tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51803272011-04-22T10:03:24.294+10:00The Daily Oh Really...not as "daily" as the name suggests...Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comBlogger1181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1085457086692213512004-05-25T13:28:00.000+10:002004-05-25T13:55:39.186+10:00Pre-ja vu
This story on islam-online doesn't seem too remarkable until you read the date line. It talks about a British soldier complaining about US and British military abusing Iraqi prisoners. The story was published on April 2 2004. Quite a spooky feeling considering that this report and others like it were steadfastly ignored by the mainstream Western media, until about three weeks ago. On Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1083641296263105922004-05-04T13:28:00.000+10:002004-05-04T13:33:51.920+10:00So what were you saying about democracy again?
From Salon.com:
CBS News delayed reporting for two weeks about U.S. soldiers' alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners, following a personal request from the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
Gen. Richard B. Myers called CBS anchor Dan Rather eight days before the report was to air, asking for extra time, said Jeff Fager, executive producer of "60 Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1081552459333283712004-04-10T09:14:00.000+10:002004-04-10T09:18:03.750+10:00Iraq occupation "turns" dirty
SMH headline for today:
Six more hostages seized as war turns dirty
Come on SMH, surely the Iraq conflict was "dirty" before now, for example, minimum 3000 Iraqi civilian casualties as of 12 months ago; suicide bombers; to name a couple things off the top of my head?
Don't get me wrong, the hostage situation is horrifying, especially the Japanese trio and the Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1076107643070779762004-02-07T08:47:00.000+10:002004-02-07T08:49:43.576+10:00NOW they want the truth
The Whitehouse started scapegoating intelligence agencies, now the agencies are biting back. A former State Department intelligence officer, Greg Thielmann, has stated that the Whitehouse removed qualifications from intelligence reports that aspects of the reports were unreliable, fraudulent or fabricated. Read on:
Now it's a battle for the truth
By Marion Wilkinson
Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1075785671262938362004-02-03T15:21:00.000+10:002004-02-03T15:23:27.233+10:00Oh Really!!!
PM admits weapons claims may have been wrong.
Oh right. OOOPS. Sorry about the missing arms and legs, and all the dead Iraqi children.
((sigh)) Stating the obvious again, but it's great of them to admit they "might have been wrong", now that they've gotten their way and blasted the sh$t out of someone else's country.
So, rewind 12 months: remember the rest of the world was Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1067299369420896762003-10-28T10:02:00.000+10:002003-10-28T10:05:15.356+10:00And this isn't free speech either
As usual, from the SMH Online - two more details about the media restrictions during George W's visit to Australia - I actually didn't know it was quite this bad:
The media was outraged that ... a ban was placed on cameras pointing at audience members in the House of Representatives chamber while Mr Bush spoke.
... and ...
It was only because a US television Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1067298675651874302003-10-28T09:51:00.000+10:002003-10-28T09:51:21.326+10:00Not that we would have wanted to be invited, but...
From Margo Kingston in the SMH Online:
How come Kylie Russell, the only Australian widowed when we fought the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, didn't get an invite to the Bush barbecue? How come crocodile man Steve Irwin did? Could it be because Steve said recently that Howard was the best leader in the world and Kylie's been fighting for better Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1066775502611600992003-10-22T08:31:00.000+10:002003-10-22T09:24:36.610+10:00Aussie sock puppets need not apply
Something occurred to me as I was reading this SMH story about George W's strategy for avoiding the Australian media during his visit.
It's not just that he's declined to hold a joint press conference with Johnnie (oh, so why's that? — "because it isn't on the itinerary", according to a spokesman for our own PM).
It's not just that Australian journos were Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1066689762412215962003-10-21T08:42:00.000+10:002003-10-21T09:57:14.066+10:00So, how about that nice hot cup of SHUT THE FUCK UP?
I'd already heard that the public will be banned from Parliament when George W visits later this week. And I prolly should have known that there will be just one place "allocated" to protests — the back of Old Parliament House in Federation Mall.
But I didn't know this:
But the speakers must be pointed away from the new Parliament House so Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1064963447272308372003-10-01T09:10:00.000+10:002003-10-01T09:13:12.366+10:00Storm warning
There may be a mighty big storm brewing, somewhere over Washington, well actually directly over the Whitehouse. Already wreaking havoc in the blogosphere — and on the move — so far there are stories in the Washington Post & the NY Times. Even Fox news has picked it up, although I hear they haven't quite got their spin right (but hey, give em time).
All the info and links to blogs Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1064807001224370162003-09-29T13:43:00.000+10:002003-09-29T13:43:42.096+10:00Just when they were doing so well
Breaking news from the SMH Online's IT section:
Blogs - the latest web craze - are springing up everywhere these days.
Including the inevitable definition — saved as autotext for use in all future blog related articles, I hope —
Short for weblogs, blogs are online diaries penned by folks eager to share their thoughts, feelings or everyday lives with the rest Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1064375829198146152003-09-24T13:57:00.000+10:002003-09-29T13:49:20.326+10:00Dodgy dossier really was dodgy dossier
Unsurprisingly, it seems that the dodgy dossier on Iraq's WMDs really was dodgy after all...
A close aide of British Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered a last-minute redrafting of the government's controversial dossier on Iraq to boost the case for war, an email has revealed.
A key passage in the dossier was changed following an 11th hour intervention by Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1064358126367390932003-09-24T09:02:00.000+10:002003-09-24T09:18:42.193+10:00Itsa madmadmadmadmad world
From the latest Herald/ACNeilsen Poll:
Almost 70 per cent of Australians believe John Howard misled them on his case for war in Iraq, a new poll shows.
However, about the same proportion still prefer him to Simon Crean as Prime Minister.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1063062685619821232003-09-09T09:11:00.000+10:002003-09-09T09:11:25.643+10:00Profound and obscure
Having trouble keeping up with the mercurial and dynamic mind of George W Bush.
As reported in the SMH Online, the following points were both made in the same address, to the US nation I believe it was:
•Despite Mr Bush's claims before the war that al-Qaeda was linked to the Iraqi regime, he said we "cannot be certain" whether foreign terrorist groups were working with Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1062899173640086892003-09-07T11:46:00.000+10:002003-09-07T11:47:03.710+10:00Flashmobbing for our time
Flashmobbing has now been defined by the SMH:
The "flashmob" phenomenon, which is sweeping the United States and
Europe, uses the internet and text messages on mobile phones to organise crowds that appear suddenly, perform prearranged mass acts and disperse as just as quickly.
~it's official, boys n girls, we're livin in a flashmob world (oh this crazy third Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1062890116718719612003-09-07T09:15:00.000+10:002003-09-07T09:15:59.730+10:00San Fran mayoral candidates replaced with evil killer androids? or vice versa
The humanity of some of the candidates for the San Francisco mayoral election has been called into question. Wave Magazine has administered to all candidates the Voight-Kampff test, which as you will remember from the classic film Bladerunner, is one of the few ways of distinguishing a replicant (that is, a psychotic Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1062294853301454122003-08-31T11:54:00.000+10:002003-08-31T11:54:13.160+10:00wasn't me guv, honest...
From today's SMH Online:
One Nation dissident Terry Sharples has alleged that Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott and Prime Minister John Howard's office received the stolen records.
Mr Abbott, who set up a slush fund to bankroll civil action against Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, said he had no knowledge of that.
But he said politicians could not stop peopleJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1061177879509736302003-08-18T13:37:00.000+10:002003-08-18T13:37:59.420+10:00Fox News sues author for using words in book title
From the Washington Post, via Tom Tomorrow: Fox News Channel has sued liberal humorist Al Franken and the Penguin Group to stop them from using the phrase "fair and balanced" in the title of his upcoming book.
Filed Monday in Manhattan, the trademark infringement lawsuit seeks a court order forcing Penguin to rename the book, "Lies and the Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-105977746663003612003-08-02T08:37:00.000+10:002003-08-02T08:37:46.613+10:00Out of Creative Loafing...
comes this story I missed when it was fresh. Man sits in coffee shop reading subversive article, is later paid a visit by the FBI.
Excerpts:
"Were you at the Caribou Coffee on Powers Ferry?" asks Agent Trippi...."Did you notice anything unusual, anyone worth commenting on?"....
Then they ask if I carried anything into the shop -- and we're back to me.
Trippi's Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1059776546902371342003-08-02T08:22:00.000+10:002003-08-02T08:24:18.946+10:00Hi. Remember me?
I'm the "Iraq went uranium shopping in Africa" justification for the US attack on Iraq. Turns out I wasn't true. Everyone's freaking out.
Apparently George W didn't know I was a lie. Is that possible? How could he not know? Well, four senior US officials have now taken the blame - oh yeah! {slaps forehead} I really should have remembered that was a fabrication. I really should Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1059432338964910472003-07-29T08:45:00.000+10:002003-07-29T08:45:38.823+10:00Welcome back Jo.
Last weekend I freaked out and almost joined the rat race. I'm 32 and never had a mortgage. I've come to my sense, but still, today I care about this:
The shadow treasurer, Mark Latham, said yesterday: "Someone on a nurse's wage cannot afford to buy a three-bedroom home in any part of metropolitan Sydney. When it gets to the point when the people who serve the community can't Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1058663166981975672003-07-20T11:06:00.000+10:002003-07-20T11:08:45.736+10:00Oh right - there IS a down side to suppressing my citizens' democratic freedoms and rights. Shit, forgot about that!
"Have you got blood on your hands, Prime Minister? Are you going to resign over this?" a British reporter shouted at a tense news conference following a summit between Blair and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Blair, who has ordered an inquiry into the death of Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1058481493857314262003-07-18T08:38:00.000+10:002003-07-18T08:40:29.940+10:00US army is now auto-oh-really-ing
From the usual source: As coalition aircraft came under fire from ground-to-air missiles in Baghdad for the second time in a week, the new commander of United States forces in the Gulf has said his troops face a "classical guerilla war".
.................
General Abizaid's comments contradict earlier assertions by General Franks and the US Defence Secretary, Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1058237238596844382003-07-15T12:47:00.000+10:002003-07-15T12:47:18.460+10:00During the past week:
John Howard's daisy chain of denial extends from ~I have complete confidance in my intelligence agencies~ to ~my intelligence agencies know the claims about Iraq's nuclear capabilities to be false but did not pass the information to me~ to ~the dept of foreign affairs also knew but did not pass the information to me~ to ~I think this issue has been blown out of all Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-105754835877508372003-07-07T13:25:00.000+10:002003-07-07T13:35:02.553+10:00Dance of denial Pt N
From the SMH Online today:
News reports surfaced today that the federal government knew the US State Department had serious doubts about the claims Iraq was developing nuclear weapons.......
and
Prime Minister John Howard today denied he knew the United States doubted intelligence claims Iraq was developing nuclear weapons.
oh, but what about this?
According to a formerJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-1057100158528299412003-07-02T08:55:00.000+10:002003-07-02T08:55:58.530+10:00Coincidence?
Two of the main headlines on the news.com.au news site:
New asylum boat arrives (full story)
Australia no longer safe: PM (full story)
Coincidence? Unintended juxtaposition? Or button pushin? Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-959056082003-06-22T12:09:00.000+10:002003-06-22T12:11:10.000+10:00Yes they DID say the war was about WMDs, at the time
Timeline clearly showing that the pre-Iraq war rhetoric was all about the WMDs and the links between Iraq and terrorism. Again from the SMH Online.
Mainstream journos continue to front up and weigh in on the WMDs fraud: Marian Wilkinson for one...and from the other side of the street, Miranda Devine becomes ever more strident, ever more Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-959051322003-06-22T11:43:00.000+10:002003-06-22T11:49:26.000+10:00Our troops in combat before war declared
General Tommy Franks has admitted that allied troops had control of 25% of Iraq before hostilites were declared on 20 March. This means (1) that force was in reality an invasion force, as war had not formally been declared; and (2) at the same time as John Howard was repeatedly telling the Australian public that troops had not yet been committed to the Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-958497702003-06-20T13:30:00.000+10:002003-06-20T13:30:40.563+10:00"Honourable" deception
From yahoo news: Clare Short has accused the Prime Minister of an honourable deception over the reasons for going to war with Iraq.
They keep telling us it the Iraq invasion was an honourable thing. Taken from Tom Tomorrow, here's a snapshot of the honourable treatment we enlightened Westerners have bestowed upon those barbarians in Iraq:
Specialist Corporal Michael Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-958434522003-06-20T09:11:00.000+10:002003-06-20T13:33:41.000+10:00Inquiring minds
The UK Parliamentary Inquiry into whether Iraq's WMD threat was deliberately exaggerated, as a justification for invading Iraq, is underway. Australia's Alan Wilkie, the senior defence analyst who resigned bcause his conscience wouldn't let him continue working for our Johnnie, has spoken before the inquiry.
Johnnie continues to deny, deny, deny. But he has progressed a little Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-956443732003-06-14T08:31:00.000+10:002003-06-14T08:38:16.000+10:00Commons may sanction Blair
Further to speculation over whether Georgie boy may be impeached, now the possibility arises that Tony Blair may be sanctioned by the Commons. Blair has tried hard in the last 10 days to discredit intelligence agencies, in an effort to counter rumours that the UK govt knew Iraq had NO weapons of mass destruction, and most importantly Blair knew that the claim "Iraq Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-955672152003-06-12T08:47:00.000+10:002003-06-12T08:47:42.680+10:00Iraqi civilian death toll is a minimum of 3240
The count is still fragmentary and the complete toll - if it is ever tallied - is sure to be significantly higher.
Full story, as ever cos I'm busy, is here on SMH Online.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-955670672003-06-12T08:41:00.000+10:002003-06-12T08:42:35.000+10:00Step back in time
Aren't we having enough trouble with "intelligence" at the moment? Hard on the heels of revelations about the misuse and manipulation of intelligence agencies in the lead up to the Iraq "war", comes news that we are about to hand even more arbitrary powers to Australian intelligence agency ASIO. Does anyone else see a problem here, or is it just me?
From the SMH Online today: Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-954425562003-06-09T10:35:00.000+10:002003-06-09T10:35:15.426+10:00The WMDS that were never there...and just won't go away!
Those phantom WMDS, and more importantly the apparent manipulation of intelligence reports as a means of justifying the invasion of Iraq, just won't go away. Now some are saying this might qualify as grounds for impeachment of George f'n W.
This comment posted on This Modern World, reproduced here in all its (ole) glory: John Dean, who Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-951391282003-06-01T13:02:00.000+10:002003-06-01T13:02:32.943+10:00Mainstream press finally reporting US distortion of Iraqi WMDs
Here's a sample from today's SMH Online: A growing number of US national security professionals are accusing the Bush Administration of slanting the facts and hijacking the intelligence apparatus to justify its rush to war in Iraq.
The channel nine TV news presenter last night used the words "Iraq's supposed weapons of mass Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-951389702003-06-01T12:56:00.000+10:002003-06-01T12:57:16.000+10:00Terrifying and degrading British war crimes in Iraq...make it to p 67
Why was this story buried back on p 67 of my Sunday newspaper?
A British soldier is being investigated for war crimes when one of them took his happy snaps to be developed back home.
The photos show an Iraqi prisoner of war, tied by his feet, dangling upside down from a forklift which is being driven around by laughing Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-951002462003-05-31T09:05:00.000+10:002003-05-31T09:05:34.186+10:00Intelligence that never was
Reported on the SMH Online today: An unnamed intelligence official told the BBC that the main claim in last September's dossier - that Iraq could launch a chemical or biological attack within 45 minutes of an order - had been inserted on the instructions of officials in Downing Street.
And, as some non-mainstream news sources were reporting during the war, a US Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-950199902003-05-29T13:33:00.000+10:002003-05-29T13:36:50.000+10:00The WMDs that never were; the compelling argument for war that never was
Sure it was months ago now, but I still remember the "compelling arguments" for "war" against Iraq - all those weapons of mass destruction they had.
As more time passes, and still no discovery of Iraq's WMDs, the line wavers, wobbles; perhaps it will even someday melt away.
Take today's spiel from US administration hawks:Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-949713102003-05-28T13:29:00.000+10:002003-05-28T13:30:23.000+10:00Strong bad*
I need a "strong bad" emphasis tag for this, but I don't have one: THE US has floated plans to turn Guantanamo Bay into a death camp, with its own death row and execution chamber.
I found the story about the US death camp plans, on Cursor. It's reported fully here at news.com.au. The original source is the Mail on Sunday.
*Apologies to Strong Bad, who lives at Homestar Runner. Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-949706252003-05-28T13:14:00.000+10:002003-05-28T13:14:43.870+10:00Dissent
Dissent is one of my favourite things. Mostly because it's the hallmark of a genuine democracy. In fact, if all the history lessons I got in school were accurate, the reason we now have democratic systems of government is because a whole lot of people started to agitate for the ability to hold and express independent opinions, among other things like economic freedoms, the freedom to notJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-947689282003-05-23T13:37:00.000+10:002003-05-23T13:37:02.586+10:00The "average civilian casualty episode"
Found on cursor: a CNN journalist has coined the phrase "average civilian casualty episode".
Also on cursor: the Christian Scientist Monitor is estimating that the number of Iraq civilan deaths may be between 5000 and 10000 - the highest level of civilian deaths in a conflict since Vietnam.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-947584372003-05-23T08:53:00.000+10:002003-05-23T13:45:57.000+10:00Department of the Fourth Reich
I saw in the SMH Online today, that the "Homeland Security" concept (disturbingly similar to "fatherland" or "motherland", the creatures of certain well-known dictatorships of the past), may well be spreading from the USA to Australia:
The Prime Minister, John Howard, will set up a new office of security and counter-terrorism to co-ordinate his Government's actionsJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-946243322003-05-20T19:02:00.000+10:002003-05-20T19:11:52.000+10:00The "future-and-it-sucks" is now
Back in 1993 we were all warned about the dangers inherent in contracting a private corporation to run the prison system -- in the movie Fortress, starring Christopher Lambert -- where a greedy and amoral private corporation owned and ran the prison system for profit, even gaining title to the prisoners themselves once they were sentenced to incarceration.
Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-946034182003-05-20T09:02:00.000+10:002003-05-20T18:33:26.000+10:00Other news
Ari Fleischer, Whitehouse press guy, has resigned. I'm sure he won't have any trouble talking his way into another job: he can say anything with a straight face. Maybe he could use George W's resume as a template.
UPDATE: I didn't notice this before, but: eewwww: Mr Fleischer, who has enjoyed a close relationship with Mr Bush despite the fact that he is not from the president's band Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-946032552003-05-20T08:58:00.000+10:002003-05-20T08:58:21.936+10:00Good news
Jill Jones, who's part of a few poetry projects I'm also working on - has won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for her book Screens Jets Heaven: New and Selected Poems (part of the NSW Premiers award). Hopefully she can still find time to work with us after this, because now she'll be even busier. It's a good book! Read the book! Read the book!
Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-945527802003-05-19T09:13:00.000+10:002003-05-19T09:14:24.000+10:00Australia now "safer" (Part II)
I for one was thrilled to learn that Australia's army reserve will be brought in to protect Australian landmarks like the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
I went to uni with some very nice people who were in the army reserve. Probably senior partners in law firms by now, but I'm sure they won't mind taking some time away from their lucrative gigsJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-945525842003-05-19T09:07:00.000+10:002003-05-19T16:50:52.000+10:00Australia now "safer" after Iraq war
In the SMH Online today, check out the first paragraph of this story:
Australia and its interests were safer after the Iraq war, the Government said yesterday, despite a week of international terrorist outrages.
And when you've stopped laughing, proceed to the second para:
...the Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, said he was not surprised by the bombings Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-944173192003-05-16T09:23:00.000+10:002003-05-16T09:23:37.323+10:00Phillip Ruddock figures out the price of a human life:
From my daily news service, 15 May (yesterday):
The federal government's crack down on asylum seekers has resulted in a $467 million windfall for taxpayers.
It's been 17 months since the last boat carrying illegal immigrants arrived in Australian waters and as a result the government has downgraded its estimate of the number of Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-939529982003-05-08T08:21:00.000+10:002003-05-08T08:21:48.726+10:00Continuing clashes in Iraq...through the lens of the Onion
From the Onion's "What do you think?":
"I don't understand why these wackos won't simply face facts and accept that they're under the control of a foreign superpower's occupational force."
and
"Look, nobody said these people would welcome us with open arms. Except Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Fox News..."
and
"Did we tell them the Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-938914442003-05-07T09:08:00.000+10:002003-05-07T09:09:53.000+10:00Australian PM thinks legality of war is no longer an issue...
...because the conflict phase is over. In other words: tough luck Iraq, we already mugged you, no use going crying to the cops now. {Johnnie pounds the lectern for emphasis} I mean, we've already gone ahead and done it so what's the point in trying to figure out whether it was right or wrong?
Hey Johnnie. There's a point.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-938911892003-05-07T09:03:00.000+10:002003-05-07T09:03:50.783+10:00Collateral damage
Consequences of the way public opinion was perceived of "swinging in behind" the war on Iraq:
76% of Australians want the Peter Hollingworth, Australian Governor-General (our head of State), to resign, now that it's been proven Hollingworth allowed a child molester to continue as a church minister, while in his role as Archbishop of Brisbane. But some senior government Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-937777632003-05-05T13:10:00.000+10:002003-05-05T13:10:07.670+10:00Another doctored photo of Iraqi "freedom" and requests for any doctored photos of George W and little Johnnie
This via NTK.net: someone has realised that London's Evening Standard published a doctored photo of an Iraqi "crowd" celebrating their "freedom". Analysis of the photo at the Memory Hole.
George W landing on an aircraft carrier in a fighter jet, to give a speech - surely a rich source Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-933210462003-04-27T11:40:00.000+10:002003-04-27T11:40:15.816+10:00The sign of sins to come
There's a new crime out there, and a new strategy for shutting people up. Well probably an old one, considering the totally fuxxored up history of the human race, but just watch out it doesn't rear its ugly head in a democracy near you.
In China, people are regularly being arrested for "irresponsible rumour spreading" and putting out "false information" about SARS, Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-933207132003-04-27T11:31:00.000+10:002003-04-27T11:32:46.000+10:00As the worm turns...uhh...spins
George W speaking about what "shock and awe said" to people: Shock and awe said to many people that all we've got to do is unleash some might and people will crumble."
No George, that's what YOUR ADMINISTRATION said to people.
How unfair of us to all misinterpret "shock and awe", and put all those heavy expectations on the Pentagon. Silly us.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-931544712003-04-24T13:25:00.000+10:002003-04-24T13:25:41.600+10:00Local law versus federal law
In the USA a little town called Arcata has passed a local law making it illegal to voluntarily comply with the federal "Patriot Act".
The Patriot Act enables the government to ask librarians, phone companies, etc, etc, to hand over lots of personal information and records to the government - eg what books a person has been reading. (And proposed amendments would Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-931540842003-04-24T13:18:00.000+10:002003-04-24T13:19:42.000+10:00Whitehouse taunts Democrat politician: "he looks French"
Apparently this is now the biggest possible political insult. Can you say "xenophobia"? (actually maybe they can't)
Found on Tom Tomorrow, this is reported at the Boston Herald: A New York Times report quoted Republican officials and Bush advisers yesterday saying that Kerry's presidential campaign wouldn't play well out of New England Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-931535252003-04-24T13:08:00.000+10:002003-04-24T13:08:57.046+10:00USA warns Iran to keep out of Iraq
reported on BBC news: The United States has warned Iran against any interference in Iraq, amid claims that Tehran has sent agents there to stir up the Shia population and advance Iranian interests. Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-931533802003-04-24T13:06:00.000+10:002003-04-24T13:06:39.200+10:00USA unprepared for strength of Shiites vying for power in Iraq
From the Washington Post: The burst of Shiite power -- as demonstrated by the hundreds of thousands who made a long-banned pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala yesterday -- has U.S. officials looking for allies in the struggle to fill the power vacuum left by the downfall of Saddam Hussein.
Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-931529032003-04-24T12:58:00.000+10:002003-04-24T12:58:36.000+10:00Children younger than 16 being imprisoned at Camp X-ray
And have no recourse to challenge their imprisonment, according to the US government. In short, they have no rights. Reported on ABC News online.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-929128962003-04-20T12:14:00.000+10:002003-04-20T12:28:44.000+10:00Black comedy or outrageous lies?
Can't it be both? Of course I'm talking about the Iraqi information minister, who might be dead, or might be in Syria, but either way is certainly a celebrity (if momentarily), and even loved by some (both pro-war and anti-war in fact).
I'm also talking about the fiction that is called the "liberation" of Iraq. While the US keeps acting like the new landlord, Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-928720762003-04-19T14:07:00.000+10:002003-04-19T14:19:09.000+10:00Three card trick
Must be nice when you can say one thing and do the opposite, and not get called on it. I guess if you're Prime Minister you can tell us there's nothin up your sleeve, and we just have to buy it. For example: he keeps telling us he's bringing the troops home, and that Australia won't have an involvement in the onerous post-war peace-keeping efforts in Iraq. Our East Timor peace Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-927766842003-04-17T23:46:00.000+10:002003-04-17T23:46:18.936+10:00Amnesty International: US putting oil before people
Amnesty International has accused the US of putting more effort into protecting Iraqi oil wells than into any security measures for protecting Iraqi people.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-927761772003-04-17T23:36:00.000+10:002003-04-17T23:36:08.593+10:00Behind the claps and cheers...
...and the backslapping, while George W makes speeches, there is another voice in Iraq:
Exasperated US military officials tried to hamper the media from covering new demonstrations in Baghdad on Tuesday while some 20,000 people in the Shiite Muslim bastion of Nasiriyah railed against a US-staged meeting on Iraq's future.
That story from Tom Tomorrow.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-926443252003-04-15T21:56:00.000+10:002003-04-15T21:56:52.153+10:00Sound familiar?
Bush sets his sights on Syria: Syria became the potential new flashpoint in the Middle East yesterday when the United States accused Iraq's neighbour of possessing weapons of mass destruction and harbouring fleeing members of Saddam Hussein's regime.
American foreign policy is like Mr Bean trying to park his car. He just bumps into the car in front and pushes it forward. Then heJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-926439012003-04-15T21:44:00.000+10:002003-04-15T21:44:00.250+10:00Old news but good?
We're so dumb we're winners: the Australian Government has won the Most Egregiously Stupid Award for the $15 million fridge magnet campaign to
educate Australians about terrorism. If you remember, the kit urged Australians to report anything suspicious while asking
them to be "alert but not alarmed". So ashamed to be Australian right now.
Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-925474862003-04-14T09:10:00.000+10:002003-04-14T09:10:42.000+10:00Would you believe...Greenpeace is the equivalent of the Iraqi information minister?
No? but Paul Sheehan does. According to his article in the SMH Online today, The Information Minister and Greenpeace share the same mask of deceit. Also, In Australia, the rearguard action of behalf of Saddam's regime was fought by Greenpeace. Within 12 hours of al-Sahaf's last stand on the roof of the Palestine Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-924555002003-04-12T08:51:00.000+10:002003-04-12T08:51:00.530+10:00Shifting lines in the sand
how many times can I point this out? But this is a good summary, showing in particular the contradictory lines our PM has at different times been so insistent on getting the Australian people to believe, then completely denying two weeks later.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-924551522003-04-12T08:43:00.000+10:002003-04-12T08:55:48.000+10:00What I was afraid of all along
Uncontrolled violence and chaos in Iraq:
no safety for civilians in the looting, chaos and destruction, says UN spokeswoman
Kurdish irregular forces take another city in scenes of anarchy and violence
and this may not strictly fall within the definition of profiteering but:
SMH Online reports that the US aims to take control of Iraqi oil until a new ministry is Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-923908602003-04-11T09:20:00.000+10:002003-04-11T13:41:41.000+10:00The war is "over"...kind of... but no, I haven't stopped complaining
Complaints:
USA drunk on the idea of its own might and power: Rumsfield's comparison of Iraqis celebrating fall of Saddam, to fall of Berlin Wall - turns out to have been a slight exaggeration - and wasn't very popular in Germany - meanwhile, a US General I've quoted before, describes remaining resistance fighters as Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-922514142003-04-09T09:08:00.000+10:002003-04-09T09:10:59.000+10:00Your pro-war revisionists already hard at work
The Sydney Morning Herald's "Stay in Touch" column today pointed to this comment in the NY Daily news editorial titled "Naysayers should raise the white flag": This war is one of history's great humanitarian efforts. We are in the process of freeing an entire country from one of the world's most savage regimes. That will become even more apparent Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-922502832003-04-09T08:48:00.000+10:002003-04-09T08:48:03.060+10:00Iraq on the agenda back in 1997
This right wing think tank (which has pretty much become the George W's administration) was gunning for Iraq back in 1997.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-921967532003-04-08T13:46:00.000+10:002003-04-08T13:46:55.000+10:00Working from a different script
British troops who have witnessed the Americans at close quarters in this war are baffled at their approach to Iraqi civilians. One captain in the Royal Marines, watching a US unit monitor a checkpoint, said: "The Americans are still behaving like invaders, not liberators. They behave as if they hate these people." Full story at news.com.au. Link via cursor.
The Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-921957062003-04-08T13:29:00.000+10:002003-04-08T14:06:06.000+10:00Soldiers have feelings too (Pt II)
PM John Howard has today urged the Australia media not to focus on the Greenpeace protesters who clamped themselves to the side of the HMAS Sydney. Reported in the SMH Online today: "I hope the news outlets of Australia suitably downgrade the coverage they give to this sort of stupid behaviour,'' he told the John Laws program. Mr Howard said the departure of Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-921948132003-04-08T13:14:00.000+10:002003-04-08T15:39:31.000+10:00Soldiers have feelings too (Pt I)
""I think they thought we wouldn't shoot kids. But we showed them we don't care."
From the SMH Online today: When a young Iraqi boy stooped to pick up a rocket propelled grenade off the body of a dead paramilitary, US Army Private Nick Boggs made his decision.
He unloaded machinegun fire and the boy, whom he puts at about 10 years old, fell dead on a Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-921263782003-04-07T14:07:00.000+10:002003-04-07T14:07:43.466+10:00Lighter side: what if Fox was around for other historical events?
Photoshop competition on Fark: just how bad is Fox news anyway?Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-921255742003-04-07T13:52:00.000+10:002003-04-07T13:52:13.653+10:00In Baghdad today:
From SMH correspondent Paul McGeough: Across town, a foul odour hangs in the wards of Yarmuk Hospital as doctors and nurses fight to save the lives of wounded soldiers with minimal equipment and no pain-killing drugs. A patient screams in agony as a doctor uses forceps in a failed effort to remove shrapnel from deep wounds in his legs.
(...snip...)
In the next bed another Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-921116832003-04-07T09:14:00.000+10:002003-04-07T09:15:41.000+10:00Who would Gandhi bomb?
From ABC radio's "Encounter" religion program:
Summary:
To disarm a nation and topple a regime, we go to war. So are the lessons of the 20th Century's giants of non-violence forgotten, or irrelevant to current events? This week, as part of the monthly Ethos series on ethics, Encounter puts Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr into the front line of the war on terror and the Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-921107712003-04-07T08:55:00.001+10:002003-04-07T08:56:24.000+10:00New owners moving in
Reported in The Australian: ....the US was planning to intensify the ground attacks and was moving last night to ring the city with armour in a bid to choke the regime. (...snip...) "The army owns from river to river on the west side," said Major Coffman.
and from the SMH Online: When the new Iraqi school year begins in five months, the Bush Administration hopes to have in Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-921107692003-04-07T08:55:00.000+10:002003-04-07T08:55:06.996+10:00New owners moving in
...the US was planning to intensify the ground attacks and was moving last night to ring the city with armour in a bid to choke the regime. (...snip...) "The army owns from river to river on the west side," said Major Coffman. Reported in full in The Australian.
and from the SMH Online: When the new Iraqi school year begins in five months, the Bush Administration hopes to Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-920146312003-04-05T10:56:00.000+10:002003-04-05T10:59:46.000+10:00The elephant stomping very quietly on the...
Reported in the Australian: The US has coerced Nauru, through a series of secret deals since the Bali bombing, to outlaw offshore banks, ending one of the most notorious safe havens for terrorist funds. The US also has won permission from Nauru to set up a listening post to eavesdrop on neighbouring countries in the South Pacific, as well as a pledge Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-920142302003-04-05T10:45:00.000+10:002003-04-05T10:46:59.000+10:00Hawks at the hellmouth
"We're on the advance. Our destination is Baghdad, and we will accept nothing less than complete and final victory." From the Australian online.
The hellmouth: are we there yet?
Obviously the plans for hell on earth are proceeding quite well, because this was reported in the SMH Online:
three US soldiers and two civilians had died in a suspected suicide car bombing Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-919540652003-04-04T12:42:00.000+10:002003-04-04T12:42:28.000+10:00A pearl from Perle
So glad Richard Perle has now resigned from his position with George W's administration. Here's a gem:
"This is total war. We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out there ... If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy but just wage a total war, our children will sing Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-919538632003-04-04T12:38:00.000+10:002003-04-04T12:40:31.000+10:00Anti- Michael Moore piece by Australia journalist
Gerard Henderson's piece in the SMH on Tuesday about Michael Moore accuses anyone in the west, critical of the war, of being "alienated" and "self-hating". The twin of one Damien managed to get a letter in the SMH about it. Here is the piece and Drew's letter.
Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-919537102003-04-04T12:35:00.000+10:002003-04-04T12:35:28.360+10:00Illogical reasoning for war in Iraq
Sent to me by one Damien: "Illogical reasoning of a war against Iraq" by PETER FREUNDLICH, a freelance journalist in New York,
March 13, 2003.
All right, let me see if I understand the logic of this correctly. We are
going to ignore the United Nations in order to make clear to Saddam
Hussein that the United Nations cannot be ignored. We're going to wage war Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-918728572003-04-03T08:54:00.000+10:002003-04-03T13:36:43.000+10:00Compare and contrast: Arundhati Roy vs Miranda Devine
From Arundhati Roy's article in the Guardian (full article here):
On the steel torsos of their missiles, adolescent American soldiers scrawl colourful messages in childish handwriting: For Saddam, from the Fat Boy Posse. A building goes down. A marketplace. A home. A girl who loves a boy. A child who only ever wanted to play with his older Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-918177542003-04-02T13:56:00.000+10:002003-04-02T13:56:55.810+10:00The changing nature of propaganda
Interesting article on CounterPunch on the changing nature of propaganda as evidenced in this strange new wired world we live in.Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-918176182003-04-02T13:54:00.000+10:002003-04-02T13:54:36.950+10:00"A war in search of a war aim"
This article states one of my main objections to the war: the purported justifications for the war keep changing as the coalition goes along. So just how real were they in the first place; how real will they ever be?Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-918170792003-04-02T13:46:00.000+10:002003-04-02T13:46:25.013+10:00Quotes that speak for themselves
NSW Premier Bob Carr speaking about schoolkid peace protesters, who are planning to go ahead with a demo today despite the organisers not being given a permit (reported in The Australian newspaper, Wed 2 April 2003, p 4):
they haven't got a right to run a demonstration; given their performance last time
Australian foreign Minister Alexander Downer explaining Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-917490672003-04-01T13:00:00.000+10:002003-04-01T13:02:08.000+10:00Fudging and faking: some dodgy print and TV reporting on the war exposed
ABC's Media Watch TV program has exposed some misleading reporting, including photos of Australian troops posing before the war being misrepresented as photos of the troops in action on certain days during the war; and current affairs reporter pretending to drive more than 100 km to get to the Iraq border actually only Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-917363462003-04-01T08:41:00.000+10:002003-04-01T08:41:41.420+10:00The news today oh boy
I did not blog yesterday, and did not browse the news. Was that one day off, enough to re-sensitise me, or is today's news truly as shocking and awful as I feel it is?
Celebrated news correspondent Peter Arnett, famed for his coverage of the Vietnam War and the first Gulf war, has been sacked by NBC after he suggested on Iraqi television that the US war plan had failed.
Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-916411702003-03-30T17:45:00.000+10:002003-04-01T12:54:59.000+10:00"Rumsfield ignored Pentagon advice on Iraq"
The Washington Post has reported on a story which will be appearing in next week's New Yorker. The Post's story is a major headline on Matt Drudge right now; I was originally pointed to the Drudge link by the Agonist. Got all that? Right. It's probably a big story then considering the daisy chain of pointers. And the real story for me is that there Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-916304642003-03-30T12:52:00.000+10:002003-03-30T12:55:29.000+10:00American free speech news
Fox News has now been criticised for going too far with its pro-war bias, after it blatantly ridiculed protesters at the March 27 "die-ins" in Manhatten. The Fox News ticker on the company headquarters displayed such messages as "Attention protesters: the Michael Moore Fan Club meets Thursday at a phone booth at Sixth Avenue and 50th Street" - together with the Fox Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-916236112003-03-30T09:39:00.000+10:002003-03-30T09:50:08.000+10:00Iraqi suicide bomber labelled "terrorist"
Sadly, four US soldiers have been killed by an Iraqi officer in a suicide bombing.
At a Pentagon news conference Saturday, Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: "We're very concerned about it. It looks and feels like terrorism". (for full quote see this story at the Washington Post).
These deaths, and the fact that Iraq has Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-915910732003-03-29T16:36:00.000+10:002003-03-29T16:36:55.030+10:00US Navy dolphin goes AWOL
Takoma, one of the US Navy's much publicised mine-hunting dolphins, has caused great embarrassment by going AWOL just two hours after the handler said this:
“Why would they go missing when they have the best food and daily spruce-ups and health checks?”
It's now been over 48 hours since Takoma deserted. Strangely, this story isn't being widely reported in the mainstreamJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-915202372003-03-28T13:02:00.000+10:002003-03-28T13:02:45.826+10:00US slams "biased" coverage by the Arabic language media
Now that I've finally stopped laughing...
This reported on news.com.au: the US is complaining about the anti-war "bias" of the Arabic language media.
Senior officials of the US State Department complained that many Arab media outlets were distorting the facts and perhaps deliberately misinforming their audiences.
Biased war reporting? When Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-915197082003-03-28T12:52:00.000+10:002003-03-28T12:57:32.000+10:00More civil liberty news from the USA
Found on cursor, this story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
A prosecutor was suspended (put on paid leave) because she was seen pointing out two undercover police officers at an anti-war demonstration.
Purportedly, she is being punished for "putting the officers in danger" rather than for, say, exercising her free speech rights to protest against the warJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-915188642003-03-28T12:36:00.000+10:002003-03-28T12:39:23.000+10:00So, this isn't still about the democracy is it?
OR
"F__ Saddam. We're taking him out" says George W, this time LAST YEAR
This story can be found on CNN, and comes via Wil Wheaton Dot Net:
"F___ Saddam. we're taking him out." Those were the words of President George W. Bush, who had poked his head into the office of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
It was March 2002, and Rice was Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-915028312003-03-28T07:22:00.000+10:002003-03-28T07:24:03.000+10:00I'm speechless, Rumsfield unfortunately is not
The SMH Online reports that the Pentagon is rejecting responsibility for the mounting civilian toll in Iraq, and adopting the political strategy of blaming all such casualties on Saddam Hussein:
"Any casualty that occurs, any death that occurs, is a direct result of Saddam Hussein's policies," a spokeswoman for the United States Secretary of DefenceJojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-914524892003-03-27T12:50:00.000+10:002003-03-27T12:56:02.000+10:00Books against bombs
33 people were arrested at yesterday's student strike and pro-peace marches, some as young as 10. Authorities are condemning the violence that broke out, very stridently. At last, here's their excuse to tell us why protest is bad!
Speaking of violence, some 300 children and adult protesters were trapped inside a police cordon, at Sydney's protest, for 2 hours. They were not Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180327.post-914517742003-03-27T12:37:00.000+10:002003-03-27T12:38:11.000+10:00So, is this about the oil yet?
The US army has given a massive contract to Halliburton's (well their subsidiary KBR), the oil company once run by US Vice President Dick Cheney (and still paying him $1 million a year in "deferred compensation") - without a tendering process - in fact without any competitive or public process at all.
This quote from a senior democrats senator, reported in SMH Jojohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857269318128576943noreply@blogger.com