‘In one of the most chilling public statements ever made by a U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales questioned whether the U.S. Constitution grants habeas corpus rights of a fair trial to every American.

Responding to questions from Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18, Gonzales argued that the Constitution doesn't explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights; it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended.

Whilst the little rodent scurries from shadow to shadow, busily marking our society with the rank stench of his corrupt & immoral government, his head clowner was busily informing the sceptical populace that an “anonymous” source had assured him that David Hick’s mental health was fine.

It turns out, of course, that the source of clowner’s spectacular assertion was an anonymous junior official from the bushit embassy in Kaaanbra …. an official who recently observed Hicks for 20 minutes, without speaking with him …. an official who has no medical qualifications & whose opinion is worthless, other than as further direct evidence of the profound moral corruption that is the hallmark of both governments.

‘Well I never. This column was too late with the suggestion that Tony Blair should be blasted off to the Moon for his legacy. He has already suggested it himself.

Journalist friends — more than one — have reported a discussion with the Prime Minister in which they were pressing him to say whether he supported the idea of sending a Briton into Outer Space. Under pressure, his final answer (apparently) went along these lines: “I tell you what: when I’ve finished as Prime Minister I’ll be the first British astronaut! There you go, you’ve got a story now!” Yeah, right.’

The botched hanging of Saddam Hussein & two lieutenants in Iraq by its Shiite-led government has helped to accelerate Sunni-Shiite sectarianism across an already fragile Middle East. "The reality of the current situation is that we are approaching an open Sunni-Shiite conflict in the region," warned Emad Gad, an international relations specialist based in Egypt.

from Crikey: an update on our rooted regulator …..

ACCC all jawboning and no action over petrol prices

Michael Pascoe writes: ‘Well whip me with a feather – ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel is telling the media he has told the naughty petrol companies that he will tell the media they are naughty if they don’t reduce petrol prices in a week. When did we step through the looking glass?

‘The US, after training and egging on the Ethiopians to intervene in the Somali civil war, is now bombing and strafing Somalis. The government "suspects" they might be al-Qaida.

That is a load of horse apples. You can't identify people, much less their politics, from an airplane or a helicopter. Air power always kills innocent civilians. That obscene euphemism "collateral damage" changes neither the facts on the ground nor the immorality of the act. I assume most Americans still think it is immoral to kill innocent people.

from Buzzflash ……

Always the master of creative rhetoric, the White House's political spin machine has reached a new low. Backtracking over the original justifications for the Iraq War as they become increasingly erroneous, the Bush Administration has finally come up with a way to maintain their insistence that Iraq is "the central front on the war on terror."

BUSHITTO:

Not at all. I am proud of the efforts we did.

We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude, and I believe most Iraqis express that. I mean, the people understand that we’ve endured great sacrifice to help them.

from today’s Sydney Morning Herald …..

‘Philip Ruddock had nothing to offer. He sloped into his news conference on Thursday with no notes. He needed none. He had only familiar lines to deliver. It was the fifth anniversary of David Hicks's arrival, shackled and hooded, at Guantanamo Bay, but the Attorney-General could still not say when the prisoner would be charged, what the charges would be, or when a trial might start.

‘George W. Bush would like people to believe that he has somehow created a "new plan" - a "New Way Forward" in Iraq.

Interestingly enough, at least this time, Bush didn't fool anyone. According to the polls, 70 percent of the American people are deeply opposed to the President's recent recycled version of the same never-ending, never-changing plan. But the thing that the American people and, too, the Democratic Congress don't fully realize is that, George W. Bush doesn't care what anybody thinks. President Bush's escalation plan is nothing more than a stalling tactic. However, contrary to popular opinion, the President isn't only delaying the exit from Iraq, so that he can get out of office and leave the mess for the next chump. There is some truth to that, but there is much more to Bush prolonging an exit from Iraq than just his leaving office.

from the Centre for American Progress …..

Escalating Failure

‘Last night, President Bush disregarded the opposition of U.S. military commanders, lawmakers of both parties, the Iraq Study Group (ISG), and the American public and announced to the nation that he plans to increase America's presence in Iraq by approximately 21,500 troops, with no timetable for when troop levels would be drawn back down. The right wing tried to present this "surge" as the "last chance for success" in Iraq. But as the Associated Press noted, Bush's escalation announcement is simply the "latest repackaging of a program that's been wrapped and rewrapped many times." When Bush sent increased U.S. forces into Baghdad in June 2006, the security situation actually deteriorated further and violence increased. One Bush administration official admitted that the escalation plan is "more of a political decision than a military one" and military commanders have made clear to the President that U.S. forces are already overstretched. As Bush noted in June 28, 2005, sending more troops to Iraq will "undermine our strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead" and "suggest that we intend to stay forever." Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has introduced legislation demanding accountability from the President, and the Center for American Progress has released a memo recommending "an amendment on the supplemental funding bill that states that if the administration wants to increase the number of troops in Iraq above 150,000, it must provide a plan for their purpose and require an up or down vote on exceeding that number." American Progress also has a strategic redeployment plan detailing "a responsible exit from Iraq as part of a balanced global strategy to make Americans safer."

‘As the President prepares to announce an increase of an additional 20,000 American troops for the civil war in Iraq, editorials in newspapers across the country are joining the wide-ranging criticism of the war's escalation. Calling it "a futile gesture" and noting that there "is nothing novel" about the President's latest tactic, editorials from Atlanta to Albuquerque, and Dallas to Milwaukee are calling for a "new strategy," for the President to put "far more pressure" on the Iraqis, and for a greater attempt at diplomacy, as the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended.’

A convoluted trail is emerging that involves allegations of Russian-based international money laundering, direct government dealings with the administrators of Saddam's Australian wheat bribes, and a government representative taking up a position in a cloudy corner of the corporate world.

The Australian Trade Commission has published claims made by Firepower, a Perth based company that its technology provides reductions of environmentally harmful emissions of thirty to sixty percent,, Firepower claim they've been checked by "several world leading independent testing institutes" but don"t say who they are. Austrade refer to testing carried out in Russia... though the sources of the testing are not mentioned on the company's website.

from today’s Crikey …..

Alexander Downer is heading to the US – but to join the likes of Bindi Irwin and the Wiggles for the G’day USA promotion in LA, not to stand alongside the President as he speaks to the nation. Perhaps that’s the best place for him. Perhaps, if Australia wants to make a mark in Washington, we should be putting Bindi in the Beltway.

‘People should not be tortured, abused or held indefinitely without charge, whether perceived guilty or innocent. Holding anyone without charge, citizen or non-citizen, is a violation of the United States Constitution and international law.Torture is immoral, ineffective and absolutely illegal under domestic and international law.