From the ABC

Howard should convert to Islam: Bashir
By Geoff Thompson in Solo, Central Java

Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir says Prime Minister John Howard should become a Muslim if he wants to avoid going to hell.

The cleric was speaking after his release from a Jakarta prison where he had been serving a sentence related to the 2002 Bali bombings.

While holding a late night press conference in his Ngruki religious boarding school, Abu Bakar Bashir was asked by the ABC if he had a message for Mr Howard when the Prime Minister visits Indonesia later this month.

"I think John Howard should convert to Islam," he said.

 
Meanwhile in the parallel universe of conservative
bed-time history for right-wing raised kiddies... 

From the New York Times 

Bush Discusses Iraq With Top War
Commanders ….. 

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) -- President
Bush declared Monday to a nation weary of war that democracy in the Middle
East is worth the high price to the United States. He also said Iraq's
neighbours should be doing more to help.

Hamas ends truce after beachside shelling .....

Islamic militant group Hamas has
called off a 16-month-old truce with Israel after attacks blamed on
Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, including three children playing on
a beach. 

Israel's army, which had been
shelling northern Gaza to curb rocket fire by militants, says it is
investigating the deaths. 

There is more
to the Prime Minister's family history than modesty, honesty and hard work,
writes David Marr. 

‘The corner of Ewart Street and
Wardell Road in Sydney's Dulwich Hill is sacred ground for John Howard and the
modern Liberal Party. For nearly 30 years, the Prime Minister's father ran a
service station on this spot, setting an example his son thinks Australia
should follow. 

From the ABC …..

Stanhope to appeal to G-G to save civil unions law 

ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope
will appeal to the Governor-General to try to save the Territory's civil
union legislation. 

Prime Minister John Howard and
the federal Attorney-General have announced they will advise the Governor-General
to disallow the law. 

‘“Power,” Harvard Professor Joseph Nye, Jr. tells
us “is the ability to alter the behavior of others to get what you want.
There are basically three ways to do that: coercion (sticks), payments
(carrots), and attraction (soft power).” Today’s American soft power—our
ability to influence others overseas through who we are and what we do—is
shrinking, as poll after poll shows. This loss of soft power reduces
America's ability to shape global developments in ways favorable to the
national interest. What can be done about this? 

 
Lawyers refuse to
undergo new security clearances .....

Lawyers representing a group of
men charged under the Federal Government's anti-terrorism laws say they
may go to the High Court to fight a requirement that they undergo security
clearances. 

Up to 50 lawyers representing the
men are refusing to submit to the clearances that are required under the
new laws. 

‘Something that senior officials call the "war
paradigm" is the Bush administration's central organizing principle. They
do not use the phrase publicly, just among themselves, but they bend policy to
serve it. After Sept. 11, 2001, they instantly adopted the war paradigm without
any internal discussion. George W. Bush, who proclaimed, "I'm a war
president" and insisted that he made decisions "with war on my
mind," assumed the war paradigm as his natural state and right.’ 

PM can't rule out premiums rise
with Medibank sale .....

Prime Minister John Howard says he cannot guarantee insurance premiums
will not rise when the Commonwealth sells Medibank Private. 

The major insurer is expected to be
sold in the next 12 months. 

The Federal Opposition says a
document inviting tenders for the public relations campaign shows Medibank
Private cannot guarantee premiums will not rise, and that it fears a class
action from members. 

From the ABC …..

Prominent Australians' Snowy letter given to Parliament

A letter signed by a group of prominent Australians calling for the sale
of the Snowy Hydro scheme to be suspended has been handed to Federal
Parliament. 

The signatories include former
prime minister Malcolm Fraser, actor Cate Blanchett and poets David Malouf
and Les Murray. 

From the ABC …..

US orders ethical training for troops 

A top US commander in Iraq has
ordered combat troops to be trained to abide by moral and ethical
standards on the battlefield. 

The move is an apparent reference
to allegations Marines killed civilians last year. 

Big Bonuses Still Flow, Even if Bosses Miss Goals

By Gretchen Morgenson
Published: June 1, 2006 

It was the kind of mistake that wage
slaves can only dream of.  

Because of what the company
called an "improper interpretation" of his employment contract, Sheldon
G. Adelson, chairman, chief executive and treasurer of the Las Vegas Sands
Corporation, received US$3.6 million in salary and bonus last year, almost
US$1 million more than prescribed under the company's performance plan. 

from the ABC …..

Andrews brushes off workplace survey 

The Federal Workplace Relations
Minister Kevin Andrews has dismissed a survey that shows that penalty
rates have been removed from more than 60 per cent of agreements under the
new WorkChoices legislation. 

The Office of the Employment
Advocate surveyed 250 employers and found that 63 per cent of new
agreements had no penalty rates, and a similar number had removed leave
loading. 

‘US antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan denounced the
Australian government for its participation in the Iraq war and called for the
release of David Hicks from Guantánamo Bay and the closure of the notorious US
military prison camp at a demonstration in Melbourne last Friday. 

Sheehan rejected US and
Australian government claims that Guantánamo inmates “did not deserve civil
rights” because they were “illegal enemy combatants”. The four-and-a-half-year
incarceration of Hicks, in violation of Geneva Conventions and his basic legal
rights, has been fully endorsed by the Howard government.