Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

In the US, Britain and Europe, people who are the subject of an adverse security assessment are at least given the outline of the case against them, so explanations can be given to correct mistakes or confusions relating to the case against them, or even to dispel false allegations given by hostile governments."- Dale Mills

Scales fell away, as to the latter, after his performance earlier in the week, on Q & A. Reminds the writer of one of these dead fish you keep seeing washed up on teev news from the gulf oil spill.

"The case against BP Alaska involved a major oil company with strong political connections," West said. " We had several investigative avenues available to us that in my judgment as a veteran senior manager with the EPA Criminal Investigation Division would likely have led us to find criminal culpability on the part of a number of senior BP officials and to felonious behavior by this major corporation."

You get the whiff, reading the January reports in theOz about the matter, that the Australian Government might be interceding not so much out of concern for the ex-soldier than a need to minimise the negative publicity of an Afghan Murdering Aussie Mercenary.

Promising there'll be no sweatheart deals, and with the most public-painful cash-grab already fading from non-smokers' memories, Treasurer Swan intends to portray his team as sober, conservative leaders that can continue guiding us through the ongoing crisis.

Similarly, where it used to be thrilling to continue, in non-internet reality, conversations that were initiated on the internet, now a few kids are beginning to get the heebie-jeebies about how much personal information others know about them.

Feeble attempts by civilization to mitigate the climate are drowning in a tide of medieval conspiracy theories by man-over-nature ideologues. There is nowhere else the 6.5 billion of contemporary humans can go.

Of those grumbling about two bucks a pack back then, the ashes of many would be turning in their urns today on hearing of a quickly-announced Government tax of two dollars a packet to come into effect at midnight. 

There's a much deeper argument that war cannot end, to do with human nature. It says that we are warlike by nature, and can draw strong arguments from evolutionary psychology. Our ability and constitutional inclination to divide the human world into an 'us' and a 'them', and indeed to feel warlike toward the 'them', seems to be a part of our nature which we can thank for the survival of our family trees for the past million and more years. We can't throw it just by a bit of state indoctrination or mass participation in flower workshops. It's a strong argument.

People start to talk of "othering" - it's an ugly proposition to contemplate in this actuality, if you ask if we Australians are virtually "taking hostages", as some have put it, to our own uncertainties for our own futures?

I write this in response to the survey your office distributed recently entitled, "Your Views, Your Vote." I appreciate your attempt to obtain some information about the views of constituents, but felt the survey was inadequate and I could not complete it with any integrity. However I will attempt to address your twelve points, as well as make some remarks about things I feel are of critical importance but which the survey did not include.

The term “Drug War” was invented by the warriors themselves, but it is a very descriptive term and we should use it constantly. A war is something expensive, with casualties, and that requires constant justification on the basis of results. If our opponents try to avoid the term, don’t let them. It’s their term, it is apt, and we will insist on it. In our literature we always capitalise “The Drug War” or “The War on Drugs” as it is a proper noun for a historical event with a beginning… and an end.

"Our broad mission is clear:  We are going to disrupt and dismantle, defeat and destroy al Qaeda and its extremist allies.  That is our mission.  And to accomplish that goal, our objectives here in Afghanistan are also clear:  We’re going to deny al Qaeda safe haven."" - US President Barack Obama

Unlike the true FF cards that put Labor in 6th place, the dodgy ALP ones gave Labor first preference.  In this manner voters were conned into believing that their party wanted its unsuccessful votes to go to Labor when this was actually (apart from the deal with the A-G)  far from the truth

But what do we know about the impact of this policy? It seems to me that when a government or opposition puts forth policy they should be obliged to produce an impact statement with the costs and benefits, social, environmental and financial. This process itself should be consistent, transparent, and in a standardised format. That is it should be... um... professional.

If the terrorist and existential threat ended tomorrow, Israel's attacks on Hamas (and therefore Iran) would end tomorrow and the Palestinians would get their state. If Israel's attacks on Hamas ended tomorrow, the terrorist and existential threat would continue unabated and the Palestinians would never get their state. In fact the threat would worsen.

How can we claim that human beings have a fundamental right to life, without an equally fundamental right to death? If one is forced to do something, then it cannot be a right. 

The act of saying sorry actually is an admission you'll stop doing the things that are causing offense, so for the government to say sorry and not retract the intervention is breathtakingly hypocritical in the extreme.

Rann’s alleged antics with a barmaid in parliament some time back has focussed the public’s consciousness back on the Rann government and its policies, outlook and decisions; to “hear” alternate messages from the Liberals (usually ) on one hand and /or excluded or silenced social groups.

I’ve got no idea what the future has in stall but it appears that bit by bit we are going to find that our government and corporate suppliers are going to know (and share) a lot more about us whether we like it or not.

"I campaigned on the promise of change –- change we can believe in, the slogan went.  And right now, I know there are many Americans who aren't sure if they still believe we can change –- or that I can deliver it. " - US President Barack Obama

Not only are the two stories of a revolutionary, destruction by fire and the protagonist's death as the price, but they're also stories that have become iconic legends of rebellion commemorated annually,for so long after the times  of the tales that most of the celebrants have no idea what they're celebrating.

The theory of evolution provides an ideological support for thiseconomic theory, naturalising it, making what is actually a product ofa specific human culture into an independently existing state ofaffairs – in other words, making it into a myth.

The media Silly Season strikes. Wondering if anyone's gpt anythingthey'd like to discuss?   Maybe it's the right time to scribblesomething?  Or perhaps we should open up a random rambling thread towhile away January? All ideas welcome.