This oicture from outta space came to me via a portal-loo at the end of the street...

From Hubble Zooms In On Moon Minerals:

[...] In some ways the Hubble prospecting is just the bare beginning of the next phase of lunar exploration, said Garvin. The next step will be taken by the robotic Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is being built to map out the moon's resources in details. A second lunar probe is also being planned, all before the planned return of humans to the moon by about 2018, as directed by President George W. Bush's vision for humans in space. [...]

You can't hide from the long arms of Bush.

I love how our government's main priority is protecting the interest of our nation.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/10/20/Arts/UNESCO_culture_051020.html

What wonderful company we're keeping nowadays.

Australia, Nicaragua, Honduras and Liberia all abstained from voting. Wouldn't want to upset our US masters now would we?

"On their day off people would show up all the time. Everyone in camp knew if you wanted to work out your frustration you show up at the PUC tent.^[1] In a way it was sport. The cooks were all US soldiers. One day a sergeant shows up and tells a PUC to grab a pole. He told him to bend over and broke the guy's leg with a mini Louisville Slugger that was a metal bat. He was the fucking cook. He shouldn't be in with no PUCs."  

 

- 82nd Airborne sergeant describing events at FOB Mercury, Iraq  

 

"If I as an officer think we're not even following the Geneva Conventions, there's something wrong. If officers witness all these things happening, and don't take action, there's something wrong. If another West Pointer tells me he thinks, 'Well, hitting somebody might be okay,' there's something wrong. 

 

- 82nd Airborne officer, describing confusion in Iraq concerning allowable interrogation techniques  

 

Torture in Iraq

From The agenda lurking in the shadows (David Marr in SMH)
[...]The faults of Howard's bill have been fiercely condemned, yet there's been little focus on its underlying purpose. It has nothing to do with gathering good intelligence. It's essentially about punishment - not on evidence tested before a court, but on intelligence in the hands of police and ASIO officers.[...]

From {$}A cruel parody of justice{$}(Geoffrey Barker in AFR)
[...]Notwithstanding [Brigadier-General Thomas] Hemingway's assurances, the process has been designed and contained within the US military establishment to deny due process to non-US citizens charged with assisting the terrorist Taliban regime. Its purpose is to convict and to impose punishments, including the barbarity of capital punishment.[...]

What's John Howard saying about capital punishment today? Is he envious of his cabinet colleagues, who benefited from a grammar school?
[...]In Australia, our own Prime Minister is known for these same qualities.
He has often been under-rated by his opponents.
He has endured many setbacks in life and he has seen his own political obituary published many times.
Yet today he stands alongside Robert Menzies as Australia's greatest Prime Minister.
How did he achieve this?
How did he defy the odds?
He is certainly talented.
He is a gifted debater and public speaker.
He has a fine eye for policy detail and an ear tuned to public concerns.
Importantly, he is firm and clear in his views - he knows what he stands for.
But most importantly it is due to his sheer determination and tenacity over decades to achieve his goals. [...]

Downer: Govt powerless to save death row Aussie
[...]"They execute somewhere between 30 and 40 people a year for drug trafficking and to get an exception in this case was always going to be a long shot, ... ... [...]