‘“The whole racket this time was designed to dissociate the loan contracts as far as possible from their company of origin, and then to slice and dice the liabilities of ownership so finely that all the lawyers theoretically ever producible in the life of this universe, or several like it, may never succeed in patching together a coherent skein of ultimate responsibility.

a BUZZFLASH editorial …..

It's become a bit of a cliché to compare the rise of Cheney-Bush fascism to the ascendancy of the Third Reich, but the analogy does reveal a fundamental truth about power and politics.

Fascists or Bolsheviks (just look at the short-lived Alexander Kerensky republic in Russia that fell to the Soviets in 1917) proceed on a premise that liberals are ambivalent about asserting power - and take full advantage of that weakness.

‘US business travellers and tourists flying to the European Union are facing the threat of the same laborious registration requirements that Washington has demanded of Europeans in the latest US security crackdown.

In its first reaction to the new US visa law, the European Commission said it was “considering” a so-called electronic traveller authorisation scheme – similar to the American plan – that would require foreigners heading to the EU to give notice of their travel plans before departure.

‘The war in Iraq passed a significant but little remarked anniversary this summer. The conflict that President George Bush announced was in effect over on 1 May 2003 has now gone on longer than the First World War. Like that great conflict almost a century ago, the Iraqi war has been marked by repeated claims that progress is being made and that a final breakthrough is in the offing.

“I am aware and the government is aware that this decision will hurt some home buyers … and will have an effect on household budgets,” Mr Howard said.

The PM said he was thankful that the Government’s finances were in such a state that he was able to deliver tax cuts, increases to childcare payments and pension supplements in the May Budget.

Facing his fifth interest rate rise since the 20004 election, fought on a low interest rate pledge, Mr Howard said he had no hesitation in repeating his pledge of 2004 that interest rates “will always be lower under us than under a Labor government”.

from the Sydney Morning Herald …..

‘While homebuyers may be dreading another possible interest rate rise tomorrow, new research shows that almost half of mortgagees don't know what interest rate they are currently paying.

A report by accounting body CPA Australia also shows that almost one in four homebuyers didn't know what the interest rate was when they took out their loan.

‘Other, more pedestrian presidents have had as their goals freedom and prosperity for our country and peace on a single planet – ours, no less. But President Bush, has a grander vision, based perhaps on his father’s "thousand points of light." This president is committed to the defense of the moon and Mars.

When Bush first started talking about Mars, the joke was that maybe that’s where we would find those elusive "weapons of mass destruction" that we were unable to find in Iraq.

from Crikey …..

Brough's bills: 500 pages of pure insanity

Editor of The National Indigenous Times, Chris Graham, writes frmo Parliament House:

‘The increasingly tyrannical Bush regime, when not arresting whistleblowers for warning citizens of their government's latest unconstitutional spying scheme, once again moved the 'surge' success metric goalpost.

‘The Howard Government repeatedly defended its anti-terror laws during the 25 days it detained Mohamed Haneef.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, for example, said: "The system is working as intended." In fact, key parts of the law did not operate as intended and, to the extent that they did, this only strengthens the case for reform.

‘Army personnel featured in a wild video in which one soldier appears dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit were only letting of a "bit of steam'', Prime Minister John Howard says.

The video, posted on the YouTube website, features soldiers at Darwin's Robertson Barracks taking part in drinking games and stunts, with one dressed in a KKK outfit.

Mr Howard today urged the public not to over-react.

"I have some understanding of the disposition of people in these situations to let off a bit of steam,'' he said.

Rattus says the states are putting upward pressure on interest rates by going into debt.

Rattus was speaking ahead of a decision on interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia next week, which analysts suggest could lead to a rate rise of one quarter of one per cent.

"At the present time, the federal government is not putting any upward pressure on interest rates because we don't run any deficits. We in fact, have a huge budget surplus, or a big budget surplus," he told reporters.

Having destroyed Iraq to save us from horrors that did not exist, bushit now wants to save us from Iran's future nukes by selling American weapons of mass destruction.

Over the next decade, the bushit crime family wants to give Israel $30 billion in military aid, a nearly 43 percent increase over what that nation received over the last 10 years …..

‘Two years ago, in an article entitled “It Can’t Happen Here,” Congressman Ron Paul cautioned, “We are not yet living in a total police state, but it is fast approaching.”

A lot can happen in two years.

In fact, a lot has happened over the past two years, most of it aimed at amassing greater power for the government while undermining the rights of American citizens. And I would venture to say that Rep. Paul’s fears may have come to pass.

from Alan Ramsey …..

‘Be careful of your friends.

And watch out if you see Kevin Andrews coming.

John Howard's Australia four months before an election is an absurdly melancholy place to be.

To watch Howard take his bottomless bucket of money to Tasmania this week is to know how absurd. To read the transcripts of 13 radio and TV interviews the hapless Andrews gave on Tuesday and Wednesday is to know the Immigration Minister is only doing his Prime Minister's bidding, however clumsily he is doing it.