Thought Exchange

For lost Souls swimming in a Fish Bowl

2015-03-23T22:51:00.001+09:30

Almost six years since the last time Moon of Alabama turned the sign at the door to 'Closed'. As time goes by.

But all the while I sit and think

Of times there were before

I listen for returning feet

And voices at the door”

― J.R.R. Tolkien

Any old timers looking for a way to stay in touch, feel free to leave a comment. Alternatively, head on over to LeSpeakEasy, which Okie kindly kept open over the years.

Heads we win, Tails you lose

2009-07-10T01:51:00.010+09:30

The Australian Fair Pay Commission decided in their wisdom to not increase the minimum wage for the lowest paid 1.2 million workers in the country. Not even a measly dollar, or in their terms

“maintain the adult rates of pay in Australian Pay and Classification Scales (Pay Scales) at their current levels.”

Now, just how fair is that decision. Australia has an annual inflation rate of approx 3%, the CPI has risen by 4 points year on year to 166. In other words a wage freeze is effectively a wage reduction. To buy the same $500 of goods and services a week as this time last year you’d need today approx an extra $15. Without that bare minimum increase this ain’t no freeze, it’s a plain cut in real wages, taken from the already lowest paid workers. Happy days.

The reasoning given not to increase minimum incomes by the tiniest little bit is straight from the employers text book, the standard excuse quoted when a justification is needed for denying the lowest paid workers a pay rise, spiked with a little guilt trip for anyone disagreeing.

With economic times being as dire as they are, increasing the minimum wages would push the payroll expenses in some businesses to the point that they'd have to reduce their workforce, driving up the unemployment rate. So how dare you good for nothing commie support measures which would increase the unemployment rate?

Good question. Let me look to the former Goldman Sachs banker and now opposition leader for some guidance on this:

QUESTION: Is a freeze on minimum wage the correct decision?

MALCOLM TURNBULL: Look, I respect the decision of the Fair Pay Commission. They obviously have some…have got to weigh up the arguments, the arguments for an increase against of course the impact on employment and they’ve taken that decision. I think it’s a reasonable one and I certainly support it.

QUESTION: So are lower paid workers better off earning less and keeping their jobs then?

MALCOLM TURNBULL: Look, I think everybody is better off keeping their jobs.

This from the leader of the Australian Liberals (in comparative terms the Republicans, although in reality closer to US Democrats), the party with a history of giving preference to the big end of town over workers. The same old vanilla flavored junk phrases, learned of by heart during the many hours standing around lavish buffets with fellow champagne drinkers discussing the state of their hedge fund portfolios.

And so we hear that when times are lean we can’t increase wages coz it’ll drive up unemployment, in fat times we can’t because it’ll overheat the economy and put pressure on the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates. No matter which way the cookie crumbles, minimum wages have their name for a reason, they must be kept to a minimum.

In a fictional case of lets say a restaurant with 10 employees, 6 on minimum wages, increasing the payroll expenses by 3% would amount to approx $100 per week. Should a business with 10 employees really be in danger of going broke coz it doesn’t have the $100 pw, then quite frankly there is a good chance the firm would go down the gurgler of failed businesses anyway. That’s like the fuel price going up by 10c a litre. If you can’t sustain such a minimal cost increase without having to cut the number of employees, your biz had it coming. Lame excuse, to hold the workers with the least income responsible for bad management. Why not cut the owner’s and manager’s drawings and salary by $50 ea, and e voila, you got the cash to pay your 6 workers $15 a week more. How does that feel? All neo, all liberal? Now that’s what I call neo-liberalism.

Marines on diplomatic mission

2009-07-06T01:40:00.010+09:30

US troops are spreading into Helmand, tasked with clearing the area of Taliban insurgents and supporters, which translates in that province roughly to wiping out a large chunk of its native tribal Pashtun population. At the same time as US forces by the thousands are being helicoptered into remote Afghanistan, Afghan politicians are traveling the country far and wide in the lead up to August’s elections.

As U.S. Marines launched a major offensive against Taliban insurgents in southern Helmand Province, the presidential campaign unfolding in more peaceful parts of northern and eastern Afghanistan last week seemed to be taking place on another planet.

Whether addressing rallies, chatting with voters in the street or receiving delegations of tribal leaders, candidates barely mentioned the violent insurgency that international experts fear could sabotage the Aug. 20 polling.

Instead, the presidential hopefuls stuck to themes they knew would resonate with Afghan audiences. They denounced civilian casualties by foreign forces and called for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban.

So, going by this article we can safely assume that Afghans in general are pissed off about the many civilian casualties and would prefer to come peacefully to some arrangement with the Taliban. What they will get instead is The Surge. Obama delivers the exact opposite of what the Afghan people are hoping for. How come I am not the least surprised?

McCrystal is said to be emphasizing the “protective” nature of the Marines mission, but who is he kidding? The Taliban are everywhere, they are everyone, they bloody well live there.

[...] They [US Troops] will have to overcome deeply entrenched suspicions of American aims in the region, and resentment over civilian casualties inflicted during previous U.S. operations. "This operation will cause even more insecurity," says Joma Khan, a 32-year old unemployed man in Lashkar Gah. "Because when people lose their family members or their houses gets destroyed, then they join Taliban."

Aware of the danger, McChrystal has made the protection of civilians the central tenet of his new approach to fighting the Taliban, even going so far as to limit the use of aerial bombardment to the most extreme circumstances - a turnabout for U.S. ground forces that have grown dependent on air support. McChrystal has also declared in a soon-to-be-released tactical directive that soldiers should hold their fire if there is even the slightest risk of a civilian presence in the target zone. "Suppose the insurgent occupies an enemy home or village and engages you from there, with the clear idea that when you respond you are going to create collateral damage," explains McChrystal. "He's going to blame that on you. Even if you kill the insurgents, what happens is you have made the insurgency wider. You are going to run into more IEDs. You are going to run into more insurgents, [and] at the end of the day you are going to suffer more casualties." [...]

Presumably the same people who believe this “we’ve come in peace” crap will also fall hook, line and sinker for Brig. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson’s feel good spiel:

[...] "We’re doing this very differently," Nicholson said, according to the Washington Post. "We’re going to be with the people. We’re not going to drive to work. We’re going to walk to work."

Nicholson emphasised this dual capacity of the Marines’ mission in Helmand: "We’re not going to measure your success by the number of times your ammunition is resupplied," he told officers. "You’re going to drink lots of tea. You’re going to eat lots of goat. Get to know the people." [...]

Marines without air support embedded in the Pashtun population, walking to work and on orders to drink tea with the locals, which planet is that guy living on? They are neither trained/programmed to be diplomats nor are they known to be nice people one can easily walk up to and have a leisurely chat with. These are schooled killers armed to their teeth good at intimidating and snuffing out lives. James Cogan’s view is imho the closest estimate I came across on how this ramp up in troop presence will play out.

The Obama administration has ordered the 2^nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (2 MEB) into a potentially bloody offensive in the southern province of Helmand. The objective is the suppression of the ethnic Pashtun population, which is overwhelmingly hostile to the seven-and-a-half year US and NATO occupation of the country and rejects the legitimacy of the Afghan puppet government headed by President Hamid Karzai.

Early Thursday morning, 2 MEB began what has been described as the biggest airlift of marines since the Vietnam War. Code-named “Khanjar”—Pashtun for “strike of the sword”—the operation is the largest undertaken by the Marine Corp since it led the assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah in November 2004. In all, some 4,000 marines and a 600-strong battalion of the Afghan Army are involved, supported by an array of jet fighters, unmanned drones and helicopter gunships.

An article in Friday’s New York Times by veteran war correspondent Carlotta Gall, who has worked in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2001, made clear why Helmand has been targeted for the first major operation in Obama’s Afghan “surge”.

She wrote that the “mood of the Afghan people has tipped into a popular revolt in some parts of southern Afghanistan”. People have “taken up arms against the foreign troops to protect their homes or in anger at losing relatives in airstrikes”.

Gall noted: “The southern provinces have suffered the worst civilian casualties since NATO’s deployment into the region in 2006. Thousands of people have been displaced by fighting and taken refuge in the towns. ‘Now there are more people siding with the Taliban than with the government’, said Abdul Qadir Noorzai, head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission...”

One man interviewed by Gall in June declared: “Who are the Taliban? They are the local people.” Another, whose house was bombed by US jets two months ago, said: “We Muslims don’t like them [the foreign troops]. They are the source of danger.” […]

The offensive has been timed to coincide with the initial stages of an assault by the Pakistani military into the tribal agency of South Waziristan. The ethnic Pashtun tribal agencies are largely controlled by Islamist movements with close links to the Taliban, who provide Afghan guerillas with safe haven and contribute their own fighters to the anti-occupation insurgency. […]

The marines in Helmand will duplicate the methods used by the US military in Iraq and they are well qualified to do so. Most of the 2 MEB units, and many of the officers and enlisted men, served one or multiple tours in Iraq’s western province of Anbar. The surge tactics were first tested in Anbar, a centre of Sunni Arab resistance to the US invasion. Over two years, the marines honed their counter-insurgency methods at the cost of thousands of Iraqi lives and the repression of the entire population.

Everyone in the newly occupied areas of Helmand—men, women and children—will be treated as potential insurgents. Bases will be established in towns and villages, from which US troops will use intimidation to identify resistance fighters. Afghans will face constant road-blocks, identity checks and searches. Men of fighting age will have to endure the most humiliating treatment. Local tribal leaders will be offered cash bribes to order their clans to collaborate with the occupation. If they refuse, they will be marked as Taliban sympathisers [...]…. Read the full text here.

For the people living there it’s a lose/lose situation, and I have a feeling that when US troops will be leaving Afghanistan at some point in the future, they’ll be just as popular amongst “the liberated” as they were in Vietnam on their day of departure or now in Iraq.

Ideas for New Beginnings

2009-07-05T10:39:00.008+09:30

Debs on MoA's Open Thread makes a good point, suggesting we better get a move on with our deliberations on where we want to create a new blog/forum, what form it should be in, and once there is a consensus, proceed with setting up the new site.

As he rightly puts forward,

The person who takes on the co-ordination team leader role needs to be located in either europe or amerika so they are close to web servers and the like (there is only one not very fat pipe running in and out of where I live) and in time zones that don't clash with everyone else's when real time communication is necessary.

So, someone or a group of people has to grab the bull by the horns and start operation Moon Evolution. With my rather limited web design skills, apart from irregular posts, the only assistance I can offer is monetary.

What are your thoughts on how to get this project of the ground?
.

News & Views

2009-07-05T06:53:00.004+09:30

Bankster Bailouts Of 2008/9 Exceed Over 200 Years O f Major Governm ent Spending .... Biggest heist ever.

Honduras - Apparently the coup makers are not only out of bounds, they are out of their m inds as well...

Also found via IncaKolaNews (above), In Honduras, a media crackdo wn.

Europe - This is disgusting: OSCE equates the Soviet Union with Nazi Germany. "Out of 385 assembly members, only eight voted against the resolution." More at Russia Today, with criticism including a quote from Greek Communist MP Kostas Alissandrakis who says the resolution is "not aimed against Stalin, who is long dead, but against Communism in general, and in the times of a crisis, when workers’ discontent is on the rise”. [hat tip to Alamet]

Moon over Palestine

2009-07-04T18:54:00.008+09:30

Buenas Dias companeros, should you have come by here via Alabama's Moon, herzlich willkommen. Since Lespeakeasy was torpedoed by some rotten moron, should you feel like grabbing a chair and hang here till a better site is found, I'd be more than flattered to have your company. Chairs and lounges are meant to be comfy and the fridge is over there next to the slightly worn out turn table on the left and the coffee machine on the right. Grab a coldie or pour yourself a cuppa and share your thoughts.

In case you feel like authoring a post, and let’s face it, this place would certainly benefit from some smart people adding to the scrawny list of posts I managed to accumulate over the past three years, please contact me via my profile below on the left. Once I’ve added your e-mail to the recognised author list you should be able to publish new posts.

In the meantime, as some food for discussion. As you can see from the blogroll, the Palestinian issue is close to my heart. I occassionally donate money to benevolent organisations trying to help the beleaguered and suffering population in Gaza, such as the IRC or the Free Gaza movement. And the latter had its boat, loaded with humanitarian supplies, seized by USraeli forces. Via Uruknet:

Bethlehem - Ma'an - A top United Nations official in a statement on Friday denounced Israel's seizure of a humanitarian aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip earlier this week.

The UN official, Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk, denounced what he called the unlawful naval seizure by an Israeli gunboat on Tuesday.

"This Israeli action implements its cruel blockade of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza, in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that prohibits any form of collective punishment directed at an occupied people," Falk said.

The seized vessel was carrying medicine and reconstruction material to the blockaded people of Gaza, and was carrying a Nobel laureate and former US congresswoman when it was seized and towed to the Israeli port city of Ashdod. [...]

"Such a pattern of continuing blockade under these conditions amounts to such a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions as to constitute a continuing crime against humanity," the independent human rights expert added.

In a response to the official's remarks, Israeli Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Aharon Leshno-Yaar attacked Falk, saying he is "known for his bias against Israel and anti-Israel statements," and insisted that Israel is allowing aid into Gaza.

"Clearly the purpose of that ship was to create a buzz and serve as a propaganda vehicle against Israel," he reportedly added, according to Reuters.

The boat in question had been inspected in response to Israeli demands before departure by the port authorities in Cyprus to determine whether there were weapons on board. None were found, and Israeli authorities were so informed, according to the UN official and the Free Gaza Movement, which chartered the vessel.

Nonetheless, the 21 peace activists on the boat were arrested, held in captivity, and have been charged with "illegal entry" to Israel even though they insisted they had no intention of going to Israel. The group included an Irish winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mairead Maguire, and a former US congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney. [...]

In all seriousness, and Bernhard alluded to that in his posts, Israel’s behaviour of strangling its Palestinian neighbours into submission is almost on par with Nazi Germany’s Warsaw ghetto, a holding bin until the final solution can be enforced on any survivors. How can we, in full knowledge of whats going down, witness the atrocities dished out to the helpless people of Gaza and not feel like the Good Germans who all knew about the camps but didn’t act to stop their leaders crimes against their fellow humans?

p.s. Annie, should you read this, ever since I found out about your recent trip to Palestine have I been looking forward to reading your impressions of the tour and a first hand view on the situation there.

Greetings

Picking raisins

2009-03-08T15:36:00.009+09:30

Capitalism & Socialism are portrayed as white v black, two irreconcilable concepts of ownership and class. By doing so, the debate on how to move forward is needlessly polarised, preparing the ground for dogmatists to take over the ship only to ram it against the next best iceberg. By us falling into that trap and not seeing how both systems are partially mutually inclusive we are becoming apostles of a nonsensical dualist approach, similar to the often heard notion of man v nature. Just as We are Nature, so is Capitalism Socialism.

A socialist system of government and ownership of assets still requires capital to operate, and a capitalist system still requires the state to also hold assets and provide a degree of non-productive social security to its people.

Both arrangements contain aspects which are to be endorsed and others which are not in the best interest of the people. Why not pick the raisins from both cakes instead of rigidly defending the taste of one and dismissing the other as uneatable? My idea of socialism is not based on people’s servitude to the state nor does it exclude the concept of profits or entrepreneurship, quite the opposite, effort must be rewarded. But I believe what constitutes effort needs to be redefined.

That a company CEO earns more than the lowest paid cleaner working for the firm is to be expected, but their earnings must be linked. I suggest a ratio of max 20:1, meaning that for the CEO to earn 1 million per year, the lowest paid employee must be on $50K. Should the CEO want to double his income, he must also double the lowest paid employee’s wages.

Private ownership of assets and companies is the way to go, however essential services, such as schools, public transport and hospitals should be state owned or controlled. Capital, eg investment funds and their private equity holders, are not in the business of looking out for thy neighbour, they plan for profit maximisation, which is ok for goods or services that are being sold, but the provision of goods and services to cover quintessential human needs, such as medical treatment, education of the people or commuting between places, should never be allowed to be driven by passion for profits. A society with enough foresight to avoid social unrests or even revolutions should be able to provide its less fortunate members with basic human requirements, such as housing, food and health care in a non-profit framework.

The flaw in the capitalist doctrine is that it is too one-sided in its approach to entitlements, to the point that puritans go as far as to argue against any benefits being handed out to the needy. Stiff shit, that’s social Darwinism for yer, better luck next time. Not recognising that capital itself is constantly asking for its entitlements, as it is also needy. Capital also asks for government handouts, it’s just not called "the dole" but "R&D Grants", "Subsidies" or "Bailouts". Capital is needy, of a peaceful and harmonious society in which it can operate and securely invest its profits, and when listening to business leaders you get the impression they feel entitled to that.

The state needs to be far more regulatory than what it is at the moment, ensuring that the excesses the capitalist component inevitably is drawn to are contained to a reasonable limit and are not running counterproductive to the well being of our fellow men. Free (as in unregulated) enterprise as we know it is the reason for surplus food & produce harvested in a pumper season being destroyed so as to keep the wholesale prices up in the US and Europe. Utter foolishness, and yet that’s what happens.

As Marx said, "From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need." Apply this logic for example to the ever growing disparity between rich and poor nations. Year after year, the relatively few bobs which are given in Foreign Aid by donor nations more often than not disappear in bureaucratic channels or are embezzled by corrupt leaders in the recipient nations. Nobody seems to be accountable for the lack in progress, everybody points the finger at everybody else. There is neither a pragmatic and coordinated approach to FA nor an incentive for the donor nations to ensure long term improvements are achieved. Every five years or so world leaders meet at some posh retreat to discuss the plight of the countless people living in third world conditions, emerge with a communiqué in which they express their firm desire to half within the next few years the number of people dying of starvation, only to meet again five years later to lament how things have gotten even worse. What a bloody circus of fuckwits, drives me mad just thinking about them shits. But what’s even worse is that it is us who elected them in the first place, and when its election time again all their lies and incompetence are forgotten.

So here is my idea on how to tackle the wealth gap across the numbered worlds and improve on that equality thingy. All the world’s countries are grouped by size and ranked by wealth. From the resulting lists, the richest nation is paired with the poorest; the 2nd richest with the 2nd poorest, and so on, till lets say on a list of 100, the 49th is teaming up with the 51st. Now every rich country has one other country it is "responsible" for, which would imho allow for a more focused attitude to FA and over time would lead to better outcomes. If every affluent country would adopt a poor nation of similar size, and without ideological blinkers tried to assist in its humanitarian and economical development, via means ranging from student exchanges to technology transfer, the world would see friendships develop where there were none whilst at the same time causing the boat-lifting tide to rise.

To sum up, Churchill once said "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." I see it the exact other way round, the inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of miseries, the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of blessings. I hope this makes sense and doesn’t sound too rumsfeldish.

Turn on the megaphones

2009-01-07T22:28:00.002+09:30

Although the following article concerns itself with civilian deaths in Afghanistan, I thought it is befitting the mass murder unfolding in Gaza.

Killing of 17 Afghan Civilians in US-led operation

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday condemned the reported killing of 17 civilians, including women and children, in a US-led coalition operation in eastern Afghanistan, the presidential palace said in a statement....

Unable to seek revenge independently, many Afghan men in southern and eastern Afghanistan have joined the Taliban ranks after losing members of their families in international military operations, according to Afghan officials.

At least 1,500 civilians were among the 4,000 people killed in the first eight months of 2008, according to United Nations officials in Afghanistan.

Just like Afghani men in many cases are joining the Taliban, not due to their firm believe in the Taliban's extreme Islamic dogma, but to enlist with the only force out there that is fighting the invaders that killed their loved ones, so will Hamas be strengthened by USrael's despicable attacks on Gaza's civilian population.

The way those fanatic Zionist assholes see it, the more civilians die in the onslaught the better, it means more enraged Palestinians, more olive groves and houses that can be annexed while whimpering about the raging Palestinians.

However, with all our focus on Gaza, it's also worth remembering that our troops, US and allied forces around the world are just as barbaric as the IDF's henchmen. Looking at the numbers quoted in the Uruknet article, 1500 civilians killed in 8 mths in Afghanistan, pretty much in the same fashion as their Muslim brothers in Palestine, leaves one in no doubt that our own governments, people we elected, are just as guilty as Livni or say, Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Minister for Palestinian Deaths. One has to wonder if the Allies' strategic planning in Afghanistan isn't in line with Israel's strategy - antagonize the civilian population in order to create the conflict needed to justify ones presence.

So whilst I understand that people could do with a stiff drink in times like these, it should not be to help us forget our frustrations and to numb the anger, but to warm us up for the cold outside, where we will have to march till our feet start bleeding. Lets not succumb to the feeling of hopelessness and our insignificance. We are not powerless, quite the opposite, WE are the power, we are the people. Should enough of us make a stand, putting for a change our money where our mouths and keyboards are, marching hand in hand by the tens of millions against the system, show enough courage to engage in civil disobedience and withholding war taxes, we will make a difference. 10 million people giving $100 ea, and there is a billion dollars to fight this insanity. And when the money runs out in three months time, we do it all over again, until those fuckers learn that we are serious.

We, not Rudd or Obama, have to get the snowball rolling. Them two soggy face washers won’t, that much is clear from their telltale silence on the war crimes committed by our alleged ally. But how? I hear you ask. How can us plebs make a difference? Easy, all it takes is a conscience and a few spare minutes every so often.

Short from traveling to Palestine ourselves to oppose in Rachel Corrie’s spirit the atrocious crimes committed against nearly helpless people, we can do our bit from wherever we are, in multiple different ways. Donate to any organization that is dedicated to easing the Palestinian suffering, whilst at the same time boycotting any goods and services coming from Israel, or firms associated and in business with Israel.

Let’s not kid ourselves, we all bear in one way or another some responsibility for the misery that exists across the developing world. Our consumer choices play an intrinsic role in the lives of many desperate people. They remain faceless to us, and yet we influence their livelihoods every day we go shopping.

As we blindly spend our monies, it escapes us that by buying thoughtless we are squandering our enormous power. Not as one lone shopper who tries to make a difference, but collectively, as an ever growing number of people who are fed up with the way the system churns out victims.

There are ways you and me can convey our message of disgust to the Israeli government slash establishment. Changing our consumer habits, making sure that no hard earned cent of ours is making its way to this in large parts morally corrupt nation. Let your wallets and purses do the talking, speak out with your cheque books and credit cards.

If we want our voices to be heard, we must first stop whispering, turn on our megaphones. So, to start up, send your English-language article or letter to the editor of as many media outlets as fit in your e-mail composer's To: field.

Once you’ve send your letter to the editors, join the global Consumer BDS movement and Boycott, Divest and Sanction for Palestine.

Find out about which companies to boycott, such as the Arsenal Football Club and Johnson & Johnson. Next time you buy shampoo or baby products, read the label. Anything produced in Israel will have a barcode on it that starts with the three digits 729.

Read about which western brands and labels not to buy, like Maggi, Coca Cola or Nestle products. I know its hard, but it can be done. We all can do it. Write a letter to those firms Customer Care departments and let them know that you have stopped buying their products as they help to prop up or are in cahoots with the Israeli apartheid state.

Also, make sure you check out this list of products from illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. And most importantly, please give generously to

or any other worthwhile cause you identify. Should you be able to afford it, make it a regular donation, regardless of when a new ceasefire will be negotiated. Without ever having been there myself, the images available tell the story - the damage inflicted on Palestine's people and infrastructure is so severe, that aid of any kind will be needed for decades to come. The Palestinian suffering will eventually disappear again from the media radar, it always does, until the next shocking incident brings it all back into the headlines. But the suffering there is not temporary like our news cycles, or shall I say attention span, it is ever present and seemingly permanent. In order for us to really make a difference, we best make any efforts of ours a longer term commitment.

Write, march donate, sponsor, purchase, participate, just do something. Remember - people, united, can never be defeated.

Any old way, no more time to waste, the people in Gaza and Afghanistan are counting on us, desperately.

New Year in Gaza, like the old

2009-01-04T04:15:00.009+09:30

Seeing that it is still early in 2009, time to write my first post for the year. I know, I know, you've all been missing me badly, but as Benjamin Franklin once said, he that can have patience, can have what he will. Anyhow my esteemed readers, best wishes for the New Year. May this turn around the sun bring you & your loved ones inner peace and all the happiness you can handle.

It is however with sadness that I choose the topic for this year’s opening post, but as I write these lines, sitting at my computer, fully aware that I am witnessing today’s Nazis committing mass murder in our day, I can’t shake the feeling that by joining the line of bloggers expressing their grief about the casualties the Israeli dictatorship is raking up in Palestinian lands, I am wasting my and your time. Neither me writing this post nor you reading it will bring back the hundreds of innocent human lives lost so far in the latest episode of this seemingly never-ending drama. The same accounts for the fade of the survivors.

What a sorry affair this conflict around Palestine/Israel has become. It’s a game of Middle Eastern regional power politics being played, with Palestinian and Israeli civilians the pawns ordained to do the bleeding. Just by looking at the time-span this dispute has been allowed to go on for, we get an indication on how disingenuous and two-faced most parties involved really are.

Hamas, in a sense not unlike the Afghani Taliban, has become the genie that can’t be put back in the bottle. Palestine’s Islamic resistance movement, founded in the late eighties by Sheik Yassin, was initially welcomed if not cultivated and fed by US and Israeli clandestine services and their associated puppet regimes in the region. The idea was to help breed an inter-Palestinian rival to USrael’s public enemy number one at the time, Arafat’s PLO. Divide and conquer, tried, trusted, works every time.

Just like the many Arab dictatorships need Zionist Israel to provide the diversion needed to keep their own citizens under control, does Israel need Hamas and Fatah’s existence, their sporadic suicide bombs and mortar attacks. Without them, without the constant fighting, they’d have no more excuse to continue the illegal land grab they are engaged in, and are getting away with under the cover of war.

Instead of de-escalating the situation, Israel does the exact opposite – confining over a million Palestinian people to a penal ghetto, starving the locked up population of humanitarian aid and life’s basics – and then acts shocked when the ghetto inmates fling low-grade rockets at them, crying crocodiles tears and snivelling about the odd Israeli victim.

Israel is doing what it is for the same reason a dog licks its balls, because it can. They feel an itch and know that no-one cares enough to stop them. Israeli analysts have been studying the Palestinian resistance for more than half a century and by now have surely figured out that any military counter-insurgency measures against an opponent that actually lives in the warzone, is like punching your fist into a bucket of water - the moment you pull it out its back to how it was. My bet is that Israel's strategists know full well that the bloodshed will not bring about the end of Hamas, quite contrary, if anything their current onslaught will increase the groups popularity amongst the huddled up masses in Gaza’s basements. So why, if not to feed the flames, this gruesome Israeli military incursion?

Throughout all of this drama, Palestinians pretty much were, and are now, on their own. Their brothers in Egypt & the Arab league can’t come to the rescue, too convenient is the ever festering status of Palestine for Mubarak and his fellow totalitarian Arab leaders.

European powers, as always displaying no backbone when it comes down to standing up for the oppressed, are no hopers too. Merkel and her unconditional support for the Israeli murder spree is the prime example for what Palestinians can expect from the EU. Hollow words and a few shekels to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure - Israel needs new targets for future bombing raids.

And then there is Obama, already a write off, an AIPAC sleeper who got activated; his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who felt himself so obligated that he had to serve his time in the Israeli Oppression Force and whose father it seems was a member of the Jewish terror group Irgun, forget the US admin, bastards the lot of them.

All Obama had to do was come out of his ivory tower and tell the Israeli leadership that if they continue with their atrocious war crimes against defenseless civilians, it will spell the end of any US weapons and logistics support. Not a single bomb would have been dropped on Gaza. He didn't, and hence carries some responsibility for the deaths and injuries inflicted on the Palestinian civilians.

One thing is for sure, and after 40 years of Israel’s continued illegal occupation of Palestinian land one can be fairly certain, the ruling elites across the world will not lift a finger to bring this conflict to an end. They will do what they do best, squabble amongst them in some fancy conference room, only to emerge with a declaration that nothing can be done, calling on both sides to be more friendly to each other. The slow but steady theft of Palestinian land will continue, and so will the suffering.

Should you be so inclined, please contribute to Gaza’s aid.

Every day a golden egg

2008-04-05T20:27:00.015+09:30

When doing time in economics classes, I was taught that if I wanted to sell the item with the highest gross profit margin, I should sell cups of coffee. The substance needed costs about 2 cents to buy and you can sell it for $3 because you mixed it up with free water and kept it warm. Sell $3’000 worth and you’ll have $20 cost of goods sold, or in other words a profit margin of 99.33%, which equates to 14900% mark up.

That is indeed impressive. Not many retail items can claim such lucrative attributes, as a matter of fact I can think of only one other, bank fees.

Erwin Fletcher wants to put aside some money, build up a deposit so he can buy a family home. The idea is that every fortnight, shortly after Erwin's employer deposits the wages into his normal savings account, a certain amount, say $200 dollars, are transferred to a special saver account. So he goes to his bank branch and asks the staff to set up an automatic transfer every fortnight. No problems Sir.

It all goes well for months and months, but then one fortnight he did have only $180 in his regular account, just short of the $200 that is routinely debited. The bank charges him a $30 fee for not having had enough money in the account to do the transfer.

Let’s keep in mind that no bank employee had to move a finger. A computer tried to move money between accounts, but an IF statement in its program stopped the transactions as there weren't sufficient funds. What was the cost to the bank? Nil. But they charged Erwin $30 dollars. The fact that Erwin’s account did not have sufficient funds to be transferred did not inconvenience anyone. He didn’t borrow money from the bank or any third party. A computer program simply did what it was designed to do and not transferred an arranged sum.

The cost of this attempted transaction by the bank’s computer amounts to $0, sold to the customer for $30. Happening thousands of times a day across the nation. This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the many rip off mechanisms the banks employ to make the obscene profits they are known for.

I guess it takes a banker to defend one, and so the Chief of all Australian bankers, Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens, had the following to say at last weeks hearing at the House of Reps committee on Economics:

"While I know, in some ways, people feel aggrieved that banks are highly profitable, there are other banks around the world that are bearing large losses and because of that, they're not in a position to make loans," Mr Stevens said.

"If you assess what's more preferable, the banks we have are far more preferable."

Whilst it is true that it is preferable to have banks which don’t make losses, apologists like Glenn Stevens translate this into banks must reap exorbitant profits.

The banks RBA governor Stevens is referring to, the ones who are currently under liquidity pressure, are not in dire straits because they failed to charge their customers enough bank fees, they are suffering big write offs due to their overpaid management teams not doing their homework and chose to invest borrowed money in crappy repackaged US housing loans, and are now called up on it.

And it’s not, as Stevens seems to imply, that only “other banks around the world” were sucked into the vortex of greed and are now bit by bit spat out at the other end with monster losses, there are potentially plenty of them right here at home. A couple of weeks ago I pointed in a post at the dilemma the Australian banking sector might be facing. According to some analysts, the risk exposure Down Under could be far greater than widely admitted, with the chances being moderately high that the current global liquidity crisis will also be forcing Australian banks to bring out their dead over the next two years.

Businesses, not unlike farmers, know that you gotta make hay while the sun shines, but banks, being masters in the art of cashing in, have figured out a way how to stuff their money sacks no matter which way the weather turns out. The only thing that could change that, is when asset prices are falling. And that is essentially what is happening in the US.

Our bankers know they are not immune to being caught in the global wave of balance sheet write offs due to the contracting US economy and its consequent deflating housing bubble. And so, with an approving RBA governor Glenn Stevens confirming this, Australian banks are already passing on their as yet unidentified but plausible losses to the customers in any shape or form they can. Be that with interest rate rises above the official rate or through ridiculous fees and charges just to have a computer program tell you how much money you allegedly have or don’t have.

Every time someone misses a mortgage payment or hasn’t got enough money in the account to cover an automatic transfer, the banks earn money, not even asking, they just deduct their fee out of your balance. What are the cows in the steeple aka the customers gonna do? Switch banks? They all do it. Massive sums are being raked in that way Australia wide:

Committee chairman Craig Thomson said annual bank profits had climbed to about $4 billion, up from about $1 billion five years ago.

That means quadrupled in 5 years, across the industry, all competitors in unison. Are there four times more customers in the world? No, banks making a packet is due to existing customers simply being milked more intensely. To get an understanding of the banks profit curves, I chose one of the larger banks, one with a pretty consumer friendly name, the Commonwealth Bank, the one that doesn’t like Mad Max koalas in its advertising, which in their eyes makes all the difference.

On the right is a graph I put together on how the CBA's net profits have developed over the past 10 years. And yes, this was your money once, at least if you are CBA customer.

According to the Reserve Bank’s March 07 Financial Stability Review, Australia’s 5 biggest banks made in 2006 a combined after tax profit of 24 Billion dollars. As a comparison, that is 10 times the amount of the federal government’s annual cash surplus, or close to being twice of what Australia spends on defense.

Profits are coming out of their ears, and yet, even in times when growing sections in the Australian housing market are experiencing some kind of mortgage stress, they have no scruples whatsoever to increase interest rates above RBA figures and mushrooming the earnings from fees & other charges.

The real idiocy about it is that banks are actually playing us all for fools and continuously get away with it. Supposedly their role is to be the middle men between the saver and the borrower. B deposits money with the bank, which A then loans, with the bank earnings being the difference between interest earned and paid. That however is not how the scheme is designed. I mean ask yourself, have you ever received a letter from your bank saying your deposited funds were unavailable for the time being because they lend it to someone else?

This is what someone who knows a little bit about the plot had to say:

"Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing."
- Sir Ralph Hawtrey, Secretary of the British Treasury during the 1930’s

This magic trick has a name, its called fractional reserve banking. How it works and what it means for Erwin Fletcher, is worth its own post. Hopefully I will get around to it in the not too distant future.

The George & Kevin Show

2008-04-01T17:34:00.003+09:30

The Australian Prime Minister Kevin “Busy Beaver” Rudd is in Washington. He had a bit of a meeting with the

leader, George Bush Jr., and their mutual understanding was omnipresent. It came as no surprise then when both cowboys in their press conference seem to read from the same script. And true to his word, that his administration will be more “pro-active” in world politics, Kevin went straight for it:

Ahead of the NATO summit in Bucharest next week, Mr Rudd re-emphasised the need for the Europeans to play a bigger role in the more dangerous south of Afghanistan.

Let’s just get this straight. The Australian Prime Minister complains about the European troop commitment to the invasion / occupation of Afghanistan. I am not sure when it was the last time Kevin or his advisors had a glance at the troop numbers supplied by the 40 allied nations to ISAF, the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, but here are some pretty recent figures:

To put these numbers in perspective, of the 39 countries contributing to ISAF, 75% are European who combined provide some 23’000 of the total of 43’000 allied soldiers that make up ISAF, that is more than half the boots on the ground. Looking at the 8 countries who contribute more personnel & resources than Australia, 6 are European. So why this constant blame game?

What is the aim of insinuating that if it weren’t for the lack of courage by the European contingent, there would have been more progress in NATO’s Afghan adventure?

Although it was the US administration which initiated the whole sorry affair that the war in Afghanistan has become, with 23’000 European troops their involvement exceeds the US contribution in terms of man power by 50%.

But then again, Kevin’s remark was not designed to mock the troop numbers of our European allies, but more likely to suggest that the ones that were there are underperforming. Something along the lines of Europeans are cowardly hiding in the “quiet North West” while the Mericans, Canadians & Australians have to do all the fighting in the “dangerous South East”.

According to a CNN count, as of March 28, 2008 there have been 777 coalition deaths – listed in order of casualty numbers:

Whilst the casualty numbers seem to imply indeed that US troops are paying a higher price than many of their European allies, European countries have lost more than 200 of their soldiers in the invasion / occupation of Afghanistan, which is more than a quarter of all allied casualties. Australia had to bemoan luckily only 4 thereof.

This ISAF map shows where the respective nations have deployed their troops. Should, as repeatedly requested by US officials and now not surprisingly Kevin Rudd, Europeans take on a greater role in the south eastern end of Afghanistan and move their units into those hard fought for areas, who would fill the void in the north west? With the Germans, Spaniards, Dutch, French & Italians all moving south, would the Mericans and Canadians move north, in effect swapping jobs with the Europeans? Sounds like rotating NATO troops along the lines of “Come on guys, you do the killing for a while, we’re due for a holiday.”

Be afraid, very afraid

2008-03-26T00:44:00.003+09:30

Bells were ringing, the choir was singing, and Bishop-man deliverd the Easter lecture to his Christian flock. Let’s see what he had to say:

In his Easter message this weekend, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen has warned of the occult.

The Archbishop is particularly concerned about people using the supernatural to contact deceased loved ones.

That’s right dear reader, one of the leading Christians in the country, with a pendant hanging from his neck showing a deceased person on a cross, during a festival celebrating the alleged resurrection of said dead person some 2000 years ago, tells his congregation that to believe someone could establish contact with people who passed away is very silly, supernatural, indeed witchcraft. Mwuahh ha, ha, ha, that is delicious.

A man whose whole professional reality is based on being able to communicate with a dead person, whose religion is based on the idea to promise a life after death, argues that we should be concerned about people trying to contact the deceased. The butcher telling shoppers not to make gravy.

The Archbishop then continued his sermon by sharing with his sheeple the initial finding of his investigation into the phenomenon of people evoking the spirits:

Dr Jensen told ABC radio's AM program there has been a surge of interest non-traditional religions.

"There's become a great deal more freedom than there used to be decades ago, with mind and spirit stuff; new age religions," he said.

"All the sort of stuff you see very prominently in book stores.”

Competition angst, that’s what this is, and as per Religion 101, competition needs to be stomped out. When operating in the holy industry, the standard weapon of choice to smear opposition is to pass judgment and brand them as sects, or as in Jensen’s case, new aged spirit stuff.

My hypocrisy meter almost maxed out when I took a reading on Jensen’s Easter message. Seemingly totally oblivious to the fact that his own religion was once upon a time considered an occult movement, with a guru gathering followers, which then set forth to convince others of their self-righteous claim to be the new, the one true religion, the Archbishop chooses to debase other people’s believe systems coz they aren’t quite as antique as his own.

It appears the priest’s line of reasoning is straight forward – The older an religion, the more believable and true it is. However, following his logic, we should all be converting to Hinduism, the religion with the oldest recorded roots, predating Sumerian, Egyptian and Babylonian cultures. By world religion standards, Christianity and Islam are new kids on the block, new age spirit stuff so to say.

But the Bishop kept the best part for last, where he reveals who his audience should blame for re-birthing this heretic past time of trying to get in contact with the dead. And the culprits are:

"But there's also been a large migrant intake into this country from people who haven't been impacted by Western cynical secularism, but culturally have a strong belief in the afterlife and in supernatural beings; in ghosts and spirits.

"And a surprising number of people therefore who are now living in Australia are quite concerned about, and fearful of I think, of this supernatural realm."

Uhh yeah baby, daft migrants with their unwashed believes engaging in voodoo majic, bringing with them from their homelands all those “occult” traditions the Christian missionaries weren’t able to extinct for good. For their good that is, because as most well read people would know, in the Christian life after death model there is nothing to be scared of. Apart from burning eternally in hell.

So, Archbishopman says don’t try to communicate with any souls in the after life, other than Jesus that is - you are allowed to talk to him. Believe in his father and you got nothing to worry about. Remember Adam and Eve, any indiscretion on this part and you won’t make it to heaven, sorry mate, flames on fire for you. Which probably explains why hanging out in your bookstore’s New Age section will lead you to nightmares.

Happy Easter

On wars, banks and love

2008-03-22T06:11:00.003+09:30

For years I've been dreaming of going to war with some poor country rich in petroil, you know, making sure there will be enough juice for me and my fleet of cars, but with being stuck in our economic boom times, my work schedule simply didn't allow me to start one up. Now that I finally got to the point in my life where I could take some time off, I find out that I also need shit loads of money. According to latest developments, wars need to be paid for.

Iraq, Afghan wars costing $US3 trillion: experts

With the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war just days away, its cost is becoming clearer.

Ahead of that anniversary, two prominent US economists have come up with a new estimate on the cost to the economy of the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. That figure is $US3 trillion ($3.22 trillion)….

The estimated cost so far of Australia's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is roughly $3 billion. But Robert Ayson, the director of studies at the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, says he expects that figure to rise significantly.

Damn, trillions.... thats how many zeros? I'd be mighty surprised should my master card allow me that much. Not with the current global lending crisis anyway, so I guess my war/invasion of target country X has to wait a while, at least until I manage to save up enough dough for a deposit.

I hope you understand that I can't give you exact details about which nation I have in mind. Chances are the country's spies would find out about my invasion plans, their armed forces then propping up their defenses, which would make my job so much harder when its finally time to strike. I can reveal though that it is on an axis of sort, which makes it a very dangerous country.

Lucky here in Australia we had 11 consecutive years of Liberal Party rule, and as every privately schooled kid knows, a Lib government means fat times. So saving up the necessary deposit for my war should be a breeze, with business roaring and interest rates as high as they are. The Australian consumers are loaded, cashed up with real estate equity to a degree that they need to be restraint with rising interest rates. Rivers of honey and milk flowing everywhere.

We don't have no bubble, we won't get no trouble, oh yeah yeah yeah
Let the good times roll, Resources 'R Us
From aluminum to zinc, we got every thing, oh yeah yeah yeah

Wouldn't want to save up for my war chest anywhere else but in Oz, least of all places in the USA. Across the ocean the cogs in the economic wheels are creaking, creating this distinct grinding sound investors dread. It comes therefore as no surprise that Lady Prosperity decided she'll move out for a while.

The other noise thats starting to deafen US Americans is that of chicken coming home to roost. No point in pretending that their dilemma isn't home made, pissing against the wind requires that one changes pants from time to time. In the case of the US this means the entire financial system needs a new outfit, probably even a nappy change.

From riches to rags, the ol' classic. Once the most affluent nation in the known universe, today a banana republic where the Federal Reserve Bank has to resort to having helicopters hovering above Wall Street dropping cash on the nearly bankrupt. Providing massive loans to troubled financial institutions in return for nearly worthless mortgage securities.

Economist Professor Steve Keen, from the University of Western Sydney, made the following observations in an interview on the ABC's World Today:

ELEANOR HALL: What's your view? Is the United States already in recession?

STEVE KEEN: I'm sure it's in recession right now. It's a question of how deep it goes down, and I expect an extremely deep recession. And I'm noticing that quite a few commentators are now coming around to their view. They also suspect a severe recession to occur in America, and we have similar forces afoot in Australia.

We are benefiting from the highest terms of trade in our history at the moment. We're simultaneously running an enormous current account deficit, which is really a crazy combination.

So, we're very heavily reliant upon those prices remaining at unprecedented levels, and they will fall if there... actually there'll have to be a fall in those prices if America goes into recession, and then feeds through to China's demand for our resources and so on. That'll be very problematic for our currency and for our economy.

ELEANOR HALL: When will that hit, do you think?

STEVE KEEN: It's got to be in the next two years. Timing that's any more accurately than that is simply impossible because the whole timing depends upon when we turn around from accepting more debt to trying to pay our debt levels down.

Uhh Lordy, if I understand him right then Keen suggests that Australia will face a similar carnage to what the US is experiencing at the moment, all within the next two years. A world wide economic downturn, triggered by the unfolding US economic collapse, will reduce global demand enough to send commodity prices to lows not seen for quite some time, hitting Australia right in the export eye.

But lucky Australian families were smart enough to stash away their hard earned cash during the fat years, handing it over to people they didn't really know, but who have slick haircuts so expensive looking that who ever sported one had to be a financial mastermind. They tend to work in multi-story high rises, the biggest buildings in town, Australian banks and finance companies.

The really smart bank employees, who not just have expensive haircuts but also wear posh suits and swishy shoes, who have proper titles on their office doors, are normally found from the fourth floor up. They need to be high enough above ground to escape the blaring masses, coz when you make difficult financial decisions - like how to invest your clients’ money – you want to be able to concentrate as much as possible.

Those men and women are pedigree financial planners, making sure Australian retirement eggs and people’s savings are safe and sound. Just how secure Australian banks and their investments really are was illustrated in The Australian last week, when Adele Ferguson wrote a noteworthy assessment titled “Gambles in the balance”. Here an excerpt:

All the banks play the derivatives market. The latest Reserve Bank bulletin reveals that the banks' derivative exposure has more than doubled from $5.4 trillion in 2002 to $13.2trillion in December last year. Given the banks' total shareholder value is less than $100 billion, if even 1 per cent of these $13.2trillion derivatives contracts default because third parties get into trouble, the whole shareholder wealth would be wiped out and our banks could be broke.

To put it into perspective, Australia's annual gross domestic product is just more than $1 trillion and the total budget estimate for federal government expenditure in 2006-07 is $200 billion. Remember the Reserve Bank in its quarterly bulletin estimates that the total risk is $140 billion which, again, is more than the banks' total shareholder value.

What do you say to that? The global economy tanking and Australian banks up to their eyeballs exposed to risky debts. Great, a lose/lose situation. With banks leveraged to the degree they are, fat chance of them giving me the credit I need to pull off my planned invasion. On top of that, should the nation's economy really go as pear shaped as the author of the above article assumes it will, I wouldn't even be able to save up the needed deposit. How on earth am I ever meant to pay for my war?

The new Joint Fighter F-35 Lightning II costs around $200 million a piece, and my military adviser told me I need at least three of them. Plus plenty of cash for rockets, guns and bribery. All these figures confuse the hell out of me, so I made an appointment with my accountant.

We met last week in his office and discussed the plans and strategy. He was quite fond of my idea to kick of the invasion with a big bang, followed by more bangs, and promised me he would have a look into the costings of such an operation. Today he e-mailed me an excel spreadsheet with a recommended budget.

Far out brussels sprout, my jaw dropped to knee height when I opened it. The bottom figure, the one that is double underlined, had so many zeros I have to assume it is a trillion. And then, the comedian he is, he left me a footnote telling me that he reckons that with the current liquidity crisis and all I will have a hard time financing my war. As if I wouldn't know.

Where is Prescott Bush when you need him? He'd love to help me out, I am sure.

Bigot Heaven? Staying at Haven!

2008-03-11T15:14:00.011+09:30

The following line is the marketing slogan of a hostel in Alice Springs:

Haven backpackers is Alice Springs newest backpackers resort, stylish, funky, super clean and with the most friendly welcome possible.

They forgot to add "If you are not Aboriginal, that is." Coz if you are an Indigenous person, and another guest doesn't like your skin color, you are out. No friendly welcome, but a stylish "Fuck Off" is what you'll get. Because super clean means white. How much more funky could it get?

This from Auntie on what went down in the Alice:

An Alice Springs backpacker hostel may face legal action after it turned away a group of Indigenous people because of their skin colour.

The 16 women and children had travelled 300 kilometres from Yuendumu to Alice Springs to train as lifeguards for their community's new swimming pool.

They checked into the Haven Backpackers resort, but a short time later the manager told them that guests already staying there had complained of being scared.

The group included several young mothers and a three-month-old baby. Most were young leaders, chosen specially for their standing in the Yuendumu community.

The resort manager told Bethany Langdon from the Yuendumu Young Leaders program the group would have to leave.

"The manager came out and told me that we weren't suitable to stay there," she told ABC1's Lateline program.

"They said, because you're Aboriginal, other tourists were making complaints that they were scared of us.

"I felt like I wanted to cry, because it made me feel like I wasn't an Australian."

My heart goes out to Bethany and her fellow Traditional Owners who have to endure the deep rooted racism that is still well and truly alive in Oz. I can only imagine the alienation these people must feel - up and down the nation. Let's not kid ourselves, this was by no means a one-off episode. A very well informed source when it comes to racism is of the following opinion:

The Territory's anti-discrimination commissioner Tony Fitzgerald says it's not an isolated incident, but most never get investigated because people don't feel comfortable enough to report them.

A sad affair indeed. In the end the Australian Prime Minister can say sorry as much as he wants to, as long as large sections of the community and businesses keep discriminating against Indigenous folks, his well meant words will be nothing more than window dressing.

The whales are fighting back

2008-03-09T13:12:00.015+09:30

A hunting party of mink whales has caught a crew load of Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean Whalers Sanctuary and killed them for scientific purpose. They then cut them into little pieces, packaged their meat and sold it in Whaleland to their fellow marine creatures (for further scientific research).

The Japanese government is totally outraged, stating that commercial whalers are an endangered species. Harpoonito Massaciri, a spokesperson for the Japanese Department of Fisheries, has requested that the world community is to condemn the killing of Japanese Whalers.

The Orstralian government has since issued a communique voicing its distress regarding the illegal slaughter of Japanese whalers, but maintained that its hands are bound as the mink whales operated in international waters. The Prime Minister’s department has indicated it would send a navy ship into the area to monitor any future events.

In related news, the Japanese coast guards on the whaling ship Nisshin Maru mistook the ship of anti-whaling protesters, the “Steve Irwin”, as an aggressive and murderous whale coming after them. Responding to this illusion they fired shots at the Steve Irwin’s captain, Paul Watson, whose life was only saved thanks to his bullet-proof Kevlar vest.

The Steve Irwin is part of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s fleet of protest ships, manned by people who don't wish to see our planet fade away into a globe of dried up rivers and dead seas. I have always admired the sheer guts and determination of Paul Watson's crew, ever since I heard about them some years ago. The assassination attempt on Watson's life is just another reminder that those folks put their lives on the line to protect one of the most gracious creatures on the planet.

Continued inaction of our governments, who apart from attending meaningless conferences to keep up the appearance, means that no one does jack shit to protect the whales. What else but Direct Action as an option is left? If it weren’t for environmental warriors like Paul Watson and his team at the SSCS, there would be no one making a stand against the hideous rape of our seas and its creatures. May the force be with them.

For further info on how things are developing in the Southern Oceans, check out Paul Watson's blog. I reckon each and everyone of us who has the means and willpower to do something should come on board, in any shape or form.

Despite the popular view that the Sea Shepherd attacking another ship with rancid butter on the high seas is piracy, last week I donated some money to the cause via the Sea Shepherd's online payment system. May I herewith invite you too to spare a few bobs and chip in. And hey, while you have your credit card out, I know some people who would be mighty grateful if you'd gave the The International Committee of the Red Cross in Iraq a hand in providing aid to the many millions of refugees and orphans created by the West's brutal invasion. Thanx - There is a good chance you and I are part of the solution.

Update: North Coast Voices has an interesting write up on how the Japanese yet again are trying to pay their way into whale killer heaven. Also some fabulous links to various whale sounds and songs. Check it out.

The times they are a not changing

2007-12-06T17:11:00.002+09:30

Hola amigos, wie gehts denn allderweil? It’s been a while so it’s time for another post it seems, and it might as well be about what is on everybody’s lips, the change in the Australian government. So here goes, bottoms up.

Hurray, the king is dead, long live the king.

Let us all rejoice for we are young and free of John Howard. No more Abbot, Andrews and Costello, no more Ruddock, just Rudd. And boy is he a fresh face or what?

Unlike Howard, Rudd plans to keep immigrants locked up in detention camps and is happy to have "seaworthy" refugee boats turned around before they reach Australian waters.

SIEV X all over. According to the SMH it’s a bit like this:

The measures bring Labor broadly into line with the coalition's policies.

"You would turn them back," Mr Rudd said of boats approaching Australia.

He said Labor believed in an orderly immigration system enforced by deterrence.

A Labor government would aim to deter asylum seekers by using the threat of detention and Australia's close ties with Indonesia.

Australia's close ties with Indonesia are indeed a threat. I am not sure about you, but to me that sounds like "we decide who will come to this country" in Mandarin. Following logic, in order for refugees to be deterred from trying to make it to Australian shores the conditions in the camps must be as unwelcoming as possible. Far more unwelcoming than a homeless shelter in Brisbane. Kevin Rudd as quoted in The Age:

He also declared himself passionate about tackling homelessness, after visiting three homeless shelters and spending several hours talking to residents there during the election campaign."I think we can do much, much better as a nation for people who don't have anywhere to stay or anywhere secure to stay," he said...

What a man. So hypocritically compassionate, so very Labor. If the human being who has nowhere save to stay is Australian, we can do so much more for her then provide shelter, if they are Non-Australian and got nowhere save to go, they can piss off. There is no other way says Kevin:

But, asked what was compassionate about turning back refugee boats or incarcerating asylum seekers on Christmas Island, Mr Rudd defended the immigration laws… "You've got to have an orderly migration system. The only way you have an orderly migration system is if you have an enforcement mechanism. What's the alternative? There isn't one," he said…

Lock'em up, the only way!!! Kids 'n all, in concentration camps with aggressive guard dogs waiting for a chance to bite. Reminds me of something else I've seen on 60 year old black and white footage taken in similar set ups. Kevin knows what I am talking about:

Citing the history of the refugee convention, forged after the horrors of the Holocaust during World War II in which millions of European Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime, Mr Rudd said: "This is deeply ingrained in my soul about what's important."

How do you reconcile the two statements? The plight of European Jews ingrained in his soul, but ready to lock up people for trying to flee to a secure country with a decent chance of survival.

Death by neglect. Just remember Kev, you now carry the license to kill. And the scary part is that he seems to have no qualms to use it. Following good old Labor tradition, he promised to snuggle up to the only country in the world openly threatening to use its nuclear arsenal, the mighty USA, but that’s probably because their flag looks a bit like ours and is sporting the ALP colours of red, blue and white.

Let me state unequivocally that America remains an overwhelming force for good in the world. Let me state equally unequivocally that America remains an overwhelming force for strategic stability in the region.

Not a word about how the USA has yet again invaded a foreign country and in no time killed upwards of 100'000 civilians and maimed many more. Not a syllable about how this big friend of ours is instigating military coups across the world, their "water-boarding is not torture" camps. Overwhelming force for good. My arse Kevin.

But then, what do I read, cheng beng in the middle of the new Prime Minister's ALP security policy:

...Australia’s participation in the war in Iraq represents the single greatest failure of national security policy since Vietnam...

How is that possible? The two greatest failures of our security policies were both times the result of following the overwhelming force for good into senseless wars, killing millions. My oh my, Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, your hypocrisy stinks to the heavens mate. An apologist if I've ever seen one.

Any schmonz coming from George Bush is regurgitated and presented as Australia's best interest, see also his stance on Iran:

Iran is now casting a longer shadow over the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East. Iran’s influence in Iraq itself through the Shia majority adds to the overall picture of strategic destabilisation. And this emboldened Iran (a state which has long supported terrorist organisations like Hezbollah and Hamas) continues with its nuclear activities.

So then Kevin, are Australian troops on stand by to assist the US & Israel in any military actions taken against Iran? In which drawer is the pair of socks?

The Answer as per Robert H. Jackson

2007-06-03T05:16:00.000+09:30

Hello people, thanx for stopping by. My last post was end of March, unreal how time seems to fly when you’re having fun. Been overseas on business for a week, moved into a new place, and then 9 days with my daughter Indiana (who turned eight a few weeks back), we had a ball. Can't wait to see her again in July.

Now, what really jolted me back into writing a post was a most interesting thread I've read on Moon of Alabama . It's titled In Favor of Killing American Troops. The gist of the original post is that the more US troops die in Iraq, the quicker the US regime will withdraw its troops. Of course, with the MoA's readership being largely left leaning US American, the ensuing discussion turned into a moral minefield.

How can it be right to wish for the death of US soldiers, who are only in Iraq because they were ordered to, and who, despite mistakes by their political puppeteers, are trying to be the good guys in the scenario.

Is it ethically alright to argue that the way out of the chaos in Iraq is more death and carnage?

As the post’s title clearly shows, the MoA’s author, the in Hamburg living Bernhard, takes the stance that it is. He got mega flak in various of the comments and the blog’s generally pretty united community took this home hitting opinion piece to reveal that when it comes down to it, like if it is desirable to see US soldiers killed to stop Iraq’s invasion, some of their viewpoints are actually worlds apart. Well written and imho quite valid arguments on both sides of the fence.

It really is a hard one. I understand Bernhard’s logic, it’s based on the assumption that the occupation itself is largely to blame for the bloodshed amongst Iraqis. The facts speak for themselves. The invasion of Iraq is a self-perpetuating disaster, brutally initiated and maintained by US forces. Every day since Invasion-day four years ago hundreds of innocent Iraqis had to die needlessly in the clashes, and, so the line of thought goes, the longer the US occupation of Iraq continues the more people will die. Hence, whatever helps to end the occupation is good for the Iraqi people.

And loosing steadily more instead of less US troops means the impact of the sheer numbers of GI’s killed will, as it did in Vietnam, finally ween the 30 or so percent left of the war supporting US public from any support for a continued large scale military presence in Iraq . The hope is that enough public outcry would eventually force the White House to bring the troops home. The more GI’s die in Iraq, the quicker that will happen.

On the other hand - and also quite plausible for people without crystal balls - a withdrawal of US troops could actually turn out to be the shifting from 2^nd to 3^rd on the ride down nightmare alley. Opposing militias and other violent elements could act with even less constraints, unleashing a civil war of unseen proportions, causing more hardship to the general populus than if the US troops were there.

Also, the majority of US voters, some 70% percent of the population is already in the "Bring’em Home"-camp, no more casualties needed to convince them. The remaining 30%, the ones who want to see the troops stay on till Christmas and Easter fall on the same day, are largely hardcore "USA Ueber Alles" punters, and more US deaths might not make a crumb of a difference to them.

And who’s to say that the US government, republican or not, would give in to increased public pressure. I certainly haven’t noticed any such inclination in the Bush/Cheney admin, and the current gang of leading Democrats haven’t shown the guts yet either to use the tools at their disposal to force the WH to start pulling out the troops. Be that Obama or Hillary, the political establishment in the US plans to have troops there for decades to come. The booty of having the finger on Iraq’s oil valves is simply too precious, too important is Iraq as a square on the strategic chess board to withdraw the troops in a hurry.

Now, many of the troops caught up in the Iraq quagmire are probably really nice people, citizens who joined the US, Polish, British or Australian Armed Forces for all the right motives, as in protecting their countries and people etc. However, they find themselves being used by their respective leaders to occupy foreign countries instead, fighting a civilian population. I understand that in many a soldier's case Iraq is not their war of choice, just people doing a job to feed their families back home. Is it right to hope for their deaths?

Hmmm, lets see. What are they guilty of? Lets ask a person with a bit of authority on the subject of war and guilt, Robert H Jackson, Chief United States prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials 1945:

"We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it. And we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into a trial of the causes of the war, for our position is that no grievances or policies will justify resort to aggressive war. It is utterly renounced and condemned as an instrument of policy."
"If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us." - Nuremberg Tribunal

Aha, according to the rules back then, they are part of a group of people who are committing what can be described as a war crime, the army conducting an aggressive war. The argument that the soldiers are simply following orders is in my eyes only mildly mitigating, they are still the ones committing the crime, the executioners. If you don’t want to be part of it, don’t be!! At least the soldier has a choice and a protective jacket, the many thousands of now dead Iraqis who died at their hands did have neither.

The Secret Carnage.

By SHERWOOD ROSS
An estimated 78,000 Iraqis were killed by U.S. and Coalition air strikes from the start of the war through June of last year, an article in "The Nation" magazine says.

The estimate is based on the supposition that 13 percent of the 601,000 Iraqis who met violent deaths reported by The Lancet study released last October "had been killed by bomb, missile, rocket or cannon up to last June," author Nick Turse writes in the June 11th issue of the weekly magazine...

With their decision to sign up with the military, in other words their expressed willingness to learn how to kill fellow humans as effectively as possible, their implied readiness to leave brains and hearts at the barracks gate, soldiers forfeit the entitlement to sympathy when KIA on foreign soil for no other reason than a decent pay cheque, owing it to the squad and family honour. They were dumb enough to let themselves be made lackeys of people with as little scruples as they can possibly get away with.

So, despite the harshness of it all, soldiers on the aggressor side are fair game. The laws established and applied in Nuremberg made sense then and do so today. Justice Jackson’s definition of war crimes does include what’s going on in Iraq and by inference legitimises the country’s resistance, at least in as much as it targets only occupation forces.

But the armed resistance doesn’t stop there, and that’s where the whole guilty and not guilty thing unravels. Nothing is as clear cut in Iraq.

Many of the same militias and insurgents who fight the occupiers are also engaged in atrocities amongst the civilian population, displaying a cruelty and indifference to innocent civilian lives which compares easily with the US brutality. These monsters also have to be stopped, if not brought to justice. Who’s gonna do that? Maliki’s goons? Blue Helmets? Hardly.

As the occupying force it is the US troops duty to provide security for the occupied nation’s population. Which requires and consequently legitimises their presence.

So, as twisted as it sounds, the resistance to the occupiers is legit, but so is the effort of the US to stop the resistance. How do you solve that one? A cat chasing its tail.

To conclude, imho the US and allied troops are guilty of instigating an armed conflict, causing the death of thousands of innocent people and wounding many thousands more, which by established measures can be classed as a war crime punishable with, depending on the degree of involvement, possibly even death (see Nuremburg). Should a US or allied soldier die in Iraq, he or she had it coming. Do I wish for their death? A slightly wavering No, on the grounds that I don’t wish for the death of anyone who isn’t really a vicious and savagely murderous person, which I don’t belief a great many of the soldiers are, such a blanket approach is idiotic.

I can’t really make up my mind if a complete withdrawal of US troops will benefit the general population. Despite my readings, I am too far removed from Iraq to make a really informed judgment, my prediction being though that the situation in Iraq - the current civil war between the various factions - will not change. It's hard to imagine that it could get much worse.

It is not that the US troops currently provide a great deal of security, if anything it’s the opposite. You don’t want to drive too close to a US army convoy. To an Iraqi hearing an Apache helicopter circling above is probably also not causing feelings of protection. I therefore believe that a withdrawal presents more a chance for the Iraqi people to come together and move forward as it does represent the loss of an effective and well-meaning guard of Iraqi rights and safety.

Naturally, the home coming soldiers should not be prosecuted, just as the ordinary German soldier wasn’t 60 years ago. But also just as 60 years ago, the leaders who orchestrated this war crime should be held accountable by some form of peoples court, maybe not to face the gallows like the Nazis back then, but at least with a decade of having to wear orange jumpsuits while living in a mesh cage the size of a single car garage, and if naughty (like talking without permission) being chained with both hands to the floor for hours on end.

Fat chance though guess, so the best I can realistically hope for is that as few as possible innocent Iraqis will have to pay with their lives the price levied by the parties involved in the process of the country finding its feet. At the same time I do hope that not more than necessary US and allied troopers will die in the time it takes for the WH to recognise the darkness of its decision to stay on, and issue the inevitable order to start with the occupation’s end.

I hope the goodwill left between the waring camps will be enough to allow a return to senses, particularly the one responsible for recognising that fishing for a positive way forward starts with throwing in a line.

Gap Filler

2007-03-30T17:56:00.000+09:30

Dear Visitors,

I am pretty busy at the moment with work commitments, so I have had to neglect the Linglong Thought Exchange for the last 14 days. But hey, there is light at the end of tunnel and I hope that my next post will be up in no time.

Greetings & Best Wishes,

Juan Moment
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Lyrics - Hans Soellner

2007-03-20T23:31:00.000+09:30

As a feature here at the LTE , I plan to translate every now and then lyrics of songs from my native German language into English, songs that in some way helped shape the views and attitudes I hold today.

The first song in this series is from none other than the man himself, the in my books legendary Hans Soellner. In all my years on planet earth have I never come across another singer like him. It is hard to describe him, so it is probably best if you just read one of his lyrics. The song I've chosen is titled "Hey Staat", meaning in English "Hey State", from his 1989 album with the same name.

Hey State!

I go to school and learn only what you think I need to know, if that is of interest to me is of no interest to you, you couldn't care less
From the beginning, all you are trying to do is to bend me the way you need me, I let it happen thinking that you probably know what's right
Then I go to work and I slog 8 hours every day in my damned job, and from the money I earn you deduct straight away two thirds
And the few bucks I am left with just about pay the rent, gas and light, and I need to go into debt so not to freeze in winter time

Refrain: Hey State, hey State, hey State,..... today I tell you about all the tings I do for you, and then you tell me what it is you do for me

You tell me what I should wear, how to cut my hair, my education and my job. Even my religion you prescribe, and I fool pay although I don't even have a god.
The one who points his finger at me, I am meant to respect and honour him! The one who has killed entire people or converted over the barrel of a gun.
Buying your drugs, beer and schnaps, but you reprimand me when I take'em, discriminate against me because I smoke, hey you are the state, its you who earns.
You are well off because of people like me, for that you should actually be grateful
that we sustain you, pay you, for your blah blah, your insults and lies.

Refrain: Hey State, hey State, hey State,..... today I tell you about all the tings I do for you, and then you tell me what it is you do for me

Oh man, I am not good enough for your daughters, before others you are ashamed of me
You call me a ferral and dumb, should be glad that there are still dumb ones. Only through the brownnosers can you live, through the ones who don't complain and who hold their hands before their mouths when they talk
For thirty years I played along, and did what you told me, but now, that I stand up and stick up for myself, coz' I finally feel that enough is enough, yeah then you call me a grouch and criminal, wishing you could line me up against the wall.

Refrain: Hey State, hey State, hey State,..... today I tell you about all the tings I do for you, and then you tell me what it is you do for me

And today we are standing at the Odeon's Square and are singing "Blowing in the Wind", with thousands of other peaceniks are we standing here,
Three thousand who show you that protests can be peaceful and responsible, but on TV you show forty skinheads on a rampage somewhere.
You show run amok rioters in Wackersdorf*, how bricks and bottles are thrown
But not the protesters who in sympathy care for your police.
Yeah I am ashamed of the people who fired shots at the Startbahn West protest, but its you who makes sure that everyone believes that all of us are like that.

Refrain: Hey State, hey State, hey State,..... today I tell you about all the tings I do for you, and then you tell me what it is you do for me

You also should be ashamed sometimes, hey state, maybe for the little kids who are dying on leukemia and their parents who are holding their hands and cry.
Your time is up, just like mine, and in the end it won't touch me all that much, but my son has sixty years ahead of him and I'll do everything so that he'll make it.
You are no role model anymore for me, you got obese from all the money that others had to earn with sweat, and even the hunger in this world
is good for your laughs and profits, with which you run a genocide
oh man none of us voted you in to pull that crap.

Refrain: Hey State, hey State, hey State,..... today I tell you about all the tings I do for you, and then hey state, I tell you what I think you represent to me.

Hans is a musician who calls a spade a spade, who expresses in his bavarian dialect a sentiment that I initially just understood, but progressively more and more share. He is not afraid of naming the worst politicians and showing society a less than polished mirror, for which he naturally cops plenty of criticism and hostility from various sides, and is victimized by the so called authorities, you know people with uniforms and mustache. In reality, with their narrow- mindedness, obvious to everyone else but seemingly unbeknown to them, they simply confirm that he is spot on with the musical pictures he paints, that it is a self-righteous community of hypocrites he lives in.

Anyway, I am grateful for his spine and prose, as it helped me put in words my own impression of planet earth, this being that many, if not all governments are predominantly made up of people with very little regard for a just society.

* Wackersdorf - small town in Bavaria where in the 1980's the German government planned and half build a plant for reprocessing nuclear fuel. Massive protests over years wore the government down and they abandoned the project in 1989.
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The Illusionist at his Very Best

2007-03-20T02:14:00.002+09:30

PM John Howard, performing tonight his latest magic trick. Watch the grand conjurer transform dismay into hope:

This from today's SBS News:

Poll, Iraqis disillusioned

Iraqis are feeling increasingly pessimistic and insecure about their future, four years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, according to a poll published today.

According to the survey, just 39 per cent of Iraqis questioned think things are going well in their lives, while only 35 per cent think their lives will improve over the next year.

Just 40 per cent believe the general situation will improve.

The poll, commissioned by the BBC and US broadcaster ABC News, made for generally bleak reading, with barely more than a quarter — 26 per cent — of respondents saying they felt safe in their own neighbourhoods.

Other basic necessities were also found to be lacking, with 88 per cent of respondents saying the availability of electricity was either "quite bad" or "very bad"...

And now to John Howard's magic trick. Abracadabra fidibus and we get this from today's The West Australian:

Cautious sense of optimism in Iraq: PM
Prime Minister John Howard says there is a new sense of cautious optimism in Baghdad...

Incredible, Joh Bjelke Howard is amazing, David Copperfield couldn't have done this better.

And just to make us really proud of John Howard, the SMH has a lovely piece on how the elevators work in the Liberal Party:

Howard excels when it comes to mates

YOU might call it the FOG syndrome. Friends of the Government just keep getting appointed to the commanding heights of the system, into key positions on government boards and instrumentalities that either compete with, or can have a profound effect on, Australian business.

...But the Howard Government has arguably taken it to the next level. While this is not to question their capacities, or suggest that they are not well qualified in their own right, many top jobs on government boards and agencies have gone to prominent supporters, heads of key business lobby groups, big financial donors to the Coalition parties, staffers, or people personally close to senior ministers.

The latest is last week's appointment of former senior private secretary to John Howard, cabinet secretary and now company director, Paul McClintock, as chairman of Australia's biggest private health insurer, the Commonwealth Government-owned Medibank Private. Just by-the-by, McClintock is also chairman of Symbion Health, a company with extensive interests in private health care, health centres, radiology and medical imaging, pharmaceuticals and other health products like vitamins.

Of course, the Government denies his appointment represents any risk of a conflict of interest, despite what, to the lay observer, would appear to be a fertile field with Symbion on one side as a health goods and service supplier and Medicare Private on the other as a major insurer and funder of such goods and services...

You Beauty! How can someone not vote for the Liberal Party, Australia's Grand Old Party. So sophisticated, so refreshingly corrupt, so magic.

Ever wondered why? JH explains:

2007-03-18T21:24:00.000+09:30

Taken from Tim Dunlop's Blogocracy comments section:

austie:

Just a thought, why is it that it is the most disadvantaged in society who suffer the worst under the new industrial relation laws?

John Howard Jr:

Dear austie,

Simple question, simple answer: Because they were written by the Liberal Party. Single moms, people with disabilities, Uni students, pensioners, workers in the lower income brackets, doesn’t matter. The plebs need to understand that the business end of town needs to be looked after, and if that means having to shift money from the working class wallets to Big Biz profit & loss reports, then so be it. We are the Liberal Party, that is what we do.

Yours gleefully,

John Howard Jr

austie:

Dear John Howard Jr.,

I knew there must be a rational explanation, and it is reassuring to know that our beloved government, and Prime Minister work so hard to maintain only afterall, a reasonable standard of living for those who are the real most needy amongst us.

It is easy to forget how costly it can be to run the private yacht, not to mention how dear it is today simply to travel first class.

It is outrageous of course having to pay for the occasional slice of pizza, and a drop of Californian.

I appreciate your kind help in clarifying this complex situation for me.

Kind regards,

Your average mug.

John Howard Jr:

Hello austie,

good to hear that you are with us Liberals on this. Goes to show that there is still hope for Tasmania, if you pass on your e-mail addy I’ll promise to forward it to our Liberal Special Human Intelligence Team (Liberal SHIT) in Hobart, who will be more than happy to invite you to their SHIT meetings.

You see, we need people in the working class who are willing to defend us Uptown dwellers, who have a grasp on the fact that if there are no Big Business profits, the companies will leave Australia and go to India or China where they get away with paying a pittance and no unions to make a stink about it. And if there are no companies, there is no work. Simple. We therefore have to introduce Indian and Chinese wage levels & workers rights to Australia, you know, to save or possibly even generate jobs.

Of course there is always the lottery or e-bay with which you proletarians can escape the mortgaged suburbs and join us on the winner side. Thats what we Liberals stand for, Hope. So keep playing Keno and selling stuff on e-bay, you might be debt free one day, not through work, but through ingenuity and luck, thats what we Liberals stand for, Luck to the brave.

So, thanx for your reply. I trust you’ll be voting Liberal at the next election (no, better, for the rest of your life) and ensure the success of our IR Laws revolution, as it is about choices, your choices - live in Australia and work for a few dollars all day or live in China and work for a few dollars a day. Remember, under Labor you wouldn’t have this important choice.

Best wishes

John Howard Jr

austie:

Dear John Howard Jr,

It amazes me to learn, and I must say that it is hard for me to admit this, just how wrong I have been in my thinking. I have always had a profound interest in China, and the Chinse people and I can see now there really is no better way to learn about this ancient culture than by working much longer hours at Chinese rates. This all seems so obvious to me now that I am embarrassed to say that I did not realise it earlier.

Of course there is the economic side of this miracle too. After all my needs are simply and let’s face it, do we really need to eat everyday? Obviously if we reduce wages we can reduce the extravagant expenditure on things like unnecessary food, educational costs – I am sure you would agree – on children who should learn to stay in their proper places as servants and butlers to those too busy with the cares of the world to attend to their own immediate personal needs. Acknowledging that all employers and Liberal Politicians are omnipotent and obviously know far more that we do about what is right and wrong, why would we ever need health coverage, because if we work hard how can we ever possible get sick?

I must confess to a great sense of relief knowing as I now do our proper place in the scheme of things. I was wondering - this is just an idea from the top of my head, whether … we could introduce the Indian caste system here. This would simplify things enormously.

I truly appreciate your comments … to say that the light has finally gone on in my dark abyss of ignorance … well … words fail me.

I remain eternally indebted to you for my sudden enlightenment.

Kind regards,

Your average mug

P.S.

When you left you shoes for polishing you didn’t tell me when you were going to collect them, so I have assumed that you will want them soonest. I apologise for not having them done earlier.

P.P.S.

I must admit to an embarrassment of a totally different kind now. It seems that, well … due to my lower wages that I just don’t have $10 today to pay you for this wonderful opportunity to clean your shoes, so I was wondering, is it OK if I pay you next week, or would you simply prefer to take my car?

John Howard Jr:

Hello Austie,

first up regarding the shoes, of course its alright if you pay me next week. Fortunately us Liberals have kept the interest rates low as promised, so you should be able to afford the slight increase in payments. I might take you up on your offer though and take the car (as collateral) until you made payment in full.

Secondly, as you pointed out correctly, food is so overrated and in our Liberal policy papers is fittingly classed as a luxury item. In a real workers paradise we don’t need that kind of lavishness, there is always the fingernails to chew on, who simply regrow and can be easily shared with friends or family. When the times get tough, the Liberals get going, welcome on board. When I pick up my shoes err.. sorry, when you drop of my shoes, ask my housekeeper to hand you the Liberal Guide to Clever Rationing And Poverty (CRAP), a must read for people who care about our lucky country. Getting by was never any easier.

Talking about education, as you might know, us Liberals have always been in favor of pragmatic and outcome based learning, preferably centered around the concept of mutual obligation. Children should learn the skills to succeed in later life, so knowing how to set a table or vacuum your employer’s car is essential to achieve their goals in adulthood. In order to be able to fill in a ballot paper correctly come election time, kids should also learn how to recognise the word Liberal. So there is lots to be taught, on the job training being the preferred method, and under a liberal government you can rest assured the costs to parents will be not exceeding their life savings.

Finally, I really like your idea of Australia adopting the Indian caste system, or at least make it official, because, and lets be honest about this, effectively we actually have already implemented this scheme. Us Liberals think ahead, our core quality which sets us apart from the rest of the field, a liberal trademark so to speak that is appreciated by the Australian electorate and industry. You might have noticed that I rarely speak to working class people and I encourage all my fellow Bentley Club members to take a similar approach when dealing with the masses. This guarantees an orderly society where people know their place whilst fulfilling our human need for belonging.

I appreciate your lines of encouragement and, with warm regards, remain

Yours truly

John Howard Jr

Pakistan, Taliban & Iran v. USA

2007-03-16T23:43:00.000+09:30

Today, as I was reading my daily dose of blogs, I came across a post by Henry on Crocked Timber , in which he quotes a Financial Times story on Pakistan and the precarious situation the country finds itself in at the moment. Dictating President General Musharraf just dismissed the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Chaudhary, a move which sparked widespread opposition and protests. The reason for his suspension are most likely some of the judge's recent court rulings, which have the potential to turn out uncomfortable for Musharraf. This was a political hatchet job, and the press / people smelled the roast.

The political climate in Pakistan has been shaky at best since General Musharraf's coup 8 years ago, pitching the pro-democracy civilians against the country's military rulers. This article on Asia Times Online tries to analyse the recent history in Pakistan and comes to the following conclusion:

The military establishment faces the choice of clamping down hard on opposition or allowing the protests to run their course.

"There is undoubtedly a political eruption after a prolonged political lull in the country, and if it is sustained it could go a long way. However, there is always a threat from the establishment that it will make some moves to divide the politicians and lawyers," commented retired Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul, a former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence.

"Musharraf created the situation where a clash of the military establishment and civil society seems to be imminent. There is .... anger among the masses towards the present military rulers," Gul said.

Militants feed off such anger, so once again Washington is pondering whether Musharraf may be more the problem than the solution.

From what I can gather, Musharraf has been walking on rather thin ice for quite a while. He was lucky to survive three assassination/coup attempts since taking over in 1999, the last one just recently was foiled and has shown that his own military is infiltrated by Al-Quaida supporters. Which sort of explains why he has no sympathy for them, catch 22 so to say, but demonstrates at the same time his weakness of being undermined from within his own supposed powerbase.

For the last 5 years Musharraf has found himself in a US - Taliban sandwich. It appears that he is trying to hedge his bets both ways.

With the Taliban as his proxy army he is trying to grind of the thorn of an India friendly Kabul. Pakistan is the vital logistics and hardware supplier the Taliban needs to have a fighting chance against the US & Nato forces in Afghanistan (which helps appeasing the Muslim Pakistani population at home). Afghanistan's mujaheddin have been receiving strong support from Pakistan during the Soviet days 20 years ago, an alliance which is still honored and deemed existing in sections of Pakistan's military and religious establishment.

At the same time he must continue to appease the US by giving Al-Quaida as hard a time as possible in its heartland in the Afghan/Pakistani border region. Since the relationships between Al-Quaida and the Taliban aren't as rosy anymore as they used to be, Musharraf seems to think he can solve the conundrum of how to support the force of Muslim guerilla warriors in Afghanistan whilst simultaneously keeping the US happy by fulfilling his role as reliable ally of the US administration's WoT, by sending his own army after their common foe, the Al-Quaida gang.

For instance, the alleged chief operations manager of AQ, who is currently in the news with his astounding admissions of having orchestrated if not even executed most of AQ's terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was hunted down and arrested in Pakistan 4 years ago.

Since Pakistan has also a border with Iran, its role as a US ally becomes even more important. With Pakistan being largely Sunni, one would think that not a great deal of sympathy exists between the people of these two countries, but quite contrary, according to this story from Asia Times large portions of the Pakistani population would not support any US attacks on its Shia neighbors. Unlike the man at the helm, General Musharraf, who sees Pakistan in matters Iran firmly on the West's side, in line with other Sunni leaders eg. the House Saud or Mubarak et al.

But Tehran probably has fresh grounds to reassess Musharraf's intentions. Or, it is running out of patience. Last month, terrorists killed 13 officials of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Zahedan. Last week, in another incident in the town of Negor in Sistan-Balochistan, four Iranian policemen were killed, one abducted and another wounded. The perpetrators fled across the border into Pakistan.

Iran last week announced its intention to erect a 3-meter-high concrete wall reinforced with steel rods along its border with Pakistan. Islamabad put on a brave face, with the Foreign Ministry maintaining, "The fence is on the Iranian side of the border, and we have no problem with that." But Tehran calculates that the sheer humiliation of being treated as an infectious gangrene by all its neighbors - Afghanistan, India and Iran - should eventually begin to tell on the Musharraf regime...

What I found most interesting though in the above quoted AT article were the the last 4 paragraphs, where the author, M K Bhadrakumar, a former Indian Foreign Service diplomat, is suggesting that the real issue for America in the US-Iran-Pakistan politics triangle is, surprise surprise, natural resources and their distribution, as in pipelines and US access to them:

...there is a sideshow to these happenings that is no less profound. US intelligence operatives must be laughing all the way to Washington that they could manage with such ease what their suave diplomats (and wily Congress members) have had a hard time achieving in recent years - arresting Islamabad and New Delhi from finalizing the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas-pipeline project. In geopolitical terms, the project holds the definite potential to forge a unified Asian energy market, with deep implications for US energy security.

Washington was increasingly finding it counterproductive to resort to arm-twisting New Delhi and Islamabad into putting the project on the back burner until such time as US-Iran relations were normalized and Washington, too, could dip into Iran's energy reserves.

Now, just as it was becoming clear that the three regional capitals were inching toward finalization of the project at a trilateral meeting in Tehran in June, the high volatility in the security situation in the Iran-Pakistan border region puts question marks on their energy dialogue. To be sure, the pipeline project is predicated on a climate of trust and confidence prevailing among the three parties.

There was much merit in US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent fulsome praise that "this has been a stalwart fighter, Pakistan's Musharraf, in this fight". Those in Washington who insinuated that he deserved "an unusually tough message" over the "war on terror" have since hastily beaten a retreat. They didn't know what they were saying.

Should Musharraf be ousted and Pakistan find its way back to a democratic system, the US would probably loose in the medium to long-term an important ally in the region. 90% of todays 165 million Pakistanis are Muslims (20 Shia, 70 Sunni), of whom many would certainly vote for parties which express the anti-western views many muslims hold.

The US can't afford to loose Pakistan's cooperation, thus any US plans to influence events and outcomes there are probably based on the switch module, replacing one dictator with another, one who'll be grateful for any assistance in overthrowing Musharraf. Straight after the motto "He might be a bastard, but he is our bastard."
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God's R Us

2007-03-16T00:34:00.000+09:30

Interesting topic over on Blogocracy today, where Tim Dunlop picks up on the seemingly eternal question: Is there a God?

Here is what amounts to his conclusion:

...The universe is immense and existence is hard, in the best sense of the word, and God just seems like too pat an answer, too self-serving. Add in the codifications—faiths --that allow one set of believers to pit themselves against all others and the harm done by this self-serving idea very easily outweighs the good...

In other words, NO, or at least unlikely enough so as to render the concept not worth believing in.

Having also bounced this rhetoric question of God - Yes/No? through my Hall of Thoughts on various occasions, I come to a similar deduction, the one almighty God is a human concept born in the hope for equalising justice and a life after death, a omnipotent being that can be used as universal explanation for what is and isn't happening.

I can't understand why so many people are like sheep in their approach to ideas about the afterlife and how the fabric of life is knit. My guess its due to either one of the following (or any combination):

lack of fantasy
the human group/herd instinct
early childhood indoctrination
thinking of "might as well"

I almost wrote

simplistic world view

but then, just in time, I realised that it could also be my assertions that are steeped in naivety, it's not that my theory is all too complex either.

I personally redrew my picture of where we come from, who/what runs the show while we are here and where will we go to. I think it sort of started in my early teens, when (out of all people) my religious education teacher made a remark in class along the lines of

What if Jesus came back today, after 2000 years of Christianity? We, Christians or not, would stick him into a mental institution or jail, not the cross anymore, no, we have finally moved on from that after burning people alive for 16 hundred years, but we'd declare him a fraud, a loony, an extremist.

Jesus would be living as an itinerant, hang out with people our society classes as "loosers", he'd be a rebellious activist with a record for trespassing and being a nuisance in public. I couldn't explain this paradox much better than Kev Carmody, (I recommend his albums, essential listening) :

He was born in Asia Minor,
a colonized Jewish man.
His father the village carpenter,
worked wood in his occupied land.

He was apprenticed to his father's trade.
His country paid it's dues;
to the colonial Roman conquerors,
He was a working-class Jew.

Though conceived three months out of wedlock
the stigma never stuck.
He began a three year public life
but he never made a buck

because he spoke out against injustice;
saw that capitalism bled the poor.
He attacked self-righteous hypocrites
and he condemned the lawyers' law.

But they've commercialised his birthday now;
the very people he defied,
and they've sanctified their system
and claim he's on their side!

But if he appeared tomorrow,
He'd still pay the highest cost,
being a 'radical agitator'
they'd still nail him to a cross.

You see He'd stand with the down trodden masses,
identify with the weak and oppressed.
He'd condemn the hypocrites in church pews,
and the affluent, arrogant West.

He'd oppose Stalinist totalitarianism;
the exploitation of millions by one,
and 'peace' through mutual terror,
and diplomacy from the barrel of a gun.

He'd fight with Joe Hill and Walesa,
Mandela and Friere;
Try to free the third world's millions
from hunger and despair.

He'd stand with the peasants
at the pock-marked walls;
They'd haul him in on bail.
He'd condemn all forms of apartheid,
and he'd rot in their stinking jails.

He'd denounce all dictatorships
and Mammon's greed,
and the exploitation of others for gain.
He'd oppose the nuclear madness,
and the waging of wars in His name.

He'd mix with prostitutes and sinners,
challenge all to cast the first stone.
A compassionate agitator,
one of the greatest the world has known.

He'd condemn all corrupt law and order,
tear man made hierarchies down.
He'd see status and titles as dominance
and the politics of greed he'd hound.

He'd fight against the leagues of the Ku Klux Klan,
and the radical, racist right.
One of the greatest humanitarian socialists
was comrade, Jesus Christ.

Thanx to stratosph3R3 from over at RedHotPawn for the lyrics

So, if there was a Jesus of Nazareth, a powerful and kindhearted man who died in the belief that his cruel end would help us having our sins forgiven on judgment day, then he would be disgusted with the lip service morale of his followers. I am not an historian, far from it, so I can't really say if Jesus ever lived and what he was up to, but I am very much inclined to say that he was not the son of God, but God himself. And he appealed to the Gods within each of his fellow humans to wake up and show compassion towards all other beings sharing time and space with us. The following quote pretty much sums it up.

"When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself."
Peter O'Toole

That's it, not much more to say. IMHO we are all Gods/Goddesses, and because being a God means existing forever, and eternity being pretty boring after a while, we invented life, to escape the boredom of being a God. When we die we go back to being Gods, catch up with other Gods in Godland, and when we are fed up with godliness, we line up and parachute into a creature being born at that moment. One time round we want to find out what it is like to be a hungry child in Africa, next time round we line up in the rich kid column.

IMHO it's all about gathering different kind of experiences, see the world from many angles. I am a spiritual being who is having a human experience.

Any belief someone holds, as crazy as they might sound to some, has the same chance of being the truth as the christian, muslim, hindhu or any other faith has. It can be calculated with the following formula:

A person's belief / Never-ending possibilities = 0.000period01 %

Pretty slim I must admit, but not any less either. And now, just to introduce another possibility, what if whatever one believes would happen to one's soul at the time of death, will actually happen to this soul?

In other words, if you approach death and are worried that all your bad deeds will lead you straight to some kind of flamin hell, then that is where you'll go. Or if you believe you'll get reborn as a cow, you'll actually be reborn as a cow, and so on. The options are endless, but just in case, on my deathbed I'll be thinking of a nice situation I want to spend eternity in, like living with a nymphomaniac who owns a bottle shop.
.

Carrot or not - you'll get the stick

2007-03-14T22:56:00.001+09:30

This from ABC News:

Nuclear facility may go ahead despite traditional owners' opposition

Federal Member for Lingiari Warren Snowdon says legislation passed last year may see a nuclear waste facility go ahead at Muckaty Station, despite some traditional owners opposing it. A weekend newspaper reported the Federal Government has offered traditional owners of the site north of Tennant Creek $9 million every five years to use their land....

I remember reading in Saturday's paper that there are about 400 TO's included in the payment plan. OK, lets do the math:

$9 million / 5 years = $1.8 million per year
$1.8 million / 400 TO's = $4,500 per TO per year

Alright, four and a half thousand dollars every year (before tax that is, most likely) to lease your land to the Federal Government as a radioactive waste depository. Would you agree to this contract if it be your land? How much would you want if it' be you who's ancestors have lived and are buried there?

Whilst some Traditional owners from that area, the Warlmanpa people, have apparently agreed to such a deal, there is also opposition to such an arrangement amongst the countrymen & women from around that part in Central Australia that us white men calls Muckaty Station.

It was never going to be an easy ride for the Feds to find a backyard that would fulfil the selection criteria of no protests. But it was duely noted in the Senate by Democrats and Greens that there is more than just a little bit, if not to say a lot of anger in the local community about how the Feds have just imposed their almighty will, offering a token bribe to the Traditional Owners and should they still not get on the radioactive board then goal posts err.. laws will be changed, "the need for the greater good" enforced on the objecting people.

Thou Shalt not Steal
by Kev Carmody

1788 down Sydney cove
The first boat people land
And they say
Sorry boys our gains your loss
We’re gonna steal your land

And if you break out in British law
For sure your gonna hang
Or work your lives
Like our convicts
With a chain on your neck and hand

And they told us

CHORUS
Woah black woman thou shalt not steal
Hey black man thou shalt not steal
We’re gonna civilize your black barbaric lives
And we’ll teach you how to kneel

But your history couldn’t hide the genocide
The hypocrisy that was real
For your Jesus said you’re supposed to give
The oppressed a better deal

We say to you
yes our land thou shalt not steal
Woah yeah our land you better heal

Well your science and your technology
Can make a nuclear bomb
Development has increased its size
Three million mega tonnes
And if you think that’s progress
I suggest your reasoning is unsound
For you should have found out long ago
You better keep it in the ground

CHORUS

The land’s our heritage and spirit here
The rightful country is black
And we’re sitting here just wondering when we gonna get that land back

They taught us
CHORUS

Well you talk of conservation
Keep the forest pristine green
But in 200 years your materialism has stripped the forest clean
And race is a contradiction that is understood by none
but mostly their left hand holds the bible, the right hand holds the gun

Taken from and therefore Thank You to Tohou Lidia from over @ Shut up! I can't hear the pantomime. Much appreciated.

Same day, same source

Inquiry fails to uncover Aboriginal paedophile rings
The co-chairs of an inquiry into child sex abuse in the Northern Territory say they have not uncovered any paedophile rings in the Territory's Aboriginal communities....

Who remembers the claims made? The media hype? I do, and the people wrongly accused probably do. Whole communities were branded with those accusations. I mean it's good that the police and other investigative bodies follow up any claims, you never know, terrible if it is true and nothing was done. But to label whole communities as paedophiles or paedophile supporters, and that's what Mal Brough and the ABC Lateline did, without having substantial proof that this is the case , is less than helpful in the fight against child abuse. From memory there was one suspect reported by community members, and before you knew it it was a whole ring and then entire communities. Crikey did last September an interesting piece on what effect such slander has on the people attacked and Mark Lawrence a follow up. Anyway, it turns out there was no such ring, can't wait for Mal Brough to officially apologise to the communities involved.

And just as if the Mother of all News-days wanted to emphasise how Indigenous Australia is getting the raw end of the deal, , as it pretty much always does, this in on the same day's news ticker, and again, the ABC:

Native Title Tribunal chief to quit
The head of Australia's native title agency says he is quitting his position because the system is too concerned with legal technicalities to provide real results....

After reading those three stories today, I couldn't help but wonder how much the indigenous community can take before they have collectively a gutful. For them it seems everyday is Bad News day. This country has by god a lot to say sorry for.

their left hand holds the bible, the right hand holds the gun

Exit Under Construction

2007-03-14T00:25:00.000+09:30

…If you stand up and say your policy is to bring about a withdrawal of all combat units by March 2008, that is noted by terrorist leaders. It is a source of encouragement and comfort,…

PM John Howard
Hansard
12th February 2007

What a classic, the COW will stay till the insurgency disappears, just like when one pushes a red hot iron in ones eyeball long enough the pain will go away.

The so popular coalition troops have to watch every step they make outside their fortresses, fear almost every person they meet on the streets. The hearts and minds who haven’t been won or arrested yet (lets say the insurgents and their supporters within the Iraqi population) are numbering in the millions.

The enemies of our troops have lived in that country/trench for generations and will do so for generations to come. US forces come for 6 monthly stints, with their wives and children back home in the U Safe America. They operate on a complete different time scale than the Iraqi population. For the COW soldiers to “wait out” the insurgency would mean they’d have to move there, probably forever.

Military counter-insurgency measures against an enemy who actually lives in the warzone is like punching your fist into a bucket of water, the moment you pull it out its back to how it was. I guess that is what the huge permanent bases are for, to leave the fist in the bucket (if permanent military bases in Iraq are such a good idea, maybe Australia should build one too), although I suppose they are seen by many Iraqis as ulcers with all the ugly consequences this will entail.

Despite the good intentions the troops have, their daily efforts to rebuild the country and finding the alleged bad guys, I am afraid to say, if anything, the US presence fuels the enemy’s recruitment drive. Been fighting the "enemy" now for 4 years in Iraq, but they don't seem to get less.

To stay the course as suggested by John Howard, to stick with the US till "the Iraqi people can look after their own security" or along those wishy washy lines, underlines the lack of strategies to deal with the current scenario.

Cheney, Howard and their ideological associates, who want to keep combat troops in Iraq till the day when US soldiers on leisure time can peacefully sit in a suburban café in Baghdad and mingle with the locals, till the day when the last "terrorist", militia man and insurgent has been captured or killed by Iraqi troops, envision a day that is as likely to arrive in Iraq as the Titanic in NY. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.7is7.com/otto/countdown.html?year=2003&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;month=03&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;date=19&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;hrs=&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;min=&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;sec=&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;tz=local&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;title=Iraq%20war%20has%20been%20going%20now%20for&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lang=en&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;show=dh&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;mode=r&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;cdir=up&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;bgcolor=%23CCFFFF&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;fgcolor=%23000000"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Iraq war has been going now for&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;No waiting will change this. Too many mistakes have been made by the captain and the guys on the lookout.

And still, in John Howard's support it is argued that the whole issue of deadlines for withdrawals is meant to make us feel better, the US and Australian electorate, rather than the Iraqi people themselves.

According to their way of thinking it is Senator Obama and Kevin Rudd and other friends of this withdrawal idea who should examine their motivations a bit more carefully.

However, many polls and surveys show that a lot of Iraqis want the US troops to leave, and I can almost guarantee that’s not because they want to make us feel better. More likely it’s because in a lot of areas living conditions have gotten progressively worse since the invasion, and that not just in terms of security.

If one actually examines the reasons for why the US troops are in Iraq, one might want to consider this:

…Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas -- reserves I'd love Chevron to have access to…

Kenneth T. Derr
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Chevron Corporation
Speech To the Commonwealth Club of California
San Francisco, California
November 5, 1998

And, voila, 9 years later they have, more access than most other countries would give private corporations. Comments by analysts to the newly approved Iraqi National Oil laws:

…Iraq will not be capable of controlling the levels -- the limits of production, which means that Iraq cannot be a part of OPEC anymore. And Iraq will have this very complicated institution called the Federal Oil and Gas Council, that will have representatives from the foreign oil companies on the board of it, so representatives from, let’s say, ExxonMobil and Shell and British Petroleum will be on the federal board of Iraq approving their own contracts.

…the law certainly opens the door to US oil companies and the Bush administration winning a very large piece of their objective of going to war in Iraq, at least winning it on paper. The law does almost word for word what was laid out in the Baker-Hamilton recommendation, which I discussed previously on your show, which is, at the very basic level, to turn Iraq's nationalized oil system, the model that 90% of the world’s oil is governed by, take its nationalized oil system and turn it into a commercial system fully open to foreign corporate investment on terms as of yet to be decided...

IMHO, the motivations for the invasion are the determining factor for the time of withdrawal. The exit strategy for Iraq hinges on the original objectives being achieved. From the initial US support of Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran, to the harsh sanctions against Iraq after the Kuwait invasion, to Operation Shock and Awe, to Fallujah, to Abu Ghraib, I get the impression that the well being of the common Iraqi was never really the main concern of the West's engagement in that country. The primary objective appears to be more of economic and geo-strategic nature, oust Saddam Hussein and secure Iraq's oil supply for western oil cos, and whilst there establish some bases near Iran, Russia and Israel.

Saddam is dead, the oil laws are almost passed and the bases are as good as finished. And so, should the surge fail, which it is bound to do, the US military is according to Sec Def Gates planning to pull out some of its contingent fairly soon. Well, better see what Cheney and Howard have to say about that.