The answer is ASIO
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The rise and rise of ASIO continues. Yesterday’s counter-terrorism White Paper was the third security-related announcement in just over a fortnight by the Government. Today’s new legislation expanding the role of ASIO in relation to organised crime and people smuggling is the fourth. It doesn’t take an alfoil-wearing conspiracy theorist to see a pattern, that of a Government keen to send a loud signal on security issues. There were inevitable claims that the paper was intended as a distraction from Peter Garrett, but given the Government has been repeatedly criticised before now for failing to release the paper, they look rather expedient, and miss the broader point. Instead, this Government is doing what its predecessor did, which is use border security and the threat of terrorism to bolster its credentials with voters. But whereas John Howard systematically politicised security issues to damage Labor, Kevin Rudd’s objective is to secure Labor from such attacks from the Opposition — although we’ll doubtless continue to hear much from the Government about Simon Birmingham’s clumsy suggestion that the insulation program was a greater threat to Australian lives than terrorism. This takes the form of an endless ramping up of security infrastructure, spending and legislation. The Prime Minister yesterday warned of Australians becoming numb to the threat of terrorism. In fact our numbness is towards the steady erosion of personal liberties, the remorseless rise of surveillance and the cumulative loss of privacy to unaccountable agencies such as ASIO. As Crikey alone has chronicled, the relentless expansion of ASIO’s budget under the Howard Government has continued — indeed, accelerated — under the Rudd Government. This is despite ASIO itself acknowledging in its scant accountability documents that it is doing less than in previous years. Yesterday’s White Paper said a new “Counter Terrorism Control Centre” would be established within ASIO “to increase co-ordination across government agencies” (like its predecessor, this Government believes too much inter-departmental co-ordination is never enough). The paper didn’t indicate whether even more funding would be provided for ASIO to operate this body. The May Budget might give us some clues, but ASIO’s operational budget has increased in real terms every year for the past decade. Don’t count on that trend ceasing this year. And today legislation will be introduced to expand ASIO’s remit to people smuggling and organised crime. The Government has worked assiduously to turn people smugglers into the Bond villains of border protection — evil geniuses with sophisticated networks and extensive resources determined to breach our border security, who can conveniently be targeted and demonised instead of their human cargo. The new Bill includes an array of harsher penalties for people smuggling or supporting it. And just as the Prime Minister made great play yesterday of the increasingly “home-grown” nature of the jihadist threat, the Government briefed the media along similar lines in relation to people smuggling. “The changes are partly in response to the increasing involvement of Australians in the people-smuggling trade,” reported a story in The Oz about the changes. Like terrorists, people smugglers could be in our very midst, see. Be alert. The legislative changes for ASIO have been sold as a rectification of the problem of ASIO discovering all sorts of useful intelligence about people smuggling and organised crime but being unable to pass it on to law enforcement bodies because of legislative restrictions. In fact, it is a major expansion of ASIO’s remit beyond intelligence and into law enforcement, and doubtless a further justification for another budget increase, despite ASIO’s inauspicious entry into law enforcement in the Al-Haque case. Labor’s history with ASIO is rather mixed. Until the 1970s, ASIO — despite being established by the Chifley Government — was closely aligned with the Liberal and National parties and was actively hostile the Labor Left, although it cultivated relationships with the Labor Right, especially in NSW. However, the Hawke Government expanded ASIO’s remit in the wake of the second Hope Royal Commission, but Paul Keating cut the agency’s budget on the basis of the fall of the Soviet Union. Under Rudd, the agency has reached the zenith of its size, field of operations and budget. Not to mention the shiny new giant headquarters being built for the agency in Campbell in Canberra. In an excellent article in the Fairfax press on the weekend, Chris Berg nailed the deeply-flawed logic of ever-increasing levels of security-based regulation and infrastructure to address a threat that is miniscule. Part of the problem is indeed the human incapacity to accurately assess comparative risk, and most people’s inability to understand the sometimes counter-intuitive basics of risk management. But governments understand the concept of political risk very well indeed. That’s the risk that’s driving this wave of security propaganda from Labor. |
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37 Comments
Do you think that part of the reason for the expansion of the scope of ASIO is because the federal police have become a damaged brand based on the various public stuff-ups of recent years? Is ASIO better insulated culturally and legislatively to keep its stuff-ups out of the public arena?
I would have thought that people smuggling and organised crime should fall within the scope of the feds. I would expect countries like Indonesia to be much more comfortable co-operating with Federal police based in Indonesia than ASIO officers whose scope may include more than just the task at hand.
If ASIO is to become our FBI maybe they could investigate the alleged corruptions issues amongst the police and politcians in various states?
Quote: “to address a threat that is miniscule. “
Which does beg the question of whether some average suburban and regional families do indeed face a greater threat from faulty insulation installations than from terrorism….
Rudd’s shameful use of fear as a marshalling tactic eclipses anything Howard did. Another ‘me-too’ without the panache or cojones to put it into plan.
Nothing more than Government spin in overdrive.
But I guess he has to be seen to do something before he hands the reins over to Julia in November.
“…Your comment is awaiting moderation…”
Quelle surprise! On every comment in the past 48 hours too.
Crikey must be deathly afraid of little ol’ me and my keyboard.
Maybe the editors and mods can cite where the posting rules have been abused to warrant such an hysterical over-reaction?
It’s really getting a little tedious.
My question is: qui bono? Who really benefits from the crying wolf programs? Some people suspect that the government (taxpayers) money go to the private coffers of different companies producing ‘security’ junk. All the security cameras- the whole million of them - in England did not help anything in particular.
And I do not believe that there are different shades of terrorism. Pre-meditated killing is a killing whoever performs the crime. I do not believe that a particular ethnic group has a monopoly on terrorism.
If we could spend the same amount of money on crime prevention at home we could be a crime free country. Otherwise, one may suspect that ASIO is worried about job security and will try to get more money to prevent job losses within.
Perhaps mpm they are just sick of your trolling as are the great majority.
One needs to look at the longer pattern. Over the past 16 or so years in particular there have been a series of “terrorist” incidents immediately followed by governments (US, UK, Australia) introducing legislation which it turns out has been waiting in the wings for a considerable time. This is not a coincidence. All of this legislation has a common aim: an increase in surveillance powers for the various spook agencies, a reduction in civil liberties, an increase in government secrecy in the name of ‘national security’, and a sustained propaganda campaign to condition the people to accept as normal such outrageous policies as rendition, detention without trial, and trial by military commissions notably lacking in traditional safeguards for accused persons to name but a few.
Those who have the temerity to quesiton these policies are accused of being ‘conspiracy theorists,’ or lacking in patriotism or some other epithet designed to avoid rational discussion of what is actually happening.
The mainstream media are complicit in this in that they refuse to allow debate within their pages (or tv equivalent) of the motives of government or perhaps more accurately their financial controllers. The net effect is the destruction of our democracy justified in such nebulous terms as the ‘war on terrorism’.
In this the Rudd government is just as bad as its predecessor. It would be a fair bet that after Obama visits these shores next month the Rudd government will announce an increase in Australia’s commitment to the illegal war in Afghanistan. And as usual the supine media will find some justification for it. Just as the equally supine intelligensia will remain quiet for fear of upsetting their funding sources.
If you doubt the strength of my argument just take a little time to review the 2001-03 period with its manufactured hysteria about Muslim extremists defeating the laws of physics (the 3 WTC buildings) or weapons of mass destruction that would kill us all in 15 minutes (Iraq).
Not a pretty history but one that is doomed to be repeated ad nauseum because too few are willing to speak truth to power.
It seems silly to me that a white paper that highlights the dangers of homegrown terrorism is acco mpanied by an extension of ASIO’s powers rather than measures directed at internal security. I also deplore any erosion of civil liberties and note Malcolm Frazer’s comments on the 730 report last night in relation to refugees and the failure of the Govt to strongly defend their improved policies in this regard to those of the previous administration.It surprises me that a Lib is more vocal on these matters than Labor.
MPM - I agree with you(amazing isn’t it?) Perhaps for different reasons though. The CIA is even admitting to the horrors they’ve engaged in, first via George W and still doing it. Assassinating so-called “terrorists” in any country they wish, American or otherwise; engaging in torture practices; kidnapping citizens off the street and sending them to CIA jails in Europe or Egypt etc - the Italians charged some politicians with crimes, and ‘tried’ about 13 CIA personnel in absentia.
News item, ABC RAdio, saturday 4pm - More evidence coming to light re the use of torture agreed to by Jack Straw during the Blair years - he’s still denying it????Haven’t heard it on TV news or even radio since. That’s the method of a few yrs now, put in on Saturday afternoon while the people are at sport, or in the early hours of the morning!
Then there’s the story of David Hicks, Mandouh Habib - CIA torturers with allegedly ASIO mates as well. I’ve just got the book from my local library called, ‘Enemy Combatant - A British Muslin’s JOurney to Guantanamo and Back’? The story of Moazzam Begg - he was eventually released, no charges??Should be an interesting read?
It’s promoted as ‘A brilliant, terrifying and deeply moving account’! Tony Benn.
J.ONEILL - I read an article yesterday, where there’s a call in the US for another investigation re how the Twin Towers came down, and Tower 7 also. I’ve just finished reading(again) The New Pearl Harbour, by David Griffin in which he asks many questions and picks holes in the so-called evidence, interviews, behaviours etc of Bush/Cheney/Rice etc and poses scenarios re FBI, CIA etc. Engineers etc also contribute to the questioning of the ‘official account’? Most interesting and well written. I’ve read it a couple of times, as it’s difficult to remember all the points raised!
Thought provoking to say the least!
One very interesting point, is that even though the ‘official account’ finally admitted to there being neglect or ‘failings’ re the ‘intelligence’, not one person was taken to task let alone sacked, however, several who asked questions etc were sacked? I found it impossible not to believe, that at best, the Bush Administration knew what was going to happen and allowed it - to, it was pre-organised with Pentagon, Military, FBI, CIA assistance! There were many warnings, but were ignored - even to the extent of possible scenarios - aircraft as missiles into public buildings, WTC, Pentagon etc? You may have read it already, but I found it more than interesting!
What I meant to add was, it’s only a natural progression that Rudd would give ASIO more money, more power so they can co-operate with other such bodies(CIA/FBI etc) and use their resources to spy on any of us they see fit! Scary!
Perhaps if we didn’t accompany the US/Britain on their killing sprees, we wouldn’t have this ‘terrorist threat’? Even Mick Keelty admitted thus, and was slapped into line wasn’t he? Had to recant the next day!
It’s really getting a little tedious.
Tediousness is precisely why the mods are sick of you.
Kevin Rudd imposes on internet censorship for us. He tells artists how to conduct their work, he goes to church on Sundays and has a mind of a sewer. He cares nothing about the dangers which are meant to threaten Australia. What he does care about is garnering votes at the next election. Oh, and he loves spending the tax-payer’s money on the relentlessly ordinary mind-set of all the little old ladies who are members of the CWA. And we all know how sophisticated they are.
Is there no hole he would not dive into in order to finance government buildings?
God! I regret having voted for you, you little creep.
Hi Venise - I haven’t given my first preference to the ALP for several elections now - perhaps since Hawke gave us the ‘middle finger’ over that 3rd uranium mine? I put the Greens before Labor, but always put the Coalition last. No way could I vote for them, and certainly not Howard and now Abbott! YUK!
I’m very disappointed in Labor, and I’m cranky with myself for thinking there would be real change, not tokenism like the Apology to the Stolen Generation; treatment of asylum seekers, and the ABCC is a disgrace where any so-called lawyer who professes to believe in the presumption of innocence should hang their heads in shame; the right to discuss ‘interviews’ with ones partner etc; the Invasion of the NT and many others. WorstChoices Lite is another, and the ACTU is allowing them to get away with it!
Very sad! I haven’t even mentioned Iraq and Afghanistan, civil rights including allowing gays and lesbians to marry. Most depressing indeed! I hope the Greens really improve their vote next time! Fingers crossed!
The climate will have to change a lot before the greens will take office Liz and Venise I had come to expect better from you. Of course Rudd wants to garner as many votes as he can get but the rest was an unintelligable rant. I hope you’re not unwell as you seem a bit feverish.
Liz45. Can I recommend you read Griffin’s updated version of his original pioneering work. It is called The New Pearl Harbor Revisited. It was publisher’s weekly’s pick of the week in November 2008 but as far as I am aware has not even been reviewed in the australian media.
there is also a very interesting article by Elizabeth Woodworth on globalresearch.ca. She sets out recent changes in the world’s media on the treatment of the 9/11 question and the sceptics of the official conspiracy theory. Australia is notably absent from the list of countries that have recently published fair reviews of what the critics are saying. The critical threshold appears to have been the publication in the April 2009 issue of the Open Journal of Chemistry and Physics reporting the research of Harrit et al of finding conclusive evidence of explosives used to bring down the three WTC towers, namely, nanothermite. You will hunt in vain for any discussion of that in our mainstream media as well.
Why is this important? Well, at least two illegal wars (so far) as well as the phoney ‘war on terror’ and the draconian attacks on civil liberties are all justified by the so-called 9/11 attacks attributed to laws of physics defying Muslims. Obama repeated the mantra as recently as December 2009 and Rudd was quick to endorse him
@peculiar:
“Crikey must be deathly afraid of little ol’ me “
be assured that nobody here hates you as much as you hate yourself
Can you see me, Liz45? I’m right across from you, in the same boat.
Labor’s performance has been pathetic, but in the longer term that might be a good thing. The major parties are more similar than ever, but after a decade of Howard’s populist opportunism it was hard to recognise.
Perhaps the electorate will start voting more diversely now that the Tweedledum/Tweedledee act is more obvious. The Greens and other small parties stand to make a killing if they can market themselves correctly.
Above all else, we need electoral reform. Scandinavia and Europe do it so much better. If only Australians can stop being authoritarian serfs for long enough to make some overdue changes.
DAVIDK: As a matter of fact I am not at all well but apart from feeling awful, I don’t see how I could change my opinion of Kevin Rudd. With an apparently bottomless pool of tax-payer’s money he can pretty well do as he wishes.
I wouldn’t vote for the Coalition if my life depended on it. I have a strange aversion to voting for crooks, right-wing fundamentalism and a party that would take Oz back two hundred years.
LIZ: I wouldn’t want to ruin your illusions, but the experience of the by-election in Higgins was contemptible. Labor refused to field a candidate. The Liberal Party stood another right-wing catholic, as if there weren’t too many of them to begin with, which left the Greens with a heaven-sent opportunity; they blew it. Their candidate Clive Hamilton-who writes for this news-sheet, made a song and dance about being virtuous but he turned out to be in favour of Internet censorship. Rabid with fury, I voted for the Sex Party who rated quite well on environmental issues. I’m not saying the Greens could have won the seat, but they could have done a lot better.
Typical Oz, throw together as mediocre a bunch of people as any other people.
Hope you recover soon Venise. You’re quite right about Higgins and your summation of the Libs I couldn’t improve on. In Oz apathy and mediocracy go hand in hand, but the sex party? You really must have been starved for choice.
The irony is that the sex party is truly conservative. It stands for personal freedom and minimal, efficient government- in contrast to the nominally conservative parties of Australia, which are actually authoritarian religious parties with no regard for freedom whatsoever.
it really goes to show there are no are none and haven’t been any significant differences between tweedledumb and tweedledumber since Hawke / Keating - how else do you explain how long they stayed in power?! Quite simply they moved themselves further and further to the right, taking on liberal policy whilst appearing to still be centrist/left. What sort of democracy do you have when it’s a choice of two parties both bank rolled by huge local & multinational business interests? A farcical one! Friendly fascism, two party totalitarianism! As for ASIO, well, be safe in the knowledge that your posts and ISP have been logged for this article! Welcome to 1984, 2010 style!
Bernard and Crikey:
I’ve written a rejoinder to your article, from an intelligence studies view, here:
http://is.gd/94D9a
I wonder if ASIO people were at the ‘curry lunch’ in parts of Victoria today! Now that gave me a lift! What a great and caring thing to do - I hope they show the footage in India!
DAVID - If the climate changes too much, there’ll be no point in voting for the Greens or anyone else - it will be too late? My grandkids will hate me - with good reason, but I’m trying my best???I just hope it’s not already too late!
SANCHO - Talk about apathetic Australians. When I was organising workers for polling booths, leaflet drops etc in the late 70’s early 80’s (until Hawke screwed us over) I used to be stunned by people(not a lot, but) who’d front up to vote, but have to ask who we were voting for? Which tier of govt? I wanted to shout at them and ask them where they’d been for 6 wks or so? Amazing!
Remember the essay Rudd wrote about being compassionate, humane etc re asylum seekers. That gave me such a lift, probably more than a lot of other things including climate change, and he’s almost as hateful and inhumane as Howard - worse to me, as I expected him to be different - naive still, at my age? As Malcolm Fraser said in his interview with Kerry O’Brien(over 2 nights) in comparison to those countries that have 20-50,000+ per yr, when people in those countries spoke to him, they were incredulous of the carry on over 4-5,000? It’s really hysterical, stupid, cruel and makes us look like ‘hicks’ and horribly racist?
Isn’t it strange about the religious right? They profess to be good god botherers, but their policies and behaviour are the opposite to what is preached about christianity! I often wonder how they marry the two in their heads? Vote for Abbott, and it’ll be like having George Pell in the Lodge? Scary thought! Pell doesn’t pass my ‘sleaze barometer’ either! Shudder shudder!
J.ONEILL - I thought the front cover of the book I’ve just finished was different to the other one(DAvid griffin’s) but maybe it’s just a new edition. I haven’t heard of the follow up, but I’ll investigate it and see if I can find it locally. My local library is quite impressive with the books they buy - better choice than a larger city that adjoins me.
Those who were part of George w’s inner cabinet, were all part of the extreme right wing that wrote Project for a New American Century - worth a read, it’s on the net. Wolfiwitz, Richard Pearl, Rumsfeld and several others including Cheney of course. They took their ‘idea’ to Clinton but he wasn’t interested. Somewhere along the way, one of them made the comment, that they’d need something like ‘another Pearl Harbour’ to win the people over to agreeing to 2 wars. Their aim was to have several wars at the one time. Quite chilling?
There’s an article on Alternet called, “From Afghanistan to Iraq - Connecting the dots with Oil”. It’s about 14 pages long, but it names all the players, including Karzai, the stooge President of Afghanistan, as he was heavily involved in the oil industry in another life. In fact it states quite clearly, and gives the person’s name, that the Taliban were told late July that they were going to be bombed late October - this was almost 2+ months prior to 9/11. Pakistan was also told!
The US want a pipeline through Afghanistan from the Caspean Sea, as there’s lots and lots of oil and gas there - (they want to be able to move the goodies to the West.) I’ve read to the tune of $16 Trillion. The Taliban, after lots of fawning over by the Clinton Administration, and then by the Bush Administration wouldn’t come to the party. Neither Administration were bothered by the Taliban, in fact somebody mentioned the horrific abuses of women etc, and the answer was, ‘we can live with that’? The invasion had nothing to do with 9/11 or the Taliban, as it was recognised as the government of Afghanistan by Clinton etc.
Why did Bush & Cheney give evidence together and not under oath???
I’m not convinced that 9/11 was how the official line implies - as someone said about conspiracy theories, they’re only conspiracies if they’re not true! Indeed!
VENISE - I like most decent people abhor child pornography on the net or anywhere else, but as someone pointed out, it’s moved from one private PC to another - it’s not on Google or the like? I fear that the internet censorship is for other reasons?Political censorship? The grubs who engage in this s**t involving kids would find a way around it anyway, people always do! I’d like the govt to spend more time & money employing specialists who go into chat rooms and save as many kids from being abused as possible. A priest in NSW has just been sentenced to 18 month jail via that very process - he thought he was grooming a 13 yr old girl for sex, but it was a female detective in the Sexual Crimes Unit or the like. I appove of that - very much!
Have you had a look at the article on Crikey of 2005, that names the pollies who gave jobs to their family members? Over 150 of them I think? Most interesting!
http://www.crikey.com.au/2005/03/19/hundreds-of-political-jobs-for-relatives/
Hope you feel better soon, take care!
Its just another example how there is sweet F**K all difference between labour and Liberal policies. We live in a one party system with two factions.
Road Deaths 2001 -2008 :
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/publications/2009/pdf/rsr_04.pdf
2001 - 1,737
2002 - 1,715
2003 - 1,621
2004 - 1,583
2005 - 1,627
2006 - 1,602
2007 - 1,603
2008 - 1,464
2009 - 1509
Total = 14461
Death by Terrorism:
Counter-Terrorism White Paper
2001 - 11
2002 - 88
2003 - 1
2004 - 0
2005 - 5
2006 - 0
2007 - 0
2008 - 3
2009 - 3
Total = 111
The fear of terrorism; proportional and rational?
Exactly right Alexander B. As are most of you brave bloggers. No matter who you vote for the Government always gets in; which means those whose interests must be served continue to be irrespective of the colour of the flag. yet we continue to fall for this charade. Why? Because we have been programmed to believe we have a choice. We don’t. We have owners as comedian George Carlin used to say.
I can hardly wait for some government lackey, following a preplanned burst of “four legs good - two legs bad” editorial from the client follower media shills, to proudly announce our very own Dept of Homeland Security which will protect us from an ever growing but undetectable terrorist threat.
Never mind the fact that these prospective terrorist jokers have no dough and every Western spy group (they are all interconnected by the way) is listening to everything they say from one of 50 or so satellites circling the earth. Somehow, we are expected to believe that these patsies are going to evade Western technology so sophisticated that it can spot a 20 cent piece on your carpet from a hundred miles up, and turn up outside Parliament House with 20 kilos of dynamite strapped to their bellies. Just remember what Benjamin Franklin said:
“Those willing to trade liberty for safety usually end up with and deserve neither.”
Unless we speak up and let our politicians know we are awake to their passion play, we are going to be subjected to an ever increasing erosion of our civil liberties in the name of protecting the liberties that are being destroyed.
Already we have had an announcement about the purchase of those useless Peeping Tom privacy invaders at airports which I understand have proven extremely successful for scamming naked pics of unsuspecting female celebrities and posting them to the still uncensored internet. Aha! I have just found a reason to censor the Internet. How about that!
This outrageous expenditure of $120 million to allow some bunch of grounded aeronautical perverts to look at naked bodies of air commuters is a joke. It is nothing more than a tactic to remove any semblance of dignity we humans have left and we must stop it.
Education training camp tattoos (numbers) for all children from kindie to grave is merely another manifestation of the same political mindset infecting the planet at the moment and which seems scarily close to a 1930’s Germany and Italy mindset thanks to Deutsche Verdeidegungs Dienst and Europaische Wirtschaftgemeinschaft doctrine.
As for ASIO, our Govt. is so far embedded in the Anglo American worldplan of endless no win war and crowd control that no Western leader could possibly find it comfortable to sit down. Except the Dutch looks like they have had enough while we mindlessly follow those heading for the cliff. Just check out the US President when he arrives here soon - see if he sits down?
Won’t be able to!
So the new fear slogans could “Be supine, not sensible” or “Get smashed, not suspicious” both of which could easily be sponsored by booze companies.
No-one seems to have commented on the most blatant (of manifold) contradictions - warnings that the Threat is home grown but the spooks can look abroad, the new (hardly, the US demanded them in 2002) biometric visas from countries with utterly corrupt/non existent internal records (so we get a visa applicant’s fingerprints - to compare with what precisely?) but NOT from those with their own homegrowns (UK), and recently (though perhaps it’s already old & stale in the spinning news cycle) the airport security spend of $200M (what is it about that figure - learned from the Hollowmen “wheeeewhh!” joke?) promise of body scanners OUTWARDS, (ie to amerika).
Oz couldn’t produce enough roof insulation for the scam..err.. sorry, scheme so I assume that we’ll have to outsource the production of the woofle dust currently being spread around to protect us from dragons & demons.
DAVIDK: Some of the options included The DLP, The Democrats, a candidate standing on the denial of Global Warming, The Sex Party, and one or two others.
Looks like a scenario of 50s and 60s voting choices, doesn’t it?
Thanks for your good wishes.
Cheers
V.
….
MoPe just for the record: NOBODY is afraid of you, me, or whoever. There is some kind of tech’ mechanism that picks up on a word/words in our posts that IT deems dodgy, and puts up the mod message.
It is then checked by a flesh and blood. It has sod all to do with you. Whoever posts as MoPe is just like the rest of us!
As you/them are fond of saying: do try to keep up.
_________________
Hungry Beast did a nice little spoof on this ASIO thing, last week.
Given ASIO foul-ups, greater powers are a real cause for concern.
But the ‘terrorist threat’ has been a brilliant excuse for all Governments to enable even greater control of their peoples.
So, no more pissing in doorways, or dropping ciggy wrappers.
I feel so deprived..
There’s a good video that was on SBS some time ago, but it can be seen on
http://www.freedocumentaries.org It’s called, ‘Unconstitutional - The War on Civil Liberties in American’. It starts off with the introduction(ramming through?) of the PATRIOT Act, and continues to what happens to many people who were originally from the Middle East - one family in particular, and then to the general clamping down of basic human rights, eg, the right to take any library book without the Librarian having to hand the details over to the FBI? The Civil Liberties Union were very active, and it’s heartening to watch how the ordinary people react?
I read an article by a bloke who said that when the PATRIOT Act became Law, he realized that 9/11 was deliberate, as they didn’t have time to get that volume of work done in the time they did. From that time on, he believed that they were liars, who deliberately (at best)t allowed crimes that killed their own people. I don’t find it that amazing, as the US has had contempt for human life for decades - all my life at least, take Hiroshima & Nagasaki? the only country to use nuclear weapons and sits on a high throne shaking its fist at other countries like Iran who is entitled to enrich uranium, while not being as co-operative as the UN would like, but there’s no evidence of them wanting or making anything like a bomb; and hasn’t used phosphorus bombs, Depleted Uranium bombs or other nasties, unlike the US, that sells the stuff to Israel and who else? Amazing!
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Israel apparently using the idendity of 3 Australians to murder a Hamas leader? I predict nothing much! Rudd will talk tough to keep us ‘happy’ but on the quiet, Israel will get a blink and a nod, and that’ll be it!
Remember Rudd’s speech on the anniversary of Israel becoming a nation?(on the deaths and removals of Palestinians). Sickening! Julia Irwin made a brave speech on behalf of the oppressed Palestinians - brave woman! (I bet ASIO has a file on her??? - a real threat to our peace and democracy isn’t she???not!)
Be careful what you say Liz. ASIO now has a file on everyone on this thread.
This is one of the articles on today’s Information Clearing House. Articles from around the world, some in newspapers, TV but others in essay form. Most enlightening - 6 days a week!
Stephen Conroy might bar these sorts of independent news gathering from the Internet? After all, they want us to only have the Murdoch/Pentagon/White House version of ‘news’? It’s a crime to seek information about euthanasia or speak about it on the phone isn’t it? (via Howard)What next?
Why did the US ship the debris from the WTC buildings off to China as quick as a wink? Went against first commandment of crimes - keep the evidence intact and as ‘pure’ as possible? I’ve read that in the rubble, there would’ve been evidence of any ‘other’ particles that would lead people to believe, that dynamite or some other explosive material had been used. The more information, the more intriguing it becomes. Why did Building 7 come down the same way?
Explosive News
By Jennifer Harper
A lingering technical question about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks still haunts some, and it has political implications: How did 200,000 tons of steel disintegrate and drop in 11 seconds? A thousand architects and engineers want to know.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24856.htm
I’ve also read, that if the buildings collapsed due to extreme heat from the fires, which weakened the steel and caused the buildings to collapse inwards, there’d have been more big ‘chunks’ instead of the pulvarised nature of the rubble - interesting isn’t it?
Another interesting point about the Pentagon? Apart from the fact that the hole in the building wasn’t big enough for a passenger jet, but small enough for a missile, (that some witnesses said they saw - one bloke in a service station had asurveillance camera that would’ve filmed the whole thing, but the FBI arrived on the scene amazingly fast, and took the film away?) the official version said that the fire melted the steel etc beyond recognition, but passengers were identified by finger prints? What? Hot enough to melt steel and other metals, but not hot enough to burn human flesh to ashes? No, doesn’t make sense at all!
An intelligent person must raise doubts over the official version! The US media closed down anyone who asked questions, as either unfeeling bastards or non-patriotic or both - in fact, one TV journalist was sacked for asking these ‘insensitive’ questions? Clever! I looked on the website about the Pentagon attack once a few yrs ago, and 2 hours later, I was still intrigued - went from one aspect to another!
EPONYMOUS - If they were going to get me, they’d have done it before this. I’ve had a colourful career in protests, International Women’s Day rallies, Reclaim the Night rallies, Anti-war, particularly Anti-Iraq, against Palestine invasion last yr - my kids wore black capes and carried a ‘coffin’ in the 80’s in memory of Hiroshima Day and against uranium mining etc. ASIO don’t frighten me - I wonder if they mingle with the crowd and cause trouble like the FBI/CIA have done over the yrs, including the use of capsicum spray? If I disappear off the site, please come looking for me though?????I might end up in Egypt or Gittmo or Goublurn Maximum Security?
Funny how the govt can find the money for ASIO but we need great fund raising ventures as the McGrath Foundation to employ special breast care nurses for women with breast cancer? Or men who are impotent from cancer can’t afford the pharaceuticals in order for them to have a fulfilling and happy sex life? I know where I’d prefer my taxes to go!
When the state becomes too big, everything it gets involved can easily become a matter of national security. It becomes too tempting to label anyone who disagrees with federal policy a subversive, an enemy of the state or, a “terrorist”. For example, if I don’t like what is going on with hospitals or education, I can march up and down in front of the state parliament with my friends and the worst that happens is I may be asked to move on by a few local constables. I am still closer enough to the corridors of power to be heard.
However, if Education or Health were under the control of the Feds, my actions could be regarded as subversive in that I am putting at risk the general well being of the citizens and their access to health care. All of a sudden, Asio is on the scene, my telephone is tapped, I am photographed moving around, my files and documents are interrogated and possibly my property ransacked because I am suspected of subversive acts which under our laws enable the Feds to go snooping.. My goal may be nothing more than getting a better deal for the indigenous or lower socio-economic segments of the community which might embarrass the incumbent regime.
So, if ever there were a case for limiting the power of Federal Government and insuring the states endure, it has to be that. This eventuality was apparently recognised by the founders of this country and also those in the US and that is why states have constitutional rights that technically cannot be countermanded by the Feds unless IT BECOMES A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY.
To circumvent this counter measure against potential dictatorship, the US has been placed in a permanent state of emergency since the time of Roosevelt. Thus every President, through his ability to issue executive orders, can bypass the congress and do just about anything he sees fit, if it is couched in terms of national security. However it may not be all bad. . Kennedy’s executive order for the abolition of the privately owned Federal Reserve; i.e. Order 11110 has never been rescinded . This means that Ron Paul’s audit the fed bill, if it passes the US Senate could be immediately acted upon .
Only one problem. Kennedy was shot not long after he started printing United States of America bank notes rather than Federal Reserve bank notes.
RICHARD - I haven’t looked at the State/Federal issue in the context you’ve outlined. Thank you! Food for thought isn’t it? But what about the role the NSW govt displayed via the police force during APEC ‘07? Not much different of an attitude that Howard annunciated via the Ant-Terrorism Act of 2005?
Exactly my point!
A national security matter where the state police are going to be under direction of the national security apparatus. In reality they are likely to be on secondment to the Federal Govt and paid by the them for their time but I do not know how these inter services arrangments operate. Perhaps someone out their may be able to enlighten us.