November 2, 1917 - Balfour Declaration Day "The establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish People" The text of the Balfour Declaration is as follows:

His Majesty's Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

Brief notes on the background to the Balfour Declaration Courtesy of Joseph Alexander Norland When the foreign minister of a major imperial power issues a major declaration, you can assume that preceding the declaration were endless disputes, discussions and considerations. The Balfour Declaration of Novermber 2, 1917, was no different. An almost-comprehensive list of the British considerations that led to the Balfour Declaration is given in an essay posted by Ronald Stockton, Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan-Dearborn, from which the following quotation is extracted:

In America, President Wilson was reelected in 1916 on the slogan "He kept us out of war." Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan was an outspoken pacifist. American public opinion opposed entry into the war. The British wanted America in the war and were convinced that Jewish influence could make a difference. In February 1917 the Russian Revolution occurred and the new government threatened to take Russia out of the war. (This was the first of two revolutions. The Second Revolution in November brought Communists to power). Russian neutrality would have allowed Germany to concentrate its armies on the Western Front, a disaster for the Allies. Many British leaders were convinced the Russian revolutionary government of Alexander Kerensky was run by Jews (Kerensky himself was Jewish) and that by appealing to them as Jews they could keep Russia in the war. They also feared Germany was about to declare support for a Jewish state. In 1916, Britain began negotiating a deal with Zionists: British support for a Jewish homeland in exchange for Zionist support for the war. The Balfour Declaration was issued in November, 1917, pledging Britain to support a Jewish "homeland" in Palestine. What the word "homeland" meant was unclear since Britain also committed itself to protect the rights of non-Jewish inhabitants, including their "civil" rights, a term that implied the right to participate in political decisions.

Surely, considerations associated with WW I, which in 1917 was going very badly for the Allies, was the overriding consideration. But the picture is much more complicated, as detailed by David Fromkin in his book, David Fromkin. A Peace to End All Peace. New York: Avon Books, 1989. As told by Fromkin, there was a group among the British policy-makers who had genuine sympathy for the Jewish people and genuine empathy with the long history of suffering that the nations of the world inflicted on the Jews. Having become acquainted with the Zionist enterprise in Palestine, these policy-makers were impressed by its achievements and practitioners, a conspicuous example of a Jewish Palestinian Zionist being Aaron Aaronsohn: scientist, farmer and organizer of a spy-ring for the British. This viewpoint of genuine sympathy gains credibility from the writings of Richard Meinertzhagen, a British intelligence officer on the staff of General Allenby, and later a London desk-officer with the British government (and a Christian of Danish origin). As a public servant in the War Office, Meinertzhagen considered it his duty to execute the official British policy. At a meeting on February 7, 1918, he therefore queried Lord Balfour, the foreign minister, as to the meaning of the Balfour Declaration, which was issued only three months earlier. Meinhertzhagen recorded Balfour's response and the subsequent discussion:

"[Balfour:] 'Both the Prime Minister [David Lloyd George] and myself have been influenced by a desire to give the Jews their rightful place in the world; a great nation without a home is not right.' I said I was glad to hear that. I then asked, 'At the back of your mind do you regard this declaration as a charter for ultimate Jewish sovereignty in Palestine or are you trying to graft a Jewish population on to an Arab Palestine?' Balfour waited some time before he replied, choosing his words carefully. 'My personal hope is that the Jews will make good in Palestine and eventually found a Jewish State. It is up to them now; we have given them their great opportunity'.

[Quoted from p. 9 of: Meinertzhagen, Colonel Richard. Middle East Diaries, 1917-1956. London: Crescent Press,1959.] I emphasize this point because in the cynical world in which we live, not enough attention is paid to the small rivulets of genuine goodwill and support for the Zionist enterprise on the part of non-Jews. If channelled, these rivulets may amount to a mighty river. No discussion of the Balfour Declaration, regardless of how brief, can conclude without reference to the anti-Zionist sentiments and obstruction on the part of certain segments of the Jewish population. Fromkin, p. 294, states:

[T]he proposal that Balfour should issue his pro-Zionist declaration suddenly encountered opposition that brought it to a halt. The opposition came from leading figures in the British Jewish community. Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State for India, led the opposition group within the Cabinet. He, along with his cousin, Herbert Samuel, and Rufus Isaacs (Lord Reading) had broken new ground for their co-religionists: they had been the first Jews to sit in a British Cabinet. The second son of a successful financier who had been ennobled, Montagu saw Zionism as a threat to the position in British society that he and his family had so recently, and with so much exertion, attained. Judaism, he argued, was a religion, not a nationality, and to say otherwise was to say that he was less than 100 percent British... It bothered Montagu that, despite his lack of religious faith, he could not avoid being categorized as a Jew. He was the millionaire son of an English lord, but was driven to lament that "I have been striving all my life to escape from the Ghetto." The evidence suggested that in his non-Zionism, Montagu was speaking for a majority of Jews. As of 1913, the last date for which there were figures, only about one percent of the world's Jews had signified their adherence to Zionism.

Eventually, Montague's opposition was overcome, but with a greatly watered-down version of the originally-drafted Declaration. Nonetheless, the Balfour Declaration is a milestone in the process of the Jewish people rebuilding their nationhood. The Declaration was approved by the US government as well as by the governments of other principal countries. This meant that the movement of Jewish national revival was recognized internationally at the Paris Peace Talks, leading the way to the British Mandate over Palestine, and to the next phase of large-scale Jewish immigration to Palestine. May Israel flourish.

Holy shit! Someone has actually acknowledged that the Palestinians aren't, in fact, "innocent!" Is anyone else bothered by the fact that this is the first time that the Palestinian leadership have ever been referred to as war criminals by anyone besides the US and Israel? What the hell took so long? And how would Human Rights Watch react if terrorists were running around blowing themselves up in malls and bus stops in this country, with the specified goal of killing as many "infidels, apes and pigs" as possible? My sympathy for the Palestinians has all but evaporated. "(Gaza, November 1, 2002) The people responsible for planning and carrying out suicide bombings that deliberately target civilians are guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today." I also understand that, to my great astonishment, water is fuckin' wet! "The people who carry out suicide bombings are not martyrs, they're war criminals, and so are the people who help to plan such attacks. The scale and systematic nature of these attacks sets them apart from other abuses committed in times of conflict. They clearly fall under the category of crimes against humanity." Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch [...] "Well-established principles of international law require that those in authority be held accountable when people under their control commit war crimes or crimes against humanity. Leaders who order such crimes, fail to take reasonable preventive action, or fail to punish the perpetrators are also responsible for such crimes." So does this mean that we get to kill Arafat now? "Roth said the PA's failure to take effective preventive action or to punish perpetrators outside of its control does not meet the criteria of command responsibility under the current state of international law. 'But Arafat and the PA do bear a high degree of political responsibility for the atrocities that occurred,' Roth said." Oh. So, that's a negative on the killing then? I couldn't help but notice that this article states that "The people responsible for planning and carrying out suicide bombings that deliberately target civilians are guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice..." What it does NOT say, however, is just how these people should be "brought to justice." Maybe the Israelis should just ask them nicely? I imagine that's so every time the Israelis send the army into the West Bank, Human Rights Watch will still have the moral high-ground to criticize the shit out of them for employing the only option they have to end the suicide attacks. I think I'm gonna wretch... Whoa, shit!, I just did.

HAVE YOUR PEOPLE CALL OUR PEOPLE... Frank J at IMAO comments pithly on the Jaama Islamiya plan to set up an Islamic superstae in Southeast Asia, including northern Australia.

These guys are just completely cuckoo for cocoa puffs. We could maybe be threatened by them if they had some sense of reality, but, instead, they are completely, entirely, tinfoil hat wearing, The Nation subscribing, consuming entire cans of Crisco, Guardian editorial writer, burning monkeys at the stake for being heretics, Democratic Underground nuts. I love it how they’re just taking Ba'asyir in for questioning and you have some guy with a "We are not terrorists" sign next to people chanting "We are ready to die." Well, guess what, we are ready to kill you, so I think we can work out a deal here.

Proposal approved. Action this day.

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON BOYS, WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON....? Australian Muslim leaders really do have to work out which side of this war they're on - civilisation or barbarism. This ridiculous notion that a democracy acting legally, in its own defence, with search warrants issued by a judge and suspects being entitled to legal representation is somehow persecuting a particular religion has got to be the most insane thing I've heard all week. Trouble is, it must be tempting for the Muslim leaders to play along with the leftist script - poor innocent religious group being singled out for butal police-state harrasment by right-wing populist government acting at the behest of the United States. Persecution! Harrasment! Can concentration camps be far behind? Every minority group has fantasies of persecution to a greater or lesser extent (I'm Jewish, I know), and the leaders of such groups can often, ironically, profit from such an atmosphere. Internal critics fall silent as the need for group solidarity asserts itself, and a united front is presented to the allegedly hostile outside world, regardless of whether such an image is entirely correct. Weirdly enough, and I know Muslims may find this hard to believe because of their ideas about how powerful Jews are, the Jewish community is going through much the same process. Everywhere I look, the drawbridges are going up and castle doors are slamming shut. You'd best want to shut up about your opinions if you want to seek the safety of the castle walls. Dissidents are not wanted in the Army of the Righteous Victims. Remember, Am Israel (or the Muslim Ummah, depending on ones' choice of parents or religion) is a defenceless lamb surrounded by ravening wolves, and only by marching in rigid ideological lockstep can we hope to survive These Terrible Times of Persecution! And the attitude of the Indonesians (the people who brought you the cold-blooded execution of five Aussie and Kiwi journalists in 1975, the 25 year opression of the East Timorese, half a million political dissidents massacred in the mid-1960s and the hideous slaughter in East Timor a couple of years ago) can hardly be said to be helping. Apparently Australia is not permitted to take any action in its own defence without first crawling to the butchers of Balibo and begging permission. If Jakarta is claiming some sort of immunity for Indonesiansagainst the Australian legal system, I think they may be overstepping the mark badly.

Surprise ASIO raids on Indonesians living in Australia threatened the spirit of cooperation in Bali bombing investigations, a senior Indonesian diplomat said today. The Indonesian vice-consul to Melbourne, Kama Pradipta, today confirmed Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) officials executed search warrants on the homes of five Indonesians living in Melbourne. [ ... ] Three surprise raids were carried out on Wednesday and another two yesterday, had "caused a great deal of concern to the Indonesian government," Mr Pradipta said. Governments had an obligation to warn each other about action against citizens and secret raids were not in the spirit of cooperation, he said. "It would be fair to say this was not in the spirit of complete co-operation," he said. "The vice president (of Indonesia, Hamzah Haz) has also expressed his concern. "International conventions require notice prior to investigations, prior to taking any legal steps towards foreign nationals, and in this case we were never informed by the authorities concerned." Two female university students who are Indonesian nationals and three Indonesian men who are permanent residents of Australia had been raided, he said. "One man was held for five hours and has had his computer, laptop, books, records and holy Koran taken," he said.

As opposed to Balibo, where Indonesian troops who came across five Aussie and Kiwi TV reporters simply shot them on the spot. Or Dili, where TNI soldiers opened up on a crowd of demonstrators with automatic weapons. Or in the "Act of Free Choice" in the late 1960s in which a small group of pre-selected West Papuan leaders were put into a hotel guarded by Indonesian security forces are told if they did not "vote" for their homeland to join Indonesia they would have their tongues cut out. I could go on...and indeed I shall - but at some later date. Trust me, Indonesia getting bent out of shape over Australia's human rights record is right up there with Stalin suing George Orwell for poratraying him as a pig in "Animal Farm". Okay, Stalin wouldn't actually sue anyone. He preferred other methods to get his point across. Like the ever-popular ice-pick in the skull! A far more sinister development in Indonesia is that an extremist group has been round to a hotel, demanding the names of any Australian guests they had staying there. If you remember, they tried this a while ago, looking for Americans. It's a threat at the moment, a threat that if things develop not neccessarily to the extremists' liking, they may be back to find some Aussie vacationers, sit down with them, have a quiet chat about religious differences, coesxistence in the modern world, and maybe behead them in the parking lot.

MEMBERS of an Islamic youth group asked a major hotel to produce names of Australian guests on Wednesday night after news reached Indonesia of ASIO and police raids on Indonesian Muslims living in Australia. Staff of the Sedona Hotel, in Makassar, the seaside capital of South Sulawesi province, refused the request. The 10 members of the Makassar Youth Alliance then left the hotel. Earlier, the group had demonstrated in front of a local branch office of the Australian insurance company MLC and warned they would search for Australians.

And if you think that's just the natural exuberance of youth, here's a rather more establishment voice that doesn't sound terribly different.

Abdul Majid, a member of the parliament's foreign affairs commission, said the seiz ure of property and questioning of Indonesians suspected of links to the outlawed Jemaah Islamiah organisation was "uncivilised". He said the authorities had robbed the houses of Indonesians. "If this is a backlash against the Bali bombing, then they are asking for war," said Majid, who is a member of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P).

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about Australia going wobbly over the Indonesians muttering. Howard seems to genuinely get it, and on 61% popularity he has plenty of backup for his stance. Last I saw, Simon Crean, the Labour Party leader was at 21% and dropping like a rock.

Mr Howard said the raids did not target the Muslim community, and had been conducted in the national interest in line with Australian and international laws. "We have done what any country in our situation would have to do," Mr Howard told Melbourne radio 3AW. "There were reasons for those raids and I defend 100 per cent what ASIO has done. I find it amazing that people could seriously question the national need for this to happen. It is not targeting Muslims - that is ridiculous. These raids relate to investigations concerning individuals."

Meanwhile, back in the Old Country - Subediting Mistakes Rule!

New Zealand Muslims need not fear discrimination as a result of Jemaah Islamiyah's listing New Zealand as a terrorist organisation, Foreign Minister Phil Goff says.

Inadvertently accurate. I suspect Phil knows rather better that to mix things up like that, I'd blame the NZPA subs desk for that one.

Green Party MP Keith Locke and the Council of Civil Liberties today expressed fears that Muslims would be discriminated against as a result of the banning. They questioned if New Zealand had any solid evidence to justify the banning.

Mr Locke and the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties have been living in a plastic bubble on the far side of the Moon since September last year, and haven't caught up with the rest of the planet, you'll have to forgive them, poor dears. For the rest of us, a bloody great pile of smoking rubble on Bali might provide our first clue.

Keith Locke, A Skid Mark In The Underpants Of Humanity
Resident tree hugger, full time dickhead and part time politician Keith Locke has been given more air time to spout his alternate reality take on life hard on the heels of the anti IJ raids in Australia. Apparently we are "persecuting people based on religion". I thought it was because they wanted to kill us all, silly me. This just after his announcing that "Kiwi's are dying for trade with the US!" After three SAS troopies were injured by a mine they ran over in Afghanistan. One lost a foot and the other two stayed on site. Yeah... Keith check your dictionary guy, single footed and dead are not even in the chapter dork and frankly trade with the worlds only superpower sounds good to me. It's thinking like this that as got us where we are today, in deep shit and wide open. Left wing now means left behind. George said "for us, or against us" Keith said against. Can we have put down now please? Whereas 85% of Russians just said DA! With their poll on Putin's handling of the siege causing more than one news reader to choke as hard up behind an item of how terrible it is that the Russian leadership is killing its own people they have to admit the Russian people are right behind him (except for 15% who have never done gulag, get with the program guys). Way to go Ivan. History lesson, three things beat the Germans in Russia, picture postcard winters, a shit load of Russians and the will of those Russians. These are the people that brought you the T bar mine. With which you can run up to a German tank with this "mine on a stick", shove it under the turret ring and pull a string to make the tank go away. Your chances of living through this are slightly worse than nil. So what are the chances that terrorists will take on the Russians again and expect to get what they want? A lot less than their chances of getting dead I'd say. Maybe we could send Keith and other likeminded people to Russia for... re-education? (Compliments of Murray)

Hamas Bomb Detonates Early
Too bad. So sad. Bada bing, bada BOOM. Took out three, wounded six more, one of them the 10 year old daughter of one of the militants murderers. What can you say? How about...shitheads? Yep. That works.

Rall's on a Roll
Ted Rall imposes another disturbing peek into his twisted alternative universe. Rall pukes up his version of the "Wellstone was Assassinated" speculation, with his two main indicators being that several like minded whackos have sent him an email. Or two. So it must be 'possible'. Hey, he points out - Mao Tse Tung may have sabotaged Lin Biao's plane, so why not these 'GOP Gangsters'? According to Rall -

"the whispers of assassination following the Wellstone tragedy are more widespread and gaining mainstream currency far beyond the usual conspiracy nuts."

I'd have to agree with Ted. He isn't the 'usual conspiracy nut'. A lot of them have more artistic talent, and a better sense of humor. Another round of Thorazine for Mr. Rall, please, and lets cut back the mushrooms in his diet.

Carnival Time
Carnival of the Vanities #6 has hit the fiber-ways. Check it out. Thanks to the host, Bigwig

DON'T YOU BASTARDS KNOCK? There is no end to the brass of some of these Islamofascists. ASIO and Federal Police today staged armed raids on several addresses in Sydney and Perth today, with guns and search warrants. They were looking for members of Jamaah Islamiya, and I think it's fairly safe to assume they weren't just randomly knocking on doors of any Muslim families in the street. Australian judges don't dish out search warrants like speeding tickets at Bathurst.

The lawyer representing a man whose home was raided by police and security services at the weekend today denied his client was a supporter of Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiah. Stephen Hopper said the man, a Muslim Indonesian named only as Jaya, had attended lectures in Australia given by Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. [ ... ] "He wasn't wearing a t-shirt or anything and he said `I'll just go and get a t-shirt'. They said `Open the door now'," he told ABC radio. "He looked through the window and saw people armed with pistols and a sledge hammer so he opened the door and fully cooperated with the people who identified themselves as the police.

Cooperating with the nice gentlemen carrying pistols and a sledgehammer - maybe these people can develop a rudimentary form of intelligence after all.

"The federal police came in first and basically secured the premises and had him and his wife and children sit down in the lounge room and showed him a document they said was a search warrant."

Possibly because it was a search warrant?

Mr Hopper said they remained until about 2am and conducted a thorough search. He said they took a number of documents plus computer records, a copy of the Daily Telegraph and leaflets. Mr Hopper said the leaflets were nothing in particular and such documents circulated widely around the Islamic community advertising events and speakers. "They certainly asked him if he was involved in JI which he has denied," he said.

Well that's it, he's said he isn't JI, end of story. Why are they persecuting my client? Iz it cos he iz black? This evening on SBS World News, the lawyer went on to complain that ASIO should have phoned ahead and made an appointment! "Hello? Mr Bin Laden? This is the NYPD, Detetctive Murphy at Manhattan Homicide Division. We were wondering if we might drop by your cave at some stage to discuss some developments in three thousand murder cases we think you may be able to help us with. Is tomorrow okay? Oh I see. Well, next week then? Out of the country, I see. But after that...oh, Ramadan, right, yes. The whole month eh? Yes, sorry for my insensitivity in even suggesting it, I'll report for cultural awareness re-training immediately. Well could you get your people to find a window in your schedule and have them call us as soon as it's convenient? We'd really appreciate it. Thanks". UPDATE It looks like the Perth police were in even less of a mood to take any chances. They went in with automatic weapons and armour!

The ABC has reported that at 5.15am (WST) today, police armed with sub-machine guns and wearing helmets, balaclavas and bulletproof vests stormed the home of a Perth Muslim family, recently arrived from Indonesia.

As Nazimedia will no doubt say: "It begins!"

TREASON My thanks to Peter Kerr for pointing this out. trea·son Pronunciation Key (trzn) n. Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies. A betrayal of trust or confidence. One of the Sydney Nazimedia scumbags shows his/her/its true colours by advocating the exposure of Australian intelliegence agents. Charming. Don't we still have the death penalty for treason? Or am I thinking of New Zealand. Might be an idea to blow the dust off some of those old statutes, what do you reckon?

Another possibility for resistance forces is mass civil disobedience,circulating lists of ASIO agents names in plain sight is one suggestion.A safe central site to download said list would be cryptome as it is heavily mirrored. Freenet new release is out,the battle for freedom online is raging!

Well, maybe it might have been an idea to encrupt that particular treasonous message before broadcasting it to all and sundry pal, assuming of course that you do in fact feel that you are living in a right-wing fascist dictatorship whose ruthless dissent-crushing brigades roam the streets summarily executing anyone who has ever been to university. The fact that you didn't encrypt it and send it only to your trusted comrades in the resistance cell shows me you're just a blowhard with delusions of adequacy. Maybe your pesudo-revolutionary stance gets the girls in your first year poli-sci tutorial unzipping their pants for you, but it won't work on anyone with a couple of brain cells to rub together.

The 'time off for politeness' angle
Maybe not, but police found this man to very helpful, at least after the fact.

Murray Observes
That it was at this point that New Zealand noticed that there was nothing between them and Indonesia and Helen started scratching around for a defence force. Update: The ARF demand is a bit over the top, unless they agree to keeping it a 2am on ESPN2.

Raging against the Apparatchiks
My first contribution to the Weblog Action Center is up right here! Just a little rant about the boneheads and their buffoonery at State and the FBI, a suggested cut and paste letter, and a nice listing of potential email recipients! Have a look see, and go have some fun...

Russian adoption of US approach?
Do we owe a twisted 'thanks' to the Islamofascists from Chechnya that instigated the horror in Moscow this past week? In an hourly NPR News report this afternoon, Laurence Sheets, reporting from Moscow, described Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of his intent to authorize the Russian military greater freedom to hunt down terrorists. His new policy would

...grant broader powers to strike against terrorists, wherever they are.

And that

'Existing rules governing military doctrine will be revised', without specifying exactly how.

According to Sheets, President Putin also added

If faced with weapons equivalent to Weapons of Mass Destruction, Russia would not hesitate to take 'adequate measures' to prevent their use. Putin was also quoted as indicating that Russia would take action 'anywhere it sees fit', a statement that echoes what President Bush has been saying about Iraq.

Sheets offered the analysis that Putin's statements could definately be interpreted as indicating a shift to a pre-emptive policy. This would appear to be the case. Could we be seeing the removal of Russian opposition to US action in Iraq, as a result of the theater horror? Should make for some interesting developments in the UN negotiations over the next couple of days, unless the Russians are prepared to be total hypocrites on the matter. Let's hope the French get a clue, without a repeat performance of the depravity witnessed in Moscow, except this time in Paris.

Apparatchiks in Control of the Asylum
In what has got to be the most disturbing piece I've seen on television in a long, long time, 60 Minutes aired a segment last night about buffoonery, chicanery, and shenanigans at the FBI. While their text write up on the CBS website focuses on the apparent direction by supervisory personnel to slow the translation of documents to a crawl, thus creating a huge backlog, which could be used to justify whining for more money and more linguists, the most outrageous part of the story is buried in the middle. Aside from the probably dangerous gaming for a bigger budget, the whistleblower portrayed in the story, Ms. Sibel Edmonds, related her discovery of treason in progress, and the admonishments and threats she received when she reported it. The particulars? A contract linguist hired by the FBI was also the girlfriend of a Turkish Intel officer, and appears to have been actively working on the FBI investigation of his activities! The mole purportedly insisted on working items related specifically to her boyfriend, marking numerous items as being of 'no value'. Upon review, several of the items turned out to be directly relevant - they were items that gave specific details her boyfriend the spy actively recruiting or working contacts at State, the Pentagon, and several other government agencies. The FBI's reaction to this revelation? Shoot the messenger, fire the messenger, then promote everyone else involved for outstanding management practices. Pretty good backing for her story - in regards to the cancerous self serving culture entrenched at the Bureau. She apparently did everything by the numbers, using and working up her supervisory chain, until she eventually reached the Department of Justice IG. When the response was basically 'shut up and color', she took it to Sen. Charles Grassley. Sen. Grassley confirmed her credibility, and the fact that a number of witnesses have appeared before him in committee, confirming the activities she reports. This is absolutely unacceptable. That one of the key agencies responsible for looking out for our safety is more concerned with manufacturing internal crises for more money, absolutely ignoring a SPY RING IN ACTIVE OPERATION, and punishing the ones that bring it to light. No wonder these assholes didn't have a frikkin clue about Robert Hansen. Given the choice between dead Russians and their next promotion, well, it was a slam dunk for 'sorry Boris'. There is a lot of complaining and finger pointing about the failures before 9/11 - and this is prime evidence that not only are the shortfalls not being addressed, but are getting worse. We cannot allow ourselves to sit idly by and let the apparatchiks continue to pat each other on the back for fucking up by the numbers, then covering the very backsides they are so fond of patting. We don't need Ashcroft and Mueller giving 'we are concerned and looking into this' press briefings. We need to see them start issuing pink slips by the bucketful. Anyone more interested in the preservation of their pathetic excuse for a career over the preservation of the United States and its people should be shown the door, and hopefully it will hit them in the ass on their way out of it.

TERRORISM UPDATE: US Diplomat gunned down in Jordan
A US diplomat was gunned down right in front of his wife in Amman Jordan this morning by a lone masked gunman. Stand by for a 'gut check' to see how committed the Jordanians are to being US allies. Only hope the Foggy Bottom crowd doesn't rush to give the Jordanians cover if they don't aggressively hunt down the bastards responsible. Even without the FBI out in front of the press, CNN and AP maintain the fine tradition of 'who knows' coverage -

Al-Adwan said he did not know if the attack was a terrorist incident, telling The Associated Press: "I do not want to speculate."

Ready Navel gazers...(wait for it!)   G A Z E!

SNATCHING DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY I just cannot believe the media spin on the Russian hostage rescue. Channel Nine news here in Australia turned "Nightline" into an anti-Russian tirade this evening, with the reporter in Moscow talking about "growing fury" over the "catastrophe" that occured when the army used "indiscriminate, lethal force" by using what was "probably a chemical weapon". Not just that, but for a vicious little sting in the tail, the reporter casually mentioned that as Russia has signed a convention prohibiting the use of chemical weapons against civillians, their use of it in this case was "almost certainly illegal under international law". JEBUS H. CHRISTOPHER WHAT COLOUR IS THE SKY ON THESE PEOPLE'S HOME PLANET? The Russian government was faced with a bunch of completely insane killers who had wired the complex to collapse, who had female suicide bombers with explosives stapped to their waists sitting in amongst the hundreds of civillian hostages, and who very clearly wanted to die and take everyone with them! Getting anybody out of that situation alive is a goddamn miracle! The terrorists were shooting the hostages for the love of Pete! At a little boy who couldn't take it any more! A toddler! They were shooting at a child! I just do not understand in the slightest why the media are portraying this rescue as some sort of screwup, or worse, a sinister government tactic. Of course the government isn't going to tell the civillian doctors what the gas was. If they do that, they might as well broadcast the bloody formula to the Chechens, so they can be ready for it next time with counter-measures! And you know there'll be a next time. Can someone tell me what the agenda is with this bizzare stance, other than flat-out treason against civilisation? I wonder if this might be another example of the covert racism of the Left. There's an underlying assumption in some of the coverage of terrorism that the only actual actors on the stage are Western groups and individuals. The "indigenous" or "oppressed" peoples are regarded by the Left more or less as simple forces of nature like the stones or trees. They operate merely on a stimulus-response basis, and have no independent existence, or moral capacity. The Chechens in this case seem to be being almost ignored, as if murderous frenzy is simply what occurs naturally when a group is "oppressed". In the mind of many of the Left, groups like the Chechens are simply dolls for them to play with, to act out their scripts of Western guilt and "indigenous" resistance. The real battle is the one being fought among Western political factions, and the Chechens, the Palestinians, the Iraqis, the Cambodians, the black South Africans - they are puppets to be brought out on stage, made to act out the Left's script, and then put away once they have served their polemical purpose. It is a form of racism. It doesn't view people as individuals, with wants and needs and the capacity to choose between good and evil - simply as puppets to be manipulated or ignored depending on their political utility. It used to be, a century ago, that the Right was accused of being blind to the humanity of Third World peoples. Now t's the Left. How times have changed.

Weblog Action Center
NZ Bear has started an initiative, the The Weblog Action Center. More than just a standard Weblog, its a forum for issues for action - a compendium of ballot initiatives, pending legislation, and the commentary and or recommendations about them. Go have a look see.

WELCOME TO IRIAN UTARA According to the Islamofascists, I don't live in Australia. It's Irian Utara, and part of this wide, brown land is apparently marked off as part of their South East Asian Islamic superatate, encompassing southern Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the southern Philippines...and apparently northern Australia as well. This may run into a few practical difficulties of course, with certain key groups unlikely to cooperate with the legitimate demands of the Muslim peoples. These groups comprise the Australian parliament, people and defence forces.

Northern Australia has been targeted by the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) to form part of an Asian Islamic superstate, according to a secret intelligence report. The report, to be detailed on tonight's ABC Four Corners program, comes from the Philippines, chosen by al-Qaeda as its first base in South-East Asia in 1988. Philippines' national security adviser Roilo Golez told Four Corners intelligence indicated Australia was part of al-Qaeda's plan for an Asian Islamic state.

Indonesia and Australia have been in an undeclared struggle for several decades now over the future of northern Australia. Every year, groups of "lost" fishermen are discovered living in "temporary" dwellings along the coast. The tension is palpabale, although it's disguised beneath the rhetoric of mutual cooperation and friendship. Of course it is. It suits neither side to state the obvious - that Australia is well-resourced but underpopulated and almost undefended, while Indonesia has millions of mouths to feed and an economy unable to provide them with jobs or any real hope of improvement. Connect the dots. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Maybe it's my life experience that's making me crazy, seeing bloodthirsty Islamic enemies everywhere. I first became politically aware while living for two years in Singapore, 1973 to 1975. Tales of how the Japanese came straight through the jungle using bicycles for transport and took the island from behind, while all our guns were pointing the wrong way, were all around. Tales of brutal torture, of nurses who were lined up and bayoneted at the edge of the feild where we played rugby, and photos of the gate to the military camp when I rode my bike every day, looking the same as it did in real life, but with a Japanese guard and the rising sun flag flying over it, could not help but have an effect on a 13 year old boy. And looking north every morning and seeing Malaysia just across the narrow straits, a Muslim country that, while theoretically friendly, was always vaugely threatening, did nothing to make me feel secure. Nothing was said officially, but we all knew that if the Malaysians so much as glanced thoughtfully at the pipleline that supplies Singapore with it's vital water, war would inevitably follow. As we were constantly reminded, Singapore only has around two weeks worth of drinking water in it's reservoirs, and Malaysia turning the tap off would lead to an automatic requirement for the Singapore Armed Forces to seize and occupy Johore State and it's water catchment area. Needless to say, my 14 months living in Israel, including a six-week stint on a kibbutz directly on the Jordaian border, entirely surrounded by professional armies all trained to kill me, did little to alleviate my sense of being surrounded by potentially or actively hostile Muslims. The entire western world today increasingly feels as if it has changed to fit my own mental state. See, that's how you cure crazy people - you alter reality to fit their crazed notions. If someone is paranoid, you spy on him, tap his phone, open his mail and direct microwave transmitters at his brain. So, either I was once crazy and reality has adjusted itself to fit my insanity, making me lucid and rational, but only by accident; or I was right the first time and the rest of the world has finally caught up. I know which version I prefer.

Anti-War Protestors make big impression on...the Iraqis?
Well sort of. Anti US, anti-War protestors in Baghdad drew these comments from Iraqi blogger Salam on 'Where is Raed'. This is classic -

Dear american friends, please stop sending her over here, she is not helping. Some people might think that this sort of thing I like to see happening. It is NOT. Kelly baby you have been used. They have put you on show for the westerners.

Actually, I'm surprised that either C-SPAN or CNN didn't oblige them with tight camera shots so you couldn't actually tell how few of them there really were..oh wait, I forgot, Saddam tossed CNN out for biased reporting. Bad timing on the media control move, dude. For once, I can totally agree with a CNN issued statement

[CNN News Chief Executive Eason] Jordan dismissed as "absurd" Iraqi government allegations that CNN is a U.S. government propaganda service.

Anyone having any doubts about that only needs to watch them for about 15 minutes or so. (Noted at Samizdata.net)

About Those Conspiracy Theories...
The lunatic, foil hat wearing fringe has started squealing that Wellstone was the victim of a nefarious plot. Is this really at all surprising? Not. While it is fairly certain that the only link between the striking coincidence of Democratic Senatorial Candidates meeting untimely deaths close to an election is most probably flying small airplanes in shitty weather, to borrow a page from the liberal fringe playbook:

We are certain that a full investigation of these matters will completely exonerate the Democratic Party from any outrageous notion they are intentionally killing their candidates to ensure key electoral victories.

(Lunacy found via Small Victory)(Left handed ridiculous veiled outlandishness stylings from Cynthia)

Nice Response
Added A Small Victory to the blogroll. Nice response to Sarandon's 'its for The Children™' drivel at the Gathering of Barking Moonbats, Back to the 60's, man Free brother Mumia! Anti-War gaggleabout in DC yesterday. (Link via Reynolds)

Missing Anything?
Got to wondering if maybe we were missing anything around here. Stats, check. Blogroll, check. Frequent entries, check. Lots of Flags, check. Contests? nope. Recipes? uh-uh. Make them a regular feature? What, are you nuts? Well, ok, just this once, so it can't be said we didn't offer little bit of everything, as if we really give a crap about offering 'everything'. Anyhow, here goes - First ever (and probably last) Silent Running Contest - Suggest a name for this crap The crap is prepared like this -

• One package Frozen Spinach
• One package frozen yellow squash
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• 1 Stick of butter
• 1/4 cup Jack Cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• Something like a couple of tablespoons of flour
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: Place 1/2 stick of butter, frozen spinach and frozen squash into medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add generous dosing of Garlic and Onion powders. Cover, leaving cover on only long enough for steam action to mostly thaw spinach and squash. Remove cover, and stir fairly frequently, until most of the water from the vegetables as cooked off (about 10 minutes). Add remaining butter. After another 5 minutes or so, add the cheeses, and stir until completely melted. Add flour gradually to thicken. So, there you have it. A recipe, and a contest. The winner may or may not be announced, and there are no rules or consolation prizes for suggestions not picked. Judging is completely random, and the decision of the judges, although probably irrelevant, is final. Void where prohibited, and not valid in West Virginia or the Northern Territories without deposit. No purchase necessary, but the button is there, so, go buy something so I'm not Alisa and I aren't the only person two people in the world with a Silent Running coffee mug mugs.

Another Terrorist Murder Bombing
This time on the .West Bank in the settlement town of Ariel. Soldiers spotted him, were after him, managed to get off a few rounds at him. But he still took at least three with him, and apparently caught a gas station on fire. Lock them down, house by house search. Confiscate everything, even lighter fluid. Arrest everybody associated with sending these bastards out to spread their evil.