The Appeal of Conscience Foundation has just lost the purpose of its existence...

From Bush to visit hurricane region early
... Texas Governor Rick Perry has asked President George W Bush to deploy 10,000 federal troops to the state to assist in search and rescue efforts after Hurricane Rita strikes. There was no immediate response to the request but the US military already has dispatched helicopters and communications teams to Texas and were preparing to send Navy ships with marines on board behind the storm. "This morning I spoke to President Bush and requested that he pre-positioned 10,000 federal troops in Texas to assist with search and rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of the storm," he said.
Perry said the federal troops would be in addition to 5,000 troops from the Texas national guard that have been activated, and more than 1,000 state troopers that have been prepositioned. ...

There's some sense of the proportions required from the different agencies, and the potential that "preparedness" for domestic calamities will have on the intentions for Iraq.

And, errrr, a very sensitive issue, one that requires the close scrutiny of the Bush bandits -
... But it could still be a dangerous storm - one aimed straight at a section of coastline with the United States' biggest concentration of oil refineries.

From Iraq:Immediate Withdrawal  by Tom Englehardt
... It is now a commonplace in Washington to point out that the Bush administration had no exit strategy from Iraq, but to this day few bother to say the obvious: It had no exit strategy because its top officials never planned on or expected to leave that country. ...

From Why Immediate Withdrawal Makes Sense by Michael Schwartz
... American withdrawal would undoubtedly leave a riven, impoverished Iraq, awash in a sea of weaponry, with problems galore, and numerous possibilities for future violence. The either/or of this situation may not be pretty, but on a grim landscape, a single reality stands out clearly: Not only is the American presence the main source of civilian casualties, it is also the primary contributor to the threat of civil war in Iraq. The longer we wait to withdraw, the worse the situation is likely to get -- for the U.S. and for the Iraqis.

From PM rejects calls for homeland security dept
... Prime Minister John Howard has rejected calls for a US-style Department of Homeland Security, saying the American organisation has been condemned for its response to Hurricane Katrina. Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has stepped up his demand for a new federal department to oversee Australia's counter-terrorism effort. Mr Howard has attacked the suggestion.
"I point out to Mr Beazley that the Department of Homeland Security does not appear to have operated very well in relation to Hurricane Katrina," he said. "There has been widespread condemnation, it hasn't been the all embracing bureaucratic solution that people said it was going to be. "This is just another example of my opponent slavishly copying something because it's American." ...

What else is on the Tory agenda?
Fixed terms? Never, ever!
But, voluntary voting? Of course, we are allowed to copy that one.

And, of course, we will not be dependent of anyone else's oil, or on National party votes in marginal electorates.

PM pledges biofuel objective
 

What's next? Home by Xmas? 

Who will relieve us from the cant and hypocrisy? Come back, Mark, all is forgiven.