The protesters who broke into Pine Gap are about to be treated as "examples" This is going to be a major warning to protesters that contravention of law will not be tolerated.

Here's tomorrow's Daily Telegraph story. 

 

A GROUP of anti-war
protesters claim "operational secrecy" is hindering their efforts to
defend themselves against charges of breaking into a top secret
Australian spy base.

Donna Mulhearn, 37, Jim Dowling, 50, Adele Goldie, 29, and Bryan Law,
51, have faced a committal hearing in Alice Springs Magistrates Court,
charged with breaking into the Pine Gap spy base in central Australia.

Has the AWB Inquiry asked the Iraqis for an itemised list of who Saddam paid
bribes to. It would be interesting to know if any portion of the
kickbacks might have "boomeranged"

{extract from New Zealand Herald, 1/5/2004]

An
Iraqi official said today there was a list of cash bribes made by
Saddam Hussein's government to journalists, politicians and groups in
connection with the US$67 billion ($108.92 billion) UN-run oil-for-food
programme.

Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi
Governing Council, said Iraqi officials combing Saddam's files had not
decided whether to release the list as part of a burgeoning scandal
over the defunct programme.

"We have a list of cash paid to
journalists, personalities, groups and parties," Talabani told a news
conference after conferring with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan over
an Iraqi interim government.

Ms Felicity Johnston, the UN
customs officer who confesseed that if she had read AWB contracts
lodged with the UN prior to her taking of the job, has been strongly
assertive of Australia's accountabilty. Her opinion will now be recorded as testimony
to the Cole Inquiry. Could it be that Mr Agius sees in Ms Johston a
voice that will be credible to the Australian public in explaining the
Howard cabinet's negligence?

Ms Johnston also has the appropriate credentials to explain the ethical dilemma of AWB's situation:

Jonothan
Holmes:So really it’s quite clear that what AWB should have done right
from the beginning is reported these negotiations to the United Nations
and asked them for guidance?

Felicity
Johnston:J: Yes that’s correct. What they should have done as soon as a
company was picked out for them for transportation by the government
(of Iraq), as soon as the prices were suggested by the government, it
was pretty clear that Alia was a government-sponsored institution and
they should have sought advice. Now perhaps people might have got
confused, perhaps people might unintentionally have been in breach of
the sanctions but as soon as the questions started to come from the UN,
“Is there anything that you’re doing,” however the question was
couched, “is there anything that you’re doing which might involved a
payment to the government of Iraq?” I think that was the time to deal
with it candidly, because no one would have prosecuted them if they had
done something inadvertently - but did they do it inadvertently? – I
don’t believe so.

Like the spin-off of "Laverne and Shirley" from Happy Days, Halliburton is about to float KBR on the stock exchange.

Putting in their application on Friday, Halliburton hope to sell of one-fifth of their war and government section.

The UK's Times On Sunday, pre-announcing the sale as it did the float of Carlyle's privatisation of the UK's defence research, tells us that the UK Ministry of defence is the second largest customer of KBR"s departments Government and Infrastructure, the latter of which was formerly run globaly from Adelaide.

In what capacities might Halliburton involved in the Carlyle/Qinetiq UK float?  If the advice was given so that Cheney had a "warm-up" act to prepare potential customers for his "main event' there may be some grumbling in Whitehall.

Any regular reader of this blog will know that a population expansion of South Australia is a regularly recurring theme.  While the military expansion of the State is extolled by our government as a creator of jobs, it appears that we're looking elsewhere to find them.  Meanwhile new suburbs are created and plans are laid to house personnel required for the defence and mining booms.

 An article in today's Advertiser suggests that we're going to be battling to scrape together the required numbers to fill the defence jobs.

 [extract]

The Prime Minister of Australia has been requested to give a written statement to a Royal Commission.  He will be answering questions regarding possible negligence and corruption within his own Department.

Mr Howard's announcement follows the advance printing of an incriminating broadcast scheduled to be televised on the ABC tonight.  The UN Oil-For-Food program's Customs Officer says national governments are responsible for any bribes sent to Saddam.

Mr Howard has said in a media conference this morning that he will appear personally before the Cole Inquiry if requested to do so.

 

This was sighted in an Albuqurque (USA) Stop The War Newsletter in 2004

Tentative Schedule
Republican National Convention

<!---break>
New York, August 29 - September 2, 2004

Catering Service: Halliburton
Chauffeur Service: Blackwater



OPENING NIGHT. 8:00 p.m.

Presentation of the Confederate Colors, Rush Limbaugh

8:15 p.m. Blessing of the Republican Party and Curse on Satanic
Democrats: Reverend Franklin Graham. 8:30 p.m. Keynote Address: Mel
Gibson (in Aramaic, with subtitles)

9.30 pm. Benediction and Call to Holy War, General William Boykin

SECOND NIGHT

8:00 p.m. Presentation of the Confederate Colors: Judge Charles
Pickering

8:15 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance and Anointment with Crisco Oil, Attorney
General John Ashcroft 8:30 p.m. Quadrennial Compassionate Conservative
Musical Offering of Minstrel Songs and Cakewalk 9:00 p.m. Speech:
Condoleezza Rice

9:30 p.m. Speech: Colin Powell, (cancelled)

9:30 p.m. Video Tribute: Strom Thurmond (with introduction by Trent
Lott)

10:00 p.m. Presentation of Party Platform and No-Bid Contracts, Dick
Cheney

THIRD NIGHT

8:00 p.m. Presentation of the Confederate Colors: Tom DeLay

8:15 pm. Bush Family Tribute:

??? Neil Bush on Family Values

??? Marvin Bush on Saudi Investment Opportunities for Family Members

??? Jeb Bush on Fair Drug Sentencing Guidelines and Election Laws for
Family Members 9:00 pm. Nomination Speech for George W. Bush, Ahmed
Chalabi, (cancelled)

9:30 p.m. Seconding speech, Brent Scowcroft, (cancelled)

9:35 p.m. Seconding Speech, Paul O???Neill (cancelled)

9:40 p.m. Seconding Speech, Christie Todd Whitman (cancelled)

10:00 p.m. Roll Call of States and Counting of Votes, Antonin Scalia

CLOSING-NIGHT

8:00 p.m. Presentation of the Confederate Colors, Karl Rove.

8:15 p.m. Incantation from the Platform to Open Witchcraft Trial of 9/11
Widows at Ground Zero: Richard Perle, William Kristol, Scooter Libby,
Paul Wofowitz 9:00 p.m. Acceptance Speech of Presidential Nominee (Joint
Appearance, Not Under Oath), George W. Bush and Dick Cheney

 

I came across this on a 2004 newsgroup thread, and thought that protest organisers might be interested: (Hit   ctrl +     to enlarge)

DANCARCHY REIGNS IN NEW YORK


I'm about to lead another sortie of dancing fools out into the
streets of Manhattan, so I don't have time to provide a full report.
But I want to dispatch some news from the field in media res.

(Perhaps I will never be able to give you a truly descriptive report.
There have been so many perfect moments already that it would take a
book to contain them. I will leave this enterprise with memories that
I expect to cherish forever.)

After four missions, Dancing in the Streets has exceeded my fondest
expectations. It was my objective, as it usually is, that we afflict
the comfortable and comfort the afflicted, and this is what we have
been doing by all appearances. We generally make the credentialed
Republicans we encounter visibly nervous and spread good will and
humor to most of the rest, including the police, who could well use
it at the moment. People dig it when they see other people dancing
in incongruous places. The most surprising people will join in,
falling on the dance with a kind of hunger.

Republicans were hard to encounter at first. They are being
quarantined behind the blue membrane of the NYPD (for whom my
affection and respect has only increased through this experience). In
addition, they spend much of their time inside the Garden having a
lot less fun than we were. (As several of them told us.) Levels of
engagement have increased with fine-tuning. The results vary, ranging
from the Stepford husband whom we made so nervous that he walked into
a plate glass window to the sweet young delegate from Oklahoma who
tore off his tie and joined us for the balance of the evening.

We've had many interactions with the police. They certainly weren't
interested in arresting us, though they kept us moving. Several of
them said wistfully they wanted to join us. In general they only
interfered because they are trying to maintain as familiar a peace as
they can. Major variations from standard reality worry them. But not
enough to go maximum on us.

We did have one of our members detained yesterday near Madison Square
Garden when a Secret Service agent thought there was something
suspicious about her and subjected her to a long, aggressive, and
surreal interrogation. Also, last night, we were set up on by a
dickhead cop with a megaphone who followed close behind us down the
block yelling (at about 130 db) that we should keep moving, which we
were. He'd had a long day though. We were right in an area where
about 500 protesters had been arrested a little earlier and he was
still working off the adrenalin.

Generally though, we found that as long as we proceeded along as we
danced, the cops were perfectly fine with it. It was stopping and
inhibiting pedestrian traffic that bugged them. Eventually they let
us do that as well. On Monday we found a deserted stretch of sidewalk
across from Crobar, where the American Gas Association was hosting a
"Wild Western Jamboree" and danced there for a good half hour without
getting anything but dire looks from the Republicans coming out of
the club. (These expressions were enhanced by the fact that most of
them were wearing really cheesy straw hats they'd been given inside.)

People ask us who we represent. We tell them that we are from The
Party. (And if you think the Republicans have a grand party, you
should see us...) We've been taken for Republicans several times,
and, and by sartorial appearance, we could easily pass. On numerous
occasions, people have thought we might be born again Christians,
dancing in joy for the Lord. (Now why they think born again
Christians would be dancing to the likes of ZZ Top, I don't know.)

Here is the note I sent out to the dancers after last night's foray:

Yay!

We just had another brilliant expedition into elephant country. We
encountered many of our quarry, converted a few, and made the rest so
nervous you would have thought their thin smiles might shatter their
faces. One of them said that he knew we were mocking George Bush.
"How are we doing that?" we asked. "By dancing," he snarled.

And that, my pesky friends, is paydirt.

Also a direct hit was the pair of fellows we passed at one point.
"What is that?" one asked the other. "That's happy people," his
friend provided. That recognition was common and heart-filling.

So we are psyched to launch again tomorrow. We're going to skip the
morning session. 11 am is rough on a hot day if you've been dancing
hard until 2:30 am the night before.

So we will have missions beginning at 5 and 10. As before, the 5 pm
launch will be from the southeast corner of Bryant Park. The 10 pm
foray will be from Serena, a bar beneath the Hotel Chelsea on 23rd
between 7th and 8th. Be there or miss a marvelous opportunity to
enjoy the human comedy in all its forms.

And to those members of The Party who contributed so immeasurably to
the cause of Dancarchy tonight, you are stardust, you are golden.

Rhythm and Joy,

Barlow


In any case, this is such a wonderful experience that I believe I
might turn it into a regular practice. I envision the dancing
equivalent of Critical Mass, the bicycle action. Perhaps we could
call it Critical Dance. I imagine gathering on, say, the second
Friday of every month, and dancing forth in increasing numbers.

If you're at all interested in joining us now, we have, as noted
above, two expeditions venturing forth today, as noted above.
Probably late for the 5:00 pm unless you're close to Bryant Park, but
there will be another tonight and probably a couple tomorrow. (TBA)

This is, as I hoped, a gas, gas, gas.

Yippie-ti-yo,

Barlow



--
**************************************************************
John Perry Barlow, Cognitive Dissident
Co-Founder & Vice Chairman, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Berkman Fellow, Harvard Law Schoo

 

It's a horrible question to ask, but upon hearing that Messrs Downer and Vaille are to testify at the AWB Commission next week, and on rereading Haifa Zangwana's piece on the assasinations of academics ( currently on page 3 of Webiary home page) I was struck by one of those horrible trains of thought.

Kays Juma was a Professor of Agriculture in Iraq. He would have had a detailed knowledge of the status quo of agriculture-based aid activities in Iraq, and the fact he was also an Adelaide-resident probably would have motivated him to be aware of details such as the differences in Ausaid and USaid agriculture programs and the methodology of their implementation. As an academic he would have been privy to more information than would have been supplied to the CPA.

For the first time an Australian minister of the Bush Administration will face a true battle- telling the public what he wants to without being forced to resign.

Trade Minister Mark Vaille will appear befor the Australian Wheat Board Inquiry on Monday, and Foreign Minister Downer on Tuesday. They will be speaking on the issue in an environment in which our society considers lack of honesty to be the greatest taboo- A sworn oath.

ABC reports that the inquiry wishes to question Mr Downer on diplomatic cables sent by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Office of the Prime Minister of Australia. The cables raised the department's concern over involvement in the Austalian Wheat Board's bribes to Saddam Hussein.

 It's 2016, a decade after the 6/6/06 commencement of The Armageddon Conflict.  Australia is at war.  Naval vessels, able to stay at sea and away from the Antichrist's terrorists  under technological stealth cloaks are occassionally forced, while trudging between the various global "fronts"  to sail into ports for replenishments, refurbishment of armamentaria and some time off for the sailors.   The boys and girls of Halliburton have every need in readiness to get the job done before there's time to become a missile target.:

As the ships approach the Port of Adelaide, the support system swings into action as Halliburton's program co-ordinates local activity into providing the ship with the quickest return to sea that is humanly possible to provide.  Old tanks are sent to the factory while refurbished vehicles, comlplete with fresh crew desert-ready fguarding the uranium mines, the Adelaide-Darwin railway and the Papua-Adelaide gas pipes are loaded on board, and local water, stored in the specially built sub-city aquifers (piped from the extraterrestrially-refilled Artesian Basin) and produce are speedily transferred to naval supplies Refurbished missiles and the extra-effective depleted uranium ammuntion are restocked, and when the sailors have replenished themselves in the local bars and brothels another nautical Death Star is back on  the high seas, ready to fight for God.

Reading the Chinese Premier's toast to Australain PM Howard today, I felt someone walk over my grave.  The knowledge that Halliburton's railway line is suddenly going to worth a large fortune as the overland transport system for China-bound uranium didn't come as a suprise- there's enough pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in place now to see good glimpses of the picture. 

An omen of hope came through today, a new suburb for Adelaide was announced, and for a change Halliburton hasn't got the infrastructure job- in fact nobody has.  The local council in which this State Government driven southward expansion of Adelaide will be located expressed suprise that the land was declared available to the public  before the infrastrujcture was plotted. 

Foreign Affairs, after gagging his family via "security issues", said that incident highlighted the extreme dangers Australians faced in Baghdad.

The fact that an Australian-based mercenary company gunned down an 72 year old Iraqi academic as he drove home from a shopping outing, for fear he might be a suicide bomber, doesn't seem to be a factor in the minds of DFAT's spin-doctors.

For three months of the year Professor Kays Juma lived in the Adelaide suburb of Flagstaff HIll, a couple of miles from a university that had never heard of him, and not much further from Alexander Downer's house.  The bulk of his life was spent teaching animal husbandry at the University of Baghdad.

The Department of Trade and Economic
Development held a forum in Adelaide recentlyy to inform more than 70
SA businesses about multimillion-dollar opportunities in the Official
Development Assistance market.

Department chief executive Raymond Garrand
said the global official development market was valued at $108 billion
last financial year "and still growing".

"Australia allocated $2.3 billion annually to the official
development market through AusAid, and is ranked 15th amongst the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries in
that market," he said.

This isn't a comedy script.. this is reality.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
INTERVIEW WITH NEIL MITCHELL,
RADIO 3AW, MELBOURNE
24 March 2006

MITCHELL: Prime Minister the AWB bribery scandal. Do you think people care about it?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I care about it. I want to get to the bottom of
it. That’s why I established the Cole inquiry. This seems to have been
forgotten.

MITCHELL: But what about the electorate? What about the voters?

 Tony Blair, in calling for Australian assistance, has invoked the circumstances of Australia's UK support in World War Two

Two months from the date of 6/6/06, the British Prime Minister has called for what is basically a Global Alliance against Islam.

After spending a few minutes on jokes and feelgoods to "warm up" his audience (dodging crows in Adelaide as a child taught him to deal with the media, etc) Blair launched into his prepared invitation to join the US in a global Alliance.  This alliance is, unlike the Bush version, not "against" or "on" anything, but "for" the values that Western society holds dear.  "If we want to secure our way of life, there is no alternative but to
fight for it... we need to construct an alliance for these global values
and act through it." Mr Blair said.