‘An article in a leading Norwegian newspaper last weekend lambasted Israel and Judaism and said Israel has lost its right to exist in its present form.

Entitled "God's chosen people," the article by author Jostein Gaarder in Aftenposten is raising a storm in Norway. Gaarder, author of the book "Sophie's World," links the Israel Defense Forces' acts in Lebanon to Jewish history and foresees the coming dismantling of the state as it exists today, with the Jews becoming refugees.

‘George W. Bush knows how to get Generals to concur with his disastrous plans: he fires all that disagree and promotes the numbskulls who agree. When Bush wanted to invade Iraq, General Shinseki warned that it would require a few hundred thousand troops ... not to win the war, but rather to secure the peace. Bush and his people -- Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz chief among them -- disagreed. They fired Shinseki and, of course, we all know now that the General knew exactly what he was talking about and that the President and his people were fools.

‘Embattled wheat exporter AWB has been dealt another blow, with Iraqi citizens seeking massive damages from the company for its role in the oil-for-food kickbacks scandal.

A civil lawsuit, filed in a US court today on behalf of northern Iraqi people, seeks $255 million in damages from AWB in conjunction with action against European bank BNP Paribas.

from the courier mail …..

By Terry Sweetman

December 15

‘Downer no longer has anything to contribute.

‘Slush funds, oil sheiks, prostitutes, Swiss banks, kickbacks, blackmail, bagmen, arms deals, war plans, climbdowns, big lies and Dick Cheney - it's a scandal that has it all, corruption and cowardice at the highest levels, a festering canker at the very heart of world politics, where the War on Terror meets the slaughter in Iraq. Yet chances are you've never heard about it - even though it happened just a few days ago. The fog of war profiteering, it seems, is just as thick as the fog of war.

from The Nation …..

‘Jimmy Carter, by publishing his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, walked straight into the buzz saw that is the Israel lobby. Among the vitriolic attacks on the former President was the claim by Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, that Carter is "outrageous" and "bigoted" and that his book raises "the old canard and conspiracy theory of Jewish control of the media, Congress, and the U.S. government." Many Democratic Party leaders, anxious to keep the Israel lobby's money and support, have hotfooted it out the door, with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing that Carter "does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel."

‘I'm fascinated when ideas that are almost universally embraced as true are also wrong.

Consider the following example, from a New York Times story about Iraq's proposed oil law:

‘The most thoroughly damning aspect of the Bush administration's approach to Iraq - that is, if you discount the fraudulent rationale for launching the invasion, the incompetent handling of the occupation, and the total lack of an exit strategy - has been the wholesale politicization and manipulation of facts and events, all in the name of generating and retaining public support for the war.

steven chaytor - nsw labor MP - charged with assault - innocent unless proven guilty - remains in parliament

‘Everybody living in the United Kingdom, including foreigners, will be required to have their biometric details recorded under the government's identity card scheme, it emerged yesterday.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, announced that all UK residents, whether or not they were British citizens, would be forced to have their irises scanned and their fingerprints taken for the national database.

For anyone interested in lending moral support to David Hicks, cards can be forwarded C/-

Major Michael Dante Mori,

Suite 103,

1931 Jefferson Davis Highway,

Arlington VA 22202,

United States of America.

Please remember that David is a Muslim.

‘The idea that “surging” twenty thousand more American troops to Iraq can make any real difference to what is already a full scale civil war is risible. Colin Powell pointed this out over the weekend but Powell —as usual—is a latecomer to the game.

Folks talking about increasing U.S. troop levels should first consider some painful military statistics: to begin with, according to the Pentagon’s own figures, every front line soldier requires at least three other military types to back him up: engineers, electricians, medics, bookkeepers, etc. Which means that 20,000 more troops to Iraq works out to only about 5,000 additional American trainers or soldiers actually pulling the triggers.

from the Bartlett Diaries …..

‘The news that the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions has decided not to lay charges against the police sergeant involved in the death of an Aboriginal man on Palm Island two years ago will seriously damage any faith Indigenous people have in the justice system.

Next May/June will see Australia host the largest military exercises we've ever had in peacetime. Talisman Sabre 07.

Twelve thousand Australian soldiers and nearly l4,000 US troops and sailors will take place in bombarding our shores and fragile landscape, storming our beaches, gunning down 'terrorists' in the newly built urban guerilla warfare training centre, testing their latest laser guided missiles and 'smart' bombs in some of the most pristine wilderness I've ever seen on this planet - and in 30 years of making films, I've seen a lot of this planet.