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U.S. Halliburton Activist Arrested In Australia, Al Quaeda says Australia's next.

Scary times, in which a man is arrested in for the crime of protesting against Halliburton.  I wasn't aware that legislation had been already been proclaimed.

Six Federal police and immigration officials were needed to arrest Houston history teacher Scott Parkin at a Melbourne cafe. Parkin was on his way to present a workshop about the U.S. peace movement and companies involved in the Iraq war. Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown has claimed that orders for Parkins' arrest and presumably imminent deportation orignated from the U.S. Government. The Howard Government will do anything the U.S. Government asks... because he's a thorn in the side of of Dick Cheney, Halliburton, and profit making deals that apply in Iraq"

""Well the government owe Australians if not Mr Parkins an immediate explanation," Mr Brown said, "You can't help but be worried that anti-terror laws are being abused to arrest a peace activist who has been highlighting the extraordinary profit making of Haliburton, which
is making a huge amount of money out of the invasion of Iraq."

Parkin's Australian travel visa has been cancelled on the grounds that he is a threat to national security.

Could Parkin's arrest be associated with the release of a purported Al Qaeda statement that Los Angeles and Melbourne are the next targets for terrorism? .

a competent agency .....

Questioned about the threatened deportation of Scott Parkin, Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock said: “I’m not going to comment on matters about which assessments are made by competent agencies

Deputy PM tales Al Qaeda Photo-Op Where's Costello?

Ruddock's trying to say he's got no idea.  Mark Vale, on the other hand, is saying that the tape is more reason to get ready for attack,

"There is no doubt that we will continue to fight the scourge of
terrorism no matter what form it takes across the world." he said.

In the meantime propoganda terrorist Parkin intends to mount an appeal, which might possibly not be heard in the interests of national security.

Is protesting against Halliburton now considered "not in the national interest?"

FBI says Australian "Al Qaeda Threat" due to Iraq War

  AN apparent Al-Qaeda tape threatening a
terrorist strike on Melbourne should not surprise anyone, due to
Australia's support for the US war on terror, according to an FBI
official.

"The bottom line is whether it's this tape or any other tape, we know
there's people out there who wish to strike at the US and our allies,
and that includes Australia," the spokesman said. "It's not something
that would surprise anyone – we know there's a threat out there and we
know it's real." (Brisbane Courier Mail, 13/11/05

Maybe Prime Minister Howard can change their mind. 

Western Australia Jumps The Gun

New counterterrorism legislation  allowing area cordons searches and property removal will be introduced into Western Austalian Parliament today.

However W.A . Premier Geoff Gallup draws the line at detaining suspects without charge 

" We've yet to agree to taking on board the power to detain people" he said.

(source:  Anti-terror laws "nation's toughest", Adelaide Advertiser 14/9/05

South Australia to prevent distribution of "provocative material

The Advertiser was saving its own state's proposed new terror  laws for the "on-line front page"

The South Australian laws will include administering restraining orders to prevent the distribution of provocative material.

Source:  "Strong arm of the law" Adelaide Advertiser

If a trend of Labor states pre-empting Liberal control by assuming new powers continues, it would be hoped that such political muscle flexing is being applied pro bono (which people assume means "for free" but is actually "for good") in both of its senses of contemporary interpretation.

puffery .....

The Editor,

The Adelaide Advertiser.                                                       September 14, 2005.

 

Why does SA need new laws to outlaw incitement when it’s already illegal in all states of Australia, including SA (‘Strong Arm Of The Law’, Advertiser, September 14)?

 

Of course such laws are only ever enforced selectively, as can be attested by the actions of the Howard government in inciting a war of terror against Iraq: an illegal act of aggression that has thus far resulted in the mass murder of more than 30,000 innocent civilians.

From the ridiculous to the insane

From the ABC

Govt slaps peace activist with $11,000 travel bill
The Australian Government has charged an American peace activist who was removed from Australia yesterday $11,000 for sending him back to the US.
Activist Scott Parkin was arrested in Melbourne on Saturday after intelligence agency ASIO deemed him a risk to national security.
The 36-year-old says he conducted peace workshops and anti-war protests during the three months he spent in Australia.
He has been charged for the cost of his detention, the flight back to the US for himself and two Australian Government escorts and their accommodation in Los Angeles.
But Mr Parkin has told the ABC from Los Angeles that none of his actions posed a security risk.
"I'm just completely baffled by this," he said. "I've given talks about the US anti-war movement and I've given talks about Halliburton and I've given talks about non-violent social change, you know peaceful ways of doing this like [Martin Luther] King and Ghandi, but I've never done anything which they're trying to allude to." Mr Parkin says his legal team in Australia will seek compensation over his removal.

GUS NEWS:
INSANE GOVERNMENT DRIVES THIS COUNTRY TO DISTRACTION.

BEING ANTI WAR DOES NOT MEAN SUPPORTING TERRORISTS, BUT IT CERTAINLY MEANS BEING AGAINST FIRST STRIKE STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM AS WELL AS ANY OTHER FORMS OF TERRORISM.

grapple in the big apple .....

I wonder how our bovver boys would react to a visit by George Galloway?

Not his best effort but worth a look ....

British MP George Galloway vs Christopher Hitchens.

 

A debate on the Iraq war moderated by Amy Goodman.

 

Galloway / Hitchens Debate

gorgeous george .....

Fiery British MP George Galloway speaks out about mobilizing opposition to the war, his new book & the U.S. role in global politics.

 

George Galloway is well known as one of the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. Since the war began in 2003, Galloway, a long time member of Parliament, has harshly criticized both the Bush administration & Prime Minister Tony Blair.

 

In an interview on Abu-Dhabi TV last November, Galloway said, "The people who invaded & destroyed Iraq & have murdered more than a million Iraqi people by sanctions & war will burn in Hell in the hell-fires, & their name in history will be branded as killers & war criminals for all time."

 

Gorgeous George Takes On The World