I don't want your sympathy. I don't want your comments or your emails. I just want you to know that I'm in hell again. If the do-gooder in you absolutely must send me kind thoughts, please do it telepathically.

But you know what's really sad? It's that there's nowhere to go (other than a loony bin) if you can't cope anymore and you desperately want to just find a very basic sanctuary with a bit of quiet and some privacy and two simple meals a day till you either get back on your feet or till death mercifully finds you. I get a veterans pension, but there's just no decent places to go...

I obviously want too much...

Is Howard a blathering fool?

So our Prime Monster, John HoWARd, has just been to London and been thoroughly worked over by Joseph Goebbels's Blair's British Propaganda Machine.

Freshly charged with exciting new "facts", he has emerged brimming with excitement from "in depth briefings" to tell us "The biggest thing that I have learnt by a country mile out of my visit, particularly to Britain, is the extraordinary value of surveillance cameras,"

And a spontaneous chorus of support then errupted when the Justice Minister, Chris Ellison, and the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, who said CCTV "being in place in so many different locations" had "clearly proved to be very effective".

Excuse me, Mr Prime Monster, but the cameras did nothing to deter the bombings...

My obviously warped views are stupidly supported by terrorism expert at the Australian National University, Clive Williams who reporteldy said that closed-circuit surveillance would do little to stop terrorism.

No shit Sherlock!!!

The SMH has the Full Story >>>

what do we do if...

...what they did beggars belief?

(This item started life as part of a comment further down in this blog.)

It's so easy to dismiss a really way-out plot as mere "conspiracy theory". On the other hand you don't want to overlook what might really have happened.

So, what to do?

Easy! Just trust and believe the government, the military planners (of which I was once a peripheral one), and the spooks.

They would never lie to us, would they?

the trouble with democratic governments is...

...they are made up of politicians who got elected by telling us that which we most wanted to hear. This presumes the voter has even the faintest glimmer a clue...

A very fraught presumption indeed...

Suppose for a moment that what is really in our best interests is far removed from what we most want to hear...

What price democracy then?

Hmmmmm... ???

poor thing... she's gone mad you know...

She is insane. Check it out for yourself. Her shrink probably advised her to put it all on the web as some form of outlet. And what an impressive effort she has made too.

But...

Such a total unquestioning certainty of her own reality/ideas/beliefs.

It's that totality which marks her as one who has journeyed into insanity with only a one-way ticket in her pocket.

But she is probably harmless. There are many others who are like her. Only the difference in their beliefs separates them. But there are also True Believers who belong to political parties, governments, religions, sects, cults, movements, etc., who are not harmless because, unlike this woman, they are prepared to kill in the name of their beliefs.

This brings us to the subject of pacifism. And talk of pacifism usually brings us to the mooting of a right to kill in self-defence.

It is the question "Who should decide if someone has the right to kill in self-defence?" which I'd like to debate.

Any takers?

this might be more your speed....

This link was sent to me via a local movement-for-change email list I subscribe to. I found it interesting. You might too.

racism and "the war on terror"...

(This started as a comment further down in this blog, but it's too good to leave hidden there.)

I think the Coalition of the Killing's mass murder and vilification of Islam has bred a lot of racism (both amongst Anglophones and the victims of Anglophones). It started well before 9/11 with how "Islamic terrorism" has been explained to the people via a whole bunch of Big Lies.

And now, you'll notice we're using every propaganda device possible to get our people to back this current bunch of murderous liars when they decide to attack China. The "fear China" campaign has started. They know fear leads to hate quicktime. And hatred supports wars.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I predict that in the not too distant future the War On Truth will be so far advanced that people who say what I'm saying now will be silenced under new "anti-terrorism" laws.

That's why I say that if the American (and the British, but more importantly, the American) people do not stage a mass revolt (via peaceful people power of course) to read the riot act to these maniacs, a window of opportunity will close and dissent will be brutally stamped out, resulting in a period of NeoCon Inquisition which will go on for centuries in a Brave New World within which I will refuse to live (that's if they haven't killed me by then.)

I'm not at all joking when I say that the fate of the world right now rests with the American people. If they do nothing now, it'll all be too late by the time the next elections come (and by then the bastards' propaganda grip will be so tight our eyes will water.)

Let me also use this as another opportunity to say "Hi" to those psychopathic dorks working for the NSA, CIA, FBI, GCHQ, ASIO, DIO, AFP, etc, and their respective military muscle. You are the real traitors to humanity, democracy and freedom. I hope you all rot in hell.

Fuck you George Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard and your entourage of sell-out merchants. I hope history does to you that which decency and the law prevents me from doing to you... You BASTARDS !!!

The thought of mounting a hunger strike outside our Federal Government building is starting to get real solid. I'd just need to get the right media and personal support network in place and then I might be up for it...

Might see you at Gitmo, dudes and dudettes.

all together now...

What we need is a great big melting pot... (don't forget to turn up your volume) And that song was dedicated to Andrew Fraser, a man in dire need of a bit of education...

Blame Brownie for this post...

Jihad against negative people...

Ok, today we'll try to get our brains around The Big Topic. It's so big that only those with truly big brains (like mine for instance) should attempt it. The rest of you can sit on the sidelines, quietly playing with your toys, whilst your betters debate the issue. OK? Good.

The topic: Is it all mind over matter?

Today's rant will be an exploration, at the global level, along the lines of "if so, then what?" With a Yoda-like "Hmmmmm?" added for effect.

I first hinted at it here.

I woke up this morning wondering about all of my "negative", "doomsday" ramblings. And I wondered if the world would suddenly become "paradise" if we all became "positive". And two things struck me:

* It ain't going to happpen any time soon.

* Maybe it was just "negatives" like me who prevented it from happening.

So what stops us being "positive"? A thousand things. And they all have one thing in common: Each of them is caused by a fear of one kind or another. Fear stops us being "positive". And this is where we fall into the "whatever you do, don't think of blue camels" paradox.

So, in keeping with the first tenet of pseudo-enlightenment, I advocate the following steps be taken to "save" the world:

* Start the Church Of Positive Thinking.

* Condemn all negativity and fear.

* Blame all of the world's ills on negativity and fear.

* Avoid all negative and fearful people and if they don't shut up, kill them.

Oh... And try to remember... Fearing fear is where it all begins... Hmmmm?

racism rears its ugly head again...

Today's Letters page in the SMH... The featured topic was Acting Professor Andrew Fraser's views on non-white immigration, which frankly, I find to be disgustingly racist. Here's an analysis:

Letters featured: 5
Letters agreeing with Fraser: 2
Letters disagreeing with Fraser: 3 (So far, so good)
100% of those agreeing with Fraser had Anglo surnames.
100% of those disagreeing with Fraser had non-Anglo surnames. Two had distinctly Asian surnames and the third was very likely Spanish or Portuguese.

Is it just a coincidence that the SMH featured no letters by Anglo critics of Fraser? Really? Sorry if I think it's all a bit suss... My respect for the SMH has just taken a big dive....

Update - Tue 19 Jul 05: In a phone poll on Ray Martin's A Current Affair, 85% of callers were in agreement with Fraser. So maybe the SMH experienced a similar trend in Letters.

I'm disgusted with the racism still embedded in the psyche of white Australia. Disgusted. I'm ashamed to be white. It's like now I'm a stranger in a strange land. I'm even gladder now that I handed my medals back in 2003. Fight for this country? Man, I wouldn't even spit on it!!!

The Most Cowardly War in History

Opening Statement of Arundhati Roy on behalf of the jury of conscience of the World Tribunal on Iraq.

(Published in Tikkun, a Jewish online magazine. Tikkun is also an interfaith movement.)
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a bit of an intsum...

So the London bombers had been to Pakistan where it is suspected they had recieved indoctrination and training. Pakistan. Yes, Pakistan. Not Afghanistan, Pakistan.

Bush, Blair and the idiots running this country all said we'd wage against any country that harbours and trains terrorists. They haven't got the guts to try to take on Pakistan. They only attack easy pieces like Lybia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Just as well. Pakistan would eat them alive. They know that if they attacked Pakistan the blowback would be horrendous. Likewise if these idiots dare touch Iran.

Here's my free Intsum for Bush and his band of murdering thieves:

(1) 9/11 was a message. A message to stop the abuses against the Palestinians and the Iraqis; to withdraw the US military presence in Saudi Arabia; to stop US machinations in Islamic and Arab countries. The message was clear.

(2) The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have been a huge recruiting bonanza for al Qaeda.

(3) Al Qaeda has morphed and is continually morphing. It is more decentralised and comparmentalised these days. Invading one country makes little difference to their overall operational capability. In fact it boosts support.

(4) It's no longer just al Qaeda. New organisations are being spawned by your imperialist machinations and mad aggression.

(5) Nothing short of a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia will stop operations against Coalition targets either abroad or in Coalition countries. Oh, and it might be an idea if you stopped all military and financial aid to Israel until it withdraws the IDF and dismantles all settlements in the West Bank as well as Gaza. An even more convincing gesture might be if you used your marvellous military might (on its way home from Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.) to drop by Palestine for a very brief visit to drive the IDF and the illegal settlers out pronto. Now that might win you back a bit of cred on the Arab street.

(6) The problem is not Islam or al Qaeda, etc. The problem is US and British foreign policy towards Arabic and Islamic countries and people. They will no longer tolerate interference in their affairs or the theft of their resources.

(7) Your idea of a "war on terror" merely increases the incidence of "terrorism". The more you kill on foreign soil, the more your own will die. Go home. Stop interfering in their affairs.

(8) If you respect their right to non-interference from "the West", Israel, the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, G8, etc, "terrorism" will virtually vanish. Your economy is headed unstoppably for disaster anyway - your murderous schemes are only making it worse for you in the long run.

(9) They're onto your game. The game's up. Forget it. They're not having any of it. Get a new game. Go home and stay home. Spend a few decades eating humble pie. Rebuild your economy in ways that don't rely on the exploitation and subjugation of foreign lands and people.

(10) Grow a brain. A small one would do for starters...

Note: I do not support acts of terrorism but I understand that our crazy foreign policies have caused the hatred which has spawned them. I believe our response to this terrorism, i.e. the "war on terror", is an even greater form of terrorism than theirs and that it only makes things worse. I believe it gives them even more reason to hate us and thus will lead to even more terrorism. What we're doing is escalatory. I believe that nothing short of a complete cessation of our grand imperial posturings and a sincere "mea culpa" will lead to an abatement of terrorism.

Suki has an excellent, well referenced, parallel piece.
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are you a precious blogger?

I've lost it. I can't hack it anymore. I've hit zero-tolerance level when it comes to precious bloggers.

What's a precious blogger?

A precious blogger is a blogger who

* likes to challenge but cuts and runs when challenged.

* likes to disagree but hates to be disagreed-with.

* likes to opine but hates to have their opinions challenged.

As of this moment, this blog is a PreciousBlogger-Free Zone!

Go and be precious somewhere else, you pathetic hypocritical wankers!

define your terms...

The term "Islamic terrorism"... it slips smoothly under our analytical radar like a stealth bomber... We don't question it. We don't examine it critically. We don't think about what it actually implies. Yet it carries with it a huge payload of dangerous assumptions...

Firstly, there is the assumption that we know what "terrorism" actually means. And yet there is a huge debate and disagreement about its meaning. In the very first post in this blog I defined what I mean by that word:

The word "terrorist" is a highly charged political term. The word as it is used here defines "terrorist" as person who uses any means to kill or maim _anyone_ to further their political, strategic, economic, or religious aims. It follows that all acts of war are acts of terrorism. Therefore to single out any one group or side in a given war as being "terrorist" is merely partisan propaganda and should be dismissed as such.

What I'm saying is that the word "terrorism" is generally used these days in the media and by our political leaders in a rabidly propagandist way. It seeks to invalidate what they are doing to us outside of the essential context of what we have done, or are doing, to them.

Now, let's bring the word "Islamic" into my definition of "terrorist" and see how it looks: We could now describe "Islamic terrorism" as an Islamic reaction to preceding acts of "Zionist terrorism" and "Christian terrorism". I think this is a much more useful way of describing it...

So, let's stop all this bitching about what "they" are doing to "us" unless we're willing to give equal media space/time to "their" bitching about what "we" are doing to "them". And then maybe we'd like start to see things from outside of the "us" and "them" crap and see "them" as "us".

Don't like to be on the receiving end of terrorism? Simple! Don't lie about what you're doing and don't dish it out.

Too Jesus-like for you? Well too bad!!! Take your propaganda and shove it!!!

round and round the mulberry bush...

My attention has been drawn to this comment I added to a post I made deep in the bowels of this blog:

Now you've got America forcing globalised totalitarian capitalism (in the guise of "freedom" amd "democracy" onto the rest of the world via the World Bank, the IMF, and even US Aid. And if that fails, it's time for those two big sticks, economic sanctions and military intervention. The local (target) population has no say.

You've got one brand of (highly discredited) economics being imposed on the whole world and no one gets to vote on it. That's democracy? Big Business has hijacked democracy. You can only have a "democracy" that's Big Business friendly. I hate that kind of totalitarian brand of politics and in that sense I hate America and those who blindly support this shit.

And how can it be stopped if you are prevented from voting against it? You can't even debate it. They will not discuss it. They just deny, lie and obfuscate and that's the killing of democracy right there.

So militant pacifists such as myself yo-yo between ranting, vebally challenging Americans (and their cohorts), or plunging into depresssion, whilst the more articulate and literate people write books on these issues. But the great brainwashed masses won't read them and your "education" systems don't want you to read them.

Less pacifistic militants resort to vandalism, sabotage and guerilla warfare (neatly dismissed as "terrorism") and in the absence of a democratic process inclusive of their voice, I cannot blame them. We know they are fighting for the very survival of their human rights. In a sense they are the last of the freedom fighters.

If there were genuine democratic outlets for their concerns and ideas, I would condemn their violence, but given the seriousness and the urgency of the threat against them and the total lack of genuine debate, negotiation and representation being afforded them, I can only empathise with them and hope that they choose more peaceful means of fighting for their cause, but people being brutalised and victimised rarely resort to "enlightened" methods of resistance (Human Nature 101). And the prime cause for all this lies with "The West" and its top bully and instigator, America the "Brave".

What's this got to do with the London bombings this week? Everything. If these acts of terrorism were indeed the work of al Qaeda carried out in the name of the world's aggrieved and disenfranchised, I condemn them.

Deliberately blowing up innocent civilians is reprehensible. It discredits their cause. If they think violence and murder are justified, then they should at least target the prime instruments of the power with which they have their grievance.

If they must kill people (and I question that), then they should target WTO, IMF, World Bank, or G8 personnel, or the military and police engaged in the direct protection of these criminals. At least then they could perhaps (and that's a very big perhaps) be understood under the caveat of a freedom fighter directly attacking a perceived oppressor.

But they should not under any circumstances target the public randomly and deliberately. That kind of action is inspired by the belief that two wrongs make a right (and so, by the way, is the killing of "justifiable" targets). That is murderous hypocrisy. That plays straight into the hands of the very power they are trying to defeat. It legitimises their enemy. It affords sympathy for their enemy and alienates their own supporters. It is absolutely counter-productive. In a word, it is insane.

On the other hand, if al Qaeda were a "black ops" puppet organisation, infiltrated and influenced by agents provocateur controlled by the CIA, or if the bombings were carried out, not by al Qaeda, but a black ops unit of the CIA passing itself off as al Qaeda, then
it all starts to make perfect sense.
Conspiracy theory?
The American mind could not possibly conceive such a plan?
Oh really?
You really think so?
Then Google this and then get back to me and we'll chat further, my little naïve friend.

Review again the footage of Blair's address at Gleneagles immediately following the bombings. Did you notice the smirk on Bush's face as he was standing behind Blair? He looked as if he was about to burst out laughing at some secret joke. What was that all about?
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mad-dog protesters at G8 summit...

If you've been watching the news you'll have seen the mindless violence and vandalism carried out by some of the protesters at Gleneagles.

As someone who is very much anti-G8, I nevertheless am disgusted that these hoodlums (most of them masked) are destroying the legitimacy of the protests by their violent and criminal actions.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were agents provocateurs, but it's just as likely they were hard-core leftist loonies who achieve nothing except to undermine the credibility of more rational leftist politics with their violent and criminal behaviour.

They do not represent me.
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Chalmers Johnson - Blowback

In 2000, Chalmers Johnson published the book Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, detailing how America's arrogant foreign policy was endangering its security.

On September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden dared to talk back to America, giving a spectacular demonstration of exactly the sort of thing Chalmers was warning them about, and America went nuts - and straight into denial.

Some three weeks later, on September 27, 2001, Chalmers Johnson tried to explain 9/11 to the American people in an article in The Nation, again titled Blowback. I don't think they were ready to learn yet. They were still far too busy going nuts and still far too much into denial. Of course by then, Bush, Condi, Rummy and Dickie had seen their chance and were trying their darndest to make sure America stayed nuts and in denial...

So I wonder if they're ready to read it now >>>

I'm not too sure...

(promped by this post in Antony Loewenstein's blog)
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you make me sick...

The tone of this blog is going to go a bit more strident from here on in. Why? Because time's running out fast and we're still letting the politicians get away with obfuscation, denial, lies and delaying tactics. It's time those politicians who don't want to get on board quicksmart got a few thousand angry voters in their faces, day after day after day...

What's got me ranting again?

Well, do a Google or Yahoo search using the following search string:

"oil depletion" +hubbert +peak

And after you've digested the results of your research, if you still don't get that in five to ten years' time (and that's like tomorrow, dudes and dudettes) the global economy is set to crash into a semi-permanent depression of the kind that makes the 1930's look like sheer luxury, then you're a card-carrying moron.

Next, try this search string:

"water depletion" +"water tables" +aquifers

And now acquaint yourself with the effects on human life of water depletion due to over-consumption domestically, industrially, and agriculturally. Have a look what's happening to water tables and aquifers globally. Notice I haven't even mentioned global warming, climate change or changed weather patterns?

So, if after doing this little bit of research you still don't get that we're using up water at a rate that's heading us toward massive and widespread famine at the same time as our economies will catastrophically collapse, you have the optimism only morons or delusional nutcases are capable of.

I'll say it again: Your politicians will do nothing. They are busily fellating someone high up in Big Business in order to vainly try to guarantee their own survival. Your government will not save you. The rich will bunker down and exploit the near-dead as brutally as never before. Nor will curling up in a denial-induced foetal position and sucking your thumb save you.

For years now you've raved about "democracy" and "freedom". My ears are still hurting from listening to your vapid delusions. Well, my fellow idiots, how will you use your "democacy" and your "freedom" in these last few remaining years (ten at max I'd say) before you will either be dead or a toadying slave to some corporation which keeps you in near-starvation whilst it fulfills its role of sucking sow for the rich?

Have I told you that your selfish hedonism, your stupidity, your self-imposed ignorance, your denial, and your procrastination sicken me? Have I told you that lately?

Now, tell me again, my little brainwashed consumerised morons, what use your "democracy" or your "freedom" is if you don't use it right now to bitchslap (I like that word) your local politican several times a day, every day. But don't misunderstand why I'm saying that bitchslapping politicians might be a good thing. It's not because they'll then go away and fix anything. No, it's because we all know that they won't.

Soon, of course, bitchslapping scumbag politicians will be declared a terrorist activity, and you and I will be locked up and left to die of thirst in jail (you don't think they'll waste scarce water resources keeping "terrorists" alive, do you?) But at least you and I will have one last deep and meaningful conversation about how wonderful "freedom" and "democracy" are...

Off you go now... You loyal little capitalist piggies. Enjoy your "freedom" and your "democracy" and support your troops who are out there putting their lives on the line in a holy crusade to shove your "freedom" and your "democracy" up some other poor bastard's anal cavity in order to impose your laws which will then make it "legal" for BigCorp to suck their country dry of whatever it is you so selfishly "need".

Disclaimer: Bitchslapping politicians is wrong. You must not do it. Talking about bitchslapping politicians is wrong. You must not do it. Reading this blog is wrong. You must not do it.
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