Preventive Detention: A Shield or A Sword?

There is a consensus among educated Australians that Preventive Detention is inimical to the democratic evolution of our country. Many are those who argue that given the standards of our time preventive detention is an unnecessary evil.

This group is made up mostly of community groups, academics and lawyers who sincerely subscribe to the belief that to resort to such a draconian law to safeguard not only their person but also, the country at large is itself dangerous. They argue passionately that the exigencies do not warrant such offensive and repressive Act. To this school of thought the Act would be a sword in the hand of a budding autocrat who wielded it ruthlessly and indiscriminately to stifle all genuine opposition.

In Australia there is freedom of expression and freedom of association. There are many media outlets and the government and the media giants have the morning, mid-day and evening news, as the governments mouth piece.

The media giants though not officially part of the government machinery; unabashedly and blatantly champion the cause of the government funded by government advertising. Given these attributes of democracy, one would not need to ask why the media giants never asked questions in relation to the illegality of the war on sovereign nations like Afghanistan and Iraq.

Or who was responsible, and or what that inference would lead to down the track in terms of our national security. Especially if they could not win that illegal and degrading war or it could take years. Now those questions have been left unanswered. So to keep the terrible lie alive they need to restrict our liberty to combat their fear of reprisal which undermines the communities common laws, human rights, civil rights, democratic rights and their liberties at home or abroad.

The proposition that certitude leads to violence has its easy application in such dynamic environment and in a landscape swarming with political parties and some who are intent on justifying illegal and degrading war whilst living in a multicultural freer society. The easy application is ideologies, dogmatists and bullies--people who think that their rightness justified them in imposing on anyone who does not happen to subscribe to their particular ideology, dogma or notion of turf. Because their conviction of rightness is powerful enough and any resistance to it will be met sooner by force. When one gets profiled then persecution comes easy. Mamdouh Habib was kidnapped, persecution inexorably followed.

If Preventive Detention or Control Orders are enacted for dissent or suspected people the law will empower the government to detain anybody without trial. The law is renewable and represents indefinite detention and other waves of detention will follow unabated.

Yet there are no bombs being thrown any where in the country. If anything, it was only the 'smoking gun memo' and troops off to wage war that occasionally pervaded the atmosphere in Australia.

The opposition party has been bought and dissolved into extinction or used merely to sustain the notion of a liberal democracy. Well-paid losers!

In conclusion, there has been no bomb thrown thus, we don't need a shield to protect us. As a matter of fact, the government were culprits in the war and the opposition was complicit in not preventing the war and one needs to look there for the real answer in preventing violence in our community down the track.

In my opinion the sole objective of the governments Anti-Terrorism legislation is a diabolic weapon to stifle and strangulate the budding opposition because of the mounting frustration of the opponents to illegal and degrading war which, they declare is an adequate justification for engaging in bomb throwing and on that basis then one can be sure Howard is not a visionary but a nationalistic autocrat and it goes without saying.

Like all autocrats, Howard cannot tolerate any opposition.

By: Just Us 30 October 05

Related:

What's the Difference Between CHINA and AUSTRALIA?
If John Howard's terror law comes into effect, what is the difference between China, and Australia? No rifle executions? I think it is time to approach the Governor General, to dissolve Parliament on the basis that the present Government is attempting to achieve Dictatorial Powers.

Cracks in terror solidarity
In remarks that are at odds with the Premier, Morris Iemma's determined support for the legislation, Mr Debus said yesterday: "I think I share the concern about the legislation with plenty of other people. I don't query that we need to have very tough responses to the threat of terrorism [actually though, the community do query it because the actual threat of terrorism is coming from the Government] and I don't query that the premiers have signed off on a framework last month.

Australian Prime Meanster 'tells' States?
Prime meanster john hoWARd's original pact with the states seems to have fallen into disarray because his new anti-liberty laws breach human rights obligations and the commonwealth constitution.

Anti-Terrorism Bill details draconian police-state plans
First and foremost, the legislation provides for extensive detention without charge or trial, on the flimsiest of pretexts. With no notice or legal hearing, any person can be thrown into secret "preventative detention" or placed, by a "control order," in isolation under house arrest.

Shoot to kill on the belief of reasonable grounds is a problem
Provisions in relation to use of force in s105.23 raise serious concerns. In particular subsection 105.23(2) specifically contemplates the use of lethal force against a detainee where an AFP member believes on reasonable grounds that this is necessary to protect life or to prevent serious injury to another person.

ASIO laws: Don't be silenced
The secrecy surrounding the proposed national anti-``terror'' legislation stands in stark contrast to previous ASIO and "anti-terror'' laws that have been subject to scrutiny by parliamentary committees and public hearings.

Brisbane Peace Convergence calls on Beattie to reject terror legislation changes The Brisbane Peace Convergence (BPC) are calling on Premier Peter Beattie to reject the Federal governments proposed amendments to anti-terror laws. The BPC consider the changes to pose a threat to fundamental rights in a democratic society, including life, liberty and democratic action.

How's this for sedition?
Edmund Burke, who declared the tyranny of bad laws, was a deep political thinker and a ferocious polemicist. In 1777, he wrote to the Sheriffs of Bristol that the true danger to freedom was when liberty was nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.

Sydney Morning Herald Poll flawed
Sydney Morning Herald: "According to the latest Herald Poll, about three-quarters of voters think it is OK to lock up suspected terrorists [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killings resource wars in the Middle East] without charge, put them under house arrest or shackle them with tracking devices."

SHOOT TO KILL MADNESS AND DRACONIAN LAWS
The Howard Government wants to give police executing preventative detention orders the power to shoot to kill. This is shoot to kill madness.

New anti-terror laws and the Muslim community
On 8 September the Prime Minister introduced a 12-point plan outlining new anti-terror laws [draconian laws to bolster support for John Howard's resource wars in the Middle East] in a press release. Two weeks later he went to the Council of Australian Governments meeting with the proposals. They approved the measures by and large.

Secret agents brief Bracks on 'seditious' protest
Australia: Melbourne: Thursday 20 October, 2005: A phalanx of "secret agents" delivered a written briefing to Premier Steve Bracks at Parliament House today to tip him off to potential "seditious activities" at a planned demonstration for civil liberties on Saturday.

Shoot-to-kill bluff
AUSTRALIA: federal labor leader kim sleazley has predicted the federal dictatorship will fail in its push for a shoot-to-kill policy to be included in its counter-terrorism laws.

Sedition Laws Target Peaceful Civil Disobedience
The new Sedition Laws in the anti-terror bills clearly target people who call for acts of non-violent civil disobedience. Under the laws there is no defence for calling for change to any law by anything other than lawful means. Penalty is up to seven years jail.

Stanhope flags doubts on 'hasty' terrorism bill
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says he may refuse to sign off on parts of the Federal Government's hasty terrorism bill. Mr Stanhope published a draft of the controversial laws [draconian laws] on his website on Friday and has refused to take it down despite a directive from the Federal Government.

Despoja: Stanhope hero of the hour
Natasha Stott Despoja has described Mr Stanhope as the "hero of the hour". Senator Despoja says there is meant to be a vote on the draft legislation in the week beginning November 7.

Stanhope stands his ground
Stanhope: It is bizarre to think legislation of this significance can be rushed into Parliament without consulting a single Australian.

Anti-terrorism laws inquiry 'too short'
Australia: The Opposition says the inquiry effectively gives senators just one day to examine the bills. Labor's homeland security spokesman, Arch Bevis, says the inquiry will be unable to scrutinise whether the legislation provides a balance between security and civil rights.

Australia: Draconian laws draw rights watchdog's ire
Human Rights Watch has condemned Australia's proposed anti-terrorism laws as a "shocking departure" from its historical championing of the rights of the individual.

Dissent Isn't Taken Lightly Down Under
Historian Michael Foley said during times of war pacifists often get mugged. As a nonviolent activist working to end the war in Iraq and the corporate war profiteering that comes with it, September 2005 has been the most surreal time of my life and I definitely feel like I got mugged by Australian Attorney General Phillip Ruddock and the Australian government.

Australia: Rattling the cage
Recently, the federal government announced a controversial new 'counter-terrorism' package. Civil libertarians were quick to raise the spectre of a police state . Yet Muslim groups argued that the new security regime is already having an impact on the democratic freedoms and everyday safety of their communities.

AUSTRALIA: MUSLIMS SOLD OUT!
Hand picked alleged Australian Muslim leaders are being used to cut their own throats the same as the hand picked Indigenous mob have been used by the John HoWARd Government to screw ATSIC.

Anti-terrorism laws put rights at risk: Fraser
Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser says Australians could be treated unfairly under the Government's anti-terrorism [draconian] laws unless a human rights act is introduced.

Stop the war on civil liberties!
Prime Minister John Howard is using the "war on terror" to promote widespread fear about "terrorists" and "terrorism" in Australia. This is despite the fact that the biggest act of terror being committed today is being carried out by foreign troops, including Australia's, in occupied Iraq.

Spots and Stripes
It is well known that John Howard, infamous lackey and liar, is devoid of anything that could be remotely regarded as masculine or manly; the draconian measures he has implemented to 'secure' Australia against the terrorist bogeyman are astounding.

They know where you live
Twenty-four hours after the country's leaders agreed to draconian counter-terrorism laws this week, the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, was playing down media claims that ASIO believed there were 800 would-be suicide bombers living in Australia.

When Terrorism Outlaws Democracy
On September 27, 2005, Australian democracy surrendered to terrorism. On that day, a coalition of willing federal and state leaders agreed to anti-terrorism legislation that will enable police persecution of the Muslim community and threaten dissidents with imprisonment. In a country without a Bill of Rights, the prospect of more draconian Terror Laws delivers ultimate control through fear. Australia, with its history of penal colonies, racism and detention centers, is now set to become a police state.

Evans: moderate threat
Evans doubts reports that 800 potential terrorists are living in Australia.

No! Your Rights Australia
You have the right to not remain silent.

800 people deemed a potential security risk?
As reported in the Australian today, ASIO has apparently identified up to 800 people deemed a potential security risk. Ruddock says the draconian COAG measures "deal with people who pose a risk to the safety and security of the Australian community." Hmmm, like detained and deported US peace activist Scott Parkin perhaps? What is this broad definition of a "Terrorist"?

Democrat Will Oppose Anti-Terrorism Laws
NSW Democrat MLC, Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, has accused the Premier, Mr Morris Iemma, of selling out to John Howard after agreeing to new 'Anti-Terrorism' laws yesterday. Dr Chesterfield-Evans said the proposed laws agreed to by Morris Iemma will not work.

Mein Kampf by John Howard
Months before Bali Au warships were seen invading Iraqi territorial waters in deliberate provocations under American protection. It was obvious that Howard had decided before Bali to join in an illegal and aggressive invasion of Iraq and in fact , when that happened, it was led by Au stormtroopers BEFORE the ultimatum given Baghdad had even run out!

Collection of Terrorists Meet to Take Away Our Rights
Tomorrow (27th of September) the State Premiers and the Federal Government are meeting to conspire to strip Australians of their rights. Welcome to the brave new world of electronic tagging and "preventative" detention.

Tell Your State Premier: Don't Do Ruddock's Dirty Work
Over the past several years, the Howard government has passed a series of dangerous new laws. These laws have undermined our basic legal and democratic rights.

Australian government unveils legal framework for police state
In the lead-up to his September 27 "counter-terrorism summit" with the eight Australian state and territory leaders, Prime Minister John Howard last week unveiled a package of legislation that goes well beyond the already deep inroads made into essential civil liberties under the fraudulent banner of the "war on terrorism..."

Australia: Counter-liberty plans unveiled
AUSTRALIA: VIC: BLACK Hawk helicopters and fighter jets will patrol Melbourne's skies during the Commonwealth Games next March, as part of counter-terror measures outlined today.

John H.o.W.A.R.d line roars at Fascism Week
AUSTRALIA: Parody: (Rooters) - While Attorney General Phillip Duddock helped wrap up a US protester for Prime Meanster, John HoWARd during Australia's Fascism Week after a 5 day detention debut and the removal of Mr Scott Parkin a peace activist who was deported back to Houston, Texas. The h.o.W.A.R.d fascism line, adding a dash of despotism to a week of largely draconian styles.

Parkin charged $11,700 for detention and removal
Los Angeles Friday, 16 September, 2005 : American peace activist Scott Parkin arrived back in the US today, escorted by 2 Australian immigration officials. He is expected to arrive in Houson, Texas on a Continental Airlines flight at around 3pm AEST.

Government out of control on security: Wilkie
Australia: Canberra Thursday, 15 September, 2005 : Former intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie today staunchly defended US peace activist and teacher, Scott Parkin, saying that the government's national security agenda is out of control.

Australia, USA, Iraq: Scott Parkin
The rapid and widespread response to the detention of US peace and global justice activist, Scott Parkin, has been heartening and effective on many levels. Actions have taken place in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and outside several Australian Consulates in the United States.

Peace Activist Agrees to be removed but challenges security review
ATTENTION: CHIEFS OF STAFF - IMMIGRATION REPORTERS - LEGAL REPORTERS

Australia's fascist ideal: Proof
Philip Ruddock, Federal Attorney General to Australian, hopes to eclipse the neo-cons of the US in the race toward the fascist ideal of social uniformity and control (oppression).

Anti-War Extremists Loyal to Scott
What can I say to someone like Scott Parkin? Sorry mate, to get a PEACE prize in this country you need to be drop dead sexy, go-tees are out - you gotta go. Peace Prize.

US Peace Activist to be Deported
Scott Parkin, a Texas based peace activist was detained by Federal police at approximately midday Saturday. He was en route to give a workshop about the progress and success of the peace movement in the US and companies profiting from the Iraq war.

Howard government threatens academic freedom
As Peter McGregor noted in GLW #639, I recently resigned in protest from a committee of the federal government's National Health and Medical Research Committee (NHMRC) and called for a boycott by academics of government committees generally.

'Different times' call for bill of rights, says QC'
To ensure no future government can erode basic human rights. Lex Lasry, QC, gave last night's key note address at the University of Western Australia's annual Day of Ideas.

Australia: a little dab will do ya .....
Reflections on the phoney, hypocritical "values" debate being promoted by the federal government, as part of its proscriptive program to emasculate our democracy.

Government warned Terror Laws "inherently dangerous, draconian and open to misuse" John North, Law Council of Australia: "In times of fear, it is easy for governments to impose ever (more) draconian laws."

Fishing expedition pays off
A man whose home was targeted by ASIO in fishing raids this year is facing fraud charges along with a co-accused who is linked to firearms offences.

The Terrorism of ASIO Laws
Wanda Fish asks Australian Senators to reject Howard's proposal to strengthen laws that already erode our basic legal rights. This legislation has the potential to turn ASIO agents into terrorists who can kidnap and detain innocent Australians simply because they "might know something".

Terrorgraph not quiet on 'Aussie militant' probe
AFP refuses to comment on investigation into militant video: hoWARd's abc.

Phillip Duddock's 'accent' heard in militant broadcast
Australian/Arab television has broadcast a video showing a masked militant with an apparent Australian accent criticising British Prime Minister tony bliar over Iraq.

HICKS: Not a Happy Birthday!
AUSTRALIA/CUBA/US :David Hicks, the Australian imprisoned at the US Base of Guantanamo Bay, will be 30 years old this coming Monday August 7, 2005.

GetUp! Stand Up! Stand Up For Your Rights!
Because of you, something exciting happened in our democracy last week. From every corner of the country, more than 20,000 emails were sent to the Coalition Senators. Our message was simple: now you have control of the Senate, we will be holding you to account. Thousands of you added personal messages to your representatives about the issues you care about.

Australia: We're Living In A War Zone
Prime Minister john hoWARd and his cronies have now placed us in a war-zone moving defence capabilities to Australia's south-east coast.

All the alleged terrorists are Muslims
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner mick keelty, a well know propagandist and liar, now claims that 60 Islamic extremists are operating in Australia and they are not news to the police and intelligence agencies.

All the wicked witches in Pakistan?
Pakistani authorities say 800 suspected militants [scapegoates and patsies] have been arrested in raids following the deadly London [false flag operation] bombings, as Islamic groups protest a move to expel 1,400 foreign students.

It's just not cricket: Khan
The perception in the West remained that somehow Islam was connected to militarism and terrorism, that all Muslims believe that all suicide bombers go straight to heaven. No one mentioned that before [false flag operations of] 9/11 70 per cent of suicide bombings in the world were committed by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, who were Hindus.

Lawyer dismisses ASIO fishing raids as PR stunt
Fascist federal Police (AFP) and ASIO officers conducted more raids in Melbourne and Sydney yesterday but the publicity surrounding the raids has been dismissed as a public relations exercise by the Melbourne lawyer for an accused terrorist.

Howard off to US, UK - part 5
PART-5- PRIME minister john hoWARd will meet US president george w buSHIT, British prime minister tony blair and queen 'imperialism' herself during a 10-day visit to the United States and the UK next month.

hoWARd, ruddock, ellison, keelty and news ltd plotted chaos
AUSTRALIA/CUBA: Government and corporate propaganda agencies 'believe' they have foiled an attack on the Melbourne Stock Exchange by a radical Islamic network linked to a covert group, which has carried out surveillance on key Sydney sites.

Houses raided over 'possible' political attack plans?
ASIO have raided a number of properties in Melbourne on a 'fishing expedition' in relation to a 'possible' political scare campaign by the hoWARd government, playing on the fears of all Australians... again!

Is this our most dangerous Newspaper?
The Daily Terrorist should be managed with manacles and flown into Siberia via a jumbo jet tomorrow amid fears government fascists may attempt to use them again on someone else.

HOSTAGES OF THE WAR ON TERROR
This forum will bring together legal representatives and victims of counter-terror, along with justice campaigners and organisations in order to share strategies for achieving justice for these men and the many other like them.

WAR ON TERROR, WAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS: AMNESTY
The Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group & the Justice for Hicks & Habib Campaign welcome the statement by Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan, condemning the US Administration for condoning torture and the suppression of 'human rights' in their 'war on terror'.

Murdoch's war on truth in war reporting
People who remain to be convinced that cross-media laws are important to maintaining the fabric of our democracy need look no further than today's page one of The Daily Telegraph.

Chomsky signs on for justice
Noam Chomsky has signed the Justice for Jack campaign petition which calls on the Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock and Director of Public Prosecutions to "drop any charges reliant on records of interviews conducted under duress without the presence of a lawyer."

If he'd been given his passport he'd be a free man
A Sydney man [scapegoat in the Coalition of the Killings resource wars in the Middle East] has been found not guilty of preparing for a terrorist attack on a Commonwealth building [ruling class propaganda.]

Trial by unrelated video clips
Should alleged terrorist suspects [scapegoats for the resource wars in the Middle East] be shown on television side-by side-'terrorist training camp film clips' gathered by the government and media archives to give the wrong impression of accused people facing trial?

Accused Australian Citizen 'denied passport in 2002'?
AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN who was refused a passport by DFAT in mid-2002 became frustrated at the government for treating him differently.

Court should be told Gov't using 'Jack'!
A Melbourne court should have been told a man accused of working for Al Qaeda is being used by the fascist Australian Government as a pawn in their leverage to win support for their illegal and degrading activities.

Noble Cause Torture?
AUSTRALIA: The Labor Party has decided not to support a Senate inquiry into new allegations made by Mamdouh Habib that the Australian Government cooperated with Egyptian intelligence authorities who he insists tortured him.

New account adds weight to interrogation claims
Australia/Cuba/Iraq: The fascist Federal Government is under further pressure today because Australians were involved in the interrogation of tortured Iraqi prisoners.

Australian senate accused govt of war crimes
Did you hear the one about David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib having a Barbeque in Afghanistan with Bin Laden? Yeah it was reported on Channel Seven's Sunrise this morning! But they don't know if it was a sheep or a goat, but sources say it was most likely a goat.

DPP to appeal innocent man's bail
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will seek to have an innocent Melbourne man Joseph 'Jack' Thomas, returned to isolation in custody?

Fascist Australian Govt torture exposed
The fascist Federal Government has been exposed for the torture of Australian Mamdouh Habib and the US Government's allegations against him (if they were true) would have been made under duress.

Innocent witch verballed by federal fascists!
Shame on the federal fascists. The wicked old witch is dead! A Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard that a 31-year-old innocent Victorian man was facing terrorism charges?

Lawyer blames police for Habib break-in
John HoWARd, Alexander Downer, Phillip Ruddock, Robert Hill, to name just a few....HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

No reason for Habib to sell story: Beazley?
Federal Agreement Leader Kim Beazley is a well-paid loser. A loser who supposed to be defending our democratic rights by standing up to the HoWARd Government's fascism.

Australia: a presumption of guilt......
KAREN PERCY: Two of Australia's leading barristers have seized on the return of Guantanamo Bay detainee, Mamdouh Habib, to launch an unprecedented attack on the Federal Attorney General, Philip Ruddock.

Aust Community criticises Govt for 'crimes'!
Australia: The Law Council of Australia is warning that the Federal Government must learn from its mistakes over Guantanamo Bay? Now that's a mistake!

Australian Govt Guilty of Crimes: Community
Australia: The community says federal fascists who allowed the torture of its citizenry including Mamdouh Habib may be arrested when the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal address the War Crimes Indictment set out by the community.

What they did to Habib
Mamdouh Habib was the victim of atrocities fit for a concentration camp, including being tied to the ground while a prostitute menstruated on him, his lawyer said yesterday.

Innocent witch verballed by federal fascists!
Shame on the federal fascists. The wicked old witch is dead! A Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard that a 31-year-old innocent Victorian man was facing terrorism charges?

Innocent Victorian man held in custody for Xmas?!
Lawyers have argued the case against Mr Thomas was weak and based on a statement he made in Pakistan without a lawyer present and therefore unlawful.

Innocent Melbourne man makes second bail bid
Rubish, just plain propaganda, fear-mongering, draconian nonsence from the HoWARd goverment's war agenda stink tank.

MPs to review spy agency powers
Australian spy agency ASIO'S controversial powers to detain and question suspected terrorists [scapegoats for HoWARd's resource wars] will be re-examined by a parliamentary committee. Parliament passed the new counter-terrorism powers in July last year.

Goulburn Jail breaches UN standards
NSW: Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has called on Justice Minister John Hatzistergos to bring Goulburn Jail's Maximum Security Wing into line with United Nations standards, after a prison inmate's covert survey of his fellow inmates revealed problems with rehabilitation programs and basic amenities.

Lodhi toilet paper: crap!
He is facing nine charges and is accused of planning a major terrorist attack on Sydney defence sites and the electricity grid using downloads off the internet and having 100 rolls of toilet paper to wipe his arse after low level bombs and farts.

Community seeks more power to interrogate ASIO suspects
Greens Senator Bob Brown does not think increased police powers are necessary. "We have enormous powers for surveillance, apprehension or punishment of people who are engaged in or intending to engage in or thinking about being engaged in terrorist acts in this country," he said.

Greens warn of 'politicised' terror trials
AUSTRALIA/CUBA?: The Australian Greens say they are concerned that new anti-terrorism laws being debated in the Senate allow for the "political black-banning" of defence lawyers at terrorism trials.

Melbourne man charged over ASIO links
ASIO a know Australian terrorist organization is verballing the community again...about allegations that a man, while living overseas, received funds from Al Qaeda and had close association with the members of the terrorist group.

DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD
A court has been told Joseph Thomas is a sleeper? ZZZ! Melbourne Australia: A court has been told that Osama bin Laden asked a Melbourne man to become a "sleeper" in Australia before undertaking activities for the Al Qaeda network? Munchkins: "Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead."

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.

Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes
Complaint to Australian law officers about Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes.

There is no justification for torture
In the weeks since the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison were revealed, evidence continues to seep out of similar mistreatment of prisoners in other US military detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

Howard rejects spy agency overhaul
Prime Minister John Howard has played down the need for a major overhaul of Australia's spy agencies as a result of an inquiry by former intelligence officer Phillip Flood.

Mamdouh Habib: Taunted and Tortured!
Four Corners [Walls]: Terrorist - or Taunted by the Australian Defence Force who sacked him as a cleaning contractor? Who is Mamdouh Habib? And why was he harassed by the Australian Federal Police? Then tagged and labelled as a spy? Why was he vilified by the community? When he fled to Pakistan how did he end up being tortured in Egypt? And how did he end up at Guantanamo prison camp reserved for the men America calls "the worst of the worst.

He was an undercover agent for the blues
He was my journalist, he was working undercover. The fellow knew all of the moves.... He really had me romping, bare footing stomping. He just kept igniting my fuse....

Up there Khasali: Innocent man new bail laws
The New South Wales Supreme Court has asked innocent man Bilal Khazal to increase to amount of surety offered, before the bail is formally continued.

HEY! BIG BROTHER? LET INNOCENT PEOPLE GO!
Young men terrorised, tortured, and threatened with charges for no crime by Australia mate the lucky country. Lucky if you're not used for Howard's FEDERAL ELECTION and George Dubya's WAR ON LIBERTY! Who shot liberty? IGNORANCE!

Ul-Haque 'the man who wants to become a doctor'
The taskforce is investigating French man Willie Brigitte, who was tipped back home for a visa breach. Allegedly the Un-Australian Newspaper claimed he also attended training camps before his six-month stay in Sydney. Police have not alleged Mr Ul-Haque knew Brigitte. The Un-Australian just mentioned it because they are 'you guessed it' up John Howard's butt and they like the USA want 'you guessed it' our Federal Government. Well Yankee go home!

Brain injury for suspicion 'inhumane'
Faheem Khalid Lodhi refused bail by a Sydney court and remanded until June in hell at the (HARM-U) High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn. While he is in there he will receive a brain injury and is likely to self-harm due to the gross violation of living standards.

Keelty foresees more terrorism
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says terrorist groups will continue to find new ways to threaten countries.

Daily Terror rolled-over for Howard's war games
The DAILY TERROR is suspected of being the source of the news this morning that Willie Brigitte is a terrorist and that Sydney faces a bomb attack.

Lawyer claims Al Qaeda suspect's evidence tainted!
Before returning to Australia last year, Thomas was arrested and held in custody for five months by Pakistani authorities before being released without charge.

Man terrorised by ASIO remanded in 'AA' isolation!
A Victorian man has been remanded in custody after being charged with terrorism offences, including having links to Al Qaeda?

Ruddock foreshadows new terrorism laws
The new laws will allow police to access emails and mobile phone SMS messages, enable wider use of surveillance devices, and protect sensitive national security information during terrorism trials.

Islamic movement denies links to Al Qaeda
The Islamic Youth Movement has denied having any links to Al Qaeda and says it is considering legal action against the Four Corners program. In a statement released early this morning, the group rejects allegations it is helping coordinate any kind of terrorist network inside Australia and says it is being unfairly targeted.

2nd Renaissance -10 The War on Witches [150]
In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal Bull that became the rationale for establishing the Inquisition in Germany. The following excerpt from the Bull sets out the official view of the danger of witches to the community. The Bull and this this passage provided the sole excuse for the torture and cruel executions that were, ultimately, to be the fate of up to fifty percent of the population of some villages.

The Influence of Fools: Why Liberals are mad at the MSM

Long accustomed to the wrath from the right, the news media is now facing white hot anger from the left. For the most part, the press seems genuinely perplexed by this turn of events.

It shouldn't be a mystery, but since the 2005 Conference on Media Reform is being held this weekend in St. Louis, here's why.

We’re angry, ladies and gentlemen of the press, because for the last four years you’ve utterly failed to hold our leaders accountable to the truth.

Students of history and those of us of a certain age know this has happened before, and its effects were corrosive. Fifty years ago, responding to the failure of the press to deal with Senator Joe McCarthy’s bullying, Eric Sevareid said:

"Our rigid formulae of so-called objectivity ... have given the lie the same prominence and impact that truth is given; they have elevated the influence of fools to that of wise men; the ignorant to the level of the learned; the evil to the level of the good."

We’re angry, because when journalists make impartiality, objectivity and balance, more important than accuracy, context and truth, then once again you’re failing to fulfill the functions for which you were given First Amendment protections.

We’re angry because we believe that practicing journalism with integrity requires more of you than acting like a court stenographer; more than simply listening, recording, and printing. If the words you’re recording don’t jive with the truth, if you don’t think, don’t challenge, and don’t dig for more information, then politicians, being politicians, will tell ever bigger lies.

We’re angry, because that’s precisely what’s been happening in this country. The press just puts together the he-said, she-said transcript and leaves the truth to someone else.

We’re angry because this President and his administration have taken advantage of your malfeasance to construct a sophisticated Soviet-style propaganda machine that has spewed out more lies and deceptions than any other modern Presidency.

Other administrations created spins based on some tenuous relationship to the truth. This administration has completely severed the link and created instead, an infrastructure for telling lies. Shouldn’t that, in the end, be the story of the millennia so far?

Look at the elements. Budget periods cut from ten years to five to hide exploding deficits. Elaborate Mission Accomplished-style propaganda backdrops at every public event. Orwellian names like "Clear Skies," and "Healthy Forests" designed to hide real intentions. Fake news stories filmed at government expense and released to an all too incurious media. Paid journalists and columnists writing fawning stories for profit. Bogus White House correspondents throwing soft ball questions under assumed names.

Staged "town-hall meetings" with pre-screened crowds and pre-screened questions – questions like, "Mr. President, did you know my wife and I pray for you every night?" Whew. That’s a toughie. And even with the hand-selected audiences, strong-armed stooges roam the crowd and silence, roust, and arrest any stray dissenters who somehow make it past the crumbled remains of the First Amendment that block the entrances to these tax-supported events.

My fellow liberals like to say "Imagine if Clinton had planted a fake gay journalist in the White House press corps", but they miss the point. If this administration has been more dishonest than any other, it’s because they’ve been allowed to by a timorous he-said, she-said press.

If this brand of journalism had been practiced during the past 35 years, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Monica Lewinsky wouldn’t show up in a Google search, we’d all be saying G. Gordon who? and Ollie North would be a Senator from Virginia.

Until recently, journalists were as interested in what people did as in what they said; they cared as much about how things actually were, as they did about how they were presented. And so they dug into stories, they searched for facts not just quotes, and truth and accuracy were deemed as important as balance and impartiality. They knew, in short, that when the emperor is indeed naked, it is neither biased nor partisan to say so. And it worked to keep leaders from both parties from straying too far from the truth.

But today’s reporters act more like a 5th grade ADD sufferer deprived of Ritalin. What? Orange alert? Drop the Richard Clarke interview and pick up the duct tape. Swift Boat pseudo news that had been debunked 20 years ago? Skip that Duefler Report. Let the Silbermann-Robb report blame the CIA for Bush’s mendacity? OK. We’ll forget those pesky generals, DOE weapons experts, Air Force experts, current and former CIA agents, and State Department Intelligence analysts talking about lies, distortions, deceptions and political pressure on the part of the administration. Anything new on Terri?

And that’s another thing that makes us mad. In a he-said, she-said news world, the press is at the mercy of any number of wag-the-dog tactics and fake values debates designed to shut off inquiry and protect politicos.

And how is it that the mainstream press lets right wing whackos ignore truths and tell lies? Why is it left to Jon Stewart to show the epidemiology of talking points as they spread from the right wing think tanks working with the White House to Fox faux-News, O’Reilly’s entertainment show, and Limbough’s Lying hour to ultimately infect the public discourse?

Why is it that Stewart’s fake news show seems the only one capable of finding lies on tape and showing them to us? There’s no shortage. There’s Dick and Rummy and Condi and Wolfy and even George himself telling us about meetings that didn’t happen; links that didn’t exist; weapons that weren’t there. And now we have notes from British intelligence revealing that as early as July, 2002 the administration was saying it was going to "fix" intelligence to justify the Iraq invasion.

For that matter, we have tape of them knowingly lying about the costs of the pharmacy bill, and we know they threatened ti fire the government actuary in charge of forecasting costs when he wanted to set the record straight. We know they outed a covert CIA agent as a revenge tactic. We know that there’s a trail of memos justifying torture, extraordinary rendition and other jack-boot tactics that leads straight to the most senior levels of the Pentagon and the White House. One of them was signed by our sitting Attorney General when he was White House Counsel.

But here’s what makes us angriest. The press has allowed Mr. Bush to fundamentally rewrite foreign and domestic policy under a cloud of deception, distortion, and deceit.

Iraq was never about WMDs, or al Qaeda links or "immediate threats" – it was part of a broadly conceived and highly pugnacious neoconservative foreign policy.

Tax cuts were never about "your money," budget surpluses, budget deficits, or economic stimulus. They were – and are – part of a stealth attempt to "drown the beast", to shrink government by starvation.

The Clear Skies Initiative isn’t about protecting the environment, it’s about protecting energy companies.

The Healthy Forest Initiative isn’t about healthy forests, it’s about cutting down trees in pristine wilderness areas.

Social Security privatization is not about rescuing Social Security, it’s about killing it.

Now, it may be that Americans want a country in which the tax burden is shifted from corporations and the ultra-rich to families, workers and individual wage earners. Perhaps we want to cut government services and gut environmental protections, and impose trillions of dollars of debt on our children and our children’s children. And it may be that we want a belligerent foreign policy in which we eschew the UN; reject treaties and alliances; unilaterally launch preemptive wars and encourage the resumption of a nuclear arms race by undercutting the Non-proliferation Treaty with plans to develop new nuclear weapons.

Heck, it’s possible that we’re willing to ignore real threats to our homeland such as enough unprotected lose nuclear material to make 40,000 Hiroshima-sized nuclear bombs. We might even prefer to spend $300 billion in Iraq, while our borders remain porous; our ports, schools, power and chemical plants remain unprotected; our first responders underfunded; and bin Laden roams free.

But it’s doubtful. And that’s why Mr. Bush and friends want to accomplish their objectives by a stealth attack on the media and the truth.

As liberals, all we want is an honest debate. There is an intellectual case to be made for smaller government, an unconstrained private sector, and an economy that is single-mindedly built around rewarding success and ignoring those who fall by the wayside. And there is a perspective that shares John Bolton’s vision of a US as having a responsibility to use its military might aggressively and unilaterally throughout the world. And its conceivable that there’s a case to be made for imposing environmental devastation and multi-trillion dollar debts upon our children.

That’s the debate this country should be having. These are serious issues that raise fundamental questions. But, as long as the press gives "... the lie the same prominence and impact that truth is given..." by allowing impartiality, objectivity, and balance to trump truth, accuracy and context, we won’t have that debate, and our country and our system of governance will be the poorer for it.

And that makes us really mad.

By John Atcheson posted 12 May 05

John Atcheson has written extensively on politics and policy and his writing has appeared in the Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The San Jose Mercury News, The Memphis Commercial Appeal and several other papers, as well as various wonk journals. He has over 30 years experience in government and with the nation's premier think tanks.

Related:

Aussie's fate over the edge as violence spreads
THE illegal and degrading war on Iraq by the occupiers, the US- led military and its Coalition of the Killing partners, is a hotbed for freedom fighters, against the occupation (of their sovereign nation). And it is continuing to get worse.

Iraqi police vent anger at US after car bombings
Iraqi police hurled insults at US soldiers after two suicide car bomb blasts in Baghdad killed at least seven people and left 19 wounded, including policemen. "It's all because you're here," a policeman shouted in Arabic at a group of US soldiers after the latest in a bloody wave of attacks that have rocked Baghdad this month. "Get out of our country and there will be no more explosions," he told the uncomprehending Americans staring at the smouldering wreck of a car bomb.

UK report shows Iraq war illegal: former defence chief
Ruling Class Lord Goldsmith said a final UN resolution may be needed, that hard evidence of Iraqi non-compliance may have been required, and the UK could face sanction by international courts.

300,000 Iraqis protest occupation and genocide
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Chanting "Death to America" and burning effigies of President Bush and Saddam Hussein, tens of thousands of Iraqis flooded central Baghdad on Saturday in what police called the largest anti-American protest since the fall of Baghdad, the capital, exactly two years ago.

Annan calls for human rights agency revamp!
The commission has been harshly criticised recently by human rights groups claiming it has become less of a body for upholding human rights, and more of a haven for violators.

Attacks kill 21 two years after Iraq invasion
IRAQ: At least 21 people were killed on Sunday in attacks mainly targeting US/Iraqi security forces on the two-year anniversary of the US-led illegal and degrading war on of Iraq.

Wolfowitz's World Bank nomination worries Oxfam
The head of Oxfam in Australia has raised concerns about the nomination of US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as the next head of the World Bank.

USA - FEELING THE HEAT FROM INTERNATIONAL FIRE:
It seems the United States of America (The World Watchdog) is dictating and practising double-standards --- a unique law for America and another set of laws for all other countries.

CALL TO ACTION of the ANTI-WAR ASSEMBLY
Two years after the invasion of Iraq, there is more opposition to the war in the US, in the coalition countries, and all over the world than ever before.

Returning veterans of Iraq/Afghanistan
In the last two years, nearly one million U.S. service-members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Regardless of how you may feel about the war, most of us agree that those service-members deserve the best possible care and treatment our country can provide.

The Veil of Freedom
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two years after the invasion of Iraq and just weeks before the country's first free election, [occupation, US puppet gov't] "Amina" began wearing a headscarf for the first time in her life. Her father insisted upon it.

Iraqi women eye Islamic law
BAGHDAD - Covered in layers of flowing black fabric that extend to the tips of her gloved hands, Jenan al-Ubaedy knows her first priority as one of some 90 women who will sit in the national assembly: implementing Islamic law.

IRAQ: Shiite and Sunnis to unite against occupation?
Iraq: "I call on all religious and political powers that pushed towards the elections and took part in them to issue an official statement calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Iraq", Moqtada al Sadr, the popular young Iraqi Shiite cleric who last year led an armed rebellion against the US-led occupation, declared on February 4.

Democracy, Iraqi style
"In a darkened hall, candidates for Iraq's main Shia party sit listening to a turbaned cleric speaking into a microphone. They are being told how to campaign for the election without getting killed.

Violence continues ahead of Iraq Shoe Sale
Pre-Shoe Sale violence in Iraq is showing no signs of abating with the deaths today of two American militants following on from yesterday's killing of 22 US/Iraqi militants.

US transport company pulls out of Iraq
A large American transport company has become the first contractor to pull out of Iraq because of the continuing violence.

Rumsfeld's war, torture and occupation ideology!
War criminal Donald Rumsfeld faced critical questioning at a Washington media conference, after the announcement that it was a suicide bomber who caused the blast inside a US military base in Mosul yesterday, killing 22 people including 14 illegal militants.

Annan admits to a tough year
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan admits he has had his worst year at the United Nations and he is looking forward to it being over.

Iraq sale to be contested by 100 buyers
A hundred buyers, blocs and independents will contest Iraq's first shoe sale, in decades, on January 30, the George Dubya Bushit - Iraqi Sales Commission (GDB/ISC) said.

Fallujah refugees in desperate need of aid: UN
More than 200,000 people who fled Fallujah ahead of the US attack have yet to return and many are in desperate need of aid, with temperatures in Iraq heading towards freezing, a new UN emergency report says.

UN panel proposes criteria for legitimate military action
With countries still bitterly divided over the war in Iraq, a high-level panel appointed by the United Nations has recommended a five-step guideline to determine when to use military action.

Indonesians rally against Fallujah assault
About 8,000 Indonesian Muslims have staged a peaceful rally against a major US-led assault on Iraq's rebel city of Fallujah, which has claimed 2,000 lives.

UK politicians launch Blair impeachment bid
Parliamentarians and celebrity campaigners have launched a bid to impeach UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for "gross misconduct" over his justification for the Iraq war.

'This One's Faking He's Dead' 'He's Dead Now'
Fallujah: Video shows US soldier killing wounded insurgent in cold blood
by Andrew Buncombe in Washington.

US: Very superstitious? Writing's on the wall!
The US military says it has discovered close to 20 torture sites in the course of its massive attack against the resistance in the Iraqi city of Fallujah?

World Vision Aust pulls out of Iraq
The organisation says the country has simply become too dangerous and its decision to leave was made before the apparent murder of Care Australia's Iraq director Margaret Hassan.

US Senator slams !!! 'dysfunctional, rogue' CIA
Influential US Republican Senator John McCain blasted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a "dysfunctional" and "rogue" organisation that needs to be reformed.

Civilian death toll to rise in Fallujah
The attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah has taken its toll on Iraqi civilians no doubt including children and young babies. Iraqi's have witnessed civilian casualties. Yesterday during the assault on the main hospital nurses and patients were blindfolded after the US/Iraq militia stormed the main hospital and took control.

Illusionary demons blamed for US led Attack Iraq, Fallujah
In the name of an illusionary figure thought up by US militants suggests that Al Qaeda's? ally "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi" has called on Muslims to take up arms against their US enemy as American militia attacked the Iraqi city of Fallujah? Just a coincidence or just good timing?

Full-scale attack on Fallujah begins
Correspondents say radio traffic heard at a US militant's staging post just outside Fallujah indicates US/Iraqi militia have moved at least four blocks into Fallujah, and are still advancing.

US/Iraqi militants storm Fallujah hospital
United States troops and US/Iraqi militia have seized the main hospital in the Iraqi city of Fallujah without a fight, according to a pool reporter travelling [in-bed] with the troops. Those in hospital beds did not resist they were too sick and the doctor kept on operating regardless.

US warplanes and artillery attack Fallujah!
Journalists [in-bed] with the US military say warplanes fired at suspected resistance targets around Fallujah as night fell on Sunday, while artillery shells pounded a nearby town.

State of emergency: Allawi 'killer of saints'
The US puppet, Iyad Allawi otherwise known as "Sock" killer of saints has declared a state of emergency for 60 days to quell violent resistance gripping the country ahead of January's shoe sale.

US Empire Votes For Pre-Emptive War!!!
United States President George Dubya Bushit has been re-elected, winning four more years to press his war on liberty after a bitter campaign against Democrat John Kerry that focused on the US empire's role as - imperialists - initiating pre-emptive war - on the sovereign nation of Iraq - without the United Nations approval and in direct contravention of International law.

Saddam's family dismiss lawyer
The family of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has dismissed the head of his defence team. Other team members had accused the lawyer, Mohammad Rashdan, of acting without consulting them.

Who's counting the dead in Fallujah? CARE?
In distress: CARE says it is deeply concerned about the wellbeing of Mrs Hassan. But who's counting the dead in Fallujah?

Iraqi civilian deaths put at 100,000
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violence since the US-led invasion last year, according to public health experts who estimate there were 100,000 "excess deaths" in 18 months.

Unknown News Update - 2009
More than 103 times as many people have been killed in these wars and occupations than in all terrorist attacks in the world from 1993-2004. About 241 times as many people have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq than in the ghastly attacks of September 11, 2001.

Bushite group threatens civil liberties in Iraq
Allegedly a group led by George W Bushite has forced freedom fighters to threaten to behead a Japanese hostage it said worked with Japanese forces in Iraq if Tokyo does not withdraw its forces from the country within 48 hours.

US secretly moved prisoners out of Iraq for questioning: report
The CIA has secretly transferred detainees out of Iraq for interrogation after asking the US Justice Department to write a memo justifying the practice, which violates the Geneva Conventions.

Weapons inspectors missed WMD in Iraq
An Iraqi minister has said United Nations nuclear inspectors are welcome to return in response to concerns of an "apparent systematic dismantlement" of Saddam Hussein's once-vigorous nuclear program.

US accused of breaching international law
The United States is violating international law by holding prisoners in its war on terror incommunicado and in secret hiding places, Human Rights Watch said in a report to be published on Tuesday calling for an end to such practices.

Allies 'planned' Iraq war despite denials
The United States, Australia and Britain started to plan the invasion of Iraq months before the conflict, according to a report Wednesday quoting a leaked Pentagon document.

UN warns of Iraqi malnutrition
One in four Iraqis are dependent on food rations to survive and many of them have to sell what little food they have for basic necessities like medicine and clothes, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said.

Jordan's king doubts Iraqi elections possible
Iraq is far too unsafe to hold elections as scheduled in January and extremists would do well in the poll if Baghdad tried to hold it, Jordan's King Abdullah said in an interview. Excluding troubled areas from the nationwide poll would only isolate Iraq's Sunnis and create deeper divisions in the country, he said.

Annan tells world leaders to respect law
United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan has made an impassioned plea to bring about the rule of law across the globe today. Mr Annan told world leaders to respect international law at home and abroad.

CO-OFFENDERS DO NOT REBUFF UN ON 'ILLEGAL WAR'
The 'coalition of the killing's' complicities - the US, Britain and Australia - have insisted that their countries' military action in Iraq was legal after they have committed war crimes against humanity.

Iraq war illegal, says Annan
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan says the United States decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was "illegal". Australia was a key supporter of the war on Iraq and sent troops to join the United States-led invasion last year.

Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantanamo
Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantanamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to do nothing about it, according to a new investigation.

Journalists ordered to leave Najaf as fighting continues
Journalists have been kicked out of Najaf as clashes flared in the Iraqi city, prompting speculation that a major United States-led assault on enemy Shiite fighters was imminent.

Enemy Mortars attack opening of Iraqi summit
US Enemies have fired mortars at a meeting where Iraqi puppet government leaders met to pick an interim national assembly, killing at least two people.

Iraqi Women in the Occupation Prisons As Material and Means of Violations It is important to say at the beginning that there are many psychological, social and cultural obstacles for Iraqi women to talk openly about what they actually went through inside the occupation prisons.

Ancient Babylon ruined by foreign troops: Iraqi minister
Iraq: Foreign forces in Iraq have caused severe damage to the site of ancient Babylon, one of the world's most renowned archaeological treasures, and need to leave the area as soon as possible, Iraq's Culture Minister Mofeed al-Jazaeri said.

Whatcha Gonna Do, When They Come For You? Bad boy!
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was a threat and sought to possess weapons of mass destruction, United States President George W Bush reaffirmed when asked why no such weapons had been discovered in Iraq.

Saddam trial US propaganda
Saddam Hussein's trial will play an important part in the US election no doubt and for that to work at its potential just put a "women" behind it "She called the trials". Then add some "cleansing" like she's just doing the dishes and then some "reconciliation" by slaying Hussein during a US election. Now you can go and tell everyone you're reversing the trauma but really you're killing two birds with one Saddam.

The master of the dog whistle

UK: I was a Democrat senator living in Brisbane in 1992 when Lynton Crosby first came to public attention. Now Michael Howard's campaign director, at that time he was the state director of the Liberal (ie conservative) party in Australia. In that position he authorised one of the most ruthless law and order (crime and race) campaigns of Australian politics.

In one advertisement to which he put his name, a direct link was drawn between the fatal stabbing of a young woman and what the Liberals asserted was the Labor party's failure to act on "soft" sentencing since taking power in 1989. The ads said that the Labor party had "the blood of the victim on their hands". (The "dog whistle" was that the man who committed the murder was an Aborigine.)

There was a huge public backlash, but a clear pattern of behaviour, still discernible today, had been established: do whatever you consider you need to without concern for the consequences on the vulnerable and the innocent. As a result of Crosby's judgment the Liberal party did badly in that election; under his stewardship the Liberal party of Queensland lost more than half of its normal donations. Furthermore, in the 1998 election, with Crosby as federal campaign director, the Liberals' share of the vote fell from 38.7% to 33.9% and the number of seats held fell from 75 to 64.

Many Australians watching the current campaign in the UK are wondering how low Crosby will go.

For a start, he's employing the same script as in the Australian election of 2001. He suggested that Australia was being "invaded" by illegal refugees and asylum seekers who were said to have direct links with terrorism. Worse still, they threw their own children overboard (dog whistle - what sort of immoral, inferior people must they be?) in an attempt to force authorities to allow them to land. That's what the defence minister and others continued to say at every opportunity until election day, despite attempts by naval personnel to correct the "children overboard" misrepresentation. The conservative coalition, trailing in the polls prior to this, was re-elected handsomely.

Of course one year later when a Senate committee unearthed evidence that ministers and their ministerial staff had consciously failed to pass on to the prime minister naval concerns about the veracity of the claims, Australia's Mr Howard told the electors to "move on".

In 2001 I was seeking re-election to an outer Brisbane seat as a Labor candidate, having won this second most marginal constituency in the nation by 176 votes in 1998. In both campaigns I experienced first-hand the "under the radar" Crosby tactics.

While the Westminster village has been preoccupied with the big picture of national issues, Crosby will have been orchestrating campaigns of personal attacks and innuendo in marginal constituencies: that the Labour sitting member is not a local, that they are more interested in seeking a place on the front bench, that they are soft on crime/ immigration/abortion.

His Australian colleague, pollster Mark Textor, will be providing the results of nightly polls in crucial marginals. (Textor paid £34,000 in damages to a female Labor candidate for push polling in a Canberra byelection in 1995, wherein telephone canvassers suggested to voters that she supported abortions at 36 weeks.) You get the picture?

And in the background of the national campaign Crosby will have been conducting a war of attrition against the public broadcaster, claiming bias and unbalanced coverage. An Australian newspaper freedom of information request revealed that, during the 2001 campaign, 75% of all complaints from all political parties to the public broadcaster, the ABC, had come from Crosby. BBC take note! And constituents, even those with unlisted numbers, should prepare themselves for automated message calls from Michael Howard. Ask him where he got your number!

Having improved my vote by 6% prior to the focus on asylum seekers, I still lost my seat in 2001, but thanks to my Scottish grandparents I've been fortunate to have lived and worked in the UK for two years now. Crosby's tactics represent a truly serious threat to the civility and robustness of British democracy and the way most politics is conducted in this country. It may be all downwards from here on. A "colonial" legacy of the worst kind!

The Archbishop of Canterbury is right to caution us about negative campaigning. Campaigns ought to be about leadership and values to aspire to. Those who choose to exploit the vulnerable, to play the race card, to give voice to our basest instincts, fail the test of moral leadership.

As that hero of conservatives Ayn Rand says, "The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it."

- Cheryl Kernot was leader of the Australian Democrats and a senator for Queensland, 1990-1997, and the Labor member for Dickson and shadow minister for employment and training, 1998-2001; she has recently been the director of learning at the London School for Social Entrepreneurs.

By Cheryl Kernot posted 28 April 05

Related:

Judges reveal anger over curbs on power!
UK: Senior judges fear that a succession of recent laws pushed through by the government could fetter their ability to administer justice and to act as a check on the executive.

Threat of terrorism overblown, says Kirby
The High Court judge Michael Kirby has urged Australia's security chiefs and judges not to exaggerate the risk of terrorism, saying that more people die of AIDS every day than were killed in the World Trade Centre in the September 11 [US false flag] attacks.

Guantanamo guards blinded prisoner: lawyer
UK/CUBA: British permanent resident detained at the US camp for terrorism suspects [scapegoats] in Guantanamo Bay was blinded in one eye following an assault by guards, his lawyer says.

Britain 'sliding into police state'
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.

Safeguards demanded for DNA database
Privacy safeguards are required to combat the intrusive effects of the police DNA database, it has been claimed.

London police may moor prison ship on Thames
UK: The London police are holding discussions about possibly mooring a prison ship on the River Thames in a bid to ease pressure on the spiralling prisoner population.

UK solitary confinement
UK: Segregation units are prisons within prisons - the places where the most unchecked brutality is meted out to prisoners. In recent years conditions in high security segregation units have deteriorated, and the use of long-term segregation as a control mechanism has increased.

UK politicians launch Blair impeachment bid
Parliamentarians and celebrity campaigners have launched a bid to impeach UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for "gross misconduct" over his justification for the Iraq war.

Blunkett's Quest, but is he on drugs?
The legislation is expected to introduce a new definition of "possession" of an illegal drug, making it an offence to have a certain amount in the bloodstream. This is likely to prove controversial - not least because some drugs, such as cannabis, can remain in the bloodstream for weeks.

Mentally ill face 'Asbo' measures
UK: People with mental health problems living in the community could be banned from leaving their homes under proposals to reform mental health law, a legal expert has warned.

UK court rules to use evidence obtained by torture
Britain's Court of Appeal has ruled that evidence obtained by torture can be examined in criminal proceedings.

law and order days over, says Blair
UK: Tony Blair will today make the provocative claim that Labour's new five-year crime plan heralds "the end of the 1960s liberal consensus on law and order" by putting the values of the law-abiding majority at the centre of the criminal justice system.

Blair's comments reflect badly on Australia says Hicks lawyer
The Adelaide-based lawyer representing accused Taliban fighter David Hicks says the latest comments by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair on United States military tribunals reflect badly on Australia.

PM, Carr attacked as judge pulls plug
In November 2002, as chairman of the International Commission of Jurists, he told a Senate inquiry "it is patently clear" that proposed anti-terrorism legislation "is aimed at Muslims". His submission said the new laws would be "subverting [liberty] more effectively than terrorism could ever do".

Terror suspect tells of 'torture' that led to death wish
'Give me an injection and I will be dead' : After several months of legal action, the Guardian has won the right to interview foreign nationals being held without charge on suspicion of terrorist involvement. Audrey Gillan goes inside Broadmoor high security hospital and talks to Mahmoud Abu Rideh about being locked up with no prospect of release and why he has tried to kill himself.

Belmarsh detainees consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim detainees released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism has told the Guardian his fellow prisoners are suffering such severe mental problems that they constantly consider suicide.

Blunkett charges miscarriage of justice victims 'food and lodgings'
UK: We locked you up in jail for 25 years and you were innocent all along? That'll be £80,000 please.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.

Blunkett to extend long arm of the law
UK: Sweeping changes to police powers were proposed by the government yesterday, with officers in England and Wales to be permitted to arrest suspects for any offence, rather than only those which attract prison sentences.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.

Britain ponders new terrorism laws?
The British Government is considering introducing new legislation that it claims would make it easier to convict suspected terrorists.

Charles guilty as sin? Or Lying-in-state?
Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry are said to be devastated by the decision of Royal Coroner Michael Burgess to seek a Scotland Yard investigation into the death of Princess Diana when it is clear as the nose on your face that Charles is guilty as sin?

Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.

No need for new terrorism laws: DPP
The New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has rejected the idea of new laws against terrorism in Australia.

Here come de Judge - Time to Leave [266]
There have always been examples of rulings and interpretations that have supported the saying "The law is an ass". This is increasingly the case, because even the best intentioned judges are now facing an avalanche of new technologies and social change. But, it is no good making excuses for the judiciary and continuing to accept their strange interpretations. We must recognise that not only judges but the whole legal system will struggle more and more. In the end the whole system will become a farce. This is the way empires end.

Surveillance
It is up to ordinary people to raise the level of debate about the undemocratic surveillance practices of the many faceless and unaccountable agents who make daily intrusions on individual privacy, and about the apologists and propagandists for the War nn Terror who applaud every new attack on human rights and freedoms as "prudent" or "necessary". If there is no discussion of reverse surveillance in the national media, create it on the streets on a citizen to citizen basis. If nobody is talking about the outrageous assaults on privacy and human rights embodied in the new antiterrorist acts forced through US, UK and Australian legislatures, start talking about it to your neighbours and friends.

2nd Renaissance -15 The Rabbits And The Wolves [180]
Historically, there have been periods when legal distinctions between animals and humans have been blurred. For instance, in medieval Europe, in the 14th and 15th centuries, numerous trials and executions of animals occurred. One source identifies 34 recorded instances of pigs having been tried and cruelly put to death. Besides pigs; rats, chickens, goats, and bees were similarly tried. Some of the pigs were fully dressed in human clothes at the time they were, inevitably, found guilty. In one case a vicar excommunicated a flock of sparrows that infested his church. All this happened despite the theological stance that animals had no soul, and no morals or conscience. They could not really be guilty of transgressing the Rule of Law.

An Outline of the Game of Life

What follows is a greatly simplified model of the purpose of life, as set out in far greater detail, and often with considerable obscurity, in various spiritual teachings from past ages. The Snakes and Ladders metaphor used here is a practical explanation, and is not deeply grounded in research and science (although some such forms of evidence do exist).

The advantage of this simplified model is that it brings the nature of the game of life to the fore and skirts past all potentially diverting considerations of the details of its underpinnings. It is the latter area that usually bogs down in debates between those people who choose to believe in the existence of a divine judgement mechanism and those who want to see it proven beyond doubt - which is something that we might never be able to do while we are in our human form.

Even young children understand the principles of the game of Snakes and Ladders. A player moves a counter over a board according to the throws of a dice, and the aim is to travel from the 'start', at the bottom of the playing area, to the 'finish' at the top. Throws of the dice which land a player's counter on the foot of a ladder advance it to the top; throws that land on the head of a snake send the counter back down to the end of the tail.

The board-game of life can be likened to snakes and ladders, but with 'free will' operating each time the counter lands on the foot of a ladder or the head of a snake. In life we have the freedom to choose whether we will travel up a ladder or down a snake.

Usually, deciding to climb a ladder has some 'cost' attached; we have to give up something in order to rise up the board by way of a ladder. Conversely, going down a snake can bring us some form of gain, we might choose to cheat someone, or we might even decide to kill them in order to gain an advantage or to keep a secret hidden from the world.

Because we have the 'gift' of free will and are not constrained by fate in the same way that the player of a normal Snakes and Ladders game is, we can choose whether to give and do good - climb a ladder - or to take and do harm - slither down a snake.

Thus, we can strive to reach the 'finish' or we can decide to ignore that goal (often because we have no faith that there actually is a 'finish' or reward for helping others at our own expense) and deliberately cause havoc for our personal gain or satisfaction.

The people who travel down snakes of their own free will are not usually convinced that there is any divine 'score keeping' involved in the game of life. They reason that if they can escape detection or hire a skilled lawyer who is able to get them off any charges of wrongdoing they have somehow 'won'.

Only those of us who recognise the existence of a divine design and plan behind the game of life are concerned to climb ladders and reach the top of the board of life.

A perfect life is beyond most of us, we inevitably go down a few snakes from time to time. But we can all strive to finish as high on the board of life as we possibly can. In this regard it is never too late to switch from choosing snakes to choosing ladders.

The Rule of Law and its attendant judicial punishment processes universally fail to recognise this fact. Wrongdoers are either confined in prisons under conditions that make it difficult to just survive, let alone find ladders to climb, or in the case of capital crimes they are increasingly likely to be executed.

The 'justice' system ends the game and they are denied any opportunity to regret their crimes and seek to reform their lives. Paradoxically, the agents of judicial punishment who prevent wrongdoers from resuming the normal game of life are completely unaware that they themselves travel down a snake each time they take such 'legal' actions. Ultimately, they can finish lower in the game than those they judge and punish.

Teachings from the ancients and present-day shamans suggest that the board-game of life is played many times, just as snakes and ladders is played repeatedly. However, people brought up on mainstream religions that emphasise one life and either heaven or hell to follow have lost this understanding. Most of them have also given up the notion of a judgement day and consider that the end of their life is the final end - nothing exists for them beyond death.

Of course, these ideas are contrary to the teachings of the various religions, but those institutions have been progressively marginalised by the secular power of nation states and federations. All present-day religions have also been overshadowed by the materialistic cultures spawned by commerce and capitalism.

Is it too much to attribute the decline of spirituality to the growth of central governments and economies based on taker philosophies? Not at all. The Renaissance in Europe began the process of sidelining spiritualism five centuries ago.

The Reformation broke the temporal power of the Roman Church and also split its religious following. At the same time the flow-on effects of Johannes Gutenberg's mass printing technology transformed Europe into a thriving hub of commerce and conspicuous consumption. These changes laid the foundations for the present Level 3 Civilization, with its focus on the material world and the acquisition of material possessions.

History tends to happen in cycles. The second wave of communication technology is now having the same effect that mass printing did during the Renaissance; it is connecting information and thoughts in ways that are exposing and undermining the power of nation states and federations. At the same time there is a resurgence of interest in meaning, particularly amongst young people and the elderly.

Those in their middle-life stages would also be concerned with meaning, but they are so enmeshed in their repayments - mortgages, credit cards, etc - and a daily struggle to advance within a system of relentless economic scarcity, that they have little time to think about such esoteric matters as the meaning of life. Even women, who used to stay at home and raise their children on a full-time basis, are now forced to work to make ends meet. Only the very young and the very old presently have the luxury of time to wonder and search for meaning.

But the situation will change as it becomes apparent that there are new alternatives to economic scarcity and predatory globalism. Soon, everybody will be seeking new meaning and new opportunities to climb as many ladders in the game of life as they possibly can. Once this happens a Level 4 Civilization will be assured.

2nd Renaissance -40 An Outline of the Game of Life [277]

By Lothar posted 14 March 05

Related:

The legend of the Good and the Evil, or Devil's Mischiefs
Once there lived on earth the Good and the Evil. The Good was keeping its goodness, and the Evil (it was also called the Devil) strived to make mischiefs to the Good. And it has always been going this way.

Dump Howard, old news.....
Fascist Prime Minister John HoWARd says he always reads and follows opinion polls and the latest survey shows the Government has a fight ahead of it.

CALL TO ACTION of the ANTI-WAR ASSEMBLY
Two years after the invasion of Iraq, there is more opposition to the war in the US, in the coalition countries, and all over the world than ever before.

Noble Cause Torture?
AUSTRALIA: The Labor Party has decided not to support a Senate inquiry into new allegations made by Mamdouh Habib that the Australian Government cooperated with Egyptian intelligence authorities who he insists tortured him.

Guantanamo challenge puts off Hicks trial
Australian [scapegoat] suspect David Hicks's 'military trial'?, has been further delayed due to the postponement of a separate legal challenge to the US's legal process for Guantanamo Bay detainees?

Detention Centres, Solitary Confinement
On Friday night the NSW Council for Civil Liberties awarded Sydney solicitor John Marsden honorary life membership. Julian Burnside was invited to make the speech in Marsden's honour. In the course of his speech, Burnside referred to the unregulated use of solitary confinement in Australia's immigration detention centres, criticising it as inhumane and also as unlawful.

Creative conflicts: Community Forum
NSW : The Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations.