Chinese ship crew moon the US Navy - continued

According to The Telegraph, the soldiers mooned the Navy crew - now I'm not sure if they just dropped their pants or went all the way. As more information is made available, I'll keep you updated with this important piece of news.

In what a Pentagon official described as a "bizarre" incident, Chinese crew members on board one vessel bared their bottoms after the USNS Impeccable had sprayed them with hoses.

via Chinese ships 'harass' unarmed US navy vessel - Telegraph.

The Chinese have responded to the US allegations of harassment, saying it is the US that is harassing them by conducting illegal surveying in China's special economic zone, AND it suggests the U.S. "do more things beneficial to the stable development of China-U.S. relations. "
Reuters Article

I think the U.S should be careful if they don't want China to increase their interest rate.

In addition, here are some more details not shed some light on the matter:

The Impeccable did not carry large-caliber weapons and was operated by civilians for the Military Sealift Command, Pentagon officials said.

The surveillance mission, focused on undersea warfare, may be of particular interest to the Chinese military, which has invested heavily in a new fleet of diesel-powered attack submarines.

Pentagon officials say that while the diesel variety is not as potent as the Navy’s nuclear fast-attack submarines, the submarines are cheaper and can be purchased in greater numbers, giving the Chinese the potential to overwhelm American defenses at sea.

Address : <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/washington/10military.html?_r=2&ref=world>

Sexualized news and the "Ins And Outs" Of Shaving Your Pubes

Rupert Murdoch's Fox is reaching the bottle of the barrel, while at the same time Rupert, according to The Economist is "investing in a vigorous expansion of its political coverage and international news".

Anyway, according to The Huffington Post, Fox News' "sexpert" Yvonne K. Fulbright in a recent column described the "ins and outs" of shaving your pubes in this article which is well worth reading (The Huffington post one that is).

The Huffington Post: Fox News - The "Ins And Outs" Of Shaving Your Pubes

Even as Bill O'Reilly bemoans that "the moral and ethical climate in America is declining," and that the "Internet and an irresponsible media have hit traditional values hard," Fox News has become a premiere purveyor of sexualized news.

See also FoxNewsPorn

The Pentagon, not Metallica, The Master of Puppets

The New York times today reports that a Pentagon campaign using retired officers has been used to shape terrorism coverage from inside the TV and radio networks.

I note from the screen shots Rupert Murdoch's Fox features heavily.



The Pentagon information apparatus has used these analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance.


Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.

Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.

Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.





Source: Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand - New York Times

Address : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?hp

Virginia Tech: Just get over it.

I can't stand hearing more about the Virginia Tech. Not because it upsets me, but because it seems so two-faced. People are asking "how could this happen?"

Easy: allow nutters easy access to weapons as is currently the case. If the bloke had has to make do with a knife or an axe, then we on the other side of the world would not be hearing about it.

Of course, if this massacre had taken place in Iraq at the hands of a USMC squad, it would have made the news because non-American lives don't matter.

More than 30 Americans are killed every day either by guns or cars. No one is upset if 30 people die in clumps of 1-3.

So, stop asking "why" and "how" - it is easy - psychos kill, and when they get their hands on weapons that can kill large clumps of people, they do.

Perhaps the deaths are just collateral damage for a ridiculous policy of allowing the public to arm themselves with weapons that should only be held by those in the armed forces?

Nothing in comparison to white phosphor bombs dropped on Iraqi cities or US cluster bombs dropped over a whole country.

Pathetically small number of people really to be hogging the news lime-light.

Cartoon from:
Cartoons - Cartoon - Opinion - smh.com.au:

David Hicks to Have an Extreme Makeover

Excellent cartoon from John Spooner, illustrating the article "Torture is always wrong" by Michael Gawenda



Illustration: John Spooner

US faking intelligence to justify attack on Iran?

While British PM Tony Blair is saying "no attack on Iran is being planned, and that a diplomatic solution to the West's row with Tehran over its nuclear plans is the only "viable and sensible" answer", Dick(head) Cheney is here in Australia saying that a Strike on Iran is an option.

"All options are still on the table,'' US vice president Dick Cheney told a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Sydney today.

Interesting given that the Guardian is reporting that:

MUCH of the intelligence on Iran's nuclear facilities provided to UN inspectors by American spy agencies has turned out to be unfounded, according to diplomatic sources in Vienna.

The claims come as the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, prepare to draft a second sanctions resolution on Iran.

They are reminiscent of the intelligence fiasco surrounding the Iraq war and coincide with a sharp increase in international tension as the International Atomic Energy Agency reported yesterday that Iran was defying a Security Council ultimatum to freeze its nuclear program.

Source: US intelligence on Iran proves 'unfounded' - World - theage.com.au
Address : <http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/02/23/1171734021636.html>

So, anyone for a war? It makes great TV and is good for US oil.

Technorati tags: Iran, U.S., Strike on Iran

Bush pledges Hicks to face rigged Kangaroo court as soon as possible

US President George Bush is pledging to do all he can to speed up David Hicks' trial, promising the Australian will be "first in line" to get his day in court. Mr Bush made the promise to Prime Minister John Howard during a telephone call this morning, in which he vowed to "do everything he could to make sure the process was pushed along". "He said that Hicks was the first in the line, and he understood very much the concerns that I had," Mr Howard said.

Source: Bush pledge to Howard over Hicks - National - theage.com.au

I think Johnno is missing the point. While it is more than a concern that DH has been in Guantanamo for over 5 years with out any charges, it is even WORSE that it is a US "special" military court. 

If Hicks were a US soldier facing a Court Martial, the case would have been dismissed according to US military legal folks. And, if Hicks were a US citizen, he would not be allowed to be tried by the court at Guantanamo because the US courts have ruled that the trials at Guantanamo are unconstitutional and deny basic legal rights and process.

So, if Johnno wants to impress us, he should be trying to STOP the trial and demanding that DH be return to Australia, not demanding he be tried ASAP in a court that even the US wouldn't let their people face.

Anyway, aside from that, the article goes on to say that our evil Justice overlord, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has raised the issue of how Hicks might feel if he was brought home before getting a chance to clear his name.

What a joke!  Hicks' US military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, said: "David Hicks won't complain if they bring him home (and) he didn't get to clear his name."

When reminded that many in government had not always presumed Hicks innocent (news terrorist adds: The whole freaking Johnno Howard axis of evil), Mr Ruddock said that he, as principal law officer, always had. "I have never asserted guilt," he said.

Does anyone need proof that Philip Ruddock is really a closet Darth Vader cross-dresser? 

Technorati Tags: David Hicks - Guantanamo - John Howard - War on Terror

Rumsfeld Under Fire: War Crimes Suit Filed

One of the biggest pricks in America is in more hot water (after resigning last week)

According to German paper Der Spiegel, a coalition of human rights groups has filed a criminal lawsuit against the former US Secretary of Defense.

The coalition, led by the New York-based civil rights group Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), filed a criminal complaint against Rumsfeld on Tuesday at the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, Germany.

The coalition also feel they have more chance of success this time with new evidence, such as documents from the 2005 Congressional hearings on the al-Qahtani case.

Rumsfeld's resignation last week may also mean that prosecutors are under less political pressure to shun the case, the activists feel. His resignation also means he can no longer try to claim immunity as a sovereign official from international prosecution for war crimes.

CCR and its partner organizations filed a similar complaint in 2004, but it was dropped. They claim the US pressured Germany to drop the case, which was dismissed in February 2005 on the eve of a visit by Rumsfeld to Germany. At the time, then-federal prosecutor Kay Nehm said that there were no indications that the US authorities would "refrain from penal measures" regarding the violations described in the complaint. The activists believe that Nehm's successor, Monika Harms, who took office earlier this year, may be more amenable to their cause.

Former Commander of Abu Ghraib to testify

The coalition have an ace up their sleeve: Janis Karpinski, the former commander of Abu Ghraib, will appear as a witness on their behalf.

"Janis Karpinski is the witness," commented Kaleck. "The plaintiffs can and should testify (about) what happened to them, but on the other hand they cannot testify who ordered and enforced the interrogation methods, and who conducted them. You must have someone from the apparatus, and this is Janis Karpinski."

Karpinski , who resigned from the army in July 2005, wants to shed light on the incidents that ended her army career. "I served for 28 years," Karpinski told the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel. "I was entirely committed to the army. Then they make me into a scapegoat."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,druck-448320,00.html