Poems of the Pre-Election Second Honeymoon

Progressive Except for Palestine

The almightiness of whiteyness
decrees rightness,
with blessings for oppressed
voters are impressed,
he’s green, hip and progressed
but won’t boycott and divest
for whitey knows best
it’s ‘counter-productive’ for all
when Palestinians make the BDS call.

Jinjirrie, August 2013

Political Interventions

no, i don’t buy your hate,
store it in the shed out back
with your cankering ideology to rot,
where greedy mindfucks creep
from your needy seething ego,
you tell me i’m the problem
behind your laboured disguise
of territorial invasion,
appropriation of a nation,
profit off others’ backs,
no treaty or compensation
though you crystalise, colonise,
racialise, sexualise,
for supremacist embroideries
one time and place cannot bend nor break
blaming them won’t save you
from neoliberal, patriarchal lies.

Jinjirrie, July 2013

The Pink Batts of Garrett

For romance, we discuss Midnight Oil, pink batts and refugees, pre-election alternating currents of Australian politics.

Instead of roses, he hands me a ping pong bat, and we play, listening to some pompous, racist LibNat on the radio drone on in Parliament.

I permit him to win the second set. Like hell I did. Halfway through, he reveals he played the first set left-handed.

I’ll forgive him, hand over chocolates and a political poster, cook him a nice roast chook and veg dinner. This is life as a radical feminist?

Jinjirrie, July 2013

The Law of the Gated Settler Community

stand your ground
while driving round
then hunt them down
it’s our justice in this town
we own justice in this town
that’s white justice in this town

for bullets in ceiling 20 years
privileged Amerikkka pushes fears
entitlement for white ‘pioneers’
it’s our justice in this town
we own justice in this town
that’s white justice in this town

Jinjirrie, July 2013

Origins

State of oranges roars
maroons and blues
these human tanks
like lemons bore
me to tears to be frank

Jinjirrie, July 2013

Refugee Shame

@KRuddMP
grew up empty
on a farm near Namboring,
lack of diversity a wedge for perversity
his rhetoric leaves us all snoring.

Jinjirrie, July 2013

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
– Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.”
– Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”
? Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Related Links

Rudd giving succour to white supremacists

Get busy acquiring your own economic productivity accessory and replacement unit. Here in Arsestralia, the government bribes people to breed unilaterally with hefty baby bonuses, to ensure increase in the number of locals, as opposed to taking in those scruffy undeserving refugees.

Shifting the goal posts to somewhere safe for settler colonials in Australia – Abbott and Rudd’s bipartisan opportunistic constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians is short of a Treaty and may negate one.

Indigenous Debutante Balls: It is striking that many of these young women were growing up on, and around, Cummeragunja mission where every aspect of their lives was controlled by the Government, but they were also dressing in fineries and dancing.’

Zimmerman gets off.

Mr. Martin was walking back to his father’s girlfriend’s home when Mr. Zimmerman spotted him and called police to report a “suspicious” person. When a police dispatcher asked Mr. Zimmerman if he was following him, he replied, “Yeah.” The dispatcher said that was unnecessary.

What happened next is unclear. At some point, the two tussled, but no witnesses saw who started the fight. That left lawyers on both sides to try to fill in the blanks. Prosecutors called to the stand Rachel Jeantel, a friend of Mr. Martin’s who said she was on the phone with him moments before he was killed.

“Why are you following me for?” she said she heard Mr. Martin say. A voice responded, “What are you doing around here?” she said. Then she heard a bump and Mr. Martin saying, “Get off, get off,” Ms. Jeantel testified.

Classic rock musician Lester Chambers assaulted on stage at Blues Festival

“Dylan Here…. Lester was just assaulted on stage at The Russell City Hayward Blues Festival by a crazed woman after dad dedicated ‘People Get Ready’ to Trayvon Martin. He is on the way to the hospital now.”

They always get away

There will be a great deal said about what the verdict in this trial means, but, most fundamentally, we should understand that it means validation for the idea that the actions Zimmerman took that night were rational, the conclusions he drew sound, and that a black teen-ager can be considered armed any time he is walking down a paved street

Making the community ‘better’

Wendy Dorival, former coordinator of the Sanford Police Department’s neighborhood watch program, testified how she had worked with Zimmerman to set up a watch in his neighborhood.

When asked by prosecutor John Guy if neighborhood watch participants should follow or engage with suspicious people, she said no.

“They are the eyes and ears of law enforcement,” Dorival said. “They’re not supposed to take matters into their own hands.”

Similarly, Donald O’Brien, president of Zimmerman’s homeowners association, said it was his understanding that neighborhood watch members are supposed to “stay at a safe distance” and “let the police handle it.”

But Dorival said she was impressed with Zimmerman’s professionalism and dedication to his community.

“He seemed like he really wanted to make changes in his community, to make it better,” she said.

5 of the 6 jurors were white

Throughout the trial, the media repeatedly referred to an “all-woman jury” in that Seminole County courtroom, adding that most of them were mothers. That is true—but so is that five of the six jurors were white, and that is profoundly significant for cases like this one. We also know that the lone juror of color was seen apparently wiping a tear during the prosecution’s rebuttal yesterday. But that tear didn’t ultimately convince her or the white people on that jury that Zimmerman was guilty of anything. Not guilty. Not after stalking, shooting and killing a black child, a child that the defense insultingly argued was “armed with concrete.”

Talking to White People about the Zimmerman Trial Bingo

White people who kill black people in ‘Stand Your Ground’ states are 354% more likely to be cleared of murder

Great contrapuntal poem: No Country for Black Boys

The Spill Surprise

Julia sharpened knitting needles
prepared for spill of blood,
around Australia we all waited
would there be another PM Rudd?

At last Bill Shorten swings
manouevring for another day
he’s waiting quietly in the wings
for when a chance comes into play.

All hail our leader, Kevvie’s back,
Out with Conroy, Howes and Swan,
But can he get the show on track?
much easier when the Right is gone.

Yet refugees still feel the pain
whichever candidate remains.

26 June 2013

Of Mitherin’ Clutterbucks and Mordor

More than two weeks after Wikileaks began publishing US embassy cables, Fairfax is still printing “exclusives” from its treasure trove of leaks without linking to the source, subverting the process to which the honourable Guardian adhers by making its cables available for public scrutiny and interpretation. The Guardian blew the whistle on fake documents published last week by Pakistani dailies, so one might presume that if the Fairfax cables were not authentic, they too would be exposed. Crikey’s Bernard Keane has pointed out Fairfax’s ignominy. Asad Abukhalil is vouching for the authenticity of additional cables published by Al Akhbar. There are even more cables streaming from Indoleaks in Indonesia, according to the Jakarta Globe.

As far as I am aware, no Australian media is linking directly to Wikileaks cables, despite 1885 mirror sites in Australia and elsewhere. Since the Australian Attorney General has muttered that it may take the Australian Federal Police up to a year to locate a crime to fit the cables’ release, our gutless media may be hedging its bets.

In another article, Keane nails Mastercard, Paypal and Visa for providing service for donations to illegal Israeli settlement activities.

‘Visa, Mastercard and PayPal all enable donations to be made to US-registered groups funding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in defiance of international law.

It appears at least one of the major credit cards also enables donations to an extremist Jewish group that has placed a bounty on the lives of Palestinians.’

As I’ve previously revealed, an Australian Zionist organisation, the United Israel Appeal’s New South Wales branch, also offers online credit card facilities for tax deductible donations to its Women’s Division, 50% of whose funds are directed toward the consolidated revenue of Keren Hayesod which is involved in illegal Israeli ‘national’ heritage projects in the West Bank.

Currently, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is in Israel causing waves with his demands for Israel to submit to IAEA inspections and renew the settlement freeze.

“Our view has been consistent for a long period of time, and that is that all states in the region should adhere to the NPT, and that includes Israel.”

But it is what he added next by referring to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors that has caught Israeli officials by surprise: “And therefore their nuclear facility should be subject to IAEA inspection.”

He was speaking before reports that a WikiLeaks cable suggested Australia, along with the US, could be drawn into a nuclear war in the Middle East if Israel were to attack Iran in an attempt to disable its nuclear program.

Perhaps Rudd hasn’t noticed that Lieberman told the Russians in 2009 that Israel did not intend attacking Iran, nor that Israel has repeatedly, deliberately and tactically linked ‘peace’ with Palestinians with the US confronting Iran. That this fiction about an attack on Iran must be maintained when the IAEA inspectors have not found any evidence of wrongdoing is annoying. The Israelis can’t attack without US support. The US would prefer a non-confrontational dialogue with Iran. Senator Kerry made this perfectly clear in February, 2010. Thus, ‘peace’ with Palestinians is also a fiction.

“There’s nowt wrong wi’ owt what mitherin’ clutterbucks don’t barley grummit!”

Israeli officials were not surprised by Mr Rudd’s call for Israel to sign the NPT but were taken aback by his call for IAEA inspections. One high-ranking Israeli official said: “I don’t remember any Australian minister saying (Israel’s) facilities should be put under inspection.”

On settlements, which have been at the centre of the collapse of direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, Mr Rudd said: “The position of the Australian government has long been clear. We do not support new settlement construction and the reason is that it undermines the prospects of the successful prosecution of peace negotiations.”

Mr Rudd said the Australian government fully understood Israel’s security concerns from Gaza, but that settlements were “a different matter”.

He expressed concern after comments by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, that if the peace talks achieved nothing he might dissolve the Palestinian Authority and hand over day-to-day running of the West Bank to Israel. “There is a second reality also, which is what security challenges Israel would face if the peace process entirely collapses, if the Palestinian Authority totally disengages or if Abu Mazen were to give effect to what he publicly implied in his recent statements about folding the authority, or if the moderate Arab states would begin to adopt a different posture against a protracted and non-successful peace negotiating process.”

Mr Rudd warned that there may be serious consequences if the peace process collapsed.

“All of us, if we are any students of the history of the last decade or so, have a grasp of what can go wrong, and what can go wrong big time if the Palestinian people don’t have a stake in a negotiated outcome,” he said.

For Palestinians, there are serious consequences if the peace process continues, because the interminable peace process is and has always been a facade for more Israeli land theft. Netanyahu called the US bluff with his refusal to stop settlement building despite handsome US bribes and now further, insisting Jerusalem will not be shared. Unless there are concrete repercussions from the US and other nations, the Israel will continue to steal, murder and occupy in pursuit of its expansionist strategy and goal. Is Kevin a knowing participant in this ongoing villainous mythology? A brief examination of a map of the illegal West Bank settlements should be enough for him to realise the two state solution is a vexatious illusion and a de facto one state with discontinuous, unofficial bantustans is the present reality. Israel is an apartheid state to be engaged accordingly with a tangible justice process through boycotts, divestments and sanctions to shortcircuit the duplicitous ‘peace process’ charade.

Meanwhile, somewhere in a cavern in Mordor, US gollums are plotting a star chamber, associated pseudo-laws and an attempt to spirit Julian Assange, the bearer of inconvenient tidings, into their pocketses.

Today’s Wikilinks

Inside Story – WikiLeaks’ financial crisis
How to Support Julian Assange & Wikileaks
Wikileaks.org domain comes back online, helped by new DNS providers
Indoleaks Touts Revealing WikiLeaks Documents, But Technical Problems Persist | The Jakarta Globe
Julian Assange Boasted About ‘Asian Teengirl Stalkers’ In Online Dating Profile
Foreign Office memo shows 2002 plan to sell Iraq invasion to UK media
America, the Grim Truth
America’s Facile, Self-Congratulatory Response to Wikileaks
Julian Assange wined and dined at US Embassy
Call for action over death calls
China: A Nobel Peace Prize for Assange?
Sweden colluding with US to charge Assange with espionage
Wikileaks mum in UK mercy dash
Cablegate Reveals Government Requesting Access to Microsoft Data, Kill Switches
Danish Politiken mirrors Wikileaks on Amazon servers
Wikileaks Christmas Song 2010
Assange attorney: Grand jury meeting in Virginia on WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks Can Survive Swedish, U.S. Assange Probes, Lawyers Say
Another cable searcher
Assange lawyers say US preparing charges
Imperialist diplomacy exposed: Behind the witch-hunt of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange
There Is Something To See Here
Peter Ludlow on “The Political Philosophy of Julian Assange”
Vatican reaction to WikiLeaks claims (LOLOL)
WikiLeaks row: why Amazon’s desertion has ominous implications for democracy
Rumsfeld: Government documents in new memoir, but not like WikiLeaks
Of Wikileaks, Whistleblowers and Whipping Boys
US Poll: People Behind WikiLeaks Should be Prosecuted (how dumbed down are Americans!!)
The Swedish prosecutor denies political pressure from the United States. From Wikileaks published documents show the opposite.
Hilarious: ‘XXXXXXXXXXXX passed on the suggestion from his North Korean interlocutors that the USG arrange for Eric Clapton to perform a concert in Pyongyang. As Kim Jong-il’s second son, Kim Jong-chol, is reported to be a great fan, the performance …could be an opportunity to build good will.’
WikiLeaks founder Assange says Pentagon plans prosecution
Inside Story – WikiLeaks and the craft of journalism
Food for thought. Updated Sunday 12 December
WikiLeaks may make the powerful howl, but we are learning the truth
Rundle: timeline of Assange’s visit to Sweden and events that followed
Swedish Police Leak May Clear Assange
WikiRebels
WikiLeaks cyber war: pro-Assange Anonymous v US nationalists
The Ballad of Julian Assange
What makes Assange tick from somebody who should know
Leaks and Leakers : NO QUARTER
WikiLeaks: Tying Assange to Manning Won’t Be Easy
WikiLeaks release ‘deplorable’: Obama
Hyperdemocracy
PdF Presents: A Symposium on Wikileaks and Internet Freedom
Danish search engine for cables
Why did I back Julian Assange? It’s about justice and fairness
Wikileaks and arms sales | Jewbonics
Sodomy charges were a set-up

Today’s Australian Wikilinks

Rudd defends Assange’s rights
Israel praises Labor allies
Lawyers defend WikiLeaks founder Assange
Defence costings dodgy
In other leaked US cables, Australian diplomats are reported as telling their US counterparts that the Australian government was ”completely aligned” with the United States in regard to Iran.
Rudd derided ‘loathsome’ Ahmadinejad – ‘Israel saw Australia ”as playing an important role in the ‘global PR battle’ on Iran’ – time for Australia to stop sucking up to apartheid Israel and US imperialism
ALP stuck on two state non-solution – Joint Statement on Australia-Arab Relations
Kevin Rudd defends Julian Assange’s rights – and promises him a laptop
The net will win against deception
Australia doesn’t seem to know what morality is re Wikileaks
Blast from the past: Departing ALP member tells of deep Zionist influence in party
Mungo: WikiLeaks principle critical, but contents … oh well
Iran not a rogue state: Australia
WikiLeaks exposes foreign policy’s dark side
Free Speech Is S*xy Again
Doug Cameron joins Labor Left rally to support Julian Assange
Australian Media’s Finest Defend Wikileaks
The cables and the damage done
Israel’s policy of separation is backed by Western powers
Antony Loewenstein speaks to Sydney Wikileaks Rally
So this is what the Afghan war is all about
WikiLeaks: gathering secrets in the new age
US refused cable access to Canberra
Here’s the story of how the Age received their cables, which they don’t publish, just interpret. IMV this undermines the cables’ credibility and usefulness.
The weight of the word
Labor’s big guns squirm in the WikiLeaks glare
Mark Arbib, aka CIA Agent 007
Compromising the Labor Party: WikiLeaks, the US Alliance and Mark Arbib
Arbib goes quiet, but many are talking
Wikileaks reveals Labor powerbrokers in regular contact with US Embassy
Government under fire at Assange rallies
‘Professor Chomsky, a long-term critic of US foreign policy, said Mr Assange was performing a civic duty. “Systems of power wish to protect themselves from citizens, while at the same time sparing no effort to intrude into private lives so as to better establish their control.”
Australia: WikiLeaks cables reveal secret ties between Rudd coup plotters and US embassy
Leaks point to US concerns over Australian role in Afghanistan

Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

Dutch giant PGGM reconsidering companies involved in Israel-occupied territories
Israel trying to eject Palestinians from Jordan Valley to take over region
Santa leads Boycott Apartheid Israel action in Brisbane
Knesset Approves New Law Preventing Detainees From Meeting Lawyers For Six Month
PALESTINE CAMPAIGNERS CLAIM BOYCOTT SUCCESS AS COUNCIL REJECTS CONTROVERSIAL BIDDER – Edinburgh Council rejects Veolia
Israel attacked for arrests of hundreds of children
The crumbling alliance / A natural lose-lose for Netanyahu
Suspected Israeli neo-Nazi arrested in Kyrgyzstan
IOF troops assault old woman, arrest her son
Blind woman sent to jail for harboring Palestinian
Winning Hearts and Minds for Palestine
Photos: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine 43rd Anniversary Rally, Gaza City
Connection between the human rights march and West Bank demonstrations?
Israeli apartheid in Lod (Palestinian name Lydda)
Ghoul: Israel violates all international laws protecting rights of prisoners
Tom Friedman to Israeli Government: Suck On This! (when will Friedman et al realise 2 state is a non-solution?)
Israel/Palestine needs a South African style truth and reconciliation commission
Israel says it won’t share Jerusalem
Poll: Israel’s Arabs don’t want to be part of Palestinian state
Livni moans about Israel being at a ‘strategic disadvantage’; begs to continue the negotiations charade [Jpost]
British parliament debates Palestinian children prisoners
An Israeli human rights group has accused the police of arresting Palestinian minors as young as five in east Jerusalem and dealing with them in ways that violate the country’s laws, as well as international laws.
Israel dumps chem. waste in W Bank
Australian FM visits Israel as part of his world tour
The Israelis In The Machine. Or, SIA Later, Alligators…
Rudd, Yad Vashem and William Cooper
Jewish Congress Leaders Demand Pope To Combat the “Delegitimization” of Israel
New CWP Report – “All-Out War: Israel Against Democracy”
‘Our lives became something we’d never dreamt’: The former Israeli soldiers who have testified again
Israel to Destroy Electric Infrastructure Near Hebron
Kissinger relaxed about Jews being put in gas chambers
Former EU leaders call to sanction and boycott Israel

Other Links

Cancun agreement builds towards a global climate deal | Greenpeace Australia Pacific
UK Govt Moves Against 12 Year Old Dissident
Police-state tactics against protesters in Britain

‘Wikileaks provides a game breaking revelation of the secrecy, duplicity, violence, and criminal nature of the imperial state’ – Michael Parenti

Dissent against authoritarianism – an Australian tradition

Australians’ rebellious, spontaneous actions against authority are legion – the Vinegar Hill Irish insurrection at Castle Hill in 1804, the 1808 Rum Rebellion, Eureka stockade in 1854, the retaliations of Ben Hall and Ned Kelly, the 1899 Boer war where Australian officials actively questioned the authority of the Crown, Keith Murdoch’s whistleblowing of the British manipulations of our troops in Gallipoli contributing to rejection of conscription in 1916 and 1917, rejection of Menzies’ 1951 bill to ban communism, major demonstrations against the Vietnam war, Joh Bjelke Petersen’s anti-street march and emergency legislation laws, Gulf Wars 1 and 2, the war in Afghanistan and Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, mandatory detention of refugees, for Aboriginal land rights and numerous other protests.

In this tradition, the people of Australia will rise up tomorrow in most capital cities in defence of freedom of the press and the people’s right to know, and in support of incarcerated Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

One of the speakers at the event in Sydney tomorrow will be journalist Antony Loewenstein who says:

“I think this is a free speech issue. I think it’s an important question more journalists should be working on. The truth is, that a number of journalists, corporate journalists in Australia and elsewhere have shown their true colours,”

Watch today’s Brisbane Wikileaks rally live on 4ZZZ UStream.

George Brandis, Andrew Wilkie and Bob Brown along with an impressive list of prominent Australians and luminaries. have expressed support for Australians, Australia and Wikileaks.

Affirming consular assistance for Julian Assange and unlike the PM not decrying Wikileaks as illegal, Kevin Rudd has exonerated Wikileaks from blame for the release of the cables.

“Mr Assange is not himself responsible for the unauthorised release of 250,000 documents from the US diplomatic communications network,” said Mr Rudd, who had been criticised in one leaked cable as a “control freak”.

“The Americans are responsible for that.”

Gillard does not – our Mrs. Grundy is revealed:

Julia Gillard has also stated that Mr Assange acted illegally in publishing the cables.

Mr Assange’s British solicitor, Mark Stephens, told The Australian that his legal team were examining the Prime Minister’s comments and considering a defamation action against her.

Ms Gillard yesterday refused to specify what laws Mr Assange might have broken. “The foundation stone of it is an illegal act,” Ms Gillard said.

“Information was taken and that was illegal, so let’s not try and put any glosses on this.”

The comments drew fire from the opposition, with shadow attorney-general George Brandis describing the remarks as “clumsy”.

“As far as I can see he (Mr Assange) hasn’t broken any Australian law,” Senator Brandis told Sky News.

“Nor does it appear he has broken any American laws.”

Since her installation, Gillard has shown herself to be remarkably pliable to US strategic plans – assenting to a substantial increase in joint exercises, US troop numbers and logistics in Australia and continuing the government’s plan to purchase F35s from the US.

It is useful to be aware of the comparative military strength and budget of China and the US. When there is such US disproportionate strength, why contribute without serious question to the upscaling madness in association with an imperial power which does not submit to international law? Beware the stagnant mercantilist imperative which feeds on militarisation and feathers the nest of mining and defence companies.

Today’s Wikilinks
Wikileaks Mass Mirror Party Cartoon
Mark Arbib, aka CIA Agent 007
Thousands rally to defend Bradley Manning
Exclusive: Sarah Palin Under Cyber-Attack from Wikileaks Supporters in ‘Operation Payback’
DataCell ehf who facilitates those payments towards Wikileaks has decided to take up immediate legal actions to make donations possible again.
Why WikiLeaks Is Winning Its Info War
Another view of Wikileaks madness
On Anna Ardin, Israel Shamir and glass houses
Why WikiLeaks Is Winning Its Info War
Obama vs Assange Cartoon
MasterCard and Visa want to play politics, then game on…
Berkeley City Council May Declare Support For Alleged WikiLeaks Informant
Is Julian Assange Helping the Neocons?
Noose Closes Around Pro-Wikileaks Vigilantes
Attacks on credit card sites a grass-roots effort
Caving to pressure from supporters, PayPal releases WikiLeaks’ funds
Assange accuser may have ceased co-operating
The charges – two counts of sexual molestation, one count of unlawful coercion and one count of rape
The Rape of Julian Assange
From Jefferson to Assange (some Americans think Assange is one of them!
Wikileaks keeps on publishing despite arrest (funny vid)
Origin of the latest Israel is behind it conspiracy theory (written by an Israeli)
‘The Only Option Left for Me Is an Orderly Departure’ – interview with Daniel Domscheit-Berg
Feds hint at charges for WikiLeaks’ Assange
Understanding Wikileaks’ ally Anonymous
WikiLeaks Defector Plans Tell-All Book
Meet The New Public Face Of WikiLeaks: Kristinn Hrafnsson
The Empire Is Collapsing, And Americans Will Be The Last To Know
Petition – Wikileaks: Stop the crackdown
Non-governmental organizations should consider nominating Julian Assange for a Nobel Prize, a source in the Russian presidential administration has said.
WikiLeaks followers close Swedish government site: report
Anon Ops – A Manifesto
Is the Wikileaks we see the Wikileaks we need?
Mum’s plea: bring Julian home
Julian Assange rape allegations: treatment of women ‘unfair and absurd
Tell me what a rapist looks like
Today’s Australian Wikilinks

US diplomats monitored the progress of Gillard
Andrew Wilkie on WikiLeaks’ Rudd revelations
Arbib not a spy: Shorten
Politicians downplay Arbib revelations
Arbib warned US of Gillard coup – ‘The cables suggest Senator Arbib has been secretly informing the US embassy in Canberra for several years. The former Labor minister Bob McMullan and the federal MP Michael Danby have also been revealed as close sources.’
Gillard showing ‘contempt for law’: Wilkie
Politicians downplay Arbib revelations
WikiLeaks outs Mark Arbib as US informant
WikiLeaks cables cast fresh light on coup against former Australian PM Rudd
If Only Rudd Hadn’t Expelled That Israeli Diplomat…
The realist we need in foreign affairs
Rudd and Arbib duck the North Korea of the internet

Today’s Palestine/Israel links
End Military Aid to Israel’ campaign comes to BART
Sustainable tourism or sustaining Israel’s occupation?
Alla T. Elshawa: In Gaza
Israeli warplanes attack Gaza
Israel, NATO Launch Spying Operation against Iran at Afghan Borders
Ye Shall Share the Land by Noushin Darya Framke
Sustainable tourism or sustaining Israel’s occupation?
US hails Turkey’s ‘constructive’ role at NATO,
OSCE summits

No, America, You Can’t
Palestinian takes over East Jerusalem property through co acquisition
Cheney involved in long list of crimes

Rudd Breaks Election Promise to Change Australia Day

The National Indigenous Times spiked the Labor Party for reneging on their election promise to change the date of Australia Day to one more suited to celebration by all Australians.

There’s no good reason for indigenous people to celebrate Invasion Day – it’s a day of mourning and remembrance of genocide for the aboriginal people.

The promise was contained in the ALP’s National Platform, a document that outlines the policy aspirations of the party and which is agreed to at the ALP’s National Convention every three years.

The current National Platform commits the ALP to implementing the six recommendations made in the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR)’s final report, issued in 2000.

One of those recommendations is to implement CAR’s Roadmap to Reconciliation.

And an “essential” action of that report is to change the date of Australia Day.

The promise is contained in the 2007 National Platform, and also the previous 2004 platform.

But this week, the Rudd government confirmed it had no intention of making good on the promise.

Last week, NIT submitted a series of questions on the promise to the Prime Minister’s office. After no reply, NIT was directed to the office of the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin.

Government officials finally replied with a single line statement: “Australia Day will continue to be celebrated on January 26.”

The debate over whether to change Australia Day, the celebration of the First Fleet’s landing, to something that is more inclusive is a heated one.

After receiving no explanation for why the promise would not be kept, NIT asked the Prime Minister for further comment on their broken election promise. The questions were directed to the acting Indigenous affairs minister, Tanya Plibersek.

Again, the reply flatly refused to address the issue: “The Government has made significant progress in a number of key areas in our first 14 months although we acknowledge that there’s a lot more work to be done,” a spokesperson for Ms Plibersek said.

The ALP intransigence is all the more ironic given Rudd’s selection of Mick Dodson as Australian of the Year.

Mick is a staunch advocate for changing the date for Australia Day.

WITHIN minutes of accepting the Australian of the Year award yesterday, the indigenous leader Mick Dodson told the Rudd Government it needed to move the date of Australia Day because January 26 represented a “day of mourning” for many of his people.

Professor Dodson, a lawyer, also called for financial compensation for the stolen generations and for changes to government policy, including on the Northern Territory intervention.

A Yawuru man, he said he felt so strongly the current Australia Day excluded indigenous people that he considered refusing the nomination for the award but decided to accept it after listening to his family. Australians were “mature enough about it now” to consider moving the date, which currently commemorates the First Fleet’s arrival in Sydney – “the day on which our world came crashing down”.

Professor Dodson suggested February 13, the date the Rudd Government last year formally apologised to stolen generations.