A Ballad for the Grabbit – Tony Silvertongue

George the Goanna

TONY SILVERTONGUE

Do not denigrate our P M
He leads this fair and precious land
And speaks his mind into the ether
Maybe sometimes he leaves his teeth there!

Do not denigrate or call him names
Like Phoney Tony, Flash or James
For princely ears deserve respect
Yet growing debt is what we get.

Chorus
O Tony who art thou that leads us
Can we trust thy tongue to please us
Can we trust thy silver tongue
Oft times the laird, oft times the merde!

In shiny lycra, dashing knight
Keeping fit in skinny tights
You are our hero of the day
Please make the bad things go away!

Do not denigrate our Prime Minister
Or rhyme Abbott with Grabbit – it’s too sinister
Ruling the unruly mob
He may be the best man for the job …..
Tony Abbott may be God!

Chorus
O Tony who art thou that leads us
Can we trust thy tongue to please us
Can we trust thy silver tongue
Now the journey has begun.

Copyright Gabrielle Shootingstar 2013

Everything Old is New Again

With Abbott’s opportunist, imperialist kowtowing march to war in the Middle East, legislative attacks on civil liberties to “balance” security needs, governmental hate-preaching racism, fear and McCarthyist terror-baiting the garrulous tenor of the day in Australia, Redgum’s classics resonate. Have you ever been a member of “Team Australia”? answer, quick, no obfuscations or context.

Aamer Rahman satirises Danny Nalliah and Australian bigotry against Muslim women:

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Tony Abbott apologises to Alan Jones for not acting on ‘hate preachers’ – Under this Grabbit Law, would the dogwhistling settler Grabbit himself have been admitted to Australia?

‘“By all means let Australians who want to say stupid things to say stupid things but there’s no point importing troublemakers from overseas to stir people up.”

Grabbit is also being disingenuous as under one part of his proposed new police state laws currrently before Parliament:

‘As well, a person would only have to be ‘reckless’ as to whether words could cause a person to engage in terrorism, which is far less than the requirement of ‘intends’ under the existing incitement law.

For example, statements supporting armed resistance to the Assad regime could be caught by the proposed law.’

Terrorists under the bed? TAB has the answer

JDL Australia & NZed #JSIL stalkers & promoters of violence now active again on FB

Orientalism and the ISIS spectacle.

‘The ISIS-led insurgency currently gripping the western and northern regions of Iraq is but a continuation of the imperialist-sponsored insurgency in neighboring Syria. The state actors responsible for arming and funding said insurgency hold the same principal objectives in Iraq as those pursued in Syria for the last three years, namely: the destruction of state sovereignty; weakening the allies of an independent Iran; the permanent division of Iraq and Syria along sectarian lines establishing antagonistic “mini-states” incapable of forming a unified front against US/Israeli imperial domination.’

ISIS: An expression of imperialism in Iraq

A War for Power

”How much death and destruction would American terror warriors have to cause before their ostensible opponents rejected their claims of noble intent? During the thirteen years of the “war on terror,” actions of the United States government have consistently and predictably strengthened anti-American terrorist groups. To chalk this all up to stupidity — rather than unstated imperial imperatives — is to choose ignorance.”

The Role of Proxy Terror

What is needed is a language to address this dilemma, that of the respective imperial uses of Islamophobia and religious ideologies, and in that sense takfiris, although sometimes derided as a sensationalistic term, is very much an exact term. What is not needed, what is downright pernicious, is a frightened language. A direct language must be fully prepared to address the awesome magnitude of the violence and cruelty and, it must be said, terrorism of this latest phase of imperialist repositioning in the region. A failure to do so will result in the victory of the Internet spectacle.

Always worth a reread at these times is Seymour Hersh’s Redirection article from 2007.

There are No Moderate Syrian Rebels

‘The Obama administration’s new plan hinges on Saudi Arabia’s support for the training effort, including an offer to host training camps on Saudi soil. The Saudis are in no way a reliable partner for the U.S. in the Syrian conflict. Even discounting the fact that Saudi-purchased anti-tank rockets somehow found their way into ISIS’s hands, the Saudis have a notorious history of supporting unsavory groups in the Syrian conflict, including Salafists in the Islamic Front. The greater Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the training program is, the greater pressure there will be for Islamic Front fighters to receive U.S. arms and training. After Congress balked at the Obama Administration’s request for $500 million, the Saudis offered to fund the training and arming of the Syrian rebels. This means that there is a large chance the U.S. will directly support groups who work closely with Jabhat al-Nusra.’

A Secret Betrayal — Kurdish Refugees in Iran

After Iran and Iraq signed a border agreement, Iranian support to Barzani stopped and the revolt collapsed. Barzani told the CIA that, “Complete destruction [is] hanging over our head…We appeal [to] you…[to] intervene according to your promises.” Despite this, “the U.S. refused to extend humanitarian assistance to the thousands of refugees created by the abrupt termination of military aid.” Kurds then fled en masse to Iran, where many applied for refugee status in the U.S.

However, few people at Embassy Tehran were aware that the U.S. government had made a commitment to the Kurdish people.

From Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Australian Friends of Palestine

Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“Dear Friends of Palestine in Australia

The people of the world have been shocked and horrified at the recent brutal and disproportionate assault on the people of Gaza. Over 2000 people have died, hundreds of them children. The infrastructure of Gaza, already greatly damaged in previous similar attacks, is now completely degraded, with basics such as water and electricity denied to the vast majority of the population. Thousands are without shelter and medicines and 80% of the population are dependent on UN assistance.

The world waits while representatives of Israel and the Palestinians negotiate a ceasefire and we hope that there will be peace. But peace will not come until the illegal occupation of the Palestinians ends. It will not come to Gaza until Israel and Egypt lift the 8 year siege that has crippled the Gazan economy and squeezed the population, creating enormous hardships for the people there.

Decades of reliance on diplomacy to deliver a just outcome in Palestine have come to nothing. But a new hope lies in the ordinary citizens of the world. This is the worldwide non-violent movement known as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or “BDS”. This movement carries the hope of millions of ordinary people who are turning the tide through economic pressure to force Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinians and participate in a just resolution to the conflict between these two peoples who deserve peace.

Many of you in Australia are part of the BDS movement. You are seen every week in different cities and towns talking to other Australians about BDS and informing them about the injustices suffered by the Palestinians. Many others of you participate individually by choosing not to buy Israeli products or the products of companies that support Israel in its illegal occupation of Palestine. Others of you refuse to buy tickets to the Israeli Film Festival, or boycott Israeli academics who come from Israeli Universities that support Israel’s policies of occupation.

Protest outside the Israeli Film Festival, Brisbane
Protest outside the Israeli Film Festival, at the Palace Centro Cinema Brisbane, August 22, 2014. Riot police stood 1 metre in front of demonstrators.

This is the power of BDS.

We in South Africa, who know about oppression and occupation and who know about the power of BDS, salute the Australian BDS movement and we join with you in calling for Israel to end the Occupation; to end the siege of Gaza. We join with you in calling on the Australian Government to demand that the occupation of the West Bank ends; for Israel to stop the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank; for the siege of Gaza to be permanently lifted.

We in South Africa join with you and we shout “Free Free Palestine!”

God bless you.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (Cape Town – South Africa)”

The Sinking of the H.M.A.S. Grabbit

Refugee CouncilLate night thoughts of Morriscum
set adrift in a leaky boat
with Australians online taking bets
how long he can stay afloat.

Abbott’s lashed firmly to the mast
Bishop’s locked in the hold
When the boat sinks we’ll all cheer
and divvy up the gold.

Brandis burnt international law
to please his zionist mates,
It won’t keep him warm 10 fathoms down
When he meets his watery fate.

Cormann’s whining on his mobile
calling up the crony banks
Too late for party kickbacks
the ocean gives us thanks.

For in all Australia’s history
there’s never been rogues as these
Corrupt and heartless brigands all
may they drown on the open seas.

Alas, the dream is but a dream
still the scurvy wretches spout
from their padded thrones in Parliament
We’ll have to vote them out.

Jinjirrie, July 2014.

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Senator Nick Xenophon on Israel’s Occupation of the Palestinian Territories

In the Australian Parliament, Senator Nick Xenophon describes in detail why the Palestinian Territories are indeed occupied according to international law, also highlighting that Israel’s own highest court stated in 2004 Israel holds the Territories in belligerent occupation.

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