Page

From The Terraces- by Jay Nair

Video

Did You Know?

Blog

Life as TV by Phoebe Vidler

Game

Zero Punctuation: Dragon Age: Origins

Art

Four Guys - The Beatles

Firefox 3

Recommended browser

Google Earth

View the planet.

Irfan View

A very cool free image viewer.

Super Obama World

Super Mario Flash Game Restyled for Obama

I Made This. You Play This. We Are Enemies

Dadaist deconstruction of new media, as a flash game.

Tardigrades

Everything you need to know about microscopic water bears

Slashdot

News for nerds

The Virtual Absinthe Museum

For lovers of the Green Fairy

Twelve Canoes

Stories and art from Australia's Yolgnu people

Greg Egan's Home Page

Australia's best science fiction author

Earthquake Watch

Did the earth just move?

Fair Go, Fairfax

Don't discount journalism

Warren Ellis dot com

Novelist and comic book legend's homepage

Maison d'Ailleurs

Museum of science fiction, utopia and extraordinary journeys

W3C Consortium

Developing tech to get the internet to its full potential

Pirate Party Australia

Free Culture, Open Government, Liberty

Wildmind

Online Buddhist meditation

Australian National Council on Drugs

Reducing harm from drug use

Pakistan: Battle for Waziristan tribal area looms in northwest

Pakistan's army is planning in the next few days to launch a major offensive in the northwest tribal area and Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, according to senior military and security officials. They have described the offensive as "the mother of all battles"- Adnkronos International

"We are ready. The environment is ready,’ the senior officer said. But military officials also admit volatile Waziristan will not be an easy battle. "It will not be a walkover. This is going to be casualty-intensive hard fighting. The nation will have to bear the pain," said another officer.

For three months, the military has been drawing up plans, holding in-depth deliberations and carrying out studies on past expeditions to make what seems to be the last grand stand against the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban) in the Mehsud tribal heartland a success.

"If we don’t take the battle to them, they will bring the battle to us," a senior military official said of the militants. "The epicentre of the behemoth called the Taliban lies in South Waziristan, and this is where we will be fighting the toughest of all battles." The military has lost more than three hundred of its soldiers in the troubled northwestern Swat valley in the past five months. Security forces claim to have defeated Islamist militants bent on imposing a strict form of sharia law in Swat and the surrounding Malakand division.

Mehsud is believed to have been killed in an airstrike in South Waziristan on 6 August, and the Taliban to have become a fragmented force. "The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan as a monolithic organisation remains no more," a security official claimed. Thousands of army soldiers — two divisions — are now sitting on the fringes of the Mehsud heartland waiting for orders from the high command to move in. A debate is raging within some circles whether the military could have mounted an assault shortly after Mehsud's death. "As far as we are concerned the operation should have been launched three months ago," a senior government official said.

A lack of extra troops and resources was a factor in the delay in launching the offensive, the official said. An economic blockade of the area has been in place for almost three months and the military has been sitting on its fringes, firing artillery and fighting off attacks from seemingly desperate Mehsud fighters. The army is also running out of targets for precision air strikes due to intelligence problems. Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani recently described Waziristan as an intelligence black hole.

"We have to move in," he said. Military planners hope that by moving in physically, they would be able to garner crucial support from reluctant Mehsud tribesmen to provide intelligence. In another boon for the army, a large number of Mehsud tribesmen have already relocated to Dera Ismail Khan and Tank in neighbouring North West Frontier Province, giving a relatively free hand to the high command to mount a massive operation in an area that extends over 2,419 square kilometres.

But all agree that the battle ahead is formidable. Questions remain over whether the army will be able to hold and sustain the operation in what is widely believed to be tough and inhospitable terrain. Weather may also play a significant role in shaping up the battle in a place where temperature drops to 20 degrees centigrade below freezing point in winters. But military strategists say the weather problem should affect the militants more than the troops.

To strengthen their defences, Mehsuds have the support of some two thousand ferocious fighters. The total strength of the Mehsud-Uzbek tribesmen and non-local Pakistani militants is believed to be 6,000-7,000. "It is going to be a battle with the Uzbeks more than anybody else," one officer said. In line with their tradition, the officer said, the Mehsuds may try and stoke tension elsewhere in Pakistan. Suicide bombings are their most time-tested and lethal weapon. Already, 71 people were killed in six suicide bombings in the NWFP last month. Militant Qari Hussain, the mastermind of suicide bombings in Pakistan, has already issued a chilling warning to unleash his bombers and "inflict pain" to avenge the deaths of Baitullah Mehsud and new Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud's brother.

Kaleemullah Mehsud was killed on Monday in a shootout with security forces in the militant stronghold of North Waziristan. To hamper any military movements, the militants are believed to have planted improvised explosive devices and fortified their positions.

"They are as much ready for the battle as we are," a senior official maintained.

"Let"s not assume that the battle will be over in three to four days. It may take us three to four weeks. We have done our homework and are ready for the battle. But in the final analysis, it is God's will that will determine the course of action," the official remarked.

Published at Adnkronos International, click view for more information

Iraq War Over: Troops to Return Immediately

By Jude Shinbin
Published: July 4th, 2009

WASHINGTON - Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom were brought to an unceremonious close today with a quiet announcement by the Department of Defense that troops would be home within weeks.

. . read more

Reinventing the Evil Empire - From Stephen Lendman

29 aug | For the West, everything changed but stayed the same, hard-wired and in place. Things just lay dormant in the shadows during the Yeltsin years, certain to reemerge once a more resolute Russian leader took over. If not Vladimir Putin, someone else little different.

Russia is back, proud and reassertive, and not about to roll over for America. Especially in Eurasia. For Washington, it's back to the future, the new Cold War, and reinventing the Evil Empire, but this time for greater stakes and with much larger threats to world peace. Conservatives lost their influence. Neocons are weakened but still dominant. The Israeli Lobby and Christian Right drive them. Conflict is preferred over diplomacy, and most Democrats go along to look tough on "terrorism"...

Not a major media hint that Georgia is a U.S. vassal state. That its military is an extension of the Pentagon. That its aggression was manufactured in Washington. That it's well-supplied and trained by America and Israel. That pipeline geopolitics is central. Beating up on Russia as well. Diverting Moscow from any planned intervention against Iran. Even enlisting Russia's cooperation - not to sell Iran sophisticated S-300 air defense missile systems and agreeing to tougher sanctions in return for perhaps Washington deferring on Georgian and Ukrainian NATO admission and recognizing S. Ossetian and Abkhazian independence. Perhaps more as well to put off greater confrontation for later under a new administration.

Clearly, however, the fuse is lit. It has been for some time. It relates to everything strategic about this vital area with its immense energy and other resources as well neutralizing Russia's power as America's top rival and key Eurasian competitor. [More] . . read more

Is War With Russia On The U.S. Agenda? - From Paul Craig Roberts

27 aug | Two decades ago, President Reagan reached agreement with Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev to end the dangerous cold war. But every one of Reagan’s successors has sought to pick a new fight with Russia. In violation of the agreement, NATO has been taken to Russia’s borders, and the U.S. is determined to put former constituent parts of Russia herself into NATO. In an effort to neutralize Russia’s nuclear deterrent and compromise her independence, the U.S. is putting anti-ballistic missile bases on Russia’s borders. The gratuitously aggressive US military policy toward Russia will lead to nuclear war.

I am confident that if Americans elect John McCain, or the Republicans steal another presidential election, there will be nuclear war in the second decade of the 21st century. The neocon lies, propaganda, macho flag-waving, and use of U.S. foreign policy in the interests of a few military-security firms, oil companies, and Israel are all leading in that direction.

The November election is perhaps the last chance to avoid nuclear war. But the opportunity might already have been missed. The Republicans have chosen as their candidate one of the most ignorant warmongers alive. The Democrats’ choice was between one of the most divisive women in America and a man of mixed race with a funny name. Considering American’s taste for war, the Democratic candidate could fail to defeat the GOP war candidate. [More]

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. . . read more

Welcome to the Future - Living in 3 Time Zones

20 may | The latest video blog post from futurist Richard Neville: From Socrates to insanity, a descent into a world where the threats keep multiplying despite the best intentions of visionary activists. . . read more

Barack Obama on Iraq

20 feb | As Barack Obama moves ahead of Hillary Clinton in the race to be U.S. President he is being criticised for high ideas but few solid policies. But he's always been against George Bush's mistaken trillion dollar war in Iraq and here outlines his future plans. . . read more

The AfPak Blues - From Richard Neville

11 may |

Millions of warm hearted, fair minded humans live in America, though few are part of the military. If they were, perhaps the carnage could be kept under control. To Americans with a conscience I say - get a grip on what's going on Afghanistan and Pakistan, reign in the White House. To Australians - pull your head out of the keg, ignore the heartwarming hype about "building infrastructure" - we're part of a pitiless war machine.

It started as a revenge for 9/11, easy as shooting quails in a barrel. "Kill the bastards" screamed Murdoch's pet Aussie ranter in the New York Post, "a gunshot between the eyes ... blow their countries into basketball courts". And we did. In Afghanistan, the US bombed anything that wasn't a US franchise, which was ... everything: wedding parties, funerals, family compounds, villages, the Al Jazeera office ...

Back in January 2002, Marc Herold told ABC radio that a "realistic' estimate of civilian deaths since the invasion was 5000. Every year since, the slaughter continued.

In 2008, according to the New York Times, American led coalition forces killed 828 civilians, mostly "in airstrikes and raids on villages, which are often conducted at night".

A few days ago, these same gutless idiots operating in the Western province of Farah, allegedly killed over 100 civilians and are trying to blame it on the Taliban. "No that's not true" said an MP from the area, Mujammad Naeem Farahi, "and I am someone who supports the American presence". US Defence Secretary Robert Gates promises to "make amends". Look at the images. This isn't flushing out militants. It's a killing field.

And the murders continue in Pakistan, often hatched and executed from Creech Air Force base in Nevada, where the silent drones glide into the skies every few minutes armed to the teeth.

So far, the "success rate" of drone assassins is abysmal. Two percent of the targeted "bad guys" are killed, and the rest of the dead - 98 percent - are innocent civilians. Today families in Swat are caught in the crossfire. Imran Khan has asked, "what country bombs its own people?" A country caught between a weak leader and an hysterical overlord. The US enforced battle "started without warning and their shells smashed our houses and wounded so many people," a fleeing resident told the UK Telegraph,"it was needless. The Taliban had already gone." Mohammed Aurangzeb, a former ruler of Swat says: "Far more people have been killed by the army than by the Taliban during military operations."

Kathy Kelly, a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, asks: "Can we see a pattern in the way that the U.S. government sells or markets yet another war strategy in an area of the world where the U.S. wants to dominate other people's precious resources and control or develop transportation routes?" You bet we can.

And so Prime Minister Rudd, Defence Chief, Angus Houston and the mainstream media, will you continue to lecture us on the "noble cause" in AfPak? Will you conjure Tobruk, summon up the ANZACS, defend the valor of drone assassinations? Will you dare to cast a glance at the butchered children. No, not the sanitised images in our nursery-maid media, but the true life horrors - corpses of kids by the truckload.

Will the pilots get punished? They'll get medals. The bereaved might get a fistful of dollars. The odious Taliban will get new recruits.

Aussie soldiers have unwittingly killed their share of innocents. Now our Special Operations Task Group is reportedly carrying out hunt & kill missions that are proudly linked to the Vietnam-era Phoenix Program. This was a lawless torture and execution squad that targeted civilians and is remembered as "the most indiscriminate and massive program of political murder since the Nazi death camps of world war two." From 1968 to Aug 72, about 26,369 South Viietnamese civilians were slaughted. All for what?

In the past month, 438 bombs have been dropped on Afghanistan, and the tally keeps rising. Hillary Clinton expresses "sincere regret" at the 100 plus deaths, while Obama turns up the heat. This is a war of shame and sadness, a war that reveals what hollow humans we have become, a war that reflects the insatiable appetite of the West for conquest, killing and self delusion. Yet we still think we are the good guys.

. . read more

Previous | Next

President goes up in gas?- by Sean Maguire

So the very unknown Belgian PM Herman van Rompuy, has been elected as EU President- taking up a position that could be instrumental in the future of the region and global international relations in general.

Only a day later, on the opposite and non-EU side of Europe, Russian and Ukrainian officials met, with Putin announcing that he would be easing gas supply terms to a neighbour that is crucial for Russia's European pipelines.

Is it too cynical to think this isn't it a coincidence?

Is it unreasonable to think that as Putin spins a tighter trade web with Former Soviet Republics that this could be his attempt to stand tall and unthreatened by a stronger EU?

Turning Chinese-by Sean Maguire

So Obama is on a whirlwind tour through Asia, espousing the message of 'Pacific' solidarity. On his trip he's been preaching that "the rise of a strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations" and that the US "does not seek to contain" China's rise as a big player on the world stage.

Yet what other choice does the US and Obama have?

The political realities of today tell us that the world and its international institutions will soon be distorted as another lumbering giant enters the fray. It's also a reality that for any successful tomorrow China will have to feature prominently; something that due to inherent cultural and governmental differences will cause friction with the established Western/Free Market model so deeply ingrained in today's thinking.

So how seriously can we believe Obama? Well really we'll just have to wait and see, but if history tells us anything, the rise of China will be anything but 'pacific'.

Bytes of Bites- From The Outsider

Lance Kavanaugh, Senior Product Counsel for YouTube, explained at a meeting in Sydney, that every minute of every day, YouTube uploads 20 hours of videos. So for you to review just one day’s content will take you three years!

Uploads are limited to 10 minutes. YouTube is, thus, doing for video media what tabloids did for news media. Little bits of stuff. Lots of them. Not too taxing on the brain cells and who cares about what’s missing!

It strikes me that Tweets present a similar dynamic. Max 140 characters – including spaces. Frame on.

It’s small wonder cigarettes, McDonalds and iTunes are so popular.

The Weekday Walk of Shame- by Dr Rubber Glove

Another day, another shambling trip home hung-over. The day, like every other post-drunk night was a blur; like cotton-wool had covered my brain, sounds were softer and every movement was an exercise in pain and regret.

And it was all the worse that it was a Thursday afternoon.

School kids were on excursions, young mums pushed prams, and bright happy people looked bright happy and healthy. I though walked through them like I was walking through mud and to cap it off I looked like something that had crawled out from under a slimy rock.

If it was a Saturday or Sunday then this feeling would be oddly exhilarating. I would know that everybody tut-tutting me was really just jealous and that they were looking back wistfully to a time where a couple of days a week could be written off to doing nothing.

A Thursday though is different, nobody looked at me with envy, nobody really even looked at me at all. I was a solid shadow that people tried to look through and it made me feel all the worse for it.

Energy agency warns of 'irreparable' damage- by Jim Giles

Take all the power stations in the United States. Together, they produce almost 1000 gigawatts of electricity - enough to boil several billion kettles simultaneously.

Now imagine building another five power stations for every one that already exists in the United States. That is about the amount of electricity generation that the world is on track to add over the next 20 years.

And three-quarters of the new stations will use fossil fuels. These startling figures were released today by the International Energy Agency. The agency predicts that between a quarter and a third of the new capacity will be built in China, which generates over 40 per cent of its electricity from coal. This will lead to huge increases in carbon dioxide emissions.

The agency has previously said that the current recession has helped rein in emissions, but that effect will not last. The report predicts that 40 billion tonnes of CO2 will be emitted worldwide in 2030, around twice the figure for 1990.

That would put us on a path towards a future in which atmospheric carbon dioxide levels top 1000 parts per million and average global temperature rise by up to 6 °C. Many scientists think that that our goal should be a maximum rise of 2 °C and that 4 °C would cause severe flooding and drought.

The agency describes our current trajectory as almost certain to cause "irreparable" damage to the planet. We are not, of course, locked into this future. The agency's calculation come from a modelling exercise in which we continue on the path we are on now, rather than switch to low-carbon technologies like solar power.

Many governments have already committed to changes, albeit limited ones, so the most dire aspects of the agency's predictions will not come to pass. But they are a useful reminder of just how wrong things will go if we do not take action.

Originally published at New Scientist, click view for more information

Viral app has jail broken iPhones Rick Rolled- by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon

The viral 'Rickrolling' campaign, that inadvertently tricked people into playing Rick Astley's 1987 hit "Never Going to Give you Up" has recently hit Australian iPhones, leaving users in a panic as so far, there is no antidote. Researchers are saying this attack is the world's first iPhone worm, which targets jail broken iPhones (which for the layman are phones that have been unlocked from the service provider).

For the layman as well, when a user jailbreaks an iPhone they are able to access the thousands of applications that didn't conform to the apple guidelines (i.e porn), however it makes the iPhone vulnerable as the terms of the warranty are automatically void.

The worm, aware of this fact, operates by showing a picture of Rick Astley, with the wall paper displaying the message "ikee is never going to give you up". Users who tried to delete the image, found they were unsuccessful when they rebooted their phone.

The hacker 'ikee' who has claimed responsibility for the worm, said that he wanted to bring awareness to the danger of failing to change the iPhones root password, which is a step that is so often forgotten by users.

So far the worm is only in Australia, however now that the idea has surfaced I feel there will be a lot of copycat hackers. So, if you do jailbreak your iPhone make sure to change the root password to avoid these nasty complications.

Graffiti Laws by Sebastien Miller

Nathan Rees recently implemented harsh new laws regarding graffiti and street art. The disgruntled Premier of NSW believes the possession of a can of spray-paint is worth a maximum of six months imprisonment for youth, provided they can’t justify themselves. Along with the introduction of these laws, Rees has announced his plans for an annual graffiti clean-up day, an event that doesn’t share the same promise (but certainly the same scaffolding) as Clean up Australia Day.

Six months is substantial amount of time for the possession of a can of paint, especially considering the leniency of the police and courts regarding drug possession charges. When did spray-paint overtake smack in the great race of illegal possessions? Not to mention these laws are directed mainly at minors; is it really worth locking kids up over something as trivial as this?

What we are lacking is street-art with class. The Premier does live in Western Sydney, and it’s no secret that things are done a little differently out that way, so maybe he’s getting the wrong impression of DIY urban decoration. But how is it graffiti manages to look so fucking cool all over the world, except in the glorious City of Sydney? Riddle me that.

Go Banksy, go!

Feedback

7 jul

The HomepageDAILY community likes to co-create both content and process. What are you thinking right now about what we do and how we do it? Tell us about the news, videos and stories and anything else you see on HPD. What you like, what you don't like, what you'd like to see in future. Recommend a website, video or article; send us pix, new stories - share it with us and by so doing you are giving us permission to share it with the world.

Leave Feedback here

*********************************

Re: Commoditisation of aboriginal art

dear jack do you know anything about the history of Aboriginal 'art'??? Your speculation seems based on complete ignorance of the fact that Aboriginal art was invented for white buyers - the Aborigines themselves having survived 40,000 years without needing to give their lore and laws, myths and legends and rules for survival in a hostile climate any permanent form. It was only our attempts to assimilate them into our 'society' that drove the link to canvas - though the money we paid for their art was a nice bonus, and shouldn't be ignored as a continuing motive for painting. cheers - jeremy

*********************************

Re: Farmers and ETS

Thank you for your commentary about farmers in a world of changing climate. Here in the Pacific NW we are not as aware of it as some other places. Our Transition Town group hosted author William Catton last night, who wrote a prophetic book called "Overshoot" back in 1980. During the discussion, a local fish biologist pointed out that of all industries, farmers are the only ones constantly limited by nature. The rest of the world ( with a few exceptions like fishermen or foresters) really do not seem to make their living in a world of limited by forces beyond their control--- or so they imagine. There is a fundamental sanity in these other ways of life that our culture is unwilling to hear. It runs away from the voice of limitation. I think farmers have a lot to teach the world. We always thought there was something wholesome about farming and I think this is exactly it; a lack of hubris. How many slaps in the face will it take before people come to their senses? - Anna Willis

*********************************

Re: Turning Chinese

Obama is just a puppet of the Corporate elites.He has not recinded the Patriot Act,Bushes' presidential orders nor habius corpus.Presently ,we have corporate facism. - Ross

*********************************

Re: Why Won't God Heal Amputees?

it seems that your whole point and discussion is aimed at christianity. what you state is pretty thought provoking and maybe true but one thing that i have to say is that maybe the whole religion thing has just been corrupted by people and that maybe god does exist.... nomatter all the scientific bull that you and other people can come up with, there are still things that you and scientist just cant explain. ie youe exsistance and the fact that you as a human have suchbrain capacity to do what you do today, and why there is such an order in nature "ofcoures humans always fuck up the order" everything on earth is one complex puzzle that works and you and everyone found it working. not only earth but even beyond to space and shit. now you can say that all this came from a bang and what ever but even if you believe that, what created the platform for that bang and why this place and stuff. just too many things dont add up to just say there is no god. and i think most of these motherfuckers miss the point of this religious shit anyway. because god is not a religion but a spiritual bond. dont be fooled by sensationalism and think that god does not exist cos he does. at least for me. the only problem with this now is that humans have sensationalised everything to make thier shit the best and in part have missed the whole point of god. every human bieng needs something to hold on to. even you and weather it is the image of god that people have painted or not is irrelevent. there is something that you believe in.. you might not go to church and get on your knees but its just part of human nature to associate yourself with something. it could be a superstition or eating chocolate coated roaches whatever you like fact is some things are just bigger than our rational. hope to get a responce from you - esco

*********************************

Re: Safran sure to offend, but who cares?

It is an interesting question to pursue "And, is there a ratio that exists where the amount of people offended compared to those that weren't makes something objectively racist?" I suppose the most right answer to whether something is racist or not can only come about democratically. By asking people if they find it racist. Even then (in this currently impossible world where people who want to vote on everything) who gets to vote? Hopefully I do. How do I cast my vote? At the moment I abstain. - Joshua Genner

*********************************

Re: The Pointless Question of "What is Art?"

You're article serves as a blatant example of people's lack of knowledge/interest in the contemporary art scene. Some of the most profound and revealing conversations stem from dicussions of art, politics and religion so why label them taboo subject matter? why not let the idiots add in their artistic two cents, because who knows what could happen? a change of opinion... an education... a flash of interest? Perhaps you and your friends to venture down to the COFA 09 annual exhibit and see some 200 fresh sydney artists emerge onto the art scene, unless it's too boring/inane. - Kara

*********************************

Re: The Pointless Question of "What is Art?"

I dare say the question is not pointless but rather is made pointless by overcomplications of academia and peripherals of market and status, in which Sean appears to have gotten bogged down notwithstanding the word limit. One of the things we do know about art for a fact is that we humans appear to have always had it around from the caves (who can forget the fetching bison from Alta Mira!) So the issue is cutting through the baggage of history as old as humanity to get back to the fundamentals. It took me about 35 years of research but does not take 100 words. It is this: "Art is something that is designed to communicate thoughts and feelings and to influence our thoughts and feeling through one or more of our senses."(25 words) Since we have space, a rider: "The particular art form is qualified by the particular senses involved in production and reception of that communication. If Sound then Music, If body then Dance. If we use eyes to perceive colour and shape we call it Visual art." How you work the item in question is the matter of objectivity after all some of us eat fruit raw and others make jam. If you choose to make art an investment go for it, if you choose to make it a status symbol you won't be the first. However, in my book, art is really the best at being art and in the immortal words of one Oscar Wilde, for any other purpose "All art is quite useless" - Valerie (Co-incidental author of "Why Art? The Pocket Art Expert)

*********************************

Re: John Safran ready for when skit hits the fan

The only aspect of "multiculturalism" we (or any western society)have accepted, revolves around food: sweet and sour chicken or donner kebab..nothing else is relevent, interesting or in anyway beneficial to us. The Cronulla riots were seen as well overdue by most people abroad, we should be proud of standing up to and rejecting ethnic gangs from our pure shores - "Peter Piper"

*********************************

Re: Brassed off about creationism- by Andy Coghlan

This is why we need change in Texas and why I'm running for State Board of Education. - Rebecca Bell-Metereau (www.voterebecca.com)

*********************************

Re: The Rape Tunnel

It astonishes and intrigues me this 'shock art' Being a over zealous muscled ex con looking for love, where could one find Richard Whitehursts hole?

*********************************

Re: ETS Voted Down: Rudd Proves Himself An Evil Genius

Nice to see such an insightful article, despite the snide comments.. Did you read the Quarterly Essay by Guy Pearse in writing the first 5 paragraphs- not that that's a bad thing really. Nice of you to widen your vision beyond the road ahead and take in some history- but I would add one thing- that as it stands (in the senate, especially with Steve Fielding) we won't have a real, meaningful ETS passed. The bummer is that even with a double dissolution election and the resultant simultaneous sitting of both houses of parliament (which as you point out, the greens/minor parties and labor would benefit from) would still not change the ETS from it's current configuration- not unless the Greens tripled their vote. Silly that it all came down to labor preferences to a little known party led by a little know bloke named Steve Fielding and Family First- not that that should be the reason we're in this predicament... - Shaun Lambert

*********************************

Re: Evil Capitalists

In response to the "100 Words" on Psychotic Capitalism: The statement, "only psychotics fail to distinguish right from wrong," has a semantic problem. What makes a person psychotic is the inability to recognize that, theoretically, actions or behavior can be right and wrong. A psychologically normal person can do this by age 5. But well- intentioned people constantly disagree about which actions are right and wrong in particular situations. This evening my husband and I re- watched "Zeitgeist--- Addendum" on youtube. We had to restrain ourselves from a festival of paranoia, anger and frustration at what appears to be an evil plot to enslave us all, to bleed us like pods in The Matrix. I cannot argue against the idea that Capitalism--- looked at as a planetary movement--- seems heartlessly destructive, yet there is no single person or even group of Illuminati to blame --- we are willing participants in this plot to rule the world, exploit the human race, rape Mother Earth. All of us are not psychotic, rather we are doing what seems right, and we are following norms set by our culture and community. I personally do my best to support those lawmakers who help us define right at wrong at the transpersonal level--- where this kind of crime being committed, with vast and ultimately very personal consequences. Indeed people can be stupider and meaner in groups than singly --- but whatever the right word is for that, it is not psychotic. Our real problem is that we seem incapable of seeing consequences beyond the local and immediate, we are selfish and shortsighted. But the writer is right: stupid, mean, selfish, shortsighted --- these terms trivialize the unfathomable crimes of Capitalists and their sheep-like dupes. - Anna Willis

*********************************

Re: Ethics Implicit?

There is one place where ethics is not "implicit everywhere" and that is television and the media generally - the only ethic is win the audience. This is the toxic environment "informing" students. - Terry McGee

*********************************

Re: Australia's Swine Flu vaccination plan

The word "pandemic" has absolutely nothing to do with a deadly disease taking over the planet. The definition of "Pandemic" is simply about the SPREAD of a disease. Any disease. It could be a relatively harmless disease like the Swine Flu, to maybe a more harmful type (like normal seasonal influenza). Nothing to do with how bad or how good it is to your health ... just how WIDESPREAD it is. That is the interpretation of "Pandemic". A word that is nothing to be scared about, but just a measure of the SPREAD of any disease (harmful or relatively harmless) around the globe. The original "Spanish Flu" in 1819 killed 50 to 100 million people worldwide. Swine Flu deaths to date? 2,800 or so. Compare this to up to 500,000 deaths worldwide from our ongoing "Seasonal Flu". People need to see things in perspective. Swine Flu is a mild flu. No need for risky & possibly dangerous vaccinations. No need to be scared. In fact NO NEED TO DO ANYTHING. Just stay cool and take whatever vitamins & health supplements that are appropriate. Good luck & stay informed. - Tim

*********************************

Re: Kabul-shit

A nice puncture of the ADF's mad illusions. Shooting civvies in another land used to be called murder, now we pretend its nation building. It must have struck a chord. General Jim Molan, the butcher of Fallujah, who used white phosphorous & put snipers on hospital rooftops, raves in today's SMH about staying true to the mission. What is it with these guys? Untold deaths in Iraq, bombs still exploding, millions of refugees ... and this guy thinks he's a genius. - Tina G

*********************************

Re: Why we shouldn't care about he loneliness of the University Liberal

While you have managed to approach, with a complete lack of understanding and sensitivity, the complaints of the many people who feel alienated by the overtly leftist university agenda, I also think that you have failed to address the concerns of an increasingly disenfranchised leftist populace. The article was concerning the Left Handed bigots, not the personal politics of either of the 4 people mentioned. Their concern was not with, as you pointlessly attacked, their political beliefs, but rather with their freedom to express their beliefs and how they were treated on campus because of them. I write this as a disenfranchised leftist. Apparently, freedom of speech on campus somehow took a backseat to the far left's bigotry, however well intentioned they thought it was originally. I'm not right; I'm not left. But fuck anybody that tries to censure me and revoke my right to freedom of speech, merely for believing in a political party. Anyone that thinks that's OK, well simply look up the definition of fascist. - I Swing My Vote

*********************************

12 sep

10 aug

More feedback...

Tags

Related Stories

Iraq War Over: Troops to Return Immediately

Feedback