An ongoing exploration of the documents related to the Pentagon's "message force multipliers" program has unearthed a clip of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggesting that America, having voted the Democrats back into Congressional power, could benefit from suffering another terrorist attack, and doing so in the presence of the very same military analysts who went on to provide commentary and analysis of the Iraq War. 

from Crikey ….. 

Liberal Party: Dead Man Walking 

Norman Abjorensen writes: 

The US, which until two weeks ago had never provided any proof for its allegations, finally handed over its "evidence" of the Iranian origin of these weapons to the Iraqi government.  

Given the presumed monolithic backing for Israel, there is a fear of being misrepresented, alienated or roundly pillaried which means the minority keep schtum.

The majority still see Jewish anti-Zionism as a perverse act of self-contradiction. For them, the idea of a state run on the paramountcy of one particular grouping, religious or otherwise, presents no problems. 

NSW Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal says Sydney's Lane Cove tunnel will remain open regardless of the financial status of its operator. 

Credit ratings agency Moody's has issued a warning that the tollway operator Connector Motorways could face a debt crisis by the end of 2009, because it is attracting insufficient traffic. 

While its propaganda machine might be sounding a little shrill lately, China's foreign policy is hitting all the right notes.  

In the past few weeks, President Hu Jintao has met twice with leading politicians from Taiwan following the election of Ma Ying-jeou. First Hu met with VP-elect Vincent Siew and then with KMT bigwig Lien Chan.  

"I'm going to be king. Women find that sort of power a real turn-on. It's like being in a roomful of all your favourite toys; you pick one up, play with it for a while then when your bored, just pick up the next one.  

Why have the power and never abuse it?  

He will soon play a major role in deciding the fate of one such bill, to help struggling homeowners, that the House passed, 266 to 154, on Thursday. 

Burma wants supplies but not foreign aid workers, its foreign ministry says, hours after the UN chief urged military leaders to prioritise relief work. 

Burma is 'making strenuous efforts' to get aid to affected areas by itself and was not ready for foreign teams, a statement in a state daily says. 

With a bill like a duck, a tail and fur like a beaver and snake-like venom hidden in heel spurs, the platypus could be the result of some strange genetic experiment.

It is: evolution. 

from Crikey …..

Edward Cranswick

25APR2008
ANZAC Day

from Crikey ….. 

A toast to John Howard: what Downer should've said 

Two Men's Lives Reflect Divergent Fortunes of Jewish, Palestinian Peoples

By Griff Witte 

Sixty years ago, Dror Gurel and Nabil Zaharan were born into a land at war. 

Consigned to a dismal prison cell, facing the prospect of dying behind bars surrounded by those who insisted on his guilt, James Woodard displayed leonine strength of character and inexhaustible tenacity. 

Senator Barack Obama won a commanding victory in the North Carolina primary on Tuesday and lost narrowly to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Indiana, an outcome that injected a boost of momentum to Mr. Obama’s candidacy as the Democratic nominating contest entered its final month.