Wilson's Blogmanac
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:21:06 +0100
The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes
The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes
Categories: afghanistan, war-on-terror, war
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:56:15 +0100
A smiley face in the sky tonight
"The world may be facing its worst economic turmoil in decades, but the heavens are about to smile on Australia.
"A rare cosmic alignment tonight will produce a smiling face - or an emoticon, depending on your generation - high over the country.
"From soon after 8pm until just before 11pm the planets Venus and Jupiter will stare down from the western sky like two brilliant eyes. Directly below, the crescent moon will form a happy mouth.
"'I think it will be very spectacular,' Sydney Observatory's astronomer, Nick Lomb, said. 'The three brightest objects in the night sky will all be in the same patch of the sky.'
Sydney Morning Herald
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Categories: australia, astronomy
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:08:59 +0100
Save the Net in Australia
 Did you know the Australian Government is proposing an internet censorship scheme that goes further than any other democracy in the world?
From GetUp: The Federal Government is planning to force all Australian servers to filter internet traffic and block any material the Government deems 'inappropriate'. Under the plan, the Government can add any 'unwanted' site to a secret blacklist.
Testing has already begun on systems that will slow our internet by up to 87%, make it more expensive, miss the vast majority of inappropriate content and accidentally block up to 1 in 12 legitimate sites. Our children deserve better protection - and that won't be achieved by wasting millions on this deeply flawed system.
Sign the petition.
Children's welfare groups slam net filters
"Support for the Government's plan to censor the internet has hit rock bottom, with even some children's welfare groups now saying that that the mandatory filters, aimed squarely at protecting kids, are ineffective and a waste of money ..."
Sydney Morning Herald
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Categories: internet, censorship, children, australia, pornography, authoritarianism, rudd
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:10:41 +0100
Dubya pardons the following
Thanks, Baz le Tuff, for the list of people Bush has pardoned before leaving office.
It's not only Dubya who does this. You will, I trust, recall Slick Willy's pardons in his final days of office.
Categories: usa, law, legal, crime, dubya, bush, clinton
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:05:37 +0100
Mick Keelty burns at dawn
A cardboard effigy of AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty will be burned at the Eureka Memorial at dawn next Wednesday, December 3, the 154th anniversary of the Eureka rebellion.
"The burning will signal the start of a new and intensified campaign to demand an end to the Bush/Howard Terror War, the sacking of Keelty, and the repeal of the Howard Terror War legislation which stripped away so many hard won rights and liberties," said effigy maker and burner, Graeme Dunstan of Peacebus.com.
"With the shelving of the report of the Clark Inquiry by Attorney General McClelland and his endorsement of the Mick Keelty continuing as AFP Commissioner, the Rudd government has revealed itself to be flaky and weak when it comes to protecting rights and liberties of Australians," said Dunstan.
Starting in Ballarat at the Eureka memorial at dawn on 154th anniversary of the Eureka rebellion, Dunstan intends to travel the country, setting up public place speak outs against the ongoing Terror of the Rudd government, making and burning effigies of Commissioner Keelty till either he resigns or is sacked.
Dunstan considers himself as a Eureka flagman and he regards the Eureka rebellion as a core Australian story and a living tradition when it comes to fighting to defend rights and liberties.
 For ten years he has been a visible contributor to the annual commemoration or the Eureka commemorations in Ballarat and he has caused the Southern Cross flag to be flown at protest events as the diverse as Sydney APEC October 2007, Newcastle Climate Camp June 2008, "Bring Hicks Home/Bring Howard Down" rally Canberra February 2007 and the 2008 Nimbin Mardi Grass.
Dunstan's vehicle, Peacebus.com is both a blog and a mobile home, which carries signage reading "End the Terror!/Sack Keelty!/Cuff the AFP!" He has already conducted Speak Outs on this theme outside the AFP HQ in Canberra, one in February and the other in September.
"I know from the responses I get from passers-by on the road and what I read from the pundits of the non-Murdoch media that the Terror War has lost all credibility and that many, many Australians want an end to the lies and an end to the racism and fear mongering upon which it was based," he said.
"The longer the Terror War pretense is maintained and the longer the abuses of power by the AFP under Keelty are denied, the worse it gets from here for both the Rudd government and Keelty," Dunstan said.
Further Information
www.peacebus.com/SackKeelty
Graeme Dunstan 0407 951 688
Categories: war-on-terror, police, crime, law, legal, peace, peacebus
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:38:10 +0100
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