If you look at the latest blather coming from Rudd and Smith about China you get a feeling of nausea. Here we are running terrorist trials where a good portion of the trial is in secret, for national security of course. If we get a visit from the enlarged gang of four who tell us [...]
Archive for March, 2010
A Lord Speaks
March 31, 2010
Perhaps it is stating the obvious but Lord Rees said in Melbourne recently that,” ”The under-30s are far more engaged with these long-term issues of climate and the environment than their elders,” he said. ”This is because they are aware they will still be alive in 50 years’ time and they care what happens them.” [...]
The Politics of Heroin in Afghanistan
March 30, 2010
Alfred McCoy the author of The Politics of Heroin has written an authoritative article on the drug trade in Afghanistan. You can read the whole article at link. The article commences with a summary by Tom Englehardt in this way,” A front-page New York Times article by Rod Nordland on the aftermath of a recent [...]
Afghanistan: More death and slaughter to come
March 28, 2010
The heavily touted offensive in Marja is not working out as planned according to an article by Eric Walberg (see link). Remember this was hailed as a major blow to the insurgents/ Taliban, use whichever term you feel is appropriate. It is little more than a continuation of the we’ll negotiate line but we will [...]
Backing Israel up against a wall. What happens?
March 28, 2010
If you look at the recent, apparent disagreement between the US and Israel a few interesting points emerge. First assume that there really is a major point of disagreement or if you prefer the term disenchantment and that events like the release of new housing starts when Biden was there have caused a rift between [...]
What happens if Israel is backed up against a wall
March 28, 2010
If you look at the recent, apparent disagreement between the US and Israel a few interesting points emerge. First assume that there really is a major point of disagreement or if you prefer the term disenchantment and that events like the release of new housing starts when Biden was there have caused a rift between [...]
What happens if Israel is backed up against a wall
March 27, 2010
If you look at the recent, apparent disagreement between the US and Israel a few interesting points emerge. First assume that there really is a major point of disagreement or if you prefer the term disenchantment and that events like the release of new housing starts when Biden was there have caused a rift between [...]
Earth Hour
March 27, 2010
Please remember to turn lights of today at 8.30pm for Earth Hour. You can read various Press releases at link. This is an event that has grown and continues to do so. It is a small sacrifice that is an expression of attitude and is certainly not tokenistic. The site for Earth Hour contains good information [...]
Can Israel be woken up?
March 25, 2010
If anything is emerging from the reported meeting between Obama and Netanyahu it is the “who do you think you are talking to” attitude of Netanyahu and the Israelis in general. Apparently there is some feeling that they were being treated as if they were from “lower Senegal” or at least Netanyahu was. What an [...]
Nuclear attack on Iran
March 23, 2010
This how an article by Dallas Darling sees the Israeli nuclear program,” Starting in the 1950′s, Israel began producing uranium for its nuclear missiles program. It is one of the few nations that has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and it has never declared its nuclear weapons program publicly.” (George Ikners ikners.com Joomla)
US Fraud videos
March 23, 2010
The lead in article on this page about systemic fraud deals with a series of interviews with Associate Professor Black. The fourth part of those interviews is now available and it deals with what black feels has to be done for the US to overcome the problem. He deals very specifically with who he thinks [...]
US and Allies lies and subservience.The price of unqualified support for Israel
March 22, 2010
Unless you have a genuine belief in Fairies or the Easter Bunny you would have to agree that the Israelis have absolutely no intention of stopping, freezing or altering in any way, the current building program in Jerusalem or Palestine or any area where the first requirement is to displace Palestinians, their homes or their [...]
Bush Iraq lies, the beat goes on
March 21, 2010
Former Bush adviser Karl Rove has embarked on a mission to rewrite the George W. Bush presidency and tell it like it is, was, or should be imagined to have been. In a recent article Robert Parry discusses the attempt but sees that, “ the problem with Rove’s account is that not only did Bush [...]
The will to kill
March 20, 2010
Life gets cheap in any war. Whether you are one of the alleged good guys or part of the baddies this senseless saga keeps being re-enacted every time some politician and the armchair warriors get enough clout to convince everyone that we need to assist some armed conflict, invasion, regime change or just plain dirty [...]
Systemic Fraud Updated
March 19, 2010
There is a video interview with Associate Professor Black at the RealNews site. This is the link. The discussion is centred on the actual fraud involved in the financial crisis. With the end point being that sociopaths are now in control of the banks. What started in 2004 with a FBI report that there was [...]
Israel -US position
March 18, 2010
An article by Juan Cole contains the following, “Obama is in real danger of seeing his allies lose respect for the United States once they see that Israel can treat him in this humiliating way with impunity. The security implications for the U.S. are enormous. Many European allies feel strongly that Israel is an aggressor [...]
The cost of killing
March 18, 2010
How many times have you heard the familiar cry that there isn’t enough money to fund a project that might actually help members of the community. The greatest waste of money must be the absurd and insane expenditure on armaments. In Australia we have been told that we have to put aside something like $70 [...]
Israel’s helpers
March 17, 2010
It would be difficult to come up with a ‘more concerned and caring’ group to look at the position in Israel than those in the following list taken from an article in the Guardian “Ashton is visiting Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip tomorrow before flying to Moscow to join a meeting of [...]
Death of an israeli Spy
March 17, 2010
Robert Parry who broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 80s has written an interesting piece that you can access at link.The article deals with the lack or proper reporting on serious matters as well as the role played by the US administration. There are lessons here that can also be extended to Australia [...]
Racism at work in Australia
March 16, 2010
I sent this as a letter to an overseas newspaper. In my view what the Commissioner has said highlights what is happening in this country in general terms as far as racist attitudes are concerned. It is impossible to have it both ways. If the allegations are true it is shocking example of racism, particularly [...]
Iran; getting to a perspective
March 15, 2010
Just consider this as you look at US attitudes to Iran and also when you assess our slavish adoption of whatever their position may be at any time. No US congressman has set foot in Iran since 1979. Now you do not need local knowledge to frame a positive and correct attitude to any country. [...]
Creating enemies in Afghanistan
March 14, 2010
The continuing and inherent deception of those conducting what is called the war in Afghanistan has reached a position where only those with little ability at elementary analysis could support the invasion by the US and its allies. An article by Charles V. Peña who is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute as well [...]
The Israeli take over continues unabated
March 11, 2010
If you thought that there was ever going to be a halt to Israeli expansion in every area they can lay their hands on, perhaps this quote from the guardian may be of interest. It plainly shows that the push to a complete take over of areas clearly in breach of law is never going [...]
War with Iran. At what cost?
March 11, 2010
Ray McGovern the former CIA analyst of some 27 years experience has written a lengthy article that is available at the al Jazeera site at link. The review he undertakes is very extensive and deals with what he describes as a Senior US military officer’s concern that Israel may, “mousetrap the U.S. into war with [...]
Anti Muslim Bigotry Updated
March 10, 2010
There is an excellent series of video interviews at the RealNews site that deals with the nature of and the spread of anti Muslim bigotry, paranoia and other attitudes. You can access the page where these are at link. The interviews are conducted by Paul Jay and the contributors are Saneer Akturk and Mujeeb Khan. [...]
Fatwa on Terrorism
March 10, 2010
John L. Esposito ism a University Professor and Founding Director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding has written an interesting article that uou can see at the al Jazeera site at link. The main topic of the article is found in this quote,” An influential Pakistani cleric issued a 600-page fatwa on March 2, described [...]
News articles worth looking at
March 9, 2010
Things often come in a rush but there are some very good articles about at the moment. I will take this opportunity to list a few and provide links and a very brief description of their content. (George ikners ikners.com Joomla)
Mossad
March 8, 2010
There is a very good article by James Petras that deals with the actions of Mossad. You can acces the entire article at link The article starts with the observation that,” The principle propaganda mouthpiece of the Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (PMAJO), the Daily Alert (DA), has come out in full support for [...]
Chomsky on Howard Zinn
March 8, 2010
With the passing of Howard Zinn I thought there would be interest in what Noam Chomsky had to say about this great thinker, historian and philosopher. (George Ikners ikners.com joomla) You can access the document if you wish at link
Chomsky on Zinn
March 7, 2010
Howard Zinn Noam Chomsky Forthcoming in the Resist Newsletter, February 2010 It is not easy for me to write a few words about Howard Zinn, the great American activist and historian who passed away a few days ago. He was a very close friend for 45 years. The families were very close [...]
Climate and Arctic Seabed Instability
March 5, 2010
For those of you who are heartened by the fact that, despite the intense pressure from the malicious forces opposed to the idea of climate change, scientific research continues in an orderly and proper fashion. There has been a report by a group led by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The report has [...]
Obama and Waterloo
March 5, 2010
There is an interesting article at the Guardian site (link) It deals with the resurgence of radical right wing thoughts and actions in the United States. This is a situation that is of real concern to many people in the US including people with views like Chomsky. Apart from the purely right wing surge to [...]
US media Iran and the consequences of bad reporting
March 4, 2010
An article by Robert Parry (link) deals with the media in the US and its seemingly parallel handling of the position in Iraq and Iran before commencing an invasion. Parry’s view can be seen in this quote,” In short, the Times, the Post and nearly all other U.S. news outlets have behaved more like propaganda [...]
Marja and the surge
March 4, 2010
There are some very interesting videos available at the RealNews site. A recent one concerns an interview between Paul Jay and Muhammad Junaid a PhD student from London. The discussion concerns Afghanistan, the offensive in Marja and the position in Helmand.. (George Ikners ikners.com Joomla)
The indigenous in gaol
March 3, 2010
I sent the following letter to an Australian newspaper. After I sent it I thought that I would post it to this site as well. I read with interest the article on the problems facing indigenous people and the fact that they are so highly represented in the prison system. I am a practising Criminal [...]