I do not recall having information from that Agency

Kevin Andrews simultaneously shows he is stupid and dobs in the AFP.

He claims that despite whole government briefings by ASIO he had no idea what the agency thought about Dr Haneef's nefariousness and that he relied on the AFP for information.

That translates to: I didn't really do my job and Mick, the ball's in your court!

What ASIO knew (and everyone else ignored)

Apparently, ASIO informed the Government and the Australian Federal Police (and by that I mean you Kevin Andrews and you Mick Keelty) that Dr Mohammed Hanneef was not a threat to security. That was three days after the bombing (and 5 days before Kevvy revoked Dr Haneef's visa). The AFP openly acknowledge that they know ASIOs position. Being cops and not spies of course they just knew better I guess....

Clearly what ASIO really meant was (reading between the lines of course): arrest the Muslim bastard, revoke his visa and get him the hell out of here!

So they did.

Of course with this kind of balanced media reporting how could Kev, Keelty, et al. not act to protect at least Australia's reputation.

And why pray tell are ASIO only telling us now? It is just so hard to get a good whistleblower these days. Perhaps it would have been a breach of national security to show just how racist and inept our immigration minster really was?

As if he couldn't do that on his own... anyone remember his statements about African immigrants? They just don't fit in right, god knows that black skin sticks out a mile, and then, then they go and get bashed to death, which is so un-Australian.

Kevvy was always looking out for us... in response to what he saw as biased, pro-Muslim local case officers he ordered DIAC (DIC??) to bring out more Christians. Of course that fact that his department had investigated these claims and found them to be bogus counted for as much as ASIO's advice. God knows we all know what civil servants are worth.

So Haneef was a bungle but then we also discover this week that 15 people have had their visas revoked improperly and have since been released from detention. And yes it is Kevvy again who personally revoked 8 of them.

Well played Mr Andrews... well played.

You almost make Amanda Vanstone (the not conservative conservative) look merciful and competent by comparison and that is a tough ask!

Finally Ruddock informs us that we have the Coalition to thanks for saving us form the hordes of illegals and that is why Labor is able to make changes to Australia's detention policy.

Don't you just love how that argument works with immigration but not with say the economy?

chequebooks down!

The law to protect those most marginalised and hyper sensitive of world citizens that is young, catholic pilgrims (invaders) has been struck down because "'it affects freedom of speech in a way that, in our opinion, is not supported by the statutory powers".

There was "no intelligible boundary" on what "causes annoyance"'.

Sweet...

Now that is what I call one for the good guys!

Catholic Cardinal says we are not having enough sex*

Sydney has the best Archbishop...

No really

Not only does he cover up sex abuse, think that faith can fix suicide (because dear readers the drugs don't work) now he's telling us that divorce and serial monogamy are bad for families....

Serial monogamy?

Yeah right... how does that work? I think the Bishop is saying don't stay with just one person, sleep around, we'll look the other way.

I feel like that's a wee bit contradictory.

But at the heart of Pell's enlightened, modern and deeply relevant message is this...

"There is a crisis in the Western world. No Western country is producing enough babies to keep the population stable, no Western country," he said.

Did you notice the three mentions of Western in 2 sentences... well that's subtle Pell, did you get your whole team to work on that?

What he's saying is this: we are aborting our culture. So lie back and think of white people, preferably white catholic people.

The only thing is that Pell and his mob are really not keeping up their end here are they? The whole celibate priest, nun, monk thing doesn't contribute now does it and I remain unconvinced that serial monogamy with God as your partner is the best way to deal with the decline and fall of the west.

Or that a man who has perhaps never had sex and will never had children is the best person to be lecturing us about it.


*okay so I exaggerated a little bit.

ST-RIKE!!

I love a little industrial terror in the morning.

So despite the NSW Government's best efforts at quelling any and all dissent in the face of the massive tax-payer funded Pope fest that is World Youth Day (and wouldn't we all be happy if it were in fact a day and not a week?) it seems the Rail Tram and Bus Union may be able to do what us mere mortals are unable to: bring Sydney to a grinding halt.

Sweet!

Don't get me wrong I know a lot of people are going to be really inconvenienced by this and it is easy for me to gloat given my predilection and ability for using my own two feet to get around. But it should also be noted that if it weren't for all of the upheaval of WYD, the street closures, the extra traffic and people the extra pressure on public transport including the chartering of just about every available bus, we just wouldn't be in this predicament.

But you know given the whole climate change situation, given that the NSW Government has known about WYD for a while and given that this industrial dispute has been going on for 11 months or so you think they might have sorted it out just a little earlier.

Certainly I would prefer that the money I invest in this state were spent on essential infrastructure which includes a fair enterprise agreement for train drivers.

Apparently some moves have been made including taking job losses off the table in order to progress enterprise bargaining.

Yes kids you read that right. In a city where we don't have enough public transport to adequately provide for the people who live here the State Transit Authority was threatening to cut jobs...

Gotta love long term vision, it's what makes NSW great.

In solidarity I say stop the trains and make the pilgrims walk like their ancestors had to.

And never let it be said that collective action doesn't get you anywhere. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it union-busters!

Sayonara Sandy!

your favourite former foreign minister and mine has finally quit the job he was so hopeless at (that is being a politician) and is going into business (with Natasha Stott Despoja's hubby no less) and taking up a UN role in the high powered world of Cypriot diplomacy.

Praise Jesus!

As Ben Pobjie points out in New Matilda this week, we have Sandy to thanks for JW Howard since his absolute incompetence (who can forget the 'things that batter') made even little Johnny look good (I know I know that was as weird to write as it is to read). Not even his mother thinks he did a good job of leading the liberal party (for all of eight months!), but like true aristocracy she is grinning and bearing it... just.

Sandy himself has a somewhat different take on his achievements or lack thereof "But, overall, so what? The net result has been that I have been able to see the sorts of major things I believe in happen."

That's right, let's recount jsut some of those: the Pacific solution, the War in Iraq, JW Howard, intervention in East Timor, JW Howard, AWB Scandal and most likely K-Rudd as, according to Peter Hartcher at least, Sandy's incompetence yet again provided a perfect foil for that Tintinesque Queenslander to win the hearts and minds of Australian voters.

But those of you who are lovers of Moulin Rouge have something to be grateful for. While being interviewed about the role of the Duke Richard Roxburgh revealed that he found the inspiration for the petulant, mummy's boy with an extraordinary sense of entitlement in our longest serving foreign minister.

Don't believe me? Listen to his voice, all high pitched lisp.

But ultimately kids, Sandy really, really sucked.

As Ben says of Downer's new private enterprise:

"The company Downer will be joining is called "Bespoke Approach", a name that evokes the man himself by being at once pretentious, uninformative and ill-chosen."

And that about says it all.

Sayonara Sandy... can't say I'm gonna miss ya!

Annoyed?

I woke up this morning to find out that people can be arrested and fined $5500 for annoying other people.

Bugger.

Actually I should be clear... you can't be arrested for annoying any old people, it is specifically to protect catholic people. Which is to say I can't have slow walking people or pro-lifers or people who pass legislation saying we can't annoy catholic pilgrims arrrested for bugging the crap out of me.

Oh the humanity.

Seeing as I make it my life's work to annoy people in general and Catholics in particular I am, all of a sudden, deeply concerned about my liquidity.

These new police powers are greater than the cops had for the APEC brouhaha (which suprises me, I would have thought they would have wanted any chance to use that brand spanking new water cannon!). And this is a clear indication that Catholic pilgrims are totally less hard core than fascist world leaders.

So not only has mega bucks of our tax-payer cash gone on this enterprise (and who needs hospitals, roads or functioning public transport I ask when we can have the Pope for a week), not only have school children been used as slave labour to pack tuna and vegemite into pilgrim packs for papal loving freeloaders, but now we can end up in jail for being openly annoyed about it!

This is blatant anti-misapnthropist legislation!

While I understand that discussing the virtues of the rhythm method and the best ways to ensure women have no rights over their own bodies, how best to practise homophobia, prevent important medical research and generally drag us all back the dark ages while assiduously ignoring sexual abuse scandals is an imporant thing for any religious group to do, I remain unsure as to why I need to foot the bill. I also remain unconvinced that having my right to freedom of expression removed is either necessary or desirable... for anyone... catholics included.

Let's just say I am getting my chequebook out.

I suggest you all do the same.

Honesty is the best policy?

Honesty is rarely the best policy in politics as John McCain's aide found out much to his chagrin and perhaps to the detriment of his future employment opportunities.

In a refreshingly candid interview with Fortune Magazine good old Chuck revealed that while the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was an 'unfortunate event' it helped McCain's primary campaign and musing that another attack on American soil would 'be an advantage' to McCain.

Hmmm....

Things not to say in the national media? Perhaps Chuck missed the memo.

Interestingly it seems he has not been kicked to the curb in record time, apparently casting national disaster as positive political strategy in public is just not cricket, but not as bad as calling HRC a monster or being an outspoken (black?) man of god...


What I love though is this article in the Washington Post, where both Chuck and a campaign spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker repeat exactly the same phrase:

'Charlie deeply regrets his comments. They were inappropriate and he recognizes that the candidate we work for has devoted his entire adult life to putting protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration," said Campaign Spokeswoman Jill
Hazelbaker. Black told reporters in California exactly the same thing, according to the Associated Press: "I deeply regret the comments. They were inappropriate. I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration."'

I love the smell of sincerity in the morning.

No... really?!

I read in the SMH today that the ANU has completed a study on voting trends over the ten years between 1997 and 2007...

I particularly enjoyed this little gem:

"The coalition would still have lost the election, even if Mr Costello had
replaced John Howard as Liberal leader, the study's co-author Professor
Ian McAllister said."

Ya think?

And...Didn't we all know that last November?

It does seem however that Costello may be able to save the Liberals now... With Tony Abbott
revealing that Dr No Mates is skating on thin ice (surprised? I know I am!) since even two out of three Coalition Voters prefer K-Rudd as PM!

I must say I do find that surprising, who knew that some Coalition voters could be so discriminating?

Apparently now though the super smug wet Lib from Victoria may be able to ride to the rescue... Costello seems to be the preferred choice for libs outstripping even the great white hope Malcolm Turnbull.

Personally I think Bish is tilting for it... not to lead the country but perhaps, just perhaps, she has her eyes on the WA prize and you have to admit, Premier Bishop does have a nice ring to it (and by nice I mean terrifying). On the plus side, she'd be isolated by the entire continent and there's nothing more than a chair-sniffer in her way out there.

A Victory for Decency?

Hah!

The thought police have got their comeuppance as Henson's 'controversial' images are cleared for general release by the classification board. And this despite that great art critic K-Rudd declaring them "absolutely revolting".

Good then... a strike for the good guys.

The problem is now that every man and his dog feels compelled to comment on it... and yes kids I am aware of the irony as I too spill virtual ink over this issue.

Paul Sheehan recently wrote in the SMH what amounted to a somewhat backhanded defense of Henson, given the title, Artists Crying Out for Martyrdom. It was a more condemnation of the police action than support of the artist.

At its heart Sheehan is running the line if you play with fire you expect to get burnt.

Fair enough. Except that in Australia we don't burn people at the stake. Good art should create debate and should make us ask questions... that is part of the function of art and part of our responsibility as audiences.

But we proved yet again are seemingly endless capacity for moral panic and in our timidity tattled and ran to the cops.

Shame!

But in a victory for decency those of us who a re not degenerates and who can distinguish between art and porn will be able to see Henson's pictures on display. All of them.

Finally in Sheehan's article he wrote this:

Why? Because pederasts and child sexploiters have had a dream run in our
society. A subculture of pedophilia among gays, an epidemic of child sexual
abuse in the Aboriginal community, and a multimillion-dollar porn industry
on the internet have all been protected variously by privacy laws, artistic
licence, freedom of expression, and Aboriginal rights. What these rights have
done is mask, exacerbate or even rationalise a significant and growing problem.

For real...

Apparently even when you are defending art you can still get a dig in at gays and blackfellas... and God knows we have to take every opportunity!

Funny Because They're True?

Avoiding work today I cruised the cartoon section of TruthDig...

These are some of my favourites...

Wake Up and Smell the Police State

Well Well Well....

Bet you thought that this stuff only happened in South America or Iran or the Eastern Bloc.

While we sit around smugly self-satisfied and ruminate on our avowed mission of bringing the Holy Grail (aka Western Democracy) to the miserable oppressed buggers of the world, we pay precious little attention to what is happening here...

It is time to wake up and smell the police state.

Bill Henson, certainly a confrontational artist has had his exhibition in Sydney suspended, 20 of his 41 photos seized and it looks like either he or someone else will be charged with publishing an indecent article. To contextualise, Henson takes photos of young pre or early pubescent children and they are nudes.

Which apparently means porn... kiddy porn.

Not that he hasn't been open about the subject matter; not that it isn't consensual and by that I mean he talks with and gets consent of his models' parents; not that his pictures don't sexualise children... nudity and sex are not the same thing.

Unless you are a conservative philistine or Kevin Rudd (which may be the same thing we have yet to see). In which case naked children are always sexual, always pornographic, always "revolting".

Here's me thinking that that attitude says more about their depravity than Henson's.


Just to note on the day this story broke your favourite newspaper and mine, the Daily Telegraph was running an online poll about this. Over 75% of Tele readers said that Henson's work was porn and if you thought differently you were warped (their phrasing not mine), which is all the proof I need dear reader to declare that Henson's pics MUST be art!

I now pronounce you....

Well aren't they full of surprises? The labor government has pulled another rabbit out of it's hat with a raft of reforms to redress the appalling, institutionalised discrimination faced by same sex couples (you know.... homosexuals) in Australia.

Huzzah! And about time too.

Frankly I am constantly amazed at the importance placed on ones sexual predilictions and wonder why who we all sleep with has such an impact on our lives...

Fortunately this will finally be redressed.... or will it?

In the SMH yesterday, I read this:
"Same-sex couples will continue to be denied marriage, adoption rights and IVF despite the government's decision to remove discrimination against gays in a range of commonwealth laws."

Right... So really what is being said here is, you can have all of the legal rights and responsibilities but we don't really think you all should be raising kids, having kids or getting married... those things are for straight people.

I am sorry but I don't get it. Am I stupid, why are two women or two men worse parents than on of each? Why should a woman be denied the chance to reproduce because she would rather come home to a woman than a man, and why for God's sake does the state feel it has any say in who can and cannot get married. Seriously if the Catholicc Church says that they will not conduct marriage services for same sex couples then whatever, but I cannot see any reason at all why a same sex couple can't be married in a civil ceremony...

How freaked out are we? Will the institution of marriage crumble crumble if two men can proudly and legitimately say they are married? Is that even a bad thing.

I totally support the changes to legislation that allow all people to be treated the same regardless of who they sleep with. But the real foundation of this discrimination will not be addressed until people are treated equally no matter who they go home to at night.

McCarthies Under the Bed....

I am outraged. No joking this time...

The latest Liberal Party stunt is to get students at Uni and at high school to narc on their propagandising "lefty" teachers in an effort to blow the lid on the vast left wing conspiracy that is the education system. The source for this news is that purveyor of propaganda par excellence, the Daily Telegraph.

Apparently the libs will use this information to hold a Senate enquiry to the biased teaching going on in Australian schools and unis. I wonder if we could have an enquiry about the rabid rightwing propaganda of media outlets like the Daily Telegraph too?

The first thing that we should note is that clearly there are not enough grown up Liberals to undertake this very important work so the last remnants of 'talent' the party has will be undertaking this campaign of repression.

Nice work Young Libs... it is so pleasing to see you are taking your responsibility of keeping campuses everywhere safe for the white and advantaged seriously.

So really we are looking to create some McCarthyist campaign in the very places where the last vestiges of free thought and enquiry may still exist.

Awesome.

What the Libs are actually saying is that we are all too stupid to think about and question what we learn. Loving that vote of confidence.

If there are so many proselytising lefties perhaps the Libs should have stopped defunding education in Australia so it was more attractive to the selfish and venal who make up their support base?

And if this is true, how come there are still so many bloody young libs left?

Seriously the vast left wing is not doing very well now is it?

Dr No (Mates)

So I said they'd keep on giving but even I could not anticipate this deliciousness....

Recently a poll result was released showing just how unpopular the Good Doctor actually is. Dr Nelson's approval ratings have plumbed new depths.

Now you could have been forgiven for assuming that after hitting the 9% mark in the preferred PM stakes there was nowhere esle to go. I mean there must be a critical mass of of die hard Liberal voters who would always prefer a Liberal Government led by anyone to Labor.

Apparently it's not 9%.

In fact the Good Dr's approval rating is at a meagre (and utterly embarrassing) 7%. This despite of the fact that around 37% of voters would prefer a Liberal Party Government (wackos!).

Ouch!

Not even the Lib grassroots can muster up any affection for Australia's (least) favourite turncoat.

So where does this leave us? Well sitting pretty, at least until Labor actually does something. Not that I want to detract from ratifying Kyoto or attempting to heritage list the Kokoda trail. Nor do want to cast any negative aspersions on the Apology to the Stolen generations which was in my opinion one of the best moments in Australian parliamentary history.

But it has to be said the Labor party hasn't spent any money and they didn;t make many promises in order to win the election.

Roll on the budget and we'll see what they are really made of (more of the same I'll bet). We'll also see what the most unpopular man in politics can make of himself... if anything at all.

Don't know about you, but I am not holding out high hopes.

They Just Keep on Giving

This blogger was truly concerned that a change in government might mean no more fun.... No more Liberal party antics to post about.

Well never fear, they just keep on giving!

ABC's 4 Corners had an episode that exposed the goings on in the Liberal party in the lead up to the 2007 election.... what fun!

Unfortunately I missed the show but I did catch this article in which Mr Joe Hockey announced that Cabinet did not fully grasp the implications of the changes to IR laws that WorkChoices heralded. Specifically that they didn't understand that "workers could be worse off under Work Choices".

Que?

You mean that the people who supposedly debated the policies, were responsible for tinkering with (read utterly destroying) Industrial Relations policies that seemed to be well, working just fine, that forced them on an unwilling and unsupportive public, didn't actually KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING?!!

Well that makes me for one feel so much better.... I mean what JH is saying is that they didn't really mean to screw us over. On the contrary they just weren't bright enough or didn't care enough to fully understand their own policies.

Whew, that's a relief.

But now, all of a sudden I am regretting the election result. You mean we chucked out a whole lot of well meaning ignoramuses, all because we want our rights at work protected... Goddammit, how short sighted of us!

The New Matilda also published an article about the problems within the Libs (yes indeedy there is a lot of good reading at the moment). Andrew Elder contends that their biggest problem is an inablity to create a post-Howard 'narrative' since the party was in effect Howard. Apparently JW destroyed dissent and opposition in his pursuit of absolute loyalty and now no one knows how to distance themselves from him or create a new set of guiding principals... or something.

Methinks they will have to find a better leader than the Good Doctor to do that.

As much as there is a part of me that rubs my hands and licks my lips in anticipation of a longterm Liberal meltdown, there is another that is more than a little worried by it.

We all know what happens when there is no strong opposition in a democratic system. If you don't, move to New South Wales.

In a recent poll the NSW Premier has only a 30% approval rating. Pollsters asked voters who they would prefer out of Iemma, Turnbull, Barry O'Farrell, Michael Costa and John Watkins to lead the state. Iemma still comes out on top (just) but interestingly his closest rival is Turnbull who is in the Federal parliament. Of the two who seem most likely to replace Iemma, O'Farrell, current state Liberal Party leader got a measly 17%. It comes as no surprise to me that NSW State Labor government thinks they can do what they like, you know like privatise our power despite the fact that over 60% of people in NSW don't want them to. There isn't anyone in politics to tell them they can't.

So while the sadist in me will continue to enjoy the thrashings of the Liberal Party, the political junkie will remain concerned. Then again.... perhaps accountability is overrated.

Primary School

The US Presidential Primaries are on...

Currently the race to secure the presidential nomination for either of the main American parties is wide open, despite what you might be reading. New Hampshire will vote this week and Iowa is done and dusted. Barack and Hillary duked it out in Iowa while John Edwards saw his somewhat limited aspiration to come second and stay in the race for 2008 (not that coming second in 2004 did him much good) come to fruition.

Perhaps the biggest casualty of Iowa is Hillary Rodham Clinton. She didn't come third by a lot, according to one set of results I saw she was wazs only about 0.5% behind John Edwards. That is hardly a trouncing by anyone's standards, but it seems to have put her on the back foot a little. At least in terms of support in the media. Barack however, is riding high on a wave of love and Oprah...

But as newsweek points out the really interesting battle is for the Republican nomination.

The Grand Old Party as the Republicans are known stateside (I had to look that reference up once because I had no idea what the hell GOP actually referred to) seem to be in disarray. Before Iowa no-one would've given Huckabee a snowball's chance in hell of winning anything and now he is the frontrunner *shiver*. It seems the choice is between an evangelical Baptist preacher with dubious views about issues like homsexuality, abortion, immigration and little knowledge of foreign policy and Romney the Mormon, with no really fixed views on anything at all.

I am not sure what is in the water in Iowa but it is certainly working in the Huckster's favour. For the record Guiliani managed to garner a massive 3% of the vote, Ron Paul did better than polling would have predicted and the top three were rounded out by Romney and Thompson. McCain came a close fourth. As yet all Republican contenders are continuing the fight, two of the Dems have fallen by the wayside although Kucinich the vegan is still in the running.

It seems that New Hampshire might shake things up for the GOP, certainly there seems to be an expectation that McCain will gain some momentum and that Romney et al. should be able to slow down the Huckster, nevertheless the power of Chuck Norris should never be underestimated.

It is not entirely clear what the implications are of the Iowa primaries, or indeed any of the early votes, in terms of predicting the actual outcome of the primary race. Certainly there is a new cast to the contentious issue of whether a black man could be elected president. It seems Iowan Dems think he is electable, more electable than a white woman (not unsurprising) and a rich, white, male lawyer (which is admittedly a little surprising). It is a message that is bound to resonate at least through to New Hampshire who will vote later this week and perhaps further into the primary race.

So sit back relax and enjoy the ride. But a word to the wise, one of these people will be running the country in 2008... Chuck Norris for President?!