How low can they go?

US Department of Justice (?) is after me!

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(Click to enlarge.)

Above is part of the US Department of Justice's subpoena to Twitter requesting (?) all details of all people who subscribe to Wikileaks.

Yes, I do. Proudly.

What do they hope to prove? Heaven only knows.
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An apology.

Attention please.

I have been getting a bit carried away with my disgust with the Wikileaks fiasco and letting my political comments bleed over into my bland family pap blog, where I should just post flowers and recipes and family archive stuff. I have alternate blogs for those three trouble makers of polite social chit-chat, sex, religion and politics and, chastised, will use them appropriately.

My apologies.

As you were.

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The Nixon Tapes - Dikileaks!

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Richard M. Nixon made negative comments about Jews, blacks and other ethnic groups during informal discussions with top aides and his personal secretary that were recorded before he resigned as president, according to a newly released batch of tapes.
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Spot on, Kev.

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Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd says the United States, not WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is to blame for the release of secret diplomatic cables.

Mr Rudd says the 39-year-old Australian cannot be held personally responsible for the release of more than 250,000 documents.

He says the leaks raise questions about the adequacy of US security.

"Mr Assange is not himself responsible for the unauthorised release of 250,000 documents from the US diplomatic communications network," said Mr Rudd, who has been criticised in one leaked cable as a "control freak".

"The Americans are responsible for that."

- ABC

Spot on, Kev. Spot on.

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Not fit for office.

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Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas and presidential wannabee, says that "“Anything less than execution is too kind a penalty" for Julian Assange.

The man lacks the mental dexterity needed to be a moron and should be barred from any form of public office.

If you needed further proof, he has a show on Fox News.
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Killing the messenger.

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It's interesting.

1. Someone or someones within the US government release thousands of documents about the Iraqi Invasion, the Afghan War and diplomatic cables of various types and interest. Things we should know about. Like the cavalier way US soldiers shoot anyone and everyone.

2. Wikileaks puts them on line.

3. The world media co-host the information and trawl it for juicy stories, publishing everything that they think will be embarrassing governments and boost their sales and circulation.

And who do the "authorities" chase?

The messenger.

Pricks. No authority with me.
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The menu evolves...

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Finally settled on the first course: Departmental Leeks.
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Funny you should ask. No.

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I'm happy!

Happy theme spreads across all four blogs today.
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Remember, remember, the 5th of November.

In 1605, on November 5th, Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the British parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder.

Until the local parliamentarians banned the public use of fireworks, the day was always celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.

Early on November 5th, 2008, I am hopeful that fireworks will again be the order of the day.
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A follow-up on the Moving Forward post.

The Aboriginal Flag

A few people have asked for a bit of background to my post of a couple of days ago where I reproduced Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's address to the nation from Federal Parliament apologising to the Aborigines for past wrongs.

1. Have the Aborigines accepted the apology?
By and large, yes. They have been asking that an apology be given for some years now and were consulted over the wording of the apology. As is the case with any group of humans, there is a diversity of views with some saying that it was enough and others wanting more. But for the majority it appears to have been accepted.

2. Does Kevin Rudd mean what he says?
He is giving every sign of believing and acting on this issue. He said during his election campaign that it would be one of the first things he did if elected. It was done on the second sitting day of parliament. There are many issues needing to be addressed to level the imbalance in the Australian community: life expectancy, health generally, education, housing. Successive governments have, to varying degrees, tried to move on these areas with limited success. Will Rudd succeed? I don't know but he gives every indication of wanting to tackle the issues with speed and compassion. As part of the supporting address he proposed a bipartisan parliamentary group, similar in its concept of unity and focus to a war cabinet, to work collaboratively towards some of his goals for improving the lot of Aboriginals, hopefully avoiding the point-scoring of party politics. The Opposition parties have agreed to this.

3. What of the Opposition party?
The opposition Liberal Party (= Republican, Conservative) flatly refused to apologise to the Aboriginies when it was in power. The fractures in the party were clearly seen in their leader, Brendan Nelson's, reply address to the apology. It was as if every faction in the Liberal Party had said that the price that they wanted for an apparent show of party unity on the issue was to have their pet peeve mentioned in Nelson's address. Consequently, as a speech, it was all over the place and lacked clarity, direction and grace. Many people stood and turned their backs to him when he spoke; some, I suspect, more for his past comments than for the content of the present speech.

4. Does an apology leave the Government open to compensation claims?
I don't believe so. If the Government is open to compensation claims then it would have been open to them whether they apologised or not. If you have done something wrong, refusing to acknowledge that wrong does not make you save from prosecution. This has been a myth in Australian political circles for far too long.

5. Is the apology the pathway to peace, love and happiness?
No, there is a lot of work to be done and there are many hurdles to cross when you are trying to both mix and save two cultures. But it has removed a barrier from the communication process that has loomed too large for too long. And that can't be a bad thing.

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Moving forward...

The following is the full text of the apology from Kevin Rudd, the Australian prime minister, to the country's Aborigines:

Today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

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Gone where the goblins go.

The 2007 Federal Election

Election night dinners, not always celebratory, are becoming something of a tradition.

Above are the two wine labels for tonight's dinner.

John Howard, Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party (centre right) is widely considered to have made a mistake in not retiring last year and leaving on a high. He stayed on to fight another election. He has shown himself to be very adept at pulling a rabbit out of the hat. His two main pet rabbits are fear and greed.

Kevin Rudd came to the leadership of the Labor Party (centre left) last November and has been favoured in the polls ever since. Got called a show-off by the Government when he spoke to the visiting Chinese president in Mandarin. (Mind you, he would have been called a phoney if he hadn't.) Some astute person kept a video of him, taken many years before he became leader, sitting in parliament picking the wax out of his ear and appearing to eat it.

The dinner itself will start with an assortment of dips and crackers, symbolic of the types of people who run for public office in this country.

Main course will, naturally enough, be roast pork, symbolic of the pork barrelling that has been evident from both sides of politics. It will be served with carrots and wedges, both also highly evident over the course of the campaign.

Greens will be on the side.

Dessert will be coconut mousse with fresh mango. The reasons being that Kevin Rudd, the 'fresh face' of Australian politics, is from Queensland, home of the mango in Australia, and John Howard was famously described as a dessicated old coconut by Paul Keating, a former prime minister.

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OPEC? No, APEC.

I'm curious how many of my overseas readers heard that the APEC forum was held in Australia this week? My cursory look at various overseas news sites didn't seem to find much.

It was a meeting of 21 leaders from countries that border on the Pacific Ocean.

So we had the Presidents of America, China and Russia; the Prime Ministers of Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Plus sundry other leaders from Peru to the Philippines.

I'm not too sure at what other venues such a body of leaders are brought together. The UN tends to attract foreign ministers and such diplomatic bods. Certainly the opportunity to get them to discuss matters of substance face-to-face is one that should be made the most of. I'm not sure it was.

It has become something of a tradition that there is a 'dress-up' group photo. This is the one for this APEC, with all the leaders in Australian stockmen's coats. A bit drab.


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Drawing conclusions. (modified)

The above photo is of Dr Haneef, maybe a terrorist, maybe an innocent bystander. I can't tell but I have written more on my view of the politics of it all here if you are interested.

This post is not about the politics of Dr Haneef's detention but more looking at the psychology of manipulation that goes with the media.

The above photo is pretty well the only one available of the doctor and news services are reduced to courtroom sketches for variety.

The Age, a relatively liberal newspaper, draws him so:



He looks fairly innocuous; almost suburban and relaxed.

The Australian, one of Rupert's attack papers and one who views Genghis Khan as a socialist, goes for the caricature:


Mouth off-set, eyes dark, sunken and squint. A mean piece of work.

Subtle manipulation of public fears.

Of course we are not allowed to see recent photos or, worse, for the doctor to be seen in public.

You wouldn't want him to be seen as human, would you?
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Some further representations. This one from the ABC:



And this one from The Times of India.



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One can only hope...

Went and saw the film 'The Lives of Others'.

Very uplifting. And highly recommended.

It gives you hope that, in these times of terrorism (both state sponsored and religiously inspired), there may be good people out there who can see the folly of it all.

They are the true heros of this world.

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