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:

Crocodile snaps off zoo worker's arm

The crocodile holds the forearm of zoo veterinarian Chang Po-yu between its teeth

Photograph: Frank Lin/Reuters

Not my usual blog entry, but I jsut had to show this picture from The Guardian's news photo page.

Kaohsiung, Taiwan: The lower left arm of zoo veterinarian Chang Po-yu was bitten off by a crocodile when he tried to pull a tranquilizer dart from its body. In a bid to rescue the arm two bullets were shot at the crocodile but it was unharmed. Chang eventually underwent emergency surgery to have his limb reattached.

Go here to see all 5 pictures of the retrieval of the arm and the zoo keeper post-surgey.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/apr/12/internationalnews?picture=329776192

Hicks Release Conditions Unenforceable

Saw this on google news just now. So interesting I started hunting around and discovered that the Hicks story has caused a storm of controversy in the US, but for some reason it is not making its way into Australian papers.

So, here are a few extracts.

The release conditions put upon Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks are unable to be enforced and can basically be ignored, according to International Law experts.

 

International Law Compliance Forum justices, attorneys and other law experts said that there was ample evidence that the Australian Government had a substantial input into the conditions that were to be set, prior to the conditions being put to Hicks' legal team.

 

The guilty plea by David Hicks essentially means nothing as the processes as to obtain such as plea mean nothing in law, any law.

 

As the processes as to the capture, transportation and detention of David Hicks were, in themselves, illegal acts under both International as well as US laws, any subsequent detention of Hicks in Australia can also be deemed illegal regardless of how long Hicks will be confined in an Australian prison.

 

Any Australian detention of Mr. Hicks can be deemed to be an illegal detention and Mr. Hicks can, as such, be deemed to be a political prisoner.

 

The Australian conditions put upon Mr. Hicks in relation to deny for twelve months any possible media contacts to convey his story, as well as any monitory gains to made by Hicks conveying his story, have no legal validity as the processes of the Hicks conviction were not within appropriate legal confines of processes of law, any law.

 

The Australian conditions also do not apply to Mr. Hicks as the conviction was recorded by US authorities and not by Australia, regardless of such processes being legal or otherwise. The US Constitution safeguards media freedoms. Hicks can thus convey his message as he pleases.

 

The statement by Hicks that he was well treated by the US can be regarded as suspect as firstly, Hicks told UK officials that he had been tortured by US officials, the statement made during his UK passport interview and secondly, the processes of capture, transportation and detention are in themselves not processes through which 'well-treated' claims can be made.

 

The processes used by the US are known to be brutal as well as illegal and outside the confines of law, any law. It can therefore be assumed that the Hicks statement in that regard was put upon him as a condition of release.

 

The condition put upon Mr. Hicks disallowing him to sue the US Government can safely be ignored. The condition firstly renders a guilty plea on behalf of the US Government in relation to Hicks' illegal treatment at Guantanamo Bay as well as his illegal capture, transportation and detention while secondly, there are no legal provisions in Australia or the US that could prevent Hicks from suing the US Government, or the Australian Government for that matter.

 

As an aside, the ILCF experts noted that the statement made by an Australian Government lawyer during a case related to Mr. Hicks as to an alleged fact that the Australian Government had no responsibility towards Australian citizens located overseas are clear nonsense as all Government have a responsibility towards their own citizens by international convention, regardless of what positions they may find themselves in.

 

The ILCF experts also severely reprimanded the Australian Government for its repeated lack of compliance in relation to the Australian Government not complying with international laws and conventions during the life of the Howard Government.

 

Actually, I see now it is the whole article. Couldn't cut anything out! Brilliant.

Source: Hicks Release Conditions Unenforceable

See also:

Outcry over Hicks sentence 'fix' - theage.com.au, April 2, 2007
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/outcry-over-hicks-sentence-fix/2007/04/01/1175366078719.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Guantánamo gag order may be unenforceable - MiamiHerald.com, 04/04/2007
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/17025831.htm

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

Australian Jews take on Australia's pro-Israel Jewish lobby

After noting earlier in this blog the creation of the group "Independent Jewish Voices", a group of more than 100 prominent British Jews, formed in response to a perceived pro-Israel bias among that country’s major Jewish organizations, a similar group has formed in Australia reports The Age.

A BREAKAWAY group from Australia's main pro-Israel Jewish lobby organisations was launched yesterday with the backing of leading Jewish academics and identities.

The group, Independent Australian Jewish Voices, attracted the support of 120 Jewish Australians, including a state MP and a former federal Labor government minister.

"We are Jews with diverse opinions on the Middle East who share a deep concern about the current crisis in the region," the group says. "The Jewish establishment does not represent the full range of Jewish opinion."

Among the supporters are ethicist Professor Peter Singer, based at Princeton University; Professor Arie Freiberg, dean of law at Monash University; Robert Richter, QC; Dr Moss Cass, a former Whitlam government minister; Louise Adler, chief executive of Melbourne University Publishing; Ian Cohen, of the NSW Greens; Eva Cox, of the Women's Electoral Lobby; Professor Dennis Altman, of La Trobe University; Henry Rosenbloom, of Scribe Publications; and Professor Ephraim Nimni, based at Queen's University in Belfast.

Source: New group takes on Jewish lobby - National - theage.com.au

Aussie - Kiwi insults - bad or just good comradery?

 Reported in The Age:

Underarm bowling and Phar Lap's origins may have led to Kiwis taunting Australians over the years, but enough is enough, say New Zealand tourism authorities. A new marketing campaign is aimed at getting New Zealanders to be more friendly to Australian tourists and to tone down their insults. Tourism New Zealand chief George Hickton said the taunts had not shown up in surveys as a major issue, but he thought they could go too far. "We rib each other, there is no doubt about it. We know no-one wants to get ribbing the whole time," Hickton said. "I have heard it (taunts) said and thought people should back off," he said. The New Zealand Herald newspaper has dubbed the campaign "Be-Nice-to-Australians month".

What do you think? I am a Kiwi living in Aussie, and I get hammered at work with NZ jokes and insults. Sheep is the first joke you here, and then bragging about how Australia is better than NZ at everything, how New Zealand is one of the most inferior countries in the world, how Kiwis are lucky to be here,  that there is no greater country in the world than Australia etc etc.

Of course, to keep the peace, one normally just shuts one gob! I am sure the same thing happens to Aussies in NZ, and probably more vehemently because most Kiwi's think about NZ like Aussies think about Australia - probably even more so, and most New Zealanders have at least visited Australia, which only confirms their beliefs! :)

I think it is good to have a rivalry, and have jokes about each other, but they CAN go to far. Now for a Kiwi joke:

In the NZ Herald article Through gritted Teeth - It's Be-Nice-to-Australians Month, Aussie journalist and former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons says the Trans-Tasman ribbing is usually good-natured. "These days in Australia, you barely ever hear anyone even mention the fact that the price of lamb in New Zealand has gone up to $2.95 an hour."

Source: Aussie insults no laughing matter says Tourism NZ - Travel - theage.com.au

 

Technorati tags: Australia, New Zealand, Kiwi Jokes, Aussie Jokes

John Howard beats the refugee drum again

Amusing ditty in The Age by Tracee Hutchison, accusing J Howard of being desperate playing the race and immigration card again. No! Really?

 Definitely worth a read. 

The Howard Government is in trouble in an election year and it's playing the "we will decide who comes to this country card". Sound familiar? With nowhere to hide on a series of blunders over Iraq, David Hicks and the environment, with the economy threatening to tip entire suburbs of Howard's battlers out of their first-home-buyer-bonus-bought houses and an Opposition Leader who has knocked the Eveready-Bear stuffing out of the PM, it's time for Tampa Mark II.

Welcome to Howard's Australia, where we specialise in welcome-to-the-country ceremonies for people fleeing persecution. These welcoming rituals require you to be incarcerated in a part of Australia that isn't technically Australia. Please be under no illusions about this. You have not arrived in Australia. And do not be fooled that the name Christmas Island suggests generosity. It doesn't. Our specially trained welcoming guards will monitor your every move, ensuring you talk only to each other, as talking to a stranger who may want to offer you legal advice is not something we encourage if you haven't technically reached the Australian mainland. .....

Source: Refugee talk? Oh, right! It's a poll year - Opinion - theage.com.au

Technorati Tags: Australia - Australian Politics - John Howard

NZ leads the way with topless bikers

A tittilating story about a topless motorcycle parade in Christchurch, New Zealand, that may well make its way to Australia.

Photo: David Hallett, The Press



The so-called Boobs on Bikes parade was held to promote an erotica expo and a group of about 20 motorcyclists - a mixture of men and women - took off their tops while they rode through the South Island city.

Organiser Steve Crow said Boobs on Bikes was an exercise in equal rights and was allowed after a test case he brought in 2005 that determined women could appear topless in public.

Source: Boobs on bikes bid for Oz - World - smh.com.au

Technorati tags: topless bikers, equal rights, civil liberties, motorcycling

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