‘Anyone who appeals to freedom as a reason for war has to support and favour freedom. He has to favour the exercise of freedom over one’s just property. He has to favour the absence of unjust attacks and infringements on one’s life, liberty, and property because that is what freedom means, correct? Not so. Politicians constantly make the appeal to freedom while simultaneously supporting the state’s multiple infringements upon life, liberty, and property.

What are we to think of this blatant contradiction? We can conclude that our rulers are hypocrites. This is true. They pretend to favour freedom while their every act undermines it. Whenever they invoke freedom, watch out. They are talking about other things, things that are not freedom, things that go against exercising one’s free will over one’s property. Their aim is to sabotage freedom.

‘Recently, while watching Robert Greenwald's new film, "Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers," I began to grasp the enormous scope and implications of the corporate takeover of the war in Iraq. I asked myself, Why isn't this a huge issue for Americans of all political stripe? After all, making money off war, while American soldiers are dying, strikes many people as just plain wrong.

It's all in Greenwald's film: American tax dollars paying for the enormous profits enjoyed by a gaggle of well-connected companies that have revolving doors with the military and the U.S. government. Wars waged in our name creating ballooning CEO salaries, gigantic waste, and the loss of control of the role of the military. But the viewer is unprepared for the really shocking realization; the lives of hardworking, patriotic Americans are sacrificed, stupidly and callously, and soldiers are put in unnecessary danger all to make a buck - many, many bucks.’

‘This is a terrible story. Thomas Ricks, the highly respected Washington Post defence correspondent, could not be further from the grotesque antics of Michael Moore, yet his scrupulous account of the disaster in Iraq will fill the reader with anger. His research confirms how some extremely clever neo-cons in Bush’s circle were blinded by arrogance and ideological obstinacy. The degree of their irresponsibility, intellectual dishonesty, incompetence and lack of imagination is almost beyond belief. Virtually every decision they took has played straight into the hands of the West’s deadliest enemies.

‘If you control the language, you control the debate. As the Bush Administration's Middle Eastern policy sinks ever deeper into bloody incoherence, the "war on terror" has been getting a quiet linguistic makeover. It's becoming the "war on Islamic fascism." The term has been around for a while - Nexis takes it back to 1990, when the writer and historian Malise Ruthven used "Islamo-fascism" in the London Independent to describe the authoritarian governments of the Muslim world; after 9/11 it was picked up by neo-cons and pro-war pundits, including Stephen Schwartz in the Spectator and Christopher Hitchens in this magazine, to describe a broad swath of Muslim bad guys from Osama to the mullahs of Iran.

‘George W. Bush has been faulted in some quarters for taking an extended vacation while the Middle East festers. It doesn't much matter; the man running the country is Vice President Dick Cheney.

When historians look back on the multiple assaults on our constitutional system of government in this era, Cheney's unprecedented role will come in for overdue notice. Cheney's shotgun mishap, when he accidentally sprayed his host with birdshot, has gotten more media attention than has his control of the government.

Whilst proponents & opponents of the federal government’s move to slap a restriction order on “Jihad Jack” argue up hill & down dale as to whether restricting freedom of citizens is justified on the basis that they might commit a crime, the cynic in me suspects that the majority of Australians support the government’s move, provided, of course, that the same arbitrary principles & secret processes are not used against them.

Whilst I’m just as sickened by acts of terrorism as anyone-else, irrespective of whether they are perpetrated by religious zealots, alleged patriots or armies fielded by wicked politicians, I’m more concerned by the success enjoyed by our politicians in spinning their fear meme; to the point where we seem to have totally lost our perspective.

From the ABC .....

Ruddock accused of vilifying Jack Thomas

The defence barrister for Victorian man Jack Thomas has accused the federal Attorney-General of vilifying his client in the media.

Mr Thomas had his terrorism-related conviction overturned earlier this month but was yesterday put under a 12-month control order.

‘George W. Bush has been faulted in some quarters for taking an extended vacation while the Middle East festers. It doesn't much matter; the man running the country is Vice President Dick Cheney.

When historians look back on the multiple assaults on our constitutional system of government in this era, Cheney's unprecedented role will come in for overdue notice. Cheney's shotgun mishap, when he accidentally sprayed his host with birdshot, has gotten more media attention than has his control of the government.

 
‘Furious at Iran's decision to test-fire surface-to-surface missiles and push forward with its nuclear program, President George W. Bush today named Iran to a newly-formed "Axis of Eviler."

The president said that he had invented the new Axis specifically for Iran because "evil does not describe just how evil these folks really are."

Mr. Bush singled out Iranian Mahmud Ahmadinejad for special condemnation, calling the provocative head of state an "evilerdoer."

‘Poor Wal-Mart just can't seem to catch a break. There they are, the monks of Bentonville - who, according to company legend, share hotel rooms on business trips rather than drive up the price of pantyhose - toiling away to make the good life affordable to the impecunious masses. And what do they get? Nothing but grief. The Democrats are running against Wal-Mart in the fall congressional elections, and not just the wild-eyed progressive ones. Centrist Hillary Clinton returned a $5,000 donation from the company, citing its inadequate health benefits, and Joe Biden just attacked it because he doesn't see "any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people." ……………

107 building workers and their families face $28,600 fines under the new IR laws .....

Dear friend,

107 Western Australian building workers face jail and personal fines of up to $28,600. Their crime? Participating in a stoppage in support of a sacked workmate and refusing to accept persistent safety breaches in their workplace.

 
The Editor,
Sydney Morning Herald.                                                             August 25, 2006.

The Editor,
Sydney Morning Herald.                                                             August 25, 2006.

Surely it’s a simple matter for airlines to resolve the dilemma of competing rights & interests of paranoid air crews, fearful members of the flying public & those unfortunate individuals not blessed with an anglo-celtic heritage (‘Police arrest 12 passengers after jet turns back’, Herald, August 25)?

‘In the long run, we're not safer because we're still operating on the assumption that we're hated because of our freedoms, when in fact we're hated because of our actions in the Islamic world.

There's our military presence in Islamic countries, the perception that we control the Muslim world’s oil production, our support for Israel and for countries that oppress Muslims such as China, Russia, and India, and our own support for Arab tyrannies.