More googlebomb-ing

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Vote or starve

Some delightful news regarding the Iraqi election at Amsam.

The cowardly and corrupt bush administration, working along with the dirty allow(ie) government is coercing Iraqis to vote. The allow(ie) puppets are threatening Iraqis who don't vote that they will not get their monthly food rations.

The bush gang can do anything to reach to their goals.
I mean ANYTHING.

It is well known all over Iraq now that if you didn't go to vote, the government will cut your monthly food rations.

Oh well, the ends justifies the means. I'm happy.

Read a speech? Oh, I see

"Sometimes you need a coalition of the willing."

"Can I just say, I mean the negative mindset of the last five minutes is ridiculous," Mr Howard said. "Of course America has made mistakes and of course there will be modifications of policy, but I didn't read the President's [inauguration] speech in the sort of terms that are being described."

He later told Australian journalists that "some of the criticism by some of the Europeans is unfair and irrational, and I have said so".

I think Howard's obseqious support of the U.S's foreign policy is unfair and irrational.

I mean seriously, Johnny, Honest John, tell us what we will gain from this embarrassing display of brownosing. Is it shiny trinkets? If so, how many? Front row seats on the 50 yard line at the Superbowl? If so, how many and can I come?

What are you doing!?! Quit the smartarsed, poker-faced interpretations and 'fess up, you little twerp.

Democratic process

Election Day Timeline

The following is a timeline of attacks on election day in Iraq since polls opened at 7am (1500 AEDT). Local times indicate when attacks were reported.

* Suicide car bomb explodes outside Baghdad house owned by Justice Minister Malik al-Hassan, who was out (1.06pm.)

* Suicide bomber kills two policemen in Baghdad (12.47pm)

* US Marine is killed in action in volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad (12.41pm)

* Suicide bomber kills at least six people in queue outside polling station in eastern Baghdad (12.10pm.)

* Suicide bomber kills one person and wounds 16 at Baghdad polling centre (11.55 am)

* Suicide bomber kills at least one person and wounds four at polling centre in western Baghdad (11.15am.)

* Suicide bomber kills at least four people and wounds nine at polling centre in western Baghdad (10.54am.)

* Suicide bomber kills at least four people at polling station in Baghdad's Sadr City (10.07am)

* Suicide bomber blows himself up in queue of voters outside west Baghdad polling station, causing several casualties (10.06am)

* Mortars land near several Baghdad polling stations, killing two people and wounding several (10.04am)

* Mortar attack kills one person near Hilla, south of Baghdad (9.32am)

* Blast hits voting station in central Basra, no word on casualties (8.54am)

* Suicide car bomber kills policeman at checkpoint near polling station in west Baghdad (8.18am)

Holy f*cking shit.

Media bomber

From Friday's Crikey email:

"If one is to look at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) web site, you will find the following description of the department's role:

'The department’s aim is to advance the interests of Australia and Australians internationally... The department’s goals are to: assist Australian travellers and Australians overseas...'

Note the use of the word assist. Similarly if you visit he Attorney General's web site you find:

'The Attorney-General's Department serves the people of Australia by providing essential expert support to the Government in the maintenance and improvement of Australia's system of law and justice.'

Serves the people of Australia? You could understand why then an Australian citizen returning home might wonder if they have not landed in the wrong country. Consider the following itinerary:

1) Leave the country
2) Legally enter and visit a foreign nation
3) Be kidnapped by the military of a third nation
4) Be held illegally, without charge for two years
5) Be tortured during this time
6) Receive NO ASSISTANCE from DFAT
7) Despite DFAT's failings, be released and allowed to go home
8) Have the Attorney General (AG) tell you that you cannot profit from telling your story"


Hopefully we'll see some sort of media circus around the telling of Mamdouh Habib's story, but I have a feeling the MSM will let it slide after a couple more days.

Pray he is strong enough to serve it up to the Australian Government, for all of our sake's. This sort of thing should not be allowed to happen, ever again.

PNAC correspondence

A letter from a heap of arsehole idealogues;

"The United States military is too small for the responsibilities we are asking it to assume. Those responsibilities are real and important. They are not going away. The United States will not and should not become less engaged in the world in the years to come. But our national security, global peace and stability, and the defense and promotion of freedom in the post-9/11 world require a larger military force than we have today. The administration has unfortunately resisted increasing our ground forces to the size needed to meet today's (and tomorrow's) missions and challenges."

Should of known. Too dim to understand he's too old, Bush asks Pop and Unca Cheney to sort him a safe, cushy job i.e. Commander in Chief, to escape the draft.

Oh, wait, this letter wasn't sent to Bush. Watch your back, son.

Kurt Nimmo explains how this latest missive fits in to the general state of play and also has a bit of information on the signatories.

Death, as requested

A post at Crooked Timber raises and reminds us of the infamous and much maligned (by the misaligned) Lancet Study. You know, the study which showed;

" ..that 100,000 people can be needlessly killed and everybody carries on as they were before."

Don't care? Of course you don't. Go buy some more whitegoods and continue fretting about possible interest rate hikes, you f*cks.

Beazley: Liar (already!)

Labor's 'Lite Right'

Beazley making a move on the political chess board, "I'm the cuddly, fluffy alternative leader".

If he was elected in 2001, Habib and Hicks would still have been tortured. No doubt.

Wouldn't endorse torture. Ha! That is some laughable shit-talking.

Read the link, note the last comment. Smartarse.

Uh, sure....

I'll help them stay focused.

Total concentration... this is not a charade...

A billboard. A billboard?

Idiots.

Pic found at Amsam.

Freedom 1, Democracy 0

Iraq voters intimidated

"Mr Wali said the fight was sparked by protesters taking photographs of voters leaving the station.

'This is scary for the people, taking photos of the voting,' he said.

Many of Australia's estimated 80,000 Iraqis declined to register for the election, fearing that their votes would make relatives in Iraq terrorist targets."

Spreading the fire of freedom, it's hard work.

F*ck you, Ruddock, Howard, Downer, Costello etc

Habib to return to Australia today

"President of the Centre for Constitutional Rights in New York, Michael Ratner, says they will be considering compensation claims against both the US and Australian Governments. And he says he wants to know why Mr Habib spent three years in US detention without charge.

MICHAEL RATNER: If they were doing their job, would he have really spent three years in jail? Would he have been sent to Egypt for six months of torture?"

Trouble is, this IS part of their job(s).

Keep watching him, boys, you're doing great.

Dose of reality, tastes so bad it must be good for you

Pic stolen from Don Arthur's post over at Troppo Armadillo.

terra nullius (no-one's land)

Ah yes, national dance on the graves of the dead day.

A bit of celebrating the poisoning of water holes.

Let's hear it for genocide.. hip, hip.... hooray!

If you have a flag handy, piss on it for me, there's a pet.

Send Downer to Iraq

Caught in a trap of suspicious minds.

"Also on Tuesday, the Australian defence department said its soldiers shot and injured a man acting "in a suspicious manner" outside the Australian embassy in Baghdad."

A dodgy act like Downer wouldn't last a second.

They rape our freedom

Thanks to this post at American Samizdat, more facts.

"RUMSFELD: There are other photos that depict incidents of physical violence towards prisoners, acts that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel, and inhuman.

MIKLASZEWSKI: U.S. military officials tell NBC News, the unreleased images, show American soldiers severely beating one Iraqi prisoner to near death; apparently, raping an Iraqi female prisoner; acting inappropriately with a dead body; and Iraqi guards apparently videotaped by U.S. soldiers raping young boys.

SEN. LINDSAY GRAHAM ®, SOUTH CAROLINA: We‘re talking about rape and murder here, we‘re not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience, we‘re talking about rape and murder and some very serious charges."

A few bad apples, represent, represent!

Update: As I was cuttin' and pastin' this post, the TV news was continuing its week long tirade on the torture of kittens by some bored teenagers. "Senseless torture."

The MSM doing the best they can.

Intelligence, do not trust

Defendants 'guerrillas' not 'terrorists': judge


“But the judge says much of the evidence submitted was of poor quality and relied on intelligence reports rather than hard evidence.”

I’m sure Bush & Co. would agree. After all, the CIA is broken (as well) and can no longer be relied upon. For them, the CIA is superfluous. Rummy's Pentagon will step in with a new acronym behind him (JSOC, SOCOM etc..) to advance future cases for war.

More oil than friends?

Over at William Burroughs' Baboon, a post on the finite nature of the World's oil supply:

"The USA does not line up in the queue for oil from Saudi Arabia like a normal customer. They stand first in queue. They have ensured the continuance of the Saudi regime in return."

The fire of freedom. It burns.

The unstoppable force

So, over at Juan Cole:

"Mind you, if the elected Iraqi parliament asks for a withdrawal timetable, I think the US has an absolute duty to comply. It is a different issue as to whether such a move is wise or could succeed without the Iraqis paying an even higher price than they have already paid."

Meanwhile, Bush flounces about in a ballroom. Back to work, you lying disaster monkey.

The immovable object

From Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches:

“'We don’t need you here! Get the fuck out of here! Bring back Saddam! Even he was better than you animals! We don’t want to die by your hands, so get out of here! We can take care of our own people!'

The translator with the soldiers does not translate this. Instead he watches with a face of stone."

Now I understand Wolfowitz's point (below).

Foot in the door

A few days old, I had to post on it.

I think Wolfowitz did not intend his latest gum-flapping on PBS's Newshour for consumption outside of the U.S. Then again, he could just be a complete idiot.

"And it is worth saying that since June 1, there have been more Iraqi police and military killed in action than Americans. They are fighting; they are dying, unfortunately, along with our people."

Yet more insight into the true motives, let others do the dying for the causes worth dying for. Meanwhile, permanent bases are built, resources milked. They won't leave.

Oh, and the interview has him pushing the next lie they (Bush is, too) are repeating:

"Nobody was misleading the American public. If we were wrong, it was in no small measure because Saddam was misleading the whole world. This is a consensus."

Revise as you go. Neat-o.

The entire interview is a continuous stream of bold-faced lies. Not surprising considering it is Wolfowitz (a bold-faced liar), we should be used to it, but it is still amazing. Such mendacity.

On the 'good' casualties subject, Pandagon has had a post up for a couple of days.

Also, Here's What's Left.

Update: A hint of what Wolfowitz is on about.

Iraqi forces accused of torturing detainees

Saddam was worse, apparently.

Nebulous definition of war

A Kurt Nimmo reminder of the current state of play and future modus operandi;

"Finally, Bush has not officially declared war against Iran—in fact, he never sought an official declaration of war prior to invading Iraq—and thus Blankley’s off-the-wall suggestion that the moth-eaten Espionage Act of 1917 be used against Hersh is not only ludicrous and ahistorical, it is crack-brained, revealing the vicious and anti-democratic character of the Strausscons and their fellow travelers, in this instance a writer who works for whacked out Moonies, who are at war with much of the world, absent any legal foundation, precedent, or consensus."

The Bush Government is moving through the cracks. Why declare war? No need. Doesn't serve their purpose, will slow them down and potentially, could see them being held accountable.

Slippery suckers. We shouldn't be surprised, they DID learn their trade fighting the Cold War.

Four more wars

Maureen Dowd makes a good call. SpongeBush.

He sure sounds like the ultimate optimist.

"Although his incendiary speech about "the untamed fire of freedom" has been widely interpreted as a code-red warning to both foes and friends, I wonder if the president knew he was literally promising to stamp out undemocratic governments across the globe, which would include some of our top allies. He probably thought it was a fancier way of repackaging the Iraq invasion, not as a failed search for W.M.D., but as a blow for freedom (a word used 27 times) and liberty (used 15 times)."

How many times did he mention Iraq?

Update: Tim Dunlop was at the Inaugaration (of Bush). Very keen. Forget pepper spray, he was lucky not to get shot by a sniper.

Share the pain

I've been down the coast, nowhere near a phone line, apologies to the kids out there who count on my extraordinary insight.

I've managed to make it to the local library and snaffle a computer.

Australian embassy bomb target: ministers at odds

So, Howard's lucky escape/Digger's lucky escape/Iraqis not so lucky.

"Australia's ambassador to Iraq, Howard Brown, said the blast was aimed at the barracks housing members of Australia's 120 troops in the Iraqi capital."

The Gov't seem to be a little confused as to what their public position will be on this sort of stuff.

Is the new boogyman, Zarqawi, after Aussie interests? Perhaps not specifically Australian, more than likely Coalition Forces. Of which Australia comprises (of course, f*ckin' of course!)

It won't matter much to the Australian public.

Pity the Iraqis dying as a result of our presence.

An easy target

Borat goes to the rodeo

It was only later - after the man riled up the audience with comments like "may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq" - that Rowe figured out he had been duped. The performer also told everyone to be seated before launching into a butchered version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that ended with the words: "your home in the grave."

Said Rowe: "I told him: You done the wrong thing at the wrong place."

Apparently, he wore a USA flag shirt AND a black cowboy hat. Fightin’ words fer sure.

Fair and biased

Greg Palast:

Network's Craven Back-Down on Bush Draft Dodge Report Sure to Get a Standing Rove-ation at White House

“‘From a Viacom standpoint, the election of a Republican administration is a better deal. Because the Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on…. I vote for Viacom. Viacom is my life, and I do believe that a Republican administration is better for media companies than a Democratic one.’”

That damned liberal-leaning MSM!

Actually, I’m not too fussed about actual, or apparent bias in media. I just believe they should state their bias (or whichever criminals they support).

The myth unravels

Kurt Nimmo is laughing at you:

Scheer on al-Qaeda: A Day Late a Few Billion Dollars Short

"Well, maybe I’m a bit harsh. After all, Scheer mentions a “brilliant new BBC film produced by one of Britain’s leading documentary filmmakers [that] systematically challenges [the al-Qaeda Myth] and many other accepted articles of faith in the so-called war on terror.” Unfortunately, this film will never run on American television—and even if it does, it no longer matters because al-Qaeda has served its purpose and journalists, who fancy themselves “heretical,” can safely mention the myth, although leaving out conspicuous details.

In other words, nothing is going on here, move on. We now have bigger terrorist fish to fry and they live in Syria and Iran.

Osama and al-Qaeda are yesterday’s news."

Dude, where’s my WMD?

Iraq war worth it even if no WMD found: Bush

“‘Well, like you, I felt like we'd find weapons of mass destruction,’ he said, according to excerpts released from an ABC television interview.

Like who? Perhaps the media whores, but not me you dopey puppet.

“Bush made his comments on the ABC News 20/20 program, as the White House confirmed today the United States had quietly halted its search for WMD in Iraq - one of its key reasons for invading the country.”

Key? THE reason. Revising history as it is being written. Efficient, at least.

UPDATE: Via thiscenturysucks.com, over at daily KOS, you’ll find a list of what the U.S. Gov’t criminals actually said.

Here’s my fave;

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
Dick Cheney, Vice President
Speech to VFW National Convention
8/26/2002"

Simply stated, Cheney is a lying criminal, as are the rest of them.

Indo Gov’t throttle aid for tsunami affected Aceh

The New York Times:

“The new restrictions will enable the military to increase its presence in the countryside, where the rebels are strongest and where civilians fear Indonesian soldiers the most.”
…
“As well as announcing the restrictions on movements outside the two main cities, the military said Tuesday that it was requiring aid agencies to tell the military where they are planning to deliver assistance. During the civil conflict, food has been a target of both the military and the rebels, and precise information about where food is being delivered for civilians could be of help to the military in its battle against the separatist insurgents.”

And the SMH:

“A spokesman for the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said yesterday that he had not seen the statements but Australian troops would not stay ‘a day longer than they were wanted’”.

Fair enough. The Indo Gov’t is being cynical and opportunistic, as governments tend to be, especially when dealing with secessionist rebels. Regardless of the internal political situation, no self respecting nation would accept foreign troops kicking around for too long. Military grunts tend not to make good ambassadors (‘good’ brothel clientele, but.)

As an aside, note the difference between the two articles, the SMH is obviously treading carefully and trying not to hit any sore spots. As is Downer's office (for once). Meanwhile, the NYT’s just wades right on in.

Update: For limning of the GAM and TNI issue, Robert Corr has more.

al-Sabah - U.S. Propoganda tool

From the Iraq go-to person, Juan Cole:

' Will the security problems cause you to?
Not come out and vote the day of elections = 18.3%
Come out and vote the day of elections = 78.3%
No opinion = 3.4% '

"Rightwing pundits like David Brooks have taken up this al-Sabah poll as a cause for optimism. But they ignore the I & R findings. The Baghdad poll is flawed for several reasons. First of all, it was limited to Baghdad. Baghdad is about half Shiite and has a million Kurds, and both Shiites and Kurds are very enthusiastic about the elections. So a poll in Baghdad doesn't reflect the resentments in Baqubah, Tikrit, and other Sunni Arab cities. Second, West Baghdad is more secure and more politically oriented that other Sunni Arab areas. Third, we don't know if scientific weighting was done for the poll published in al-Sabah. Fourth, al-Sabah was set up for propaganda purposes by the Bush administration and its staff at one time resigned in protest over all the propaganda."

Neat, if the first three reasons don’t sway you, the fourth arrives like the proverbial schoolmaster’s backhander.

The Googlebomb Project

Tammy Bruce
Tammy Bruce
Tammy Bruce
Tammy Bruce
Tammy Bruce
Tammy Bruce
Tammy Bruce
Tammy Bruce

Done & done!

Ingredients for national war

Regarding Iraq, I’ve been banging the ‘civil war’ drum for quite some time now, mainly in off-topic, troll-like comments on threads attempting to decipher U.S. actions (or lack of) leading to whichever f*ck up has managed to find its way to the MSM.

Considering the U.S. Government's stated goals... I’ve never quite got my head around their apparent level of incompetence in executing this latest adventure (Poppa Bush, we need you! I joke), with the belief that nobody, or government, could be so stupendously hopeless.

I believe it has been the plan from the get-go. Send the region into social and political disarray. Starting with Desert Storm (and the betrayal), seasoned with the trade sanctions, more war (the bait and switch WMD shell game), allow looting (art and IED materiél) & lawlessness due to an MBA-like post-war security plan (bottom line driven), continue to liberally spread with tonnes of ordnance.

Voila! On your knees.

I'm slightly relieved to see I am not as hare-brained as I (and most other Bloggers/commenters) thought. As relieved as you can be when you realise your premonition of disaster, is likely correct.

Over at Global Guerillas, there’s a hint of this idea, certainly from a comment made by Billmon. Which then led me to his place (good to see he is back, posting), where he has a heap of pertinent links and a neat little
bumper sticker. (When i was in Hawaii, recently, the "Freedom isn't Free" stickers festooned on many vehicles spooked me. WTF? Do the drivers work in military procurement?)

Thanks to William Burrough’s Babboon for the link to GG.

Good clean fun

A defence lawyer says there's nothing wrong with US troops piling up naked prisoners, or holding them on a leash in Abu Ghraib prison.

"'Cheerleaders all over America form pyramids,'"

Ah, but there are good pyramids and bad ones, like relationships, some can be abusive. Smartarse.

"'You've probably been at a mall or airport and seen children on tethers. They're not being abused,' said Womack, a former US marine."

But you'd sure like to abuse the little tykes, ay? No, not funny.

This bullshit should not distract from the reality. The 'kind' of pyramids formed in Abu Ghraib caused nervous breakdowns. They caused heart attacks. They were inhumane and incredibly cruel.

They were also sanctioned by the U.S. Government Admin. After all, this is war, right?

Animals.

Civil war, just an option

The Pentagon may put Special-Forces-led assassination or kidnapping teams in Iraq

"Pentagon sources emphasize there has been no decision yet to launch the Salvador option. Last week, Rumsfeld decided to send a retired four-star general, Gary Luck, to Iraq on an open-ended mission to review the entire military strategy there. But with the U.S. Army strained to the breaking point, military strategists note that a dramatic new approach might be needed—perhaps one as potentially explosive as the Salvador option."

Again, once more for the anti-idiotarian giant-brains up the back. This bunch of criminals are not interested in freedom and democracy for Iraq (or the region).

First, they want to destabilise the place. Then, install their man i.e. Saddam Version 2.0. Number one is done. Step two is a little tricky. On a toothpaste back into the tube sort of level.

So while they muddle about, knocking their heads together, trying to work out how to achieve their aims, Iraq will have to remain in its current state.

The problem at the moment is, too many dead American kids. Well, not that fact, more the effect. Now the Whitehouse criminals want to use Kurds and Shi-ites to do their murdering.

Ah, yes. Civil war, why not? F*kin' criminals.

Looks moderate, sounds moderate....

Abbas claims victory despite 'ballot bungling'

"Presidential favourite Mahmoud Abbas has claimed victory in the elections after exit polls showed he had won 66 per cent of the vote."

A few glitches, but the margin looks to be large enough for the international observers to believe they didn't affect the outcome. We'll have to see what the actual count shows.

Either way, apparently the turnout was quite large (heaps more female voters than usual) which lends a little more legitimacy and a touch of mandate to the victor.

Polls were kept open for an additional 2 hours to bump up the participation rate.

Abbas won't have much time to prove he is the right man for the job and continue to receive the current level of support. I'd suggest Israel is happy enough, hopefully they'll make a few concessions (could be an opportunity for Bush, too, but will he be interested?) in order to bolster his standing amongst Palestinians.

The extremists, for the time being, are doing little else but boycotting the election. Fair enough.


Abbas, Sharon & Bush at the Red Sea Summit, June 2003.

Fingers burnt in Vietnam, they learnt nothin'

Hearts and minds, gonski!

"Sometimes, they say, they fire on vehicles encroaching within 30m; sometimes they fire at 20m. 'If anyone gets too close to us we f..king waste them,' says a bullish lieutenant. 'It's kind of a shame, because it means we've killed a lot of innocent people.'"

They love it. Warmongers are getting exactly what they wanted.

Sow. Reap.

Amongst the corruption in Aceh, they fight

Journalists told to keep quiet on Aceh skirmish

"'Your duties here are to observe the disaster, not the conflict between TNI (the Indonesian army) and GAM,' a Kopassus commander told The Australian's journalist and photographer before ordering them to leave."

The people of this region have to rely on the TNI for aid. Poor bastards.

Maintain the compassion

The PS from Andrew Bartlett's email to Crikey.

"PS While I'm writing, I really think the thing to stress with supporting the tsunami victims and their countries is to create the understanding that this support will be needed for months and years, not just while the TV news specials are running. I think people are stupid to bag the Govt now for not putting in enough, being too slow, etc. There will be a flood of support from all over the place now - the big test will be keeping it going (from the Govt AND the public) once the initial shock and interest dies down. I'm sure there's plenty of examples in the past of Governments pledging money when a disaster (war, crisis, etc) happens and then never getting around to providing all of it once people get distracted by the next big thing - we have to make sure that does not happen this time."

Hear, hear!

Shady Gonzales explains why torture is bad, harsh treatment is good

From SFGate;

Gonzales unflappable in 6 hours of testimony
Bush nominee says torture will not be tolerated

"Gonzales said Thursday that he was 'sickened and outraged' by the Abu Ghraib scandal. But he rejected the idea that White House policies contributed to the abuse and instead blamed the individual soldiers involved.

'This was simply people who were morally bankrupt trying -- having fun,' he said. 'And I condemn that.'"

Not tolerated when it is fun, of course. However, 'harsh treatment', check.

From the The Koufax Awards: Most Humorous Blog nominated, Ayn Clouter's Blog.

Cadaver on Habib torture allegations

From the SMH:

No official saw Habib abuse: Ruddock

Right, hands up, who wants to keep their job?

Yeah, thought so.

"No Australian official who had access to Australian terror suspect Mamdouh Habib witnessed any abuse against him while he was held in Pakistan in October 2002, the federal government said."

According to Ruddock, there is a difference of views. One is based on reality, the other, well.. we are a World at war and Ruddock is a politicil leader. According to the apologists, he wouldn't be doing his job if he told the truth.

A quick glance at the scoreboard, to date and you would be an absolute goose to assume they have not been tortured.

The Iraq meat grinder, still churns

Laws tightened as bomb kills seven US troops


"None of the seven soldiers in the vehicle survived the blast, in northwestern Baghdad around 6pm local time (0200 AEDT), said Captain Patricia Brewer, a spokeswoman in Baghdad for the coalition forces.

"Seven US solders were killed in Baghdad when their Bradley Fighting Vehicle was hit with an IED," she said, using the military initials for improvised explosive device."

Seems IED's are becoming more powerful. Even with armour, didn't stand a chance. We can expect at least another 10 years of this: the new & improved Gaza strip.

Nice work Dubya, ya stooge.

Sour grapes, mmmmmmm…

The presidential vote for George W. Bush does not compute

“Crucial flaws in the national vote count, most importantly in Ohio, New Mexico and Florida, indicate John Kerry was most likely the actual winner on November 2, as reported in national exit polls. At very least, the widespread tampering with how the election was conducted, and how Ohio's votes were counted and re-counted, has compromised this nation's historic commitment to free and fair elections.”

“These flaws involve very large numbers of votes. But they cannot fully explain how the results were recorded on Election Day for one crucial reason: the paper and digital record trail needed to analyze the actual voting has been sealed from public scrutiny by Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, who both administered the state's election and served as the co-chair of Ohio's 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign.

Blackwell and other Republican officials continue to discount such criticisms. Blackwell has written that the election ran "smoothly." His office has refused subpoenas requesting him to testify, terming them a form of "harassment." Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett has said that this year's election had "fewer glitches" than previous ones. ‘We have bipartisan (election) boards and very specific rules and procedures,’ he says. ‘To have fraud within the counting process in Ohio, you would have to have massive collusion.’ “

The fact that the ‘counting process’ was bi-partisan does not mean we should forget about the other issues identified.

Besides, having somebody keep an eye on out doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t pull a swifty. Just have to be prepared and try harder. Nobody said that GOP operatives are stupid, just crooks.

That’s right, crooks.

Generally, judging by the nature of the 10 reasons identified in the article (come on, go read), the approach seemed to be: do a little, in a lotta places.

Like skimming from bank accounts, stay under the radar and stay out of prison.

No wonder Blackwell (Republican) is sooking about calls for closer scrutiny.

Irony update: Meanwhile, following a hand re-count (gotta love 'analog'!), the Dems scored a result.

The machines had previously given the vote win to the Republicans;

“Democrats, who hold a majority in the state House and Senate, stood firmly behind Gov.-elect Christine Gregoire, who beat Republican Dino Rossi by 129 votes after a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots cast. Rossi, who won the first count and a machine recount, has not conceded and may contest the election in court.”

Gobble up them grapes, you f*ckin’ crooks!

Draft response

Kurt Nimmo..

Will the Islamic Army in Iraq Attack America?

"Any attack on America in the name of the Iraqi resistance, of course, would go a long way in turning around the American public’s growing skepticism of Bush’s Iraqi quagmire. Either the Islamic Army in Iraq is stupid or they are not who they claim to be. Qui Bono? Certainly not the Iraqis. Bush desperately needs public opinion where it was in the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks. He needs America’s sons and daughters to willingly donate their lives to the Strausscon-neolib plan to “reshape” the Middle East. How better to do this than stage Iraqi resistance attacks in America? Imagine the mileage Bush would receive if even a single suicide bomber hit a mall or corporate office complex. It would be invaluable."

Regardless of whether the conspiracy theories are accurate, this thought scares the f*ck out of me. For the obvious reason, more dead, also, the likely response from the U.S. Government.

The last big attack on U.S. soil, September 11, 2001, caused the invasion of two countries. What next? Who knows, but it will certainly require a draft to execute.

Help yourself

An article written by one of the chaps of The Chaser Annual 2004 fame, Dominic Knight..

He's Just Not That Into You

"One of those endless self-help books that are the American publishing industry's equivalent of the doughnut - easy to wolf down but not very good for you - HJNTIY tells women to stop making excuses for imperfect men. If we aren't calling you constantly, inundating you with flowers and otherwise making you feel like princesses, then you should pull the plug."

Doughnuts!

"But beware: maybe the guy who calls you up and sweeps you off your feet the day after he got your number is good at that because he's done it dozens of times before. As a glib book like this would put it, he'll be probably be just as smooth when he's breaking up with you."

Sh*t, either there's heaps of chaps out there with this MO, or he and I know the same chaps.

M'eh, dime a dozen. Right, ladies?

Twenty quid, ya must be mad!

Tim Dunlop's response to critics of the critics...

"Fuck off. I've got nothing to say about the responses of individual Americans because I don't really know them. (Amongst those I do know, the response has been overwhelmingly generous.) But I do know what the President did and it was pathetic. A scummy amount of money initially on offer--four million bucks--and allowing days to pass before even contacting the leaders of the countries involved."

Haggle, boy!

Dead-Enders are still moving forward

Baghdad governor assassinated

"Iraq's insurgents have repeatedly targeted government officials around the country, saying they are allies of the US-led coalition."

That's what they would say. What a mess.

Get your tsunami on

Fallujah, thirsty for freedom

Light on the fizz, so you can slam it down fast!

"But it was not just the scale of destruction that angered citizens. They were also unhappy about rules imposed before being allowed to enter their city and the almost total media black-out on their situation, journalists said."

Despite the black-out, we know, we don't seem to care about folks who've had their lives destroyed by acts of man.

Acts of God? Well then....

Terrorist propaganda

This is not real... its fake...




U.S. bombs are not responsible.

No way.

The perfect pendelum

Eldery man accused of postwar revenge rampage

"Stalin picked Jews as camp commandants knowing they would show little mercy to the inmates."

"In a television interview before his death last year, Sack said: "On the first night at Swietochlowice, when the first contingent of Germans arrived, at about 10 o'clock at night he walked into one of the barracks and he said to the Germans, 'My name is Morel. I am a Jew. My mother and father, my family, I think they're all dead, and I swore that if I got out alive, I was going to get back at you Nazis. And now you're going to pay for what you did.' "

In his book, Sack, himself a Jew, describes in detail the alleged atrocities committed at the camp: "The guards put the Germans into a doghouse, beating them if they didn't say 'bow-wow'. They got the Germans to beat each other; to jump on each other's spines and to punch each other's noses, and hit the Germans so hard that they once knocked a German's glass eye out."

Guards also raped German women and trained dogs to bite off German men's genitals on command, Sack said.

The Israeli Justice Ministry said it was "in the process of examining" the extradition request."

Perpetual motion.

Zarqawi as Emmanuel Goldstein

The hook, the line and the sinker (as in the whole rig)?

"According to former Iraqi intelligence personnel I have communicated with recently, the Mukhabarat, under instructions from Saddam Hussein, had been preparing for some time before the invasion of Iraq on how to survive, resist and defeat any US-led occupation of Iraq. A critical element of this resistance was to generate chaos and anarchy that would destabilise any US-appointed Iraqi government."

Then again, they love an excuse to invade. Probably gobbled up the bait, lips smacking, already looking for more..

Wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire

In today's SMH:

Water poured on bonfire of anatomies

"One of the most famous bonfires in British art history, the destruction in 1858 of sheaves of erotic paintings by the artist J.M.W. Turner, by the horrified British critic John Ruskin, never happened."

"It looks as if the notoriously prudish Ruskin, who worshipped Turner to the point of idolatry, could not bring himself to destroy his work."

The censorious prude, who couldn't. His respect for the principles of artistic endeavour, outweighed his puritanical streak, I guess.

And...

"For well over a century nobody has questioned the story: it became as well-known and oft-cited as the ashes of Byron's journals or of Richard "Arabian Nights" Burton's letters and diaries, burned by his wife, Isabel."

It looks as though an incompetent MSM has been around for over a hundred years. Burn 'em! We don't need an MSM anyway, according to many, Blogs, Blogs are more reliable, accurate and have far greater integrity. [cough]

Why did you delay my war?

I've never been to Tim Blair's place. This fact won't stop me from saying the guy is an absolute stooge. A rah rah boy for warmongering Western Governments. Sycophant to the psychopaths, if you like. A damn fool, generally speaking.

I've seen enough of his mouse turd-like comments about various blog houses. I know.

He's been part of the push by MSM outfits, such as the Wall Street Journal, to advance the idea that the 2004 Australian Election was a 'referendum' on Iraq.

Gee, Aussie voters believe we should continue completely f*cking the place up? Is this what your trying to say, fellas? Go right ahead, take as many as you like, knock yourselves out.

But, as Tim Lambert (Deltoid) deftly shows here (a), here (b), here (c), here (d) and here (e) .

It wasn't.

For a laugh at Tim Blair's expense, read the comment thread in the (d) link. It is kind of embarassing, but still funny. You know, like watching The Office. Blair's arguments are funny enough, but the comment thread ends in perfect synergy with the title of Lambert's post.

Back to the Pavilion!!

Clash of class

As suggested by American Samizdat, Kirsten Anderberg is angry i.e. threatening to middle-class white boys.

Go read. Wake up.

The mouldy right

Following the shock of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, aka Wave of Fear, aka Ring of Death, aka Asian Tsunami, Team Blog (you, me, us) has generally responded well. You know, the usual type of thing, donate to this mob, or that one. You can even choose your own. Heart swelling stuff. I'm sure you'd agree.

A silver lining in this massive , dark cloud is the demonstration of the positive aspects of humanity. Recently, we haven't heard much of it. All war drums, all the time, it seems....

Doubtless, the MSM will continue to cash in on the event with amazing survival stories, courage in the face of adversity (no, not diversity Mr Bigot) and the like. F*ckin' vultures. Imagine if the Major TV outfits handed over the advertising revenue from their news broadcasts, to the relief funds? Yeah, imagine.

Meanwhile (getting back to Blogs, the whole point of this post), some continue to maintain the offensive, still sporting their partisan warrior facepaint and still pushing the idea that their side is: The Winning Team (superior morals, etc.) .

Oh, yes, they push.

Check this warrior.

What a creep. Shine the light on this piece of mould, dry it out, extinguish it. Be gone!

I find it interesting, in a "look at the animals!" kind of way, that this goose also (ab)used the Nick Berg vid and along the way suggested liberal blogs, "didn't do enough." Enough, what!?! Hatemongering?

There's no doubt about fanatics, they are dangerous, evil and [insert your insult here].

Anyway, that was last year. This year we have a substantial part of the world to help overcome a major catastrophe - hop to it!

Just signed up - 1 1 2005

Nothing to see here, people. Move along.