Hain's Apology For Migration Figures: Storm in a Teacup?

The BBC are certainly making a great deal out of this one (so much for multiculturalism). From their website:

Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain has apologised after the government admitted 300,000 more immigrants were working in the UK than it first said.

New figures show that the number of foreign nationals employed in the UK since 1997 is 1.1m, not the 800,000 officially recorded.

Mr Hain has written to his Tory shadow Chris Grayling to admit that incorrect figures were given in Commons answers.

Mr Grayling said the admission was "an extraordinary development".

It comes as the government is expected to extend controls on the number of Romanian and Bulgarian workers coming to the UK.

It has been all over their television out put as well. Just one question: so what? These are workers doing jobs that we cannot be arsed to do. Quite frankly, it is about time we abolished border controls altogether and allowed the free movement of people between artificial boundaries. Do you think the Daily Mail might run with that?

UK and Saudi Arabia Share 'Same Values'

That's according to Kim Howells. From the BBC:

Mr Howells told a conference ahead of a state visit by Saudi leader King Abdullah that the two states could unite around their "shared values".

Well, we both take a rather lax approach to human rights, don't we?

Vatican Beatifies Allies of General Franco

In a deliberate move by the Vatican to undermine the upcoming 'law of historical memory', 498 members of the Catholic clergy killed during the Spanish civil war were beatified yesterday. Supporters of the beatification claim it was a long-awaited recognition for the "martyrs" of religious persecution. According to one bishop,

'The beatification is beyond controversy or partisan use. They were men and women who were peaceful and persecuted and suffered death for the simple fact that they were Catholic.'

Only, it was not simply because they were Catholic at all.

The Catholic church played a massive role in the repression of the poor during pre-war Spain. One hundred years before the war, the Bishop of Osma had established the Society of the Exterminating Angel. Founded in 1821, it was established to ensure the extermination of all Liberals in Spain. The Archbishop of Valencia ordered the hanging of a deist schoolmaster in 1827, for heresy. The victim, Cayetano Ripoll was tried and convicted without hearing his defence or being allowed to give evidence. He was initially sentenced to be burnt to death, but this was subsequently changed to hanging. After his death, his body was pulled apart and burned. The church in Spain was very much linked to the wealthy classes in Spanish society and this was reflected in Claudio Moyano's dictum that 'the poor should be respectful and humble with the rich'. It was during this period in the 19th century, that the poor began to lose faith with the Catholic church, indeed they began to loathe it.

It is, perhaps, little wonder that the people rose up against the church at the first opportunity. After all, it has been behind many sickening examples of violence and oppression. The church had become immensely powerful within Spain and had given up all pretence of aiding the weak and the poor. It is hard to blame those who fought back against years of repression by members of the church who played an active role in keeping the poor in their place. But these are facts easily ignored by the Catholic church.

Not only was the church a malevolent factor before the civil war, it remained one during and after. The Catholic church gave a great deal of support to Franco and his nationalists. Throughout his 40 year reign, Franco stuck by Catholic ideals and received the full support of the church. The fact that thousands of opponents of Franco were executed in the immediate post-war period and beyond, hardly seemed to bother the Catholic church. They certainly never condemned it. It was nothing more than a tiny blemish on an otherwise exemplary Catholic regime. And that is where the nature of this beatification comes into play.

The Spanish government, by finally recognising the families of Republican victims of Franco, have the church worried. The Vatican has yet to apologise for its role in the civil war and beyond, and is unlikely to ever acknowledge its mistake in supporting a fascist regime. This action by the Vatican is no more than a pre-emptive strike to get in their first before the socialist government of Spain (who are not as subservient to the church as their predecessors) finally condemns the Franco regime, the executions carried out under the direction of Franco and the summary postwar trials of people accused of opposing his regime. It is mischief making of the highest order. The Catholic church would do well to remember its role in the civil war and makes its apologies, rather than shifting the blame on to the Republicans and washing their hands of the whole affair. No side was blameless of the atrocities committed and certainly not the Catholic church.

Free Men in a Hierarchical Structure

I had to share this barking mad comment from my 'About' page:

In league with the stones... Every September, I recall that is more than half a century (62 years) since I landed at Nagasaki with the 2nd Marine Division in the original occupation of Japan following World War II. This time every year, I have watched and listened to the light-hearted "peaceniks" and their light-headed symbolism-without-substance of ringing bells, flying pigeons, floating candles, and sonorous chanting and I recall again that "Peace is not a cause - it is an effect."

In July, 1945, my fellow 8th RCT Marines [I was a BARman] and I returned to Saipan following the successful conclusion of the Battle of Okinawa. We were issued new equipment and replacements joined each outfit in preparation for our coming amphibious assault on the home islands of Japan.

B-29 bombing had leveled the major cities of Japan, including Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, Yokosuka, and Tokyo.

We were informed we would land three Marine divisions and six Army divisions, perhaps abreast, with large reserves following us in. It was estimated that it would cost half a million casualties to subdue the Japanese homeland.

In August, the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima but the Japanese government refused to surrender. Three days later a second A-bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. The Imperial Japanese government finally surrendered.

Following the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese admiral said, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant..." Indeed, they had. Not surprisingly, the atomic bomb was produced by a free people functioning in a free environment. Not surprisingly because the creative process is a natural human choice-making process and inventiveness occurs most readily where choice-making opportunities abound. America!

Tamper with a giant, indeed! Tyrants, beware: Free men are nature's pit bulls of Liberty! The Japanese learned the hard way what tyrants of any generation should know: Never start a war with a free people - you never know what they may invent!

As a newly assigned member of a U.S. Marine intelligence section, I had a unique opportunity to visit many major cities of Japan, including Tokyo and Hiroshima, within weeks of their destruction. For a full year I observed the beaches, weapons, and troops we would have assaulted had the A-bombs not been dropped. Yes, it would have been very destructive for all, but especially for the people of Japan.

When we landed in Japan, for what came to be the finest and most humane occupation of a defeated enemy in recorded history, it was with great appreciation, thanksgiving, and praise for the atomic bomb team, including the aircrew of the Enola Gay. A half million American homes had been spared the Gold Star flag, including, I'm sure, my own.

Whenever I hear the apologists expressing guilt and shame for A-bombing and ending the war Japan had started (they ignore the cause-effect relation between Pearl Harbor and Nagasaki), I have noted that neither the effete critics nor the puff-adder politicians are among us in the assault landing-craft or the stinking rice paddies of their suggested alternative, "conventional" warfare. Stammering reluctance is obvious and continuous, but they do love to pontificate about the Rights that others, and the Bomb, have bought and preserved for them.

The vanities of ignorance and camouflaged cowardice abound as license for the assertion of virtuous "rights" purchased by the blood of others - those others who have borne the burden and physical expense of Rights whining apologists so casually and self-righteously claim.

At best, these fakers manifest a profound and cryptic ignorance of causal relations, myopic perception, and dull I.Q. At worst, there is a word and description in The Constitution defining those who love the enemy more than they love their own countrymen and their own posterity. Every Yankee Doodle Dandy knows what that word is.

In 1945, America was the only nation in the world with the Bomb and it behaved responsibly and respectfully. It remained so until two among us betrayed it to the Kremlin. Still, this American weapon system has been the prime deterrent to earth's latest model world- tyranny: Seventy years of Soviet collectivist definition, coercion, and domination of individual human beings.

The message is this: Trust Freedom. Remember, tyrants never learn. The restriction of Freedom is the limitation of human choice, and choice is the fulcrum-point of the creative process in human affairs. As earth's choicemaker, it is our human identity on nature's beautiful blue planet and the natural premise of man's free institutions, environments, and respectful relations with one another. Made in the image of our Creator, free men choose, create, and progress - or die.

Free men should not fear the moon-god-crowd oppressor nor choose any of his ways. Recall with a confident Job and a victorious David, "Know ye not that you are in league with the stones of the field?"
Semper Fidelis Jim Baxter Sgt. USMC WW II and Korean War
Job 5:23 Proverbs 3:31 I Samuel 17:40 See: http://www.choicemaker.net/

Do you see what he did there?? Freedom repeated countless times, followed by references to the Bible. Poor soul cannot see the contradiction. As for America behaving responsibly, perhaps it is best not to rake over 60 years of American imperialism.

Farewell Big Martin Jol

Martin Jol, Martin Jol

Martin, Martin Jol

He's got no hair

But we don't care

Martin, Martin Jol

Stabbed in the back by a bunch of capitalist pigs. Thanks for the memories BMJ.

Bush Threatens to Destabilise Cuba

George Bush has made yet another attempt to determine the future of the Cuban people. As most sane people have suspected, Bush is eager for Castro to die in order for the American empire to extend to one of the few countries prepared to adopt an alternative system to the US. His speech, riddled with double standards, contained the usual posturing synonymous with Bush's supposed moral high ground. In his address, Bush claimed:

"As with all totalitarian systems, Cuba's regime no doubt has other horrors still unknown to the rest of the world. Once revealed, they will shock the conscience of humanity, and they will shame the regime's defenders and all those democracies that had been silent."

One wonders how the President of the United States can adopt such a self-righteous tone. The only difference, one supposes, being that the horrors of the American regime are well known (Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Blackwater etc etc). In fact, Bush even had the cheek to describe Cuba as a "tropical gulag". Do the words "glass" and "houses" sound familiar??

The address itself also made it quite clear that the US would waste no time in influencing the post-Castro Cuba. Bush added:

"Now is the time to support the democratic movement growing on the island. Now is the time to stand with the Cuban people as they stand up for their liberty. And now is the time for the world to put aside its differences and prepare for Cubans' transitions to a future of freedom and progress and promise."

The 'world' is, of course, a euphemism for the US and her allies. However, this passage raises one very obvious question: what right has the 'world' got to 'prepare' for Cubans' transitions??? It is quite clear that the US is preparing to spend big in the event of Castro's death in order to influence the post-Castro regime. Have no doubt that, come Castro's death, the US will ensure some US friendly party will mysteriously come to power. Either by military means or by applying pressure for 'democratic' elections (Cuba does already have elections of course, but this is barely mentioned).

Once more, the American state is attempting to destabilise a foreign nation. Only imagine if another country made similar statements about the US. They would be widely condemned. We live in a world in which everything is seen through the prism of American hegemony. Anything that doesn't fit in with this view is to be opposed at all costs. Every nation that takes an opposing ideology to US based capitalism must be destabilised, invaded and converted. No country must be permitted its own free existence if it contradicts the American way. This was the same arrogance upon which the British Empire was built and every other empire before and since. It will sow the seeds of its own destruction. The attacks of 9/11 were, after all, a direct result of US imperialism (despite what the nutjobs say about Islam and all the other bullshit they spout).

Thankfully, not everyone is blinded by the supposed universal truth that guides US policy. Dr Ian Gibson, of the All Party Group of MPs on Cuba, chastised the US with this statement:

“the aggressive interventionist foreign policies of the US were not appropriate in Iraq and they are not appropriate for Cuba. The US must stop attempting to undermine the sovereignty of nation states and recognise the important strategic role Cuba now holds in Latin America. We must promote stability through engagement and leave behind these US bullying tactics.”

MP Colin Burgon also added:

“The ignorance of international law of the current US President is very well known. However, this latest statement on the internal affairs of Cuba is tantamount to calling for a coup against a sovereign state. The arrogance of the US is both worrying and lamentable.”

As Rob Miller, the director of the UK-based Cuba Solidarity Campaign, puts it: the US needs to move to a policy of engagement rather than "aggression, intervention, destabilisation and conflict". It could be a hard habit to break for a state hooked on empire building like some crack addicted whore.

UPDATE: Davide at Nether-World writes the post that I wish I had written.

Flying Matters - If You Are Plane Stupid

I caught this fantastic smear on Plane Stupid in The Times today. Eager to press their line that Plane Stupid is a menace to society, they headlined their piece:

Activists plan to cause chaos when Terminal 5 at Heathrow is opened

Rather like the 'chaos' they caused in the summer (virtually nil). However, the pièce de résistance was in the final paragraph of the article:


Michelle Di Leo, director of FlyingMatters, said: “Again Plane Stupid are indulging in irresponsible gestures.

Their actions impact most on those they profess to be protecting: families who holiday once a year, ethnic minorities who rely on air transport to visit family, and farmers in the developing world reliant on UK consumers.”

Err, come again???The majority of fliers are once a year families and ethnic minorities??? Something tells me that Michelle Di Leo is talking bullshit. As Plane Stupid points out:

The idea that these three groups are the primary users of Heathrow is so abjectly absurd that I wonder how they ever thought we'd believe it. Civil Aviation Authority data, and data from the Department for Transport, repeatedly shows that the 'democratisation of the skies' is really just an excuse for the wealthy to fly six times a year, not for poor families to take the occasional city break.

50% of people don't fly, according to a recent Mori poll, and 62% didn't fly abroad last year. 79% of the poorest quintile didn't fly abroad, while 14% of the richest people flew 4 times or more - hardly the image of equality Flying Matters want you to believe.

As for farmers in the Global South - how will climate change affect their agriculture? Air frieghted goods make up a small percentage of output, but have a disproportionate impact on climate; not the best way to work yourself out of poverty.

Might just send an email to Ms Di Leo putting these facts to her (doubt I will get a response). Whatever, there is clearly only one organisation that is truly 'plane stupid'. Ms Di Leo, please take a bow.

David Hicks - Nothing More Than A Political Pawn For John Howard

Hot on the heels of the announcement of John Howard's day of reckoning with the Australian electorate, comes news that is a stark reminder of the what this man stands for. You may remember the case of David Hicks (if not, here is a clip developed by my good friend RickB at Ten Percent) and the appalling treatment he suffered at the hands of the American and Australian governments. It transpires that, what a surprise, his eventual release into Australian custody was a political stunt aimed at securing Howard another election victory. From The Age:

Hicks had been held by the US at Guantanamo Bay since January 2002, a month after his capture in Afghanistan, where he fought with the Taliban.

The father of two was sentenced to nine months jail and, under a plea bargain, was transferred to Adelaide to serve the remainder of the sentence at Yatala, where he remains in solitary confinement.

He is due for release on December 30.

A report in Harper's magazine said it was Mr Cheney and Mr Howard who cut the deal to release Hicks from Guantanamo Bay.

Quoting a military officer, it said a military staffer was present when Mr Cheney interfered directly to secure the plea deal.

"He did it, apparently, as part of a deal cut with Howard," the officer was quoted as saying.

"I kept thinking: this is the sort of thing that used to go on behind the Iron Curtain, not in America.

"And then it struck me how much this entire process had disintegrated into a political charade."

Mr Hicks said if the report was true it was further evidence of how political his son's case had become.

"I've said all along that David's issue was political," Mr Hicks said.

"You're not allowed to go through a court of justice, you've got to be dealt with by politicians."

A political charade indeed. What makes it all the more laughable is that this blatant emulation of Soviet tactics is being carried out by a right-wing administration backed by a highly vocal gaggle of right-wing foot soldiers (not to mention so-called members of the 'left'). This process has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with politics.

Melanie Has Moved....

No, sadly she hasn't left the country. She has now moved her blog to The Spectator. Of course, she claims that her 'independence' will not be compromised by this move (mmmm). But the truly wonderful thing is........she now has comments. So you can rip apart her straw man arguments in public.....SUPERB!!

Australian Election 07

Roll on November 24. That's hopefully when we get to fire the bastard who has led Australia into its current global position. I'm not sure if it's reverse cowgirl or missionary but do know it involves US foreign policy.

Until then, some people have put positive initiatives in place to make sure that we don't become completely brain damaged by the stupefying media coverage.

Check out the LOL pols Flickr page, visit the blog of the Greens federal Senators, and if you're one of the Aussies who has buggered off to the UK for obvious reasons in the past 10 years I hope your pub/ hostel/ cricket coaching gig is paying alright coz there's a real chance it'll be worth flying back here in about a month from now.

Maybe.

Osanloo Receives Medical Treatment

Good news courtesy of Ten Percent, Mansour Osanloo has received the medical treatment that was so desperately required. Taken from the ITF's website:

Following major protests last week the ITF is delighted to have learned that on Saturday Mansour Osanloo received the emergency eye treatment that it, Amnesty International and trade unions worldwide demanded. The ITF says that it hopes that this may be a first step towards more humane and just treatment of the prisoners. The campaign for their release continues.

Encouraging news from Iran. However, this is not enough. Osanloo must be released immediately to ensure that he can continue to receive the medical attention he requires and to continue his peaceful activities as a union activist. There is much to be done. You can still take action by visiting Amnesty's website here.

Pots and Kettles and Dick Cheney

As intellectually bankrupt as ever, Dick Cheney had this to say about Iran:

"Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions.''

Boy, I had to stifle a laugh at that one. Mind you, he is right. We cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions. Ahhh, the good old Dick Cheney double-standard. Someone pop a balloon behind his back, maybe the next heart-attack might finish him off.

Fascists Look Likely to Win Election in Switzerland

Sadly, it looks likely that the racist tactics of the Swiss People's Party has paid off. The latest exit poll predicts the following result:

People's Party: 26.7% and 63 seats
Social Democrats: 23.3% and 61 seats
Radical Party: 17.3% and 50 seats
Christian Democrats: 14.4% and 43 seats
Greens: 7.4% and 13 seats
Others: 10.9% and 16 seats

The only (very slight) good news is that the Greens have increased their vote quite dramatically. Other than that, it is a pretty bleak picture for progressive politics in Switzerland. Racism looks likely to be the winner in these elections.

Israeli Soldiers Beat Women and Children

A shocking story from today's Observer about conditions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. A study by a leading Israeli psychologist has found tales of immense brutality on the Palestinians. The study by Nufar Yishai-Karin was based around interviews with 21 Israeli soldiers in which they confessed to frequent, brutal assaults. According to one soldier:

'We were in a weapons carrier when this guy, around 25, passed by in the street and, just like that, for no reason - he didn't throw a stone, did nothing - bang, a bullet in the stomach, he shot him in the stomach and the guy is dying on the pavement and we keep going, apathetic. No one gave him a second look.'

Women weren't spared from this horrific treatment:

'With women I have no problem. With women, one threw a clog at me and I kicked her here [pointing to the crotch], I broke everything there. She can't have children. Next time she won't throw clogs at me. When one of them [a woman] spat at me, I gave her the rifle butt in the face. She doesn't have what to spit with any more.'

Even children are subjected to horrendous abuses:

'After two months in Rafah, a [new] commanding officer arrived... So we do a first patrol with him. It's 6am, Rafah is under curfew, there isn't so much as a dog in the streets. Only a little boy of four playing in the sand. He is building a castle in his yard. He [the officer] suddenly starts running and we all run with him. He was from the combat engineers.

'He grabbed the boy. I am a degenerate if I am not telling you the truth. He broke his hand here at the wrist, broke his leg here. And started to stomp on his stomach, three times, and left. We are all there, jaws dropping, looking at him in shock...

'The next day I go out with him on another patrol, and the soldiers are already starting to do the same thing.'

The revelations have provoked a massive debate within Israeli society about the legitimacy of the actions of the IDF. Israeli society is seriously beginning to question some of the abuses that are conducted in their name. This recent shift in attitudes has been reflected in a massive rise in conscientious objection, as well as widespread draft-dodging. As the Telegraph reported earlier in the year, the figures for draft-dodging in 2006 were the highest in Israeli history. Twenty-five percent of Israelis avoided their military service as a result of growing disquiet about the activities of the Israeli Defence Force.

And yet, the blood thirsty drum beaters still play the same tune. Witness Melanie Phillips' recent defence of the state that can do no wrong:

‘Every time I visit, the situation seems to have worsened,’ he [John Dugard, the UN human rights envoy for the Palestinian Territories] said in a BBC interview. This time, I was very struck by the sense of hopelessness among the Palestinian people.’ Mr Dugard attributed this to ‘the crushing effect of human rights violations’, and in particular Israeli restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement.

Yes, the Palestinians’ situation has worsened. This is principally the result of two things. a) The regime of terror instituted by the Hamas administration for which the Palestinians so unwisely voted and which is progressively making their lives a misery; and b) the restrictions imposed by the Israelis to counter the rockets which the Palestinians are lobbing at Israeli towns from Gaza, and the human bomb attacks they are ceaselessly attempting to perpetrate against Israelis. Strangely, Dugard makes no mention of either.

He said that although Israel did have a threat to its security, ‘its response is very disproportionate’.

Let’s see now: checkpoints to stop its citizens from being murdered? Very disproportionate. Targeted assassinations, to kill terror godfathers while sparing innocent Palestinians as far as possible? Very disproportionate. Sitting on Israeli hands while rockets fired from Gaza slam into southern Israeli towns? Very disproportionate.

Her willful denial of the very facts provided above show just how out of touch with reality she really is. The IDF is guilty of considerable human rights violations. It's treatment of innocent civilians is an utter disgrace. Disproportionate?? I would argue that that would put it very mildly indeed. These offences are off the scale. Beating women and children and failing to differentiate between genuine threats and innocent civilians, is systematic of a brutal, abusive regime. That the Israeli people are realising this is a very welcome development indeed.

Mansour Osanloo Still Incarcerated in Evin Prison

In July of this year, Mansour Osanloo was snatched from a bus and placed in the notorious Evin prison. Three months later, and Osanloo is still confined to a prison cell. As a result of his continued incarceration, the International Transport Workers' Federation have produced this video telling the story of Osanloo's fight for the rights of the workers in Iran. Please take time to watch the short clip and, when you have done so, sign Amnesty International's petition demanding that Osanloo receive immediate medical attention.

Gap Promise to Monitor Factories in India

In the light of the death of Ms Padmavathi at a factory in India that manufactures clothing for Gap, I contacted Gap and expressed my disgust at the treatment of one of their workers. Upon checking my inbox today, I found this reply:


I am pleased that they have acknowledged that there has been an 'increase in the number of violations' and that they will 'stop working with vendor partners that have repeated violations'. However, it remains to be seen whether they will adhere to these principles, or whether they will be cast aside in favour of their bottom line. The question also remains, how will Ms Padmavathi's family be compensated for their loss?

Fascism on the March in Switzerland

I could not believe what I saw on the Swiss People's Party website, thanks to an article on eitb:

A video game at the Swiss People's Party’s web site involves helping a white goat kicking the black sheep from the country. The campaign posters feature three white sheep including one kicking a black sheep.

A white goat called Zottel kicks some black sheep trying to pass the Swiss border on foot or by bus. You might not believe it but it is a video game at the Swiss People's Party’s web site.

I decided to visit their website and investigate this 'game' for myself. On entering their website and clicking the appropriate link, I was confronted with this image-

Now, if you have been following their campaign, you would know that the 'white sheep' is aiming his crossbow at the 'black sheep', an absolutely disgusting, vile image to use as part of an election campaign. If you thought Bush, Blair and Howard were bad, these guys aren't even wolves in sheep's clothing....they are just wolves. Fascism is on the march in Europe once more, thankfully some people are prepared to confront it. Question is, when our governments are quick to (rightly) condemn fascist governments further afield, will they see fit to condemn one closer to home?

Three Thousand People Detained by Military Junta in Burma As Media Go Elsewhere.....

Reports are suggesting that the figure for detainees in Burma is way above the original estimate given by Amnesty International. According to the Herald Sun:

State media also gave a sharply higher figure for the number of people who were detained in connection with the protests, saying 2927 had been locked up around the country and 468 remained behind bars.

Earlier state media had indicated about 2100 people had been arrested.

The newspaper said security forces were continuing to make arrests, despite a statement last week by the UN Security Council demanding the release of all political prisoners.

"Some are still (being) called in for questioning, and those who should be released will be released,'' the paper said.

That this has happened with barely a murmur is totally unacceptable. Real pressure needs to be put on the Burmese dictatorship to ensure that these people are released without charge immediately. As the Burmese uprising drops from the national consciousness, people will continue to suffer at the hands of this despicable regime. That there are no cameras recording the abuses does not mean that it is not still happening.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells - A Lesson About Privatisation

If the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells debacle has taught us anything, it is that creeping privatisation of the NHS (in some cases, not even 'creeping') is to be fought at all costs. If cleaning wasn't contracted out to cleaning companies who are not held to account for their actions, this disaster would never have happened (a disaster close to home, as I live in the area and have friends that work there - yes, I live in Tory land, now you know why I am so militant). It is time for cleaners to be brought under the control of the hospital itself rather than a cleaning company that's primary concern is profit, not the health of patients.

The BBC - A Left-Wing Organisation?

Right, I am confused. For some time now, I have been led to believe that the BBC was run by a bunch of lefties, determined to eradicate the right-wing and turn the UK into some kind of socialist agenda. For months I have been led to believe that the BBC is pumping out a steady stream of leftie propaganda. For months I have been convinced that the BBC is part of some vast left-wing conspiracy conducted by the mainstream media. And then I switch on BBC Breakfast this morning and, later in the day, I catch this on their website:

Migration 'causes pressure in UK'

Impartial?? Mmmmmm. Thinking I might have got this all wrong, I read on:

Almost every UK region has difficulties in housing, health, education and crime because of increased migration, according to an official report.

The findings are contained in a report drawn up to advise ministers on the social impact of immigration.

The Home Office's Migration Impacts Forum is meeting to discuss the effect of eastern European workers.

On Tuesday, ministers published a review of research showing "clear benefits" to the British economy.

The forum, which sits alongside a separate economist-led body, gathers reports on challenges raised by immigration across the country.

In the opening 16 paragraphs, the underlined passage is the only positive comment on the report. Compare that to the reporting in The Guardian:

Migrants - the verdict: hardworking and skilled but with social problems in tow

The first official government study of the economic impact of the biggest wave of migration to Britain in recent years reaches an overwhelmingly beneficial verdict.

"In recent years migrants have made a more positive contribution to the public finances than native workers; have often been highly skilled and accordingly captured higher labour market rewards," concludes the joint Treasury, Home Office and Work and Pensions study.

"They have very little discernible negative impact on labour market outcomes for native workers."

But the Home Office also published the initial findings last night of regional "soundings" of the impact of east European migrants in Britain. It revealed that in seven out of eight regions they have increased pressure on housing and more than half have seen a rise in crime, health and housing problems.

See what they did there?? The Guardian, although acknowledging the supposed negative impact (although this is mainly down to anecdotal evidence), preferred to focus on the positive aspect of the story. The BBC on the other hand, the so-called defender of a multi-cultural society, preferred to focus on the negative impact of immigration, like the TV version of the Daily Mail. Hardly indicative of a organisation dominated by a left-wing agenda.

Worker Dies at Factory Making Gap Clothing

Another story about the disgraceful treatment of employees in the developing world. This time at a factory manufacturing clothes for Gap. From The Guardian:

The clothing giant Gap has ordered one of its overseas suppliers to overhaul its practices after a garment worker in Bangalore, India, collapsed and later died outside the same factory where a young pregnant worker lost her newborn baby six months ago.

It is the third death in the last year at or near the premises of Shalini Creations, a unit of the Texport Overseas group which makes clothes for the US firm.

Local unions told the Guardian that Ms Padmavathi, a 39-year-old factory worker, collapsed near the factory gate at midday on September 18, two-and-a-half hours after she had asked to be allowed leave to go to hospital. They claim she started vomiting at 9.30am and had asked her manager for leave. But, they say, she was not granted immediate leave and was instead verbally abused. When she was eventually granted leave and left the factory, she collapsed near the gate. Passers-by carried her back to the factory, where she was taken to a clinic and then to Victoria hospital, where she died at around 1pm. Results of a postmortem examination have not yet been made public.

You can write to Gap at custserv@gap.com to pressurise them to take this incident seriously and ensure that their factory ensure fair treatment for all employees.

Israeli Strike on Syria Aimed at 'Nuclear Reactor'

Slowly, but surely, little details are dripping out about the Israeli airstrike in Syria. The Guardian reports:

The target of an Israeli air strike on Syria last month was a suspected nuclear reactor in the early stages of construction which was attacked after intensive consultation with Washington, it was reported yesterday.

The New York Times said US and Israeli intelligence analysts had agreed that the reactor appeared to be built on a North Korean model, though it was unclear how much assistance the North Koreans were alleged to have provided.

It is not clear whether the Bush administration gave a green light to the attack. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the secretary of defence, Robert Gates, are both reported to have voiced concerns about the impact of a pre-emptive threat against a site that was many years from completion and therefore not an urgent threat.

Yet another pre-emptive strike with no legal basis. The site was clearly no immediate threat, so why did the US and Israel feel the need to launch an attack at this stage, particularly with the upcoming conference regarding the Middle East. The fundamental reason appears to be a re-assertion of dominance in the region in the face of an increasingly confident Iranian state. A confident Iranian state, needless to say, that we have empowered with Western foreign policy over the past four years.

Javier Correa and the Impunity of Murderers in Uribe's Colombia

Sometimes, and only sometimes, one forgets the blatant hypocrisy at the heart of the so-called 'War on Terror'. But then one reads of the latest developments in Colombia (a close ally of the Bush White House) and it all comes flooding back. Although, given the nature of the mainstream media, it is hard to get any facts on the link between Bush and terrorism (you could do worse than watch this to get a basic understanding of the links between Bush and terrorism).

The following is taken from the United Steelworkers Union:

The USW president expressed grave concern for the lives of several members of the SINALTRAINAL union in Colombia, naming leaders from Bucaramanga as Javier Correa, Luis Eduardo Garcia and Jose Domingo Florez. Describing a tide of paramilitary re-mobilization, Gerard cited an explicit threat written by the Black Eagles, who said they would “bury the union members and their families in a mass grave on Christmas Day if they do not cease their union activities and leave the area.”

Gerard related an incident on Sept. 27 involving the son of Florez, who was picked up by presumed paramilitary gunmen, thrown into a van, beaten and told they won’t stop until his father is dismembered.

According to Amnesty, the full letter read:

"All orders are followed - communist guerrillas trade unionist facade - Javier Correa, stop your ideological discourse - you must leave the department - if not we will be obliged to carry out the military objective and at Christmas we will hand over the bodies of your families in a mass grave."

The letter bore the acronym of the AUC.

It is worth putting this into context. In 2006, 78 unionists were murdered in Colombia, over half the total global union murders. Despite these horrific figures, impunity for the murder of unionists is around 98%. Taking 2006 as an example, only three convictions were secured against the 78 murders. Furthermore, if one were to examine the period 2004-6, a period that witnessed the murder of 236 trade unionists, there were only five convictions. And if one was take the broader picture throughout Uribe's presidency, the picture is even bleaker. Since coming to power in 2002, there have been nearly 400 murders and only ten convictions (these figures come from a non-governmental organisation often cited by the American government). Taking all of these figures into account, as well as the figures pre-dating Uribe's presidency, the conviction rate stands at a pathetic 1.9%. No wonder Colombia is frequently described as 'one of the world's most dangerous places for trade unionists'.

Of course, these figures are even more disturbing when you take into account the many links between President Uribe and the terrorists responsible for this bloodshed. There is a video that has been circulating in Colombia for some time now that shows the future president meeting with one of the leaders of the AUC. There have also been frequent allegations of links between these terrorist organisations and the Colombian government. The former foreign minister, Maria Consuelo Araujo, was forced to resign due to the arrest of her brother and the investigation of her father for deals with terrorists.

With such a background, it is little wonder that union members are subjected to the kinds of disgraceful threats that face Correa and Florez. These threats will undoubtedly continue as long as the British and American political establishments turn a blind eye to the behaviour of the Colombia government and provide substantial financial and military aid. No wonder the Colombian government and the US administration embarked on a mass PR campaign in the 90s (with the involvement of Mark Malloch Brown - a key ally of Gordon Brown), there is certainly much to hide from the eyes of the general public.

You can take action in support of Javier Correa by visiting the Amnesty International Action page here.

Amnesty International Needs your Help To Pressurise the Military Regime in Burma

Amnesty International is calling on people to pressurise the Burmese military junta in the wake of the crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. As Amnesty points out, the military regime has been responsible for countless human rights violations over the years, including:

* The holding of more than 1,160 political prisoners in deteriorating prison conditions. Detainees include most senior opposition figures

*The use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, especially during interrogation and pre-trial detention

*The use of child soldiers and forced labour

*Laws that criminalise the peaceful expression of political dissent

*People frequently being arrested without warrant and held incommunicado

*Judicial proceedings against political detainees that fall short of international fair trial standards

*Defendants being denied the right to legal counsel and prosecutors relying on
confessions extracted through torture

Amnesty has also created a template email/letter that can be sent to Burma's Foreign Minister urging for the release of any prisoners taken as a result of the demonstrations. To find out more, click here.

Radiohead Killed the Music Industry (Well, maybe....)

I tend to be known for being a bit of a maniac Pearl Jam fan, but I am also a massive Radiohead fan. Hence the reason for this post. Kudos to them for putting their album out and allowing people to choose the price. I have to admit I decided to purchase the £40 box set, but still, could this be the future of music? The end of record labels?? It should also give an interesting insight into human behaviour. Will people still pay a reasonable sum of money when they are not forced to? Whatever, it is sure to be a masterstroke from perhaps the greatest band on the planet.

[As an aside, the so-called music critic at The Times was dumb enough to pay twice. He claims to have spent £9 on the download plus the purchase of the box. What he didn't realise was that by purchasing the box you get the download thrown in. But then, he does work for a Murdoch rag.]

Hillary Clinton - The Terrorist's Choice

Picked this up via The Guardian, who in turn spotted it at WorldNetDaily:

It's official: Terrorists endorse Hillary in '08

On the record, Mideast jihadi leaders say she's best hope for victory in Iraq

I rather think that Hillary will be almost as successful in recruiting so-called 'jihadis' as George W Bush. And he was phenomenal at it.

[Actually, WorldNetDaily is worth a peek, if only to see the madness within]

Burma - Hotels Feeling The Heat

After constant pressure by activists across the globe, the pressure is really starting to tell on those that support the military junta in Burma. This from The Guardian:

Last month's pro-democracy protests in Burma and the junta's ruthless and bloody crackdown have hit tourism hard, with some hotels slashing prices by 80% to try to attract visitors, industry insiders said.

"There has been a steep drop in foreign arrivals - both businessmen and tourists - since the protests reached a climax in the last week of September," a manager at a Rangoon-based travel agency said yesterday. Most hotels had more than halved their rates, the manager said, but occupancy levels were below break-even point, a reflection of the outrage at last month's crackdown on monks and civilians in which at least 10 people were killed.

According to the Myanmar Times, a semi-official business weekly, the Savoy Hotel has axed its prices to just $20 (£9.80) a night, compared with a normal high season rate of $110.

"Business has been very bad. Most of us have been out of a job for weeks," said one English-speaking tour guide. "It is not just because of the seasonal factor. We had a lot of cancellations. "

Even before the unrest tourism was in a parlous state, partly due to activists' calls for a boycott in order to keep tourist dollars out of the generals' pockets. Burma says it had 192,000 tourists in the year to March. By contrast, neighbouring Thailand expects about 13 million visitors this year, and even war-scarred Cambodia is aiming for 2 million.

Airlines have also been hit by the crisis. Domestic flight schedules had to be altered because of curfews imposed on Rangoon and Mandalay, and even unaffected flights are half-empty. A businessman who flew in from Singapore last week on an Air Bagan Airbus capable of carrying more than 200 passengers said there were only two dozen people on board.

If there is an hope that the military regime will collapse, the current trends need to be continued. Many of these companies hide behind their claims of helping the poor in Burma. However, given the amount of money that this generates for the junta, they are equally complicit in the murderous actions of this military regime. Only with the continuation of this pressure can the people of Burma truly be freed.

Bennelong lonely lonely lonely lonely.......TIME!!

John Howard's electoral region is Bennelong. The Federal Opposition (Labor) are running a highly respected investigative journalist against him and there's a real chance that she'll bump him. Of course, we want to see both him and his party gone so hopefully we don't choke at the election this year - because it will be the last chance to send a clear message of 'get f#$%ED!!!!'. The ultra-talented Cyrius01 on YouTube, however, has managed to get in early with this Dedly Ledly burn which pretty much covers 11 years in Australia's social and moral collapse - in case you missed it (you lucky, lucky bastards!).

Very rock, very funny, very replayable loud for housemates and co-workers.



I love that under 'interests & hobbies' Cyrius says he's into "preventing Armageddon-believing Christians from creating self-fulfilling prophecies and ruining the planet."

The dude is definitely onto something.

First spotted at the always worthwhile Homepage Daily

Forty Years After His Execution, Che's Spirit Lives On.....

John Howard - Condemns Burma Whilst Australian Federal Police Train their Burmese Counterparts

Yet another example of the sheer opportunism at the heart of Howard's posturing. From ZNet:

The current protests and crackdown has created more hypocritical condemnations and “targeted” sanctions (targeted so as not to harm Western corporations). Australian Prime Minister John Howard and foreign minister Alexander Downer have made global headlines with their colourful condemnations of the Burmese junta — described by Howard as “loathsome” — while at the same time the Burmese security forces receive training in “criminal intelligence” from the Australian Federal Police at the Australian-run Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation. This is ostensibly to fight the illegal drugs trade. However, the Burmese military are major participants in this trade.

The Canberra Times reported on September 28 that John Kaye, president of the Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma, said: “One thing we can do immediately is to withdraw the Australian Federal Police who are currently training police in Burma.” “We can downgrade the military delegation in Australia [at the embassy] from Burma”, he told the paper.

A September 26 statement by the Asian Centre for Human Rights argued that it is “the hypocrisy in Asia-Pacific which endured the military regime in Myanmar [Burma]. Foreign Minister of Australia, Alexander Downer already made it clear that Australia will not impose economic sanctions on Burma.

“The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has done little to address the present situation. ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong merely stated that ASEAN hoped that ‘the situation remains peaceful’. The ASEAN failed to issue a public statement condemning the Burmese junta for using force on the peaceful protestors, including the monks.”

On September 25, Greens Senator Bob Brown, calling for the suspension of military training and trade with the Burmese regime, noted: “Alexander Downer’s fear that the military will subject the pro-democracy protest leaders to ‘very harsh treatment’ is in absurd contrast with the Howard government’s twin policies of training the Burmese military and keeping open unrestricted trade. Mr Downer is all description of the Burmese events and no action.”

Alex Bainbridge, a Sydney-based anti-war activist and Senate candidate for the Socialist Alliance, argued that “The Australian government should immediately withdraw its ambassador in protest and halt all cooperation with military regime in Burma … the Australian government should halt the training provided by the Australian Federal Police for the repressive Burmese police force.”

While the Howard government rails against the Burmese junta’s repressiveness this does not mean that its victims are recognised as fleeing persecution. Seven refugees from the Muslim Rohingya community, Burma’s most oppressed minority, have been held by Australia in Nauru since September 2006.

So, whilst noisily attacking the Burmese regime, Howard's government trains the police and locks up those that are trying to flee persecution in Burma. There's words for leaders like John Howard - Hypocritical c....

Direct Action at Ten Percent

While I have been poncing around writing emails in response to the events in Burma, good old RickB has been out there campaigning at a Total garage with other protesters. You can see what they got up to here:

And read all about it here. Nice one.

Melanie Phillips - She Really Hates Muslims. Oh Yeah, and She is Fucking INSANE!!!

Another classic from the paranoid mind of Melanie Phillips:

The Sunday Times reports:

Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs…It will intensify the debate sparked last week by the disclosure that Sainsbury’s is permitting Muslim checkout operators to refuse to handle customers’ alcohol purchases on religious grounds. It means other members of staff have to be called over to scan in wine and beer for them at the till. Critics, including many Islamic scholars, see the concessions as a step too far, and say Muslims are reneging on their professional responsibilities.

Of course that’s right. These are not religious beliefs but political acts of provocation and further attempts to Islamise Britain. Many British Muslims will agree that the medical students’ claim is preposterous. There is only one correct response to such behaviour — to dismiss such students from the courses and sack such check-out operators from their jobs. The message should be clear and unequivocal —British culture will not submit to the attempt to cow, suborn and fragment it. Anything less uncompromising is cultural suicide —the path down which we are currently heading.

And there we have the proof (if it were needed). Melanie Phillips is despicable racist scum. Why? Well, I know for a fact that other religious groups are allowed to refuse service on religious grounds. For example, Catholic pharmacists are within their rights to refuse to sell the morning after pill as it violates their beliefs. Instead, they are to refer them to an alternative source of said medication. So, according to Melanie 'clinically sane, but oh so slightly mental' Phillips, Muslims are to be condemned for observing their religious beliefs, but Catholics are not. And yet, isn't medication slightly more important than booze???? Not in the fucked-up mind of Britain's leading racist it isn't. I look forward to this imbecile writing a similar attack on Catholics for 'fragmenting' our society. At this rate I fully expect to be greeted with a Nazi salute when I next click on her page.

Letter to America

Below is the letter I have sent to Blog to America. Whether it is published there or not, who knows?

Dear America,
Your government, not to mention your political system, has failed you. George W Bush has failed you. There are many reasons why I feel that your government has failed you, I hope I can clarify why during the course of this letter.

Your government has failed you at the most basic level. The overriding job of any government is to protect its citizens. That is a fundamental foundation of any civilised nation. Sadly, your government has chosen not to protect its citizens. Instead, it has decided to cut you loose and see if you sink or swim. Inevitably, it is the poor who sink. Take for example the recent legislation rejected by President Bush. Bush had a chance to ensure that every section of society was given the ability to swim. When presented with a bill to extend health insurance to millions of children, he could have chosen to embrace American society and ensure every member of the society was given an equal chance in life, regardless of their financial background. However, he chose (for the fourth time in seven years) to reject this legislation and ensure that millions of the poorest children will be left to sink, to disappear from mainstream society and remain a part of the so-called ‘under-class’. From birth, it would appear that the American government has chosen not to protect its citizens and thus renege on its obligations as a civilised nation.

It is not just in terms of healthcare, the American system (particularly under Bush) has displayed a blatant disregard for the ordinary working man/woman. Many Americans were proud of their achievement of being the ‘Most Productive’ workers, according to a UN report. But this reputation has come at a heavy price. Once again, the political leadership had a choice: protect the citizen, or allow them to sink. Once again, Bush chose the latter. Despite their reputation, the American worker suffers intolerable working standards. Unionisation is practically obsolete, with only 12.5% of workers owning union membership in 2005. Under Bush’s watch, the minimum wage has dropped from $5.84 in 2000 to $5.15 in 2005, the median family income dropped by $1,000 between 200 and 2004 and the lowest quintile saw its annual income after tax decrease by $200, while the top 1% saw their incomes grow by $53,000. The workers have been left to sink by Bush, while the wealthy continue to swim at a healthy pace.

The Bush administration has also failed to protect the rights of the indigenous people of America. When given the opportunity to vote on a treaty that set out the rights of the indigenous people, including protection of their human rights and their land, the United States was one of only four countries to vote against the treaty. Once again, we see how the Bush administration fails to abide by its obligations to protect all its citizens. In fact, its treatment of indigenous people has also been condemned by Amnesty International. Amnesty has claimed that:

Native American and Alaska Native women in the United States suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, yet the federal government has created substantial barriers to accessing justice, Amnesty International (AI) asserted in a 113-page report released today. Justice Department figures indicate that American Indian and Alaska Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the United States in general; more than one in three Native women will be raped in their lifetimes.

Native Americans are, like many other sections of society, left to sink to the bottom. The Bush administration has washed their hands of them, much like the poor and the workers.

But it is not just internal affairs that the Bush administration has failed the American people and endangered them, foreign policy has put America at risk like never before. The sympathy spawned from the attacks on 11th September, has been squandered as the US government seeks it tighten its grip on the world. However, the tighter they squeeze, the more anti-Americanism will grow. This in turn will lead to greater difficulties on the world stage and America’s increased isolation from the civilised world. This isolation will make all Americans vulnerable and put them at great risk. If current trends in foreign policy were to continue, the entire nation will sink without a trace.

In short, the American administration has done its best to ensure that the poor and the dispossessed sink to the bottom, while the wealthy rise to the top. If America is ever going to regain its status as a respected, civilised nation, it needs to stop threatening sovereign nations of the world and start focusing on the needs of the poor in their own country. Martin Luther King once said:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

Forty-four years later, it remains a dream.

Abortion in Nicaragua - A Warning

With the election of Daniel Ortega, there was much to be positive about the future of Nicaragua. At last, there was a leader that responded to the needs of the poor, rather than pandering to the rich, American loving elites. Certainly there have been encouraging developments since his election, in part due to the development of close ties with Chavez, Morales et al. However, not everything is rosy in Nicaragua. Last November it became a crime for a woman to have an abortion, even if her own life was at risk. Since the law was passed, nearly 100 women have died. Rory Carroll has written a heart-breaking account in The Guardian of the fight to have the law changed in Nicaragua. Here's an extract:

María de Jesús González was a practical woman. A very poor single mother, the 28-year-old's home was a shack on a mountain near the town of Ocotal in Nicaragua. She made the best of it. The shack was spotless, the children scrubbed. She earned money by washing clothes in the river and making and selling tortillas.

That was not quite enough to feed her four young children and her elderly mother, so every few months González caught a bus to Managua, the capital, and slaved for a week washing and ironing clothes. The pay was three times better, about £2.60 a day, and by staying with two aunts she cut her costs. She would return to her hamlet with a little nest-egg in her purse. She bought herself one treat - a pair of red shoes - but she would leave them with her family in Managua, as they were no good on the mountain trails she had to go up to get home.


During a visit to Managua in February she felt unwell and visited a hospital. The news was devastating. She was pregnant - and it was ectopic, meaning the foetus was growing outside the womb and not viable. The longer González remained pregnant, the greater the risk of rupture, haemorrhaging and death.

What González did next was - when you understand what life in Nicaragua is like these days - utterly rational. She walked out of the hospital, past the obstetrics and gynaecological ward, past the clinics and pharmacies lining the avenues, packed her bag, kissed her aunts goodbye, and caught a bus back to her village. She summoned two neighbouring women - traditional healers - and requested that they terminate the pregnancy in her shack. Without anaesthetic or proper instruments it was more akin to mutilation than surgery, but González insisted. The haemhorraging was intense, and the agony can only be imagined. It was in vain. Maria died. "We heard there was a lot of blood, a lot of pain," says Esperanza Zeledon, 52, one of the Managua aunts.

This is just one example of the butchery that has emerged in Nicaragua since the passing of this law. A further 81 women were victim to similar circumstances as Maria. If nothing else, these heart-breaking stories emphasise the consequences of any action to take away the right to abortion. It is a right that is worth protecting.

The Fight Against Fascism Hits The Streets of Berne

Protesters came out onto the streets at the week-end in order to protest against the Swiss People's Party, whose recent racist campaign for the upcoming election, has placed it on the verge of electoral victory. There is a very real danger that an extremist, far-right political party could once again take power in mainland Europe. Their advertising campaign has already made it quite clear that they intend to demonise immigrants and force their removal. And their fascist campaigning is already being studied by neo-Nazi groups in Germany. Quite frankly, they deserve whole-hearted support in their efforts to smash the far-right, not the kind of demonisation that has been utilised by the mainstream media. Fascism is on the march and the right-wing are staying quiet, distracting everyone's attention with the pseudo-threat that is organised international Islamic terrorism. The lessons have not been learnt.

Abercrombie Defends Support of WHINSEC

You may remember a little while back that many Democrats chose to support the establishment of WHINSEC, the successor to the School of the Americas. Well, I have finally had a reply from another one of the Democrats who supported the continued funding of a terrorist entity designed to pervert the course of democracy in South America. The following is an email I received from Neil Abercrombie:



Let's hope you do keep monitoring WHINSEC, Neil. Otherwise you are nothing more than a Bush crony.

Blog to America

I have been asked by the people behind Blog to America to write a letter to America expressing my views on the country and how it is viewed across the globe. I hope to start drafting something in the near future, and I will post a copy of said letter here once completed. In the meantime, take the opportunity to check out Blog to America to find out more.

Environmental Outrage Down Under - 200 000 hectares of native forest doomed by industrial insanity

In case you've missed it, one of the world's last bastions of exquisite ancient ecosystems - Tasmania - has been in a state of virtual civil war which has finally spread to the mainland and is going global even as you read this.

It is a bitter war between citizenry, astroturf lobby groups paid by the logging industry, and both major political parties who - at state and federal level - have set aside their differences to support Gunns - Tasmania's largest landholder, and a logging powerhouse responsible for around 5 million tonnes of export woodchips each year, largely from native forests.

All due process went out the window, the state government skimped on detail and rushed through legislation, the federal government was seemingly backed into a corner and yielded with a whimper. All so that the world's largest pulp mill, turning 4 million tonnes of forest into one million tonnes of paper ingredients and more than ten million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, could be built in a totally unsuitable valley and dump 70 million litres of effluent A DAY into an ocean rich in seals, penguins, and a diversity of flora and fauna.

Please - if you are concerned about climate change, if you are concerned about biodiversity, if you are concerned about forests, if you are concerned about corporations destroying every last natural inch of the planet for no good reason - please visit this campaign website. Get informed, show your support, consider ways in which you might be part of the global difference needed to halt this project now that it has been rubber-stamped at all levels of government.

It is a seriously off-kilter project. A majority of Tasmanians oppose it, a recent poll showed that over 83% of Australians don't trust the recently announced federal approval, and all avenues of resistance are now going to require determination, support, and creative activism.

I was feeling somewhat guilty about finally emptying my pockets of any crumbs of hope that Peter Garrett - formerly the legendary singer of Midnight Oil, now the increasingly debilitating shadow environment minister - might suddenly emerge from a phone box wearing a cape made of organic hemp with a huge green 'S' on his chest. But then he further clarified his position.

Mr Garrett argued yesterday that the tracts of old-growth forest that will supply the mill were already earmarked for logging under the Regional Forest Agreement.

"One of the policy goals for using the existing forest identified for that purpose is to add value to it.

"I prefer to see value added — so long as the environment is properly protected — rather than seeing woodchips sailing out to sea," he said.

Now, disgusting as it is people do throw around Hitler and Stalin analogies like so much confetti at a wedding (between all levels of government and a select group of well-subsidised private interests). I hate this trend as it generally discredits thoroughly justified anger and revulsion. So without specifying a context, let me just say that this comment from Garrett makes me think of a situation where somebody might endorse killing somebody and melting down their gold fillings, rather than just killing them. The viable option of protecting life where it exists seems preferable to all scenarios apparently on offer, yet all those with responsibility to proclaim as much seem far too scared to do so.

So weak are opportunities for public representation in the supposed houses of democracy, Greens leader Senator Bob Brown is repeatedly forced to personally fund legal challenges to government environmental actions in court. The Greens are drawing closer to lodging a formal legal challenge on the basis of Malcolm Turnbull's conditional approval being legally inoperable within the ambit of the EPBC Act by which he is reluctantly empowered. Bob Brown explains,

“My reading of Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act section 132 (indicates) the minister has not acted within the law,“ Senator Brown said.

“We will have our barristers look at that and they are as we speak,” he said.

“We warned before he made the approval he should act within the law.”

It is an Akira situation - the beast of inequity is growing like a snowballing lump of departmental pr masturbation, environmental catastrophe, and corporate cancer but there is an overwhelming certainty that it must collapse under the weight of its own illegitimacy. It's not going to break down on its own though, it's going to need a lot of help from some unlikely places.

Please - if you're an eco-warrior, get involved and mobilize anyway that you can think to.

Check out Tasmanian Times for breaking news, commentary and background,
hit my website and check out 'Tasmania' in the category cluster,
go to the campaign site at TAP and see where you as an international citizen might be able to get involved in derailing this monster,
learn a whole lot more at Chris Lang's definitive site for anybody concerned about industrial forest operations globally,
and check out Bank Track, where they're leading the global charge to cut off financial lines of supply for the project.

Sorry to get all desperate on you, but this campaign desperately needs support. It's asymmetrical warfare, but it's been that way all along and even with full government sanction the tide has been slowly turning against this insane project for months now. Among the next steps, it is likely that direct action followed by mass arrests and destructive civil lawsuits against protesters will follow, as this has been the form of both Gunns and the Tasmanian government so far.

Please don't just flip past this if you're at all eco-minded. Now is the time for an international wave to build against this over-riding of public interest. Like the Franklin Dam and the pulp mill project before this, this project can be stopped but only by awareness, outcry, and action.

Burma Regime Wants 'Surrender' According to The Burma Campaign UK

With thanks to RickB for this one:

The Burma Campaign UK is concerned by media reports that there has been some kind of breakthrough in Burma because Senior General Than Shwe has agreed to talks. There has been no breakthrough. Than Shwe has repeated a demand made to UN Envoys since 1992. That is, that the National League for Democracy must agree to stop calling for human rights and democracy, and stop calling for international support, as preconditions before they start talking.

“We have been here before,” said Mark Farmaner, Acting Director of the Burma Campaign UK. “The regime is still refusing to enter into genuine dialogue, Gambari’s mission has failed. We have to break out of this cycle. Ban Ki-moon must go to Burma and deliver a strong message to the regime that further delay is unacceptable. There must be deadlines set for the regime to enter into talks and begin reform, after which there will be consequences. He should have the backing of the United Nations Security Council in delivering this message.”

UN Envoy Ibrahim Gambari is expected to brief the United Nations Security Council today. There has been a dramatic escalation in human rights abuses in Burma since his first visit to the country in 2006, including a military offensive against civilian ethnic minorities in eastern Burma, and the recent brutal crackdown on peaceful protests in Rangoon.

“The invitation to Gambari to return to Burma in November is a classic delaying tactic by Than Shwe.” said Mark Farmaner. “He wants to string out the process as long as possible, hoping that by then the world’s attention will be elsewhere. Than Shwe is a specialist in psychological warfare, and has been using these skills to dupe the international community for many years.”

Time to stop playing their games and get serious. Millions of people are relying on us. Don't let them down.

Halloween - It's Political Correctness Gone Mad I Tell Yer!

Those pesky Christians are at it again, banning fun. Bastards. From The Guardian:

A Church of England bishop campaigning to rebrand Halloween as a "triumph of good over evil" claimed victory yesterday after two supermarkets agreed to stock less sinister alternatives to the usual monster masks and devil costumes.

Sainsbury's has written to the Rt Rev David Gillett, Bishop of Bolton, saying it will now also sell glowsticks, hair braids and face paints. Its chief executive, Justin King, said he could understand the bishop's worries about the antisocial effects of Halloween products.

At a launch yesterday at Manchester Cathedral to highlight examples of cuter Halloween costumes, Bishop Gillett said he was delighted the church had persuaded supermarkets they had a responsibility to offer choice. He added: "I now hope parents will use their spending power, vote with their baskets and do what they can to show big businesses that we want Halloween to be a more positive festival for people of all ages."

Cuter Halloween costumes? Fuck off. People should be scared shitless. That's the whole point.

Will these do-gooders never learn?? When will there be an end to this political correctness that blights this country? The Christians have already had a pop at a musical that portrays Jesus in a nappy, right-wingers get all politically correct over Israel and now Christians want to make Halloween 'cute'. And do you know what the really funny thing is? They band the phrase 'politically correct' around like it is a left-wing ideology. Priceless.

Bush - Child Killer

I was going to post on this yesterday, but I was otherwise engaged. From The Guardian:

George Bush yesterday used his presidential veto for only the fourth time in seven years to block legislation that would have given health insurance to millions of poor American children.

He announced his opposition to the expansion of an existing insurance programme last month. The exercise of his veto power yesterday isolates the White House on the most pressing domestic issue for many Americans, and puts Mr Bush in conflict with Congress, where there was widespread Republican support for the legislation.

The legislation would have extended health cover to 10 million poor children, and would have cost $60bn (£29.5bn) over the next five years. It had widespread support outside Congress, from state governors and even the health insurance industry.

The White House argued that the programme represented a stealth effort to bring in government health care, and would have extended coverage to middle class families as well as the poor. "This legislation would move health care in this country in the wrong direction," Mr Bush said yesterday. "Under this bill government coverage would displace private health insurance for many children."

Of course, there are far better things to spend tax payers money on, like the murder of thousands of people around the globe. From Colombia to Iraq to Afghanistan, Bush chooses to spend money on death rather than life. Maybe if just a fraction of military spending was re-directed to healthcare, thousands of people's lives might just be saved. But then I guess a fair, decent healthcare system in a capitalist world is beyond the reasoning of man.

Free Burma

Find out what you can do to put an end to the military dictatorship in Burma, visit The Burma Cammpaign UK and start writing emails to the companies that support the regime.

[image taken from Free Burma!]

The Karen - Ethnically Cleansed in Burma Thanks To Corporate Investment

There have been many interesting posts about the ongoing situation in Burma, what with the images of peaceful monks being slaughtered by over zealous soldiers eager to please their military leaders. One story that has bubbled under the surface is the case of the systematic cleansing of ethnic minorities along the Burmese/Thai border. One of the main victims of this growing genocide has been the Karen.

The Karen (self-titled Pwa Ka Nyaw Po and also known in Thailand as the Kariang) originate from Tibet and have had tempestuous relations with the Burmese throughout their history. In 1947, the KNU ( Karen National Union) was formed. The KNU was involved in an insurgency against the Burmese military junta throughout the 1980s leading, ultimately, to the 8888 uprising which was brutally crushed by the Burmese regime, leading to deaths numbering in the thousands. After the uprising, the junta cracked down on the KNU and its numbers dropped from 40,000 to 4,000. Even now they are suffering the consequences for their call for freedom.

Along the border with Thailand, the Karen (along with other groups) have been murdered, raped, forced into labour and had their houses burnt down. In short, a genocide is taking place. Only now, with the spotlight on Burma, has the grim reality of life in Burma as an ethnic minority become apparent. The following is taken from The Guardian:

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - While international attention has focused on the protests for democracy in Myanmar's cities, a hidden war has decimated generations of the country's powerless ethnic minorities, who have faced brutality for decades.

The Karen, the Shan and other minority groups who live along the Myanmar-Thai border have been attacked, raped and killed by government soldiers. Their thatched-roofed, bamboo homes have been torched. Men have been seized into forced labor for the army, while women, children and the elderly either hide out in nearby jungles until the soldiers leave or flee over the mountains to crowded, makeshift refugee camps.

``Many, many thousands of Karen have died in those 60 years,'' Karen National Union secretary general Mahn Sha said this week of his people's struggle for autonomy since 1947.

The military junta has denied reports of atrocities and says the ethnic rebels are "terrorists'' [note the use of the word] trying to overthrow the government.

The Southeast Asian nation, formerly known as Burma, has more than 100 subtribes. Myanmar's diverse minority groups make up nearly a third of the country's 54 million population.

About two-thirds of the country belong to the Burman ethnic majority, which is also known as the Myanmar. The other ethnic groups include the Shan, the Karen, the Chin, the Mon, the Arakan or Rakhine, and the Kachin.

The plight of the Karen emphasises the impact that Western investment has in the region. Those companies that have been operating in Burma (the teak suppliers, the travel industry etc) have effectively been paying for these human rights abuses. Every bullet fired into every man/woman/child is paid for by the corporations operating in the region. Every rape that is committed is the direct responsibility of the corporations that invest there. Every village that is burnt to the ground is done so with the support of those very corporations that claim to have a conscience. How else can they explain why they are happy to give the Burmese government the money to indulge their military in such a way? I don't really know how these people can sleep at night knowing that they are financing murder and rape. May it rest heavy on their souls.