Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
THE ZOMBIE AND THE GNOME
Once upon a time long time ago there was a man who had the future ahead of him. In his heart, he wanted to do the right thing admist the noise of the crowd. When his ideas began to clash with those around him, he began to build a wall around himself to protect himself from the voices. Inside of his cell he began to rot anyway until he was no longer human. He was not phyiscally dead but his heart and soul died inside of that box.
The Gnome came along and found the box and knocked on the door. She could see the light on but nobody came to the door. She looked inside of the window and saw the man who was now a zombie. She began to walk away in fear, yet his face remained in her mind as she walked away. The next day while on her rounds, she came upon the same walled up box she saw yesterday. She saw the zombie walking toward it. She had a full view of his face and remembered that it was the man she saw many years ago. The zombie saw her and in fear quickly walked inside of the wall and slammed the door shut.
The Gnome went home and decided to write a note to the zombie. When she finally wrote the letter she considered the best, she put in a bottle. She looked at the bottle and wondered if this was the right thing to do, then she went to bed.
The next day on her way to town she threw the bottle over the wall.She didn't hear it fall...............
To be Continued....
ZM
The Gnome came along and found the box and knocked on the door. She could see the light on but nobody came to the door. She looked inside of the window and saw the man who was now a zombie. She began to walk away in fear, yet his face remained in her mind as she walked away. The next day while on her rounds, she came upon the same walled up box she saw yesterday. She saw the zombie walking toward it. She had a full view of his face and remembered that it was the man she saw many years ago. The zombie saw her and in fear quickly walked inside of the wall and slammed the door shut.
The Gnome went home and decided to write a note to the zombie. When she finally wrote the letter she considered the best, she put in a bottle. She looked at the bottle and wondered if this was the right thing to do, then she went to bed.
The next day on her way to town she threw the bottle over the wall.She didn't hear it fall...............
To be Continued....
ZM
Saturday, January 05, 2008
HOW TO SPIN
Bourgeois Politics
Here's how to put the spin on.
Judy Wallman, a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that
Hillary Clinton's great-great uncle, Remus Rodham, was hanged for
horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889.
The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows.
On the back of the picture is this inscription: "Remus Rodham; horse
thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed
the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives convicted
and hanged in 1889."
Judy emailed Hillary Clinton for comments. Hillary's staff of
professional image adjusters sent back the following biographical
sketch: "Remus Rodham was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory .
His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable
equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad.
Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at
a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings
with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital
investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency.
In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in
his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.*
And that is how it's done folks.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Monday, December 24, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
LOGIC BEATS GREED
The real answer to climate change is to leave fossil fuels in the ground
All the talk in Bali about cutting carbon means nothing while ever more oil and coal is being extracted and burned
George Monbiot Tuesday December 11, 2007 (the guardian)
Ladies and gentlemen, I have the answer! Incredible as it might seem, I have stumbled across the single technology which will save us from runaway climate change! From the goodness of my heart, I offer it to you for free. No patents, no small print, no hidden clauses. Already this technology, a radical new kind of carbon capture and storage, is causing a stir among scientists. It is cheap, it is efficient and it can be deployed straight away. It is called ... leaving fossil fuels in the ground.
On a filthy day last week, as governments gathered in Bali to prevaricate about climate change, a group of us tried to put this policy into effect. We swarmed into the opencast coal mine being dug at Ffos-y-fran in South Wales and occupied the excavators, shutting down the works for the day. We were motivated by a fact which the wise heads in Bali have somehow missed: if fossil fuels are extracted, they will be used.
Most of the governments of the rich world now exhort their citizens to use less carbon. They encourage us to change our lightbulbs, insulate our lofts, turn our televisions off at the wall. In other words, they have a demand-side policy for tackling climate change. But as far as I can determine, not one of them has a supply-side policy. None seeks to reduce the supply of fossil fuel. So the demand-side policy will fail. Every barrel of oil and tonne of coal that comes to the surface will be burned.
Or perhaps I should say that they do have a supply-side policy: to extract as much as they can. Since 2000, the UK government has given coal firms £220m to help them open new mines or to keep existing mines working. According to the energy white paper, the government intends to "maximise economic recovery ... from remaining coal reserves".
The pit at Ffos-y-fran received planning permission after two ministers in the Westminster government jumped up and down on Rhodri Morgan, the first minister of the Welsh assembly. Stephen Timms at the department of trade and industry listed the benefits of the scheme and demanded that the application "is resolved with the minimum of further delay". His successor, Mike O'Brien, warned of dire consequences if the pit was not granted permission. The coal extracted from Ffos-y-fran alone will produce 29.5m tonnes of carbon dioxide: equivalent, according to the latest figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to the sustainable emissions of 55 million people for one year.
Last year British planning authorities considered 12 new applications for opencast coal mines. They approved all but two of them. Two weeks ago, Hazel Blears, the secretary of state in charge of planning, overruled Northumberland county council to grant permission for an opencast mine at Shotton, on the grounds that the scheme - which will produce 9.3m tonnes of CO2 - is "environmentally acceptable".
The British government also has a policy of "maximising the UK's existing oil and gas reserves". To promote new production, it has granted companies a 90% discount on the licence fees they pay for prospecting the continental shelf. It hopes the prospecting companies will open a new frontier in the seas to the west of the Shetland Isles. The government also has two schemes for "forcing unworked blocks back into play". If oil companies don't use their licences to the full, it revokes them and hands them to someone else. In other words, it is prepared to be ruthlessly interventionist when promoting climate change, but not when preventing it: no minister talks of "forcing" companies to reduce their emissions. Ministers hope the industry will extract up to 28bn barrels of oil and gas from the continental shelf.
Last week the government announced a new tax break for companies working in the North Sea. The Treasury minister, Angela Eagle, explained that its purpose is "to make sure we are not leaving any oil in the ground that could be recovered". The government's climate change policy works like this: extract every last drop of fossil fuel then pray to God that no one uses it.
The same wishful thinking is applied worldwide. The International Energy Agency's new outlook report warns that "urgent action is needed" to cut carbon emissions. The action it recommends is investing $22 trillion in new energy infrastructure, most of which will be spent on extracting, transporting and burning fossil fuels.
Aha, you say, but what about carbon capture and storage? When governments use this term, they mean catching and burying the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels. It is feasible, but there are three problems. The first is that fossil fuels are being extracted and burned today, and scarcely any carbon capture schemes yet exist. The second is that the technology works only for power stations and large industrial processes: there is no plausible means of dealing with cars, planes and heating systems. The third, as Alistair Darling, then in charge of energy, admitted in the Commons in May, is that the technologies required for commercial carbon capture "might never become available". (The government is prepared to admit this when making the case, as he was, for nuclear power, but not when making it for coal).
Almost every week I receive an email from someone asking what the heck I am talking about. Don't I realise that peak oil will solve this problem for us? Fossil fuels will run out, we'll go back to living in caves and no one will need to worry about climate change again. These correspondents make the mistake of conflating conventional oil supplies with all fossil fuels. Yes, at some point the production of petroleum will peak then go into decline. I don't know when this will happen, and I urge environmentalists to remember that while we have been proved right about most things we have been consistently wrong about the dates for mineral exhaustion. But before oil peaks, demand is likely to outstrip supply and the price will soar. The result is that the oil firms will have an even greater incentive to extract the stuff.
Already, encouraged by recent prices, the pollutocrats are pouring billions into unconventional oil. Last week BP announced a huge investment in Canadian tar sands. Oil produced from tar sands creates even more carbon emissions than petroleum extraction. There's enough tar and kerogen in North America to cook the planet several times over.
If that runs out, they switch to coal, of which there is hundreds of years' supply. Sasol, the South African company founded during the apartheid period - when supplies of oil were blocked - to turn coal into liquid transport fuel, is conducting feasibility studies for new plants in India, China and the US. Neither geology nor market forces is going to save us from climate change.
When you review the plans for fossil fuel extraction, the horrible truth dawns that every carbon-cutting programme is a con. Without supply-side policies, runaway climate change is inevitable, however hard we try to cut demand. The talks in Bali will be meaningless unless they produce a programme for leaving fossil fuels in the ground.
All the talk in Bali about cutting carbon means nothing while ever more oil and coal is being extracted and burned
George Monbiot Tuesday December 11, 2007 (the guardian)
Ladies and gentlemen, I have the answer! Incredible as it might seem, I have stumbled across the single technology which will save us from runaway climate change! From the goodness of my heart, I offer it to you for free. No patents, no small print, no hidden clauses. Already this technology, a radical new kind of carbon capture and storage, is causing a stir among scientists. It is cheap, it is efficient and it can be deployed straight away. It is called ... leaving fossil fuels in the ground.
On a filthy day last week, as governments gathered in Bali to prevaricate about climate change, a group of us tried to put this policy into effect. We swarmed into the opencast coal mine being dug at Ffos-y-fran in South Wales and occupied the excavators, shutting down the works for the day. We were motivated by a fact which the wise heads in Bali have somehow missed: if fossil fuels are extracted, they will be used.
Most of the governments of the rich world now exhort their citizens to use less carbon. They encourage us to change our lightbulbs, insulate our lofts, turn our televisions off at the wall. In other words, they have a demand-side policy for tackling climate change. But as far as I can determine, not one of them has a supply-side policy. None seeks to reduce the supply of fossil fuel. So the demand-side policy will fail. Every barrel of oil and tonne of coal that comes to the surface will be burned.
Or perhaps I should say that they do have a supply-side policy: to extract as much as they can. Since 2000, the UK government has given coal firms £220m to help them open new mines or to keep existing mines working. According to the energy white paper, the government intends to "maximise economic recovery ... from remaining coal reserves".
The pit at Ffos-y-fran received planning permission after two ministers in the Westminster government jumped up and down on Rhodri Morgan, the first minister of the Welsh assembly. Stephen Timms at the department of trade and industry listed the benefits of the scheme and demanded that the application "is resolved with the minimum of further delay". His successor, Mike O'Brien, warned of dire consequences if the pit was not granted permission. The coal extracted from Ffos-y-fran alone will produce 29.5m tonnes of carbon dioxide: equivalent, according to the latest figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to the sustainable emissions of 55 million people for one year.
Last year British planning authorities considered 12 new applications for opencast coal mines. They approved all but two of them. Two weeks ago, Hazel Blears, the secretary of state in charge of planning, overruled Northumberland county council to grant permission for an opencast mine at Shotton, on the grounds that the scheme - which will produce 9.3m tonnes of CO2 - is "environmentally acceptable".
The British government also has a policy of "maximising the UK's existing oil and gas reserves". To promote new production, it has granted companies a 90% discount on the licence fees they pay for prospecting the continental shelf. It hopes the prospecting companies will open a new frontier in the seas to the west of the Shetland Isles. The government also has two schemes for "forcing unworked blocks back into play". If oil companies don't use their licences to the full, it revokes them and hands them to someone else. In other words, it is prepared to be ruthlessly interventionist when promoting climate change, but not when preventing it: no minister talks of "forcing" companies to reduce their emissions. Ministers hope the industry will extract up to 28bn barrels of oil and gas from the continental shelf.
Last week the government announced a new tax break for companies working in the North Sea. The Treasury minister, Angela Eagle, explained that its purpose is "to make sure we are not leaving any oil in the ground that could be recovered". The government's climate change policy works like this: extract every last drop of fossil fuel then pray to God that no one uses it.
The same wishful thinking is applied worldwide. The International Energy Agency's new outlook report warns that "urgent action is needed" to cut carbon emissions. The action it recommends is investing $22 trillion in new energy infrastructure, most of which will be spent on extracting, transporting and burning fossil fuels.
Aha, you say, but what about carbon capture and storage? When governments use this term, they mean catching and burying the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels. It is feasible, but there are three problems. The first is that fossil fuels are being extracted and burned today, and scarcely any carbon capture schemes yet exist. The second is that the technology works only for power stations and large industrial processes: there is no plausible means of dealing with cars, planes and heating systems. The third, as Alistair Darling, then in charge of energy, admitted in the Commons in May, is that the technologies required for commercial carbon capture "might never become available". (The government is prepared to admit this when making the case, as he was, for nuclear power, but not when making it for coal).
Almost every week I receive an email from someone asking what the heck I am talking about. Don't I realise that peak oil will solve this problem for us? Fossil fuels will run out, we'll go back to living in caves and no one will need to worry about climate change again. These correspondents make the mistake of conflating conventional oil supplies with all fossil fuels. Yes, at some point the production of petroleum will peak then go into decline. I don't know when this will happen, and I urge environmentalists to remember that while we have been proved right about most things we have been consistently wrong about the dates for mineral exhaustion. But before oil peaks, demand is likely to outstrip supply and the price will soar. The result is that the oil firms will have an even greater incentive to extract the stuff.
Already, encouraged by recent prices, the pollutocrats are pouring billions into unconventional oil. Last week BP announced a huge investment in Canadian tar sands. Oil produced from tar sands creates even more carbon emissions than petroleum extraction. There's enough tar and kerogen in North America to cook the planet several times over.
If that runs out, they switch to coal, of which there is hundreds of years' supply. Sasol, the South African company founded during the apartheid period - when supplies of oil were blocked - to turn coal into liquid transport fuel, is conducting feasibility studies for new plants in India, China and the US. Neither geology nor market forces is going to save us from climate change.
When you review the plans for fossil fuel extraction, the horrible truth dawns that every carbon-cutting programme is a con. Without supply-side policies, runaway climate change is inevitable, however hard we try to cut demand. The talks in Bali will be meaningless unless they produce a programme for leaving fossil fuels in the ground.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
HABIB TESTIMONY
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22838446-949,00.html
Shocking details of torture in Pakistan. I am posting the full article because you can expect a clamp down very soon.
"Before I take the step of closing the court I would need to have a proper basis for doing so," the judge said."
This story needs to get exposure in the USA.
FORMER Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib says he was injected with drugs in front of an Australian official while being interrogated in Pakistan.
Mr Habib was visibly distressed while giving evidence today at a second-stage defamation hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, weeping and at one point asking for a break as he spoke of his alleged torture.
Justice David McClellan is hearing evidence on defences and damages in Mr Habib's defamation case against Nationwide News.
Nationwide News is owned by the parent company of the publisher of News.com.au
A jury earlier found that an opinion piece by columnist Piers Akerman defamed Mr Habib by implying he falsely made claims about torture.
Mr Habib told the court today he had been beaten with sticks, kicked and suspended by his wrists from the ceiling for hours at a time, and had been given electric shocks that were so severe he fainted.
He had been deprived of sleep and blankets and served food that was so bad "you can't even smell it".
Egyptian-born Mr Habib said he had been drugged during his imprisonment in Pakistan and Egypt, sometimes daily.
"I feel like a crazy, I would say stuff like a mental person," he said.
"I lost all my memory, I don't know where I am, I don't know who I am."
Mr Habib said he had been given a needle containing drugs before his second interview in Islamabad in October 2001.
"Before and in the middle (of the interview)," he told the court.
A man who had introduced himself as Alastair Adams, an Australian official, had been present while this occurred, Mr Habib said.
Other Australians, as well as Americans, were present at a number of other interrogations and interviews, he said.
Mr Habib said that in Egypt, he was shocked with Taser guns and a powered machine with voltage controls.
His fingers were all broken and the nails torn away, he said.
Mr Habib was unable to go on, closing his eyes and turning away from the court when asked what his torturers did with dogs.
"They tied up my hands behind my back and they put shackles on my feet, and I have to be naked," he said.
"My face was on the floor because the dog (was) on the top of me, they do sexual things."
Mr Habib's lawyers argue that he was "shackled, drugged and tortured" during some of his interrogations, making their content inadmissible as evidence.
Nationwide News barrister Alec Leopold tendered documents in support of his case, including letters from Mr Habib to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Copies of Mr Habib's passport and travel records were also tendered, along with transcripts of various interviews with Mr Habib conducted by ASIO and federal police officers.
The tendered material has not yet been released to the media, pending consent by federal intelligence agencies.
Mr Leopold said a number of officers, codenamed Officer 1, 2 and 3, would be called as witnesses on Friday, and he flagged the possible need for their evidence to be heard in closed court.
Justice McClellan said he was reluctant to do so.
"Before I take the step of closing the court I would need to have a proper basis for doing so," the judge said.
Mr Habib's evidence continues.
Shocking details of torture in Pakistan. I am posting the full article because you can expect a clamp down very soon.
"Before I take the step of closing the court I would need to have a proper basis for doing so," the judge said."
This story needs to get exposure in the USA.
FORMER Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib says he was injected with drugs in front of an Australian official while being interrogated in Pakistan.
Mr Habib was visibly distressed while giving evidence today at a second-stage defamation hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, weeping and at one point asking for a break as he spoke of his alleged torture.
Justice David McClellan is hearing evidence on defences and damages in Mr Habib's defamation case against Nationwide News.
Nationwide News is owned by the parent company of the publisher of News.com.au
A jury earlier found that an opinion piece by columnist Piers Akerman defamed Mr Habib by implying he falsely made claims about torture.
Mr Habib told the court today he had been beaten with sticks, kicked and suspended by his wrists from the ceiling for hours at a time, and had been given electric shocks that were so severe he fainted.
He had been deprived of sleep and blankets and served food that was so bad "you can't even smell it".
Egyptian-born Mr Habib said he had been drugged during his imprisonment in Pakistan and Egypt, sometimes daily.
"I feel like a crazy, I would say stuff like a mental person," he said.
"I lost all my memory, I don't know where I am, I don't know who I am."
Mr Habib said he had been given a needle containing drugs before his second interview in Islamabad in October 2001.
"Before and in the middle (of the interview)," he told the court.
A man who had introduced himself as Alastair Adams, an Australian official, had been present while this occurred, Mr Habib said.
Other Australians, as well as Americans, were present at a number of other interrogations and interviews, he said.
Mr Habib said that in Egypt, he was shocked with Taser guns and a powered machine with voltage controls.
His fingers were all broken and the nails torn away, he said.
Mr Habib was unable to go on, closing his eyes and turning away from the court when asked what his torturers did with dogs.
"They tied up my hands behind my back and they put shackles on my feet, and I have to be naked," he said.
"My face was on the floor because the dog (was) on the top of me, they do sexual things."
Mr Habib's lawyers argue that he was "shackled, drugged and tortured" during some of his interrogations, making their content inadmissible as evidence.
Nationwide News barrister Alec Leopold tendered documents in support of his case, including letters from Mr Habib to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Copies of Mr Habib's passport and travel records were also tendered, along with transcripts of various interviews with Mr Habib conducted by ASIO and federal police officers.
The tendered material has not yet been released to the media, pending consent by federal intelligence agencies.
Mr Leopold said a number of officers, codenamed Officer 1, 2 and 3, would be called as witnesses on Friday, and he flagged the possible need for their evidence to be heard in closed court.
Justice McClellan said he was reluctant to do so.
"Before I take the step of closing the court I would need to have a proper basis for doing so," the judge said.
Mr Habib's evidence continues.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
HOWARDS END
For millions of ordinary people, Howard’s humiliation at losing his own seat was just deserts for a man widely recognised as guilty of monstrous crimes. These include not only the war crimes relating to his participation in the US-led attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan, but also those arising out of his brutal immigration and refugee policies, including the 2001 sinking of the “SIEV X” asylum seeker boat, which resulted in the deaths of 353 men, women and children.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/nov2007/vote-n26_prn.shtml
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/nov2007/vote-n26_prn.shtml
Friday, November 23, 2007
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
BALANCE
Once upon a time in the kingdom of Heaven , God went missing for six days.
Eventually, Michael the archangel found him on the seventh day resting.
He enquired of God, " where have you been? "
God pointed downwards through the clouds. "Look Michael, look what I've made," said God.
Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, " what is it ? "
"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."
"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.
God explained, pointing down to different parts of the earth, "For example, Nth America will be a place of great opportunity and wealth while Sth America is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot and Russia will be a cold spot."
"Over there I've placed a continent of white people and here I've placed a continent of black people." God continued pointing to different countries.
"This one will be extremely hot and arid and this one will be very cold and covered in ice."
The archangel, impressed by Gods work, then pointed to another area land and asked,"what's that ?"
"Ah", said God. "That's Western Australia, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful people, impressive towns; it is the home of the worlds finest artists, musicians, writers, thinkers, explorers and sportsman. The people from Western Australia are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found travelling the world.
They'll be extremely sociable, hard working and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as speakers of truth."
Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, "What about balance God, you said there will be BALANCE!"
God replied very wisely, " Wait till you see the wankers I'm putting on the East Coast"
Eventually, Michael the archangel found him on the seventh day resting.
He enquired of God, " where have you been? "
God pointed downwards through the clouds. "Look Michael, look what I've made," said God.
Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, " what is it ? "
"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."
"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.
God explained, pointing down to different parts of the earth, "For example, Nth America will be a place of great opportunity and wealth while Sth America is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot and Russia will be a cold spot."
"Over there I've placed a continent of white people and here I've placed a continent of black people." God continued pointing to different countries.
"This one will be extremely hot and arid and this one will be very cold and covered in ice."
The archangel, impressed by Gods work, then pointed to another area land and asked,"what's that ?"
"Ah", said God. "That's Western Australia, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful people, impressive towns; it is the home of the worlds finest artists, musicians, writers, thinkers, explorers and sportsman. The people from Western Australia are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found travelling the world.
They'll be extremely sociable, hard working and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as speakers of truth."
Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, "What about balance God, you said there will be BALANCE!"
God replied very wisely, " Wait till you see the wankers I'm putting on the East Coast"
Saturday, October 27, 2007
RUMSFELD RUNS AWAY
RUMSFELD FLEES FRANCE FEARING ARREST
"Rumsfeld must be feeling how Saddam Hussein felt when US forces were hunting him down," activist Tanguy Richard said. "He may never end up being hanged like his old friend, but he must learn that in the civilized world, war crime doesn't pay."
http://wor.ldne.ws/node/8596
Those who order the commission of war crimes, as defined by the Geneva and Hague Conventions in regards to conduct of war, 'shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death'
This may explain why the US Government is trying to block all torture lawsuits, because under US law, those who authorized the torture, which has resulted in deaths, are looking at the death penalty themselves.
US Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 118, § 2441
"Rumsfeld must be feeling how Saddam Hussein felt when US forces were hunting him down," activist Tanguy Richard said. "He may never end up being hanged like his old friend, but he must learn that in the civilized world, war crime doesn't pay."
http://wor.ldne.ws/node/8596
Those who order the commission of war crimes, as defined by the Geneva and Hague Conventions in regards to conduct of war, 'shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death'
This may explain why the US Government is trying to block all torture lawsuits, because under US law, those who authorized the torture, which has resulted in deaths, are looking at the death penalty themselves.
US Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 118, § 2441
UNACCEPTABLE COSTS
AUSTRALIAN troops, who feared many civilian casualties in an Afghan operation, refused to take part in the Dutch-led assault on advancing Taliban militia.
Almost 70 civilians died when Dutch forces fought a 500-strong Taliban assault in the Chora Valley
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22661193-23109,00.html
The army's Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy has reiterated Australia's commitment to avoiding civilian deaths wherever possible.
"Nothing undermines the credibility of our efforts more than the unintended killing of civilians," he said
Almost 70 civilians died when Dutch forces fought a 500-strong Taliban assault in the Chora Valley
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22661193-23109,00.html
The army's Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy has reiterated Australia's commitment to avoiding civilian deaths wherever possible.
"Nothing undermines the credibility of our efforts more than the unintended killing of civilians," he said
GENUINE HERO
"The nation today has lost a genuine hero. The army has lost a gallant and respected soldier."
Australias crack SAS regiment is based here in Perth, Western Australia. Sergeant Matthew Locke will be sadly missed.
A true hero, he was slain after exposing himself to enemy fire in a desperate effort to call for support, he was shot twice and still managed to make the call for help, probably saving his entire patrol. Sgt Locke died from his injuries shortly after.
The sooner Aussie troops are home the better.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Our Beloved Possilfossil
Possil, was loved by many and will be missed. He was a wonderful father of eight and was father, friend, brother to so many more in paltalk. My heart is heavy with sorrow that some think of his death as a way to play games and use it as a way to retaliate some imagined defloration of their precious nick on pal. Shame to you I say.
Most paltalkains are decent and caring people, no matter our different views on issues, to you all I want to thank you.
Possil, I know you are now with your lovely wife and look down upon the rest of us with well wishes for us all. Possil, I can't never put into words how much our chats meant to me or how much they helped me through some of my hardest times. Possil, thanks you so much for the time you shared with me.
and the sun has set for me.
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little—but not too long,
and not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that was once shared.
Miss me, but let me go.
For this is a journey we all must take,
and each must go alone.
It’s all a part of the master’s plan,
a step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick of heart,
go to the friends we know.
Bear your sorrow in good deeds. Miss me,
but let me go.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
ETHICS OF ALJAZEERA
Code of Ethics
Being a globally oriented media service, Al Jazeera has adopted the following code of ethics in pursuance of the vision and mission it has set for itself:
1. Adhere to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political considerations over professional ones.
2. Endeavour to get to the truth and declare it in our dispatches, programmes and news bulletins unequivocally in a manner which leaves no doubt about its validity and accuracy.
3. Treat our audiences with due respect and address every issue or story with due attention to present a clear, factual and accurate picture while giving full consideration to the feelings of victims of crime, war, persecution and disaster, their relatives and our viewers, and to individual privacy and public decorum.
4. Welcome fair and honest media competition without allowing it to affect adversely our standards of performance so that getting a "scoop" will not become an end in itself.
5. Present diverse points of view and opinions without bias or partiality.
6. Recognise diversity in human societies with all their races, cultures and beliefs and their values and intrinsic individualities in order to present unbiased and faithful reflection of them.
7. Acknowledge a mistake when it occurs, promptly correct it and ensure it does not recur.
8. Observe transparency in dealing with news and news sources while adhering to internationally established practices concerning the rights of these sources.
9. Distinguish between news material, opinion and analysis to avoid the pitfalls of speculation and propaganda.
10. Stand by colleagues in the profession and offer them support when required, particularly in light of the acts of aggression and harassment to which journalists are subjected at times. Cooperate with Arab and international journalistic unions and associations to defend freedom of the press.
Being a globally oriented media service, Al Jazeera has adopted the following code of ethics in pursuance of the vision and mission it has set for itself:
1. Adhere to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political considerations over professional ones.
2. Endeavour to get to the truth and declare it in our dispatches, programmes and news bulletins unequivocally in a manner which leaves no doubt about its validity and accuracy.
3. Treat our audiences with due respect and address every issue or story with due attention to present a clear, factual and accurate picture while giving full consideration to the feelings of victims of crime, war, persecution and disaster, their relatives and our viewers, and to individual privacy and public decorum.
4. Welcome fair and honest media competition without allowing it to affect adversely our standards of performance so that getting a "scoop" will not become an end in itself.
5. Present diverse points of view and opinions without bias or partiality.
6. Recognise diversity in human societies with all their races, cultures and beliefs and their values and intrinsic individualities in order to present unbiased and faithful reflection of them.
7. Acknowledge a mistake when it occurs, promptly correct it and ensure it does not recur.
8. Observe transparency in dealing with news and news sources while adhering to internationally established practices concerning the rights of these sources.
9. Distinguish between news material, opinion and analysis to avoid the pitfalls of speculation and propaganda.
10. Stand by colleagues in the profession and offer them support when required, particularly in light of the acts of aggression and harassment to which journalists are subjected at times. Cooperate with Arab and international journalistic unions and associations to defend freedom of the press.
Monday, October 22, 2007
COMMUNISTS SPACE BRANCH
China has ambitious plans for manned space missions, including setting up a permanently manned space station and eventually a base on the moon.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/240026BF-3DD9-47F5-AE64-3AE0E8A871CF.htm
While we embroil ourselves in disasterous wars of conquest, China is getting on with it. Stephen Hawking has warned us that humanity should strive to inhabit other worlds, for the survival of humanity and perhaps life itself.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/240026BF-3DD9-47F5-AE64-3AE0E8A871CF.htm
While we embroil ourselves in disasterous wars of conquest, China is getting on with it. Stephen Hawking has warned us that humanity should strive to inhabit other worlds, for the survival of humanity and perhaps life itself.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
AUSTRALIAS POVERTY SHAME
Despite unprecedented economic growth, largely fuelled by demands forresources by countries like China, there remain some two million Australians who live in poverty. There is also evidence to suggest that a significant portion of this group -nearly 10% of Australians- are being systematically excluded from the benefits of prosperity by government policy driven by big business interests and narrow electoral horizons.
http://www.acoss.org.au/upload/publications/papers/3393__Paper%20151%20Towards%20a%20fairer%20Australia.pdf
It's a dry document to wade through (Australian Council Of Social Security report) but the facts and figures are all there and verified.
A handy resource if you intend to QUESTION the candidates in the Nov.24th election.
http://www.acoss.org.au/upload/publications/papers/3393__Paper%20151%20Towards%20a%20fairer%20Australia.pdf
It's a dry document to wade through (Australian Council Of Social Security report) but the facts and figures are all there and verified.
A handy resource if you intend to QUESTION the candidates in the Nov.24th election.
YEAH RIGHT, OY VEY!
"Our extensive six week investigation found that this was an isolated incident and that the weapons never left the custody of airmen, were never unsecured,''
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22617893-401,00.html
Another complicit press whitewash... When are you going to DEMAND THE TRUTH?
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22617893-401,00.html
Another complicit press whitewash... When are you going to DEMAND THE TRUTH?
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