Sydney water: the 25-year plan: "Infrastructure Water Plan" - no link is provided to the 'plan', nor does a google search reveal the 'plan'. How absurd.

The basic principles must be: the water resources of the nation, including the clouds, mists, rainfall, rivers, lakes etc, must remain the common property of the people of Australia, and remain in public ownership along with the infrastructure utilities, to be managed for the welfare of the whole people. Water purity, conservation, allocation, recycling are critical issues. Pumping water from other areas (such as the Shoalhaven) to serve already over populated regions such as Sydney is problematic. Desalination should be investigated but the environmental costs must be considered.

Sydney water: the 25-year plan: "Infrastructure Water Plan" - no link is provided to the 'plan', nor does a google search reveal the 'plan'. How absurd.

The basic principles must be: the water resources of the nation, including the clouds, mists, rainfall, rivers, lakes etc, must remain the common property of the people of Australia, and remain in public ownership along with the infrastructure utilities, to be managed for the welfare of the whole people. Water purity, conservation, allocation, recycling are critical issues. Pumping water from other areas (such as the Shoalhaven) to serve already over populated regions such as Sydney is problematic. Desalination should be investigated but the environmental costs must be considered.

US troops Mutiny against 'Suicide Mission' (ie, road from Baghdad to Kuwait): "'The fuel was contaminated for the helicopters,' said Harold Casey of Louisville, Ky., whose grandson, Justin Rogers, told him yesterday that he and others were detained under guard for several days. 'It would have caused them to crash ... They saved lives,' Casey said his grandson told him."

"When the tired soldiers were ordered to haul the fuel to Taji, north of Baghdad, they learned they would have to go on the convoy with no air support. Their road was a 450-mile stretch that connects Baghdad and Kuwait. Scores of convoys in Iraq have come under attack, hit by homemade roadside bombs. Beverly Dobbs, of Vandiver, Ala., mother of Spec. Joseph Dobbs, 19, told online magazine Salon she got a panicked call from her son Wednesday. "Mama, we're in a lot of trouble," he said.

"We had some contaminated fuel. We went out on this mission, and they turned us back, and our captain got mad and was gonna send us out on another mission," Beverly Dobbs recalled her son saying. "We refused to go because our vehicles were in awful shape. The place they wanted to send us was dangerous. We had to go without guns. All of us refused to go. We're not risking our lives like that.""

US troops Mutiny against 'Suicide Mission' (ie, road from Baghdad to Kuwait): "'The fuel was contaminated for the helicopters,' said Harold Casey of Louisville, Ky., whose grandson, Justin Rogers, told him yesterday that he and others were detained under guard for several days. 'It would have caused them to crash ... They saved lives,' Casey said his grandson told him."

"When the tired soldiers were ordered to haul the fuel to Taji, north of Baghdad, they learned they would have to go on the convoy with no air support. Their road was a 450-mile stretch that connects Baghdad and Kuwait. Scores of convoys in Iraq have come under attack, hit by homemade roadside bombs. Beverly Dobbs, of Vandiver, Ala., mother of Spec. Joseph Dobbs, 19, told online magazine Salon she got a panicked call from her son Wednesday. "Mama, we're in a lot of trouble," he said.

"We had some contaminated fuel. We went out on this mission, and they turned us back, and our captain got mad and was gonna send us out on another mission," Beverly Dobbs recalled her son saying. "We refused to go because our vehicles were in awful shape. The place they wanted to send us was dangerous. We had to go without guns. All of us refused to go. We're not risking our lives like that.""

Why We Must Prevent the Re-election of Senators Who Supported the Invasion of Iraq: "In other words, those members of the House and Senate who supported this resolution believed, or claimed to believe, that an impoverished Third World country, which had eliminated its stockpiles of banned weapons, destroyed its medium and long-range missiles, and eliminated its WMD programs more than a decade earlier, and had been suffering under the strictest international sanctions in world history for more than a dozen years, somehow threatened the national security of a superpower located more than 10,000 miles away. Furthermore, these members of Congress believed, or claimed to believe, that this supposed threat was so great that the United States had no choice but to launch an invasion of that country, overthrow its government, and place its people under military occupation in the name of self-defense.

"It is important to remember that both John Kerry and John Edwards were among those who voted in support of this resolution. It boggles the mind that the Democratic Party would actually nominate, as their presidential and vice-presidential candidates, two senators who were either stupid enough to actually believe this or dishonest enough to claim it was true anyway."

Why We Must Prevent the Re-election of Senators Who Supported the Invasion of Iraq: "In other words, those members of the House and Senate who supported this resolution believed, or claimed to believe, that an impoverished Third World country, which had eliminated its stockpiles of banned weapons, destroyed its medium and long-range missiles, and eliminated its WMD programs more than a decade earlier, and had been suffering under the strictest international sanctions in world history for more than a dozen years, somehow threatened the national security of a superpower located more than 10,000 miles away. Furthermore, these members of Congress believed, or claimed to believe, that this supposed threat was so great that the United States had no choice but to launch an invasion of that country, overthrow its government, and place its people under military occupation in the name of self-defense.

"It is important to remember that both John Kerry and John Edwards were among those who voted in support of this resolution. It boggles the mind that the Democratic Party would actually nominate, as their presidential and vice-presidential candidates, two senators who were either stupid enough to actually believe this or dishonest enough to claim it was true anyway."

The Brownshirting of America: Where did these 'conservatives' come from?: "For starters here are some of the salutations: 'communist bastard,' 'asshole,' 'a piece of trash, scum of the earth.' It goes downhill from there. Bush's supporters demand lock-step consensus that Bush is right. They regard truthful reports that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction and was not involved in the September 11 attack on the US--truths now firmly established by the Bush administration's own reports--as treasonous America-bashing.

"As well, Bovard is interpreted as throwing cold water on the feel-good, macho, Muslim butt-kicking that Bush's invasion of Iraq has come to symbolize for his supporters. 'People like you and Michael Moore,' one irate reader wrote, 'is (sic) what brings down our country.' I have received similar responses from conservatives, as, no doubt, have a number of other writers who object to a domestic police state at war with the world. In language reeking with hatred, Heritage Foundtion TownHall readers impolitely informed me that opposing the invasion of Iraq is identical to opposing America, that Bush is the greatest American leader in history and everyone who disagrees with him should be shot before they cause America to lose another war."

"Bush's conservative supporters want no debate. They want no facts, no analysis. They want to denounce and to demonize the enemies that the Hannitys, Limbaughs, and Savages of talk radio assure them are everywhere at work destroying their great and noble country.... Talk radio's "news stories" do not need to be true. Their importance lies in inflaming resentments and confirming that America's implacable enemies are working resolutely to destroy us.... their stock in trade is denunciation, not debate. Conservatives don't assess opponents' arguments, they demonize opponents. Truth and falsity are out of the picture; the criteria are: who's good, who's evil, who's patriotic, who's unpatriotic. These are the traits of brownshirts. Brownshirts know they are right. They know their opponents are wrong and regard them as enemies who must be silenced if not exterminated."

The Brownshirting of America: Where did these 'conservatives' come from?: "For starters here are some of the salutations: 'communist bastard,' 'asshole,' 'a piece of trash, scum of the earth.' It goes downhill from there. Bush's supporters demand lock-step consensus that Bush is right. They regard truthful reports that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction and was not involved in the September 11 attack on the US--truths now firmly established by the Bush administration's own reports--as treasonous America-bashing.

"As well, Bovard is interpreted as throwing cold water on the feel-good, macho, Muslim butt-kicking that Bush's invasion of Iraq has come to symbolize for his supporters. 'People like you and Michael Moore,' one irate reader wrote, 'is (sic) what brings down our country.' I have received similar responses from conservatives, as, no doubt, have a number of other writers who object to a domestic police state at war with the world. In language reeking with hatred, Heritage Foundtion TownHall readers impolitely informed me that opposing the invasion of Iraq is identical to opposing America, that Bush is the greatest American leader in history and everyone who disagrees with him should be shot before they cause America to lose another war."

"Bush's conservative supporters want no debate. They want no facts, no analysis. They want to denounce and to demonize the enemies that the Hannitys, Limbaughs, and Savages of talk radio assure them are everywhere at work destroying their great and noble country.... Talk radio's "news stories" do not need to be true. Their importance lies in inflaming resentments and confirming that America's implacable enemies are working resolutely to destroy us.... their stock in trade is denunciation, not debate. Conservatives don't assess opponents' arguments, they demonize opponents. Truth and falsity are out of the picture; the criteria are: who's good, who's evil, who's patriotic, who's unpatriotic. These are the traits of brownshirts. Brownshirts know they are right. They know their opponents are wrong and regard them as enemies who must be silenced if not exterminated."

Up to a third of unionists voted for the coalition: "Many unionists deserted Labor at the federal election in favour of the Coalition.... The Herald has learnt that secret Labor and ACTU polling found Labor's pitch to win back working voters failed, with up to a third of union members saying they would vote for the Coalition.... A spokesman for the ACTU confirmed that about a third of 200 union members polled by "ACTU volunteers" last Saturday said they would vote Liberal. While he said it was statistically insignificant, the phone poll by volunteers showed "some union members did vote for the Coalition. What they didn't vote for was an increase in casualisation or an attempt to deregulate the labour market, or wages and conditions to be undermined.""

Up to a third of unionists voted for the coalition: "Many unionists deserted Labor at the federal election in favour of the Coalition.... The Herald has learnt that secret Labor and ACTU polling found Labor's pitch to win back working voters failed, with up to a third of union members saying they would vote for the Coalition.... A spokesman for the ACTU confirmed that about a third of 200 union members polled by "ACTU volunteers" last Saturday said they would vote Liberal. While he said it was statistically insignificant, the phone poll by volunteers showed "some union members did vote for the Coalition. What they didn't vote for was an increase in casualisation or an attempt to deregulate the labour market, or wages and conditions to be undermined.""

Up to a third of unionists voted for the coalition: "Many unionists deserted Labor at the federal election in favour of the Coalition.... The Herald has learnt that secret Labor and ACTU polling found Labor's pitch to win back working voters failed, with up to a third of union members saying they would vote for the Coalition.... A spokesman for the ACTU confirmed that about a third of 200 union members polled by "ACTU volunteers" last Saturday said they would vote Liberal. While he said it was statistically insignificant, the phone poll by volunteers showed "some union members did vote for the Coalition. What they didn't vote for was an increase in casualisation or an attempt to deregulate the labour market, or wages and conditions to be undermined.""

Up to a third of unionists voted for the coalition: "Many unionists deserted Labor at the federal election in favour of the Coalition.... The Herald has learnt that secret Labor and ACTU polling found Labor's pitch to win back working voters failed, with up to a third of union members saying they would vote for the Coalition.... A spokesman for the ACTU confirmed that about a third of 200 union members polled by "ACTU volunteers" last Saturday said they would vote Liberal. While he said it was statistically insignificant, the phone poll by volunteers showed "some union members did vote for the Coalition. What they didn't vote for was an increase in casualisation or an attempt to deregulate the labour market, or wages and conditions to be undermined.""

Preference call compromises Greens' Tasmania bid: "A decision by Labor and the Democrats to direct preferences to Family First party could cost the Greens a Senate seat in Tasmania, the Greens leader, Bob Brown, said yesterday.

"He said the Greens' candidate in Tasmania, Christine Milne, had gone from a primary vote of 13.4 per cent on election night to 12.7 per cent. She needs a quota of 14.3 per cent to get over the line. By comparison, just over 2 per cent of Tasmanians had given their first vote to Family First. 'On all past form, Christine would be home and hosed with Labor and Democrat preferences. But this time both parties directed preferences to Family First ahead of the Greens,' Senator Brown said. 'They fell prey to a nationally orchestrated pro-Howard blitzkrieg to divert preferences from the Greens and get them across to Family First. This was to assure government control of the Senate.'"

Such a result - which would surely not reflect the views of Labor and Democrat voters - is also a product of the Senate 'above the line' voting system, which grants to the parties the right to direct preferences. 'Above the line' voting should be abolished, or at the very least the voter empowered to number the party boxes. 'Below the line' voting should be made optional-preferential.

Preference call compromises Greens' Tasmania bid: "A decision by Labor and the Democrats to direct preferences to Family First party could cost the Greens a Senate seat in Tasmania, the Greens leader, Bob Brown, said yesterday.

"He said the Greens' candidate in Tasmania, Christine Milne, had gone from a primary vote of 13.4 per cent on election night to 12.7 per cent. She needs a quota of 14.3 per cent to get over the line. By comparison, just over 2 per cent of Tasmanians had given their first vote to Family First. 'On all past form, Christine would be home and hosed with Labor and Democrat preferences. But this time both parties directed preferences to Family First ahead of the Greens,' Senator Brown said. 'They fell prey to a nationally orchestrated pro-Howard blitzkrieg to divert preferences from the Greens and get them across to Family First. This was to assure government control of the Senate.'"

Such a result - which would surely not reflect the views of Labor and Democrat voters - is also a product of the Senate 'above the line' voting system, which grants to the parties the right to direct preferences. 'Above the line' voting should be abolished, or at the very least the voter empowered to number the party boxes. 'Below the line' voting should be made optional-preferential.

Global property, US dollar collapse: When, not If: "As I examine the financial 'realities' and the implications of the US current-account deficit, the word 'ominous' is the only thought that seeps into my mind. And though the timing is anyone's guess, the US dollar is poised to be overwhelmed by the deficit.... From the peak in this cycle, February 2002, through September 2004, the dollar has fallen only 23%. The current account is now approaching twice what it was when it finally bottomed in 1988. So if we use the current-account "adjustment" as a guide, we should multiply the 42% decline by a factor of two to determine just how far the dollar must fall before solving the current-account problem - that's 84%! ... As Treasury bonds soared and US demand rose, stocks revived. "It's the 1990s again," rattled the talking heads on CNBC. But the big winner in this liquidity game was global real estate. "The world is sitting on top one of the biggest property bubbles in history, with the biggest bits in China and the US, in my view," says Xie. There is nothing new in what we are seeing in China. Massive lending funneled into property and commodities speculation: it's the classic boom-bust credit cycle.... Fed tightening is working its way through the global financial system. Soaring crude oil prices are dampening growth prospects. Property prices in Australia and the United Kingdom are already falling. And policymakers are continuing to apply the brakes in China where they can. These are the dynamics that scream for an eventual bust in China. I believe this will be the catalyst for a dollar crisis."

Global property, US dollar collapse: When, not If: "As I examine the financial 'realities' and the implications of the US current-account deficit, the word 'ominous' is the only thought that seeps into my mind. And though the timing is anyone's guess, the US dollar is poised to be overwhelmed by the deficit.... From the peak in this cycle, February 2002, through September 2004, the dollar has fallen only 23%. The current account is now approaching twice what it was when it finally bottomed in 1988. So if we use the current-account "adjustment" as a guide, we should multiply the 42% decline by a factor of two to determine just how far the dollar must fall before solving the current-account problem - that's 84%! ... As Treasury bonds soared and US demand rose, stocks revived. "It's the 1990s again," rattled the talking heads on CNBC. But the big winner in this liquidity game was global real estate. "The world is sitting on top one of the biggest property bubbles in history, with the biggest bits in China and the US, in my view," says Xie. There is nothing new in what we are seeing in China. Massive lending funneled into property and commodities speculation: it's the classic boom-bust credit cycle.... Fed tightening is working its way through the global financial system. Soaring crude oil prices are dampening growth prospects. Property prices in Australia and the United Kingdom are already falling. And policymakers are continuing to apply the brakes in China where they can. These are the dynamics that scream for an eventual bust in China. I believe this will be the catalyst for a dollar crisis."

Pandering to Howard's Whingers: "Today's young people are compelled to save for their superannuation while also paying taxes to cover their parents' and grandparents' pensions and prescriptions. They've been lumbered with HECS debts. And the Howard Government's economic miracle has priced them out of the housing market while delivering a huge, tax-free windfall gain to their home-owning oldies. If the pollies can't control their urge to buy the oldies' votes at every successive election, they're pouring petrol on a generational powder keg that may one day blow up in all our faces."

Pandering to Howard's Whingers: "Today's young people are compelled to save for their superannuation while also paying taxes to cover their parents' and grandparents' pensions and prescriptions. They've been lumbered with HECS debts. And the Howard Government's economic miracle has priced them out of the housing market while delivering a huge, tax-free windfall gain to their home-owning oldies. If the pollies can't control their urge to buy the oldies' votes at every successive election, they're pouring petrol on a generational powder keg that may one day blow up in all our faces."

Secret memo: UK gains information via Uzbek torture: "In the memo, ambassador Craig Murray complained to superiors in London that British officials were 'selling their souls for dross' -- accepting bogus confessions tortured out of detainees and designed to trick Washington and London into supporting Uzbekistan's harsh policies and giving it military aid.

"'We receive intelligence obtained under torture from the Uzbek Security Services, via the U.S. We should stop,' Murray wrote. 'This is morally, legally and practically wrong. The practice 'fatally undermines our moral standing. It obviates my efforts to get the Uzbek government to stop torture; they are fully aware our intelligence community laps up the results.'

"A spokeswoman for the foreign office declined to comment on the memo itself but said: 'Britain never uses torture to get information.' But she added: 'We recognise there is a need for intelligence on counterterrorism to protect the safety of British nationals. It would be irresponsible to rule this information out of hand.'"

""Tortured dupes are forced to sign up to confessions showing what the Uzbek government wants the U.S. and the UK to believe: that they and we are fighting the same war against terror. "I repeat that this material is useless -- we are selling our souls for dross. It is in fact positively harmful," he wrote. "The aim is to convince the West that the Uzbeks are a vital cog against a common foe, that they should keep the assistance, especially military assistance, coming, and they should mute the international criticism on human rights and economic reform."

Secret memo: UK gains information via Uzbek torture: "In the memo, ambassador Craig Murray complained to superiors in London that British officials were 'selling their souls for dross' -- accepting bogus confessions tortured out of detainees and designed to trick Washington and London into supporting Uzbekistan's harsh policies and giving it military aid.

"'We receive intelligence obtained under torture from the Uzbek Security Services, via the U.S. We should stop,' Murray wrote. 'This is morally, legally and practically wrong. The practice 'fatally undermines our moral standing. It obviates my efforts to get the Uzbek government to stop torture; they are fully aware our intelligence community laps up the results.'

"A spokeswoman for the foreign office declined to comment on the memo itself but said: 'Britain never uses torture to get information.' But she added: 'We recognise there is a need for intelligence on counterterrorism to protect the safety of British nationals. It would be irresponsible to rule this information out of hand.'"

""Tortured dupes are forced to sign up to confessions showing what the Uzbek government wants the U.S. and the UK to believe: that they and we are fighting the same war against terror. "I repeat that this material is useless -- we are selling our souls for dross. It is in fact positively harmful," he wrote. "The aim is to convince the West that the Uzbeks are a vital cog against a common foe, that they should keep the assistance, especially military assistance, coming, and they should mute the international criticism on human rights and economic reform."

Seymour Hersh rails against the Iraq disaster: "'How could eight or nine neoconservatives come and take charge of this government?' he asked.... You guys do not begin to understand what you've done, where you have put yourself in the Arab world [as a result of Abu Ghraib] ... "

"[A US lieutenant] had hired 30 or so Iraqis to guard a local granary. A few weeks passed. They got to know the men they hired, and to like them. Then orders came down from Baghdad that the village would be "cleared." Another platoon from the soldier's company came and executed the Iraqi granary guards. All of them.

""He said they just shot them one by one. And his people, and he, and the villagers of course, went nuts," Hersh said quietly. "He was hysterical, totally hysterical. He went to the company captain, who said, 'No, you don't understand, that's a kill. We got 36 insurgents. Don't you read those stories when the Americans say we had a combat maneuver and 15 insurgents were killed?'

""It's shades of Vietnam again, folks: body counts," Hersh continued. "You know what I told him? I said, 'Fella, you blamed the captain, he knows that you think he committed murder, your troops know that their fellow soldiers committed murder. Shut up. Complete your tour. Just shut up! You're going to get a bullet in the back.' And that's where we are in this war.""

Seymour Hersh rails against the Iraq disaster: "'How could eight or nine neoconservatives come and take charge of this government?' he asked.... You guys do not begin to understand what you've done, where you have put yourself in the Arab world [as a result of Abu Ghraib] ... "

"[A US lieutenant] had hired 30 or so Iraqis to guard a local granary. A few weeks passed. They got to know the men they hired, and to like them. Then orders came down from Baghdad that the village would be "cleared." Another platoon from the soldier's company came and executed the Iraqi granary guards. All of them.

""He said they just shot them one by one. And his people, and he, and the villagers of course, went nuts," Hersh said quietly. "He was hysterical, totally hysterical. He went to the company captain, who said, 'No, you don't understand, that's a kill. We got 36 insurgents. Don't you read those stories when the Americans say we had a combat maneuver and 15 insurgents were killed?'

""It's shades of Vietnam again, folks: body counts," Hersh continued. "You know what I told him? I said, 'Fella, you blamed the captain, he knows that you think he committed murder, your troops know that their fellow soldiers committed murder. Shut up. Complete your tour. Just shut up! You're going to get a bullet in the back.' And that's where we are in this war.""

Seymour Hersh rails against the Iraq disaster: "'How could eight or nine neoconservatives come and take charge of this government?' he asked.... You guys do not begin to understand what you've done, where you have put yourself in the Arab world [as a result of Abu Ghraib] ... "

"[A US lieutenant] had hired 30 or so Iraqis to guard a local granary. A few weeks passed. They got to know the men they hired, and to like them. Then orders came down from Baghdad that the village would be "cleared." Another platoon from the soldier's company came and executed the Iraqi granary guards. All of them.

""He said they just shot them one by one. And his people, and he, and the villagers of course, went nuts," Hersh said quietly. "He was hysterical, totally hysterical. He went to the company captain, who said, 'No, you don't understand, that's a kill. We got 36 insurgents. Don't you read those stories when the Americans say we had a combat maneuver and 15 insurgents were killed?'

""It's shades of Vietnam again, folks: body counts," Hersh continued. "You know what I told him? I said, 'Fella, you blamed the captain, he knows that you think he committed murder, your troops know that their fellow soldiers committed murder. Shut up. Complete your tour. Just shut up! You're going to get a bullet in the back.' And that's where we are in this war.""

Seymour Hersh rails against the Iraq disaster: "'How could eight or nine neoconservatives come and take charge of this government?' he asked.... You guys do not begin to understand what you've done, where you have put yourself in the Arab world [as a result of Abu Ghraib] ... "

"[A US lieutenant] had hired 30 or so Iraqis to guard a local granary. A few weeks passed. They got to know the men they hired, and to like them. Then orders came down from Baghdad that the village would be "cleared." Another platoon from the soldier's company came and executed the Iraqi granary guards. All of them.

""He said they just shot them one by one. And his people, and he, and the villagers of course, went nuts," Hersh said quietly. "He was hysterical, totally hysterical. He went to the company captain, who said, 'No, you don't understand, that's a kill. We got 36 insurgents. Don't you read those stories when the Americans say we had a combat maneuver and 15 insurgents were killed?'

""It's shades of Vietnam again, folks: body counts," Hersh continued. "You know what I told him? I said, 'Fella, you blamed the captain, he knows that you think he committed murder, your troops know that their fellow soldiers committed murder. Shut up. Complete your tour. Just shut up! You're going to get a bullet in the back.' And that's where we are in this war.""

13yo schoolgirl riddled with bullets: "The army has already admitted that the killing of Iman al-Hams in the town of Rafah a week ago was a mistake and that her bag, which it says soldiers thought carried explosives, contained school books. Soldiers have come forward to explain that her body was riddled with 20 bullets because their immediate commander 'confirmed the killing' by shooting two bullets at her already prone body before withdrawing a short distance and then firing a burst of automatic gunfire at the corpse."

13yo schoolgirl riddled with bullets: "The army has already admitted that the killing of Iman al-Hams in the town of Rafah a week ago was a mistake and that her bag, which it says soldiers thought carried explosives, contained school books. Soldiers have come forward to explain that her body was riddled with 20 bullets because their immediate commander 'confirmed the killing' by shooting two bullets at her already prone body before withdrawing a short distance and then firing a burst of automatic gunfire at the corpse."

Sharon's Speech: Decoded Version: " He read out the written text of his speech, word for word, without raising his eyes from the page. It was vital for him to stick to the exact wording, since it was an encoded text. It is impossible to decipher it without breaking the code. And it is impossible to break the code without knowing Ariel Sharon very well indeed.... In his speech, Sharon outlined a whole, detailed - and extremely dangerous - plan. Those who did not understand - Israelis, Palestinians and foreign diplomats - will be unable to react effectively."

"But beneath the road to the implementation of the Sharon Plan there lie two big landmines: the settlers and the Palestinians. The inhabitants of the settlements that are supposed to be "relocated" include some of the most extreme elements of the settlement movement. There is no chance that these will go away peacefully. They will have to be removed by force. That will require a huge military effort."

"If Sharon succeeds in executing his plan, a new chapter in the 100-year old Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be opened. The Palestinians will be crowded into territories that will constitute about 10% of the original territory of Palestine before 1948. They will have no chance of enlarging this territory. On the contrary: they will be afraid of Sharon and his successors trying to remove them from what is left, completing the ethnic cleansing of Eretz Israel.

"Therefore, the Palestinians will fight against this plan, and their struggle will intensify the more it progresses. All possible means will be employed: firing missiles and mortar shells over the separation barrier, sending suicide bombers into Israel, and so on. Probably, the violent fight will spill over into many other countries around the world, both on the ground and in the air. There will be no peace, no security. In the end, the basic factors will be decisive: the endurance of the two peoples, their readiness to continue the bloody fight, with all its economic and social implications, as well as the willingness of the world to look on passively.

"The idea of "unilateral peace" is strikingly original. "Peace without the other side" is a contradiction in terms. Learned people will call it an oxymoron, a Greek term meaning, literally, a sharp folly. Eventually, the fate of this plan will be the same as the fate of all the other grandiose plans put forward by Sharon in his long career. One need only think of the Lebanon war and its price."

Sometime ago the remark was made "not to have read Chomsky is to court real ignorance". The same applies to Uri Avnery. To pay the slightest attention to the likes of Shimon Peres, Barak, Peace Now, New York Times and the like is mere foolishness. The key to understanding is simple enough: distinguish between those who are servants of power, and those who are dissidents.

Avnery also makes some withering comments on the military, intelligence and politics: "Did the analysts lie or did they believe what they said? Each possibility is worse than the other. If the experts lied, they did nothing unusual. It can be said that they did what intelligence people do all over the world: supply their bosses with the information they want to hear. Bush wants to attack Iraq? The CIA provides information about Saddam's WMD. Sharon wants to destroy UNRWA? Army intelligence provides photos of Hansen's rocket launchers.

"Fifty years ago, when foreign correspondents asked me about the credibility of official IDF statements, I used to answer that our army does not lie. One should believe its communiques, without a good reason to the contrary. Those days are long past. When I am asked the same question nowadays, I advise not to believe a single word of army announcements, without good reason to the contrary."

Sharon's Speech: Decoded Version: " He read out the written text of his speech, word for word, without raising his eyes from the page. It was vital for him to stick to the exact wording, since it was an encoded text. It is impossible to decipher it without breaking the code. And it is impossible to break the code without knowing Ariel Sharon very well indeed.... In his speech, Sharon outlined a whole, detailed - and extremely dangerous - plan. Those who did not understand - Israelis, Palestinians and foreign diplomats - will be unable to react effectively."

"But beneath the road to the implementation of the Sharon Plan there lie two big landmines: the settlers and the Palestinians. The inhabitants of the settlements that are supposed to be "relocated" include some of the most extreme elements of the settlement movement. There is no chance that these will go away peacefully. They will have to be removed by force. That will require a huge military effort."

"If Sharon succeeds in executing his plan, a new chapter in the 100-year old Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be opened. The Palestinians will be crowded into territories that will constitute about 10% of the original territory of Palestine before 1948. They will have no chance of enlarging this territory. On the contrary: they will be afraid of Sharon and his successors trying to remove them from what is left, completing the ethnic cleansing of Eretz Israel.

"Therefore, the Palestinians will fight against this plan, and their struggle will intensify the more it progresses. All possible means will be employed: firing missiles and mortar shells over the separation barrier, sending suicide bombers into Israel, and so on. Probably, the violent fight will spill over into many other countries around the world, both on the ground and in the air. There will be no peace, no security. In the end, the basic factors will be decisive: the endurance of the two peoples, their readiness to continue the bloody fight, with all its economic and social implications, as well as the willingness of the world to look on passively.

"The idea of "unilateral peace" is strikingly original. "Peace without the other side" is a contradiction in terms. Learned people will call it an oxymoron, a Greek term meaning, literally, a sharp folly. Eventually, the fate of this plan will be the same as the fate of all the other grandiose plans put forward by Sharon in his long career. One need only think of the Lebanon war and its price."

Sometime ago the remark was made "not to have read Chomsky is to court real ignorance". The same applies to Uri Avnery. To pay the slightest attention to the likes of Shimon Peres, Barak, Peace Now, New York Times and the like is mere foolishness. The key to understanding is simple enough: distinguish between those who are servants of power, and those who are dissidents.

Avnery also makes some withering comments on the military, intelligence and politics: "Did the analysts lie or did they believe what they said? Each possibility is worse than the other. If the experts lied, they did nothing unusual. It can be said that they did what intelligence people do all over the world: supply their bosses with the information they want to hear. Bush wants to attack Iraq? The CIA provides information about Saddam's WMD. Sharon wants to destroy UNRWA? Army intelligence provides photos of Hansen's rocket launchers.

"Fifty years ago, when foreign correspondents asked me about the credibility of official IDF statements, I used to answer that our army does not lie. One should believe its communiques, without a good reason to the contrary. Those days are long past. When I am asked the same question nowadays, I advise not to believe a single word of army announcements, without good reason to the contrary."

Orcinus on the shockingly widespread deployment of 'eliminationist' rhetoric: "We've seen a lot of examples of an openly stated desire to do away with liberalism, particularly by accusing liberals of treason and equating them with 'the enemy,' in the past couple of years.... These all may seem relatively minor when taken individually, until you calculate their widespread effect. The eliminationist message coming from movement conservatives isn't relegated to the fringes, but is broadcast to millions of people. In the arena of mass politics, this can have a profound effect.

"The way this plays out on the ground is an increasingly widespread intolerance, particularly in areas where conservatives dominate, for any vestige of liberalism. Small acts of nastiness and mean-spiritedness become common, and after awhile begin adding up. There's nothing organized, just an environment where politics actually begin to poison our community wells."

Orcinus on the shockingly widespread deployment of 'eliminationist' rhetoric: "We've seen a lot of examples of an openly stated desire to do away with liberalism, particularly by accusing liberals of treason and equating them with 'the enemy,' in the past couple of years.... These all may seem relatively minor when taken individually, until you calculate their widespread effect. The eliminationist message coming from movement conservatives isn't relegated to the fringes, but is broadcast to millions of people. In the arena of mass politics, this can have a profound effect.

"The way this plays out on the ground is an increasingly widespread intolerance, particularly in areas where conservatives dominate, for any vestige of liberalism. Small acts of nastiness and mean-spiritedness become common, and after awhile begin adding up. There's nothing organized, just an environment where politics actually begin to poison our community wells."

Mad Rants From the Right Wing: "Bitter, spiteful and downright bizarre ranting and ravings of the people who now rule America, along with their supporters. Who could forget Barbara Bush on Good Morning America: 'Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many...It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?'

"Or Ann Coulter, opining: 'My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building.' Or George W. Bush to the Palestinian Prime Minister: 'God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you can help me, I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them.'

"At first you will laugh, but keep in mind what Sidney Blumenthal, who wrote an insightful introduction, noted: 'You may read and laugh, but, remember, they mean it.'"

Mad Rants From the Right Wing: "Bitter, spiteful and downright bizarre ranting and ravings of the people who now rule America, along with their supporters. Who could forget Barbara Bush on Good Morning America: 'Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many...It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?'

"Or Ann Coulter, opining: 'My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building.' Or George W. Bush to the Palestinian Prime Minister: 'God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you can help me, I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them.'

"At first you will laugh, but keep in mind what Sidney Blumenthal, who wrote an insightful introduction, noted: 'You may read and laugh, but, remember, they mean it.'"

Project for the OLD American Century: On the internet, discussion of America's frightening slide into fascism is rampant; however, any such discussion has yet to penetrate the corporate media in the slightest. It could therefore come as a huge shock.

Project for the OLD American Century: On the internet, discussion of America's frightening slide into fascism is rampant; however, any such discussion has yet to penetrate the corporate media in the slightest. It could therefore come as a huge shock.

Israeli Think Tank: Iraq War Distracted US, 'Created Momentum' for Terrorists: "The war in Iraq did not damage international terror groups, but instead distracted the United States from confronting other hotbeds of Islamic militancy and actually ``created momentum'' for many terrorists, a top Israeli security think tank said in a report released Monday. President Bush has called the war in Iraq an integral part of the war on terrorism, saying that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hoped to develop unconventional weapons and could have given them to Islamic militants across the world.

"But the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said that instead of striking a blow against Islamic extremists, the Iraq war ``has created momentum for many terrorist elements, but chiefly al-Qaida and its affiliates.'' Jaffee Center director Shai Feldman said the vast amount of money and effort the United States has poured into Iraq has deflected attention and assets from other centers of terrorism, such as Afghanistan.

"The concentration of U.S. intelligence assets in Iraq ``has to be at the expense of being able to follow strategic dangers in other parts of the world,'' he said. Shlomo Brom, a retired Israeli army general, said the U.S.-led effort was strategically misdirected. If the goal in the war against terrorism is ``not just to kill the mosquitos but to dry the swamp,'' he said, ``now it's quite clear'' that Iraq ``is not the swamp.''"

Yet another report to add to the seemingly endless list of expert testimony regarding the obvious, that the war on Iraq has nothing to do with the 'war on terror' (anymore than it has to do with WMDs) but is instead a colonial/imperialist exercise which obviously increases the risk of international terrorism. But the Anglo-Saxon governments of UKUSA continue the relentless, massive lying on this score and basically get away with it. What a strange world we live in.

Israeli Think Tank: Iraq War Distracted US, 'Created Momentum' for Terrorists: "The war in Iraq did not damage international terror groups, but instead distracted the United States from confronting other hotbeds of Islamic militancy and actually ``created momentum'' for many terrorists, a top Israeli security think tank said in a report released Monday. President Bush has called the war in Iraq an integral part of the war on terrorism, saying that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hoped to develop unconventional weapons and could have given them to Islamic militants across the world.

"But the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said that instead of striking a blow against Islamic extremists, the Iraq war ``has created momentum for many terrorist elements, but chiefly al-Qaida and its affiliates.'' Jaffee Center director Shai Feldman said the vast amount of money and effort the United States has poured into Iraq has deflected attention and assets from other centers of terrorism, such as Afghanistan.

"The concentration of U.S. intelligence assets in Iraq ``has to be at the expense of being able to follow strategic dangers in other parts of the world,'' he said. Shlomo Brom, a retired Israeli army general, said the U.S.-led effort was strategically misdirected. If the goal in the war against terrorism is ``not just to kill the mosquitos but to dry the swamp,'' he said, ``now it's quite clear'' that Iraq ``is not the swamp.''"

Yet another report to add to the seemingly endless list of expert testimony regarding the obvious, that the war on Iraq has nothing to do with the 'war on terror' (anymore than it has to do with WMDs) but is instead a colonial/imperialist exercise which obviously increases the risk of international terrorism. But the Anglo-Saxon governments of UKUSA continue the relentless, massive lying on this score and basically get away with it. What a strange world we live in.

Climate Fear as Carbon Levels Soar: "An unexplained and unprecedented rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere two years running has raised fears that the world may be on the brink of runaway global warming.... where the planet's soaring temperature becomes impossible to contain. As the icecaps melt, less sunlight is reflected back into space from ice and snow, and bare rocks begin to absorb more heat. This is already happening."

Climate Fear as Carbon Levels Soar: "An unexplained and unprecedented rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere two years running has raised fears that the world may be on the brink of runaway global warming.... where the planet's soaring temperature becomes impossible to contain. As the icecaps melt, less sunlight is reflected back into space from ice and snow, and bare rocks begin to absorb more heat. This is already happening."

Howard returned with increased majority; close to winning majority in Senate: Howard's unexpectedly large victory combined with near control of the senate could see him implement the corporate/conservative neoliberal agenda: privatisation (Telstra, education, health, welfare); regressive tax changes; deregulation (environmental, social and labor legislation); de-unionisation (corporate profits to be enhanced at expense of wages, conditions, and rights); media monopoly (enhanced corporate media combined with erosion of public broadcasting); authoritarianism (increased police powers and erosion of civil liberties, scapegoating of minorities including asylum seekers); and electoral changes (ie, abolition of proportional representation in the senate, compulsory voting and public funding) designed to entrench the conservative agenda and make it difficult to reverse. Efforts to address the global envionmental crisis will be suppressed or ignored. And of course a renewed commitment to pre-1914 colonialism, imperialism, and lawlessness in international affairs. Needless to say none of this is in the interests of the public, but neither did the official Labor opposition make any effective or thoroughgoing attempt to expose this agenda or develop a democratic alternative.

Howard returned with increased majority; close to winning majority in Senate: Howard's unexpectedly large victory combined with near control of the senate could see him implement the corporate/conservative neoliberal agenda: privatisation (Telstra, education, health, welfare); regressive tax changes; deregulation (environmental, social and labor legislation); de-unionisation (corporate profits to be enhanced at expense of wages, conditions, and rights); media monopoly (enhanced corporate media combined with erosion of public broadcasting); authoritarianism (increased police powers and erosion of civil liberties, scapegoating of minorities including asylum seekers); and electoral changes (ie, abolition of proportional representation in the senate, compulsory voting and public funding) designed to entrench the conservative agenda and make it difficult to reverse. Efforts to address the global envionmental crisis will be suppressed or ignored. And of course a renewed commitment to pre-1914 colonialism, imperialism, and lawlessness in international affairs. Needless to say none of this is in the interests of the public, but neither did the official Labor opposition make any effective or thoroughgoing attempt to expose this agenda or develop a democratic alternative.