There is a video interview available at the Real News site at link It is an interview with Gareth Porter who goes through the findings and conclusions of a United Nations investigation into the Israeli interception of the Flotilla where several on board died. It seems that the conclusion reached by the UN is that [...]
Archive for September, 2010
They just keep killing Afghan civilians
September 30, 2010
Just so that you can get a good grasp of the real nature of the war in Afghanistan the following is a report about more civilian murders (substitute deaths if you like). Even the corrupt Karzai has been asking for the killing to stop and he was also very vocal about a stop to all [...]
Welcome to NSW the Joke State
September 29, 2010
Having just returned from a brief time interstate it never ceases to amaze how people in other states view NSW the Premier State. Perhaps the true state of affairs is that the Premier herself does not know just what people in other states think about her fiefdom. But the prevailing attitude is quite clear, to [...]
Terrorism and Australia
September 29, 2010
It appears that despite some worries the athletes etc at the so called Games are safe. Well that is if you can trust the Moneghetti opinion of the security available. Australia while pursuing a policy that Rudd foreshadowed as PM of an Australian presence in the Middle East and now an even stronger supporter of [...]
Charging Australian Soldiers
September 29, 2010
The recent charging of Australian military personnel is really only a symptom of much wider issues. In Afghansitan the invasion and war has been nothing short of a criminal enterprise from the very beginning. There has never been even the slightest real analysis by those in favour of what is happening there. Why we are [...]
More Israeli lies exposed
September 29, 2010
You can read a very interesting article by the skipper of the latest boat to Gaza, at the Australians for Palestine site at link. The article is called Journal of a Voyage and is by Yonatan Shapira (a former Israeli pilot). Shapira in the article refers to his own time as a pilot and says,” [...]
No Wolves No Water
September 29, 2010
There is an absolutely fabulous article at the Tomdispatch site at link. The article deals with the re-introduction of wolves into the Yellowstone Park in the US. It is written by Chip Ward who lives in Capitol Reef, Utah, where songbirds are eaten by housecats, housecats are eaten by coyotes, and coyotes are eaten by [...]
An Afghanistan Update
September 29, 2010
There seems to be a great deal of interest in matters concerning Afghanistan at the moment. What we are seeing is to some extent an attempt to put matters out for public consideration we hope free from a slavish attachment to the US position. It is well to remember that whatever the initial reasons for [...]
Latest Boat to Gaza
September 28, 2010
The Australians for Palestine site contains an article about the latest ship to go to Gaza and the nature of the Israeli Defence Force stopping the boat. The complete report is contained in this article and there is a link to the video of the boarding at, http://australiansforpalestine.com/30785. There is room for confusing what is [...]
Afghanistan and Wikileaks
September 28, 2010
The latest Wikileak material to come out is a CIA memorandum that deals with perceptions of the US as an exporter of terrorism. In a summary of the content at Wikileaks what appears is, “Contrary to common belief, the American export of terrorism or terrorists is not a recent phenomenon, nor has it been associated [...]
What happens when the music stops?
September 27, 2010
An article by Andrew Bacevich Tomdispatch site (link) is illuminating to say the least. You would remember Woodward the ‘hard hitting’ journalist who exposed the Watergate incident. In a book he wrote about the Iraq War something was changing, where despite some good exposures of the US military and the WMD lies he seemed to [...]
Monbiot on Beliefs
September 26, 2010
George Monbiot asks this question in a recent article. (link) “Why does a crazy set of beliefs in one field seem to migrate into unrelated subjects?” What follows in the article is well worth reading. He starts with the infamous Lord Monckton in this fashion,” A rich collection of unfounded beliefs is a common characteristic [...]
The Building Like the Beat Goes On.
September 26, 2010
Among all the talk of ‘good will’ and accord, the reality is still the same as it always was. Israel does not intend to give an inch when it comes to their unlawful activities in Palestine. The recent Operation Cast Lead was simply an exercise in taking what they can and keeping whatever they got. [...]
A Message From Desmond Tutu
September 26, 2010
What follows is a message from Desmond Tutu. It is reproduced in full and needs no further comment. link Israeli ties: a chance to do the right thing Sep 26, 2010 12:00 AM | By Archbishop Desmond Tutu The University of Johannesburg’s Senate will next week meet to decide whether to end its relationship with an [...]
Short Break
September 17, 2010
I will be away for a week. The usual number of articles and lead-ins will probably be less for this time. George Ikners ikners.com Joomla
A day at the sea in Israel
September 17, 2010
You can read a very interesting article at the Guardian site (link). It deals with Israeli Women taking Palestinian women and children on day trips to Tel Aviv. The article starts in this way,” The day starts early, at a petrol station alongside a roaring Jerusalem road. The mood among the 15 Israeli women is [...]
Disappearing Permafrost
September 15, 2010
There is a lot being said about the ‘retreat’ of permafrost in the Arctic and elsewhere. Skeptics of course would say it is either not happening or there is no human cause. It’s a sort of a bet each way. First it allows the skeptic to retain what he/she would call their greatest asset, independent [...]
Assessing the involvement in Afghanistan
September 15, 2010
You can read an extremely comprehensive article by Nick Turse on Afghanistan titled, “How much “success” can Afghans stand?” at the al Jazeera site. (link). Turse deals with many issues including, AIDS and Sex Work, Drug Use, Women’s Rights and Children’s Well Being among many others. Perhaps the overall theme of the article is stated [...]
Where is it worse to be Palestinian; Jerusalem or Gaza
September 15, 2010
An interesting question to consider is whether it is worse living in Gaza or Jerusalem. That question occupied the mind of Amira Hass who lives in Israel and works as a journalist for the Ha’aretz newspaper. For some time her position was,” For many years, I thought there was nothing worse than life in Gaza. [...]
A Real Left
September 15, 2010
A recent video (link) with Naomi Klein titled Building a Real Left says a great deal about the present situation in world politics and particularly the US and the need for what could only be described as a real left. Since the wall came down in Berlin and the Soviet Union collapsed there has been [...]
A quiz well worth taking
September 14, 2010
In an absolutely must read article by Nick Turse and Tom Englehardt (link) the authors have put together a quiz, here is one question they ask. “3. The U.S. military has more generals and admirals than: a. Al-Qaeda members in Yemen. b. Al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan. c. Al-Qaeda members in Pakistan. d. Al-Qaeda members in [...]
Child abuse and the Israeli Forces
September 14, 2010
In a very disturbing article (link) Stephen Lendman looks at the claims that Israeli soldiers, abused and sexually abused young children. Lendman starts by referring to an article in an Israeli source as follows,” On September 10, Israel’s YnetNews.com headlined, “IDF sexually abused Palestinian children,” headlining: “Damning (September 9) CNN report cites uncorroborated sexual abuse [...]
Avgas Rudd off again
September 14, 2010
True to form Rudd has exercised his addiction to Avgas immediately. Got on the first plane he could and once again has discovered that Australia is so very central, in 24 hours in any direction you can get somewhere interesting. and get to meet with really important people not just a bunch of back stabbing [...]
Gates article on Zionism unmasked
September 14, 2010
In an article (link) on Zionism author Jeff Gates observes that,” Law is irrelevant to those who consider themselves above the law. Morality and conscience are of no concern to those who consider themselves The Chosen—by a god of their own choosing. Such a nationalist ideology has no place in a system nation states dedicated [...]
US to arm Saudis to the teeth
September 13, 2010
An expected arms sale to Saudi Arabia has highlighted the extent of the US domination of the arms trade and the massive amounts involved. A report in the Guardian (link) starts with the news that,” Barack Obama is to go ahead with plans to sell Saudi Arabia advanced aircraft and other weapons worth up to [...]
The CIA and al Qaeda
September 13, 2010
There is a series of articles at the Sabbah site (link) that look at the connection between various spy agencies in the world, particularly the CIA. What is suggested in these articles is that there was and still is a direct association between groups like Al Qaeda and the CIA. Each of the articles is [...]
Personal skills
September 12, 2010
The recent SMH report about Combet contains this quote,”I have spent years and years and years negotiating and developing consensus and trying to win the support of people for a cause,” Mr Combet said. ”And I will draw on all of those skills. I’ll have to, to be successful in this role.” While that is [...]
A video showing the real horrors of the moral army in Gaza
September 12, 2010
A video which is at the You Tube site can be watched by going to this link. It features a Letter to Israel with the words spoken by Lauren Booth. You may remember this person as the author of the Dear Tony letter to Blair. The video covers previous Free Gaza missions and the people [...]
Karzai and Taliban talks
September 11, 2010
While Australia and other US follower countries continue to justify the war in Afghanistan and see the conflict through US eyes only, Karzai seems close to a backs to the wall position as far as all sides are concerned. In a recent report on the al Jazeera site (link) the real position is emerging. Despite [...]
Boycott Israel
September 10, 2010
Lawrence Davidson professor of history at West Chester University has published an article that can be seen at the Sabbah site (link) The article deals with the growing effects of the boycott on Israel. Davidson starts with the observation that the,” Israel newspaper Ha’aretz published an article the headline of which read ‘Anti-Israel economic boycotts [...]
Pakistan Floods and the Media
September 9, 2010
Juan Cole has written an interesting piece titled, ”The Media as a Security Risk.” It deals with the almost non- existent media coverage of the floods in Pakistan. The Us media is being driven by a notion that the US is some sort of Knight in shining armour riding to the rescue of nations that [...]
Regional White Australia
September 9, 2010
There is a film available at the al Jazeera site, it is titled The Two Australias, you can watch the film at link It is filmed in the Northern Territory and features many interviews with indigenous Australians. You may have noticed that in the aftermath of the recent elections and all the talk of looking [...]
Castro Latest Interview Plus Castro comments – Latest
September 9, 2010
There I a short article at the al Jazeera site that contains references to an interview with Fidel Castro. The interview was conducted by Jeffrey Goldberg and you can read the article at link. Interestingly the interview happened at an aquarium with dolphins but the real interest is in the few reported comments made by [...]
Fisk on Iraq
September 9, 2010
For those of you with an interest in first rate eyewitness reporting without the embedded journalist nonsense and pandering to the powers that be, there is no better example than Robert Fisk’s The Great War For Civilisation. The final chapters give an incredible eyewitness account of the wholesale slaughter of Iraqis during their ‘liberation’ and [...]
War knows no civilians
September 9, 2010
There is a must read article at the Common Dreams site (link) its title is from evidence given by a witness at the Rachel Corrie proceedings in Israel. The title is “During War There Are No Civilians”. The evidence containing this sentence was from,” what “Yossi,” an Israeli military (IDF) training unit leader simply stated during [...]
Netanyahu, Abbas and Obama thinking out loud
September 8, 2010
There is an interesting article by Uri Avnery at the Sabbah site (link). He deals with what he thinks the thoughts guiding Netanyahu, Abbas and Obama were, on the way to the present talks in Washington. To a great extent he deals with some realistic and logical appraisals of what is really occupying the minds [...]
Bush stooges like Blair,
September 7, 2010
“Once a Bush stooge always a Bush stooge” in an article at the al Jazeera site by Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria this phrase is said to be a constant comment in Arab press reports about Blair’s book and attitude that given another chance he would do it all over again. [...]
Rachel Corrie Court case into her death
September 6, 2010
The death of Rachel Corrie was a major incident. It is more than probable to conclude that the bulldozer that she stood in front of simply continued until a ghastly task had been performed. The matter is now before a civil court and there is a god article in the Guardian about the case. For [...]
Unjust Economic Systems and Survival
September 5, 2010
There is a very interesting article at the Guardian site at link. The author, Raj Patel, deals with global warming and more particularly the global economy and the injustice it creates. The article commences with the observation that,” The violence in Maputo is just the latest manifestation of the crippling shortcomings of the global economy [...]
Dear Tony (Blair)
September 5, 2010
A peace activist who is also the sister-in-law of Tony Blair wrote to Blair. The letter has been made available at the Gilad Atzmon site at link. The letter is as follows,” Dear Tony, Congratulations on your political memoir becoming an instant bestseller. I’m in Iran and have the only copy in the country. I [...]
Killing civilians in Afghanistan
September 3, 2010
Obama’s war continues with unabated errors and lives lost. The latest problem seems to have come as a surprise to the US. A report in the McClatchy group, link, starts in this fashion,” Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO disagreed Thursday over whether an airstrike in northern Afghanistan killed the top member of re-emerging insurgent [...]
Another oil rig explosion
September 2, 2010
Big Oil, Peak Oil, oils aint oils, what does it all mean? More of the same. This is a report from a US paper you may find interesting. The report also has a map so if you go to the link you can see it all. The report commences this way, A shallow-water production rig [...]
Peace Talks
September 2, 2010
A very recent article at the Al Jazeera site at link contains some very interesting news about what the settlers in Israel are doing and what their views are concerning the so called ‘peace talks’ taking place in Washington. With just about everyone calling the talks a dead man walking what would you expect from [...]
The shark always gets bigger
September 1, 2010
Remember that song that proclaimed that “The nips are getting bigger”, it was about a drinking session. Well the local media have their own version of it or is it just the people writing the lyrics. I could be mistaken but I am fairly sure that in the early hours of this morning the costing [...]