Hypocrites & Liars

BJ Honeycutt Tells it Like it Is.

2006-05-25T12:24:00.000+10:00

Mike Farrell, who most of you know from the TV series "Mash," tells us his feelings about HBO's documentary, "Bahgdad ER." Via Crooks & Liars.

I saw "Baghdad ER" on HBO last night (Sunday, May 21). I'd heard that the Defense Dept. had issued warnings urging servicemen and women back from Iraq to be wary of watching as it might trigger PTSD symptoms. Perhaps they hoped those about to go wouldn't watch as well, for fear they might not show up.

"Baghdad ER" is a documentary about a "CASH," a Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad. I recommend it for every American, but the queasy be warned: it is excruciating. I cringed at the gore, was sickened by the death, wept at the frustration and resignation of the medics, at the faith of the chaplain, at the simple, shocked, blank expressions on the faces of kids younger than my son – victims of this fool's war. Listening to the bravado of some, aching to comfort those who came in knowing they were hurt but not how badly, made me want to scream. Watching this horrifying, endless process, the tears on my face kept drying from the heat of my anger. Glorious, generous, talented, dedicated human beings forced to be part of this circus of carnage made me so furious I couldn't speak at the end.

I loathe the people who have created this monstrosity. I want the criminals who lied and cheated and pretended and twisted and perverted reality - and those who rationalized their crimes - so they could send over 2400 servicemen and woman to their death, nearly 18,000 to come home torn - some never to be whole again - thousands more to suffer mental damage, and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians to be swept into the garbage can of "collateral damage," to pay. These bastards and their apologists should be stripped naked and forced to walk the main streets of America, allowing every city and town that has lost a loved one to injury or death in this shameful catastrophe to heap on them the scorn they deserve.

John F. Kennedy said America would never start a war. Well, it has now, and its architects have damaged our character, poisoned our standing in the world and soiled the soul of what was once the greatest nation in the history of the world.

Brilliant. Good for you Mike!

You can read more about Mike Farrell on his website here...www.mikefarrell.org

Update on Ben Domenech.

2006-03-25T18:14:00.000+11:00

After his embarrassing entry into the real world young Ben seems to be completely unable to acknowledge wrongdoing. Blaming everyone but himself for his blatant plagiarism, Ben is doing himself no favours.
But then again, his old mans contacts should get further employment.

Ben blaming Everyone Else on Red State

Condensed-
I know that charges of plagiarism are serious. While I am not a journalist, I have, myself, written more than one thing that has been plagiarised in the past. But these charges have also served to create an atmosphere where no matter what is said on my Red America blog, leftists will focus on things with my byline from when I was a teenager.
The Left has also accused me of foisting Sen. Frist quotes and some descriptive material from the Washington Post for a New York Press article on the Capitol Shooter. But the quotes I used were either properly credited or came from Sen. Frist’s press conference, which I attended along with many other reporters. So it is no surprise that we had similar quotes or similar descriptions of the same event. I have reams of notes and interviews about the events of that day. I also went over the entire piece step by step with NYPress editors to ensure that it was unquestionably solid before it ran.
In one instance, I have been accused me of passing off P.J. O'Rourke's writing as my own in a column for the paper. But the truth is that I had met P.J. at a Republican event and asked his permission to do a college-specific version of his classic piece on partying. He granted permission, the piece was cleared with my editors at the paper, and it ran as inspired by O’Rourke’s original.

Flat Hat

Domenech wrote that the editors of The Flat Hat were responsible for improperly including quotes from unattributed sources in his post on RedState.com

Steve Mencarini, editor of The Flat Hat from 1999 to 2000, said he supervised Domenech from fall of 1999 to March 2000. Mencarini refuted Domenech’s description of the events.
Domenech left the College without graduating, Associate Vice President for Public Affairs Bill Walker told the March 24 online edition of The New York Times.

Finaly This fool Gives an Admission and Apology

I want to apologize to National Review Online, my friends and colleagues here at RedState, and to any others that have been affected over the past few days. I also want to apologize to my previous editors and writers whose work I used inappropriately and without attribution. There is no excuse for this - nor is there an excuse for any obfuscation in my earlier statement.

This is a long story and I've only shown pieces of what has gone on, but the Washington Post has clearly shown not only that it is nothing more than a display for the current White House administration but that the management is completely out of touch with what is happening in the real world, in particular the online world and the power of the people that use it. But to hire what they thought would be a silencer to their critics really just showed them up for what they are. Shills for the Republicans and out of touch with reality. Not to mention, bad managers.

atrios has more

The Story of Ben Domenech.

2006-03-25T13:55:00.000+11:00

About a month ago the Washington Post (WP) printed an article, it was written by none other than the Ombudsman for the WP a Ms. Deborah Howell.
Now, as you know there's been a few Republicans in the US caught out because they have been taking bribes, in fact they have offices and several people working for them specifically for this purpose. They call it "Lobbying" which I do believe does have a place in getting things done in Politics, but these guy's just went too far.
The WP, specifically it's Ombudsman Debbie Howell, wrote a piece saying that the Lobbying scandal was a Bi-partisan issue. It was not, the Democrats had not taken one cent from Jack Abramoff. So starts the theatre.

The online comments section of the WP was on fire with Liberals asking for a retraction and apology. Not only did the WP refuse but they printed an article deriding Liberal Bloggers as foul mouthed scum etc.
So, after all this, the WP starts a Right Wing blog as part of their web page. Titled "Red State Blog" throwing more fuel on the fire. The WP may think they are Bi-partisan but they are just shills for the Bush government. Their way of combating criticism is to go further to the Right. Great move guys.

As one of the founders and star Bloggers of their new online presence, they hire this kid who's resume is made up of Speech Writing for some Republicans and Editor of a Right wing publishing house, Ben Domenech. Ben was home schooled and was hired straight out of collage by the Bush administration as a speech writer, his Dad knows George ya'see.

Jim Brady, the idiot at the helm of the WP, seems to think if your a good writer your a good Blogger. Thats not how it is at all, when you blog you have to be 100 per cent transparent and factually correct or you will get ripped to shreds.
Young Ben lasted 2 day's!

They thought they could put this kid in there to make a Blog and go against the Liberal Bloggers who have a definite advantage, life experience is not something you get when being Home Schooled.
He didn't have a chance from the start, he had no real world experience and in fact an isolated narrow minded view of things thanks to his parents.
No wonder the Smirking Fool gave him hid first job job.
But here's the clincher, not only is young Ben Domenech a home schooled ignoramus who believes in creationism, but he Steals others work and puts his name on it! Oh dear.

It couldn't have possibly been scripted better. It was like watching a bus screaming down a hill. In fact one Blog was writing a piece comparing Ben's Red State blog to a Bus careering down a hill when they found out that he had quit the job. Like I said, it could not have been scripted.

Firedoglake on Ben Domenech

Well, this isn’t good for the Washington Post’s newest Red America poster boy, now is it? Sucks when your right wing compadres decide that your plagiarism baggage is too ugly, too immoral, too much of a hot potato for even their political brand, doesn’t it?

America blog.

But what's really unfortunate about this entire mess is that the Washington Post handled their foray into blogging like such amateurs that there's now the risk of other newspapers thinking that this is what blogging is about - young, uneducated, unprofessional plagiarists. We risk others thinking that Blogs are the 3rd rail of journalism, touch them at your own peril. When in fact, had the Post simply started two Blogs, a Red and a Blue one, this could have been a journalism success story - but for the fact that the Post didn't bother to vet their choice to see if he was insane and/or a word thief.

All Bloggers are not created equal. The Post wanted to get in bed with Republicans and Republican Bloggers, fine. They got Republican ethics as part of the package.

The Most Frequent Response to GW Bush in Poll was "Incompetent"!

2006-03-17T15:07:00.000+11:00

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deep doubts about the Iraq war and pessimism about America's future have shattered public confidence in President George W. Bush and helped drive his approval ratings to their lowest level ever, pollsters say.
A majority of Americans, 56 percent, believe Bush is "out of touch," the poll found.
When asked for a one-word description of Bush, the most frequent response was "incompetent," followed by "good," "idiot"and "liar."
In February 2005, the most frequent reply was "honest."
"His strong points as a president were being seen as personally credible, as a strong leader. That has all but disappeared,"
said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, whose latest independent poll found a dramatic decline in Bush's credibility.

What does surprise me though, is just how long it took for the American general public to realise how much of a disaster this Smirking Fool really is. Everything he has done has turned into a disaster (and believe me, I have tried to find area's where the Bush cabals reign has indeed done good, but have found No true successes) simply because he is an incompetent idiot who has surrounded himself with Sycophants.

A Veterans letter to GW Bush.

2006-03-11T14:22:00.000+11:00

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As a young man I was honored to serve our nation as a commissioned officer and helicopter pilot in the
U. S. Navy. Before me in WWII, my father defended the country spending two years in the Pacific aboard the U.S.S. Hornet (CV-14). We were patriots sworn “to protect and defend”. Today I conclude that you have dishonored our service and the Constitution and principles of our oath. My dad was buried with full military honors so I cannot act for him. But for myself, I return enclosed the symbols of my years of service: the shoulder boards of my rank and my Naval Aviator’s wings.

Until your administration, I believed it was inconceivable that the United States would ever initiate an aggressive and preemptive war against a country that posed no threat to us. Until your administration, I thought it was impossible for our nation to take hundreds of persons into custody without provable charges of any kind, and to “disappear” them into holes like Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram. Until your administration, in my wildest legal fantasy I could not imagine a U.S. Attorney General seeking to justify torture or a President first stating his intent to veto an anti-torture law, and then adding a “signing statement” that he intends to ignore such law as he sees fit. I do not want these things done in my name.

As a citizen, a patriot, a parent and grandparent, a lawyer and law teacher I am left with such a feeling of loss and helplessness. I think of myself as a good American and I ask myself what can I do when I see the face of evil? Illegal and immoral war, torture and confinement for life without trial have never been part of our Constitutional tradition. But my vote has become meaningless because I live in a safe district drawn by your political party. My congressman is unresponsive to my concerns because his time is filled with lobbyists’ largess. Protests are limited to your “free speech zones”, out of sight of the parade. Even speaking openly is to risk being labeled un-American, pro-terrorist or anti-troops. And I am a disciplined pacifist, so any violent act is out of the question.

Nevertheless, to remain silent is to let you think I approve or support your actions. I do not. So, I am saddened to give up my wings and bars. They were hard won and my parents and wife were as proud as I was when I earned them over forty years ago. But I hate the torture and death you have caused more than I value their symbolism. Giving them up makes me cry for my beloved country.

Joseph W. DuRocher

*****************************************************

You can read more about J. Durocher here

I just read this while reading Bob Geiger.com and for me it really hit the nail on the head. I'm not even an American, I'm an Australian. But to see a great nation being led down the garden path by such an inept and despicable man as Bush leaves me appalled and dismayed.
I feel everyone who has a voice should use it to oppose his actions.
Moreover I feel Joseph W. DuRocher is a brave man in today's America where anyone saying anything against the White House is immediately painted as "hating America" and supporting Terrorism. How the hell they can come to that conclusion is beyond me.

Than You Joseph W. DuRocher you are the sort of person who will help end all this "Terrorism"!

The Tragedy of Pat Tillman - Update.

2006-03-07T14:18:00.000+11:00

Talk Left
The Inspector General of the Pentagon has asked the army to open a criminal investigation into Pat Tillman's death in Afghanistan.

The request, which came out of the inspector general's review of four previous investigations of the April 22, 2004, shooting, will likely lead investigators from the Army Criminal Investigation Command to return to Afghanistan and conduct a months long investigation into whether Tillman's death may have been a homicide, the result of criminal negligence or an accident, said an Army official who asked to remain anonymous.

Tillman's mother says:

"The Army used him. They knew right away he was killed by fratricide and used him for their own purposes to promote the war, to get sympathy for the war, for five weeks."

Meanwhile that repulsive scab on the knee of humanity, Anne Coulter, was being interviewed and would not accept that Pat Tillman wasn't a supporter of the war in Iraq. Stupid ignorant cow.
Crooks and Liars has more

Ten Years as PM Marred by Wrong Decision to Go Into Iraq

2006-03-02T07:19:00.000+11:00

Seven News
Prime Minister John Howard says he has no regrets about sending Australia to war against Iraq.

As the coalition marks 10 years in government this week, Mr Howard acknowledged the decision to send troops to Iraq was unpopular in parts of the community.
"People will always be critical of that decision, I accept that," he told ABC radio.
But he again denied Australia had been made a greater terrorist target by joining the US-led battle."Australia was a terrorist target long before we went to Iraq," Mr Howard said.
Mr Howard accepted the Iraqi decision was controversial, but said he had no regrets.
"I don't regret the decision," he said.
"I took it in good faith at the time."
Australia went to war believing former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, but none have so far been found.

Good Grief.
Yes Honest John, it was a terrific idea. Letting a country disintegrate into civil war, literally thousands of civilians killed, the nations capital (which is in better shape than most of Iraq) still without power a lot of the time and limited fresh running water.

The one thing I hate more than anything else in this fiasco is the inability of these people to accept that they were, and still are wrong. The invasion of Iraq was wrong in every single area. Iraq had nothing whatsoever to do with 911, Saddam was complying with the UN and had no WMD's. The invasion of Iraq as with the War on Terror is a farce.
Howard, Blair and Bush knew these facts but still, they all deliberately Lied to their respective nations. Liars and Hypocrites all.

The only reason we are a target for terrorists is because we have sided with and supported the American governments failed and disgraceful Foreign Policy.

It's a shame that what have could of been a reasonable tenure as Australia's PM for the last Ten years is marred by such a tragic and disgraceful decision by Howard to follow Bush and Blair's lead into Iraq.
Nothing good has come of this.

1300 Deaths in Iraq Last Week.

2006-03-01T16:58:00.000+11:00

The Washington Post

BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.

Morgue officials said they had logged more than 1,300 dead since Wednesday -- the day the Shiites' gold-domed Askariya shrine was bombed -- photographing, numbering and tagging the bodies as they came in over the nights and days of retaliatory raids.
The Statistics Department of the Iraqi police put the nationwide toll at 1,020 since Wednesday, but that figure was based on paperwork that is sometimes delayed before reaching police headquarters. The majority of the dead had been killed after being taken away by armed men, police said.

The disclosure of the death tolls followed accusations by the U.S. military and later Iraqi officials that the news media had exaggerated the violence between Shiites and Sunnis over the past few days.

More here...

****************************************

What can I say? How much of a tragedy this is? How the US government was wrong, on so many levels, how they Lied? How absolutely disgraceful the actions of the people who started and those that supported this entire fiasco are? Well, it is all of those but so, so much more.

But the biggest question for me is, why do people support and vote for these greedy despicable politicians? I've asked that question a lot lately and am still at a lost as to why.

"The Smiths" singer Morrisey reportedly questioned by FBI

2006-02-26T07:32:00.000+11:00

United Press
LONDON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- British rocker Morrissey says agents from the FBI and Britain's Special Branch picked him up for questioning after he labeled President Bush a "terrorist."
"They were trying to determine if I was a threat to the government, and similarly in England," Morrissey told Sky News Friday. "But it didn't take them very long to realize that I'm not."
Morrissey said he was surprised at the interest since he does not subscribe to any political group and doesn't "really say anything unless I'm asked directly and I don't even demonstrate in public."
He said his experience proves freedom of speech is an illusion.
"My view is that neither England or America are democratic societies," he said. "You can't really speak your mind and if you do you're investigated."

******************************

Meanwhile Bush is opening up 21 US shipping ports to a UAE State owned shipping company. Not that I really care, but the hypocrisy of this guy ceases to amaze.

The Tragedy of Pat Tillman.

2006-02-24T17:37:00.000+11:00

This isn't a new story by any means but I was reminded of it while reading an article at one of my regular reads, Yellow Dog Blog.

In short, Pat Tillman was a professional Grid Iron player in the US. He was young and had a very lucrative future ahead of him, in fact Tillman turned down a $3.6 million contract with the St. Lois Cardinals to enlist in the U.S. Army . After 911 Pat and his brother enlisted in the US Marines.

From Wikipedia-

The two brothers completed training for the elite Army Ranger school in late 2002 and were assigned to the second battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in
Fort Lewis, Washington. Both Pat and Kevin were deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pat Tillman was subsequently redeployed to Afghanistan, where, on April 22 2004, he was killed in action by friendly fire while on patrol.
His unit was attacked in an apparent ambush on a road outside of the village of Sperah about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Khost, near the Pakistan border. An Afghan militia soldier was killed and two other Rangers were injured as well.
The U.S. Department of Defense concluded that Pat Tillman's death was due to friendly fire aggravated by the intensity of the firefight.
It was later learned that in fact, no hostile forces were involved in the firefight, and that two allied groups fired on each other in confusion over an exploded mine or remote controlled bomb. U.S. Army Special Operations Command, however, initially claimed there was an exchange with hostile forces.

A later investigation conducted by Brigadier General Jones found that the Army was slow to correct the story of a hostile exchange of fire after learning that it was false.

*************************************

Tillman's family requested a report on the death of their son, and it was only then that they found out that he wasn't killed in battle but was in fact shot and killed by friendly fire.

I have to say that I do realise that this type of thing can happen. But, all the lies and secrecy, especially to the family is a disgrace.

"Brig. Gen. Gary M. Jones revealed that in the days immediately following
Tillman's death, US Army investigators were aware that Tillman was killed by friendly fire. Jones reported that senior Army commanders, including Gen. John Abizaid, knew of this fact within days of the shooting, but nevertheless approved the awarding of the Silver Star, Purple Heart, and a posthumous promotion. The citation report accompanying these awards said that Tillman was killed by enemy forces and contained a detailed account of the alleged battle which Army leadership knew had never taken place.
Jones reported that members of Tillman's unit burned his body armour and uniform in an apparent attempt to hide the fact that he was killed by friendly fire. Several soldiers were subsequently punished for their actions by being removed from their Army Rangers unit. Jones believed that Tillman should retain his medals and promotion, since he intended to engage the enemy, and behaved heroically.
Tillman's family was not informed of the finding that he was killed by friendly fire until weeks after his memorial service, although at least some senior Army officers knew of that fact prior to the service"

*******************************************

Everything about this "War on Terror" is wrong but when they cannot even tell the truth to the parents of the Soldier who died it casts a darker shadow over the morals of the Goverments who started it.
The fact that he was the ultimate team player and it was his own men who killed him is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it afterward is disgusting.

Spider snacks on snake

2006-02-16T09:26:00.000+11:00

This is a bit old but I thought it was intersting enough to share...

Bloemfontein - An office receptionist got the shock of her life earlier this week when she found a 14cm long Aurora house snake entangled in the web of a deadly spider.

Tania Robertson, a receptionist at an electrical firm in Bloemfontein, came in to work on Tuesday and spotted the strange sight next to a desk in her office.

The snake, which had obviously died from the spider's poisonous bite, was off the ground and caught up in the web.

Leon Lotz of the arachnology department at the National Museum immediately identified the spider as a female brown button spider.

The brown button spider, easily identifiable by a red hourglass marking on its stomach, is not quite as deadly as a black widow.

It is believed the snake got caught in the web on Monday night. But it did not take the spider long to bite it.A red mark on the snake's stomach was evidence of where the spider had started eating it.

Throughout Tuesday, the spider checked on her prey, but on Wednesday she rolled it up and started spinning a web around it. She also kept lifting it higher off the ground, while continually snacking on it. Even a fly that accidentally landed on the snake was chased off aggressively.

Iraq Power and Water Still Not Working Properly

2006-02-11T19:53:00.000+11:00

New York Times

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — Virtually every measure of the performance of Iraq's oil, electricity, water and sewerage sectors has fallen below preinvasion values even though $16 billion of American taxpayer money has already been disbursed in the Iraq reconstruction program, several government witnesses said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Of seven measures of public services performance presented at the committee hearing by the inspector general's office, only one was above preinvasion values.

Seriously, how on Earth could anyone with any semblance of common sense or decency vote for a President and Administration with such an undeniable record of failure?

Check at the bottom of this page to see just how much the Iraq war has cost the taxpayers of the US.

Tony Abbott Rejects Abortion Pill

2006-02-09T07:05:00.000+11:00

Tony Abbott would like to have the people of Australia believe that this has nothing whatsoever to do with his religion. Yeah sure.

ABC News
The Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott says he will not approve the use of the abortion pill RU-486 in Australia.

Mr Abbott has told PM he's received advice from the Chief Medical Officer that RU-486 has a higher rate of "later adverse events" that could require urgent intervention, than surgical termination.

The Australian Democrats, though, have accused Health Minister Tony Abbott of skewing information about the abortion pill to support his own religious position.

And the Australian Medical Association says that the Health Department advice on RU486 that Tony Abbott released today is plain wrong and ignores international research on the subject.

The AMA also says that the drug will now continued to be denied to Australian women for political reasons.

Is there anything more arrogant than politicians thinking they know better than everyone else? Including Medical professionals on Medical issues.
This is an issue between the Woman and her Doctor not a bloody politician who lets is personal religious beliefs dictate his politics.

Facts About Guantanamo Bay that the White House Don't Want You to Know

2006-02-09T02:45:00.000+11:00

I've just finished reading an article about Guantanamo Bay and it leaves me with absolutely no confidence in the US Governments handling of this farcical (fantasy?) "War on Terror".
The US Government, more specifically the Neo-cons and in particular Shrub and his close buddies have no intention whatsoever in "defeating" or ending terrorism, they want it to continue to fuel their economy. The Bush cabal has made a lot of money from War profiteering. In fact George Bush is the 3rd generation to make money out of war.

National Journal

National Journal undertook a detailed review of the unclassified files to develop profiles of the 132 men. NJ separately reviewed transcripts for 314 prisoners who pleaded their cases before Combatant Status Review Tribunals at Guantanamo.
Taken together, the information provides a picture of who, exactly, has been taken prisoner in the war on terror and is being held in an anomalous U.S. military prison on an island belonging to one of America's bitterest enemies.
Reporter Corine Hegland's exhaustively researched cover story in this issue -- studded with probative details and human stories that every serious student of the war against terror should read -- provides powerful evidence confirming what many of us have suspected for years;

That a very high percentage, perhaps the majority, of the 500-odd men now held at Guantanamo were not captured on any battlefield, let alone on "the battlefield in Afghanistan" (as Bush asserted) while "trying to kill American forces" (as McClellan claimed).

Fewer than 20 percent of the Guantanamo detainees, the best available evidence suggests, have ever been Qaeda members.

Many scores, and perhaps hundreds, of the detainees were not even Taliban foot soldiers, let alone Qaeda terrorists. They were innocent, wrongly seized noncombatants with no intention of joining the Qaeda campaign to murder Americans.

The majority were not captured by U.S. forces but rather handed over by reward-seeking Pakistanis and Afghan warlords and by villagers of highly doubtful reliability.
These locals had strong incentives to tar as terrorists any and all Arabs they could get their hands on as the Arabs fled war-torn Afghanistan in late 2001 and 2002 -- including noncombatant teachers and humanitarian workers. And the Bush administration has apparently made very little effort to corroborate the plausible claims of innocence detailed by many of the men who were handed over.
Only 35 percent of them (more precisely, of the 115 whose court files specify the locus of capture) were seized in Afghanistan; 55 percent were picked up by Pakistanis in Pakistan.

The 314 transcripts released to the Associated Press under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit give similar results. The 314 men described there included 97 Afghans who were arrested in Afghanistan. But they also included 211 foreigners, 152 of whom -- or more than 70 percent -- were arrested outside of Afghanistan. And 145 of those men were captured in Pakistan.

The administration has also disclosed very little about who the Guantanamo detainees are, excepting 1) redacted transcripts of 314 detainees' hearings before Guantanamo's nonjudicial "Combatant Status Review Tribunals" or CSRTs; and 2) somewhat more-detailed responses to the federal court petitions filed by lawyers for 132 of these 314 men.

******************************************

This is after the the American, British and Australian Governments have all peddled Lie after Lie in trying to defend their actions. Everything about Guantanamo Bay is wrong, the fact it tortures prisoners, gets coerced statements and confessions from the Illegally held prisoners (which mean nothing because the prisoners would have written and signed anything at all at the time), no access to the Red Cross or any other Humane Society (normal POW's are allowed this) The illegally held prisoners are not given POW status nor are they given Criminal status therefore denying them every single right and protection normally associated with POW's or prisoners. The illegally held prisoners are not even allowed protection under the Geneva Convention.
If the US Government ever wants to take the high ground in regard to any future or present hostilities then it has lost all credibility. They have no right to treat people in such a manner.

These are people picked up off the battlefield in Afghanistan. They weren't wearing uniforms ... but they were there to kill."
-- President Bush, June 20, 2005
"These detainees are dangerous enemy combatants....They were picked up on the battlefield, fighting American forces, trying to kill American forces."
-- White House press secretary Scott McClellan, June 21, 2005
"The people that are there are people we picked up on the battlefield, primarily in Afghanistan. They're terrorists. They're bomb makers. They're facilitators of terror. They're members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban....We've let go those that we've deemed not to be a continuing threat. But the 520-some that are there now are serious, deadly threats to the United States."
-- Vice President Cheney, June 23, 2005
"These are people, all of whom were captured on a battlefield. They're terrorists, trainers, bomb makers, recruiters, financiers, [Osama bin Laden's] bodyguards, would-be suicide bombers, probably the 20th 9/11 hijacker."
-- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, June 27, 2005

Bush Verses Science

2006-02-09T01:56:00.000+11:00

The past few weeks George Deutsch has been mentioned on a few Blogs because of him using his position at NASA to hamper real scientific study and progress involving Climate Change. George Deutsch got his job at NASA by being a loyal young Republican. He was a Presidential Appointee to NASA. Well, not no more he ain't!

From America Blog
George Deutsch, the Bush "war room" campaign staffer, who was on a quest to end science at NASA, has "resigned." Yep, he doesn't work there anymore. Seems young Mr. Deutsch had some discrepancies in his resume:

George C. Deutsch, the young presidential appointee at NASA who told public affairs workers to limit reporters' access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word "theory" at every mention of the Big Bang, resigned yesterday, agency officials said.

NASA Chief Backs Agency Openness (Feb. 4, 2006) Mr. Deutsch's resignation came on the same day that officials at Texas A&M University confirmed that he did not graduate from there, as his resume on file at the agency asserted.

Mr. Deutsch's educational record was first challenged on Monday by Nick Anthis, who graduated from Texas A&M last year with a biochemistry degree and has been writing a Web log on science policy, scientificactivist.blogspot.com.

After Mr. Anthis read about the problems at NASA, he said in an interview: "It seemed like political figures had really overstepped the line. I was just going to write some commentary on this when somebody tipped me off that George Deutsch might not have graduated."

He posted a blog entry asserting this after he checked with the university's association of former students. He reported that the association said Mr. Deutsch received no degree.

Does the phrase "Your doing a heck of a job Brownie" sound familiar?

Washington Post has more.

A Time magazine cover story today shines a spotlight on Bush's relationship of convenience with science. Mark Thompson and Karen Tumulty write that "growing numbers of researchers, both in and out of government, say their findings -- on pollution, climate change, reproductive health, stem-cell research and other areas in which science often finds itself at odds with religious, ideological or corporate interests -- are being discounted, distorted or quashed by Bush Administration appointees.

Something That Was Said During the State of the Union Address.

2006-02-06T14:26:00.001+11:00

Why the hell is an Aussie writing about the State of the Union Address? (SOTU) I hear the rowdy rabble roar from the rear. Well, it's because what happens in the U.S. affects what happens in Australia, and in fact, affects much of the world. The Stock market in Australia hardly does a thing until they've heard what is happening in the US. We have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan because Terrorists attacked the US. and it goes on.
So, I like to keep abreast of what is happening over there.

Although riddled with fabrications, prevarications, Spin and just blatant Lies. The one paragraph that did catch my attention was when Shrub said that his Government was meeting it's responsibility in providing Health Care for the poor and Elderly. That's just wrong.
Recently in America there has been a huge cock-up with the way the Federal Government is "providing Health Care for the sick and Elderly" in fact the exact opposite would be more accurate.
About 3/4 of the way through the SOTU address he said. -

Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility. For all Americans, we must confront the rising cost of care

Why is that so bad?
Well, just recently Bush introduced one of his policy's for Health Care for people on low income. The introduction to this system was an absolutely disaster. People were supposed to have their names transfered over to an Insurance Company, this didn't happen they were just kicked off instead so something like 6 million Sick, Disabled and Elderly were left with no option than to pay the full price for their medications.
Most, if not all, could not afford to do that. But can you imagine how these people felt when they heard that news?

It may not sound that big a deal but if you can imagine and Old age pensioner, some one in a wheel chair or who is in so much pain that getting to the Chemist or Dr. is a mission in itself and then to have the Pharmacist say "No, sorry, you've been taken off the list" I can't even imagine the panic and despair that some of the people would have felt knowing that from now on they cannot get any of their medications.

But then, in the SOTU address this man with War in his Heart Say's "Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility. For all Americans, we must confront the rising cost of care."

Why do the people of the US take this ? Do they not care (unless it happens to them or someone close to them of course) Do they think someone else will fix the problem? Do they actually believe what their President is saying when he Say's things like that?
We have our problems in Australia but I honestly don't think our PM could ever get away with such blatant prevarications as what the US Government seem to be getting away with.

Here is the full transcript of the speech if you would like to read it.
SOTU Transcript

I'm With Stupid.

2006-02-06T14:10:00.000+11:00

This picture has been circulating the internet quite a bit just lately. Kudos to the kids who set it up.

Katrina Investigation is Hampered by the White House.

2006-02-01T17:53:00.000+11:00

Surprise surprise, the White House is refusing to handover important documents and is also preventing key officials from co-operating with the congressional Inquiry into the pathetic government response to Hurricane Katrina late year.
In a national address in New Orleans in the days after Katrina, George Dubya made promises that a "thorough" congressional investigation into the relief debacle would be made and that he would fully co-operate with any investigation.

Daily Kos article

White House spokesperson Trent Duffy said that the White House is refusing requests to allow officials like Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff; his deputy, Joe Hagin; Frances Fragos Townsend, the domestic
security adviser; and her deputy, Ken Rapuano to testify on Capitol Hill about their responses to the catastrophe. Moreover, the White House also refused to provide e-mail correspondence and other communications made by Administration officials for examination, all the while claiming to be cooperating with the Congressional committee.

The UK Guardian reports-

The Bush administration has refused to hand over email correspondence about the storm and has prevented officials involved in the government reaction from appearing before the Senate. Those officials include the White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, and his deputy, Joe Hagin, Frances Fragos Townsend, the president's adviser on homeland security, and his deputy, Ken Rapuano.

Michael Brown, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told the Inquiry on Monday he had been told not to comment on his conversations with top White House officials.

Typical.
Have mentioned how much I hate Liars and Hypocrites today yet?

A New Flag

2006-01-29T07:30:00.000+11:00

I came across this article while looking through Google News and thought it would be a suitable follow up to the previous Australia Day article I wrote.

Here a few of the flags sent in to the Sydney Morning Herald article.

I had to include this one because it is the same Logo as used on the BLF Qld T-shirts. Identical colour and all! Needless to say, I wore mine with pride! And to be honest i think it is a great flag, love those colours.

And last of all we have this Flag...The Designer obviously thought it appropriate as to the "feel" of the country these days.

The flags were designed by, from top left, Kevin Yeats did the Southern Cross and State Star design, Roger Graf - Fingle Head NSW did the mixed motif design, Geoff Evens did the large Kangaroo, North Sullivan did the Green and Gold Southern Cross and Tony Eames designed the "Deputy in the Southern Hemisphere" Flag. That statement alone is enough for me to loath GW Bush.

A New Flag for Australia

Hamas Has an Outstanding Victory

2006-01-27T19:10:00.000+11:00

With the recent election in Palestine won by Hamas by a huge majority it will be very interesting watching closely how the Smirking Chimp attempts to spin his version of Democracy with this one.
In a press conference today he was stuttering in his usual nonsensical manner.

From the Washington Post

Dan Froomkin-

President Bush this morning faced a conundrum: How to reconcile all his soaring rhetoric about democracy with the democratic election victory of a radical Islamic group he has labeled as a terrorist organization?

The answer: Spin that conundrum away The words "terrorist organization" never came out of Bush's mouth in his hastily-called news conference, just hours after it became clear that Hamas won a huge upset victory in the Palestinian elections. Bush as recently as yesterday, in a Wall Street Journal interview, flatly declared that the U.S. won't deal with the group regardless of the election results.

But this morning, Bush was looking hard for the positive. The Palestinian vote was "a wakeup call to the leadership," he said.
Bush said-
"The people are demanding honest government. The people want services. They want to be able to raise their children in an environment in which they can get a decent education and they can find health care. And so the elections should open the eyes of the old guard there in the Palestinian territories."

He only grudgingly acknowledged the central problem: "On the other hand, I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform.

"And I know you can't be a partner in peace if you have a -- if your party has got an armed wing."

Considering the US governments excessive and frequent use of force I find these words bewildering.
I'm optimistic about this election win by Hamas because almost the exact same words were spoken by the British government when Sin Fien entered politics and won seats in Parliament.
You cannot force Peace onto people, which seems to be what these idiots try to be doing at times.
So many people in the West have absolutely no idea of what is happening in the Middle East, specifically between Israel and Palestine. All they know is what they read in or hear from the corporate Media. I'm not going to go into that here but all I can do is ask people to do their own research on this subject rather than believe the tripe that is presented before you in the mainstream media.

Both the US and the Israel governments have said they will not deal with a Terrorist organisation.
By making statements like that it sounds to me like the negotiations are over. They not even going to give Peace a chance. To me it appears as the US and Israel Governments are just covering themselves for any future hostility towards the legitimately elected government of Palestine.
How the hell are Peace negotiations even going to start if Israel (with the Neocons cheering them on) refuses to talk with the newly legally elected government of Palestine?

Australia Day

2006-01-26T11:32:00.000+11:00

Today is Australia Day!
It doesn't take much for an Aussie to take the day off!
Drag the Esky to a place by some water or a sporting event, fire up the Barbie and Bob's Dads brother.
No worries mate!

Australia's European history was started by an invasion, an attempted annihilation of the locals and looting of pretty well anything of any value. The same as so many other countries/Nations. Shame really.
But we do need to admit to our past. What is done is done. It's a shame we have our roots in the Empirical Reign of the British but to deny it ever happened would be a mistake.

Now, here's a better version of our flag. I know we do have some history with the Brits but do we really have to have that Union Jack stuck in the corner?

Cheers big ears.

Who You Spying on Georgy Boy?

2006-01-19T12:52:00.000+11:00

I'm sure anyone who is reading this has already heard plenty about the wiretapping executed by the National Security Agency (NSA) and authorised by George Bush on the citizens of the US.
Needless to say this is a very important issue for the people of the US, and indeed has implications that could affect the rest of the world.

Fist of all, it's illegal. There's no "ifs or buts" about this, the legislation regarding Electronic Surveillance by the President is very specific (see the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act link at the bottom of the page). It cannot be done without a court ordered warrant. There are no loopholes.
Secondly, the Constitution of the United States is also very specific in regards to the Powers of the Executive and spying on it's own citizens.

Here's the thing, the NSA can go and eavesdrop on American citizens to it's hearts content. It can put bugs on phones all over the place without asking for permission, and it can listen in for up to Three day's (72 hours) then, and only then do they need to get a Warrant from FISA.

FISA was setup so that the President go Wire tap anyone at anytime for 3 day's before even asking for a warrant. So all this hokum that Bush said about "urgency" and "we didn't have time to go and get a court appointed warrant is, simply put, Bullshit!. As I just wrote, they can Wire Tap to the hearts content for up to Three day's before they need to get a warrant. Not only that, but the Warrants authorised by FISA are a virtual rubber stamp anyway. Since the legislation has been in force FISA has only knocked back Four out of Several Thousand applications!

So, they can wire tap anyone they want for up to 3 day's without a warrant and then they are almost guaranteed for it to be approved.

So what's the problem I hear inquisitive minds ask? That my friend is the million dollar question, or rather, it's a "WHO" did the President want to spy on so desperately that he did it illegally and without even attempting to get a warrant rather than a "What".

Without doubt it must of been someone who they KNEW the Judge would not allow the NSA to Spy on.
And that narrows the field down considerably.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT

The Law Doesn't Apply to King George.

2006-01-17T10:44:00.000+11:00

Each day I get on the net and go to all my regular news sources (I don't read newspapers and ignore most of the rubbish on the TV) and while reading, virtually every day I'll come across another piece here or there involving the White House administration or their cronies doing something reprehensible. Each time I am aghast at the depth of this group of peoples dishonesty and hypocrisy.

On the 20th April 2004 George Bush said these exact words...
Whitehouse.gov

"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution."

***********************************************

The Congressional Research Service (a nonpartisan and independent group) released a Report yesterday on the "Presidential Authority to Conduct Warrentless Electronic Survaliance to Gather Foreign Intelligence Information which analysed what the President had authorised the N.S.A to do and they found his reasoning (excuses) completely wanting and irrelevant to the legality of the eavesdropping.
To borrow a paragraph from Digby's Blog written by Glenn Greenwald ....

"The nonpartisan and independent Congressional Research Service released a Report yesterday which analysed and, in a mild though clear tone, decimated the legal theories advanced by the Administration to defend George Bush’s lawless eavesdropping."

CRS Report (pdf)

Some People Just Don't Get It!

2006-01-05T11:20:00.000+11:00

All I can say is WOW! ...
This guy was wrong on so many levels, but even after his full name, address, phone number, car Registration, photos of him from about 5 or 6 years of School journals plus recent ones of him and his Vehicle plus number plates, his parents details, his employers details and just about every other personal detail you can think off. He still kept throwing threats and abuse around and procrastinated on a simple apology.
He could have put an end to the humiliation at any time just by giving an unreserved apology and returning the guy's money but he couldn't even do that. He even screwed up the apology by ending it with a threat.

The story may be familiar because it has been spread the length and breadth of the internet and literally millions of people have become aware of what this guy did. It has been added to Wikipedia as an entry, the term "Wenzeled" (from the guy's Surname "Wenzel" has even been immortalised in the Urban Dictionary - "wenzeled".
1. wenzeled
1. Defrauded by an Internet seller.
Hey, wanna buy some bran new gears for your truck?"
"LOL ok, here's $115"
"Now I want $140 for used gears out of my 2WD truck"
"Oh snap! I just got wenzeled!"
2. Publicly outed as fraudulent person of low character.
2. wenzeled
The act of being screwed on a fraudulent internet sale.
MochaMike got wenzeled by Charlie Wenzel.
3. wenzeled
past tense of verb "wenzel" or adverb; to financially defraud someone on the Internet and then use Social-Economic position to bully and threaten them; arrogant thievery.
I gave the guy $115, he cashed my check, he misrepresented the goods, didn't send them and called me an asshat!
Hey, bro, you just got wenzeled! Or I just wenzeled the dude for $115.

Read the saga it here

Charlie's almost Apology

"This should be considered a formal written apology to the members moderators (especially mochamike) and administrators of pirate4x4.com. I am sorry for 1) posting my gears for sale were new but were really used. 2) for changing the price after recieving the check from mike. 3) for calling mike's house at inconveinient hours of the night....snip
snip...if it doesn't stop, if it doesnt stop, one member on here who left a message on my voicemail saying im going to die will go to jail because i have all of his information..

I read nearly all of the thread (73 pages!) over a couple of days but kept going back because I could not believe how some people actually think they are going to "save face" by not apologising or by using threats against those he has wronged.

Charlie Wenzel, you should consider yourself very lucky.

2006-01-02T13:32:00.000+11:00

One of the most read of the "Left Wing/Progressive/Liberal" Blogs on the net is the Yellow Dog Blog. The owner and Author of the Blog, Bob Geiger, does a great job of telling it like it is and sticking it into the US Government and Republicans in general at every opportunity.

Well, due to the popularity of his blog, (and were talking more readers than most newspapers here) from the start of this year Bob has changed the name of the blog from Yellow Dog to BobGeiger.com. .

From all the staff at Hypocrites and Liars (all One of me), we wish you all the best in the future Bob! Go get 'em mate!

Which brings me to the other reason why I am writing this peice. Late last year (December 20) Bob wrote an article titled "When Australians Don't Like us, We've Got Problems." and invited comments from any Australian readers. I didn't know it at the time but the article was also published in one of Australias largest Newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald..
So I fired off an email to Bob at the Yellow Dog blog and he replied asking if he could publish the email. No worries mate!

So, here it is here "Aussie readers weigh in on America".
You'll find my comments about half way through (Paul W. – Newcastle, New South Wales)

Happy New Year !

2006-01-02T13:28:00.000+11:00

To all my friends and Family and to all the wonderful and loyal readers of this Blog (cough cough) I would like to wish everyone All the best in Health and Happiness in 2006.

John Ashcroft Enjoys Being Covered in Cooking Oil... Apparently.

2006-01-02T12:50:00.000+11:00

I just found this wonderful little tidbit while reading a completely different article from a link at Crooks & Liars, and to be totally honest, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
This guy has a Cooking Oil rubdown/Anointing thing happenning before each of his gubernatorial terms and thinks it's a good thing?

Ashcroft invites God on decisions.

WASHINGTON -- Attorney
General-designate John Ashcroft says he tries to "invite God's presence" while
making crucial decisions and compares his political victories and defeats to
resurrections and crucifixions.

The former Missouri governor also wrote that
he was anointed before each of his gubernatorial terms and on the evening before
he was sworn into the U.S. Senate a friend brought out Crisco cooking
oil for anointing when no holy oil could be found.

In his 1998 book, "Lessons From A Father To His Son," the son
of a pastor makes clear his deep devotion to Christianity and details how it has
shaped his lengthy public career -- from his view on race to
his staunch opposition to abortion and support for the
death penalty.

Wasn't it the Sixth commandment that said "Thou Shalt Not Kill"? These Religious Fundamentalists seem to be very selective on what they take from the Bible.

The Article was written in an Associated Press news paper and was copied onto the Website "Quest for the Presidency".

Read the full article here.

Why Even Bother With a Trial?

2005-11-16T14:50:00.000+11:00

I was watching the News Hour with Jim Leher (PBS) on SBS yesterday evening and noticed something that quite astonished me.

John Yoo, a Law professor at the University of California at Berkeley and former deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice was having a debate/discussion with another US Attorney, Tom Wilner who is representing several Kuwaiti men held at Guantanamo Bay.
John Yoo, is supposed to be a law professor but here he simply refused to accept the basic fundamental rule of law which is "Innocent until proven guilty" or in this case the protection given by Habeas corpus(see bottom of page for link*).

Obviously it's slightly more complicated than that but basically he has claimed each and every single one of the people picked up in Afghanistan and Pakistan are guilty therefore are denied any legal rights and that they are also guilty of not being soldiers so they are denied any protection offered by the Geneva Convention.

*****************************

Watch it in Streaming video or read the Text from the Interview here

The Lawyers acting for the Detainees at Guantánamo Bay have taken the US Government to court challenging them on their detention of people for years on end with no trial and without the protection of the Geneva Convention. No one has proven that these people were indeed Soldiers or what the US Government would like to term them as "Illegal Combatants". These people are asking that if they are soldiers then treat them like soldiers if not then they should be allowed a Fair Trial. Nothing more nothing less. But this Law professor was saying NO, they are Terrorists?? How does he know whether they are Terrorists or are not?...How can this person, who teaches law, deny the prisoners the fundamental right of innocence? How he can stand in judgement without a fair trial in this day and age when he claims to be an expert of the topic is beyond me.
Thankfully the US Senate denied the Legislation be passed.

More here from the Guardian

The US senate's decision to deny detainees at Guantánamo Bay the right to challenge their detention in a US court could be overturned this week, following protests from senators, civil rights groups and former military officers.

Habeas Corpus Act 1679

Words of Wisdom

2005-11-13T10:17:00.000+11:00

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower
April 16, 1953

Before he left office in January 1961, for his farm in Gettysburg, he urged the necessity of maintaining an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could breed potential dangers to our way of life. He concluded with a prayer for peace "in the goodness of time." Both themes remained timely and urgent when he died, after a long illness, on March
28, 1969.

Ike Eisenhower was a Republican but unlike the current President of the US, at least this man had first hand experience of war. Perhaps that's why he worked so hard for Peace.

Find out more about the man here...

Court challenge to have consequences for Hicks

2005-11-09T15:23:00.000+11:00

News.com.au

DAVID Hicks faces another year without trial in Guantanamo Bay, after a US Supreme Court decision effectively delayed his trial until the end of next year.

Justices will decide whether Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, can be tried for war crimes before military officers in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Obviously the issues that Hamdan raises apply four square to Hicks - whether the tribunal is lawful and consistent with the uniform code of
military justice. If the Hicks commission went ahead then they would be taking a
very big chance."

Lateline Transcript
TONY JONES: The US President is facing challenges on two fronts over prisoners detained in the so-called 'war on terror'. George W. Bush has denied US forces are engaged in torture, while, at the same time, the White House is preparing to fight moves in Congress for a complete ban on the practice. Those developments come as the US Supreme Court announced it will hear a challenge on the legality of military commissions for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay. The decision will have consequences for the Australian, David Hicks.

NORMAN HERMANT:Amidst reports of secret prisons being run by the CIA, and battling resistance within his own Republican Party over US interrogation practices, George W. Bush was on the back foot as he wrapped up his visit to Latin America in Panama. The US President defended America's actions in the so-called 'war on terror'.

GEORGE W. BUSH, US PRESIDENT: We are trying to disrupt their plots and plans. Anything we do to that effort, to that end, in this effort, any activity we conduct is within the law. We do not torture. There's an enemy that lurks, that plots and plans and wants to hurt America again. And so you bet, we'll aggressively pursue them, but we will do so under the law.

*************************************

The man is a compulsive liar.
Which begs the question. Why does the general public, the Voters, believe statements like the above when there is so much conclusive evidence to the contrary?

Is the Chimp trying to tell the American Public that the Abu Gharib photo's and subsequent prosecutions are all a dream? That they did happen but it's OK because we are the good guy's and the law doesn't apply to us?

Feds arrest 6 Suspects

2005-11-08T07:49:00.001+11:00

Story Here

More than 400 ASIO agents and federal police raided at least 20 homes in south-west Sydney at 2.30am today, arresting six people.

Well, that was a massive amount of resources really well spent. Not.
I also noticed Allen Jones having a say on channel Nines Morning show. I would like to take his argument apart piece by piece but I loath the man so much I cannot even listen to him. Although this morning I did try, honestly I did, but as soon as he started on the "Islam against the Australian Nation" rubbish I had to hit the mute button on the remote. Allen Jones is a no-talent, over paid, views and opinion so far from reality it's not funny, idiot!

I just find it slightly discrepant that these people always blame "them" when the West has a policy Pre-Emptive" strikes.

More here from SBS.

Antiwar Sermon Brings IRS Warning

2005-11-08T07:49:00.000+11:00

Story from L.A. Times

The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election.

On June 9, the church received a letter from the IRS stating that "a reasonable belief exists that you may not be tax-exempt as a church … " The federal tax code prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns and elections.
The letter went on to say that "our concerns are based on a sermon presented at the All Saints Church discussed in the article."

**************************************

I came across this story at Crooks and Liars and to be quite honest I found it quite amazing (although not surprising).

Dave Johnson has more:

"How many "conservative" churches that DO tell parishioners how to vote have received similar letters? The Government trying to Bully a Church into not saying anything against them?

It obviously wouldn't of happened if it were saying nice things about the Chimp.
Just another example of the blatant Hypocrisy of the Us Government

(link to story at C & L here.)

U.S. Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Indicted

2005-10-29T23:44:00.000+10:00

Scooter Libby was Indicted on 5 separate accounts today including, Obstruction of justice, giving false statements, perjury after being investigated for compromising the status of a CIA agent. The wife of Ambassador Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame . (see story "George Bush's War! Part 2 - Karl Rove." below)

Digby's Blog
Digby has written an excellent article about this. (scroll down a bit on the page to find the story "The Big Picture")

If the Republican leadership of congress weren't spineless Bush toadies and insane religious fanatics they would do their job and investigate this honestly for the good of the country. But they won't. They are nothing more than braindead fatcats gorging at the pork barrel with a fistfull of C-notes in one hand and a bible in the other. (If you want to read a purely political document, spend a little time with the Senate Intelligence Committee report on Iraq.)

If they care to do it, this case is a way for the media to save its soul after its outrageous conduct helping the administration make its case for war on lies. It is the responsibility of the NY Times and the Washington Post and NBC and all the rest to revisit what this administration has done ever since 1999 when the national press overlooked its sleazy and dangerous behaviour. If they care to salvage their reputations they have the chance right here, right now.

**********************************************

This is serious stuff, and I hope the American Public sees it for what it is. This is not playing around with an intern (for which former President Bill Clinton was Indicted for) These people broke the law in a very serious way and then perjured themselves attempting to cover it up.

Words of Wisdom

2005-10-29T16:02:00.000+10:00

Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the State becomes lawless and corrupt.
Mahatma Gandhi -

I just hope this doesn't mean I'll get locked up with trial for Sedition (see post below)

Howard Goverment and it's Anti-Terrorism Bill.

2005-10-29T14:29:00.000+10:00

Article Here.

A leaked copy of an “in-confidence” draft of the Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 has confirmed the police-state character of the measures being drawn up by the federal Howard government, with support from the Australian state and territory chief ministers. Under the guise of combating terrorism, the legislation will introduce unprecedented and draconian police and intelligence powers.

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Chief Minister Jon Stanhope posted the document on his official web site last Friday, provoking furious denunciations by Prime Minister John Howard and other ministers, who had planned to keep the legislation under wraps until November 1. Their intention was to push it through both houses of parliament in just two weeks, without any serious debate by MPs, let alone genuine public scrutiny and discussion.

First and foremost, the legislation provides for extensive detention without charge or trial, on the flimsiest of pretexts. With no notice or legal hearing, any person can be thrown into secret “preventative detention” or placed, by a “control order,” in isolation under house arrest.

In order to evade the Constitution, which bars the federal government from imposing “punishment” on Australian citizens without trial, preventative detention by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) will be limited to 48 hours, but the states and territories have agreed to extend this to 14 days for their respective police forces.

All conversations, including with their lawyer, are monitored, violating the principle of lawyer-client confidentiality. “Prohibited contact orders” can also prohibit contact with their own lawyer, and the police can prevent them from speaking to any lawyer who does not have an ASIO security clearance.

Shoot to Kill.
from Yahoo News.
The shoot-to-kill prevision was revealed in confidential draft legislation leaked Friday to the annoyance of Prime Minister John Howard, who insisted the laws should be implemented quickly in the interest of national security.

Law Council of Australia president John North said the government was attempting to prevent the legal fallout experienced by British anti-terrorism police who shot dead Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in a London subway station last July after mistaking him for a suicide bomber.

There is controversy over whether de Menezes was given a chance to surrender before being shot seven times in the head as officers held him down, leading to reports the commander of the British operation could be charged with manslaughter.

Sedition.
The draft legislation leaked by Stanhope includes seven-year jail terms for sedition, described as "promoting feelings of ill-will or hostility between groups" that threaten public order or "urging a person to assist the enemy".

********************************

The Government plans to introduce the anti-terrorism laws on Melbourne Cup day, and when a Government feels the need to try and pass legislation at times such as Melbourne Cup Day (or as in the case of the States massive MP pay increases a couple of years ago where it was passed a Midnight Christmas eve), you know, all they're doing is trying to avoid scrutiny of the legislation.

The very least the Government should do is have open and honest debate about the current crop of restrictions. If we need the new laws so much, then why try to pass them in such a cynical and underhanded manner?

More from SBS

Harriet Miers Withdraws Nomination

2005-10-28T17:18:00.000+10:00

On Thursday, Harriet Miers, withdrew her nomination to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor for a seat on the Bench of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Her decision was accepted with reluctance by the embattled President Bush.

Dallas News

"It's an astonishing spectacle," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way. "President Bush's complete capitulation to the far-right interest groups is astounding."

The Bush administration tried hard to sell Ms. Miers to its conservatives supporters – to the point that they had been accused of making improper assurances that, if confirmed, Ms. Miers would vote to their liking.
Both the White House and Ms. Miers denied making any such assurances, and, in absence of judicial experience, almost nothing seemed to convince conservatives that Ms. Miers was a nominee they could support wholeheartedly.

Yet, the confirmation process was still moving forward Wednesday. Just before midnight – hours after Ms. Miers' call to the president – the White House delivered eight boxes of requested documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee had asked Ms. Miers to resubmit her answers to questions concerning constitutional law, presidential power and potential conflicts of interest regarding her relationship to the president. The request was made by the committee, both Republicans and Democrats, who found her original answers unrevealing or incomplete.

The unusual request was emblematic of her ill-fated nomination, one that was criticized most heartily by some of the president's own supporters as ill-considered cronyism.

from The New York Times

President Bush finally dug himself out yesterday from the political rubble he created by choosing a Supreme Court nominee whose only known qualifications were his personal comfort with her and her personal loyalty to him.
A good nominee would understand the court's role in protecting rights and have a judicial approach within the broad mainstream on issues like the balance of federal and state powers, civil liberties, and the role of government - and be capable of filling out the Senate's questionnaire without a do-over.

*********************************

It will be interesting to see who the President selects for the next Nomination (or any High End position in the Government for that matter). Will he continue with his arrogance and indifference and continue with this cronyism or will he actually select a person with the right qualifications for the job?

Both the Articles were good reads, I especially liked the New York Times Op-Ed. piece. The (unnamed) author certainly didn't hold back. So, why did they go soft on so much previously? Surely they couldn't have believed all the previous lies? Have they finally had enough or was it that Harriet Mies was an easy and/or perhaps selected target? A deception of sorts?

I just hope that some of the Journalists in our respective country's grow some spine and start to point out such crimes and Misdemeanours.
Politicians and Governments get away with far to much and it needs to be said, not grudgingly accepted.

US Military Deaths Officially Reach 2000

2005-10-27T18:34:00.000+10:00

Story from Bloomberg.com
Oct. 25 - U.S. military deaths in Iraq reached 2,000 amid rising debate over whether the benefits of the two and one-half year conflict outweigh the casualties and cost.

A majority of Americans for the first time said the U.S. military's effort in Iraq isn't going well, a poll by the Washington-based Pew Centre showed this month. And, also for the first time, a majority of Americans in a Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive poll said going to war in Iraq was a mistake, the Journal reported today.

The war has been costly in terms of money. With Senate passage of the fiscal 2006 budget earlier this month, Congress has approved a total of $361 billion for military operations, reconstruction and other expenses in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, according to a report Oct. 3 by Congressional Research Service.

President Bush said;

``Our commitment is clear,'' Bush said in a speech to the wives of military officers at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington. ``We will not relent until the organised international terrorist networks are exposed and broken, and their leaders are held to account for their murder.''

But the C.I.A. completely contradicts the spin from the White House;

A Central Intelligence Agency assessment in June said Iraq had become a more potent breeding ground for Islamic terrorists than Afghanistan was in the 1980s.

Meanwhile the Civilian death toll in Iraq between 26700 and 30100
Iraq Body Count

Oh No...

2005-10-27T00:14:00.000+10:00

I spent a couple of hours writing a piece today but unfortunately it was lost in Cyber space when I clicked "Publish".
My apologies to the readers of this blog ...

... both of you. ;-)

I'll write and publish a similar article tomorrow.

Harriet Miers Integrity Under Question

2005-10-24T17:25:00.000+10:00

Harriet Miers is George Bush's latest Nomination as a Judge to sit on the bench of the US Supreme Court. Harriet Miers also just happens to be the Presidents former personal Lawyer!
Unfortunately Harriet Miers has perhaps a little less integrity than what Shrub would have us believe.
These incidents take on added significance because – since Miers doesn’t have any judicial experience – Bush is selling Miers’s nomination to the court, in large part, on her “character.”

Story from Think Progress
When President Bush announced the nomination of Harriet Miers on October 3, he called her “a leader of unquestioned integrity.” Much of what we’ve learned since then hasn’t supported Bush’s claim.

To review:

Miers was suspended from the DC Bar for failure to pay dues.
Miers was also suspended from the Texas bar for non-payment of dues.
Miers repeatedly had tax liens placed on property she owned in Texas for non-payment of fines and fees.
Miers received 10 times the market value for a small piece of land she controlled from the state of Texas, awarded by a panel stacked with friends and allies. A mediator ordered Miers to repay $26,000 but she has failed to do so.

Miers, in a letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), said her Texas Bar license was "administratively suspended" for several weeks in 1989 due to late payment of her Bar Association dues
In her letter to Leahy, she also said she neglected to list her affiliation with two entities, specifically, she was a director and shareholder of Priority Enterprises from 1983 to 2000, which she descried as a "for-profit consulting and personnel placement firm" in Farmers Branch, Tex.

Don't you just love cronyism when it blows up in their respective faces?

Words of Wisdom

2005-10-21T15:08:00.000+10:00

Each Friday I'll be posting up a few Words of Wisdom. A Quotation from some famous bod or another.
Today's Quotation is from Julius Caesar, and is one of my favourites, and particularly relevant in the current climate.

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.
And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather,the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism,will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.
How do I know this? For this, is what I have done.
And I am Caesar."

Find out about the man here

Historical Timeline

Howard Government Industrial Relations Advertising Campaign

2005-10-20T12:31:00.000+10:00

I've noticed an awful lot of advertising being done by the Australian Government recently (awful being the qualifying adjective!).

This is being done to try and convince the Australian public that the Industrial Relations reforms the Government is trying to implement is needed and that it is indeed Fair.
I hope, (but am not overly confidant), that the Australian Public will not fall for this deceit.

Article from The Australian

THE federal Government has spent nearly $15 million of taxpayers' money on advertising in the first two weeks of its industrial relations reform campaign, according to a survey to be released today.
The mammoth ad budget has already put the IR campaign on track to become the biggest advertising spending spree in Australian history. With no end in sight to the Government's bid to swing the public behind the IR changes, observers predict it will easily outstrip the GST campaign in 2000, which cost $100 million.

John Sintras, chief executive of Starcom and head of the Media Federation of Australia,
said the campaign and the "staggering" number of ads had been a significant talking point in the industry. "There is a fine line between effective reach and overkill and they have crossed it," he said. "I'm stuffed if I can think of someone who has launched with that kind of weight; $7million is what most people spend in a year. Not even Telstra or Coles spends at that rate."

Now, before I go on I would like to re-affirm my thoughts and standing on the subject of Industrial Relations Reform. It is an ever changing situation, so Reform is an area that needs to be discussed openly. Dialogue between the major parties, IE, the Workers and their bosses and the Governing parties which includes the State and Federal Governments and the respective Unions should happen. Jobs change, as is the way people are employed.
But these Individual Contracts that the vast majority of Workers Do Not want or need are a backward step and has no other purpose than to make more money out of the workers of this country.

The current crop of Taxpayer funded Commercials that have been playing on the TV just recently, (and I mean a seriously lot of air time) bang on about how Workers will still have these rights "by Law" IE, that a Women who becomes pregnant cannot be sacked for that reason etc...But, and this is a very big BUT, all the points made in the Commercials are specifically the rights that employees have by law if they are employed under the Award! Which, incidentally, is the EXACT thing that the Howard Government is trying to get rid of!
That is to have Employees sign Individual Workers Contracts and do away with all the Rights, Benefits and Conditions that were fought so hard, for so many years.
They conveniently omitted that vital piece of information from the advertisements though.

More Here...

Information from the ACTU here...

We ould also lose all our Public Holidays

Wal-Mart employee Hands School Student's Bush Poster to the Police

2005-10-18T00:46:00.000+10:00

By Matthew Rothschild / The Progressive

Selina Jarvis had assigned her senior civics and economics class “to take photographs to illustrate their rights in the Bill of Rights,” she says. One student “had taken a photo of George Bush out of a magazine and tacked the picture to a wall with a red thumb tack through his head. Then he made a thumb’s down sign with his own hand next to the President’s picture, and he had a photo taken of that, and he pasted it on a poster.”
But over at the Kitty Hawk Wal-Mart, where the student took his film to be developed, this right is evidently suspect.

An employee in that Wal-Mart photo department called the Kitty Hawk police on the student. And the Kitty Hawk police turned the matter over to the Secret Service.

On Tuesday, September 20, the Secret Service came to Currituck High.“At 1:35, the student came to me and told me that the Secret Service had taken his poster,” Jarvis says. “I didn’t believe him at first. But they had come into my room when I wasn’t there and had taken his poster, which was in a stack with all the others.”

I've just read about this on a Bulletin Board, and I want one!!
I want one of the Posters on my wall. I want a copy of one on a T-Shirt (front and back) and I would like a nice small sized one for my Wallet. The student should be at the printers right now making his or her fortune! He/She will sell thousands!

International Terrorism is on the Rise

2005-10-17T17:49:00.000+10:00

U.S. Figures Show Sharp Global Rise In Terrorism, State Dept. Will Not Put Data in Report .

Story from the Washington Post

The number of serious international terrorist incidents more than tripled last year, according to U.S. government figures, a sharp upswing in deadly attacks that the State Department has decided not to make public in its annual report on terrorism due to Congress this week.
Overall, the number of what the U.S. government considers "significant" attacks grew to about 655 last year, up from the record of around 175 in 2003, according to congressional aides who were briefed on statistics covering incidents including the bloody school seizure in Russia and violence related to the disputed Indian territory of Kashmir.

...and then we have the US Government trying to hide the Stats from the Public.

The State Department announced last week that it was breaking with tradition in withholding the statistics on terrorist attacks from its congressionally mandated annual report. Critics said the move was designed to shield the government from questions about the success of its effort to combat terrorism by eliminating what amounted to the only year-to-year benchmark of progress.

The controversy comes a year after the State Department retracted its annual terrorism report and admitted that its initial version vastly understated the number of incidents. That became an election-year issue, as Democrats said the Bush administration tried to inflate its success in curbing global terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

What can one say? They lied. They acted illegally and dishonourably, and innocent people all over the world are paying the ultimate price for the personal greed of only a few.

George Bush's War! Part 3 - Lies & Deception

2005-10-13T09:26:00.000+10:00

I found this wonderful little tidbit while over at Crooks and Liars (one of my favourite Blogs) it led me too digbys blog and from there, was a link to a News Article and a very interesting article put together by a retired Air Force Colonel.
It follows on from the previous article on this blog regarding Karl Rove and his mates in the White House.

Read this (pdf) report called "Truth from These Podia: Summary of a Study of Strategic Influence, Perception Management, Strategic Information Warfare and Strategic Psychological Operations in Gulf II," written by Colonel Sam Gardiner who identified 50 false news stories created and leaked by a secretive White House propaganda apparatus. Here's a news story about it:

According to Gardiner, "It was not bad intelligence" that lead to the quagmire in Iraq, "It was an orchestrated effort [that] began before the war" that was designed to mislead the public and the world. Gardiner's research lead him to conclude that the US and Britain had conspired at the highest levels to plant "stories of strategic influence" that were known to be false.

The Times of London described the $200-million-plus US operation as a "meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the Congress, and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein."

The multimillion-dollar propaganda campaign run out of the White House and Defence Department was, in Gardiner's final assessment "irresponsible in parts" and "might have been illegal."

"Washington and London did not trust the peoples of their democracies to come to the right decisions," Gardiner explains. Consequently, "Truth became a casualty. When truth is a casualty, democracy receives collateral damage." For the first time in US history, "we allowed strategic psychological operations to become part of public affairs... [W]hat has happened is that information warfare, strategic influence, [and] strategic psychological operations pushed their way into the important process of informing the peoples of our two democracies."

It was this story that the White House didn't want exposed and when Joe Wilson started making noises about Dick Cheney and yellowcake, they got very nervous. After all, the WMD's weren't turning up in Iraq. And this is when the Traitors in the White House decided to release the name of Joe Wilson's wife to the New York Times. (read previous Karl Rove article)

The Text Article here.
Excerpt from the published paper.
By Gar Smith / The-Edge
November 7, 2003

Part One

A Strategy of Lies: How the White House Fed the Public a Steady Diet of Falsehoods

Colonel Sam Gardiner (USAF, Ret.) has identified 50 false news stories created and leaked by a secretive White House propaganda apparatus. Bush administration officials are probably having second thoughts about their decision to play hardball with former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Joe Wilson is a contender. When you play hardball with Joe, you better be prepared to deal with some serious rebound.

Gar Smith is Editor Emeritus of Earth Island Journal, Roving Editor at The-Edge (www.the-edge.org) and co-founder of Environmentalists Against War(www.envirosagainstwar.org).

The Article is a very interesting read and although it comes as no surprise it's always satisfying to know ones suspicions are on the money.

Gardiner's findings have not yet received due attention from the US media and with good cause. Gardiner's investigation revealed that the mainstream media not only failed to stand up to the government and insist on the truth, they all too often submitted in complicit cooperation with the government.
Even in peacetime, the corporate media is an "embedded" media.

Gardiner has some hard questions for America's press barons:

"How was it that the Washington Post took classified information on the
Jessica Lynch story and published it just the way the individual leaking it
in the Pentagon wanted?"

"Why did the New York Times let itself be used by 'intelligence officials'
on stories?"

"Why did the Washington Times never seem to question a leak they were
given?"

I have a question of my own, If the War in Iraq (read Invasion to plunder their resources) was such a Noble and Glorious Deed, then why did the White House feel the need to tell so many lies?

I suppose I'll never understand why people accept such behaviour or why the General Public are so gullible in believing such obvious misleading falsehoods and misrepresentations from the very people they VOTED for.
I hope every single person involved in orchestrating this War is held accountable for their actions (and all the actions associated with it), if not from the Judicial process then by the God that George Bush so often conveniently uses the name of.

Cronyism in the White House? Surely Not.

2005-10-12T08:38:00.000+10:00

from Talk Left
The Bush Administration continues its policy of handing out top Administration jobs based on cronyism. Did it not learn from Michael Brown? Apparently, not.

The latest: A 36 year old Administration lawyer named Julie Myers, who has no immigration experience, has been nominated to head up ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Let's look at Ms. Myers' credentials - the last paragraph is key:

After working as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, N.Y., for two years, Myers held a variety of jobs over the past four years at the White House and at the departments of Commerce, Justice and Treasury, though none involved managing a large bureaucracy. Myers worked briefly as chief of staff to Michael Chertoff when he led the Justice Department's criminal division before he became Homeland Security secretary.
Myers also was an associate under independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr for about 16 months and has most recently served as a special assistant to President Bush handling personnel issues.
Her uncle is Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the departing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She married Chertoff's current chief of staff, John F. Wood, on Saturday.

Howard Forces Workers onto Independent Work contracts.

2005-10-10T09:20:00.000+10:00

It's alright for those people who are earning a Salary, the ones who make all the money. But for the vast majority of us who are on wages, these new Independent Employee Contracts are not a good thing, and thats probably the most polite way I could have written it.

People are going to work at a job with no job security, holiday's when the boss tells them to take time off (without pay). They will receive no pay for Public Holidays and when they leave their job, they will leave with nothing. No Long Service Leave or Superannuation and No Redundancy payments.

Eventually we are going to have have very few people on Permanent, fully entitled employment. We will have Casual, Full Time Casual, Part time Casual employees all without the benefits and Conditions our Fathers and Grandfathers worked so hard for.

Below are just some of the Benefits that people will be throwing away bit by bit, piece by peice...

Long Service Leave
Redundancy payments
Accumulative Sick Leave
Sick Leave and Sickness benefits
Superannuation (unless you pay it out of your own pocket of course)
Holiday Pay and Holiday Leave Loading
Public Holiday's
Penalty Rates for working Overtime and working Sunday's and weekends

And these are only the Award Wage Benefits I can think of just off the top of my head. I haven't even started on Work place Safety, Working Conditions or even Unfair Dismissal.

Quotes from ACTU News

The Prime Minister would have us believe that industrial relations is the most pressing economic issue facing the nation. He argues that the changes will create more jobs, lift productivity and boost wages. This is an exceptionally feeble argument, lacking substance and credibility.
Australia is currently in its 14th consecutive year of economic growth - a historically significant period of economic expansion, low inflation,
productivity growth and low unemployment.

Employers are not going to let their workers keep all these Benefits, not when they don't have too. And why would they when they can just as easily get someone else to do the job?

In the USA, the richest Nation in the world they don't get Four weeks holiday a year like we do in Australia, they are lucky if they get Two!! Let alone a extra couple of hundred for Holiday Leave Loading. In fact the whole culture of Tipping in the US is because the Minimum Federal wage is so low that people have to rely on Tips if they want to live anywhere above a mere subsistence level! ...

The current advertising campaign undertaken by the Unions is to make people aware of just how unfair and how much of a backward step these new Independent Employee Contracts are. It will reduce the average living Standard of the Lower Income bracket substantially.

But of Course the Howard Government will try to tell the public different. With it's spending over 20 million dollars of the Taxpayers money to Advertise, (read spin) and sell, these Draconian and completely unfair Laws. Which in itself is a disgrace, imagine what 20 million dollars could do if it were invested into Schools or Hospitals rather than Advertising Executives pockets. Like John Singleton hasn't got enough money.

Here's the thing, if you want to be an Independent Contractor then good for you, it can be a good thing. But it should not be up to our Government to Force all the lower Wage earners in our country into situations where they have no Rights, No Benefits and no bloody money in their pockets.

George Bush's War! Part 2 - Karl Rove.

2005-10-08T10:59:00.000+10:00

If there were a single thing that exemplifies the way the current White House Administration operates, it would be the case of Karl Rove and how he leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative to the media.

This was done because her Husband had the courage to tell the truth about the Lies that were being told to the public so that the current President could wage his War.
This cowardly act of betrayal put her life and the lives of many of the people she worked with in danger.
Make no mistake, this is the work of those that sit in the highest offices of the White House. Every single step in this rancid tale is morally and many cases Legally, wrong.

In short this is what happened. As we all know, the President has his eye on the vast Oil supply's of the Middle East. In particular, Iraq, the Second largest known Oil supply in the world.
After 911 the President saw the perfect opportunity to invade Iraq and have a permanent foot in the door, and to cause enough damage to the country that they would be forever paying for reconstruction. Reconstruction by a Construction company that the Vice President was the CEO of incidentally, and with the only other Tenders allowed being from the other invading country's, this in itself is a multi Billion dollar coup.
A war, which I was certain before of, but of which we now know as fact, was started on a series of Lies.

While telling the the American public and the rest of the world that Saddam played an important part in 911,and that he had Biological and Chemical WMD's (not to mention his advanced stage of building Nuclear weaponry) all ready to go. One of his Ambassadors, a Mister Joseph Wilson actually told the truth and said that Bush had exaggerated the Nuclear capabilities of Iraq...Bloody cheek said the White House staff, so one of the Presidents top advisers sought to discredit Joe Wilson, and I suspect to bully and to quite possibly, out right blackmail him.
The main suspect, Karl Rove, did this by telling, New York Times reporter Judith Miller that Joe Wilson's wife was an undercover CIA operative. A Spy.

More from Yahoo News

The leak investigation stems from a July 2003 syndicated column by Robert Novak identifying Plame as a CIA operative. Plame is married to former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who says his wife's identity was disclosed to discredit his assertions that the Bush administration exaggerated Iraq's nuclear capabilities to build the case for war.

As far as I'm concerned this is one of the most dishonourable actions a man could possibly do. Joe Wilson's Wife was doing a dangerous and a most patriotic job for the US. She was putting her life on the line each day for her country and what did she get in return? Not a Thank You but a complete betrayal by the very people who most likely talked her into spying for them in the first place. As soon as it was convenient they just shafted her. Considering the fact that she had nothing to do with what her husband was doing at the time it was an absolute despicable and completely cowardly act.

I've no doubt whatsoever ever that Bush knew what was happening. but of course, they want the Oil, and damm anyone and anyones Family that may even think of getting in the way.

It's a National disgrace and will be even more so if Karl Rove and his flunky Vice President Cheney's chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby do not go to Jail for a long time.

Tom DeLay.

2005-10-06T06:49:00.000+10:00

Republican caught with hand in the cookie jar.

It really should come as no surprise to anyone that a high ranking Politician has been caught diverting funds. I mean, it's what these people do. They are there to make as much money as they possibly can, while they can. And if they gotta bend a few rules on the way, well, hey, you can't bake a cake without breaking a few eggs.

DeLay, who represents a Houston area district, had been House majority leader from 2002 until last week's indictment.
DeLay stepped down from his House leadership position last week after a different Travis County grand jury indicted him on conspiracy charges in connection with the illegal funnelling of corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002. Because of House Republican rules, he quit the leadership post.
He was able to keep his congressional seat Texas law prohibits corporate political contributions.

The latest indictment, from a grand jury whose term began Monday, came just hours after DeLay's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the original case.

Quotes and Picture from Yellow Dog Blog.
More on the Story from Reuters.uk

The question arises, why do we, the Voting Public, put up with dishonesty from our Elected Officials?

Alternative Medicine

2005-10-06T05:07:00.000+10:00

Alternative Medicine?....What is it?
It's Magic Water, Pyramid healing, Alternative Medicines, Faith healing, Homoeopathic Medicine, Magnets and a lot of the Herbs, Miracles and Cure alls that flood the market these days. Some good, some bad and some completely outrageous

On a Forum based in England I used to post on quite regularly, there were several people who would defend this malarkey to the end. Not once could they provide any evidence what so ever that it worked, but they still got quite annoyed and defensive if anyone ever even hinted at the fact that it may not work, let alone call it an out and out scam.

Here's a quick out line of what Homoeopathic Medicine is and how it is made.

The preparation of homoeopathic medicines consists of repeated dilution and shaking called 'potentisation'. Homoeopaths believe this process renders the remedies capable of stimulating the body's natural healing forces. After the 12th dilution, there is no discernible chemical trace of the original substance left in the medicine. Scientists question how this highly diluted substance could retain a biological effect, but homoeopaths believe the preparation retains the qualities of the original substance.
Although a precise mechanism for how homoeopathy works has not yet been scientifically established, there have been some studies that support the efficacy of homoeopathy, while others have not been able to confirm its effectiveness for any specific medical condition.

Quotes from this page.

So, what they are saying here is that the original element has been diluted to such a degree that there is nothing left of it!...But apparently the water or substance that contains the medicine some how retains the memory or the original substance!

Homoeopathic products are made from minerals, botanical substances, and several other sources. If the original substance is soluble, one part is diluted with either nine or ninety-nine parts of distilled water and/or alcohol and shaken vigorously (succussed); if insoluble, it is finely ground and pulverised in similar proportions with powdered lactose (milk sugar). One part of the diluted medicine is then further diluted, and the process is repeated until the desired concentration is reached. Dilutions of 1 to 10 are designated by the Roman numeral X (1X = 1/10, 3X = 1/1,000, 6X = 1/1,000,000). Similarly, dilutions of 1 to 100 are designated by the Roman numeral C (1C = 1/100, 3C = 1/1,000,000, and so on). Most remedies today range from 6X to 30X, but products of 30C or more are marketed.

The bottom line of the above quote will give some perspective on the amounts of the substance in the "Medicine" we are referring too... A 30X dilution means that the original substance has been diluted 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times!

Quack Watch.org

I have no idea why people spend large amounts of money on some of these "Cure Alls" but having said that, I have no doubt that in some case they do work. Even if only as a Placebo. But the thing is, the people that peddle the wares are Liars and Hypocrites, make no mistake, they have your wallet in mind...Not your good health.

Bali Bombing

2005-10-03T20:51:00.000+10:00

As an Australian, and one who has lived in Newcastle NSW for many years and several generations I just wanted to send my sincere condolences and Sympathy's to any friends and Family that may have either lost a loved one or who has had a friend or relative injured during the recent blast.

On Ann Coulter

2005-10-01T23:22:00.000+10:00

Ann Coulter is an attorney, who has turned into a professional political commentator for the conservative Christian Right. She is a syndicated columnist, and has written a couple of political commentary books. Anne is quite the viscous Right Winger, who's view of the world is one of hate (and ignorance). She appears frequently on TV in the US.

The day after the World Trade Centre and Pentagon were attacked Anne wrote in her column "we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." A week later, Coulter was at it again: "Congress could pass a law tomorrow requiring that all aliens from Arabic countries leave".

To be honest, I think she is a hate filled ignoramus. I remember watching a clip off the net a few months ago where Anne said that the Canadians had gone to Vietnam and when corrected on this outstanding mistake she argued with the presenter!
Everyone makes mistakes, but it really shows your true colours when you cannot accept that you may be wrong.
Ann Coulter appears to be so full of reactionary hate that I believe she would choose "A" for the sole reason that "B" may be popular with the Left. She would make the choice irrespective of whether it would be the correct choice to make or not.
Her political view is blinded by hate.

anticoulter

An Analysis of Anne Coulters writing

Video of Anne Arguing Canada was in Vietnam War (scroll down page to find it)

Lynndie England Found Guilty

2005-09-29T05:11:00.000+10:00

From The Scotsman.

England, 22, was sentenced by a US military court yesterday after being found guilty of six counts of abuse.
Charles Graner, England's former boyfriend and the father of her child, was sentenced to 10 years in jail last year

Your Environmental Footprint.

2005-09-28T04:19:00.000+10:00

Here's an excellent test you can take to get an approximation of your Environmental Footprint (FT).

This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet.

Choose the Country in which you live and the language you want to take the test in and away you go.

Take the Ecological Footprint Quiz Here.

Here's my result and I suspect the fact I don't own or drive a car would have been helpful in keeping it fairly low...Still too high though.

CATEGORY ... GLOBAL HECTARES
-Food ... 2.6
-Mobility ... 0.1
-Shelter ... 0.5
-Goods/Services ... 0.5
TOTAL FOOTPRINT... 3.7

In camparison, the average Ecological Footprint in your country is 7.6 Global Hectares per person.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

I'll try to add my thoughts and Info. about the Wests dependance on oil in the next week or so.

George Bush's War! Part 1- David Hicks.

2005-09-27T03:52:00.000+10:00

What will Australia gain from offering to help fight Iraq? I mean, besides becoming a target of course. Another Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service (to the USA) for Little Johnny perhaps?

This whole "War on Terror" is a hyped up excuse, to secure Oil for the United States (among other things).
They still haven't found Bin Laden in Afghanistan and are now, FOUR years later sending more troops in after realising they weren't very successful the first time round.
They went into IRAQ with what appears to be no exit strategy (surely the invading forces didn't, NO, couldn't have possibly thought that the majority of Iraqi citizens would be grateful? If your country was invaded by another far more powerful nation on a bunch Lies and without United Nations support, would you be glad?
I believe we are in far more danger now than what we were before this folly started.

The odds are far higher and it's far more likely of dying while crossing the road or having a Heart Attack than by being killed by a Terrorist FFS....So, why the hell are people falling for all this?....Why the hell are our Governments pouring so much money and resources into it?
These and many more questions answers will be answered in the coming weeks my friend...I will enlighten thee...Well, try to do so anyway ;-) Please bare with me, we've got a hell of a lot to cover here and I'll be looking forward to any comments readers may have.

Anyway, Today's Rant is about the USA and Australian Governments Lies and Hypocrisy regarding David Hicks.
Hicks was picked up in Afghanistan in November 2001 during the US led invasion. The exact details are only known to those that picked him up at the time and to David Hicks himself. I don't believe one word of what the Australia or US media PR people have said on the subject, but the thing is this guy has been held in a US prison for just on FOUR years without trial and without charges.

Guantánamo Bay, is a US Navel base located on US land in Cuba and the conditions there have been well documented. The prisoners are not classified as prisoners of War or just Prisoners, they are termed as "Illegal Combatants" ...a handy term if you are trying to deny your prisoners any rights and attempting to circumvent international law or abiding by the Geneva Convention for the treatment of Prisoners of War.
David Hicks is now applying for British citizenship to see if they can help him be released. The British have been far more successful than Australia when getting their citizens released from the US concentration camp, all Nine of their Afghanistan POW's have been released and returned to Briton. The Australian Government has been as weak as piss, sucking up to the US in the vain hope it will bring riches and glory...maybe the Smirking Chimp will reward Honest John with another wall plaque for his service to his country? (Not our country though..George's country!)

...and therein lies the rub...If the US or any other Nation wants to preach it's Moral values to the rest of the world and to act as the Self appointed world Police then they should at least abide by the standards that they expect others to follow.

How the Hell Can a Budget Surplus Blow Out ?

2005-09-24T04:13:00.000+10:00

Budget surplus blows out.
Australia's budget surplus was $13.6 billion in the 12 months to June 2005, 48 percent higher than the 9.2 billion dollars originally predicted, Treasurer Peter Costello said Friday.

Story Here...

Can Someone Please tell me why Australia can have a Budget Surplus this large when the Health System is falling apart? When our Railways are in dire need of urgent upgrades? Schools, Education, Public Transport, Child Care and Mental Health all need attention? The list could just go on and on ...and on! I mean C'mon. Honest John, your Government is the highest taxing in Australia's history, how about putting a bit back into the Social infrastructure of this country?

Lynndie England Appeals Charges

2005-09-24T02:53:00.000+10:00

FORT HOOD, Texas Sep 20, 2005 — Four months after she tried without success to plead guilty, Army Pfc. Lynndie England plans to fight charges she played a key role in abusing detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, her lawyer said.

The 22-year-old reservist, who appeared in several graphic photos taken inside Abu Ghraib in 2003, goes on trial here this week on two counts of conspiracy, four counts of mistreating prisoners and one count of committing an indecent act.

abc News story

Personally I think she has Buckley's of getting off.

...and she deserves to be charged, but the charges should go all the way to the top. This whole "practise of torture" went across Rumsfields desk and was approved and signed off by him....So where's the Buck stop Georgy?

Talk About "Power Dressing"!

2005-09-23T18:11:00.000+10:00

Here you go...buy your Wife or Husband ( or anyone at all for that matter) an International Terrorist T-Shirt !

This Titanic of a T-shirt will ensure your meteoric rise up the Corporate Ladder and be the envy of all your office colleagues.

The Chicks are just gunna love it!

Just When You Thought it was Safe to go Back Into the Water !!

2005-09-22T21:57:00.000+10:00

GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - Hurricane Rita grew into a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm on Wednesday and took aim at Texas as officials began evacuating more than a million people from most of the coast and parts of Houston.

WOW...It looks as though Hurricane Rita is going to be every bit as big, if not worse than what Katrina was. I really feel for the people in the South of the US. at the moment.

But at least this time the Emergency Services will be prepared, they won't have a Directer in control of FEMA who was nothing more than one of the Smirking Chimps allies and was completely inappropriate for the position.
judging by the news reports the buses are lined up to transport the evacuees...It's just a damm shame it took Katrina to shake these fools out of their blissful ignorance and off their backsides to prepare for this emergency.

Google News

Welcome to My Opinion and Political Commentary Blog.

2005-09-22T19:28:00.000+10:00

Hi... :-)

Over the last few years I've become increasingly cynical at the lies and treatment by the Politicians of the World Democracy's.

I live in Australia and spend a lot of time watching these people tell Lie after Lie and for no apparent reason seem to be getting away with it.
Well, this is where I am going to have MY say! ...This is where I will be pointing out the hypocrisy and absolute Bullshit that these people think they are getting away with.

The comments and Opinions published by me on this Blog will be focused mainly on the Australian, British and the United Sates Governments. This is because these are the Governments I know and that affect me the most.

Please feel free to contribute and above all...Never lose your sense of humour! ;-)

Sit back...grab a coffee and enjoy the read.
Cheers,
Wess....