It has been a while since I have posted a comment of the week, so in an effort to make up for that, I am posting a couple, disturbingly they all come from the same person, in the same interview, taken from the same article...
Pauline Hanson... I have a severe disdain for this woman, although she is managing to make me laugh on a Friday morning whilst I wait for about 15,000 words to turn up to my desk for grading...
Wannabe Senator Hanson has had a doozy of a week in the press, not only announcing she wishes to run for the Senate, her first foray into politics since it was announced that she was a racist, saying her former offsider cooked for her, so she had sex with him (I've cooked for hundreds of women over the years, and not one of them offered such a transaction), oh and let's not forget the US Secret Service bodyguard for Clinton she met in a nightclub and embarked upon a 2 year affair with...
Sadly folks this is what Australian media has come to reporting, a really bad soap opera or Tele-Novella if you like...
Regardless of her past, her future looks... well daunting to the rest of us... So on to her comments...
Ms Hanson is a little 'wary of letting Muslims settle in Australia, unless, of course, they are Christian Muslims...' (She didn't define a Christian Muslim)
She believes David Hicks to be a 'suicide bomber that wanted to blow himself up so he could kill others...'
And perhaps my favourite... Expressed concern about Malaysia which 'had been taken over by Muslims, despite a long history of Islam in that country...'
Whilst you mull over these comments, I shall echo the words of Roland Jabbour, chairman of the Australian Arabic Council, "I think her comments are a reflection of someone who is totally ignorant...It would be a sad day if she ever succeeded in gaining a seat in Parliament again."
Somewhere here there's an obvious funny analogy relating to national security (or something of the sort), I'm just too tired. Anyways, pun away, cabbages.
The investigator flew to Guatemala in April 2002 with a delicate mission: trail a Wal-Mart manager around the country to prove he was sleeping with a lower-level employee, a violation of company policy.
The apparent smoking gun? “Moans and sighs” heard as the investigator, a Wal-Mart employee, pressed his ear against a hotel room door inside a Holiday Inn, according to legal documents. Soon after, the company fired the manager for what it said was improper fraternization with a subordinate.
Australian GITMO prisoner David Hicks has just plead guilty to 'providing material support to terrorism'.
A plea arrangement has been made, the penalty could be up to life in prison, in which case, under a prisoner exchange agreement, he may serve in Australia...
I wanted to post this in the AM but ran out of time... A bomb hits the Green Zone in Baghdad during a joint press conference between Iraqi PM Maliki and UN Sec-Gen Moon, note the minimal reaction from Iraqi PM, and UN Sec-Gen ready to leave, at least he packed his notes away!
According to Sky News the bomb hit 50 metres away...
So here I am at 0630, having just read my morning news catch up before I head in to re-write an entire lecture that I completely screwed up last night...
Then I stumbled across this doozy! Apparently in our fine state of Queensland, when we decide that our State MP's are pathetic, worthless and no longer worth our vote, they take this to heart and have a hard time "Readjusting" to civilian life!
New rules will entitle defeated or disendorsed state politicians to a "resettlement allowance" to help them make the transition to ordinary citizen.
It is understood the State Government will soon sign off on an allowance that will hand dumped MPs the full pay of a backbencher for two months – about $17,000 before tax.
The lucrative perk will add to the allowances already afforded to former state MPs which include two return flights from their electorate to Brisbane in the two weeks after an election.
Former politicians are also entitled to unlimited rail travel and an annual return flight for themselves and their spouse to their destination of choice in Australia, New Zealand or Papua New Guinea.
The resettlement allowance is aimed specifically at former MPs who have brief careers or are too young to gain access to either their pension or superannuation when they are forced out.
It has won universal support from Queensland political leaders of all persuasions...
...The allowance was limited to politicians who retire "involuntarily" through defeat or disendorsement. Those pushed out for reasons of misconduct are not eligible.
Apparently this decision echoes that made in Federal Parliament, which seems pathetic, tell them to do a Latham, get a book deal, and get out of out lives!!!
Does this sound right to you, you loose your job because you mis-represented your community, and because you mis-represented them so well, here, take $17,000... Maybe I should capitulate and run for state office!
BC gets the rubber end of the budget plunger, if you know what I mean
Despite a faux pas in the budget speech, literally leaving British Columbia out of Canada, Monday's budget leaves much to be desired for poor little beautiful British Columbia.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House offered Tuesday to make political strategist Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers available for congressional interviews—but not testimony under oath—in the investigation of the firing of eight federal prosecutors.
Sen. Charles Schumer, [D-N.Y.], said he would still press for White House aides to testify under oath but that White House counsel Fred Fielding "indicated he didn't want to negotiate" whether Rove and others would have to appear in a full hearing. "That doesn't mean we're not going to try," Schumer said.
Anyways, I am just recovering from a crazy weekend, and thought I would just post a quote I was reminded of in a random weekend moment. It's a classic.
"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know." -Donald Rumsfeld, former US Defense Secretary
Happening this week..... in no specific order:
Federal [Canada] budget fallout. Not a big splash. The opposition might get around to reading it...
O sad folly: O'Connor admits to misleading the House. "Minister accepts 'full responsibility' for false information on Afghan prisoners." [G&M]
Fourth anniversary of the Iraq war/ invasion/ liberation, etc etc etc. Timeline here.
Very few things this morning are making me smile... This particular story courtesy of BBC online, had me rolling on the floor...
Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked apart from bondage gear.
Reports say he was able to identify himself to police only after a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth.
A foreign ministry official described Ambassador Tzuriel Refael's behaviour as an unprecedented embarrassment....
...He was being recalled, although he had not broken any laws, foreign ministry spokeswoman Zehavit Ben-Hillel told reporters.
She confirmed that lurid reports of the incident in the Israeli press were accurate.
"We're talking about behaviour that is unbecoming of a diplomat," she said.
Israel has been rocked by a recent series of misconduct and corruption scandals, shaking public confidence in the political leadership.
Haaretz website reports that police found Mr Refael in the Israeli embassy compound where he had been found bound, gagged and naked apart from sado-masochistic sex accessories.
Further reports suggest that upon return to Israel Mr Refael is in for a spanking from this man...
Who appears to be waiting Refael's arrival with what could only be described as... much Gusto...
The Sanford (N.C.) Herald has become at least the sixth newspaper this week to drop Ann Coulter's syndicated column following her March 2 remark concerning Docratic presidential candidate John Edwards that included the term "faggot." ...
"So yesterday we called Universal Press Syndicate and 'fired' Coulter. What she said was wrong and hurtful and stepped way beyond the line of human decency, much less political commentary."
A recent UN study has found raising animals for food production is most terrible for the environment, producing significant amounts of greenhouse gases.
"The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity."
SO of course, PETA must get involved. Yesterday they sent a letter to Al Gore "explaining to him that the best way to fight global warming is to go vegetarian and offering to cook him faux “fried chicken” as an introduction to meat-free meals. In its letter, PETA points out that Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth—which starkly outlines the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming and just won the Academy Award for “Best Documentary”—has failed to address the fact that the meat industry is the largest contributor to greenhouse-gas emissions."
· The effect that our meat addiction is having on the climate is truly staggering. In fact, in its recent report “Livestock’s Long Shadow—Environmental Issues and Options,” the United Nations determined that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. · Researchers at the University of Chicago have determined that switching to a vegan diet is more effective in countering global warming than switching from a standard American car to a Toyota Prius. PETA also reminds Gore that his critics love to question whether he practices what he preaches and suggests that by going vegetarian, he could cut down on his contribution to global warming and silence his critics at the same time. “The single best thing that any of us can do to for our health, for animals, and for the environment is to go vegetarian,” says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.
“The best and easiest way for Mr. Gore to show his critics that he’s truly committed to fighting global warming is to kick his meat habit immediately.”
Last November, I celebrated my tenth year of being a vegetarian. Not to gloat about being ahead of my time or anything....
Cambodian and international judges have begun talks to prevent the possible collapse of the Khmer Rouge trials.
The trials - which aim to put the surviving leaders of the brutal Maoist regime in the dock - have ground to a halt over procedural differences. Foreign judges want full international legal standards, while the Cambodians say local law must take precedence.
About two million people died during the years that the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia in the 1970s.
Fairfax news is reporting that David Hicks' military lawyer may be charged for breaching Article 88 of the US Military Code...
It relates to using contemptuous language towards the president, vice-president, and secretary of defence. Penalties for breaching the code include jail and the loss of employment and entitlements.
Major Mori denied he had done anything improper but said the accusations left him with an inherent conflict of interest.
“It can't help but raise an issue of whether any further representation of David and his wellbeing could be tainted by a concern for my own legal wellbeing,” Major Mori told Fairfax. “David Hicks needs counsel who is not tainted by these allegations.”
Major Mori, who has been to Australia seven times, will seek legal advice. The issue will also have to be raised with Hicks when his legal team next sees him, Fairfax reports.
Colonel Davis said Major Mori was not playing by the rules and criticised his regular trips to Australia. He said he would not tolerate such behaviour from his own prosecutors.
“Certainly, in the US it would not be tolerated having a US marine in uniform actively inserting himself into the political process. It is very disappointing,” he told Fairfax. “He doesn't seem to be held to the same standards as his brother officers.”
Whilst this may be bad news for Major Mori, there may be a silver lining for David Hicks... If Maj. Mori is charged, he would be removed from Hicks' case, thereby deeming it necessary for a replacement, which could take 'months for a new lawyer to get to grips with the case and the new military commission process.'
Prime Minister John Howard has told the US any action leading to further delays would be unacceptable and would prompt him to demand the return of Hicks, 31, after five years in Guantanamo Bay.
Mori has also raised concerns of a conflict of interest now existing, which may prevent him from representing Hicks.
So apparently Treasurer Costello is annoyed that Opposition Leader Rudd met with a corrupt State Premier in 2005, the only Australian Premier to ever serve a gaol sentence, today it was announced that a certain Government Senator/Minister met with same corrupt premier, over a year after OLR did...
So to honor this monumental screw up of an attack by the G'ment on the Opposition, and then watching them get bitch slapped back courtesy of The Weekend Australian...
I've decided, today, (with a little help from my friends) to highlight the stupidity of the Australian Foreign Minister... Alex Downer...
Oh to be a fly on the wall when he got home after this doozy....
Oh and his little Confession to the Misguided Trio over his role in the AWB Scandal (Courtesy of Youtube/ausarma)
And to top it all off, a little doozy of a cover of Midnight Oil...
Update: About 3 hours after I posted this, the Minister involved with the former Premier resigned from his cabinet position, which, for the record, whilst some what admirable, means very little in an election year....
Update #2: I am aware that I may have used the word doozy, a few too many times in this post, I apologise...
