Australia squibs on climate promise

The Rudd Government has reneged on a commitment to present its 2020 target to cut greenhouse gases to UN climate talks that start today.

The back-pedalling comes amid wrangling in cabinet over how far to go with curbing emissions.

The Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, yesterday defended the decision not to announce the target before she left for the talks in the Polish city of Poznan. She refused to comment on whether cabinet was divided over the target, which is expected to fall significantly below the level called for by European ministers, climate scientists and environmentalists who will attend the talks.

"It is the case that we said we would release the targets in December and we had indicated before Poznan," she said. But she said it was important to postpone the announcement until she released the final version of the Government's carbon pollution reduction scheme on December 15 - after she returned from Poland.

Until late last week Senator Wong repeatedly said the range of emissions cuts for the 2020 target would be set before she went to Poznan. "The intention is to announce, as I have said, our midterm target range prior to the Poznan negotiations. And that's the terms, the timetable, the Government's working on," she said on October 2.

Under intense lobbying from business and on the advice of senior officials, the Government is discussing setting a range of targets to cut greenhouse emissions by 2020. The target is now expected to be cuts between 5 per cent and 15 per cent of emissions, based on 2000 levels. This is significantly below the cuts of 25 to 40 per cent being called for by the European Union and climate scientists. The European environment ministers argue that developed countries such as Australia must agree to the higher cuts if they want to secure a new global agreement that will avoid dangerous climate change.

At last year's UN climate talks in Bali, all developed countries that had signed the Kyoto Protocol, including Australia, agreed to cuts between 25 and 40 per cent. China, India and Brazil, the fastest growing greenhouse gas polluters, argue that they will not make commitments to slow their emissions if developed countries fail to agree to this level of cuts.

By delaying the announcement of Australia's 2020 target, Senator Wong will avoid intense international criticism of Australia from European negotiators and environment groups if cabinet sets a weaker 2020 target range.

The chief executive of the environment group WWF, Greg Bourne, said Senator Wong would "be laughed out of Poznan" if she announced at the UN talks that Australia's 2020 target was between 5 and 15 per cent. Asked if she was avoiding making the announcement in Poland because of the international criticism, Senator Wong said: "I am not going to comment on a hypothetical."

The head of the Australian Conservation Council, Don Henry, said Australia needed to cut its emissions by at least a third by 2020 if it wanted to be a credible player at the UN talks.

While Europe has already promised cuts of 20 per cent, Senator Wong said few countries had yet announced firm targets for their cuts and many would not be completed until the final round of talks next year in Copenhagen.

Greens lash emissions target 'cop-out'

Greens leader Bob Brown has hit out at the Federal Government over its decision not to take a concrete emissions cut target to key climate talks starting in Poland today.

The climb-down has provoked an angry response from Senator Brown, who says it has damaged Australia's climate change credentials.

"This is a complete shemozzle from the Government. Here's Australia, which was the big sensation at Bali is going to be the big cop-out at Poznan," he said.

"It's all happened in 12 months, it's quite astonishing."

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Aust ratifies UN protocol on discrimination

Australia has signed a UN convention to provide Australian women with international legal protection for their human rights.

The Federal Government has ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The Minister for Women, Tanya Plibersek, says women now have the option of making a sex discrimination complaint to the United Nations after exhausting all legal channels in Australia.

"I think it's a very important thing for men and women that Australia says internationally, that equality between men and women is important in this country and that we're prepared to be judged by international standards," she said.

"We live in a region where a number of countries have very high rates of domestic violence and sexual assault and as we campaign in Australia to reduce domestic violence and sexual assault, as we try and help our neighbouring countries, it's very important to say that we are prepared to be judged by the same standards."

Quote: The problem with this though is that Australia doesn't uphold its UN protocol's on anything so in reality this is just a worthless piece of propaganda by the Australain Government and the alleged United Nations. All people are discriminated against in this country all the time. It's one thing to state these protocols but another to uphold them. Shame on Australia.

Australia pays family of Afghan governor

Governor Rozi Khan and two bodyguards were killed.

Australia has made an honour payment to the family of Afghan tribal district governor Rozi Khan who was shot dead in a confused firefight involving Australian special forces troops.

The speedy burial of Governor Khan meant no post-mortem examination was possible and it would probably never be known whether he died from shots fired by the Australian troops, defence chief Angus Houston said.

[Sure. People were born yesterday?]

The incident occurred in the town of Tarin Kowt on September 18.

Air Chief Marshal Houston said it was a violent and confusing event which led to the death of a respected tribal leader.

"As an Australian patrol was passing through a rural settlement on their way to achieve a separate objective, [stealing oil resources?] they came under fire from multiple sources," he told a Senate budget estimates committee hearing on Wednesday.

[But all illegal and degrading wars are violent and confusing as well they're lethal memes that should be avoided.]

The soldiers fired back in self defence.

"During this protracted night-time engagement, a group of five armed men that included Mr Khan approached the patrol from the direction of some of the firing.

"Believing these men were a threat, we appear to have engaged the group that included Mr Khan."

[So whilst stealing oil resources on Afghanistani soil they shoot people from the region believing these men who lived there were a threat.]

International Security Assistance Force and Australian inquiries had been unable to determine the exact details of the engagement including who killed Mr Khan.

[That's is why they paid the honour payment? By the way how honourable is that?]

The governor's immediate burial, required by local custom, prevented forensic examination.

"Following negotiations in accordance with Afghan culture, an honour payment has been made to Mr Khan's family to help maintain our good relationship with Rozi Khan's followers," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.

The amount paid was unspecified.

[This is the second time this article stated that, "The governor's immediate burial, required by local custom, prevented forensic examination." So that's how you know it's propaganda. For instance if all those killed by someone in Afghanistan, can't be examined, then who knows who killed who? The war is propagandised. To think that Chief Marshal Houston doesn't know this and wouldn't use it to defend himself or his government from being accused is just plain imperialist fraud.]

Australian inquiries determined civilians in the area were anxious and uncertain as there had been Taliban activity the day before and again that evening.

[Sure.]

The Taliban had also threatened to kill one of the locals in the vicinity and that caused guards on compounds to be nervous and agitated, prompting the initial contact.

[Good throw off anyway.]

"On the night he was killed, Mr Khan was not aware that coalition forces were involved in the engagement and he was moving to assist members of his militia that he believed to be under attack by the Taliban," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.

The defence chief said he was confident Australian troops acted in accordance with the right to self defence under their rules of engagement.

[War Chief Marshal Houston should be sacked.]

Quote: Did Khan's two bodyguards get an honour payment? How honourable would that be? Don't the military force understand that they can do wrong in a war zone? A war zone that they helped to create. By not allowing wrong in a war zone then Chief Marshal Houston implies that the illegal and degrading war on Afghanistan is somehow right? But the truth will set you free...

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Three civilians killed in botched raid
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Amnesty Stands Up Against Poverty

STAND UP Against Poverty is a global call to take action against poverty and inequality.

On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October), Amnesty International Australia will join the Make Poverty History Coalition, a group of aid agencies and community organisations, to call on our Government to do its fair share to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and halve global poverty by 2015.

Last year, STAND UP Against Poverty set a new Guinness World Record with 43.7 million people participating worldwide.

This year, events will be held across Australia again for STAND UP Against Poverty.

Join Us: Amnesty International Stands Up Against Poverty

Govt mulls payment Afgan governor's family

Governor Rozi Khan and two bodyguards were killed.

The Australian Defence [War] Force says the Federal Government will consider making a payment to the family of an Afghan governor, who is believed to have been accidentally killed by Australian forces.

The Governor of the Chora District, Rozi Khan, was shot dead last month during an incident where Australian forces were returning enemy [resistance] fire.

ADF Vice Chief Lieutenant General David Hurley says an act of grace payment to Mr Khan's family is one of the measures being considered by the Government.

"An investigation is being conducted into that and we'll await the outcome of that inquiry," he said.

"We have taken advice from the local leadership in the area in terms of what steps in reconciliation and how do we address the issue of that incident."

Quote: What about his bodyguards family? Are payments only for nobility? Peasants don't count?

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Death penalty ban 'would help save Bali 9'

A Sydney Federal Labor backbencher says a permanent Commonwealth ban on the death penalty will help the campaign to get Australians off death row in Bali.

The member for Werriwa, Chris Hayes, says current legislation means the death penalty could be reintroduced by the states.

He has moved a notice of motion in Federal Parliament to stop that happening.

Mr Hayes says it was the plight of the convicted drug smuggler, Scott Rush, that motivated him to action.

"What parent of an 18-year-old hasn't got concerns about the people their child mixes with or sometimes associates with?," he said.

Scott Rush and two other Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, face the death by firing squad in Indonesia.

The three Australians are members of the so-called Bali nine, who were caught trying to smuggle more than 8.2 kilograms of heroin from the resort island of Bali to Australia in 2005.

Chris Hayes says his bill also sends a clear message that Australia opposes the death penalty, increasing the diplomatic pressure on Indonesia.

It will be debated when Parliament resumes the week after next.

Rudd firm on capital punishment stance

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the fact that he backs the death penalty for the Bali bombers in Indonesia does not signal any change in his opposition to capital punishment in Australia.

[What a contradiction in terms?]

Mr Rudd says the three men on death row in Indonesia over the bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, are cowards and mass murderers who deserve the justice that will be delivered to them.

[Wrong again: The convicted Bali bombers did not have the means to create such a bomb. There are reports that in one Balinese kampong that provided labour to the clubs in Kuta Beach, seven empty coffins were buried, because there were no identifiable remains of the missing workers. It was as if they had been vaporised. Scores of people, mainly locals, are thought to have disappeared without trace.] Australia's Terrorism Wake Up Call.

He says the Bali bombers are subject to the Indonesian system, but he has said he does not believe in the death penalty in Australia or for Australians in other nations.

"That's the view of the Liberals, that's the view of the Australian Labor Party and that'll be the case into the future as well," he said.

"Also when it comes to Australians convicted of sentences abroad, both Mr Howard when he was prime minister and myself since becoming Prime Minister, we regularly intervene with foreign countries arguing the case for clemency for Australians convicted abroad."

Quote: Clearly Kevin Rudd is lost on this one. How can he not see that all people are equal? And have been created equal - no matter where they are from? How can any person create this dilemma for themselves? For himself? For our people? Basically any other foreign country would take that as an approval to execute an Australian citizen.

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$50b Aussie wipe-out

A board at the New York Stock Exchange displays the final numbers.

Australian stocks wiped more than $50 billion off the value of the market today after the US House of Representatives rejected a $US700 billion ($860 billion) plan to rescue the financial system.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell as much as 258.3 points, or 5.4 per cent to 4643. Futures had indicated a fall as much as 7 per cent.

Shares in Macquarie Group fell as much as $5.60, or 15 per cent, to $31.60.

Babcock & Brown shares were the biggest single fall in early trade, losing as much as 35 per cent, or 82.5 cents, to $1.52.5.

Trillion-dollar US wipe-out

The US House of Representatives voted down the package overnight, sending Wall Street into a panic and driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average down a record 777.68 points - or 6.98 per cent - wiping approximately $US1.2 trillion off the market value.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 3.35 per cent at 10.10am.

Although it's the first-ever trillion-dollar one-day loss, it does not make the top 10 greatest percentage losses. On "Black Monday", October 19, 1987, the Dow dropped by 22.61 per cent.

Mr Rudd said he had spoken to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown this morning after the US House of Representatives rejected the financial package overnight, sending the Dow into freefall.

"We are now in touch with all of our counterparts in the United States from the Australian point of view, a British point of view and the Europeans are doing the same," he said.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said the fallout could have an impact on interest rates in Australia.

"There's no doubt that events in the United States will probably put further upward pressure on borrowings but we'll just have to wait and see," Mr Swan said today.

He would not commit to the Reserve Bank of Australia intervening in local markets today and went on to repeat his belief that Australia was in a much better position than the US because of tighter regulations.

"There's a world of difference between what's going on in the United States and Australia," Mr Swan said.

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Households give up three years of gains

AUSTRALIAN households have been hit so hard this year that their financial gains of the past three years have been wiped out, a Reserve Bank report has found.

Despite missing out on the worst of the global financial meltdown, householders are still going backwards.

[Did we miss out on the worst? Perhaps it's a little too early to tell?]

A combination of falling house prices, the plunging sharemarket and high inflation was to blame, the Reserve's Financial Stability Review concluded.

It found the financial downturn in the first half of this year had cut household net worth so it was back to the level of early 2005, as a ratio of disposable income.

In other grim news, new home sales dropped across the nation last month and were particularly bad in Queensland - down 4.7 per cent on the previous month.

But the Reserve review said consumers in other countries were doing much worse.

It also singled out the Australian banking system for special praise, saying it was "weathering the current difficulties much better than many other financial systems".

Mortgage stress creating 'struggle street' in Aust

Mortgage stress is an increasing problem in Australia, according to the Reserve Bank, which says thousands of households across the country are struggling to keep up with mortgage repayments.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has pointed the finger of blame at what it describes as "predatory" lending practices by mortgage brokers and an increased appetite for debt among households.

The situation is outlined in the RBA's financial stability review released yesterday, which focused on how Australian banks are weathering the financial storm.

That is the big picture, but another section looks at the real world which is becoming "struggle street" in parts of Australia where mortgage stress is on the rise.

The top six worst affected areas are in western Sydney, but other parts of the country are also suffering from high interest rates and increasing household costs

Financial counsellors say there are more people seeking assistance in Melbourne's north and western suburbs.

In western Sydney, though, the number of loan repayments in default by 90 days or more is three times the national average.

The mayor of western Sydney's Blacktown, Leo Kelly, is witnessing more mortgage stress every day.

"It's very tough for young aspirational families that have moved into the area, obtained their dream home in one of the largest populated local government areas in Australia, with all the facilities and resources they need to live, work and play close to home," he said.

"They've built the dream home and because of the tardy operation and thoughtless activities of the banking system they've now found themselves in extreme difficulty and mortgage stress which is breaking up families.

"You can only see the result of this by driving through the new release areas and seeing the for sale signs up."

Economic rescue

Much turns on what happens in the financially stricken United States.

ANZ chief executive Mike Smith says the credit crisis could run another 18 months and as a result it will get more difficult to get a mortgage, personal loan or credit card, in other words credit rationing.

With more pain ahead, Mr Smith says banks and customers must rein in debt.

"People are being cautious, there's no doubt," he said at a meeting of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Sydney yesterday.

"Loan demand has reduced a fair amount.

"We are beginning to see an uptick in mortgage defaults.

"We're not seeing it in credit cards which is unusual, I'd have thought it would be the other way round but employment numbers are holding up and that is the key I think, that is the key we have to watch."

In an indication that there is no easing of the credit crisis, the 90 day bank bill rate, which measures what banks charge each other for interbank loans, has had its biggest one day increase in nine years today.

The implications for Australia include continued pressure for the RBA to cut interest rates again next month.

Some economists say the RBA needs to make a 0.5 per cent cut, to ensure something is passed on to mortgage stressed customers.

Because of the higher cost of money, bank costs are going up and they are likely to hold on to some of the reduction.

As the ANZ's Mike Smith said yesterday, he is running a bank, not a welfare state.

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Save children not Wall St
The head of World Vision Australia, Tim Costello, says the global market turmoil is threatening progress being made on reducing world poverty.

No to Wall Street bailout! The plan, which is being rushed through Congress for passage this week, is the response of the government and the entire political establishment to what is acknowledged to be the greatest economic crisis since the Wall Street crash of 1929. It calls for an unprecedented transfer of public funds to the major banks and the American financial elite at the expense of the broad mass of the people.

Market Watch: The $75 trillion American fiscal fright fest. Eight megahorror debts chilling America America's out of control, drowning in debt, gorging: $75 trillion and getting worse. Now we're dumping Fannie and Freddie on America's balance sheet. Every year we pile trillions more on future generations.

Save children not Wall St

The head of World Vision Australia, Tim Costello, says the global market turmoil is threatening progress being made on reducing world poverty.

Mr Costello is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 to halve extreme poverty and hunger.

He says in the last eight years, nearly half a million poor people have been helped and for first time the number of child deaths has fallen.

But Mr Costello says the United States Government's bailout of the banks is now taking those goals off track.

"When we describe a crisis, an emergency like Wall Street, suddenly the money's there," he said.

"When 25,000 children are dying each day from preventable disease and lack of food we don't call that a crisis.

"In my books, in most of the leaders' books here, that's actually a crisis. Why can't we find the money?"

AFGHANISTAN: End the slaughter

An Afghan woman who lost family members weeps after air strikes on Friday in Azizabad district of Shindand August 23, 2008. An UN investigation suggested that 60 children were killed in the airstrike.

Australian troops are not restoring peace in Afghanistan but working for oil company profits, amongst other things.

But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has paid tribute to nine soldiers who were wounded in battle, one of whom has life-threatening injuries, and said the Government remains committed to restoring peace in Afghanistan.

[In the 7 years since the invasion of Afghanistan there is still no water, no electricity, and no education, most of the time.]

The troops were members of a Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) detachment fighting an overnight battle with the Taliban in Uruzgan province.

Mr Rudd has told Parliament the operation is still continuing and says Australia will continue to help Afghanistan in the fight against the Taliban.

[For oil company profits.]

"The Australian Government remains committed to assisting the people of Afghanistan and their democratically elected Government to achieve a measure of the stability and prosperity that we take for granted in our country," he said.

[For oil company profits.]

[In the 7 years since the invasion of Afghanistan there is still no water, no electricity, and no education, most of the time.]

"Our adversaries should take heed of the resolve of Australia's soldiers, the resolve of the Australian Government and the resolve of the Australian people in bringing to an end this unsustainable instability and conflict in Afghanistan.

Mr Rudd said those still involved in the operation were undertaking essential but dangerous work which was part of a vital mission.

"The Taliban can never again be allowed to use Afghanistan as a training ground, a hiding place or a launching pad for terrorist operations around the world," he said.

[Because it never happened. Bin Laden worked for the US and the Bush family.]

Five of the soldiers have serious wounds and three others have slight wounds, while one is seriously injured.

Earlier today Chief of the Defence [military] Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston confirmed the troops were ambushed.

[For ripping of Indigenous Afghanistanis]

"It's a very dangerous place and we were involved in an activity with other forces, and I guess we were ambushed and this is what happened," he said.

The incident follows the death in July of 25-year-old SAS Signaller Sean McCarthy, the sixth Australian soldier to die in theatre in Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN: End the slaughter

On 22 August, 95 civilians were killed by NATO forces, 60 among them were children. Yesterday 1 September another 70 civilians suffered the same fate.

Afghanistan does not make the news; Afghan lives seem not to matter to the so called "civilised world".

7 October 2008 marks the seventh year of Afghanistan’s occupation. The NATO led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is made up of over 50,000 NATO troops, of which about half are US soldiers. Australia under operation SLIPPER provides 1,080 Australian soldiers.

NATO has killed actually more civilians than the Taliban, this is just one of the reasons why the resistance to the occupation is increasing.

The US alone spends $100 million a day in Afghanistan’s war, while total international aid comes to $7 million a day - most if not all is 'boomerang' aid.

The US puppet regime of Hamid Karzai exerts control over no more than 30 percent of the country.

After the US led invasion Afghanistan has become the ‘opium capital of the world’ and foreign soldiers are much involved in opium trade as the warlords.

The 2007 Afghanistan Human Development Report shows some catastrophic development indicators: access to water is at 31% of households; life expectancy is 43.1 years; adult literacy is 23.5%; 50% of Afghan children under five are malnourished; while 6.6 million Afghans do not meet their minimum daily food requirements.

Violence is up by 50% in a country where suicide bombings had never been seen before December 2005. RAWA, the lead Afghan women’s rights group, says the US backed regime in Kabul is no improvement for Afghan women.

Malalai Joya, a leading Afghan politician also called the ‘bravest woman of Afghanistan, has denounced the warlords, Karzai and the endemic corruption.

Malalai has also called for all US and foreign troops to get out of Afghanistan and allow Afghans to run their country. Australia is aiding and abetting in a disastrous occupation.

Foreign troops have not brought democracy to Afghanistan but chaos and misery.

Join our call to: BRING THE TROOPS HOME! JOIN THE STOP THE WAR COALITION - SYDNEY ON TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER 2008 AT 5.30pm AT SYDNEY TOWN HALL.

STOP THE WAR COALITION
Malalai Joya
(RAWA)

Related:

Austraila detained Afghans in 'dog pens'
Australian special forces troops detained suspected Taliban militants [or indigenous Afganistanis] in "dog pens" in actions which have prompted a protest from the Afghan ambassador.

Investigation last week found mass NATO Killings of 90 Afghanistan Civilians including 60 Children.


"Investigations by UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men," U.N. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide said in a statement.

The Forgotten War: Sonali Kolhatkar on Why Afghanistan is “Just as Bad as Iraq” Coming on the heels of Barack Obama’s highly publicized visit to Afghanistan—what he calls a central front in the so-called war on terror—we play an address by Pacifica radio host Sonali Kolhatkar, one of this country’s leading voices against the occupation of Afghanistan and co-author of the book Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords and the Propaganda of Silence. She spoke last month at the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis about what she called widespread misconceptions about the occupation of Afghanistan.

Rice greeted by protesters in Perth Rice will always have a job with the Bush family (she served the father, too) or with Chevron-Texaco Oil

Australian SAS soldier 'killed' in Afghanistan
The reported death of the soldier in Afghanistan would be the second loss Australia has experienced in the attack on the sovereign nation state this year, and brings the nation's death toll from the war to six.

Iraq oil output, exports hit post-war high


Oil production has climbed to a post-war high of more than 2.5 million barrels-per-day.

Iraq has raised oil exports to a post-war high, earning billions of dollars to fund reconstruction after Baghdad cracked down on sabotage of its strategic pipelines, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani says he expects 2008 oil revenues to reach $70 billion if oil prices stay high and there are no output disruptions. Mr Shahristani was optimistic Iraqi forces would be able to sustain tight security at oil facilities. That could raise the confidence of [foreign] investors who have been discouraged by [resistance to; the pre-emptive strikes on Iraq by the coalition of the killing, false flag operations by them, to encourage civil war, sectarian violence, Al Qaeda and powerful Shiite militants who had a tight grip on Basra, home to Iraq's biggest oilfields.

"In May, we have exceeded for the first time 2 million barrels-per-day (bpd) as an export rate," Mr Shahristani said. Production had also climbed to a post-war high of more than 2.5 million bpd, he said. Mr Shahristani was confident Iraq could pump up to 2.9 million bpd by the end of 2008. He declined to comment on export levels for June, but senior Iraqi oil officials said last month shipments would run slightly higher because of extra Kirkuk sales from the north.

Unknown News
"News that's not known, or not known enough."

-- IN IRAQ --

30,000 IRAQI TROOPS KILLED
and 90,000 SERIOUSLY INJURED Aug. 2003

785,957 IRAQI CIVILIANS KILLED
and 1,414,723 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

3,615 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 50,677 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

287 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 861 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

160 U.S. CIVILIANS KILLED
and 288 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

251 OTHER COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and 452 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

-- IN AFGHANISTAN --

8,587 AFGHAN TROOPS KILLED
and 25,761 SERIOUSLY INJURED July 2004

3,485 AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED
and 6,273 SERIOUSLY INJURED July 2004

342 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 1,026 SERIOUSLY INJURED Jan. 2007

278 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 834 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

? U.S. and COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and ? SERIOUSLY INJURED

Army chief admits morale concerns over lack of combat
Lieutenant General Leahy was responding to public criticism from two infantry officers who have written in the Australian Army Journal. The officers claim that some soldiers are sometimes ashamed to wear the Australian uniform and have been treated with "near contempt" by allies in Iraq and Afghanistan because they are involved in such low-risk missions.

IT'S ALL ABOUT OIL!
In 1998, Dick Cheney, now US vice-president but then chief executive of a major oil services company, remarked: "I cannot think of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian." But the oil and gas there is worthless until it is moved. The only route which makes both political and economic sense is through Afghanistan.

The Secret Rulers of the World

The Secret Rulers of the World – New Link 

The Secret Rulers of the World - Present/Past [part 1 of 29] You Tube Video The source of most if not all our woes, revealed (from the present to the past): Connecting the dots through ~3000 years of revisionist human history, spanning from the time of the pharaohs, all the way up to the present dynasties creating the New World Order, in a quest to perfect the enslavement of mankind. From pirates to banksters, to the ruling elite, who run the world's finances, the media and cover both side of nearly every conflict or war: the world may make more sense after watching this.

About the Producer:
As a child, she had many arguments between her parents over her father's ring, inscribed with "G", a compass and square. At a later age, years of intensive research led her to the identity , history and plans of a power "so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocking, so complete, so pervasive" that even the known 'leaders' of the world are careful not to speak in "condemnation" of it.

The Secret Rulers of the World – New Link 

2. The Secret Rulers of the World - Only the Start [2/29]

The Secret Rulers of the World – New Link 

3. Secret Rulers of the World - Profiting from 9/11 [3/29]

The Secret Rulers of the World – New Link 
4. Secret Rulers of the World - Hidden Empire [4/29]

The Secret Rulers of the World – New Link 
5. The Secret Rulers of the World - Vatican Hoarding [5/29]
6. The Secret Rulers of the World - Amen Pharaohs [6/29]
7. Secret Rulers of the World - Forbidden Link [7/29]
8. Secret Rulers of the World - Oceans of Blood [8/29]
9. The Secret Rulers of the World - The Queen [9/29]
10. The Secret Rulers of the World - King of Kings[10/29]
11. The Secret Rulers of the World - The Empire [11/29]
12.The Secret Rulers of the World - The Cult of Amen [12/29]
13. The Secret Rulers of the World - Committee of 30 [13/29]
14. The Secret Rulers of the World - Rothschild [14/29]
15. The Secret Rulers of the World - New World Order [15/29]
16. The Secret Rulers of the World - Freemasonry [16/29]
17. The Secret Rulers of the World - Money Control [17/29]
18.Secret Rulers of the World - Credit Monopoly [18/29]
19. The Secret Rulers of the World - Bush Nazis
20. The Secret Rulers of the World - Palestine Israel[20/29]
21. The Secret Rulers of the World - The Butchers [21/29]
22. Secret Rulers of the World - The Asses of Evil [22/29]
23. The Secret Rulers of the World - Drug Running [23/29]
24. The Secret Rulers of the World - War on Terror [24/29]
25. The Secret Rulers of the World - Iraqi Dates [25/29]
26. The Secret Rulers of the World - The AntiChrist [26/29]
27. The Secret Rulers of the World - Enslavement [27/29]
28. The Secret Rulers of the World - Tax Enslavement [28/29]
29. The Secret Rulers of the World - The Power [29/29]


Related:

Antiwar Activists Take to the Streets to “Defend Denver”


Antiwar Activists Take to the Streets to "Defend Denver" Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill heads to the streets of Denver to report on day one of protests outside of the Democratic National Convention. He speaks to antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, M1 of Dead Prez, Leslie Cagan of United for Peace and Justice and others.

Rick MacArthur: "You Can't Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America"


As the Democratic National Convention begins in Denver, we speak to Harper’s publisher Rick MacArthur on his new book You Can’t Be President. MacArthur says that the popular notion that any American can become president only reinforces the “destructive national delusion that widespread, up-from-the-ground, truly popular democracy, both political and economic, really exists in America.” To assume that, he says, is equal to believing that Santa Claus exists.

AT&T Throws Party to Support Dems Who Voted to Grant Telecoms Immunity for Illegal Domestic Wiretapping


Democracy Now! goes from the streets to the suites to try and cover one of the first of over 1,200 parties during the Democratic National Convention—this one thrown by AT&T to support Democrats who voted to grant the company immunity for illegal wiretapping of Americans. We also get analysis from Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com.

Asia Pacific must tackle child mortality

A new United Nations report on infant and child mortality has some blunt messages for governments in the Asia Pacific region.

It says they must spend more on health services, reduce the income gap and slow the pace of privatisation in the health sector.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report for Asia and the Pacific says Asia's economic growth over recent decades has been the key to lowering infant and child mortality rates across the region.

UNICEF's regional director for Asia and the Pacific, Anupama Rao Singh, said the region has made great strides in lowering infant and child mortality rates since the 1970s but warns in recent years the gains have been parred.

"The good dimension is that there has been progress in the decline of infant and child mortality rates if you compare it from the 1970s to date," he said.

"Many countries are on track to achieving the millennium development goal of reducing infant and child mortality by two thirds by 2015.

"This progress has tended to taper off in the last 15 to 17 years. The 70s and 80s saw a much more rapid decline."

But there are major challenges in which public policy in Asia is making it much harder for infant mortality goals to be reached.

Public health systems are under-resourced and financed with less than 1 per cent of government budgets invested in the sector, while income disparities are also widening.

The report warns that if Asia Pacific fails to extend essential services to the poor and marginalised groups as well as making efforts to narrow income disparities, it may result in one million child deaths in the region in 2015.

China in human rights dance, says Rudd

Kevin Rudd poses for photos with a Chinese children's choir after they sang at the welcoming ceremony for the Australian Olympic Team.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday summed up China's progress on human rights as "two steps forward and one step back".

Speaking before the opening of the Olympic Games, Mr Rudd said China deserved credit for moving beyond the horrors of the Cultural Revolution and the suppression of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement in 1989, but that "much, much more" needed to be done.

"As someone who's looked at the history of human rights in China, it's always been two steps forward, one step back," Mr Rudd said when asked if China had fulfilled its promise, made in 2001 when it was awarded the 2008 Games, to improve human rights.

Mr Rudd said China's record on human rights had to be viewed in a longer time frame and to acknowledge that China had made "significant progress, while saying in the same breath there is much more progress that still needs to occur".

Mr Rudd was speaking just hours before Tibetan Buddhist monks tried to storm the heavily guarded Chinese embassy complex in New Delhi as the Games opening ceremony got underway in Beijing. As the police tackled the Tibetan exiles, some monks ran through the barricades towards the embassy walls but were stopped and taken into custody.

Mr Rudd declined to comment on US President George Bush's speech made in Bangkok, before his arrival in Beijing to attend last night's opening ceremony, in which Mr Bush criticised China's continued human rights abuses. Mr Rudd said he wanted to read Mr Bush's full speech before commenting.

Mr Rudd spoke to the media after a private meeting of about 45 minutes with Premier Wen Jiabao, one of the few bilateral meetings granted during the Olympic period.

He said he raised human rights, religious freedom, Tibet and internet freedom with Mr Wen, but declined to say how this was received.

"My responsibility as Prime Minister of Australia is to be frank about what I have seen … where positive changes have occurred and where we still believe changes need to occur."

After 30 years of studying China, he said he found a combination of "private diplomacy as well as periodic public reminders" of international concerns about human rights was the most effective way to encourage change.

He stressed several times the importance of bringing up human rights concerns "respectfully" and acknowledging how far civil liberties had improved since China began opening to the world in 1978.

Mr Wen agreed these matters would be pursued through Australia's annual human rights dialogue with China.

Mr Rudd noted the resumption of dialogue between China and representatives of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama after the sustained riots in Tibet and western China since March.

At a state banquet for world leaders yesterday, Mr Rudd was seated next to Mr Wen and President Bush was seated next to President Hu Jintao.

Asked about the grey smog that yesterday cloaked Beijing, Mr Rudd said he was relying on the International Olympic Committee to monitor pollution levels to protect athletes' health.

Mr Rudd said his main job here was to support the 433 Australian athletes, who had given Beijing's physical preparations a good "rap".

He brushed off a question about whether ordinary Chinese were being kept away from the Games by the security clampdown, saying it was much easier for 20 million Australians to be involved in the Sydney Games than it was for 1.3 billion Chinese.He is due to meet Mr Hu later today.

Mr Rudd also:
* Stressed his government's non-discriminatory policy on foreign investment in Australia.
* Said Mr Wen agreed to pursue the stuttering bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
* Announced that the first ministerial dialogue on climate change would be held in Canberra in November.

Related:

Olympics human rights ads pulled: GetUp!
Advocacy group GetUp says they expect to be reimbursed for advertisements protesting human rights abuses in China that were stopped from going to air during the coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony. The organisation says they paid Channel Seven to feature the ads before and after the event and were given approval to do so. GetUp's Brett Solomon says he is extremely disappointed by the decision not to air the ads.

Summer Olympic Games Open in Beijing, Pro-Tibet Protester Deported to US


The eyes of the world are focused on China today as the Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing. One big question centers on whether the Olympic Committee and the Chinese government will allow any public protests during the Games. We speak with an activist who was arrested in China and deported after unfurling a Tibet independence banner close to the main Olympic stadium.

Hypocrisy, human rights and the Beijing games
The Beijing Olympic games, which began on August 8, are shaping up to be a perfect reflection of our times — taking place against a backdrop of human rights abuses, terrorism scares and under a blanket of chemical smog.

“This is the Olympics the West Wanted”–Dave Zirin on US Corporations Entering China, Athletes Speaking Out and the Games from ’68 to Today


As the 2008 Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing, we speak with sportswriter Dave Zirin. “This is the Olympics the West wanted: games where the grandest prize is not a gold medal but a glittering entree to China’s seemingly endless army of potential consumers,” writes Zirin. “This is the reason that George W. Bush will attend the opening ceremonies, the first U.S. President to do so on foreign soil.”

Athletes' letter condemns China on rights
Forty athletes taking part in the games have written an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, expressing their concerns about Tibet. The signatories to the letter, which was sent to the International Herald Tribune newspaper, include Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles, Croatian world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic, and US 400 metres runner DeeDee Trotter.

Australia to sign up to anti-torture treaty
Things like the Death Penalty, Genocide, Water boarding, Rendition, Terror, False Flag Ops, Propaganda, War on Witches, State-Terror, Selling Human Body Parts of Executed Prisoners, Occupation of Sovereign Nation States, Pre-emptive Strikes on Sovereign Nation States, No Freedom After Speech, Killing Their Opposition Political Party Leaders and Media, Inhibiting or Killing Freedom of the Press, Inhibiting Internet Freedom, Conspiracy Theories, and Govenment Propaganda by Corporate Media etc...

Falun Gong's Olympic 'call for justice'
About 100 protesters from the Falun Gong have gathered in Sydney's CBD calling for greater scrutiny of China's labour camps during the Olympics. The Falun Gong say about 8,000 of their members in China have been arrested since December in crackdown leading up to the games.

Before the Olympics, 'Free Tibet'
A "Free Tibet" activist group will screen an advertisement urging Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to speak to the Chinese leadership about finding a solution for Tibet during his visit to the Olympics in Beijing.

American Foreign Policy Brought to You by China: Advisers to Obama, McCain Tied to US Multinationals that Profit from Beijing


President Bush is heading to China this week, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics on Friday. The Games’ presence in Beijing have helped spotlight opposition to China on a number of policies, including its repression of the Tibetan independence movement, its support for the Sudanese government in Darfur and its crackdown on dissidents and civil liberties at home. In the latest issue of Harper’s Magazine, Ken Silverstein says many of the bipartisan experts who have advocated so-called “constructive engagement” with China are tied to major US multinational corporations that profit heavily from the Chinese market.

Rudd to raise China Olympic censorship
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he will raise concerns with the Chinese Government about internet censorship during the Olympics. Chinese authorities are blocking sensitive websites used by the international media and are using spyware to monitor internet use in hotels used by journalists and other visitors to the Games.

China's human rights worse: Amnesty
Human rights group Amnesty International has released a scathing assessment of China's human rights record since it was awarded the right to host next month's Olympic Games seven years ago.

Kucinich Testifies Bush Impeachment House Judiciary Committee Holds Historic Hearings on the Case for Impeachment, Democracy Now! The House Judiciary Committee held historic hearings on Friday about whether the White House overstepped its constitutional authority during the presidency of George W. Bush and whether or not such abuses would justify his impeachment. The hearing was billed as one on “Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations.” Although the title expressly did not include the word “impeachment,” several Democratic Congress members and witnesses used the opportunity to begin impeachment proceedings against the President and Vice President. We play highlights.

Athletes' letter condemns China on rights

Forty athletes taking part in the games have written an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, expressing their concerns about Tibet.

The signatories to the letter, which was sent to the International Herald Tribune newspaper, include Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles, Croatian world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic, and US 400 metres runner DeeDee Trotter.

Olympic athletes have been given a warning about expressing political opinions and protesting in China as the communist country prepares to open the Games tonight.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge says the rules on athletes expressing their political opinions are clear.

"The athletes have the full right of course to express their views outside of accredited zones," he said.

"They can express their views the way they wish while respecting the laws of the country where they are.

Buddhists arrested after Kathmandu anti-China protest

Security forces in Nepal have broken up a demonstration in Kathmandu by about 2,000 Buddhists angry about China's policies in Tibet.

The protesters chanted religious mantras and accused Beijing of suppressing religious freedom in Tibet.

About 500 people were arrested after security forces moved in to disperse the crowd.

There have been regular protests by Tibetan exiles in Nepal since China suppressed demonstrations in Tibet in March.

Rights group hijacks Chinese radio frequency

A human rights group has broken China's tight control of the media by broadcasting a radio show calling for freedom of expression in Beijing.

The pirate broadcast happened exactly 12 hours before the Olympic Games opening ceremony begins.

Using FM transmitters, the group Reporters Without Borders sent out a 20-minute program in French, Chinese and English slamming the Communist Government's control of the media and free expression.

"It's our way of saying to them, despite everything you do, here are the voices of people you want to silence and they are speaking, in the heart of Beijing on the very first day of the Olympics," a spokesman said.

It is not known how many people were able to listen to the program.

The group says it was the first broadcast by a radio station not controlled by China's Government since the Communists took power in 1949.

Related:

Australia to sign up to anti-torture treaty
Things like the Death Penalty, Genocide, Water boarding, Rendition, Terror, False Flag Ops, Propaganda, War on Witches, State-Terror, Selling Human Body Parts of Executed Prisoners, Occupation of Sovereign Nation States, Pre-emptive Strikes on Sovereign Nation States, No Freedom After Speech, Killing Their Opposition Political Party Leaders and Media, Inhibiting or Killing Freedom of the Press, Inhibiting Internet Freedom, Conspiracy Theories, and Govenment Propaganda by Corporate Media etc...

Falun Gong's Olympic 'call for justice'
About 100 protesters from the Falun Gong have gathered in Sydney's CBD calling for greater scrutiny of China's labour camps during the Olympics. The Falun Gong say about 8,000 of their members in China have been arrested since December in crackdown leading up to the games.

Before the Olympics, 'Free Tibet'
A "Free Tibet" activist group will screen an advertisement urging Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to speak to the Chinese leadership about finding a solution for Tibet during his visit to the Olympics in Beijing.

American Foreign Policy Brought to You by China: Advisers to Obama, McCain Tied to US Multinationals that Profit from Beijing


President Bush is heading to China this week, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics on Friday. The Games’ presence in Beijing have helped spotlight opposition to China on a number of policies, including its repression of the Tibetan independence movement, its support for the Sudanese government in Darfur and its crackdown on dissidents and civil liberties at home. In the latest issue of Harper’s Magazine, Ken Silverstein says many of the bipartisan experts who have advocated so-called “constructive engagement” with China are tied to major US multinational corporations that profit heavily from the Chinese market.

Rudd to raise China Olympic censorship
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he will raise concerns with the Chinese Government about internet censorship during the Olympics. Chinese authorities are blocking sensitive websites used by the international media and are using spyware to monitor internet use in hotels used by journalists and other visitors to the Games.

China's human rights worse: Amnesty
Human rights group Amnesty International has released a scathing assessment of China's human rights record since it was awarded the right to host next month's Olympic Games seven years ago.

China's human rights worse: Amnesty

Human rights group Amnesty International has released a scathing assessment of China's human rights record since it was awarded the right to host next month's Olympic Games seven years ago.

The report says that far from improving, China's human rights record has actually worsened.

Amnesty says when it won the right to host the games, the Chinese Government promised better human rights and greater freedom for the media.

But Amnesty's China researcher Mark Allison says this has not happened.

"We want China to live up to its promise of complete media freedom and allow full access to foreign journalists who are reporting in China," he said.

"We want them to release all the journalists, Chinese journalists, who've been imprisoned in violation of their human rights and also to stop its censorship of the domestic media, particularly the internet."

There has not been a reaction to the Amnesty report from China so far.

Related:

Beijing 2008: how much will you be allowed to see?



The spectacle of the opening ceremony. The competition in the pool. The drama in the glamorous stadium. All of this and more will be broadcast around Australia and the world when the Beijing Olympics get underway in just a few weeks time.

But what about the executions still being carried out by the Chinese Government? Or the ‘Re-education through Labour’ camps where hundreds of thousands of people are detained without charge or trial? What about the torture that is frequently reported? The repression of free speech?

Ye Guozhu was tried in secret and sentenced to four years in jail for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble”. His ‘crime’ was to apply for permission to protest after his home and restaurant were demolished to make way for the Olympics.

People like Ye Guozhu are silenced. You are not. Use your freedom to speak up for those who can’t and become a Human Rights Defender.

Human rights in China have actually deteriorated because of the Games. The authorities have locked up and forcibly removed people they think will threaten the image of stability and harmony.

This is the China the authorities do not want you to see. Please don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes. Get the full picture on China.

Help monitor China's internet censorship now!

China operates a sophisticated internet censorship regime and it is difficult to know exactly what information Chinese citizens can and can't access. The lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics has seen some previously inaccessible websites in China become wholly or partly accessible.

We have developed a method to test, monitor and report on changes in levels of censorship, to assist in pressuring the Chinese Government to not revert old ways once the Games are over. If you are travelling to China during 2008 you can register to become a Chinese Internet Censorship Index (CICI) tester. This simply involves testing access to specific websites. The sites chosen for testing are ones that a tourist or journalist might access, such as BBC news and flickr. We believe that participating in these tests presents no risk to visitors to China.

Those not travelling to China can also participate by displaying a CICI badge on their Facebook, MySpace, blog or website to help us spread the word.

Join global day of protest

To mark the 10-day countdown to the Beijing Olympics on 30 July, we will be holding a global, online day of protest against internet censorship in China. All registered websites will display a censorship simulation which will momentarily censor random words on webpages.

Join the protest by registering now

Updated 30 July 11:36am (AEST)

China to censor Internet during Games: official

China will censor the Internet used by foreign media during the Olympics, an organising committee official confirmed Wednesday, reversing a pledge to offer complete media freedom at the games.

"During the Olympic Games we will provide sufficient access to the Internet for reporters," said Sun Weide, spokesman for the organising committee.

He confirmed, however, that journalists would not be able to access information or websites connected to the Falungong spiritual movement which is banned in China.

Other sites were also unavailable to journalists, he said, without specifying which ones.

Journalists working at the main press centre for the Olympics also complained that they were unable to access Internet sites belonging to rights group Amnesty International, the BBC, Germany's Deutsche Welle, Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, and Taiwan newspaper Liberty Times.

"Our promise was that journalists would be able to use the Internet for their work during the Olympic Games," said Sun.

"So we have given them sufficient access to do that."

However, in the runup to the Games the Beijing Olympic organising committee, under pressure from the International Olympic Committee, has promised full access to the Internet for thousands of reporters expected here to cover the August 8-24 Games.

Falungong is a spiritual group banned by China as an "evil cult," and many of its members have been detained, amid claims that hundreds have died in custody due to torture, abuse and neglect.

Dalai Lama arrives in Sydney
The president of the NSW Tibetan Community, Tenzin Gaden said he hoped the Dalai Lama's visit would raise awareness of the plight of the Tibetan people, who are under Chinese rule.

Thousands flock to Canberra ahead of torch relay
"Among all the communities, including the Chinese and Tibetan, those who live in Australia, I personally have had to deal with them in many, many years, they are strongly supportive of peace and harmony, because we are a great multicultural nation here."