Sunday, February 27, 2005

More confessions from a self-outed palladiator

So. What was my crime.

What did the lamb do. Oh sweet wee naive wooly one. She tripped along, Merrily, on her little hoofs, thinking naively n' innocently that the world might be changed a little if she chatted with the neo-cons. Dear oh dear. She found one who seemed nice enough. At the time. So, across the bridge she tropped. Little lambly sacrifice, dressed up in her polished toes and brunetted locks.

She even got as far as co-authoring a blog with him. Until he banned her. Cast out upon the streets. Poor little lamb. But! Enough of this! So off cast she the tattered wooly skin and shook out her true goats coat, compressed too long beneath the weight of saintliness's winding-sheet. And pondered she, upon her crime. Her dalliance with faith. For faithful she had been. And nothing wrong with faith itself, more with it's mis-direction. Surely she could have aspired to greater heights. Why oh why did she think she might have found glitter in the gutter.

Anyway. There was that. But that was not all. Oh no. What a hopeless case she was. She was invited another time, to venture 'cross the divide. Goodness knows why. And she nearly sold her soul for it too. My what a big linker he was. All that traffic! Well, he withdrew prematurely and that's all you need to know there. Perhaps he changed his mind when she realised he thought she was... nevermind. Went right off when he realised his mistake.

Wee word to others hoping to seduce the neo-con; dress exotic. They can't resist all that Lawrence of Arabia stuff (the old ones anyway) (this we learned by accident, but it's info worth passing on to the sisters/brothers). Pretend to be interested. Even if you would rather buff your nails. If you want to give one the flick, tell him you just glanced under the office desk and remembered you haven't shaved for two weeks. Best exit strategy. Don't worry, he'll still be panting around later. To get rid of him for good, juxtapose your jewish heritage with Abu Ghraib (no guarantees, he could still be trolling your comments in disguise).

But anyway.

All that wickedness is behind me now. And I have seen the li... oh who am I kidding. I'm still a hopeless idealist. Make links, not war.

(Tscht, folly, pure folly. Or impure, as the case may be).

Definition ~ Palladiate

What is palladiate? It is what Palladiate did;

To rescind ones former dalliance with extreme-conservatism and take up the peace lamp.

Palladiators: Scott Ritter (former UN weapons inspector); Palladiate (blogger); Andrew Wilkie (former Australian intelligence analyst); Martin Niemoller (former National Socialist); Barry Romo (former soldier)... at this point I would like to include myself on the list, except that I have always been a hopeless non-conformist. Oh well. Let's just pretend eh; emigre (former hopeless romantic who thought she could change the world by flirting with neo-cons. No more Eva Braun for me).

Palladiator update:
Lindsay Moran (former CIA case officer).

Palladiator update: Petro Georgiou, Judi Moylan, Bruce Baird and Russell Broadbent (Australian Liberal Party MP's taking action against mandatory detention).

Palladiator update:
Mark Latham, former Australian Labour Party Leader who hung out with the labour right wing faction and then quit the whole party and then published a book about all the joke phone calls they used to make to the UN and other stuff that embarrassed a lot of people including how he thinks the Iraq war sucks and so does Kim Beazley. Will cause longlasting waves and probably spend the rest of his days in poverty. Underestimated by his detractors.

Palladiator update: Petro Georgiou, George Brandis, Malcolm Turnbull and Marise Payne, Australian Liberal party backbenchers opposed to sedition provisions in the November 2005 Australian terror legislation package.

Palladiator update: not a palladiator. Rod Barton considers himself an a-political ordinary man and therefore cannot really fall into the palladiator pail. Worth a mention anyway. Took a long long time to come out, but finally published a book in 2006 about his experiences as a UN weapons detective basically working for intelligence organisations in Iraq between 1991 and March 2004. He concludes "we did go to war on a lie". Was first prompted to speak to the media after Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill made statements in parliament about Australian involvement with the interrogation of Iraqi prisoners that directly contradicted Barton's experience and what Barton had told Mike Pezzullo, an advisor to Senator Hill. Hill said Australia interrogated no Iraqi prisoners. Barton, an Australian, said he did. Pezzullo tried to fall back on a technicality by saying that the interrogation was "an interview". The “interviewee” was wearing an orange jumpsuit and by Barton’s account was kept 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in a two-metre box at Camp Cropper. Some job applicant. Rod Barton claims to be recently retired, am not convinced. His most chilling observation: "We live in a democracy and leaders can be voted in and out. But we do not vote for our intelligence agencies".

Co-existence

Co-existence is the key to peace.

Why do so many "left" leaning voters live in major population centers?

I spent a lot of time trying to reconcile the environmental pollution that city living creates with it's more liberal aspects. But after a while I realised, that city dwelling need not create large amounts of waste (we can work to reduce it) and that city living might actually help take the pressure off the outer landscape while it heals. The benefit in city living is the way many people from many times and places live in close quarters, somehow managing to co-exist.

You know, we have a terrible reputation, us citydwellers. For being rat-racers, money driven, rude and pushy caffeine fueled deviants. But the reality, is that those of us who live in the densest parts of the city are among the worlds most tolerant occupants. We live side by side with others and have learned to accept the idiosyncrasies of other's many and varied beliefs. The most annoying things to us are not the rainbow coloured banners that our neighbor hangs above his/her bedsit window, but simpler things of more direct impact. Like the councils pneumatic drill at 8 am in the morning.

You see, we have learned to filter out the minor hazards of existing in close quarters, because otherwise we would go mad. So it's the left over major issues that irk us. Like killing people. And detaining and torturing people.

We are quite sensitive to war, because we are targets. We know that during war we will cop the shit first. Like Baghdad did. Like Belgrade. Like Dresden and London and so many other cities at so many other times. We don't like war one iota.

Surprisingly, we don't use that much stuff individually. Our environmental impact results from many small actions intensified in one location. We live congested lifestyles and don't have much room for "things". Some of us can drive but a lot of us don't actually own cars, or can't be bothered trying to park them if we do, so we use public transport. We use less fuel.

We admire our country counterparts, their idyllic lifestyles and their pastures. Their expanses of lake and land and dessert. Oh yes. Their dessert. Our dessert. The dessert we all helped create. The drought outside our cities. Because our rural counterparts suffer too. So much so, that they flock in droves to join us in the cities.

By 2030 prb estimates 60% of the worlds population will live in our cities. On the one hand this is positive, perhaps we will all become more tolerant for it. On the other hand, we need to act soon to make sure we can accommodate everyone comfortably with minimal distress.

This means taking a serious look at our environmental impact, our waste disposal, our modes of transport and our housing quality (no more crap concrete slap-up ghettos please. They are ugly, fall into disrepair too quickly, and I am so over cockroaches). Our energy consumption and our effluent, basically. How can we use the one efficiently, reduce the other, and recycle the waste?

Who do you hear most often expounding on these environmental issues? Yes, the city dweller. Because we know what it is to live with our neighbor's leaking open sewer next door, and our fumey highway nearby.

So you see, this population shift to the cities could be a good thing. Not only will we learn how to co-exist more tolerantly here, perhaps we also will learn how to use energy more efficiently and reduce our pollution. And yes, there is evidence that this can happen. Look at 17th century London. What a cesspit it was then. Is it still a cesspit? Well, that's debatable. At least people aren't still throwing raw sewerage onto their neighbor's in the tenements below.

Yes, our city infrastructures are under major stress, no they were never meant to cater for such large populations, yes we can do something about it. But first we need to stop wasting money on developing weapons. We need to stop using so much damn oil - those oil companies are a rip-off anyway. Look what they've done to our sisters and brothers around the world. Not mentioning any places, in particular.

And we need to stop chopping down the rainforests. What the hell does everyone do with all that wood.

Anyway. I just joined dailyKOS and I feel I have walked into a room filled with light. Into a city. So I'll just set up me bed-sit here and carry on imagining. The great thing about this city is, we don't produce much effluent in it. Inner space maximised, one might say. However, we will be sure to take the little thoughts and dreams we learn here into the wider world. Into our waking life, with our eyes open.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Powell says "I told you so"

Colin Powell says he told the president that the whole Iraq deal was shakey. Powell told Britain's Daily Telegraph that he told the president;

"This place (Iraq) will crack like a crystal goblet, and it'll be a problem to pick up the bits." -UK tele

Those arseholes. They knew they were busting up peoples lives, but they just charged on in anyway. There has got to be another way. War is not the answer.

(Crystal Goblet? Gotta work on the language Powell, bloggers are way outstripping you there).

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Post election present ~ John Howard sends 450 more troops to Iraq from Australia

How odd. For a moment there the queerest memory surfaced - everyone all over the web was saying that an election meant the war would end and all the troops could go home and the occupation would be over and Iraq and everyone would live ever after happily. Must have been my imagination.

Australia's gift ~

The government's position of not sending a significant number of extra troops to Iraq changed after the huge success of Iraq's election on January 30, Mr Downer said.

"We didn't really anticipate sending any more troops until, (it) would've been the following week and ... we sat down and we talked this issue through," he said. "Particularly on the basis of the success of the elections". more here (or here).

Yeek. War is peace and we're all free.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Rebuilding what? Where?

John Howard says that Australia is sending more troops to Iraq. On the pretext of "helping to build". Wouldn't it be more realistic to provide building materials and pay some Iraqi architects, I mean what would an army build? Hmm. Where exactly in Iraq are they going, and what might they build there...

Australia sends "taskforce"
February 22, 2005 - 3:58PM - smh. (or view here)

Australia will send another 450 troops to Iraq to provide security for Japanese military engineers in the southern province of Al Muthanna.

Providing security for Japanese military engineers. Hmm.

Mr Howard said... Al Muthanna was one of the safer parts of Iraq and was far less dangerous than areas around Baghdad and further north.

"It's remained relatively benign," he told reporters today.

"Relatively benign"? Al Muthanna is the former site of project 922. A chemical weapons production facility built in 1975 that produced nerve agents and mustard gas between 1982 and 1991. Known variously as the al-Muthanna facility, the State Enterprise for Pesticide Production (SEPP), and or the Samarra Drying Industries Plant. During operation, project 922 was the largest CW agent production facility in Iraq.

Things got a bit leaky in June 1990, no that's not an information euphemism - things got literally leaky. The seals on the storage containers started breaking down. So stuff was stored in smaller containers to help control leakages. You wouldn't want to be lugging around a big leaky tub of nerve agent and drop it everywhere, in large amounts.

The site was bombed during Gulf War 91. Heavily. UNSCOM later investigated and found that co-alition bombing had released contaminants. The UNSCOM Chemical Destruction Group hung around the site trying to clean it up between 1992 and 1994.

Biological agents were also tested in Muthanna, including anthrax, botulinum toxin, aflatoxin, and ricin. Small amounts of botulinum toxin were produced at the Muthanna facility. You can read more about the Muthana facility here.

Anyway, back to the present. Japanese troops have been stationed near Samawah, Muthanna's capital. Although apparently under Japan's constitution they aren't to partake in armed combat and are supposed to be building stuff instead. Apart from Samawah, Muthanna has a pretty low population density, which makes one wonder exactly what Japanese troops are constructing, and for whom.

Other troops stationed in Muthanna, presumably to provide cover for Japanese troops who are building things, are mostly UK. British to be specific, since the Netherlands pulled out (hope you're sending your boys and girls for medicals when they get home, Netherlands).

Muthanna is a southern province bordering Saudi Arabia - where all the oil is.

Update: what I meant was, Al Muthana is very near other places that have a lot of oil. There is not much oil in Al Muthana itself, as far as I can tell. The biggest thing in Al Muthana, is an old weapons factory.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Outsourcing Interrogation

While current Australian defense minister Robert Hill deny deny denies, more information surfaces suggesting an otherwise trend.

Hill's "Iraqi interrogations didn't happen" is sounding a wee bit boggy. Sinking feeling, Robert?

CIA ghost jail system
February 22, 2005 - smh.

Washington: The CIA allegedly whisked foreign terrorism suspects to clandestine interrogation facilities using a Boeing 737 dedicated for that purpose, according to Newsweek magazine.


The allegation, if proven, is "further evidence that a global 'ghost' prison system, where terror suspects are secretly interrogated, is being operated by the CIA", Newsweek reported.

The magazine wrote that it had obtained the aircraft's flight plans, indicating that the CIA had used the plane "as part of a top-secret global charter servicing clandestine interrogation facilities used in the war on terror". It said US Federal Aviation Administration records showed the plane was owned by Premier Executive Transport Services, a now-defunct company based
in Massachusetts.

US intelligence sources told the magazine the company fitted the profile of a suspected CIA front... read whole thing (link requires SMH registration to view, otherwise click here).

Sharing exiles

A cross border echo. The third space relates an eerily familiar sounding story. Replace Omar's name and origin with any number of Australian Asylum seeker cases and voila - Australian local news.

Omar Deghayes was captured in Pakistan in 2002, and imprisoned in Guantanamo after a brief period at a British base. He was granted political asylum by the UK in the late 80s when his family fled Libya due to their political circumstances.

What’s exceptional about Omar’s case is that the British government uses his legal status as a political refugee—rather than a citizen or national—against him... read more.


"What’s exceptional about Omar’s case is that the British government uses his legal status as a political refugee —rather than a citizen or national— against him".

Sadly an un-exceptional political tactic all to commonly used in Australia these days. Australia's policy of detaining asylum seekers within it's own borders is shocking.

What's worse, where an Australian has citizenship but is later detained outside Australia, rather then protecting its own nationals Australian officialdom instead seeks to fabricate asylum status by removing passports and stepping up "surveillance" threats. Thus dodging it's responsibility to global human rights by creating a local "sub-citizen" class and tricking itself into believing it's humanitarian conscience begins and ends with a piece of paper rather then human flesh.

Case in point; Mambouh Habib, an Australian coffee shop owner detained October 2001 in Pakistan, sent to Egypt for interrogation and then to Guantanamo Bay before finally returning to Australia in late January 2005. On arrival in Sydney, the Australian government cancelled Mamdouh's passport and have threatened his every activity will be "monitored".

Mamdouh Habib lived in Australia for 20 years. He was detained in Pakistan while checking out private schools for his kids. His family were thinking about moving over there. He is a 46 year old Australian citizen.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Tight spot - Lebanon & Syria

Right, my sense is growing stronger on this one, following earlier morning post.

Just discovered Joshua Landis of Syria Comment, he links to articles by Hala Jaber, a Times of London reporter in Damascus, who writes ~

Syria rejects US call for Lebanon pullout
Hala Jaber, Damascus

Syria has defied American demands to withdraw it's forces from Lebanon and to disarm Hezbollah militants, insisting that Israel must first pull out of Golan Heights... read more.


Landis has his eyes open, spotting reason in unexpected places ~

Al-Jazeera reports that the leader of Hizbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, issued a stark warning on Saturday saying the popular agitation against Syria following the assassination of former prime minister is not helpful... read more Landis.


A call for calm, yes, I'll go with that.


Whose putting on the squeeze

There are a lot of other things I had to post about but something more worrying has come up and it's been niggling at me for the past 48 hours.

I'm going with my intuition on this again and I know, as usual, that it's going to make me un-popular.

I'm worried about increased tension between Lebanon and Syria.

All the old US/USSR cold-war targets are re-appearing as points of conflict. There are three prime locations that both cold-war "super-powers" "wrangled" over during that time. Those three locations are strategic points of prime significance in controlling Middle Eastern territory and by extension ME natural resources. Those targets are - Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Syria. Ethiopia was conveniently "deactivated" by famine in the 80's. Everyone knows what happened to Afghanistan - and now it looks like someone's trying to stir up shit between Lebanon and Syria by playing on Lebanon's grief.

Lay it out on a map, centre (Iraq) occupied, surrounding points closing in - someone's putting on the squeeze. I don't like it.

Although there has been no direct evidence linking Syria to the bomb that exploded Monday in Beirut, killing Lebanon's former prime minister and 13 others, many here and abroad have instinctively linked the attack to Syria, which dominates the Lebanese government...

But the bombing has not only resulted in a backlash from opposition groups here who oppose Syria's involvement in Lebanon, there is outrage from the West and the Arab world, which could put an indelible imprint on already strained relations with this country branded a supporter of terrorism by Washington.

Analysts say that if it becomes clear that Syria had a hand in Hariri's assassination, Damascus will become isolated regionally as well as globally. "Syria will have to take dramatic and effective action to track down Hariri's killers and deflect the blame," says Joshua Landis, assistant professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He's living in Damascus and is the author of Syriacomment.com, a blog. "If it can't do that, its name will be mud," Mr. Landis says. - CSM.


Saturday, February 19, 2005

Preservation

I started another blog. For archival rescue purposes. Just in case.

This is it here, the "about it" bit is over here.

The thing with bookburning is, a bookburner needs to somehow gather up all the books and all the pages and then burn them all. Without any escaping. Luckily some books and some pages do slip through, because there are so many. The thing with websites is that while there are so many, there is only generally one of each. And when someone removes a page - "poof". Gone forever. Unless you're some kind of techspert you will never find it again. So. In the event of virtual page burning, I have decided to take a few precautions and "preserve" some of the things I read.

Not wanting to sound any alarms. It's just in case.

Friday, February 18, 2005

Craciadem

Some people have a knack for saying things. Don't they just.

Carlos Valenzuela, the chief U.N. elections official in Iraq ~

"The elections were not perfect; they were never meant to be." -spi.

They were never meant to be. But thanks to the people who campaigned for legitimacy by questioning motive and demonstratively providing a counterpoint by imaginatively creating the not-vote, the elections were pulled off with at least a small nod to democratic principle.

Although it is kinda weird how all the people who did vote still just end up with what someone else chooses for them. The way elections work usually, the people are supposed to say who gets to be prime minister. That's how come it's called democracy. "The people rule".

ORIGIN Greek demokratia, from demos ‘the people’ + -kratia ‘power, rule’ (ox).

So I guess when a parliament elects a prime minister all by itself we should probably swap those two bits of the word around then. Kratiademos. Or maybe, Crasdemo.

Quasi-what?

Inquiry no witch-hunt, says Nelson
By Kelly Burke, February 18, 2005 smh

A national inquiry into teacher training sparked by the comments of a Sydney academic will examine whether education faculties in universities have become "quasi-sociology" departments.


Oh. I wonder what implications this might have for bloggers.

The federal Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, announced the House of Representatives Standing Committee inquiry yesterday, but dismissed suggestions the move was an ideologically driven exercise in rooting out Labor-voting teachers.


Raising an eyebrow ve-r-y slowly.

The inquiry would, however, examine "in particular the people that are being attracted to teaching", along with a careful examination of the philosophical underpinnings of teacher training.

What kind of people might be attracted to teaching? Thinking. Quasi-sociologists? The Quasi-sociotel?

"In too many instances I've had teacher-education faculties described to me as quasi-sociology departments," Dr Nelson said.


Many instances?

Google fact. "quasi-sociology" 9 unique search results 18 Feb 2004 (the other 94 are "duplicates").

If people still read paper Nelson would be burning books.

Howard Party To Torture

Rudd questions PM's honesty
February 18, 2005 From: AAP

PRIME Minister John Howard's honesty was at stake over the issue of Australian involvement in the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq, the federal Opposition said today.


John Howard's honesty at stake? What honesty? It all burned up years ago. When he signed that pact in hell to endorse detention centers and ignore Aboriginal reconciliation.

Canberra scientist Rod Barton reignited debate on the issue when he told the ABC Four Corners program he took part in an interrogation. Mr Howard rejected Mr Barton's claims, saying he was confident Mr Barton had only been involved in interviews.


Mr Howard rejected Mr Barton's claims... he was confident Mr Barton had only been involved in interviews ? WHAT ! Don't tell me Howard was there too.

Meanwhile Hockey tries to play with words. Fool. Who does he think he is. Even a blogger wouldn't try this on...

But Human Services Minister Joe Hockey said Mr Rudd was wrong. "This is a semantic debate about what is an interrogation and what is an interview," Mr Hockey told the program.

"The fundamental point is: were Australians there whilst Iraqis were allegedly being tortured? The answer is 'no'."


Puh-leese. Interrogators, interviewers, whatever the heck you wanna call them. They're trained, they know the rub. Being a part of an intelligence gathering interrogative team, whatever ones role in it, essentially means one is party to all it's actions. Including torture. Just as Howard is.

Were Australians there while people were being tortured? The answer is "yes".

Beazley on air

Just quickly...

Overheard start of abc interview with latest Aus Opp (Australian Opposition) leader (Beazley) this morn. Half a minute anyway - then switched off. The man is so unimaginatively out-of-touch.

Premise - Beazley sums up two "issues". First, the Howard govt's misleading of parliament/cover up/save face/making-stuff-up bit which is not supposed to happen in democracies. Well so far alright. Except why'd he stop at misleading "parliament". How about misleading everyone else eh Beaz - or did we forget we were on air?

(Oh yes for the not-Aus reader, latest Aus-gov making-stuff-up bit; Australia was not involved in interrogations in Iraq, Australian personnel were just conducting "interviews").

And then Beaz got onto issue two. Fighting "The War On Terror". What's worse, he was serious. I don't know who the heck he thinks he's trying to connect with amoung abc's radio audience. "The War On Terror" is the biggest most out-dated rhetorical gaff this century, and Beazley just used it. Even Howard knows this - Howard's war toadying is so unpopular he ran for election on "domestic issues". Not even right-wing bloggers say "War On Terror" anymore. The only time anyone says "The War On Terror" is when somebody's joking, blackly.

Basically this tells me that Beazley, apart from being out-of-touch, is not so much concerned with War but with trying to cover-up. In essence Beazley is saying "I'd 'ave done it too, but I wouldn't 'ave got caught".

Would I ever vote for Beaz? Nope. War sucks.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

and wishes too

keep going back just to re-read it...

romano prodi prods gently beneath the flap of jack-et
as sweden's minister of prime stands just behind
little bush with a kind smile and wishes to smack it
~ Lim


oh, and the picture - the picture.

Tennant

The psychiatrist who spoke out against ASIO and Australian Federal Police has been sacked. By the lawyer who hired him.

I suppose Christopher Tennant, the psych, did a gut reaction thing and followed his heart after hearing the utter tripe that Dennis Richardson (ASIO chief), Mick Keelty (Aus Fed Police Commissioner) and numerous un-important party backbenchers were flinging around yesterday in an effort to obscure Mamdouh Habib's torture, and outsourced torture in general.

Basically Tennant just wanted to stick up for a guy whose had a shit time. Tennant tried to contact Mr Habib's lawyer and Mr Habib before speaking out publicly but couldn't get hold of them and just took the media plunge (keep clicking, it'll open eventually - good link but a bit toey.)

I can see from the Lawyers point of view that evidence coming out in public before a trial makes things difficult, for the lawyer.

But on the other hand maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. Chris Tennant might've actually intuitively, if accidentally, chosen a timely moment. Howard & Co in parliament are counting on people being too confused to speak out on this one. Aus Govt classic card play - the public "don't need to know" anything other then what parliamentarians and cohorts spin. It's the way Howard's always tried to swing things. Anyway, heart won this time and I think it'll work out ok.

Maybe Tennant sacrificed himself for his client in a way, directing any flack towards himself while deflecting it from Mr Habib. He also seems to have shut Richardson, Keelty and the backbenchers up. And these are all admirable things, cause Mr Habib needs a) a break and b) backup.

Give A Man A Home
Ben Harper

have you ever lost your way
have you ever feared another day
have you ever misplaced your mind
watching this world leavin' you behind

won't you
won't you give
won't you give a man
give a man a home

have you ever worn thin
have you ever never known where to begin
have you ever lost your belief
watching your faith turn to grief

won't you
won't you give
won't you give a man
give a man a home

in a world that is unwhole
you have got to fight just to keep your soul
some would rather give than receive
some would rather give up before they believe

won't you
won't you give
won't you give a man
give a man a home

Google Down The Gurgler?

Google plug pulled? The end?

Funny, I never use google much for blog visiting. Mostly I read blogs by roll. But I used to get a few hits from someone googling "vomen". For some queer reason.

I guess maybe this means some of the smaller blogs that rely on other systems may start rising to the top. Google rank doesn't make much difference if you've not got a very important blog but if you're using other methods that keep you ticking while others are experiencing a post-goog slump, well... you could be a survivor.

A google de-rank would prob'ly affect "medium large" blogs most, the ones that just kept getting bigger up there on top of the google compost heap. If you're on the second page anyway - phoo, what's the diff. Nobodies gonna notice.

The really huge blogs probly won't be affected at all - they're kind of like mainstream media anyway. A lot of newspapers and stuff are doing there own blog columns too now so it'll be interesting to see how that works - they get bucket loads of hits from the website they're attached to and link to other smaller blogs themselves, sometimes, which is good because it draws in a different audience and also an audience that are actually reading rather then just clicking aimlessly away on google items. Actually, more I think about it, less sense it makes for google. We're all just too tied up with each other now, the big 'n the small. I can't see really how they could separate stuff out totally.

It doesn't seem to have affected IBC much, most google hits there are from people directly searching "iraq blog". So long as people are googling "blog" there is a little ray perhaps of something maybe sunny.

Mamdouh Habib - Australian Citizen

Mamdouh Habib. Before, and after.

ASIO, freaking that heads will roll in Australias's Federal Government when their bit-part in outsourced torture gets out-ed, wrote a report to speed cancellation of Mamdouh's passport. What better way to "contain" evidence of torture - keep Mamdouh and evidence (visible scaring of the psyche and body) local by canceling passport.

Basically if Mamdouh's case goes global, Australia's pact with the US to keep Mamdouh Habib's "experience" under wraps will be in tatters. Last thing proponents of liberational war need - another global torture scandal, on top of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

Which is why Howard is pretending not to notice while his backbenchers crawl all over the plot spinning fools gold from thistle stalks. Talk about pricked fingers, but nothing is really snow-white in Australia. Heck it's a desert out here. We hardly even have snow let alone "white". Unless you're talking about whitewash. Or certain other policies.

There never was and never will be any excuse for torture. At all.

Liberal?

Ms Bishop, Australian Liberal Party backbencher - "I have a big problem with Mr Habib... I have a problem with someone who seeks the protection of liberal democratic principles and yet joins an organisation, to train with an organisation, that wants to overthrow those very principles."

Emigre, Australian libertarian mini-blogger - "I have a big problem with Ms Bishop... I have a problem with anyone who seeks the protection of democratic principles and yet joins a party, to train with a party, that wants to overthrow those very principles."

I still can't get over the name of that party she belongs too - Howards a member of it too. Biggest right-wing party in Australia and it's called "Liberal". Closely followed by "Labour" - second biggest right-wing party in Australia. Oh I guess there's National. Goodness knows why they call themselves "National" though. "National" is one of the smallest right-wing parties in Australia.

The Greens are about the only left-wing party left. The other lot aren't counting on getting elected - relying on some "200 year plan". For real. We'll all be blown-up by then.

Amnesty Supports Tortured Man

Amnesty International supports Mamdouh Habib. Yay Amnesty. Am with you there.

The human rights group, Amnesty International, says Australia must press the US for an independent commission of inquiry into allegations of torture and abuse of prisoners held in U-S custody. This follows fresh disclosures by a former Australian intelligence official that he was involved in interrogating prisoners in Iraq, a claim denied by the Howard government. Amnesty's legal observer at the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Jumana Musa says former detainee Mamdouh Habib's claims of being tortured at Guantanamo Bay are absolutely believable. - listen to audio.

Give him back his passport.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Ky... Oh no

Still pretending that Mamdouh Habib is not happening, John Howard, current Australian prime minister, chooses to talk about the Kyoto protocol instead...

"it is next to useless" - John Howard.

In an un-remarkable piece of double-speak Howard also refers to the Kyoto Environmental Treaty as the "Kyoto Regime".

An opportunity to change the world, join 141 other countries on an environmental quest in the wake of natural climatic disaster - and Howard turns his nose up. A historical window opens - and Howard closes the curtains to stop his furniture from fading.


Excuse me Mr.
-Ben Harper

excuse me Mr.
do you have the time
or are you so important
that it stands still

excuse me Mr.
won't you lend me your ear
or are you not only blind
but do you not hear

excuse me Mr.
but isn't that your oil in the sea
and the pollution in the air Mr.
whose could that be

so excuse me Mr.
but i, i'm a misster too
and you're givin' Mr. a bad name
Mr. like you

so i'm taking the Mr.
from out in front of your name
cause it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame
it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame

and i have seen enough to know
that i have seen too much

excuse me Mr.
can't you see the children dying
you say that you can't help them
Mr. you're not even trying

excuse me Mr.
just take a look around
Mr. just look up
and you will see it comin' down

excuse me Mr.
but i'm a misster too
and you're givin' Mr. a bad name
Mr. like you

so i'm taking the Mr.
from out in front of your name
cause it's a Mr. like you
who puts the rest of us to shame
it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame

and i've seen enough
i have seen enough to know
that i have seen too much
i've seen enough, i have

see cause Mr. when you're rattling
on heaven's gate
let me tell you Mr.
by then it is too late

cause Mr. when you get there
they don't ask how much you saved
all they'll want to know, Mr.
is what you gave

excuse me Mr.
but i'm a misster too
and you're givin' Mr. a bad name
Mr. like you

so i'm taking the Mr.
from out in front of your name
cause it's a Mr. Mister like you
that puts the rest of us to shame
it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame

And when Howard does finally open his mouth about human rights, will he support Mamdouh Habib? No, because Howard is the spotless sort of little man who prefers to have his shoes shined. By someone else, preferably kneeling. It makes him feel taller that way.

Why The War Is Bogus

The Australian Federal Government is going into overdrive. The wheels are spinning, but the vehicle ain't going nowhere.

Habib Under Fire From MP's - SMH

Australians should be skeptical over any claims of torture made by Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib, government MPs said today.

Pfft, Right. After Abu Ghraib? And during Australia's own current detention center fiasco?

Australian Federal Police dismissed Mr Habib's allegations of torture, but confirmed he had been taken to Egypt after his capture in Pakistan in 2001.


US diplomats sent Mr Habib to Egypt for "questioning" because US administration couldn't get away with certain methods under the US constitution at that time. The US and other so-called Western democratic countries have basically been out-sourcing torture of terror "suspects" to regimes which aren't "tied-down" by the same "liberal" "red-tape" that countries in the west are/were.

One senses the tip of an iceberg. After Egypt, My Habib was transported to Guantanamo Bay - a Cuban interrogative center also breaching Geneva Conventions through legal offshore loop-holes. After three years three months and twenty-three days in various outsourced locations, the US found nothing to convict Mr Habib with. Mr Habib was going to be "trialed" along with other Guantanamo Bay show-cases but the risk that details of his transportation and subsequent off-shore torture might emerge publicly during his "trial" was a risk the US was evidently not going to take.

So Mr Habib was transported, conveniently, back to Australia. Hopefully out of the global spotlight. Australia on the arse of the world, it's 18th century role as isolated penal colony resuscitated in 21st century context.

Howard is freaking out that the shit will hit the fan and it'll be sprayed all over the world. The Australian government is freaking out that remote location alone can't contain this. Hence the morning proclamation in Australian news papers and on Australian web sites announcing "Australians should be skeptical over any claims of torture".

Howard is passing the buck to his other ministers and has barely uttered a word. Meanwhile Downer, Ruddock and all the party backbenchers are slapping their jaws together at 150 k's per hour trying to blur the fine print with spittle and froth.

The one last straw in the case for War is at stake, all other straws having been huffed away. The war in Iraq and in Afghanistan has come down to it's last thin coat of white-wash. War - facilitator of global human righteousness.

What Mr Habib's allegations and trial imply for all Western Governments is that the West's dirty little secret is finally leaking out into the pallid lime-light of neo-dark-age dawn. Western countries have been using the despotic regimes of other countries to detain and torture and do the dirty work which Western "civilisations" cannot get away with under Western Bills of Human Rights. That is, until those bills are re-billed.

If I ever stop blogging or if I ever endorse war, you'll know it's not me and you might like to send out some search teams.

UPDATE; Syd Morn Herald link busted. Requires use of invisible ink technique. Run cursor over link and look at browser bottom bar to see where it should have lead to.

Crime-Fight?

State election campaigning in Perth, Australia. Co-alition policy...

Leaders Show Crime Fight
, February 16, 2005, The Australian.

The Coalition's policy to curb anti-social behaviour included $5 million for local councils to install closed circuit television in trouble hotspots. Police would also get a $300,000 water cannon and light body armour to allow them to more safely respond to major incidents.

A water cannon. WT. Reading along...

As a last resort, the Coalition would introduce temporary curfews in communities with entrenched anti-social behaviour problems... Dr Gallop said 40 Taser stun guns would be issued to police, primarily for use by the tactical response group.

The guns use a jolt of electricity to temporarily immobilise people.


Perth has a population of about
1,433,200 and is Australia's fifth largest indigenous population center, with an Aboriginal population of about 20,506. No prize for guessing which card the WA Co-alition is playing.

State Australian Government splashes out on water cannon and stun guns while Federal Aus Government fends of it's detention policy fiasco amid revelations that "leading" Australians are involved in Iraq and Egypt interrogations. Oh great. I see a real future ahead for Australia. I do.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Cultural Exchange

An Open Letter to the Australian People - from Raed

Goodness! Mail! And addressed to me! *sigh* too bad I don't have a nationality, it must be meant for some other people who live 'round here. Oh well, let's pretend shall we...

Dear Mr Raed

Well, thanks for saying all those nice things about us but actually, I kind of was hoping you might be able to put some sort of word in for us over there. You see, we have these dreadful camps. AND we (pre-emptively Australian) are starting to get outsourced too. So, while I would dearly love to exert some pressure on my government I can't but help wonder that the pressure has really been exerted on me. You know, it kind of is hard to wriggle about over here with ASIO so kindly recording all our conversations for us. It really is a good thing you know, historically. Such a wealth of data. We will be able to look back on this in future years, like a scrapbook I guess, and listen to all our tapped conversations. Oh where was I. Goodness how my mind does wander. I guess I must not be getting enough nutrition these days. Must remember to stop chewing on the keyboard cable and re-stock the fridge.

Well anyway. There are a few Australians I guess who go out and lobby and stuff but the rest of us - well we just all kind of got a bit freaked out when all the guards started turning up at our train stations and those helicopters started buzzing our peaceful rallies - wheow. I can tell you. Most of us just ducked down our heads and escaped into our blogs instead (the ones of us that are citizens that is). Well at least I think a few of us did, I can't really vouch for anyone else on that one, being an independent entity and everything.

So anyway. Our government knows we all think war is trash and everything but at the moment it's trying to dig itself out of a detention center fiasco that implies Australian ordained brutality ON top of the whole Habib Hicks thing AND that Jack guy who was roughed up in Pakistan with our governments full awareness but conveniently tightly closed eyes and phone off hook approach to international relations. Oh yes and the China thing and the North Korea thing, Howard's busy sidling up to the next nearest super-power as we speak. He is such a jellyfish, just blobs right along with whatever tide is going to keep him in plankton. You know how jellyfish are, no backbone.

Anyway. Enough said. When you figure out how to make that democracy thing work could you please drop us another line because we need a new one too.

Thanks

As ever, Emigre.

Monday, February 14, 2005

Er, Yes but.

Joe Gandelman - World Leader Pretend (weak compliment, favourite resuscitated song of day, if I had any traffic I might apply it to myself) does mandatory election post. Which I feel compelled to question. (Not gaining popularity by doing this but look, it's not me whose burning the bridges. All I do is step one foot on it these days before I'm napalmed by some zealot. Oh well).

JG says ~

Iraq Election Results: It'll Require A Coalition


and goes on -horrified gasp! With comparisons!

...as in the United States...(read rest)


Actually, nobody needs to form a co-alition.

The purpose of this "election" was to elect a committee to write a constitution that would lay down guidelines for how a real government might be elected. There'll be another vote in December to see what people think about the constitution-to-be. If the constitution is accepted then a third election will be held to elect a "proper" government based on constitutional principles.

If the constitution proves unpopular the whole thing goes back to square one and somebody else has a go at writing it.

Basically the committee members are interested in representation from all sectors of Iraq so that the constitution has more chance of being considered legitimate in December. People in Iraq have proven to be critical voters in either withholding their votes or ignoring Allawi (as an incumbent his result is pitiful). Which means the focus is more on broadening ties with all sectors in a credibility leap, rather then trying to set up factional co-alitions.

In effect, this was not an election "as in the US" but just one step in a series of referendums.

It's probably a mistake for foreigners to start casting parties in power roles as they would in their own systems. Iraq could be developing something unique on it's own ~ let's not impose pre-formed expectation (unless we smell corruption, in which case anything is *sigh* open blogger fare).

Unimpressed

Hill lied about Iraq interrogations: expert
By Tom Allard February 14, 2005 - smh

The Defence Minister, Robert Hill, lied to Parliament when he said no Australians had interrogated Iraqi prisoners, an Australian biological weapons expert says.

Rod Barton, a former Defence Intelligence Organisation specialist, has also painted a picture of a servile Australian, US and British military hierarchy, prepared to suppress the truth to protect their political masters.

Mr Barton says he interrogated prisoners at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad airport, when contracted to work for the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) and told the Defence Department when he returned in March last year.

Australia is run by cretins. Ruddock disgusts me and Alexander Downer is a repugnant little wimp. (need smh registration to view those links, but it's free).

Howard is not saying anything, he is holed up in his white-wared palace pretending nobody tells him anything - again.

(Did I mention already? Need smh registration to view those links, but it's free and the sites updated regular and it's Australia's closest thing to "locally produced international news", not including under-visited bloggers. No I swear I do not get paid to run adverts. Seriously, look at my sitemeter, no-one in their right mind would pay for advertising rights here).

Results Outed, Allawi Ousted

Iraq election result mandatory critique.

Mainstream news sources are already bundling results into religious and ethnic groupings rather then by actual party list. Hence Paul McGeough's reportage in the SMH this morning that Shiite religious parties have 47% of the vote, Kurdish parties 25.4% and Allawi, widely considered the US candidate, a meager 13.6%. Boycotted not-votes are attributed to Sunni sentiment, although no figure is given other then observations that less then 2% voted in Anbar and only 29% voted in Salahadin.

McGeough usually does Osmar White impartiality so well, but I do wonder if he has slipped up today.

My gripe; Western media-fueled assumption that all Shiite parties band together, all Kurdish parties band together and that the not-vote is characterised by Sunni passive-resistance (well yes the not-vote is characterised by passive-resistance, but not all not-votes are Sunni and not all Sunni are not-voters).

While some parties may be predisposed to certain affinities, media sponsored religious branding does ignore the possibility that civilians in Iraq are a bit more politically sophisticated then religious stereotyping might suggest. Has it not occurred to any in mainstream media that people in Iraq may actually have voted, and not-voted, for reasons other then religion?

Clearly Allawi has been ousted. There are reports he is scraping around for co-alition partners but the message from voters and not-voters alike seems pretty clear. Voters and not-voters, irrespective of religion, would appear to be un-enchanted by Allawi's doublespeak-partisan-ness.

And the not-voter. In spite of every international media effort to cast the not-voter in Sunni robes, results imply the not-vote comprises a more complex mix. The not-voter equitably shunned all candidates regardless of religious preference. This says a lot for the not-voters conviction and credibility. Afterall, had the not-voter held only Sunni interests surely they might have simply backed a Sunni candidate? But no. The not-voter did not. The not-voter had a much broader role to play, providing the brakes that every run-away cart needs. Without the unshaken skeptism of the not-voter these elections may well have passed much less legitimately then they did. A significant number of doubters prompted others to step up procedures to ensure accountability. And that is what democracy is all about, different approaches providing just enough tension to hold the structure taught and keep the canvas sky from falling in.

One question remains. Will Western media sources continue to play the role of candy-distributor or will they begin to exercise a little more of the critical eye that international journalism prides itself on? The time for celebrating is over and the time for applying the good old journalistic brakes is due. Sweeping hand in general direction of bloggers. All things in moderation. Now more then ever is the time to watch for inconsistency, position rigging and formative corruption You would do it for any other election, why not do it for Iraq. Do you want your coverage to look rorted, or what?

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Managing Assets

Another good reason why wasting money on war is a dumb idea.

The Hubble Space Telescope, arguably the greatest scientific instrument in the history of space exploration, may only have three years of life left after plans to mount a rescue mission were recently shelved by the US government.

The next servicing mission, scheduled for 2008, was intended to upgrade Hubble’s batteries and gyroscopes, allowing it to function for another eight years...

Last month, however, the US government refused to release the $1 billion needed for the upgrade. As a result, the Hubble space telescope will continue to function normally in the short term, but without the repairs to its batteries and gyroscopes it will eventually wear down in three years. -felix.


What a waste.

It only takes $1 billion to upgrade the Hubble, a valuable research asset. Attempts to revive the "star wars" carcas will cost $60 to $200 billion. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to write a more sensible budget.

Witless

A greater man might have seized the opportunity to set aside political one-upmanship and talk peace. But Wolfowitz? You'd be dreaming.

"There's been very little generosity so far from parts of the Muslim world that are big on talking about jihad and other things, but when 200,000 people - all of them Muslim in the case of Indonesia - died in this catastrophe, there's not much help forthcoming," Mr Wolfowitz said. - smh.


"The Muslim World"? So like we have a fourth world now? The "Developed World " the "Second World" the "Third World" and the now "the Muslim World". Where will it end I ask. Somebody call Nasa and tell them to stop looking 'round other stars for new planets.

*Sigh*. True to form, Wolfowitz is busy bagging "the Muslim World" while everyone else is just pulling together and offering what they can, whether it be five bucks in the local "tsunami aid" collection tin or a few million in interest free loans. Every little bit counts and Wolfowitz bragging about US contributions while slagging of "the Muslim World" sounds tight-fisted and mean. Especially considering Afghanistan and Iraq might have managed a few more cents if their cities hadn't been leveled by Wolfowitz's paltry excuse for democracy.

Shame on Wolfowitz for dividing and besmearing other people by religion.

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Another stone in the yellow-brick road

Tony Smith is trying to drag up the old "compulsory vote" issue in Australia again. Either he has been reading my blog (hence this subtly bracketed mention in passing ~ we have an invisible site meter which tells us a little about our visitors. For blogger safety) or he is just wetting himself about Iraq's election boycotters and is trying to defuse any kind of "situation" in case the trend catches on over here in AUS. Which means that those election boycotters in Iraq, hmm, may hold some weight.

Compulsory voting back on political agenda

ABC Saturday 12 February 2005
Louise Yaxley and Elizabeth Jackson

The scrapping of compulsory voting is back on the political agenda now the Government has been re-elected for a fourth time.

The chairman of Parliament's committee on electoral matters, Liberal backbencher, Tony Smith, is encouraging a wide-ranging debate on whether to scrap the law that forces people to turn up at the polling booth.

Mr Smith says there should be a right not to vote as well.


Anyway. Smith just doesn't geddit. For one thing, not-voters will not-vote whether voting is compulsory or is not. That's just the way not-voters are. Independent. For another thing, it's so irrelevant. There are more pressing issues at hand. Like the treatment of asylum seekers in Australia, f'rinstance.

So was Smith reading my blog, or was I just being premonitional again? Maybe I could focus more on building up an oracular repertoire here. Then again, nobody likes hearing that they're going to marry a toad or that their car will break down in peak hour traffic next week. One cannot chose one's visions. One can only pass some of them on.

Greener grass

None of us are free. The cruelest trick on anyone hoping to find freedom here in blogs, is that there is none. Oh yes newcomer, fresh dewey eyed. Seeking enlightenment and freedom and earnest speaking of truths that cannot be uttered offline. Oh yes, we've all been there. Thinking that freedom exists here. Hah. Not for much longer. But it was sweet while it lasted. Such sweet momentary freedom it was.

No blogger is free in real life. That is why they blog. That is why Western bloggers flock around the blogs of Eastern bloggers, and Eastern bloggers around the Westerner's. Each longing for the green grass of the others apparent virtual freedom. Each envying the apparent excitement in the others voice.

Why are there so many Westerners online? Because they cannot say the things they say online, off. Because in real life they are a middle aged lowly paid office clerk with two adopted kids and a wife with whom they haven't shared any thought other then household expenses for the last 10 years. Because in real life they are a compulsive obsessive with a drinking problem. Because in real life they are a middle aged school teacher who no-one else in the staffroom can stand and who resorts to shouting in other bloggers comments for conversation and writing the only other thing they will ever write - red penned illegible bellyaching in the margins of essays by students with more talent. Because in real life the blogger is a journalist with a) no job or b) an employer who can't accept certain material anymore. Because in real life they live in suburbia on the margins of cities with bad infrastructure. Because in real life they live in run down decrepit one bedroom units with stained carpet and neighbor's that have loud domestics and sewage pipes that would be condemned if the rent wasn't affordable. Because in real life they were a visual artist that had writer's block for 15 years and now are one of many un-exceptional writers, with artist's block.

But these are true things. Real. And nobody wants to hear that. Oh no, everybody would rather escape into some imaginary place where wars really can bring peace and where democracy really is fair and where beheadings are just fake and where captured soldiers are only plastic action figures and where the detention, deportation and torture of civilians doesn't really happen. Where the grass is greener. That's why people come to blogs. Looking for greener grass.

Friday, February 11, 2005

AUS-tention

Latest case of Howard paying for the research he needs to prop up his flawed and very narrow - I was going to say "narrow vision" but the man lacks vision of any sort - to prop up his ugly weak little empire.

ABC Headline ~ Government accused of Biased Detention Center Research.


Better Emigre Headline ~ John Howard pays to have someone stuff their fingers in his ears again.

Doron Samuell is a nasty little self-interested rat.

What flavour...

Well I do like tea, but I'm not sure everyone would agree with this...


What Flavour Are You? Cor blimey, I taste like Tea.Cor blimey, I taste like Tea.


I am a subtle flavour, quiet and polite, gentle, almost ambient. My presence in crowds will often go unnoticed. Best not to spill me on your clothes though, I can leave a nasty stain. What Flavour Are You?


And apparently if I didn't taste like Tea, I would taste like Vanilla. I'm not sure everyone would agree with that either...


What Flavour Are You? I am Vanilla Flavoured.I am Vanilla Flavoured.


I am one of the most popular flavours in the world. Subtle and smooth, I go reasonably with anyone, and rarely do anything to offend. I can be expected to be blending in in society. What Flavour Are You?


I guess I can see why I ended up as Tea.

Shame about the stains. I suppose you would probably want polished floorboards or a good carpet cleaner, if you invited me over.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Poetry (audiofile) (listen out for Lucy English doing "company of poets") (all that is childish/childlike, unforgivable but infatuating, in poets).

Safe

Today on my way home I saw two police swaggering through the shopping mall with their goosebooted leggings and gun garnished belts. Was so nervous had to duck into an apparel shop and pretend to look at sequined garments to avoid potential lines of fire. Not happy Bob and John, stop spending taxpayer money on bullets and start spending it on education or something.

Safety Rating this week ~ Not Very.

Now I am going back to rewrite what I wrote this morning.


The Not-Vote ~ Global Implication

Why have Western politicians with a vested interest in Middle Eastern soil gone out of their way to ignore the significant number of voters who did not vote in Iraq's most recent "elections"? And why, when these not-voters are mentioned, are they invariably mentioned along side reference to religious preference?

Attempts to frame politics and in particular boycotting voters in Iraq in religious terms, fall flat in one major respect. The protest "not-voter" is a global trend.

That religion has played a part at all points more to restriction of movement and speech, a problem for many years in Iraq that does not seem to have abated during this most recent war and subsequent occupation. Noting in particular the curfews and closed borders touted as "security measures" during Iraq's January 2005 election . In such situations it is not unusual for religion to become a protective "umbrella" shielding the movements of people and thought beneath it.

However, mainstream Western commentary burdens itself by repeating political myth ~ that apparently Middle Eastern politics rests atop a seething pot of religious friction. That somehow religion mixed with politics is a Middle Eastern trait, or "problem", to be solved by some newly tailored 21st century style "democracy".

While it would be foolish to ignore any role that religion does play in politics, it is important to remember that these roles occur as frequently in Western politics (despite it's claims to atheism) as they do in Eastern politics. While religion often chooses to protect it's existence by declaring it's purpose "a-political" or not-political, places of worship have served in various centuries and locations as gathering points and sanctuaries during many a repressive regime. It is no coincidence that during oppressive regimes certain religions are often "constrained" by laws and even at times "out-lawed". There are instances throughout history where religion has threatened other power-brokers through freedom of thought and alternative power structures. It is no coincidence that Western governments compete with god in Western democracies, placing state and church in separate spheres. What greater power structure of the mind is there then a god, what greater threat to a dubious leaders ego then a god's omnipotence and the omnipotence that a god distills in it's believers. Whether or not anyone admits it, or likes it, religion has been tangled up globally with politics since the inception of both, not because religion meddles with politics or is peculiar to a particular region but because religion and politics are activities of people and people have a habit of merging their activities.

It suits Western occupying entities to infer religious political involvement in Middle Eastern countries somehow differs from the Western norm, is peculiar to the Middle East and even a "Middle Eastern problem". Such claims prop up Western power structures that currently occupy Iraq and other Middle Eastern lands (notably albeit silently, Afghanistan) while ignoring the history of religious influence in Western politics. Parliament in Australia to this very day recites the lords prayer before sitting. It is telling that in Western countries women cannot become popes and rarely become prime ministers.

The myth that religion in politics is somehow an intrusive Middle Eastern phenomena is perpetuated by both Western rhetoric and by Eastern rhetoric itself. Perhaps some people find strength in believing their own countries problems somehow unique, their own failings somehow special. In reality people the world over repeat the same old patterns. Religion in politics is not unique to any region. Sure, we do all have our peculiarities but there is far much more that we have in common then we do not.

Basically, not-voting in Iraq has little more religious significance then not-voting anywhere else in the world. Although there are religious dynamics involved, these dynamics are not unique to Middle Eastern politics and "conveniently" lead away from the significance of not-voting itself.

So, the not-voters. I cannot think of a single apathetic not-voter. Every not-voter I know, Eastern or Western, not-votes with an impressive strength of conviction. Not-voters are essentially disbelievers. All not-voters I have encountered are independent thinkers who have come to the conclusion themselves, irrespective of peers, that the electoral system is a fraudulent prank. That somehow voting legitimises the nasty joke that democracy plays upon us all when things go wrong."You voted for it, now shut-up and put-up" is democracies sellout gag, which the not-voter rejects.

So why have Western politicians with an interest in Middle Eastern soil gone to such pains to ignore the not-vote, or to discredit the not-vote by framing it as Clerical fanaticism? Because. If the not-vote in Iraq is acknowledged then by association not-voting the world over would be acknowledged. And if not-voting the world over were so acknowledged, it would point a rather large arrow at the crumbling foundations of democracy. For most democracies are not endorsed by the majority of their voting aged populations. Even in Australia where voting is perversely compulsory, there are everyday ordinary people who silently register their independence by not-voting.

To admit the not-vote in Iraq has legitimate protest status means to admit that democracy, globally, is in dire need of an overhaul. Basically, democracy is busted and needs fixing real bad ~ globally.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Web-sense

The web is a biased cesspool. There is a self-congralutory belief among some sectors of the blogosphere, oh I might as well say it ~ among more often then not American bloggers, that bloggers are the only true source of wisdom and somehow bloggers know everything first and bloggers are changing the world and even that bloggers are sources of news. Bloggers are not, actually, "sources" as rather "conductors". Occasionally a blogger may be located at the scene of a major event and does snap coverage before major news networks get there, and this is a beautiful thing for bloggers (I do deeply admire those who have found themselves in such situations) but more often then not bloggers are chewing up and rehashing news they have already heard.

The great thing about blogging, is that people think about, debate and discuss things they may not have otherwise. The poor thing about blogs is that most bloggers are blinded by their own dim brilliance and rarely venture out of their comfort zones. Cliques develop in which bloggers hang out with other bloggers who tell them what they want to hear. This is stifling when it comes to true exchange of experience. More often then not exchanges deteriorate into roving schools of commenters who stake out bloggers they disagree with, waiting for an opportunity to begin spouting obscenities, while meanwhile fawning and licking the heels of others who provide the "news" they want to hear.

To a lesser degree this is even reflected in major news outlets online. So often I hear my early morning offline news and yet when I get online the latest has not yet been published, or is published in more "palatable" form. I guess it revolves to a degree around site meters and the many millions of sites competing for online audiences, in contrast to offline media sources which are fewer, have built up audiences over many years and are less at the mercy of the fickle web surfers want. Anyway, the result is a sort of pseudo world where events mirror real life in a sort of parallel universe.

The great thing about online info is immediacy and, in the age of google, searchability. It is accessible. This however, does not make it accurate. Basically the web is a big gossip machine, and in such a machine inconsistency and bias are the weak points.

So, I love the web, I love the sort of inherent seventh web-sense that develops over time. But to me it is an extra co-ordinate. It is not the be-all and end-all. I sway with dismay when I read someone say "news -paper?" As if the very idea of reading paper were almost unheard of.

Web-info is at it's best when taken in conjunction with other media. As one uses eyes, ears and touch to locate ones place in the real world, so one uses the web as an extra sense. It is useful like an extra axis on a graph, but worth nothing when taken out of context with the wider world.

That is not to say real life is all it seems either, it's just saying that more then one point of reference is required in deciphering life as we know it.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

US troops continue to embarrass admin

Did somebody say quag-mi... oh nevermind.

Monday, February 07, 2005

Anna Schmidt

Just doing the scrapbook thing. As one does. You know, when one is cataloging the decline of humanity quietly to oneself. In case anyone is visiting and you're not sure what a detention centre is; Australia has "camps". To keep people in.

Baxter Detention Centre
February 7, 2005 - 8:06AM - SMH

A refugee advocate today said Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone knew for 10 months that a mentally ill Australian woman was locked up in immigration detention.

The federal government has promised an inquiry into how Cornelia Rau came to be locked up at South Australia's Baxter detention centre, despite being listed as a missing person.

She spent six months in a Queensland jail before being sent to Baxter, where she was held for four months after telling authorities she was a German woman named Anna Schmidt.

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre spokeswoman Pamela Curr today said she believed Senator Vanstone knew about Ms Rau's case for 10 months...

... Ms Curr said Ms Rau's case was not unique, with many other asylum seekers being refused medical treatment despite being suicidal and depressed.

"What happened to Cornelia is not unique," she said.


Cornelia's situation became known when other concerned Baxter detainees mentioned her presence at the center to refugee advocates. That it took 10 months for the situation to leak out sort of points to how tenuous the connections are between asylum seekers inside and advocacy connections "outside".

Cornelia was not trying to immigrate to Australia. She grew up here.

The evolution of the immigration center to the detention center as we know it today in Australia is a long story, perhaps beginning with Australia's first convict importations two centuries ago. In the 1950's and 60's a policy of cultural "enrichment" ecouraging immigration from European/Mediterranean countries (Italy, Greece and France) saw the immigration center again in action, as simple places with bad food and corrugated iron huts. By the mid 70's they'd all but dwindled out but were put to use again in the later 70's and then 80's with an influx of refugee seekers fleeing war and famine; Vietnam, Lebanon, the Phillipines, numerous other places of havoc and despotic regime.

In recent years, the Australian immigration center has become a razor wire enclosed detention centre patrolled by armed security guards. The name shift says it all, in the 1960's these camps were known as "immigration" centres now they are "detention" centres. These centres are not part of Australia's prison system, they are a separate camp system used primarily to "hold" asylum seekers before, more often then not these days, deportation. It appears their use has mutated yet again.

Cornelia/Anna's story is intriguing, if disturbing.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Green Beads

Ya ya, I know I already posted this somewhere else, but I love it so. It was my sisters favourite poem when she was about eight years old. My other sister did a fantastic Gollum impression (I personally didn't do goblins and I didn't do Gollums, I just slunk around looking for a book to crawl back under my log with).

Overheard on a Saltmarsh ~ by Harold Monro

Nymph, nymph, what are your beads?


Green glass, goblin. Why do you stare at them?


Give them me.


No.


Give them me, give them me.


No.


Then I will howl all night in the reeds
Lie in the mud and howl for them.


Goblin, why do you love them so?


They are better than stars or water
Better than voices of winds that sing,
Better than any man's fair daughter,
Your green glass beads on a silver ring.


Hush, I stole them out of the moon.


Give me your beads, I want them.


No.


I will howl in a deep lagoon
For your green glass beads, I love them so.
Give them me. Give them.


No.

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