurt that I have caused.

Richard.....You have no idea what you are on about. Oh....were you in the room??? You seem to know what happened? Please do tell? My husband was still alive when he was in the room. I have seen footage where the boys have been working on him. You have not been lied to and I would really like to stop reading crap that people like yourself keep bringing up.

It has been almost 12 months since my husband died and I'd really like to know that people have something else to talk about. Why not write an article on yourself and lets see what comes up there? Why is it that you think that Jake's mates would pull this sort of shit? A lot of you "civvy's" have no bloody idea about army life and the realtionships the families have. There is no way known that Jake's mates and his commanding officer would be so emotianl telling me about those last few moments they spent with Jake.

If you have any proof of anything you disagree with please let me know and I can tell you the truth or at least find out. A lot of you "Civvy's" out there find it so easy to blame the defence for a cover up. Try walking a day or even a year in my shoes and see what this crap feels like and does to you. Let Jake's name be remembered the way it should, With honour

.

Shelley, my most sincere apologies. I wouldn't and couldn't want to do anything that would hurt you. I thought something was wrong, and was trying, in a way I now see was misguided, to help.

The last was going to be the last thing I was going to say, and now this post.

I am distressed that I have caused you further sadness. I will do whatever I can to try and make amends in memory of your husband.

The Last Word On Kovco- The First Word On Kov

2007-03-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

The Last Word On Kovco- The First Word On Kovco

"He died in a US Army combat surgical hospital where he was surrounded by his mates, who draped his body in an Australian flag and with a paratrooper's beret on his chest as they said The Lord's Prayer." These words of Jake Kovco's death appeared on the Melbourne Herald Sun's website on the weekend following his death.

Who wrote this crap? Surely to any reader that's been following the Kovco Inquiry the wag-the-dog-style imagery written here is WRONG.

The lines came from an ADF media release issued on April 23rd of last year. They're the only lines I've read throughout this whole sorry saga that don't say that Kovco wasn't dead on his barracks room floor from the bullet lodged in his head.

I can easily believe that later, at the US hospital, the body was brought out, draped with a flag, and the religious ceremony enacted. What I'm suggesting is that Kovco may have already been dead for a very long time.

The visual image of Kovco's death portrayed here bears the hallmarks of a spin by a writer from the Rendon Group. They're fairly fond of flags. One of their best photo-ops was of the various nationalities of the Coalition as they gathered at the Kuwait border to invade Iraq. The soldiers didn't have flags from their home countries in their hands by accident. Rendon put them there.

The same sort of thing happenned when Saddam's statue fell.

So why re-stage Kovco's death scene? Was it just to make a more "appropriate" picture o an Australian digger's death in Iraq?

If my theory holds true, then there are probably many other event recreations that we'l never get to know about.

Personally, I'd like to know why we were lied to.

Is It Just Me Or ...?

2007-02-14T04:13:00.000-08:00

Isn't an odd coincidence that Howard has just reintroduced himself to the US publc a week before Dick Cheney's visit? Who is this a marketing plan for?

My guess is it\s for Cheney. When the US Vice President addresses the US-Australia alliance from our shores next week, a lot more people will be more familiar with the John Howard standing beside him. Much of the US population will be more believing that Cheney's activities have international support.

If the US people only knew just how much money Halliburton has tied up in Australia, they'd be able to see the scheming.

Televised dog-wagging may bring Dick up in the polls, but it might be the kiss of death for our PM. Not that, I reckon, Dick would give a stuff.

On the other hand, if the idea was to make Mr Howard look good, it will be an abysmal faliure. Cheney is a symbol of the war that everyone is finally starting to hate. All the visit will engender for John is more venom directed against him. And justifyably so.

The Wayward Wind

2007-02-05T04:50:00.000-08:00

That TV Ad with the toddler driving the car has jogged a memory of pranging the family car when I was three. I'd watched Dad drive tons of times, and was completely sure that by jerking your hands back and forth on the steering wheel, the car did what it was supposed to do.

Getting into the car, slipping the auto system into neautral, and taking off the parking brake, I received a shock. My unwavering faith in the driving process was shattered by the car rolling backward down the driveway hill. I frantically twitched the wheel in disbelief as the car wobbled at a fair-to-medium pace across the street and into a tree. I don't remember performing the stunt twice, but my parents certainly do.

The people complaining about the commercial should get a life, if a kid wants to, it'll happen.

PS I don't drive any more.

Aussie know-how

2007-01-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

The scene is set, the night is cold, the campfire is burning and the stars
twinkle in the dark night sky...

Three hang-glider pilots, one from Australia, one from South Africa and
the other from New Zealand, are sitting round a campfire near Ayers Rock, each
embroiled with the bravado for which they are famous.

A night of tall tales begins....

Kiven, the kiwi says, "I must be the meanest, toughest heng glider dude
there us. Why, just the other day, I linded in a field and scared a
crocodile thet got loose from the swamp. Et ate sux men before I wrestled
ut to the ground weth my bare hends end beat ut's bliddy 'ed un.

Jerry from South Africa typically can't stand to be bettered. "Well you
guys, I lended orfter a 200 mile flight on a tiny treck, ind a fifteen
foot Namibian desert snike slid out from under a rock and made a move for me. I
grebbed thet borsted with my bare hinds and tore it's head orf ind sucked
the poison down in one gulp. Ind I'm still here today".

Barry the Aussie remained silent, slowly poking the fire with his penis.

Pucker Up

2007-01-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

Did anyone else see the whistling doco nn ABC tonight? There was one fella who had been two-time international whistling champion. They showed of a picture of him meeting Dubya. Then they showed him going to work.

He works for Carlyle.

Does this mean that the corporation is directing George via whistled commands, like a sheep dog?
If you had a US Prez hypnotically programmed to respond to whistled instructions, you'd be laughing.

Mind you, that's assuming that George is at least as smart as the average sheep-dog. This is debatable.

Is It Over Yet?

2007-01-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

So, four years after the non-Islamic part of the world violated a nation's sovereign rights by beggining the process of invading, seizing its ruler and at the very least assisting in the creation of the outcome of his execution, is the War On Terror over?

Every Western civilation is five times as scared as it was before of bombs detonating in its city streets. Is the War On Terror over?

3,000 US soldiers are dead, and a couple of hundred thousand Iraqis, who-knows-how-many have been injured. London has been bombed. Al Qaeda has threatened Australia. You can't walk two blocks in Adelaide without your face being filmed twenty five times.

Whether Saddam did or didn't deserve to die, we have made a debacle of fulfilling our objective of eliminating this one man. As a result our society has changed.

It bloody well better have been worth it. I don't think it was. I also don't think we're being selfish in examining every mistake in this cock-up.

If this is "end of story" then a few chapters in the middle still need writing. Years of front pages and editorials dedicated to the cause,. Inaccurate intelligence, misleading propaganda and massive profits by exponents of associated industries, not to mention "poll defying" (PM Howard's words at the recent Sydney Salute To Rupert Murdoch) ignorance of public opinion all suggest it's far from selfish to examine every aspect of how this operation was conducted.

How Saddam's death was achieved stinks from start to finish. If we believe we're being egocentric to talk about it and shut up then we place ourselves in a position of being forced to participate in similar future scenaria. This would be the worst atrocity of all.

In the meantime, the War On Terror is far from over.

Stephen Hawking and Star Trek

2006-12-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

There's a sniff of disparagement in current media references to Hawking's current ideas being similar to those used in the science fiction stories. What the journalists are missing is that in the case of Star Trek the show's writers were aware enough of Hawking's theories to be able to incorporate them. This was also the case with Isaac Asimov's Laws Of Robotics.

Hawking even appeared in Star Trek: The next generation, as a hologram of himself (the only person to self-portray in the series).

Nothing should denigrate these words:

"The long-term survival of the human race is at risk, as long as it is confined to a single planet."

"Sooner or later disasters such as an asteroid collision or a nuclear war could wipe us out. But once we spread out into space, and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe. "

Hawking explained last week that if we used the technology that took the Apollo missions to the moon it would take us 50,000 years. However by utilising his theories and flying at a speed as close to that of light as is possibily within known physical laws, Hawking says that we could visit our nearest star in 6 years.

Due to the changed nature of time while travelling at such speeds the elapsed period perceived by the travellers would be less that the time experienced by the rest of the universe. I read an sf story once of two twins, one on earth and one travelling in space, talking to each other via video links. The travelling twin returned to earth many years after his brother died of old age.

In the episode of Star Trek, Hawking is shown the ship's Warp Drive, whiich allows it to travel faster than light. Hawking's line? "I'm working on that."

Downer's Dog Days

2006-11-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

Poor Alexander Downer! His leash has been cut, he's about to receive the political equivalent of a snip from the vet, and everyone's trying to put him down.

It's bad enough that through the demise of the Bush Administration's power supply he's just been demoted from alsatian to poodle, but now that the the Democrats are about to control the US' own Australian Wheat Bribe investigations, he's just lost the "flea collar" of ministerial non-accountablility that he buried in Commissioner Terence Cole's terms of reference. No matter what Cole says when he hands down his findings in the next few weeks, Downer is about to be judged by the US Congress. Where Cole can't find Downer guilty of participating in one of the more heinous war crimes of the Iraq invasion. Democrat congressmen can, and probably will, banish him from the international political arena as punishment for his crimes.

Of particular interest to new inquiry chairmen is the Republican response to Australian requests to provide a smokescreen before the last Australian Federal election. Australian ambassador to the US Michael Thawley made a quiet plea that the investigation into Australian corruption be shelved to avoid any pre-poll embarrassment to PM Howard, and Bush's henchmen were happy to comply. Thawley was rewarded for his act of heroism by being made a Vice President of a mult-billion dollar pension fund.

I'll be interested to see how Thawley conducts himself in this matter. Will he fall on his sword by saying that it was his own idea to intercede, or will he reveal the chain of communication from Howard and Downer that would show the US public exactly who the war criminals are in this matter?

With another Australian election on the horizon, the likelihood of the matter being swept under the rug again is extremely negligible. Our PM may face a situation where he has to lose some of his key players in an attempt to maintain political survival. I predict there will be an empty kennel in the back yard a monogrammed bowl that is no longer licked. But late at night, when the moon is full and the wind is blowing in the right direction, perhaps you'll hear a howl.

Scott Parkin vs ASIO... The Winner!

2006-11-03T18:38:00.000-08:00

Somebody named FOSP added this to my Houston Indymedia version of the Parkin story.

Yep, if people start getting organised in their protests, the Bush Regime in both countries might indeed have something to fear.

I've just received this from Friends Of Scott Parkin:

Dear Friends-- Very exciting news! Yesterday, Justice Ross Sundberg
granted my lawyers access to the contents of the Australian Security
Intelligence Organization's security assessment which resulted in me
being removed from Melbourne in September last year. Furthermore, it
grants access to the security assessments of my 2 co-plaintiffs, Iraqi
asylum seekers Mohammad Sagar and Muhammad Faisal, who have been in an
Australian detention centre for the past 5 years.

This is a fantastic 1st step towards me clearing my name and
winning the freedom for my co-plaintiffs, but we still have a long way
to go as the legal battle is only beginning.

We need funds to keep the legal challenge and political campaign going.

Please donate to support the campaign by visiting http://scottparkin.org/give.htm.

Also this is a very small list and forwarding this message to your ends and communities would be a great help.

his has been a long process, but I want to thank everyone for all
their support over the past year. It has meant so much to my and my
family.

Peace,

Scott Parkin

Scott Parkin Wins !!! Federal Court Rules Documents Released

2006-11-02T23:36:00.000-08:00

Australian Federal Court Backs Halliburton Protester Scott Parkin

The Australian Federal Court has announcedoday that deported activist Scott Parkin does have a right to know why ASIO deported him. The court has granted Parkin access to the ASIO documentation used in his negative security classification.

On the day before Septemberr 11 last year Parkin was arrested and placed in solitary confinement amidst claims he was a violent activist. He was portrayed in Australian September 11 media as a threat to Australian security. Newsweek reported in January that the Pentagon had kept a file on Parkin handing out sandwiches as a protest for Halliburton's food charges in Iraq. It is likely Australian intelligence agency ASIO declared that Parkin was a potentially violent activist on the strength of this file's existence, though it's unknown if ASIO were allowed to read it.

Parkin told Australian ABC Radio today that he'd be "..thrilled to come back to Australia." and that he feels he has been vindicated.

Spy agency ASIO can still appeal to the High Court, and if this fails Australian Attorney General Phillip Ruddock can still have the information witheld under grounds of national security.

Why The Kovco Inquiry Findings Were Delayed

2006-11-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

Why The Kovco Inquiry Findings Were Delayed

I've got a theory as to why the inquiry findings into the death of Private Jake Kovco are not being released till next year. In both Australia and the US sentiment against the war in Iraq has never been higher, and the control of US Congress may be decided on this issue, as it might in Australia next year.

The circumstances surrounding Kovco's death are being considered unfortunate by some and negligent by others. Testimonies have referred to the inappropriate cleaning up of evidence and confusion in details of evidence by comrades in close proximity. Then there's the accidental switching of bodies that led to the remains of a deceased Bosnian contractor being flown to Australia instead of the fallen soldier.

That the information has been witheld in a case such as this, in which so many people are concerned as to what might have transpired, shows the concern of our military and government that the current political climate is considered inappropriate to divulging "sensitive" data, and also that the release of information regarding events of the war in Iraq in being very carefully controlled by military and government propagandists.

Webdiary Temporarily Down

2006-10-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

I edited some comments on Webdiary at about ten o'clock last night. On coming back to the site ten minutes later, I found not only the comments for current pieces had gone missing, but also those for articles in the archive.

With any luck normal services will resume asap. In the meantime it's sad to see the site in a coma.

I've only been involved with Webdiary for eighteen months. I'd been emailing Margo Kingston the odds and sods I'd been finding about Halliburton for a while when she invited me to do a piece and gave me some coaching on how to go about writing this. After this Margo and Hamish set me up a blog on yourdemocracy.net.au. The first entry became linked from the blog page of Halliburton Watch, and I've been added many of my newer posts to that link. It's become a diary of what I've been observing, and has this week arrived at a hit total of 10,000. Some of my pieces have also been published as news by Halliburton Watch, in particular those relating to Scott Parkin's shameful deportation and the identification of corrupt practices in Ausaid.

If it wasn't for Webdiary and the sibling team-supreme Margo Kingston and Hamish Alcorn I would 've been battling to get the word out. This applies to many other people in similar situations.

These days, as MK and Hamish pursue other activities there's a few volunteers keeping the site going, a trickle of donations covering running costs. The site often hosts over sixty comments a day on various subject threads, and is still a meeting place to thrash out ideas. Every now and then it shows a glimmer of becoming a gestalt, a group mind working on projects together.

I'm sure Webdiary will one day be the force in citizen journalism that Margo envisaged.

A Parable Of Prognostication

2006-10-11T00:41:00.000-07:00

It was April and the Aboriginals in a remote part of northern Australia asked their new elder if the coming winter was Going to be cold or mild. Since he was an elder in a modern community he had never been taught the old secrets.

When he looked at the sky he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, To be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the tribe should collect firewood to be prepared. But being a practical leader, after several days he had an idea. He walked out to the telephone booth on the highway, called the Bureau of Meteorology and asked, "Is the coming winter in this area going to be cold?" The meteorologist responded, " It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold."So the elder went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared.

A week later he called the Bureau of Meteorology again. "Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?" The meteorologist again replied, "Yes, it's going to be a very cold winter." The elder again went back to his community and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.

Two weeks later the elder called the Bureau again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter isgoing to be very cold?" he asked. "Absolutely," the man replied. "It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever. "How can you be so sure?" the elder asked. The weatherman replied, "There are reports that the Aboriginals are collecting firewood like crazy, and that's always a sure sign.

-Forwarded by Chip

ABC Christmas Serve

2006-09-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

The ABC copped a serve on the Channel Nine comedy show The Late Shift on Sunday night. The scene is Christmas dinner and everyone's reading their bonbon jokes.

Little Bobby goes first "Why didn't the Coalition find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Because the invasion was based on a tissue of lies so that the US could get Iraq's resources" Everyone murmurs politely then Aunty Beryl reads out "What's the difference between George Bush and Nelson Mandela? George Bush is an arsehole"

Quizzical looks go around the table, then Uncle Fred reads "What do you get when you cross a weasel with a rodent? John Howard." Dad now says to Mum "Where exactly did you buy the crackers?" to which Mum replies

"ABC shop."

Parts of this abridged due to lack of recollection. Must say that it is rough treatment of the ABC.. if they weren't tell us what's actually happening then nobody would be.

Getting Your Goat

2006-09-22T01:02:00.000-07:00

(From the Sudan Tribune) A certain Mr Tombe was caught having an intimate relation with a goat belonging to a Mr Alifi at Hai Malakal — Upper Nile State, southern Sudan — on February 13. Tombe was ordered to pay the goat’s dowry and take the animal as his wife .

Mr Alifi said: "It was around midnight when Tombe came to do his nonsense on my goat, and I was already in bed inside my house. Suddenly , I heard the goat make a loud noise. Immediately, I rushed outside to find Mr Tombe was naked and engaged in a relation with my goat . When I asked him what are you doing there, he fell off the back of the goat, so I captured and tied him up".

Alifi then brought some elders to decide the fate of the goat defiler.

"They said I should not take him to the police , but rather let him pay a dowry for my goat because he used it as his wife."

Mr Tombe agreed immediately to pay for the goat, and paid half the dowry 150,000 Sudanese dinars up front.

"We have given him the goat, and as far as we know , they are still together", Mr Alifi concluded.

Having It Off..

2006-09-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

The bloody car prang means that I can't bang
Of my willie there's only a stump
And despite all me missus's loving and kisseses
You can't have a hump with a lump

The doctors come along with a fairly good schlong
only four inches, but servicable.
You'd have to be silly to turn down a willie
I think I might name it Percival.

It's a week since the op, and Percy won't stop
standing proudly erect for a tumble
It seems that this boner has the tastes of the owner
who had him before.. mustn't grumble.

In the conjugal bed, as I groveeled and plead.
My missus just laughed in my face
"In church I did promise to love your John Thomas,
not Percival here in his place."

"Fuck's sake" I said shittily (and I meant it quite literally)
"What's a man got to do for a nooky?"
If I can't have it off then life's pretty rough.
I felt, I must say, pretty sooky.

If my wife finds it ghoulish (I reckon she's foolish)
to coitus with another bloke's penis
Then I'll have one more op and give Percy the chop,
leave Her Ladyship stranded on Venus.

Unfortunately for Percival his fate was reversible
He was cut off and wrapped in newspaper.
My wife was none the wiser when she saw it in the Tiser.
and that is the end of this caper.

Based on this story

Questions On The Kovco Tapes", Sky Television Inquiry Infiltration Scare

2006-09-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Questions On The" Kovco Tapes", Sky Television Infiltration Scare

The personal blog entry was updated.

There's a video link from the inquiry room to that which the journalists watch from. Vision from the Kovco inquiry is supposed to go to no other place even within the amry barracks at which the hearing is being held. Howvever the Daily Telegraph reported that the inquiry has been halted, all of the journalists evicted from their room and their belongings searched, due to a believed wire-tap by Sky News. Sky and the Tele have since reported that this was not the case. The fact, however, that the inquiry believed that an infiltration occurred and acted accordingly belies the level of paranoia at which the inquiry is being conducted. Perhaps the Austtralian public should consider a similar methodology.

The videos of Australian soldiers behaving badly have been inextricably linked in the minds of the Australian public with the death of Private Jake Kovco. In the same manner that the "new footage" of Osama "plotting the twin towers" attack, the first of its kind have tied Osama to the current rounds of the "War On Terror", the new tapes from Baghdad, which appeared on the net just as Kovco's detachment returned home, imply by association that Kovco was involved in the politically incorrect horseplay.

On of the earlier stories doing the rounds was that Kovco was miming to the Cranberries song Zombie (you know the one.." in your heeead, in your heeaad..) when the gun went off. Even though the new video proves that similar activities did occur, it does not, according to any reports so far, show Jake Kovco doing any such thing. However, guilt by association has already begun. There are already reports that the inquiry will at least partially blame Kovco for his demise.

I didn't buy the "fooling around:" story the first time around, and I still don't. The new Osama footage was "discovered" just in time to be inserted into the S11 5th anniversary docos on Sunday night, and it appears to me that the "discovery" of the Army tapes may have been carried out with a similar intent in mind.

Whether directly related or not, the swapping of the two bodies is still of great concern. A Halliburton contractor with a moustache, wristband, correct body bag tag (even with the correct passport number) was substituted for a clean shaven man with an orange neck brace and dental equipment around his mouth.. Personally I can't understand that the wives of US truckers working for the company in Iraq aren't up in arms that their loved one's employers have sent the corpse of a co-worker to the wrong country. Probably they don't know about it. At any rate, at least one of the dead Australian soldier's relatives worked in the undertaking profession and was able to care for the body Juso Sunanovich until he was repatriated.

Who knows, given the crazy world of Iraq, the two deaths may be related in other ways. To ensure that Kovco's reputation is finally treated with respect, this avenue of inquiry needs to be pursued as avidly as the others.

If the "Kovco Tapes" turn out to be, like the Defence Minister's statement and the Military Police's "interviews" with the other soldiers, to be prefabricated and at least partially false, I hope Brendan Nelson loses his job.

Back to the Inquiry today, and Shelley Kovco has voiced similar concerns about the mistakes in Kovco's repatration. She say that Defence thought it would "look good" if Kovco came home on Anzac day. I wonder how good it would look if television pictures of Haliburton's body going to the wrong place were broadcast in Texas? It would be almost as bad as what went wrong in the Wag The Dog plot.

Smelling Like Project Rose- AWB Documents Ordered Handed OVer

2006-09-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

The old saying is that a person might be so lucky as to fall into a bucket of manure and come out smelling like roses. There's a fair chance that whoever named the AWB's reputation recovery plan may have been overly optimistic.

Along with their departments, three Australian ministers, those of Defence, Trade and Foreign Affairs, are now swimming in that proverbial bucket.

Project Rose was conceived when AWB knew that the UN Oil-For-Food Inquiry was going to suggest that the company was bribing Saddam for wheat deals by giving him money to buy weapons with. It is also likely to be connected with the activities of Australia's ambassador to the U.S. as another part of a continued cover-up program to conceal that AWB, a formerly Government controlled agency, was funding what became an enemy army.

Today the courts have ordered that AWB hand over piles of documents it didn't wish the Australian Inquiry into the matter to possess. It managed to suppress some, but over half the documents that it wished concealed will now become available for public scrutiny.

George Bush Creates Religious Awakening?

2006-09-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

George W. Bush, leader of the last standing Superpower in the world, believes there is a new surge of religious awakening going on. He probably also believes he created it, and that when people exclaim "Jesus Christ" at his speeches that they believe they're witnessing the Second Coming. In fact many people lament the First Coming, and ponder how different our world would be if President Dad had worn a condom.

Here's the Reuters report from last Wednesday

President George W. Bush believes the United States has embarked on the latest great religious awakening of its history.

Bush, who counts on religious conservatives as a key base of political support, was quoted as saying on Tuesday that the United States appeared to be undergoing a cultural change on the scale of that seen in the 1950s and '60s.

"There was a pretty stark change in the culture of the '50s and the '60s. I mean, boom. But I think something is happening here," Bush said at a roundtable with conservative columnists. His words were reported by the National Review magazine.

"I'm not giving you a definitive statement -- it seems like to me there's a Third Awakening with a cultural change," Bush said.

Historians have pointed to periods such as the early 1700s and early 1800s, as times in which religious movements were particularly significant in America.

Those eras are referred to as Great Awakenings, although there is disagreement on how many there have been. In one such period, in the 1730s and 1740s, religious revivals in the United States coincided with similar movements in Germany and England.

An awakening in the 1800s is credited with helping to inspire the movement to abolish slavery in the United States.

Bush, a Methodist, often talks about the importance of faith in his life. Some critics seeing this as crossing a line between religion and politics, and his frequent references to religion are viewed with particular unease abroad.

Amid growing U.S. concerns about the

Iraq war, The National Review article linked Bush's rejection of a pullout to his religious faith.

"I know it upsets people when I ascribe that to my belief in an Almighty, and that I believe a gift from that Almighty is universal freedom. That's what I believe," Bush said.

Doctor Who - The 666 story

2006-09-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

The episodes of Doctor Who that were screened on the weekends surrounding 6/6/06 concern the freeing of an ancient Beast from beyond the dawn of time.

The story, currently being broadcast in Australia, must have made many more people aware of the possible symbolism of the date than if it had been broadcast at another time. To achieve this would have required a considerable timespan of forward planning, and you have to wonder whether the writers and producers were simply timing for dramatic effenct and publicity or whether they may have been attempting to alert the populace to vigiliance of possible psychological manipulation of events emenating from that point in time.

I have to confess that I watched them fairly soon after they were broadcast. I won't say any more... it'll spoil the ending.

Anyway, while you're enjoying the conclusion to the two-parter on Saturday night, have a think about what I'm saying really.

PS Lovely bit of serendipity that the ABC is concluding the story two days before September 11.
PPS Sorry.. this is the last 666 I'll be doing for now. Just stressing a point.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy Now

2006-08-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

I had to link to this site and complete the circle..

Biblical Prophecy

Revelations 8-12

"And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."

Misc.03 Aug 2006 08:08 am

Lobbying For Armageddon- From Alternet

Jerry Falwell, former Republican presidential candidate and religious right activist Gary Bauer, and George Morrison, pastor of the 8,000-member Faith Bible Chapel i n Arvada, Colo. … The pages of “Jerusalem Countdown” provide a peculiar mix of biblical prophecy, purported inside information from Israeli government officials and a mixed-up, pared-down l esson in nuclear physics….

Original post by Richard Tonkin’s Snippets

An Explanation Of The London Terror Farce

2006-08-17T03:59:00.000-07:00

Club Troppo's Nicholas Gruen posted this bell-ringing article by a former UK ambassador, and it's ringing out danger. Have a look at this extract for a different point of view to that of the mainstream media:

I have been reading very carefully through all the Sunday newspapers to try and analyse the truth from all the scores of pages claiming to detail the so-called bomb plot. Unlike the great herd of so-called security experts doing the media analysis, I have the advantage of having had the very highest security clearances myself, having done a huge amount of professional intelligence analysis, and having been inside the spin machine.

So this, I believe, is the true story.

None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not even have passports, which given the efficiency of the UK Passport Agency would mean they couldn't be a plane bomber for quite some time.

In the absence of bombs and airline tickets, and in many cases passports, it could be pretty difficult to convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that individuals intended to go through with suicide bombings, whatever rash stuff they may have bragged in internet chat rooms.

What is more, many of those arrested had been under surveillance for over a year - like thousands of other British Muslims. And not just Muslims. Like me. Nothing from that surveillance had indicated the need for early arrests.

Then an interrogation in Pakistan revealed the details of this amazing plot to blow up multiple planes - which, rather extraordinarily, had not turned up in a year of surveillance. Of course, the interrogators of the Pakistani dictator have their ways of making people sing like canaries. As I witnessed in Uzbekistan, you can get the most extraordinary information this way. Trouble is it always tends to give the interrogators all they might want, and more, in a desperate effort to stop or avert torture. What it doesn't give is the truth.

The gentleman being "interrogated" had fled the UK after being wanted for questioning over the murder of his uncle some years ago. That might be felt to cast some doubt on his reliability. It might also be felt that factors other than political ones might be at play within these relationships. Much is also being made of large transfers of money outside the formal economy. Not in fact too unusual in the British Muslim community, but if this activity is criminal, there are many possibilities that have nothing to do with terrorism.

We then have the extraordinary question of Bush and Blair discussing the possible arrests over the weekend. Why? I think the answer to that is plain. Both in desperate domestic political trouble, they longed for "Another 9/11". The intelligence from Pakistan, however dodgy, gave them a new 9/11 they could sell to the media. The media has bought, wholesale, all the rubbish they have been shovelled.

We then have the appalling political propaganda of John Reid, Home Secretary, making a speech warning us all of the dreadful evil threatening us and complaining that "Some people don't get" the need to abandon all our traditional liberties. He then went on, according to his own propaganda machine, to stay up all night and minutely direct the arrests. There could be no clearer evidence that our Police are now just a political tool. Like all the best nasty regimes, the knock on the door came in the middle of the night, at 2.30am. Those arrested included a mother with a six week old baby.

Happy Fifth Birthday 9/11

2006-08-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last year all we were given for September 11 was an Al Qaeda tape and the arrest of a terror threat named Scott Parkin. With Heathrow as an invitation, this year I reckon we're in for a suprise party.

A month away, and the celebrations have started already. People are being made to carry their personal effects onto planes in sealed plastic bags. What I wan't to know is if this liquid explosive idea was known, why weren't we told. OK so it might have alerted the would-be terrorists- but it would also have caused a cancellation of plans and perhaps averted the current state of fear that all of those travellers are enduring. And it might have averted an escalation in hostilities instead of potentially provoking such a possibility.

Not to mention that now that such a deed has been perpetrated the process is attemptable anywhere, anytime. I'll be amazed if discussions aren't being had at this minute regarding the possible closure of US airspace to incoming traffic. Copycat terrorist might be on planes from Vancouver, Mexico City, Jamaica, Adelaide, and a sealing of US borders might be the only form of protection that the Bush Administration could guarantee.

For a while now I've wanted to write on the possibility of a bumper birthday bash, but I couldn't see a likely catalyst. Voila! Fasten your seat belts, kiddies, we're in for a bumpy ride.

I was reading a book on sucessful dictators a while back, can't remember by who, which the author prefaced with the statement that the good ones seized power by cultivating and prolonging a state of emergency. For the commanders of the Coalition Of The Willing, this attack that never happened is pure media gold.

Lobbying For Armageddon- From Alternet

2006-08-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

In a perfect world, a reporter at last week's press conference with George Bush and Tony Blair would have asked Bush, in the presence of his principal European ally, if he believes the European Union is the Antichrist.

Although it sounds like the kind of Pat Robertson lunacy that makes even the wingnuts run for the nearest exit, it's a question Bush should be forced to answer. Bush and other leading Republicans have lined up behind a growing movement of Christian Zionists for whom a European Antichrist figures prominently in an end-times scenario. So they should be forced to explain to the rest of us why they're courting the votes of people who believe our allies are evil incarnate. Could it be that the central requirement for their breathlessly anticipated Armageddon -- that the United States confront Iran -- happens to dovetail so nicely with the neoconservative war agenda?

At the center of it all is Pastor John Hagee, a popular televangelist who leads the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. While Hagee has long prophesized about the end times, he ratcheted up his rhetoric this year with the publication of his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran is a necessary precondition for Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ. In the best-selling book, Hagee insists that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West. Shortly after the book's publication, he launched Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which, as the Christian version of the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, he said would cause "a political earthquake."

At CUFI's kick-off banquet at the Washington Hilton, attended by over 3,500 members, Republican support for both Hagee's effort and his drumbeat for war with Iran were on full view. Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman told the group that "no regime is more central to the global jihad" than Iran. Just two days before, Newt Gingrich and John McCain made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows to sound the same message, leading Benny Elon, a member of the Israeli Knesset, to comment to the Jerusalem Post that their remarks originated with Hagee. Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback also addressed the group, and Bush sent words of support to the gathering. Republicans, and even some Democrats, spoke at CUFI events to show their "support for Israel." But while public and media attention was on the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Hagee's focus continued to be on Iran.

While the crisis at the Israel-Lebanon border drew more mainstream media attention to CUFI's activities, Hagee's supporters have long known that leading Republicans are listening. Rabbi Daniel Lapin, a prominent Jewish ally of the evangelical right (and friend of Jack Abramoff) has said that Hagee "without question, yes, absolutely" has the ear of the White House. Hagee's annual Night to Honor Israel at his church has drawn prominent Republicans, including Tom DeLay, who was the keynote speaker in 2002.

Although Republicans would never admit it -- they claim their support for Christian Zionists like Hagee is based on their own support for Israel -- it is clear that they know they need the votes of this constituency to win. In the same way that Karl Rove courted conservative evangelicals in 2004 by appealing to their homophobia, Republican campaign rhetoric for 2006 and 2008 has already shown signs of playing to voters who have been hearing hype for a war with Iran for months -- at church.

While Washington insiders wonder what it means when Republicans like Mehlman and presidential aspirants Gingrich and McCain finger Iran as the central player in an epic clash of civilizations, Hagee already has spent months mobilizing the shock troops in support of another war. As diplomats, experts and pundits debate how many years Iran will need to develop a viable nuclear weapon, Hagee says the mullahs already possess the means to destroy Israel and America. And although Bush insists that diplomatic options are still on the table, Hagee has dismissed pussyfooting diplomacy and primed his followers for a conflagration.

Hagee wields "a very large megaphone" that reaches "a very large group of people," said Rabbi James Rudin of the American Jewish Committee, who has studied the Christian right for 30 years. With CUFI, the pastor has exponentially expanded the reach of his megaphone beyond his television audience. Thanks to the viral marketing made possible by the hundreds of evangelical leaders who have signed on to his new organization, his warmongering has rippled through megachurches across America for months. Hagee calls pastors "the spiritual generals of America," an appropriate phrase given his reliance on them to rally their troops behind his message.

The CUFI board of directors includes the Rev. Jerry Falwell, former Republican presidential candidate and religious right activist Gary Bauer, and George Morrison, pastor of the 8,000-member Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada, Colo., and chairman of the board of Promise Keepers. Rod Parsley, the Ohio televangelist who is rapidly becoming a major political player in the Christian right, signed on to be a regional director.

For Hagee's new project, his influence in Washington is probably less important than his influence over his audience. With the clout of his listeners, he can serve Bush administration hawks by firing up grassroots support for a military strike against Iran. Over 700,000 people purchased his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," and countless more have heard him promote it on Christian radio and television programming. Dramatic, doomsday advertising has been heard by listeners of Christian media as well as on Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly's radio programs. The pages of "Jerusalem Countdown" provide a peculiar mix of biblical prophecy, purported inside information from Israeli government officials and a mixed-up, pared-down lesson in nuclear physics.

"I wrote this book in April 2005, and when people read it, they will think I wrote it late last night after the FOX News report," says the author without a trace of irony. "It's that close to where we are and beyond."

Hagee speaks simultaneously to two audiences about Iran's nuclear capabilities: one that fears a terrorist attack by Iran and another that embraces a biblically mandated apocalypse. To impress the fearful, he mimics Bush's deceptions about Iraq's capacity to attack the United States with weapons of mass destruction, Condoleezza Rice's warnings of mushroom clouds, and Dick Cheney's dissembling about an alliance between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. Comparing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Hitler, Hagee argues that Iran's development of nuclear weapons must be stopped to protect America and Israel from a nuclear attack. Preying on legitimate worries about terrorism, and invoking 9/11, he vividly describes a supposed Iranian-led plan to simultaneously explode nuclear suitcase bombs in seven American cities, or to use an electromagnetic pulse device to create "an American Hiroshima."

When addressing audiences receptive to Scriptural prophecy, however, Hagee welcomes the coming confrontation. He argues that a strike against Iran will cause Arab nations to unite under Russia's leadership, as outlined in chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezekiel, leading to an "inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon." In Hagee's telling, Israel has no choice but to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities, with or without America's help. The strike will provoke Russia -- which wants Persian Gulf oil -- to lead an army of Arab nations against Israel. Then God will wipe out all but one-sixth of the Russian-led army, as the world watches "with shock and awe," he says, lending either a divine quality to the Bush administration phrase or a Bush-like quality to God's wrath.

But Hagee doesn't stop there. He adds that Ezekiel predicts fire "upon those who live in security in the coastlands." From this sentence, he concludes that there will be judgment upon all who stood by while the Russian-led force invaded Israel, and issues a stark warning to the United States to intervene: "Could it be that America, who refuses to defend Israel from the Russian invasion, will experience nuclear warfare on our east and west coasts?" He says yes, citing Genesis 12:3, in which God said to Israel: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you."

To fill the power vacuum left by God's decimation of the Russian army, the Antichrist -- the head of the EU -- will rule "a one-world government, a one-world currency and a one-world religion" for three and a half years. (Hagee adds that "one need only be a casual observer of current events to see that all three of these things are coming into reality." The "demonic world leader" will then be confronted by a false prophet, identified by Hagee as China, at Armageddon, the Mount of Megiddo in Israel. As they prepare for the final battle, Jesus will return on a white horse and cast both villains -- and presumably any nonbelievers -- into a "lake of fire burning with brimstone," thus marking the beginning of his millennial reign.

Hagee doesn't fear a nuclear conflagration, but rather God's wrath for standing by as Iran executes its supposed plot to destroy Israel. A nuclear confrontation between America and Iran, which he says is foretold in the Book of Jeremiah, will not lead to the end of the world, but rather to God's renewal of the Garden of Eden. But Hagee is ultimately less concerned with the fate of Israel or the Jews than with a theocratic Christian right agenda. When Jesus returns for his millennial reign, he tells his television audience, "the righteous are going to rule the nations of the earth When Jesus Christ comes back, he's not going to ask the ACLU if it's all right to pray, he's not going to ask the churches if they can ordain pedophile bishops and priests, he's not going to ask if it's all right to put the Ten Commandments in the statehouses. He's not going to endorse abortion, he's going to run the world by the word of God The world will never end. It's going to become a Garden of Eden, and Christ is going to rule it."

Sarah Posner has covered the religious right for The American Prospect, The Gadflyer, and AlterNet. This article is adapted from "Pastor Strangelove," which appeared in the June 2006 issue of The American Prospect.

Original Publication here.

HALLIBURTON SACKED BY U.S. ARMY !!!

2006-07-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

Happy happy day.... I've been skipping around the kitchen since I
heard this on the radio. Halliburton's army supply deal has been
cancelled, and the global supply job will be retendered later this year.

There's a catch however. This means that instead of one global corporation
following yank troops around the world, now there will be four or five.

[Reuters extract}

Army officials said they will not renew the contract
awarded in 2001 to Halliburton subsidiary KBR to provide water,
dining and laundry services and transport fuel and other items,
including mail, to U.S. troops.

Instead, they described a plan to divide the work among
three companies, with a fourth supporting the work. "It will be
rebid," said Dave Foster, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon,
adding KBR is free to take part in the new competition.

Texas-based Halliburton, formerly run by Vice President
Dick Cheney, has drawn scrutiny from auditors, congressional
Democrats and the Justice Department for the quality and
pricing of its work in Iraq.

KBR has gotten orders worth $17.1 billion since the start
of the contract, including about $15.4 billion in Iraq,
according to Army figures.

"The termination of Halliburton's contract is long overdue.
Taxpayers can breathe easier knowing that the days of $45 cases
of soda and $100 bags of laundry are coming to a close," said
Rep. Henry Waxman, top Democrat on the House of Representatives
Government Reform Committee.

But the good news is that even the U.S. troops have decided
to never be manipulated again (at least on such a major level) by a
blatant commercial profiter..... oh who am I kidding- I just want to
wear rose coloured glasses again for this one day!

At the very least the leverage the contract provided for manipulating the Australian government will be gone...

In that spirit, I'd love to see Brendan Nelson do the same thing here...

Big Brother's Banana- Stiff Upper Lip !

2006-07-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Bad enough, the Big Brother Brouhaha, but The Age hasn't helped matters. My seven-year-old daughter had the sense to switch channels tonight (I intend that we stay switched) so I didn't see all of how the matter was treated. What I've read of two days of media reports is, however, quite enough, thanks.

Whatever banter of cameraderie accompanied the footage that was streamed over the net on Friday night.. basically what you've got, as depicted in at least The Age's online version, is one bloke holding a girl down while another shoves his groin near her face.

What's inappropriate on the newspaper's part is accompanying the story with an online ad for help with erecton problems- complete with the ever-analogous banana!

Some people might consider the tiiming of the ad as a little inappropriate... but maybe they're being overly stiff about it.

Why some parents turn to drink

2006-06-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

>>>>A boss wondered why one of his most valued employees had not come
>>>>to work or phoned in sick.
>>>>
>>>>Having an urgent problem with one of the maincomputers, he dialled the
>>>>employee's home phone number and
>>>>was greeted with a child's whisper. "Hello."
>>>>
>>>>"Is your daddy home?" he asked.
>>>>
>>>>"Yes," whispered the small voice.
>>>>
>>>>"May I talk with him?"The child whispered,
>>>>
>>>>"No."
>>>>
>>>>Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked,
>>>>"Is your Mommy there?"
>>>>"Yes."
>>>>
>>>>"May I talk with her?"
>>>>
>>>>Again the small voice whispered, "No."
>>>>
>>>>Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss
>>>>asked,
>>>>"Is anybody else there?"
>>>>
>>>>"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman"
>>>>Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's
>>>>home, the boss asked,"May I speak with the policeman?"
>>>>
>>>>"No, he's busy", whispered the child.
>>>>"Busy doing what?"
>>>>
>>>>"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.
>>>>Growing more worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through
>>>>the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked,
>>>>"What is that noise?"
>>>>
>>>>"A helicopter" answered the whispering voice.
>>>>"What is going on there?" demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.
>>>>Again, whispering, the child answered, "The search team just landed
>>>>the helicopter."
>>>>
>>>>Alarmed, concerned and a little frustrated the boss asked,
>>>> "What are they searching for?"
>>>>
>>>>Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle:
>>>>
>>>>"ME."

Thanks again, Chip

Rebellion Through Song

2006-06-24T01:38:00.000-07:00

This Advertiser piece by Maria Moscaritolo shows how important the aural transmission of songs can be in shaping a local culture.

IN a small village in Malaysia's Islamic-run state of Kelantan, youthful rebellion is taking an unusual form.

There, teenagers are quietly staging a mutiny against a state law that prohibits the practice of their traditional Malay culture.

In defiance of the law, they gather once a week to learn the songs and dances banned when the Islamic PAS party won power 15 years ago.

The man behind this mini-revolution is Eddin Khoo, a former journalist, who started his small "underground" program in response to the PAS edict.

So far, he has helped train 70 youths around the state.

Usually getting by on a shoestring budget, he was lucky to receive $10,000 in corporate sponsorship for his program in Dewan Kecil, a small village about a 40-minute drive from the capital, Kota Bharu.

The teenagers there are learning "dikir barat" - ensemble chanting.

He says they are not allowed to perform publicly, "but we do, because there is strong community support". "There is no lack of interest," he says. "Whenever we do one of these underground performances we get a huge audience of about 300-400 people, which, in a village like this, is a large number . . . but there is an element of ambivalence. They wouldn't mind watching but whether they would want to participate is another matter."

Kelantan is the only one of Malaysia's 13 states ruled by PAS.

It banned traditional performances to purge the conservative state of practices it saw as "un-Islamic".

It now only has a one-seat majority so, while it will not sanction open cultural displays, the need to keep voters onside means the party is prepared to turn a blind eye to the program. (It remains to be seen if this cosy relationship will be upset should the kids perform for the visiting Prime Minister, as they hope to, in the next couple of months.)

"The first year . . . it was terrible because there was this great zeal of radical religion and, in those early years when performances were held like this, there was every chance that you'd get people who would come and break it up, and a couple of incidents of assault," says Mr Khoo, who visited Adelaide last year to give a lecture on Islamic art at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

"To the credit of the state government, they stopped all of that and (instead) they tried to convince the people not to participate, but culture is hard to expunge because people love this sort of thing."

The straitjacket conservatism has had far-reaching effects beyond silencing traditional songs, he says.

"You have 15 years of young people being severed from any kind of cultural sense, cultural identity, and by extension, sense of self and we've seen in Kelantan very serious social problems - terrible problems of alienation, of drug addiction, of sexual violence, and really a society that has been turned on its head for the past 15 years," he says.

Death Of The Antichrist? Not Bloody Likely

2006-06-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

[From the UK Daily Telagraph]

Terror boss died hour after blast

June 14, 2006

BAGHDAD: Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died of serious damage to the lungs caused by shockwaves from a US air strike last week, the US military said yesterday.

The military, which said DNA analysis confirmed the identity of the corpse, revealed he died almost an hour after coalition forces dropped two 227kg bombs on his safe house north of Baghdad last Wednesday.

Post-mortem findings ... the US military's injury chart for al-Zarqawi's body

Meanwhile, al-Qaeda in Iraq on Monday appointed little-known militant Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to succeed the Jordanian-born Zarqawi

in an internet message -- the authenticity of which could not be verified.

"Sheikh Abu Hamza is a pious brother with a jihadi track record and a solid scholarly background. We ask God to bless him and to help him finish what Sheikh Abu Musab has started," the statement added.

His nationality was not given but the word "muhajer" means immigrant in Arabic, suggesting he is also a non-Iraqi.

Zarqawi died from injuries sustained in the blasts.

"The cause of death was a close space primary blast injury of the lung. Blast waves from the two bombs caused tearing, bruising of the lungs and bleeding," US military doctor Colonel Steve Jones said in Baghdad.

"This wound was not immediately fatal.

"Death occurred as lung function deteriorated and the lungs became progressively unable to absorb oxygen into the blood."

Jones brushed aside reports Zarqawi was beaten to death after coalition forces found him alive after the air strike.

"He died of blast injuries and there was no evidence of beating. The injuries to his lungs were not survivable. That is what killed him as there were no firearm injuries visible."

Major General William Caldwell confirmed: "We have the DNA results of Zarqawi and it matches positive."

He said a coalition medic tended to Zarqawi after the air strike, securing his airway and ensuring the militant was breathing as "he lapsed in and out of consciousness".

"At 7:04pm on 7 June (the coalition medic on duty) realised Zarqawi was dead. This is approximately 24 minutes after coalition forces arrived or approximately 52 minutes after the first strike," he said.

His spiritual adviser Sheikh Abdel Rahman was killed in the strike along with four others.

Maj-Gen Caldwell said he believed Zarqawi was dressed in a "black outfit at the time of the air strike and there was nothing to suggest that we was wearing a suicide belt at that time".

He said the military was "still in discussion with the Iraqi Government as to final disposition of the remains".

Quoting documents seized from the house, the report suggested Zarqawi planned to create a war between Iraqi Shi'ites of and Sunni Arabs in the Gulf.

666 - Numbers Of The Beast

2006-06-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

From a web page of the same name (but wait, there's more)

666	Biblical Number of the Beast
660	Approximate Number of the Beast
DCLXVI	Roman Numeral of the Beast
665	Number of the Beast's Older Brother
667	Number of the Beast's Younger Sister
668	Number of the Beast's Neighbor
999	Number of the Australian Beast
333	Number of the Semi-Beast
66	Number of the Downsized Beast
6, uh..., I forget	Number of the Blond Beast

No Plans For Australian Nuclear Power Plant- Downer

2006-06-02T00:13:00.001-07:00

In a coastal town at the shores of Mr Downer's Mayo electorate, the nuclear debate is rippling through the community.

Downer's fellow S.A. Senator Anne McEwen has cheekily suggested that the tourism city, known to many as "God's Waiting Room" would be an ideal site because of the abundance of water.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has responded rather cattily to the suggestion, describing McEwen as a senator that nobody has heard of.

"There is no plan to build a nuclear power station anywhere in the whole of Australia, least of all in Victor Harbor." Mr Downer told the Victor Harbor Times.

6/6/06 And Mothers-To-Be

2006-06-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

[from the Fort Worth Star Telegram]
No doubt, the 6/6/06 babies -- and their parents -- are in for some ribbing.

Hey, Junior's horns are showing in the bluebonnet photo ...

Beelzeb-- what? That a family name?

"I refuse to give birth on that date," said Bethany Morian of Weatherford. "I'll cross my legs and watch the clock."

It's nothing scary. "I just think it would be a bad thing to carry around your whole life," Morian said. She says her husband thinks it would be hilarious to have a 6/6/06 baby -- so they could name it Damien after the bad seed from the Omen movies.

A remake of The Omen, of course, comes out 6/6/06.

Angela Dubose-Davidson of Fort Worth, an English teacher, is also expecting her first child, Gabriela.

"I'm a Christian, and that number has significant occult meaning behind it of a negative nature," Dubose-Davidson said. "I really do not want that date. I would induce on June 3 if my cervix allows it, but I'm most likely going to wait. My doctor is predicting it's going to be on the Sixth."

Christian Burton of Fort Worth is awaiting his first child, a boy.

"I'm a God-fearing man, and I would prefer him not to have a 666 date," Burton said. But he will not opt for his wife to induce labor to prevent little Jacob from being born on that date.

"I'll only be concerned if he has a 666 birthmark on his head," he said.

6/6/06 Rumsfeld Visit To Indonesia

2006-06-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

[from The Hindu]

Jakarta, May 31 (Xinhua): The U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will pay a one-day visit to Jakarta next week to enhance military cooperation between the two countries, a defence official said.

Rumsfeld will visit Jakarta on June 6 on his way home from attending a defense meeting in Singapore, the Jakarta Post daily Wednesday quoted the official as saying.

Indonesian Defence Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Edy Butar Butar said Rumsfeld's visit to discuss military cooperation with Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono had been confirmed.

A credible source at the Defence Ministry said that the meeting would focus on three topics, namely, details of U.S. military assistance to Indonesia, the war on terrorism and the Iranian nuclear dispute.

The Moral Of The Story

2006-05-29T23:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to John Richardson

Arrakis and Iraq- From Dune To The Dunes

2006-05-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

Regime Change on the planet Arrakis... ring any bells? When the news about the President Bush's failure to control Iraq after the occupation came about, any reader of Frank Herbert's novel Dune would not be suprised. Herbert explained the ethical nobility implied in the Islamic approach to battle. His freedom fighters, the Feydakin, believed that sacrificing one life to ensure the deaths of many of the enemy was an extremely sensible and honourable way to fight a war. The higher the number of enemy deaths taken in an attack, the greater was the revererance bestowed on the self-sacrificing soldier

The similarities between Arrakis and Iraq in Herbert's are many. A desert only of value for what lay beneath its soil, which was a commodity considered a necessity by many civilisations, ruled by puppet regimes whose primary function was to maximise product output, ravaged by a failed change in ruler.

In the book, assisted by his sister, the Abomination Aliah (I kid you not) , deposed ruler Paul Atreides is assimilated into the indigenous culture, amd utilises his knowledge of both invading and local philosophies to successfully organise a revolution. He forces a society reliant on a precious commodity to become subservient in order to continue to function.

The homeland succes results in a massive Jihad that reshapes human existance to conform with the social mores of those who control the oil... er, I mean spice.

The fact that Frank Herbert wrote all this in the 1960's makes the similarites between the current situation in Iraq and the cirucmstances of the novel all the more impressive. I've wondered, right from the day of September 11 2001 whether any of the Bush Administration advisors had read the novel. Anybody who had would have an idea of what to expect when they invaded Iraq.

Nuclear Reactor For South Australia's Spaceport

2006-05-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

Who's involved in an unexpected consortium proposal for a nuclear reactor at Woomera?

Australian foundation member of the International Nuclear Energy Acaa demy Professor Leslie Kememy has spearheaded a push for a reactor near South Australia's Spaceport, and a feasibility study for a three billion dollar reactor was being conducted.

Leslie, who told Adelaide's Advertiser that he had been hired by a consortium as a technical consultant, but declined to give their name

By any chance could this be relevant to using nuclear propulsion in extraterristrial excursions?

Acting Premier Foley rejected the proposal last night, but as the decision will no doubt be made at Federal level, he's piddling into the wind.

Portents

2006-05-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

I'm concerned that Rupert Murdoch's mass market association of the date 6/6/06 to the antichrist may create an environment in which a psychological aberration might occur.

Lured by the advertising, here's what the moviegoer will see:
[from Wikipedia]

The premise of The Omen comes from the end times prophecies of fundamentalist Christianity. Unlike the Left Behind series, this movie had no obvious evangelistic intent and its reading of the prophecies is fairly superficial, using them only as a premise from which to build the larger plot. The story tells of the childhood of Damien Thorn, who was switched at birth with the murdered child of a wealthy American diplomat. Damien's family is unaware that he is actually the offspring of Satan and destined to become the Antichrist.

The Salem Statesman-Journal is reporting another high school threat.
[extract]

Classes are continuing as usual at Sprague High School after a note containing threatening language was found in a classroom at the school more than a week ago.
The note contained "disjointed words referring to the date 6/6/06 and made reference to the upcoming movie 'The Omen,'" said Salem police Lt. Dave Okada.
Law enforcement officials were called in to investigate after staff at the high school found the note in a classroom May 12.
Last week, principal Cheryl Bower sent a letter to parents alerting them of the handwritten note.
The note "made a threat against our school on June 6, 2006," Bower wrote in the letter.
"As with any threat, we are taking this note seriously," Bower wrote.

A Tale Of Two Cities

2006-05-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

[from ABC South East SA]

With the headline “We’ll Join the Nuke Race,” the article in today’s paper reports that the mayor of Mount Gambier City, Steve Perryman, wants the city “considered in any debate on suitable sites for proposed nuclear power plants”.

But Perryman is fuming about the report.

“I won’t take credit for starting all this,” he told ABC South East this morning. “This is a case of a newspaper journalist wanting to make the news rather than report the facts.

“The context of the conversation was…that Portland appeared on a list of suitable sites and I was asked by the journalist at the Advertiser what my thoughts on nuclear power were for Mt Gambier.

“I iterated a number of times that I’m not advocating that Mt Gambier put its hand up and I’m not entitled to do that. I wouldn’t do that without first consulting with my council and also the community.

The Port of Portland is currently seeking a new CEO and a new Marketing Manager.

6/6/06: Denver Officials Totally Unconcerned

2006-05-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

I can't think of any other rationale for this story having been written but that a reporter was briefed to "write anything about the date" Or is the author accusing city officials of complacency?

"666" sense: Date marked with caution
While some say June 6, 2006, is a day to fear for its biblical significance, officials see little to dread.

By Howard Pankratz
Denver Post Staff Writer

With June 6, 2006, rapidly approaching, authorities
in Colorado and elsewhere are carefully watching to
see if that date - 6/6/06 - spurs demonstrations or

violent activity.

They are aware that 666 signifies the Mark of the Beast or the
Antichrist to some organizations and believe June 6 is a date
that could trigger problems.

"It's been a conscious question among some of our folks, so
they've been on the lookout for something," said
Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of
Public Safety. "But they haven't seen anything."

Even so, some local police are being vigilant.

"The bottom line is that our intelligence unit is
familiar with 666 and its significance, but we
don't have any information about anything taking
place in Colorado Springs," said Lt. Rafael Cintron
of the Colorado Springs Police Department.
"However, we are certainly keeping our feelers
out to see if anything is happening."

Some dates and anniversaries can be calls to action
for white supremacists, racists, and conspiracy and
prophecy theorists.

April 19, for example, is the anniversary of the raid
on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas;
the Oklahoma City bombing; and the raid on white
separatist Randy Weaver's home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

The Number of the Beast, 666, is mentioned in the
Bible's book of Revelation and is believed by some to
be when the Antichrist will exercise power over Earth.

The Internet is full of websites that predict
terrible things could happen June 6.

One website warns that the "Bible Code says
2006 A.D. is the Year of the Beast" and predicts
that the Antichrist will reveal himself. It also says
there may be a holy war against Israel and that
the United States and Russia would be drawn into
a dangerous conflict as a result.

Several major law enforcement agencies in the
Denver metro area have seen no signs of trouble
and aren't planning to beef up manpower.

Since 1970, there have been 60 terrorist attacks
on June 6, with just one in the U.S., according to
the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism
in Oklahoma City.

Do you think the Denver Post article might
have been used to "create evidence?" Note the
last paragraph in the piece below:

6/6/6 – a devil of a day

Those who look over their shoulders with trepidation every Friday the 13th might want to stay in bed on June 6, otherwise known as 6/6/06 - or 666, the Biblical number of the Beast.

Hellish things are supposed to happen on this most auspiciously evil day: expect comets, earthquakes, war - well, more war - and the appearance of the Antichrist himself.

Hokum? Certainly. But some people are taking it seriously. In the UK, according to religionnewsblog.com, some expectant mothers whose babies are due on June 6 have asked for caesareans and inductions beforehand.

In America, authorities are aware of the potential of public disorder. "We are keeping our feelers out to see if anything is happening," said Lt Rafael Cintron of the Colorado Springs Police Department in The Denver Post.

The Rapture Index- A Barometer For Armageddon?

2006-05-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Froom the website:

The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting.

The Rapture Index is by no means meant to predict the rapture, however, the index is designed to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor to the rapture.

You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but I think it would be better if you viewed it as prophetic speedometer. The higher the number, the faster we're moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture.

Rapture Index of 85 and Below: Slow prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 85 to 110: Moderate prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 110 to 145: Heavy prophetic activity
Rapture Index above 145: Fasten your seat belts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first ad in the automated Google box, when I first saw the site, was headed "Australian Terrorism Laws" . I kid you not !

Price Attack Attack

2006-05-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Not a slur on the chain, just the Arndale franchise operators. My ex-partner worked there as a hairdressfor a few weeks short of seven years, and was due for a pro-rata payment. Suddenly she's not sacked.. just has no more work.

You rotten bastards.

S.A. Gets Cosgrove Endorsement

2006-05-21T05:46:00.000-07:00

It's a smart man that gets paid to sent defence construction to South Australia and then stays in Sydney.

[ABC]

The former head of the Australian military, General Peter Cosgrove, will lead South Australia's bidding for multi-million dollar defence contracts.

Premier Mike Rann has announced General Cosgrove as the new chairman of the state's Defence Advisory Board.

General Cosgrove helped restore order in East Timor in 1999 and named Australian of the Year in 2001.

He will remain based in Sydney but will visit South Australia regularly.

Speaking this morning from England, Mr Rann says General Cosgrove is an ideal choice for the role.

"We want to grow our defence jobs in South Australia from about 16,000 jobs up to 28,000 jobs within 10 years," he said.

"I can't think of anyone better than General Cosgrove to lead the push for South Australia."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This announcement from the Premier is not available from his website. The site has been closed for reconstruction since the election.

Dixie Chicked

2006-05-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

When I first saw the Dixie Chicks at the Dallas State Fair in '96 I was in love. Ten years later, when they apologised for coming from the same state as George W Bush I was in love again.

These local gals, playing fiddle, banjo and tin whistle to their own country-based lyrics, caused a suprising tide of opinion. It probably wouldn't have been so dramatic if their record label, Columbia hadn't publically distanced itself from the girls' comments.

The public reacted differently than expected. Suddenly you couldn't get a ticket to a Dixie Chicks show. Then their song Travellin' Soldier, about a young girl mourning a Vietnam soldier, became, for a while, the most downloaded song on the internet.

The expression "to be Dixe Chicked" has entered the U.S. political lexicon as a fable of how not to take public opinion for granted.

The band has just announced the commencement of its "Accidents And Accusations" world tour, and I hope they're coming to Australia. Then we'll apologise to them for electing John Howard to give President Bush a hand

Austalia-India Uranium Trade Tied To Reactor Construction Contracts

2006-05-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've highlighted the last sentence of this extract because it seems of particular signifigance to activity in Australia.

[from the Financial Express, poste 20/5/05]

MAY 19: Seeking to meet its rising energy demands, India may pay suppliers, including General Electric (GE) Co, Rs 1.8 trillion ($40 billion) to build nuclear reactors over the next 14 years, a government official said.
France’s Areva SA, Electricite de France and US-based Westinghouse Electric Co are among the possible providers of 25 to 28 reactors by 2020, chairman Nuclear Power Corporation of India, SK Jain said.
US President George Bush is seeking an end to the three-decade-old international ban on nuclear technology sales to India, prompted by its atomic bomb test in 1974.
India and China are leading a worldwide revival in atomic energy after oil and coal prices rose to record levels. Russia and Japan are among the nations that may lift sanctions on India and enter the contest for contracts to install 40,000 megawatts (mw) of capacity. This would be enough to supply electricity to four cities the size of New York.
‘‘We are very confident the deal and all agreements will go through,’’ Mr Jain said in an interview in Mumbai on Tuesday. ‘‘As an outcome of that, India will have access to the global nuclear technology market.’’
President Bush has asked the US Congress to end nuclear sanctions against India. US and other members of the so-called nuclear suppliers group, including France, Russia, Japan and Australia, are debating whether to lift their ban on exports of equipment and materials for atomic use to India.
India is turning to overseas nuclear-reactor builders after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh doubled the nation’s 2020 capacity target from an initial 20,000 mw. India’s homegrown atomic power programme won’t cope with the stepped-up construction plan, Mr Jain said.He addedthe programme was also limited because of a uranium shortage caused by the international embargo on sales of the reactor fuel. Once sanctions end, supplies of enriched uranium will be included in contracts to install reactors.

While at this stage having no evidence to authenticate the last claim, let's assume for now, even though this might not be the case, that international reactor constructors are including whole-of-life (that's 20,000-plus in uranium years) supervision and/or ownership of fission-fuel used on Indian soil.

If such were the case, placing of the waste in a repository would be on the agenda, which would be more difficult for a company that didn't already have a pre-arranged site when it made a tender to the Indian Government.

No matter which company wins I bet Halliburton will make a fortune in environmental impact assessments.

Who were the "officials' that Downer was relying on for his information last week? They need to be identified sooner rather than later

Kovco - Wrong Body Halliburton Contractor

2006-05-19T02:06:00.000-07:00

The body sent to Australia in the place of a fallen soldier was that of a Halliburton contractor from Bosnia. The Kellogg, Brown and Root employee was finally buried last Friday, a month after he died.

Halliburton have indicated that they will pay compensation to the family of Juso Sunanovic, who the company claims died of a brain hemorrage while playing table tennis in Iraq.

The revelation is the latest in a situation filled with procedural errors. Pte Jake Kovco's body was moved from the scene of death before MP inspection on orders from the commander of Australian armed forces in Iraq despite an MP command that the location remain undisturbed for investigation purposes. After being ceremonially escorted to a waiting plaine, his body was accidentally substituted with that of the Halliburton employee.

A report of the incident was accidentally left by an Australian Brigadier at Melbourne airport, from where it felll into the hands of a local journalist.

A relative of the fallen Australian soldier, who works in the funeral industry, took care of the contractor's body until he was returned to his homeland.

Kovco's mother-in-law and father-in-law and Sunanovic's daughter have shared condolences this week on a Melbourne community radio station. Melbournes Radio for the Print Handicapped arranged for the two to talk.

We have thought of you a lot over the time and we know you're feeling the same way we are," David Small told Jasmina Sunanovic.

"And I think your Dad would just want you to get on with it. You know, do what you have to do and the same with your mother.

"Shelley (Pte Kovco's widow) will be all right and her two kids will be all right, but we just hope it doesn't happen to anyone again."

Up And Atom, It's Johnny Howard

2006-05-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

It was extremely caring and sharing of the Bush Administration to wait till PM John Howard left U.S. airspace before introducing U.S.-India nuclear power legislation.

While the PM's been away, members of his cabinet have been loose in their talking, enough speculation to make journalists and bloggers realise that a scheme was a foot. Within 48 hours of the story breaking Mr Howard had released a repudiation of the concept that Australia would import nuclear waste.

In the U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has pre-empted the announcement of a government nuclear inquiry's findings by endorsing an increase in the UK's generating capabilites by upgrading existing atomic energy plants

No Fitting Epitath: The New Kovco Bungles

2006-05-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

I've gotten into lots of trouble over the Kovco scandal. Days before his body went missing I wrote that I beleived a cover-up was occurring. Everything I wrote after that landed me in more trouble. In spite of this I need to write down what follows:

Right now I cant' believe that not one but two officials, including the person who compiled the "accidentally leaked" the report weren't, at the very least, carrying out their actions with subconsiously compelled deliberateness.

Here's the timeline: Kovco is killied by a bullet. The body is moved before an MP investigation at the order of the commander in chief of Australian armed forces in Iraq. Kovco's body goes missing, the wrong coffin sent to Ausralia. The official version of his death is changed, and though we're told that he didn't die cleaning his gun, no other explanation is offered. Then the bullet (or maybe just its casing) goes missing and isn't provded with Kovco's remains to be examined by the NSW coroner.

Now we learn that a laptop containing the ADF's draft report into the farce has been left unattended at Sydney airport , and a CD that was left at Melbourne airport that eventually found its way to journalist Derryn Hinch.

When an extended member of the Kovco family (Shelley Kovco"s brother-in-law said tonight how you would not believe the situation if you saw it in episode of Fawlty Towers, I felt the edge of bitterness in his voice. It's been bungle after bungle after bungle.

It's not a fitting epitath to somebody who has faithfully served his country.

The fact that the ADF were so quick to apologise today totally changes my mind about many things. It now appears that everything that has transpired since the discovery of Kovco's death has been a total comedy of errors.

The ADF's speed in disclosing such self-damaging information is to be commended. However the loss of esteem within the Australian public that the latest revelations will create might be the final catalyst for our society beginning to question why our soldiers are engaged in the debacle of the invasion of Iraq

Goodbye Dubai, Hello Hobart

2006-05-16T00:27:00.000-07:00

I've just heard that Michael Jackson has decided to move to Tasmania. Apparently he heard something on the news about freed miners.

(Chip, this one's your fault)

Rumours: A 6/6/06 Fable

2006-05-15T01:24:00.000-07:00

PART ONE
By Chris Keegan - The Sun Staff

WOOD RIVER JCT. - Rumblings of a threat set to occur at Chariho schools on June 6 are the product of a "rumor mill," regional school officials said Wednesday.

During a morning press conference at Superintendent Barry J. Ricci's Switch Road office, district officials spoke candidly about the rumors in an effort to ease tension among parents and students.

The rumors revolve around a potential threat that could happen on the sixth day of June - a date that, when written as 6/6/06, indicates the number "666," a numeral associated with Satanic worship and the Antichrist.

About a month ago, Ricci said a parent contacted a social worker at the school campus with concerns that her child was having thoughts about demons and the meaning of the date.

"The call had nothing to do with violence, a gun or weapons," he said. "...The concerns were about the date and the fact that these elements might somehow appear in school."

But in the weeks that followed, Ricci said the rumors began to take on a life of their own. They began to involve firearms and stories that students could possibly do harm to themselves at school, he said.

Some high school students told The Sun on Tuesday that they thought the threat could potentially involve a bomb.

"It's gotten to the point where we need to clarify what's going on," Ricci said.

Ricci said all of the accounts, which first originated at Chariho High School, were investigated by administrators and by the Richmond Police Department. Student Resource Officer Jeff Vaughn - who is a Richmond patrolman - interviewed 17 high and middle school students related to concerns voiced by parents.

To date, not one rumor has been corroborated and no specific threats have been made, Ricci said.

"There has been no threat to a building or to staff that has been found to be credible," he said.

The Antichrist, by Lucas Cranach the Elder - 1521. During the time Cranach was under protestant Lutheran influence and therefore portrayed the Antichrist with the papal tiara. From Wikipedia

On Tuesday morning, first-period teachers at both Chariho Middle School and the high school read a statement to students addressing the rumors.

"Our school is committed to keeping all students and staff safe everyday," the statement reads. "Unfortunately, there have been rumors that might make students and staff feel unsafe. It is important that you know that these are simply rumors; there has been no threat to anyone's safety. Working with the police, we have investigated the rumors and will continue to investigate new information."

"If you have specific concerns or information, you should immediately report these to a trusted adult at school. In this way, you will be helping to keep our school safe for all."

High School Principal Robert A. Mitchell said the significance of June 6 is analogous to the hysteria that surrounds Adolf Hitler's birthday or the anniversary of the Columbine school shooting tragedy.

PART TWO (Website Ad)

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Another Alexander Downer Fraud

2006-05-15T00:27:00.000-07:00

When Australia announces that it will lease uranium to India, the deceptiveness and misleading nature of our Foreign Minister will again be revealed

Mr Downer appeared to be sticking to his principles last week when he issued a statement that Australia would not be selling uranium to India. In attempting to repudiate a story in the Australian claiming that a nuclear transaction would take place regardless of whether India signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. "Officials have told me that that's not correct" Mr Downer intoned.

In a way Downer was correct. The supply of nuclear fuel India will not be a sale. It will be a lease, and when the Indians have finished using the ore for peaceful purposes, the leftovers will be shipped back to Australia.

Days after Mr Downer made the denial of a sale our Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaille appeared on national television to introduce the concept of uranium leasing. Mr Vaille said that Australia had not yet been caled upon to make such arrangements.

Such abstract concepts would seem relatively meaningless were it not for the fact that they were made at a time when our Prime Minister was walking the halls of the White House. On Saturday Mr Howard met with Dick Cheney, the US Vice President who still receives two hundred thousand dollars a year from the company to which he gave a signifigant amount of privatised government jobs, including caring for the U.S. miltary wherever in the world they go. On Sunday our PM planted trees with President Bush in a public demonstration of mutuality in what Bush called "The Liberty War"

I'm going to risk the speculation that, by the end of this week, President Bush will make the request of Prime Minister Howard that Australia assists India in meeting its energy needs by allowing her to access our fourty per cent of known global uranium reserves. Mr Bush will also ask Mr Howard, in the name of peace, to safeguard the nuclear waste from possible use in warfare by bringing it home to Australia

The Australian Greens have been the first to notice what's about to happen Senator Christine Milne has suggested today that the Government should tell the truth.

[from The Age]

Greens senator Christine Milne said turning Australia into a dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel from India was unacceptable.
"If there is no safe disposal, there is no justification for mining in the first place," Senator Milne said in a statement.
She challenged the government to name where in Australia it intended to store any spent nuclear fuel from India, China, or elsewhere.
"(Mr) Howard and (Mr) Vaile should stop talking in code and admit that the motivation behind discussions with the US on the lease proposal is pure and simply to circumvent the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which prevents the export of uranium and nuclear technology to India,"
Senator Milne said.
"As such Australians should reject it."

Senator Milne went on to say that the Greens had campaigned for a
"cradle-to-grave" Australian responsibility for its uranium, adding
that "That is why, when there is no safe disposal for nuclear waste, it
is irresponsible to generate the product in the first place,"

"The world is already beset by terrorism. Nuclear waste on the high seas is a frightening prospect."

Senator Milne also said that Australia should respect the existing policy of a
nuclear free Pacific adopted by countries within the region.

Coming back to Minister Downer's comments last week, would it be fair to suggest that, in his position as representative of foreign affairs, Alex might have had more than an inkling of the topics that his leader was intending to discuss in Washington? In "telegraphing" the possibility of uranium leasing, Mr Vaille's words indicate that he at least knew what was going on. Two possibilities exist. The first is that Mr Downer has no idea of how his boss will be sorting out this important foreign policy issue. The second is that Downer knows exactly what is going on and is yet again attempting to mislead the Australian public.

Note the carefullness of Downers words of "officials have told me..." If this isn't the pre-creation of an escape clause I'll eat my (tin) hat. If Mr D is called a liar all he has to do is, in the same manner as his treatment of the AWB fiasco, claim that he was incorrectly advised. It astounds me that any Australian can still possess any shred of trust for the words of this man.

How would Mr Downer fare if interviewed duing a lie detector test. In March of this year the head of Australian Polygraph Services and the boss of Australian company The Podcast Service issued a public invitation to Alex for a free lie detector test.

Poly the Pollie” was launched in Melbourne today with the aim of
inviting Australian MPs to sit a policy-based lie detector test, conducted by Steve Van Aperen, Australian’s leading polygraph expert. Van Aperen is known throughoutAustralia as an expert in the field of interviewing and detecting deception. He has received extensive training from the world’s leading international investigative authorities in how and why people deceive
and has been affectionately named the “Human Lie Detector”.

[from Poly The Pollie]

Reilly said polythepollie.com on The Podcast Network would track responses from MPs and publish results.
“From time to time, we all suspect that politicians may not be
telling us the complete truth. In the past, we shrugged our shoulders
and accepted that lying was part of politics and that there was little
we could do about it. Well now we can,” he said.
“If I have a choice to vote for a politician who is prepared to
submit him or herself to a polygraph and one who is not, then I know
which one I will be voting for, and I think a lot of people will feel
the same way.
”Downer’s admission of knowledge about the Australian Wheat Board’s
dealings in Iraq is just one example. It’s time politicians were held
accountable for their actions.”

Long before the AWB inquiry there was a scare in the Australian media. Korean missiles might strike Sydney. A very quick response by those in the know showed the allegations to be baseless. However, this hasn't seemed to faze their author, Mr Guess Who.

We've been grumbling for years now about lack of ministerial accountablility, to no avail. How do we enforce our elected leaders to tell us the truth?

Australia To Become Nuclear Waste Dump- Now For Inda..

2006-05-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

One of the main reasons for the Halliburton-built Adelaide to Darwin Railway now becomes apparent. If the Australian Government's mooted plans come to fruition, trains of imported nuclear waste trundling to repositories in the Australian outback will soon become a reality.

Halliburton have had a dual role in Australia, creating the tracks and providing environmental impact date for nuclear waste facilities.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is expected this week to discuss "uranium leasing" with US President Bush. Under the plan, Australia's 40% of global uranium supplies would not be sold, but "hired out" to users, the waste returning to the Australian point of origin.

I believe that the plan will be used as a loophole for the problem of selling Aussie uranium to India. As that country is not a signatory to the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty, India cannot acquire Australian nuclear fuel for fear that it it might be used in atomic weaponry against Pakistan. However if India doesn't actually own the stuff, and the militariliy-useful waste is taken out of their hands, a fuel trade will no doubt be possible.

Any announcement will follow the visits to India of both President Bush and PM Howard, and discussions of the Indian dilemma between US Secretary of State Condileeza Rice and Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer.

Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaille said today that Australia had not yet been asked to utilise the uranium leasing concept. My bet is that Howard will receive a request from Bush later in the week.

A good puppeteer can do anythng with the right strings in his hands

Beyond the "Halliburton SurviviBall"

2006-05-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Beyond The "Halliburton SurvivaBall"

So. First of all, let's define our words: what do we mean when we say
"safety"? Well, for us in the corporate world, the most essential form
of safety is simply the safety to achieve what we need, as we need it, and how we need it.

Whether I'm in reconstruction, energy, manufacturing, or insurance, if
I'm taking a risk, I want the government's hand to be pulling me safely
over the obstacles, not laying obstacles in my way. I want to be safe
to minimize the risk to my investments as I see fit, without being told
what's right and what's wrong.

Insurance firms are also concerned with safety, another form of it, a special-case definition: the safety of people. Because their own safety depends so much on that special form
of safety, insurance has become quite worried about some grave new
dangers to people that we're seeing in the world around us. I'm talking
about climate change and the "natural" disasters it brings.

Indeed, the numbers could look frightening. In the 1950s insurance had to pay 4 billion dollars per year for disasters. Now it pays about 40 times that, or $150 billion
each year. And it's getting worse; Munich Reinsurance has written that "climatic
change will lead to natural catastrophes of hitherto unknown force and
frequency" triggering losses of "many hundreds of billions of dollars
per year."

To make things worse, there are some who believe that this is only the
start. In nature, things often change very suddenly, and scientists
feel that the things we've seen so far may be minor compared to what could happen.

For example, Arctic melt has slowed the Gulf Stream by 30% in just the
last decade; if the Gulf Stream stops, Europe will become just as cold
as Alaska.

Or it could go the other way - methane released from melting permafrost
could cause a heating cycle making human life unliveable outside
air-conditioned hotels like this one.

Or, as the oceans heat up and expand, ice sheets could slip off Antarctica - meaning most of the earth's major cities will flood!

Even if none of this happens, some scientists tell us the changes we're
likely to see could greatly increase disease and migration, and could
exacerbate growing tensions within our societies possibly to the point
of civic unrest or even war.

This sort of thinking has even influenced some insurers. Lloyd's of
London has stated that climate change could easily bankrupt the entire
insurance industry, and Munich Re suggests it could topple global
capital markets as a consequence. [*]

Given the science, these worries cannot be called unreasonable. But panicking isn't the answer.

If we panic and try to stop climate change, 70% of carbon emissions will have to stop. That'll be a huge blow to our way of doing business: government intervention will become the rule, and we'll have thrown out the baby with the bathwater.

To remain profitable in a macroscopic loss situation, we must integrate disaster into our global business vision, and not allow immediate dangers to interfere with our general, longer-term concept of safety.

We at Halliburton, for example, assure our safety not despite, but via the ambient danger - in reconstruction, relocation of refugees,
peacekeeping. These arenas are synergistic: where there's conflict,
there's reconstruction; where there are refugees, there's conflict;
where there's conflict or reconstruction, there are bound to be
refugees.

Sometimes danger presents broad new opportunities. In New Orleans, for example,
Katrina pruned the city, removing people from economic black holes and allowing a redevelopment process that's gratifying for all of us.
Although real estate values plummeted immediately following the
disaster, much commercial real estate is already over its pre-storm values.

While we don't suggest that everyone make climate change the core of their business plan, I can personally guarantee you that level heads will always be able to turn lemons into lemonade.

Consider the Black Plague, an unspeakably rotten event in which one third of Europe's population died in great agony. No one would wish such a thing on any civilization. Yet without the Black Plague, the
old business models of medieval Europe would never have been overturned by the entrepreneurs of the Renaissance. What would the world be without the Mona Lisa?

Or closer to home, how about the Great Deluge? This world-ending disaster was surely seen as a terrible catastrophe by Noah's contemporaries, and even by Noah
himself. Yet Noah was ready to seize the day, and at the end of that day, not only was there a whole new world, but Noah found himself with a monopoly of the animals. Not a bad deal!

Unfortunately, things aren't as simple for us as they were for Noah. God isn't telling us what kind of an ark we should build, nor how to deploy it - but luckily Science can fill in the blanks, and Science tells us that what
we're doing in the world today will lead to much more flooding,
drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, or even worse, with consequences
including epidemics, human migration, civic unrest and even war.

But as Warren Buffet, the oracle of Omaha, so astutely said: you must
follow “the Noah rule: predicting rain doesn't count, building arks
does.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The above words are from an otherwise fairly accurat copy of Halliburton's website. The presentation speech was given as the introduction of a new concept in corporate survival, the "Halliburton SurvivaBall"........

"The SurvivaBall is designed to protect the corporate manager no
matter what Mother Nature throws his or her way," said Fred Wolf, a
Halliburton representative who spoke today at the Catastrophic Loss
conference held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Amelia Island, Florida.
"This technology is the only rational response to abrupt climate
change," he said to an attentive and appreciative audience.

Most scientists believe global warming is certain to cause an
accelerating onslaught of hurricanes, floods, droughts, tornadoes,
etc. and that a world-destroying disaster is increasingly possible.
For example, Arctic melt has slowed the Gulf Stream by 30% in just
the last decade; if the Gulf Stream stops, Europe will suddenly
become just as cold as Alaska. Global heat and flooding events are
also increasingly possible.

In order to head off such catastrophic scenarios, scientists agree we
must reduce our carbon emissions by 70% within the next few years.
Doing that would seriously undermine corporate profits, however, and so
a more forward-thinking solution is needed.

At today's conference, Wolf and a colleague demonstrated three
SurvivaBall mockups, and described how the units will sustainably
protect managers from natural or cultural disturbances of any
intensity or duration. The devices - looking like huge inflatable
orbs - will include sophisticated communications systems, nutrient
gathering capacities, onboard medical facilities, and a daunting
defense infrastructure to ensure that the corporate mission will not
go unfulfilled even when most human life is rendered impossible by
catastrophes or the consequent epidemics and armed conflicts.

"It's essentially a gated community for one," said Wolf.

Dr. Northrop Goody, the head of Halliburton's Emergency Products
Development Unit, showed diagrams and videos describing the
SurvivaBall's many features. "Much as amoebas link up into slime
molds when threatened, SurvivaBalls also fulfill a community
function. After all, people need people," noted Goody as he showed an
artist's rendition of numerous SurvivaBalls linking up to form a
managerial aggregate with functional differentiation, metaphorically
dancing through the streets of Houston, Texas.

The conference attendees peppered the duo with questions. One asked
how the device would fare against terrorism, another whether the
array of embedded technologies might make the unit too cumbersome; a
third brought up the issue of the unit's cost feasibility. Wolf and
Goody assured the audience that these problems and others were being
addressed.

"The SurvivaBall builds on Halliburton's reputation as a disaster and
conflict industry innovator," said Wolf. "Just as the Black Plague
led to the Renaissance and the Great Deluge gave Noah a monopoly of
the animals, so tomorrow's catastrophes could well lead to good - and
industry must be ready to seize that good."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The site and the presentation were concocted by notorious"identity correctors" and media activists The Yes Men

Doctor Who Wins UK Best Drama Award

2006-05-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

Doctor Who is Bafta award winner

What I like to do on Saturday nights

The BBC's Doctor Who and Bleak House have triumphed at the British Academy Television Awards.

They each won two awards at the London ceremony, including best drama series for Doctor Who, and best drama serial.

Doctor Who's Billie Piper, who plays the Time Lord's sidekick Rose Tyler, accepted the award for best drama series on stage with a dalek.

The BBC One programme also took the Pioneer Audience Award, which was voted for by TV viewers, which Piper described as "a treat".

Source: BBC News

Downer The Film Censor

2006-05-08T04:24:00.000-07:00

From News.com.au

FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer has admitted he was a behind a decision to withdraw funds from an Indonesia film festival, leaving organisers in the lurch on the eve of its opening night.

Last December, the government pulled funding from the Jakarta International Film Festival because it objected to the screening of some movies.

On the eve of the festival, organisers were told they would not be receiving the $16,000 promised by the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII).

The AII, a government-funded body set up to promote friendship between the two countries, had sponsored the festival in previous years.

In response to a question on notice asking who made the decision to withdraw funding at the last minute, Mr Downer said: "I did."

Mr Downer demonstrates his new karake technique

The World Socialist Web Site reported last December that:

The Australian films in question are: The President versus David Hicks, which exposes the illegal detention of Australian citizen David Hicks in Guantánamo Bay; Garuda’s Deadly Upgrade, about the murder of Indonesian human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib; Dhakiyarr versus the King, a documentary on the murder trial and subsequent disappearance of Aboriginal leader Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda over 70 years ago; and We Have Decided Not To Die, an 11-minute short about three individuals who escape death in a number of different and unusual ways. Indonesian censors had cleared all four films for the festival.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a bloody good thing that Downer doesn't watch Doctor Who....

Hicks' UK Citizen Rights Upheld

2006-05-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

He's a step closer.. David Hicks right to British citizenship has been upheld by the UK courts.

A final appeal against Hick's eligibility has been rejected, clearing all legal barriers against Hicks claim.

The application for UK citizenship was made after a chance remark made by the Adelaide-resident Guantanemo inmate to his military lawyer, while discussing the Ashes cricket game in London, that his mother was British.

David's father Terry said from Adelaide today that the only real barrier for his son now was that it would be difficult for him to take the citizenship oath while being held in Guantanemo.

The UK Government successfully asked for all of its citizens to be removed from the Halliburton-constructed detention facility and returned to their own land. If Hicks is granted UK citizenship it is expected that his case would fall into the same category.

This would give the Bush Administration no other option but to let their prisoner go.

It's a crying shame that Australia hasn't lifted a finger to help him.

A President Against War

2006-05-04T05:13:00.000-07:00

This piece is an edited and reordered version of Nine New's David Brent's account of an interview with the President of Costa Rica, a country with no army and, according to Brent, " one of the highest levels of literacy and healthcare in the world. There is much more to read here- I edited only to emphasise certain points, endeavouring nott to change the piece's sentiment.

Australia and the world could soon be hearing a lot more from Oscar Arias because he says he'll intensify his fight against nations increasing their defence budgets when he is inaugurated as his country's president next week.

"This is about doing what is right. While we have countries continuing to spend on wars, it will be impossible to eradicate poverty," he says.

In an interview, he explains that to the country he'll soon be caretaker of again, people are more important than arms. "All the money that would have gone to maintaining an army, which we have not had since 1949, is spent on education and health. When we talk about national security in our country, we talk about public health. That is the essence of security."

Oscar Arias says it's also important to look at the big picture because the 'war on terrorism' should be put in the context of human security. "War is not just an evil act of destruction, it is a missed opportunity for humanitarian investment. It is a crime against every child who calls out for good rather than for guns. Military spending represents the single most significant perversion of global priorities known today, claiming more than 780 billion dollars. If we channelled just five percent of that figure over the next 10 years into anti-poverty programs, all of the world's population would enjoy basic social services. Another five percent, or 40 billion dollars, over 10 years would provide all the people on this planet with an income above the poverty line for their country."

He is now 65 and only a bit greyer than when he won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for brokering a plan which brought an end to wars raging throughout Central America, including civil war in Nicaragua. At the time he was president of Costa Rica and won peace through dialogue, not weapons.

Fourteen countries have now followed Costa Rica's example and demilitarised through constitutional amendments. Twenty-eight nations now have no armies. When presented with our defence and education figures, Oscar Arias isn't impressed.

Agonies Of A "Conspiracy Theorist"

2006-05-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

I'm having an ethical crisis. Over the last couple of years I've been looking in shadows for details, and now I'm wondering if it's a current-affairs equivalent of a meerschacht test.. you know, when a pychologist shows a patient ink-blobs and analyses their interpretaion. I'd read, seen and heard things and added them to pieces of information I knew, and become convinced that the answer I came up with was correct. In blind faith I've looked for proof of my "deductions" and broadcast my fears to the best of my ablities.

When I started looking at Halliburton I became pretty lonely. I'd been shocked to learn, at the time of the Adelaide-Darwin railway that the same company doing so much work in Australia was also involved in such a global levels of U.S. military support, from troop support in Iraq to global provision of support and provision for American bases. I couldn't understand why I felt like the only person in the world to be worried. I concluded that Australia had undergone it's own invasion and regime change by corporate means in order to propagate U.S. necessities I started to collect an overview to prove that I was right. That was a year ago. I invite you to skim the glossary I've gathered under the heading of "Halliburton Down Under, Above And Beyond."

When the U.S. gave as one of its prime motives for invading Iraq the fact that Saddam was creating Weapons Of Mass Destruction to use against the West, I assumed that this was propaganda to support the philosophies of the neocon think-tank Project For A New American Century.

When the London transport bombings violated a city population's sense of safety, the combination of UK Foregn Secretary Jack Straw repeating the phrase that the attack bore "all the hallmarks of Al Qaeda" first used by Tony Blair in the wake the Twin Towers Attack I assumed it was a hoax, along the lines of Operation Northwood (the US military's plan to entice American support of an invasion of Cuba by using American snipers to kill Cuban nationals in Florida and blame Castro) that had been instigated by the "West" to fuel a war with the military objective of creating profit for US corporations.

Then President Bush, in response to a question on whether the rise in terrorism and the war in Iraq where signs of the oncoming of the Apocalypes, launched into a speech on how he would "use military might to protect our ally, Israel" from Iran. I automatically assumed that Bush, on behalf of Western society, was planning to "damage control" Armageddon by precipitating a controlled version of the prophecies.

More recently, after an Australian-resident University Of Baghdad Professor Of Agriculture was gunned down while attempting to re-enter the Green Zone, I suggested that his death might be the silencing of someone with the potential capacity to considerably damage the Australian Government. I had as my "precedent" the death of Adelaide-based journalist/operative Paul Moran.

Yesterday an explosion ripped apart a building in Adelaide, and I naturally assumed that being so close to the Mark Of The Beast date of 6/6/06 (which FOX is using to launch a remake of "The Omen") it was the bomb that heralded Adelaide's engagement in the Apocalypse. As the day wore on and the truth of the matter evolved, I realised I was totally and utterly wrong.

I'm sitting here today wondering if I've spent the last three years in a state of paranoid delusion. Is everything I've believed and "deduced" based on self-fabricated trains of thoughts? Am I the "conspiracy theorist" that oh-so-many people believe me to be?

What if something I've written spurs someone else to find the evidence that I can't? That has always been my hope, and it now seems a wild one, yet it's been a major source of self-vindication while I've justified a gathering sense of foreboding about the situation the world finds itself in. This cornerstone of self-belief is also far from as strong as it once was.

I'd like to believe that I've been right, and seem to keep on encountering situations that "feel wrong". I know that there have been details of evidence that support my hypotheses, but these are far from any chain of proof. Does that mean that I should wait for a supportive "defence case" before I spout my beliefs and convictions? I couldn't win a high school debate with the number of proven "givens" that I've gathered, so what right do I have to attempt to convince "society-at-large" to believe me?

The Mark Of The Beast, Murdoch-Style

2006-05-03T17:58:00.001-07:00

Cashing in on 6-6-06

By Susan Carpenter, Times Staff Writer
LA Times April 24, 2006

Anyone living and driving in L.A. the past few weeks has seen them. Looming over the city, black and ominous, the billboards and posters announce "You Have Been Warned" and "The Signs Are All Around You." Each is anchored with the date "6/6/06."
Drop the "0," and you get 666. That's "the number of the beast," according to the New Testament's Book of Revelation, just one of many interpretations though all of them are dark and frightening. For some Armageddon believers, it represents the date upon which the Antichrist will spread universal evil over the Earth.

For marketers, 666 has also become an ideal date — to launch movies, records, books and other products or events, particularly those with religious undertones. In the case of 20th Century Fox, which is responsible for the omnipresent apocalyptic ad campaign, it's a once-in-a-century opportunity to unleash the remake of "The Omen,"

You Can't Have A War Without A Hero

2006-04-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

As the Australian Prime Minister's opinion polls sag from the mud of a bribery scandal, a flag-draped Australian hero is brought home to be honoured on our annual day of war remembrance.....

It was bad luck that I was re-watching "Wag The Dog" while reading about the death of the Aussie sniper... maybe otherwise I wouldn't have been feeling so cynical. For those who don't know the movie, it's about the media staging of a war to save the US President's election campaign. Anyway, I was listening to Dustin Hoffman uttering the words in the title as my eyes fell on this Melbourne Herald-Sun paragraph:

He died in a US Army combat surgical hospital where he was surrounded by his mates, who draped his body in an Australian flag and with a paratrooper's beret on his chest as they said The Lord's Prayer.

The same scriptwriter who brought you The Doug Wood story is at it again. Last time he was spinning the story of a war profiteer into US media footage to vindicate President Bush. This time he's hailing someone as a hero for having the job of shooting Iraqis to protect Australian bigwigs in Baghdad, writing media releases for Murdoch newsprint that tug the heart and instill patriotic pride.

The level of pageantry already spinning into the media to emphasis the accidental nature of Private Kovco's death belies a fear within the Australian government.... a similar fear to that of the Bush Administration when they forbade pictures of flag-draped coffins of dead US soldiers returning from Iraq.

The psychological force being applied to prove the point suggests how afraid the Australian Government is of dead Aussie soldiers. Somewhere in a spin-surgery there's an opinion poll that says that Australians would want to withdraw from the War if our countrymen die fighting for Bush. Otherwise, why bother with all this effort?

If I wasn't suspicious enough already, the conclusion of the Herald-Sun story with a mention of ABC cameraman Paul Moran brought a flash of deja vu. Moran, who was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq three years ago, was hailed in his hometown newspaper as local-boy-made-goood CIA operative. According to former AP correspondent Christopher Allbritton "Moran only filed to two stories for the ABC, both on the naval blockade of Iraq." The rest of the time he was allegedly attempting to generate an uprising against Saddam Hussein. From what I've seen (this blog is not to be missed) I believe that one of Moran's last jobs was to promote the existence of WMD's in Iraq, providing through his camera the "evidence" that Bush needed to invade. As one of only two journalists in the world to interview the Iraqi dissident who claimed involvment in Saddam's construction of WMD-creation bunkers, Moran showed the "picture" that "justified" the invasion.

Turning back to the weekend's sad news of an Aussie weapons expert accidentally killing himself, why are my instincts screaming "cover-up"? Right now I'd like to see a report of the Iraqi people who Private Kovco, in his capacity as Guardian Angel Of Baghdad, took careful aim at and ended their lives.

There seems to be some confusion in details of the incident already. One Murdoch paper, the Advertiser has the "fun-loving soldier" cleaning his pistol. At the same timeThe Australian has him cleaning a disassembled yet loaded rifle, a weapon which Defence Minister Nelson says Kovkko was "outstanding" at. The SMH pegs it as a rifleman cleaning a pistol.

I think the saddest thing, watching the story spin through the night, is the use of this sniper to associate the Iraq Invasion with Anzac Day. While the Howard psychologists work out how to bolster his approval ratings, the Herald-Sun is proclaiming how Kovco's hometown will be honouring him. You can bet the camera's will record Briagalong's Last Post from every angle. Mr Howard would pick up a few popularity points if he attended.

It's now four in the morning... the ABC is reporting how Kovco's collegues have carried his casket to an awaiting Hercules, which is now winging homeward. This is becoming a media overkill.

This story is as inconsistent as it is colourful. This story may not be that of an accidental death of a saint. To some it may already appear to be one of a hired murderer encountering karma. To others it may be reminiscent of Wag The Dog. However the Fallen Australian Hero has all the hallmarks of propaganda invention, and therefore needs to be looked at with suspicious eyes.

Australia Sends Commando Politicians To Solomons

2006-04-22T03:46:00.000-07:00

Australia's Foreign Minister has announced a new aid package to the Solomon Islands
Coastal redevelopments, utilities privatisation and a massive infrastucture upgrade have been cited by Mr Downer as the cure for the current wave of anarchy sweeping the country.

"If they don't like Chinese profiteers, wait till they clap eyes on Halliburton" Mr Downer told a FOX reporter. "Sure, they won't get their country back till the fifty-year lease runs out, but if they want aid, they have to do as they're told."

Mr Downer said that his visit to the Solomons made him appear to be a decisive leader. "This will make people forget how much of an ineffectual dimwit the AWB Inquiry has shown me to be. Apart from that I can set up some really great investment opportunities that will increase my dividends."

"We're going to teach local politicians how to take kickbacks, use inside information and generally keep getting richer. They'll be as efficient as Australian pollies in weeks!"

Mr Downer's visit will be shortly followed by an appearance by Australian PM John Howard the day after the next bad news from the AWB Inquiry.

Speaking Of Resurrections

2006-04-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Try this one for a Good Friday heart-starter!

London - A doctor spoke on Thursday about how he helped remove a 12-year-old girl's donor heart, which she had started to reject, and restart her own, dormant heart in a pioneering operation in London.

Heart specialist Sir Magdi Yacoub advised the surgeons who carried out the procedure on Hannah Clark - understood to be a medical first in Britain - in February after he came out of retirement at the request of the girl's parents.

"Her own heart has recovered. It really is absolutely wonderful news," Yacoub told BBC News.

The girl had enjoyed good health with the donor heart until November when a cardiologist found that her body was rejecting the organ, which Yacoub had transplanted 10 years ago in a life-saving operatio

Doctor Who- The Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist

2006-04-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Doctor Who 2005 series nominated for TV's top honour.

The 2005 series of Doctor Who, starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, has been nominated for Best Drama Series in British Television's most prestigious awards, the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Doctor Who faces stiff competition from three other critically acclaimed programmes - BBC Two's graphic medical drama Bodies, Channel 4's outrageous comedy-drama Shameless, and BBC One's slick spy show Spooks.

Doctor Who is also nominated in several other categories.

(source: www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho)

When the Christmas Special finally airs in the New American Alliance, we will have witnessed Ten Doctor Whos in forty years (ok twelve if you watched the movies)

Evolving from the original William Hartnell version, today's version of the show sticks in a mojor way to the oringal intents of the show, but with a modern slant appropriate today's mental media onslaught. Where the original Dr Who shows tried to educate children into scientific thinking, today's Doctor introduces fresh minds to the styles of thinking nowadays called Conspiracy Theory.

Eventually I'm going to get around to how Rose's saving of earth by understanding the simultaneity of temporal platforms was exactly the same as Captain Picard's solving of Q's temporal conundrum at the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Is it an accidental synchronicity that both programs "ended" with humanity learning to comprehend the multidimensional "nowness" of time and space?

It lookes like, with the tenth doctor, we've got a mix of Biggles, Casanova and the Famous Five. The difference in tone of the newest doctor intenfies the accentuated eccentricities of the Ninth
The Christopher Eccleston incarnation was ablackened embittered personality questioning everything, drawing coincidiences together, not thinking anything too large to be contemplated... he's the end-product of the traditions instilled by Asimov and Arthur Clarke that where extended by Robert Heinlein and John Wyndham, mixed with a little Gore Vidal and Michael Moore. Not to mention that The Doctor was lip-kissed by a bloke!

I hope the 2005 series is eventually acknowledged as the finest series of science fiction ever created for television.. but then again I'm an accordion player, so what would I know?

Australian Foreign Minister Tampers With Inquiry Transcript

2006-04-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

The oddest story so far. In spite of having said that he only reads the contents of memos if he's on a plane and out of things to read, Mr Downer didn't like the way he said it.

Picture: Messrs Bush and Downer choosing whose turn it is
to be "on top" tonight, while a White House aide eagerly
awaits the offer of a "threesome"

Appearing in the transcript was the line, apparently uttered by the Foreign Minister that he "would rarely read summaries of cables". Mr Downer's lawyers stepped in to have it changed so that he "would really" read summaries of cables. and the gentleman himself signed it, stating "yes I really do read summaries of cables."

So why give the impression that he'd only have a squizz if all the in-flight movies were too crappy to bother with? The correction is out of context with what Downer said elsewhere, yet considered too semantically sensitive by Downer's legal eagles to remain in print in this form. Maybe they thought that George wouldn't like it?

You'd think such a pedantically altered discussion would be up on Downer's website by now wouldn't you. However, there are probably a few more "edits" to be made.

You Can't Spell Your name

2006-04-10T04:27:00.000-07:00

I'll never forget, on the first day of High School, out teacher singling out the one Aboriginal boy on the accuracy of his name spelling. "Johnston" Mr D insisted "is not a spelling of the name." The boy held his ground with "That's how my name is spelled."

Twenty five years later I hear the name being placed to a gentle Dublin lilt on TV. Felicity Johnston was the AWB's customs officer.

I think to myself "Up yours, Mr D."

Thinking Like Republicans

2006-04-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

This was sighted in an Albuqurque (USA) Stop The War Newsletter in 2004

Tentative Schedule
Republican National Convention


New York, August 29 - September 2, 2004

Catering Service: Halliburton
Chauffeur Service: Blackwater

OPENING NIGHT. 8:00 p.m.

Presentation of the Confederate Colors, Rush Limbaugh

8:15 p.m. Blessing of the Republican Party and Curse on Satanic
Democrats: Reverend Franklin Graham. 8:30 p.m. Keynote Address: Mel
Gibson (in Aramaic, with subtitles)

9.30 pm. Benediction and Call to Holy War, General William Boykin

SECOND NIGHT

8:00 p.m. Presentation of the Confederate Colors: Judge Charles
Pickering

8:15 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance and Anointment with Crisco Oil, Attorney
General John Ashcroft 8:30 p.m. Quadrennial Compassionate Conservative
Musical Offering of Minstrel Songs and Cakewalk 9:00 p.m. Speech:
Condoleezza Rice

9:30 p.m. Speech: Colin Powell, (cancelled)

9:30 p.m. Video Tribute: Strom Thurmond (with introduction by Trent
Lott)

10:00 p.m. Presentation of Party Platform and No-Bid Contracts, Dick
Cheney

THIRD NIGHT

8:00 p.m. Presentation of the Confederate Colors: Tom DeLay

8:15 pm. Bush Family Tribute:

??? Neil Bush on Family Values

??? Marvin Bush on Saudi Investment Opportunities for Family Members

??? Jeb Bush on Fair Drug Sentencing Guidelines and Election Laws for
Family Members 9:00 pm. Nomination Speech for George W. Bush, Ahmed
Chalabi, (cancelled)

9:30 p.m. Seconding speech, Brent Scowcroft, (cancelled)

9:35 p.m. Seconding Speech, Paul O???Neill (cancelled)

9:40 p.m. Seconding Speech, Christie Todd Whitman (cancelled)

10:00 p.m. Roll Call of States and Counting of Votes, Antonin Scalia

CLOSING-NIGHT

8:00 p.m. Presentation of the Confederate Colors, Karl Rove.

8:15 p.m. Incantation from the Platform to Open Witchcraft Trial of 9/11
Widows at Ground Zero: Richard Perle, William Kristol, Scooter Libby,
Paul Wofowitz 9:00 p.m. Acceptance Speech of Presidential Nominee (Joint
Appearance, Not Under Oath), George W. Bush and Dick Cheney

Australian Ministers Under Oath

2006-04-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

For the first time an Australian minister of the Bush Administration will face a true battle- telling the public what he wants to without being forced to resign.

Trade Minister Mark Vaille will appear befor the Australian Wheat Board Inquiry on Monday, and Foreign Minister Downer on Tuesday. They will be speaking on the issue in an environment in which our society considers lack of honesty to be the greatest taboo- A sworn oath.

ABC reports that the inquiry wishes to question Mr Downer on diplomatic cables sent by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Office of the Prime Minister of Australia. The cables raised the department's concern over involvement in the Austalian Wheat Board's bribes to Saddam Hussein.

The Cole Commission last week ordered the ministers to provide statements in response to certain questions, that were duly submitted to the inquiry last Wednseday.

Earliear today Senioor Counsel to the Commission, Mr John Agius QC said that there were "one or two matters I would like to take them up on." The flippancy here is ominious... bet your last dollar that Mr Agius will querying lies that cannot be repeated under oath.

Mr Downer faces an "ethical" dilemma. He can change his story to match the fects that have appeared since the beginning of the inquiry, or he can continue to lie. If he confesses under oath he might be able to save fragments of his political and/or diplomatic career. Given that if the Bush Administration had its way Downer would now be fronting the International Atomic Energy Agency, saving a career of such demonstrable (if yet unrealised) potential would be considered more important than a "Less-signifigant" life.

As Bush's prime agent in provoking Korear and acting as financial intermediary between the US and China while the ideaological battle for Taiwan continues. Mr Downer might be considering confession. If you believe this I've got a bridge to sell you. If it turns out, as today's Washington Post suggests, that Bush personally advocated the leaking of intelligence information in order tro support his political agenda in Iraq, his Little Aussie Lackey will be operating under a similar code of ethics. This brings us to Downer's second option.

If Downer continues to conceal his personal knowledge of how, under a UN program administered by his department, Australian money was placed in an environment where it might be buying ammunition to shoot Coalition soldiers with, providing Palistinian suicide bombers with financial independace by posthumously supporting their families, or even funding the creation of Weapons Of Mass Destruction. Why include WMDs ? Surely Downer didn't know the truth about that one too?

Mr Downer, in continuing his current public stance, would also need to continue lying about the siphoning of US Aid Funds from beneath the roof of the US Deficit and refuelling the Iraq aid system through Australian-based US corporations.

Downer's Career Battered, Strangled, Buggered

2006-04-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

What goes on in Alexander Dower's subconcious? He gets asked if he'll need to resign if implicated in the AWB Inquiry and comes back with this response:

[extract from The Age]

"It's a completely hypothetical proposition. It's rather like saying what would happen if I was found strangling my wife. I mean, I would be in deep trouble if I started strangling my wife."

Alex, for those who don't know has a long history of stuffing up the Lib's reputation. Try this Green Left Weekly article

One of the smarmiest yet most ironic tales in the book is that of the rise and fall of Downer.
After doing the numbers in his run to the leadership challenge against John Hewson, Downer declared: “Gee, I could win this”. And he did! But as Liberal leader, Downer was a satirist's paradise: on a visit to the NT he pledged to repeal Mabo; he addressed a League of Rights meeting in 1987 thinking it was a Christian rally; and following the “Things that Matter” policy launch, he made that horrifying reference to domestic violence as “the things that batter”.
Probably Downer's most revealing statement, however, was his confession that he didn't realise that becoming leader of the Liberals “meant working seven days a week and travelling constantly”.
The Liberals came to the conclusion that Downer was a big mistake. This was reinforced by the fact that no donations had flowed in to the party since the 1993 election loss and party treasurer Ron Walker's statement that he couldn't persuade corporate leaders to make donations with Downer as leader. The party's debt to the National Bank had grown to $5 million, and party campaigners were concerned that Labor's advertising company could portray Downer as a joke.

I still remember the look on Mr D's face as he made the "things that batter" joke. He looked around myopically with a smile on his face, waiting to be swamped in gails of laughter. Instead he lost the Lib leadership to John Howard.

Now, nearly twenty years later, in one of the most serious situations an Australian Federal Minister could face- a possible finding that he aided and abetted the transfer of money to Saddam Hussein that may have been used to buy ammunition with which to shoot invading armies (such as ours) Downer comes out with another "joke" about mistreating women.

In '87 John Howard would have been jumping for joy when Alex made that stupid remark. Now, as Downer represents us to the world, hours of media training and a careful cultivation of his profile as a potential Australian leader, the Prime Minister will be cringeing with embarrassment.. with good reason. Two decades of correction just went out the window, and our Foreign Minister, in the eyes of the world, looks like a dickhead again.

There's no hope for him John... why don't you bugger him off ?

The Mail From Snowy Whitewash

2006-03-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

A sequel to "Howard Didn't Know" (see below) which seems to be flying everywhere.

There were movements down in Mayo when the memo got around that the kickbacks, through neglect, had leaked away. Brown trousers? More than likely, Downer lost a thousand pounds, and all of DFAT's cracks began to fray.

And Johnny, full of overflow, came down to lend his hand. It was grand to see a Canberra man astride all the gossip from the media, herding stories left and right, and defending all his ministers with pride.

This hardy little memo had been seen around before... Aussie dollars buying bullets in Iraq, but nobody said they'd seen it, and it safely slid away, to be hidden from the public in the dark.

But Lex and Pete had seen it, and Johnny Howard too, and then it disappeared again for years, to return, all proud and feisty, to the Government's surprise, and leaving Phillip Ruddock near to tears.

"Deny it" cried the riders, "round it up and herd it out – a coupla days and everyone will forget." But the memo kept on running, through the cities and the towns, reminding everyone of old regret.

So Johnny and his mountain-men, slumped upon their mounts, trotted back to Canberra in dismay, as the hardy little email, that in Downer raised the trots, left the cabinet's bright hopes in disarray.

Poor Eddie

2006-03-28T21:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Samantha "Chip" Bolton for this one:

A man on his way home from work, comes to a dead halt in traffic and thinks to himself, "This traffic seems worse than usual. Nothing's even moving."

He notices a police officer walking back and forth between the lines of cars, so he rolls down his window and asks, "Constable, what's the hold up?"

The constable replies, "It's Eddie McGuire. He's just so depressed about his personal life - the thought of moving with Carla & Joseph to Sydney and the state of disruption amongst his beloved Magpies, Channel Nine losing the football coverage, having to give up The Footy Show, Who wants to be a Millionaire, and his Triple M radio show, that he's
stopped his motorcade in the middle of the freeway and he's threatening to douse himself in petrol and set himself on fire.

He says his family hates him and he doesn't have the money to pay for the new house renovations at Point Piper and to bring his current house in Toorak up to scratch to put it on the market. We're taking up a collection for him."

"Oh really? How much have you got so far?"

"About three hundred litres, but a lot of people are still siphoning."

Merry Christmas From Rupert Murdoch

2006-03-28T02:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Colleagues,
As the year comes to a close, I want to thank all of you for another outstanding year. Each of our divisions excelled and our company posted record revenues and profits. Yet there is much more to the spirit of this company - and to this season - than just the bottom line.
Among the many highlights of this eventful year, your response to the natural disasters that took so many innocent lives and destroyed or disrupted whole regions stands out. Together our company and employees contributed more than $8 million to help the victims of the South Asian tsunami. When catastrophe struck again less than a year later, in the forms of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, you rose to the occasion once more, generously donating more than $675,000. Nothing could better illustrate the values of our company, and I am inspired by your commitment to helping those in need.
This year, I had the good fortune to meet many of you and visit your places of work. My travels took me from New York to China, India, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy and Los Angeles - nearly every
place we have a business interest. I came away more impressed than ever by the quality of our
operations and especially of our people. It is clear that wherever we operate, there is one standard by which we measure ourselves: excellence.
Since last year, our corporate family has grown. We have acquired exciting new businesses and
dramatically expanded our presence on the Internet. In the months and years to come, our company will have no higher priority than ensuring that we are as successful online as we have been in print and
on the big and small screens. We will pursue the same strategy as always: offer the customer the
highest quality content and the widest possible choices. But we will do it in new venues, in a media environment that is changing faster than ever. As we transform our company - and all its divisions - into an Internet heavyweight, we will lead, not follow.
For our company, next year may yet be even more eventful than this one. Competition will grow more fierce. Yet I have full confidence that we can rise to the challenge. Our company has not only thrived on change, we have been a catalyst for change. We have created new businesses and pioneered new products. We have the talent, the energy - and the urgency - to forge ahead. I know that through your hard work, we can, and we will.
So this holiday season, let us stop to cherish and appreciate those dearest to us. And let us look
forward to another year of great things for our company, and for us all.
With my warmest wishes for a joyous Holiday Season,
Rupert Murdoch

------------------
Filled with Christmas warmth as he embraced the internet, Rupert gave his Adelaide print staff a Christmas bonus of twenty five dollars (Australian) each

Thank You, Mister Hart

2006-03-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

As they say, anyone who went to Pro Hart asking a favour never came away empty handed. I wonder how many lives he changed in this way, and how many others indirectly? Something he did certainly changed mine.

A member of a bush band I played squeezebox for in the '90s, Kelly's Revenge, had just finished an album when one of the members suggested asking Pro Hart if he'd do the cover. Naturally we asssumed such a thing would never happen and told the guitarist to try his luck. Doing it properly, he took a drive to Broken Hill to ask the question, and came back with a four-color of a bush dance.

I have no doubt that this cover was intrinisic in our touring Texas, Poland, Japan, Ireland, Denmark and Germany. The life experiences gained on those trips are still changing me. Thank you, Pro Hart

Howard Didn't Know

2006-03-21T00:37:00.000-08:00

Hamish from Webdiary received this as an anonymous parody in circulation.

HOWARD DIDN'T KNOW

With apologies to Banjo Paterson.

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him at the wheat board, years ago
He was chairman when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him
Just on spec, to make the point, that "Howard doesn't want to know".

And an email came directed, not entirely unexpected
(And I think the same was written in some Middle Eastern bar)
'Twas his CEO who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it,
"Trevor Flugge's gone to Baghdad and we don't know where he are.

But when he left Australia, he was going to meet with Alia,
A trucking mob in Jordan, who were keen to grease the wheels
For 10 per cent commission, they could swing Saddam's permission
To get our wheat accepted: it's the mother of all deals.

But I guarantee, Prime Minister, that there's nothing at all sinister:
The chaps at DFAT told us that the sums looked quite okay.
When you're selling wheat in billions, what's a quick 300 million?
If it keeps the Nationals happy it's a tiny price to pay."

Sitting here at Kirribilli, I've been thinking, willy nilly
That it's somehow reminiscent of the children overboard:
But I can handle Rudd and Beazley as I always do, quite easily,
By endlessly protesting that there's nothing untoward.

I'll tell Bush next time I meet him at The White House, when I greet him,
That I'm sure he'll understand about the wheat board's quid pro quo:
He'll forgive this minor error in the global war on terror
When I look him in the eye and tell him Howard didn't know.

Downer and Rice- US State Department Transcript

2006-03-18T23:25:00.000-08:00

Sydney, Australia
March 16, 2006

FOREIGN MINISTER DOWNER: Ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by saying how delighted I am to host this visit to Australia by Secretary Rice. It's her first visit as the Secretary of State though she was here not that long ago with President Bush when he was last in Australia. We had this morning, the first part of the visit, which is our bilateral meeting, I suppose it’s been an hour or an hour and ten minutes, and we have a series of other functions and meetings over the next couple of days, culminating on Saturday in the Trilateral Security Dialogue with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso.

We've this morning talked about the Secretary's visit to Indonesia. We've talked, of course, about the Trilateral Security Dialogue and relations with other countries in the region. We talked about regional architecture. We talked about India and, of course, the nuclear deal between President Bush and Prime Minister Singh. And we've had a discussion about Iraq, the situation in Iraq, and about Iran. So I would just say in a overall sense it won't surprise any of you to hear me say that the relationship between the Howard and Bush administrations is a very close relationship. We work together as, of course, allies. We work together as a bit more than that. We work together as friends and people who share many common perspectives both in the region and beyond the region around the world and we work together very hard on trying to achieve an agenda that both of us very passionately believe in and that it's an agenda to see greater not just peace but greater freedom and democracy in many different parts of the world.

So, Secretary, welcome to you.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much, Minister. Thank you, Alexander. We've had a very extensive discussion this morning and I want to thank the Foreign Minister for hosting me here. It's great to be in Australia, this beautiful country. I have a lovely view from my window of Sydney and, of course, of the Opera House, which I might have thought I might have played in at some point in another lifetime. But it's a really wonderful place.

We do indeed have this very unique and deep relationship that's based on common values, that's based on our determination to defend freedom when it is under attack and wherever it is under attack, and not just to defend it but to promote it and to support those who are still seeking it.

In that regard, we have had a broad discussion of a number of issues: Iraq, Iran. We discussed my trip to Indonesia and the remarkable course that Indonesia is taking as that young democracy which is a place that is as diverse as yet as inclusive as anyplace on the globe, the course that Indonesia is taking and our desire to support Indonesia in that course and Indonesia's role here in the broader region and on the globe.

We will indeed look forward to our Trilateral Strategic Dialogue with our colleague from Japan later in the week and to further discussions of our common agenda as this next couple of days goes on. So thank you very much for welcoming me here and we look forward to your questions.

FOREIGN MINISTER DOWNER: And we're looking forward to attending the Commonwealth Games.

SECRETARY RICE: Oh, yes. That's --

FOREIGN MINISTER DOWNER: Even though the United States is not in the Commonwealth for all sorts of obvious historic reasons. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RICE: That's all right.

FOREIGN MINISTER DOWNER: Could have been. Could have been. (Laughter.)

All right, now we're going to do four questions, I'm told, two from the Americans who at a glance are over here and two from the Australians. So we'll start off with the Australians since that's the home team.

QUESTION: Secretary Rice, what chance has the U.S. of leaving a relatively secure Iraq behind when they turn over (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think that there is a very good chance that the Iraqi people, with the support of their coalition partners, will build the foundation -- will have built the foundation for a stable and secure Iraq over the next couple of years.

This is a difficult process that they're involved in. I was saying to the Foreign Minister that it is sometimes very difficult when all of the pictures are about the violence and when you have terrorists and old (inaudible) that wish to literally blow up the process of the political reconciliation of the Iraqi people, it's difficult to focus on what is quite a remarkable political process that is going on.

They've had three elections, including one to ratify a constitution. They're now engaged in coalition building for a national unity government -- something that most countries in the world recognize as quite familiar. The Shia parties did not gain enough votes in the election and so they have to bring in partners in order to form a national unity government. That is a process that is well underway. The difficulty for the Iraqis is that they do it in the face of violence perpetrated by those who don't want a political process to go forward.

But I believe that like many peoples who've gone through the trials of trying to build a democracy that they're going to succeed. And we should express confidence in them because every time they have been confronted with a challenge, going all the way back to the transfer of sovereignty in 2004, the Iraqis have faced up to that challenge and they have been able to move the next step ahead in the political process. And we are supporting them. We're supporting them in the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces that can defend their young democracy. But I believe that they've been remarkable in what they've achieved thus far and I really do believe that we're going to look one day at a stable and secure Iraq and be very grateful to those, like Australia and the United States, who were determined to see the Iraqi people have this chance.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday that the U.S. and UK supported his raid on Jericho prison. President Abbas, whom you say you support, thinks it was a crime. What does it make for the credibility of the Quartet, which is now accused of taking sides?

SECRETARY RICE: Sylvie, let me explain what happened. Let's just establish the facts of what happened here. In 2002, the United States and Great Britain agreed with the Palestinians and with the Israelis that we would monitor a prison in Jericho in which several very, very dangerous figures, including people accused of the murder of the Israeli Tourism Minister, were housed. This was in order to break at the time the so-called siege of Ramallah that was taking place. We agreed to monitor this prison but security for the prison was the responsibility of the Palestinian security forces.

Over the last year, it has been increasingly difficult for the monitors to play their role and we and the British have become increasingly concerned for the safety of these monitors -- again, who are not to secure the prison but are there to monitor the goings-on in the prison.

More than a year ago, we started to say to the Palestinians that this was a problem. Those concerns have mounted over the last months and on March 8th there was a letter delivered to the Palestinian Authority saying that we could no longer tolerate the situation, our people were in danger, and the monitors would have to pull out if things did not improve immediately -- or we would have to pull out immediately if things did not improve.

That happened when the monitors then pulled out. That has been the role of the United States and Great Britain -- nothing more and nothing less. Now, we have in the face of the recent actions and difficulties in Jericho been in touch with all the parties to urge calm and restraint. But I want to be very clear that the role of the United States and the role of Great Britain, because we did it in coordination, was to inform the parties, as was required by the agreement in 2002, that the monitors could no longer maintain their monitoring mission in the prison and that they would be leaving. That was what was done and that is the extent of the role of the United States and Great Britain.

QUESTION: Dr. Rice, you said that Iran may pose the biggest challenge of any state (inaudible) United States. The Security Council this week seems to be unable to agree on this issue. If that remains the case, what would be the next step for the U.S. and what role would you like to see Australia play in dealing with challenge from Iran?

And I want to also ask you a question about another subject you say you discussed, which was India and the nuclear cooperation agreement. Would you like to see Australia supplying uranium to India under that agreement?

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Well, on Iran, Iran is a challenge because it is seeking to have a nuclear program that would allow it to develop a nuclear weapon and it's doing that, we believe, under cover of the NPT and it's lied about its activities and therefore is in contradiction to its requirements or to its obligations under the NPT. It also, of course, is involved as a central banker of terrorism and so Iran is to be -- we have many reasons to be concerned about Iran. It also, by the way, has an unelected few who repress the desires of its population. So it is a troublesome state.

The Security Council has now taken up the issue. I'm quite certain that the Security Council will find an appropriate vehicle for expressing again to the Iranians the desire and indeed the demand of the international community that Iran return to negotiations, having suspended the activities that it began in contradiction of its requirements under the Paris Agreement, and that it's time for Iran to heed the international community's call.

I'm sure we'll find the right vehicle for that. The negotiations are underway. I would caution that we not try early to determine how those negotiations are going to come out. That's what negotiations are like. And I've been in contact with my counterparts.

I really do appreciate the fact that Australia has been stalwart in also calling on Iran to find an arrangement that would be acceptable to the international community in terms of its proliferation risk and I'm sure that Australia will continue to play that very active role.

As to the India agreement, it is obvious that the agreement strengthens security by expanding the reach of the IAEA to be able now, when there is a safeguards agreement with the Indians, to have access to Indian civil nuclear facilities which it currently does not have. And I would just note that Mohamed El Baradei himself has noted that this is an important -- would be an important achievement for the nonproliferation regime.

Secondly, everyone understands that a growing economy like India, this great democracy -- India -- that's growing rapidly, needs energy supply. And civil nuclear energy is clean. It protects the environment. It can be plentiful. And currently India is not capable of pursuing civil nuclear power to the degree that it will need to.

And finally, the United States -- and I know the Prime Minister was in India just a couple of days after the President. India is a rising power in Asia and a democratic power that is rising, and it is a multiethnic, vibrant place that is finding its place in the international economy and in international politics. And we need a broad and deep relationship with this rising democracy.

And so on all those grounds, we believe that this is an important deal. I appreciate that the Australian Government, and the Minister can speak for himself, has said that they think the deal itself is a good deal. I think the issue of whether or not one decides to participate in fuel supply is a quite separable issue and it's one for the Australians to determine but not one that is at issue with the United States by any means.

FOREIGN MINISTER DOWNER: And I just want to reinforce the view that I put to the Secretary that Australia absolutely supports the arrangements that have been made between President Bush and Prime Minister Singh. We think that's an important step forward. It's been a difficult negotiation and they're very difficult issues, but we certainly support the logic of what the United States Administration has done there and believe that the broader arguments about the growing importance of India, particularly as the world's largest democracy, a country that from Australia's point of view we have a lot of standing links with -- we share the Indian Ocean together -- and so we're delighted to see the not only growing relationship between ourselves and the Indians but the growing strength of the relationship between the United States and India, which is pretty unprecedented, really.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, as you know, there are concerns here given China's importance to the region and the Australian economy about a potential hardening of the Administration's view towards China. Could you tell us what assurances, if any, you offered Minister Downer on that front today and the status of those talks?

And Minister, if you could be a little more specific with us about is Australia considering finding a way to bend its policies on the fuel cycle to assist in the Indian deal. Thank you.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, U.S. policy on China has been consistent for the extent of this Administration and it is to try and create an environment in which China will be encouraged to be, as it grows and as it grows in importance and influence, responsible in international affairs, more open both towards its own people and toward the international system; to encourage Chinese participation and integration into important international institutions like the World Trade Organization, where the United States supported Chinese accession; to recognize that China is going to be and is influential in international politics and to have every desire to see that influence be positive.

There is no doubt that as with any complex relationship there are difficult issues as well as positive elements. I think we believe that the growth of the Chinese economy, if it's done in a rules-based way in which China is fully obeying the rules of the global economy, is a very positive development for international growth and for the United States.

We've said that we have concerns about the Chinese military buildup. We've told the Chinese that they need to be transparent about what their military buildup means. I don't know, I used to follow Soviet defense statistics and so I'm always a little bit uncertain about statistics on these things, but I heard that there's going to be a 14 percent increase in the Chinese defense budget. That's a lot. And China should undertake to be transparent about what that means.

But China is a country that's very much in transition. Its economy needs to continue to open. It needs to pay attention to intellectual property rights. It needs to pay attention to the effect of not having at this point a currency that is market-based and flexible. It needs to pay attention to concerns about the fact that much of the economy is still government-owned. And when there are certain rules about what can be sold in financial services or in software to the government sector of the economy, there are reasons to be concerned about whether that really reflects an open trading policy.

So to say that there are concerns about this changing and transitioning China, I think is still to say so within the context of every hope and every intention of trying to encourage positive trends in China's development and working very closely with China on all kinds of global issues. We are, after all, partners with China in the six-party talks on North Korea. We are working with China in the Security Council on the Iranian issue as we speak. So we have a lot of work to do with China, but to the degree that we have concerns we're going to raise them. We're going to raise them about human rights and religious freedom. But I think this policy has been consistent from the day the President came to Washington.

FOREIGN MINISTER DOWNER: And just from our point of view, we've never had a concern that the United States was pursuing a policy of containment of China or something like that of a, if you like, commensurate with a once upon a time Cold War strategy and I think we feel comfortable with where the United States is at in terms of its relationship with China.

Our relationship has its own dynamics, we have our own issues, but we have a very good and constructive relationship with China. We have President Wen coming here very soon in the next couple of weeks and I'm sure that visit will be successful. But you know, China, as it's a growing power, it's an emerging power in the region, is a country that needs to understand that brings with it a lot of responsibilities. It has a responsibility to make sure that it works comfortably and constructively with other countries in the region and it makes a positive contribution to regional as well as to global issues, and we hope that they'll continue to do that.

In relation to nuclear policies in India, look, we don't have any plans to change our current policy and we've explained that. I explained that to the Secretary but she knew that anyway and we’ve said that, the Prime Minister and I, on a number of occasions over the last couple of weeks.

But having said that, you know, we have some legal issues there, of course, in relation to obligations we have, but we think that the United States deal that they have done with India is a good deal and it takes forward this whole process of openness and transparency about at least many aspects of India's nuclear program. Is it perfect? I don't know that you could put together a perfect deal. Maybe the answer is that a perfect deal would be for India to give up its nuclear weapons program and sign up to the NPT, and that, no matter how idealistic and passionate we may be about that, that's a dream; that's actually not going to happen anytime soon, if ever

F***ing Melodeon

2006-03-15T03:48:00.000-08:00

I never knew that this was a derogatory expression for a bad night. A melodeon, for those who don't know, is a single or double row button accordion. And this following letter, printed on an Irish football site, shows what happens when a squeezebox player tells the flautist he's out of tune (thanks to Peter Christie for passing this to me. As a player of the maligned instrument, I loved the steam of invective which follows :

Regarding the night we met in Ned O’Shea’s, there is something I would like to point out to you. As regards to tuning an instrument, is that I have been playing the flute since 1960, 44 years, and never in all that time did anyone ever tell me how to tune it except one before yourself. She was a young girl too, just like you; pompous, abrasive, self-centred, egotistical. And I gave her short shift and left her in tears. The same thing would have happened to you on that Sunday night only you were surrounded by Kerry supporters and your boyfriend’s minders.
Now, I was disappointed in Kerry’s finest hour that you wouldn’t play some Kerry music, Kerry slides or Kerry Polkas. Perhaps you thought they were not traditional. Well, they’re not. Authentically, they all came in from Scotland. But they would have been more authentic, and over the years it is more Irish now than what you are playing on that accordion of yours. Because what you are playing is mixture of bluegrass, Appalachian, Scots, classical, Breton, Brittanic – Celt and other mongrel sounds that have nothing to do with Irish traditional music at all.
I notice that your right hand is quite good technically, but your left fingers touching the basses are like milking the tits on a bull, which have no substance to the music whatsoever, because we can’t hear them, and therefore they are of no use to the overall sound. Hence all we have is a glorified melodeon player, which is what you are. And it has come to inflict itself on the Irish traditional music world once again.
In County Sligo in the old times, we called melodeon players the grunt and groan merchants. And on a bad night of music we always said “It was fúcking melodeon.” Coleman said, - and I am sure you have probably never heard of Michael Coleman, the greatest traditional fiddle player of all time, from Co. Sligo, - When they were collecting for a dead melodeon player in America, “Here’s five dollars to bury him, and here’s another five to bury the fúcking melodeon with him.”
You think you are God’s gift. Well, you are not. You are only a copy cat, and a medium one at that. You have a long way to go. Another thing I want to point out to you about concert pitches. The night before I met you in Ned O’Shea’s I was playing in Clare. There I was playing with a Russian lady who has a degree from the orchestra of Stalingrad, once known as Leningrad. She played the keyboard, I tuned with her, and had no problem getting concert pitch with her. So what is the fúcking matter with you?
Now, you only come from fúcking Killorglin in the Co. Kerry, and their only notoriety is King Puck. Perhaps you should play there and give us all a break. I would have to put the flute so far out of joint, and I still would not be in tune with you. So perhaps you should get that fúcking melodeon of yours tuned in proper concert pitch, and give our heads peace. I mean in concert pitch, and not go around annoying saying “You’re flat” or “out of tune” and you will make yourself an awful lot more friends.
Now, as far as I am concerned, you are a self-opinionated, pompous, self-centred little bitch who wants to get to the top quickly and is greedy for money. You wouldn’t be playing that melodeon, or Irish music at all, if it wasn’t for the money to be made out of it. Like a lot of your generation, you’d just as soon be playing rock, jazz or the Beatles. Well, why the hell don’t you go back to it, and give Irish traditional musicians, who fought to keep it alive over the generations, a fúcking break, and fúck off out of it. Keep out of Irish traditional music. You are poisoning the well.
You probably think this is a pretty nasty letter, and it is meant to be because you did me out of a night’s wages. And anybody who takes the bit out of my mouth, or crosses my path the way you did, can expect nothing else

BillyConnolly Chain Letter

2006-03-15T01:43:00.000-08:00

I can't ensure the authenticity of the authorship, but it certainly sounds like His Lordship:
Hello, my name is Billy Connolly and I suffer from guilt for not forwarding 50 billion fu@king chain letters sent to me by people who actually believe if you send them on, a poor six year old girl in Scotland with a breast on her forehead will be able to raise enough money to have it removed before her redneck parents sell her to a travelling freak show. And, do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to give you, and everyone to whom you send "his" email, $1000? How stupid are we? Ooooh, looky here! If I scroll down this page and make a wish, I'll get laid by a model I just happen to run into the next day! What a bunch of bullsh!t.. Maybe the evil chain letter leprechauns will come into my house and sodomize me in my sleep for not continuing a chain letter that was started by St Peter in 5AD and brought to this country by midget pilgrim stowaways on the Endeavour. Fu@k'em!! If you're going to forward something, at least send me something mildly amusing. I've seen all the "send this to 10 of your closest friends, and this poor, wretched excuse for a human being will somehow receive a nickel from some omniscient being" forwards about 90 times. I don't fu@king care. The point being? If you get some chain letter that's threatening to leave you shagless or luckless for the rest of your life, delete it. If it's funny, send it on. Don't piss people off by making them feel guilty about a leper in Botswana with no teeth who has been tied to the arse of a dead elephant for 27 years and whose only salvation is the 5 cents per letter he'll receive if you forward this email. Now forward this to everyone you know. Otherwise, tomorrow morning your underwear will turn carnivorous and will consume your genitals. Have a nice day. Billy Connolly P.S: Send me 15 bucks and then fu@k off

2006-03-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

Breaking News . . . . .

In an attempt to thwart the spread of bird flu, George W.Bush has bombed the Canary Islands.

Return To Sender

2006-02-20T22:35:00.000-08:00

Do you reckon, when it's over,
and everyone stops squeaking
Alexander Downer
(politically speaking)
will end up sliding swiftly
down a pointy-ended bannister?
His career, reduced to ashes,
we'll scoop into a cannister
We'll put them in an envelope
and send them on their way
addressed "Return To Sender,
c/o White House, USA"

The Ballad of Lord Downer and Kindly Lisa

2006-02-16T06:46:00.000-08:00

As Downer went riding in First Class one day
He spied a young damsel eating tuna mornay
With a fol of the rol and a didlle of of the day
He smiled at Kindly Lisa, saying unto her "G'day"

"I know this may sound strange, for it will be tricky,
to keep news of this from my wife, Lady Vicky
but my heart and my soul are for you, not my missus,
Let's not tell our courtiers, in case they dismiss us.

Kindly Lisa, quite flattered by intrigue and guile
bestowed upon Downer a radiant smile
saying "well shall you be repaid for devotion
now hasten to your court, and from there pass a motion

What you shall pass is your land's sovereignty
Give it to my leaders, that it may come to me
All I can accomplish with you by my side
and when I am Empress, you'll be my bride"

Lord Downer uplifted his head with a jerk
"Aha" he cried out "now I know of your lurk
I was playing along to see how far
Kindly Lisa would go to be Democracy's Star

"I care," said Downer, "for democracy.
Global domination means little to me
I cross the ocean, I'll whistle and sing
If you think I'd sell Australia, you can kiss my ring"

Halliburton Watch On S.A. Slave Labour

2006-02-16T06:37:00.000-08:00

Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper slams Halliburton's 'slave labor'

13 Feb., 2006

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- An Australian newspaper owned by right wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch reports that Halliburton hires "slave labor" to dig ditches and perform other duties.

In an article titled "Slave labor for $40 a day," Murdoch's Advertiser newspaper, based in South Australia, reports in today's edition that Halliburton "imports" Indonesian workers for as little as $40 a day ($US29) to work 80 days straight in the Australian desert. In contrast, Australian workers are paid a minimum wage of $15 per hour ($US11) for the same work.

Murdoch is chairman of News Corp., which owns the American Fox News cable network, the New York Post newspaper and other notoriously pro-corporate and staunchly conservative media outlets that employ right-wing pundits including Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and John Podhoretz.

In the article, the Advertiser said it "asked about the claims that workers were underpaid and mistreated" by Halliburton in Australia, but public relations officials at the company's Houston headquarters refused to respond. "Despite three days of requests to Halliburton in Australia and the U.S., they have not answered the claims," the article states.

Australian Workers Union secretary Wayne Hanson told the Advertiser that the workers are employed under "absolute extreme sweatshop-like conditions." He said it's not surprising that Halliburton is "exploiting" immigrants to work in hostile conditions in Australia's Outback.

An official with Australia's opposition Labor Party, Tony Burke, told the Advertiser he was "genuinely shocked" that the country's migration system had "got as bad as that." He said, "Skilled migration is meant to be used for filling gaps we weren't prepared for. Instead, it's being used to cut training places and slash wages."

"If companies such as Halliburton want to play in Australia, they must learn to play by Aussie rules," said South Australian internet blogger and anti-Halliburton activist Richard Tonkin. He said, "In South Australia's outback, Halliburton has been flouting Australia's Industrial Relations laws by employing foreigners at wage levels inappropriate to Australian ethics."

HalliburtonWatch recently reported that Halliburton bills the U.S. military $50 per day for Third World workers in Iraq who are paid a daily wage of only $5.

Last year, Murdoch's Fox News cable network praised Halliburton's work in Iraq.

The Diary Of An English Visitor

2006-02-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me today, and I couldn't resist.

An Alice Springs Summer - By A 'Pom'....

August 31st

Just got transferred with work into our new home in Alice Springs!!

Now this is a city that knows how to live!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. What a place! I watched the sunset from a
deck chair on the verandah It was beautiful. I've finally found my home.
I love it here.

September 13th:

Really heating up. Got to 35 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to
see the sun everyday like this. I'm turning into a sun worshipper.
September 30th:

Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing lawn for me.

Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

October 10th

The temperature hasn't been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it's kind of windy though. But
getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.
October 15th:

Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.

Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

October 25th:

The wind sucks. It feels like a giant fuckin blow dryer!! And it's hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the blink and the AC repairman
charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he needed to order parts.
October 30th:

Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bloody $300,000 house and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

November 4th:

It's 38 degrees. Finally got the ol' air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 25, but the bloody humidity
makes the house feel like it's about 30. Stupid repairman. I hate this stupid fuckin place.
November 8th:

If another wise arse cracks, "Hot enough for you today?" I'm going to fuckin throttle him. Fuckin heat! By the time I get to work the car's

radiator was boiling over, my clothes are soakin fuckin wet, and I smell like baked cat!!
November 9th:

Tried to run some messages after work. Wore shorts, and sat on the
black leather seats in the ol' car. I thought my fuckin arse was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and my fuckin arse. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried arse, and baked cat.
November 10th:

The weather report might as well be a fuckin recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and fuckin sunny. It's been too hot to do
anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this damn fuckin place? Water rationing will be next, so my $2,000 worth of palms just might dry up and blow into the fuckin pool. Even the palms can't live in this fuckin heat.
November 14th:

Welcome to HELL!!! Temperature got to 41 today. Now the air-conditioner's gone in my car. The repairman came to fix it and said,

"Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to spend the $2,500 mortgage payment to bail my arse out of jail for assulting the stupid

fucker. Fuck Alice Springs! What kind of a sick demented fuckin idiot would want to live here?

December 1st:

WHAT????? This is only the first day of Summer????!!!!

2006-02-12T23:12:00.000-08:00

Annoouncements like this, even three months late, would be fine if the SA Labor Government had any involvement with Tenix's securing of this Defence contract. However, the decision would probably have been made by former Defence Minister Reith, who retired from the Defence portfolio into a Tenix consultancy

[from ABC News On Line]

South Australian Premier Mike Rann has announced a new $1 billion defence contract for Adelaide, three months after it was signed.

Defence company Tenix announced back in November last year that it had won the Federal Government's contract but that did not stop Mr Rann from announcing it again today.

"So we congratulate Tenix today there could not be a better relationship between the State Government and Tenix," he said.

Peter Weir from Tenix says the $1 billion contract involves upgrading and maintaining 19 P3C Orion aircraft, which are stationed at the Edinburgh Air Base.

Mr Weir says work has already begun and the contract will create 300 jobs.

"It's an important contract for Tenix, we currently have 800 people employed in South Australia," he said.

The contract runs for 10 years.

Halliburton Australia Imports Cheap Labour

2006-02-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

Halliburton Australia. has a major part of South Australian business activities It's Adelaide office was fomerly the company's global headquarters for infrastruture. Under the trading name of KBR it is employed by the State government and local councils. It has been involved in construction of the Port River Expressway and has proposed a development project for Lake Alexandrina.

Halliburton is also employed by the Department Of Foreign Affairs and Trade to carry out international aid contracts on Australia's behalf, and has many defence industry contracts.

In South Australia's outback, Halliburton has been flouting Australia's Industrial Relations laws by employing foreigners at wage levels inappropriate to Australian ethics. By referring the Advertiser's questions to it's head office in Houston it has revealed where its South Australian activities are truly conducted from.

On evidence of such a flagrant violation of Australian trust, the ethics involved in all the company's interaction with all levels of government in South Australia must now be called into question. If companies such as Halliburton want to play in Australia, they must learn to play by Aussie rules.

AWB-What A Downer!

2006-02-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

Let's face it, if this mob are lying over so little, how could you trust them on anything major?

{From today's Australian]

The Howard Government has known for years that Australia's wheat exporter, AWB, was ordered by the UN to reduce the inflated prices on its wheat contracts by 10 per cent.

The UN told AWB to cut $28 million from two contracts worth $300 million in July 2003 because it correctly assumed the extra money was a kickback for the benefit of Saddam Hussein's regime.
AWB told the Howard Government, via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Iraq taskforce, that it had agreed to the price reduction, without saying the money was a bribe.
The taskforce -- which met daily, and reported directly to John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer -- had, by then, been warned that Saddam had ordered his suppliers under the oil-for-food program to include a 10 per cent kickback for his benefit

"There's a guarantee ... that this sort of corruption won't ever happen again with Saddam Hussein's regime, because the regime simply doesn't exist," said Mr Downer on Sunday. Not that it didn't happen, wasn't happenning anywhere else, but that it couldn't happen amid that same set of circumstances because the situation had changed.

This is closer to an admission than anything that Mr D has said so far.

What's in it for you, Alexander?

2006-02-04T19:30:00.001-08:00

The commentary below, written in yesterday's Australian by the Foreign Minister, comes from a hard-done-by man at the centre of a media witch-hunt... and a bloody good spin-doctor in his office.
Last year's ambassador to New York is now Senior Veep to an investment group with assets of $750 billion dollars... and was prepared to risk his street-cred over a paltry 300 million of bribe payments. Why? Because of the promise of the next job I'm guessing.

Downer was touted by the Bush administration to head the IAEA. In this capacity he would have been currently publicly leading the world into war with Iran. What would your next career move be after something like that?

However, that employment path didn't occur, and now Downer is whining from his corner about the perpetration of unfair tactics against him and hs goons. Poor baby. You'll be strong and powerful again one day, unfortunately.

[extract from The Oz]

There can be no more serious charge than to suggest the Government was aware of kickbacks and acted to cover them up. Yet this is the claim being made by Labor's Kim Beazley and Kevin Rudd -- without any evidence. These men, who aspire to lead this country, are suggesting my colleagues and I are dishonest and corrupt. It is an intemperate and demeaning approach to political debate. But what is worse is that the same slur is made against the many diplomats and officials who work diligently in my department.
It is astonishing that such an allegation is being peddled by Beazley and Rudd without any supporting evidence. As they well know, written communications are the norm in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Records of conversation, cables and emails detail myriad negotiations, conversations, briefings and instructions from post to post around the world and back to Canberra every day. The Cole inquiry has access to all DFAT's staff and records.
The Government has always maintained that we had no knowledge of AWB being involved in kickbacks. Allegations from its commercial rivals had been put to AWB and referred to the UN (which oversaw the program and its contracts) and we received assurances at the time that the claims were baseless. For all the political and media ruckus of recent times, this reality has not changed. Yet Beazley and Rudd continue with their smear, regardless.
The corruption of the UN's oil-for-food program is a major international scandal. It was uncovered by the Volcker inquiry following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
In 2003, Labor's advice was that we leave Saddam in power and continue to rely on the UN's sanction regime to keep him under pressure. In other words, the Labor plan would have seen the corrupted sanctions regime still in operation.
The Australian Government fully supported the Volcker inquiry and instructed our departments to provide it with all the necessary assistance. We also urged Australian companies, including AWB Ltd, to co-operate fully.
As confronting as Paul Volcker's report was late last year, we are better for the knowledge of what went on. In response, we established the Cole inquiry to investigate the allegations that Australian companies, including AWB, could have wittingly or unwittingly paid kickbacks to the Iraqi regime under the oil-for-food program. The public hearings of the Cole inquiry have resulted already in many disturbing revelations. The inquiry is doing precisely what the Government asked it to do - get to the heart of what actually happened.
The inquiry has access to whatever documents or witnesses it requires. We expect nothing other than a thorough investigation and fearless findings. As commissioner Terence Cole said, he has the power to look into the level of knowledge within the Government. He also said he would ask for an extension of his terms of reference if there was evidence that commonwealth officers had been implicated in the commission of any offence - but he has also said that stage has not been reached.
Natural justice requires that we all suspend judgment on AWB, other companies and their staff until the inquiry hears all of its evidence and makes its findings. We should not indulge in trial by media, which leads to the hanging, drawing and quartering of parties before the inquiry process is complete.

Downer in Deep Tabouli

2006-01-31T23:25:00.000-08:00

Fess Up, Alexander... you've known about the AWB bribes all along, haven't you? The US Embassy knew, the State Department knew, DFAT knew... Uncle Bert in Naracoorte had it sussed. How could you be the only person in the whole chain of events who knew what was going on?

When you arranged for Australia's US ambassador to divert US attention to the AWB into a UN inquiry, what blackmail did you use for leverage? Surely it took more than a "please"?

And when the Condileeza's boys fixed the US wheat ban last year, surely it wasn't because it wasn't just because you're such a nice bloke?

Perhaps everyone's beginning to panic because this might be just the tip of the iceberg of Australian centred scamming. What will happen if the US public learn that Congress has had the flow of aid money hidden from its eyes by diverting it along its path to Iraq through Australia?

When PM Howard promised lots of Ausaid to Iraq in the same week that KBR advertised in the Economist for an International Aid Director to be based in Adelaide, did you think nobody would notice? Well, some people did, Alexander, and there's a rumbling in 'Merica that this could be the next Watergate.

Maybe this was why everyone was in such a hurry to kick out Scott Parkin last year... what if he blew the whistle while Rumsfeld was in Adelaide. It would make very bad press, and poo sticks much more easily than sugar.

Back to the wheat drama. How many people will fall on swords to protect the mass of deceit and bribery that lies behind it? No matter how much harakiri goes on, Alex, you'll still need to "spill your guts" in the end.

Halliburton Hill Rides Into The Sunet

2006-01-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

Minister Hill has stepped down today, to enjoy his thirty pieces of silver. Senator for South Australia and Federal Defence Minister, he's crucified his own population for the sake of his own street-cred, and gone hunting fresh fields in the form of an international diplomatic posting.

His predecessor, Peter Reith, was happy to scarper with a few kickbacks for providing defence work for sister companies Tenix and Transfield (his first job out of the Ministry was as a Tenix Consultant) but nothing quite like Hill's pimping of South Australia to Halliburton and General Dynamics. Hill has stated that the Army expansion into this state resulted from the suprising discovery that the Halliburton owned and built railway was useful for transporting weapons.. gee, what a suprise. If Yours Truly had figured that out eighteen months ago, surely someone in the DoD had half a clue?

Hill says that he hasn't been offered the UN Ambassadorship... good. The thought of him and former SA Premier John Olsen sitting in New York (in the same apartments) gloating over a Bollinger was making me ill. Olsen gave Halliburton their first toehold in Adelaide by letting their Australian boss sneak a peak at the tenders to run SA's Water Supply, then put in a more competitive bid several hours after the submisssion cut-off deadline. Now they have honchos on the the development boards, no doubt their tenders will continue to be extremely "competitive".

Look what happened in Byron Bay this week! A Green-led council gave KBR control of their sewerage because they thought they'd be sued if they knocked back Cheney's men on political grounds. How many similar instances are occuring across Australia? This is the environment that Hill and Olsen has created.

Ironically, Liberal Hill's departure gives Labor SA Premier Rann a better run-up to our March State election. Without the person who really created our Defence State hanging around to beat his chest, Rann can continue to claim that it was all his own doing.

Given my druthers I'd have all of them sharing an apartment in Baxter.