‘On November 14 a group of lawyers and other experts will come before the German federal prosecutor and ask him to open a criminal investigation targeting Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales and other key Bush Administration figures for war crimes. The recent passage of the Military Commissions Act provides a central argument for the legal action, under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction: It demonstrates the intent of the Bush Administration to immunize itself legally from prosecution in the United States, even for the most serious crimes.

from the New York Times .....

Where Plan A Left Ahmad Chalabi 

By Dexter Filkins

November 5, 2006

‘Many miles away in a more dangerous place the dream is ending badly. The bodies pile up. Good people stream to the borders. Leaders pile money onto planes. The center is giving way.

Law and Justice Address by
The Right Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH  

2006 Justice Awards

Parliament House, Sydney
Tuesday 31 October

No matter how "badly" our water is managed, water HAS TO BE and stay a public utility... Any fool can privatise anything, but water HAS TO STAY in the hands of the public. It does not matter if the Poms have decided to sell their waters to some AUSSIE banks here and there, the crux of the matter is that water SHOULD BE FREE and regulated against pollution like the air we breathe... and protected for over-usage... OTHERWISE some some clever bastard will come and sell you your life... YOU already buy it in many forms from education to heath, but WATER? No way!...
Save our democracy... Protest at the privatisation of water... even if private enterprise can deliver it "better"...It is a public democratic and animalistic right.

It is an interesting coincidence that the offices of the Australian Electoral Commission's "Project Genesis" is right next door to Crosby Textor, Liberal Party lobbyists and pollsters.

The two offices are in the Engineers Australia building in Canberra, not far from the Liberal Party HQ in Barton.

Project Genesis involves updating the software used to hold the electoral roll and manage the logistics of election day.

AEC Annual Report 2005–06

‘Bechtel, the giant engineering company, is leaving Iraq. Its mission - to rebuild power, water and sewage plants - wasn't accomplished: Baghdad received less than six hours a day of electricity last month, and much of Iraq's population lives with untreated sewage and without clean water. But Bechtel, having received $2.3 billion of taxpayers' money and having lost the lives of 52 employees, has come to the end of its last government contract.

As Bechtel goes, so goes the whole reconstruction effort. Whatever our leaders may say about their determination to stay the course complete the mission, when it comes to rebuilding Iraq they've already cut and run. The $21 billion allocated for reconstruction over the last three years has been spent, much of it on security rather than its intended purpose, and there's no more money in the pipeline.

Somebody named FOSP added this to my Houston Indymedia version of the Parkin story.

Yep, if people start getting organised in their protests, the Bush Regime in both countries might indeed have something to fear.

I've just received this from Friends Of Scott Parkin:

Dear Friends-- Very exciting news!  Yesterday, Justice Ross Sundberg granted my lawyers access to the contents of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization's security assessment  which resulted in me being removed from Melbourne in September last year.  Furthermore, it grants access to the security assessments of my 2 co-plaintiffs, Iraqi asylum seekers Mohammad Sagar and Muhammad Faisal, who have been in an Australian detention centre for the past 5 years.

 
from the Centre for American Progress …..

Trials and Tribulations

'On Sunday, the nine-month trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants is expected to conclude, with the court delivering its verdict.

Should Hussein be convicted, it will be an historic and welcome development for the Iraqis who suffered under his rule.

‘Earlier this year, news broke that Halliburton subsidiary, KBR – the firm infamous for building prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay and for scandals stemming from work in the Iraq war zone – received a $385 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to build detention centers, according to the New York Times, "for an unexpected influx of immigrants" or "new programs that require additional detention space."

from The Guardian ….. 

Iraq a 'work of art in progress' says US general after 49 die

Julian Borger in Washington
Friday November 3, 2006

'An American general in Baghdad called Iraq a "work of art" in progress yesterday in one of the most extraordinary attempts by the US military leadership to put a positive spin on the worsening violence.

‘During an interview with conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh, US President George Bush expressed deep concerns about the possibility of the United States leaving the Middle East, raising fears that extremists could topple governments to "control oil resources."

"Give me a second here, Rush, because I want to share something with you," Bush said. "I am deeply concerned about a country, the United States, leaving the Middle East."

The Australian  Federal Court has announcedoday that deported activist Scott Parkin does have a right to know why ASIO deported him.  The court has granted Parkin access to the ASIO documentation used in his negative security classification.

On the day before Septemberr 11 last year Parkin was arrested and placed in solitary confinement amidst claims he was a violent activist.  He was portrayed in Australian September 11 media as a threat to Australian security.  Newsweek  reported in January that the Pentagon had kept a file on Parkin handing out sandwiches as a protest for Halliburton's food charges in Iraq.  It is likely Australian intelligence agency ASIO declared that Parkin was a potentially violent activist on the  strength of this file's existence, though it's unknown if ASIO were allowed to read it.

This week, Sir Nicholas Stern released his report which stated, if we tackle global warming NOW, it will cost about 1% global GDP, but if we leave it will cost us between 5 and 20% of GDP per year. This is really like any unserviced debt, if you let it build up, and don't try to pay it back, it will eventually bury you. In this report industry was identified as one of the major contributors to global warming, however their responses can be understood through simple economics. Producing large amounts of CO2 doesn't cost them anything, so they do it. We need to put a price on CO2 if we expect industry to respond. Hence the need for a carbon trading scheme. One of the most famous carbon trading schemes is the Kyoto protocol.

‘The United States upset the regional balance in the Middle East when it invaded Iraq. Restoring it requires bold initiatives, but "cutting and running" must precede them all. Only a complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops — within six months and with no preconditions — can break the paralysis that now enfeebles our diplomacy. And the greatest obstacles to cutting and running are the psychological inhibitions of our leaders and the public.

Our leaders do not act because their reputations are at stake. The public does not force them to act because it is blinded by the president's conjured set of illusions: that we are reducing terrorism by fighting in Iraq; creating democracy there; preventing the spread of nuclear weapons; making Israel more secure; not allowing our fallen soldiers to have died in vain; and others.’

 
from the ABC ….

PM to announce $60m for clean energy projects

Prime Minister John Howard will announce more Government funding for clean energy projects, valued at $60 million.

The Federal Government has been facing a barrage of questions this week about climate change, amid the dire prediction about global warming in a British report by economist Sir Nicholas Stern.