‘Gandhi once said if Christians lived according to their
faith, there would be no Hindus left in India. He knew how powerful the
fundamental tenets of Christianity - fighting poverty, caring for the least
among us, loving your enemies, eschewing materialism and embracing humility -
could be if everyone who called themselves a Christian truly followed them. 

The new documentary, Jesus Camp,
which chronicles a North Dakota summer camp where kids as young as 6 are taught
to become dedicated Christian soldiers in "God's army," is an
illustration of this sentiment in the extreme. 

A classic example of sneaky al-Qaeda asymmetrical terrorist
attack: one stretcher-strapped terrorist 'takes out' three defenceless Guantanamo guards.

‘The last few weeks have seen
disastrous news breaking over the Bush administration, like Katrina come again.
This time, though, it's not hurricane winds and surging seas, but waves of
innocent blood overtopping the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates to turn
the White House crimson. Report after report of horrific atrocities - long held back
by a levee of lies, fear, obfuscation and the natural confusion of war - has
broken through, flooding the imperial capital with the reeking, corpse-filled
backwash of the vast criminal folly committed by its grubby little Caesar. 

All the usual cocks were crowing yesterday at the reported
death in Iraq of the alleged al-Qaeda terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. 

Our little rodent positively salivated at the news, along
with his co-conspirators, “aussie tony” & the great decider. 

Howard claimed: “The reported death of Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi is great news for the people of Iraq, the real victims of his
murderous behaviour. 

‘The Bush administration invaded Iraq claiming Saddam
Hussein had tried to buy yellowcake uranium in Niger. 

As much of Washington knew, and
the world soon learned, the charge was false. 

Worse, it appears to have been
the cornerstone of a highly successful "black propaganda" campaign
with links to the White House.’ 

 
‘Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has written a brilliant new article
about the biggest political story in the history of the United States: An
American politician illegitimately took the office of president by outright
theft and fraud. Although such high crimes and misdemeanors have been rumored
in previous elections, none in the history of the republic have been so
thoroughly documented. George W. Bush is not the legitimate president of the
United States.’ 

Stand Up For Democracy

In his Opinion piece in
yesterday’s Australian, In
A Limbo Beyond The Laws Of War, Neil James arrogantly criticises the Law
Council of Australia for speaking out on the continuing cruel & illegal
incarceration & torture of David Hicks.

Whilst an academic debate on the
meaning & applicability of the “laws of war” in the Hicks case is bound to
fascinate military buffs & the occasional lawyer, it would be of greater
value to the specific debate if it were relevant: which it isn’t. 

‘The Cross-City tunnel's 50% discount ends today, and will
be replaced with a permanent reduction of just 17c. People had started to use
it because they felt that it was quite a good deal at $1.78. But now that it's
going back up, guess what'll happen, Cross City Motorway Pty Ltd? We'll stop.
It doesn't matter how much advertising there is. Sydney has made its position
to the operators entirely clear: with all due respect, we contend that it's a
bloody a rip-off. And we simply aren't going to use it. So there. We'd rather
sit in an interminable traffic jam, thanks all the same.  

Australia seems to be getting
along quite nicely without an American Ambassador. 

This month will mark the 16^th
month that the position has stood vacant, with former Ambassador, John Thomas
Schieffer, having packed-up his BBQ & headed-off to Japan back in February
2005. 

After forgetting about the
position for more than a year, the Bush administration announced the
appointment of Robert McCallum as its Ambassador Extraordinary &
Plenipotentiary to Australia, back in March. 

from tonight’s 7:00PM ABC
News Report ….. 

‘A United States military probe
has exonerated US troops in the deaths of Iraqi civilians in the town of Ishaqi
in March, finding American forces followed standard procedures and committed no
misconduct, defence officials say. 

The defence officials, speaking
on condition of anonymity, say an investigation found no wrongdoing by US
forces.  

‘With an arrogance bordering on intimidation, the
administration of George W. Bush wishes to impose its will onto Chile's
sovereignty and force that country to impede Venezuela's admission to the
United Nations Security Council. 

That attempt came to light on
Sunday, April 28, when the Chilean daily La Tercera published a report - based
on Chilean diplomatic sources - titled "White House Ultimatum."
Progreso Weekly has translated that report and summarizes it here. Words [in
brackets] are PW's clarifications. 

President Bush has claimed in the past,
"We are making
progress in the march of freedom - and some of the most important progress
has taken place in a region that has not known the blessings of liberty: the
broader Middle East." (Last month, the New York Times found this
assessment to be overly
optimistic.)  

‘The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)
bans the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition and retention of
microbial or other biological agents or toxins, in types and in quantities that
have no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes.
The Convention also bans weapons, equipment or means of delivery designed to
use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed conflict. 

This is the Leunig cartoon that the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald refused to publish.

Editorial "sensitivity" or political censorship?