Cheney defends 'terror' war policies

(Warmonger Cheney, laughing at you)

US Vice President Dick Cheney has defended controversial interrogation methods used in the US "war on terror".

He also said he was not sure if al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was still alive. ( So your Multi Billion Dollar Military campaigne cannot fine ONE person??? You should be DISMISSED!!!)

In an interview one month before his eight-year term in office ends, Cheney rejected accusations that the treatment of terror suspects amounted to torture and violated US law, saying the administration's policies helped prevent another terrorist strike on the country.

"Given the kind of conflict we're faced with today, we find ourselves in a situation where I believe you need strong executive leadership. What we did in this administration is to exert that kind of authority," Cheney told Fox News.

Cheney said the administration of President George W Bush had acted appropriately in its "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001 attacks and had followed legal precedent, citing previous presidents, including Abraham Lincoln during the US civil war and Franklin Roosevelt during World War II.

"There's ample precedent for it," he said, saying Bush had not gone as far as Lincoln and Roosevelt in using his wartime authority.

At a time of war, he said the president's responsibilities include collecting intelligence, "and therefore I think you're fully justified in setting up a terror surveillance program to be able to intercept the communications of people who are communicating with terrorists outside the United States".

"I think you can have a robust interrogation program with respect to high value detainees," Cheney said.

"Now, those are all steps we took that I believe the president was fully authorised in taking, and provided invaluable intelligence, which has been the key to our ability to defeat al-Qaeda over these last seven years."

The administration has been sharply criticised at home and abroad over its treatment of terror suspects, including the use of harsh interrogation techniques widely condemned as torture, detaining suspects without charge at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and running an unwarranted domestic surveillance programs.

Cheney also said he was unsure if bin Laden was still living.

"I don't know and I'm guessing he is," Cheney said when asked if the world's most wanted man was alive.

"We've had certain pieces of evidence become available from time to time, there'll be a photograph released or something that allows the intelligence community to judge that he is still alive."

Cheney said the administration had dealt major setbacks to bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and still hoped to capture him.

"He's been holed up in a way where he's not even been communicating. There are questions about whether he's even running the operation. But we have had major success against the organisation," Cheney said.

"Capturing Osama bin Laden is something clearly we'd love to do. There are 30 days left."

(What happens after that??? !!! ??? He (Osama) get a GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD ???)

Bin Laden has claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks against New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people and prompted the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. US officials believe bin Laden is holed up near the rugged Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

(THE US has satellites that can read the numberplates of Trucks in the desert, but no one can find a 6ft 4" person on a camel ??? !!! ??? Looks like the American Public has been duped, yet again !!!

Maybe it is due to the Rooservelt Education System, that creates Lemmings with an average mental capacity of a 13 year old.)

Despite a massive manhunt and a $US25 million ($A36.62 million) bounty on his head, he has evaded capture and has regularly taunted the United States and its allies through warnings issued over the Internet.

Cheney also defended his view of sweeping presidential authority and the legal role of his own office, dismissing comments from his successor, vice president-elect Joseph Biden, who has said Cheney had overstepped his constitutional role.

"If he wants to diminish the office of the vice president, that's obviously his call," Cheney said.

"President-elect Obama will decide what he wants in a vice president and apparently, from the way they're talking about it, he does not expect him to have as consequential a role as I have had during my time."

Cheney also acknowledged that he had opposed Bush's decision to fire former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2006.

"I did disagree with the decision," Cheney said. "The president doesn't always take my advice."

Asked about the administration's dismal approval ratings, Cheney said history would vindicate him and Bush.

And regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions, asked if he believed diplomacy could "solve this", Cheney answered: "Ah, that's the policy the administration. And I support the policy of the administration.

"I hope it can. That's clearly what we've tried."

ninemsn

Dick Cheney and HIS Cronies are responsible for INVADING ANOTHER COUNTRY, and the SLAUGHTER of INNOCENT CIVILIANS.

There is NO World Court that will bring them to justice.

Bin Laden was in a hospital in Dubai under the Guard of the CIA, and he was NOT arrested.

This is one of the GREATEST FARCES of Modern Times, as America is a Waring Economy.

The contracts for "National Security" have been given to the Anglo-Masonic Boys in the Administration.

Qld pedophile swam with boy: police

A notorious pedophile has allegedly breached the conditions of his release by swimming in a waterhole with a 13-year-old boy.

Mark Anthony Foy, 47, was taken into custody on Thursday night after allegedly breaching his supervision order the previous day.

Documents filed in the Supreme Court in Brisbane allege Foy was swimming in a disused quarry at Chuwar, west of Brisbane, when he was spotted by police.

The documents show police had chanced upon him when they noticed his empty car at the entrance to the quarry.

A registration check revealed it was Foy's, who was flagged as a person of interest, the documents state.

It's alleged police walked down to the water where they found Foy swimming and chatting with two boys aged 16 and 13.

Under the conditions of his community-based supervision order, Foy is forbidden from having contact with children under 16.

He briefly appeared in the Supreme Court on Friday and was remanded in custody until a hearing into the alleged breach can take place.

No date has yet been set for the hearing.

It is the third time Foy has been returned to custody since he was released from prison on a Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act supervision order in January 2005.

He returned to jail in March 2007 after being caught selling morphine to an undercover police officer and then spitting in his face, and again in November that year for talking to two children aged 12 and 14.

Foy served four and a half years' jail for offences against nine children aged between six and 12.

His supervision order does not expire until January 2015.

AAP 19 Dec 2008

Another CLEAR EXAMPLE of how the Australian Law system Fails to protect children, and technically is in support of the CRIMINAL. It just let out a pedophile into the community.

Smacking a child will be against the law soon, but a letting out a sexual predator to molest children WILL / IS supported by the law.

IN THE GOVERNMENT WE TRUST OUR CHILDREN, JUST LIKE THE STOLEN GENERATIONS.

Bush shoe attacker to face court

The trial of Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi man who hurled his shoes at US President George W Bush, will start on December 31, the judge investigating his case says.

Zaidi could face up to 15 years in jail.

"The investigation phase is over and the case has been transferred to the Central Criminal Court," investigating judge Dhiya al-Kenani told AFP on Monday.

"The trial will start on Wednesday, December 31."

The journalist stands accused of "aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit," an offence that carries a prison term of between five and 15 years under Iraqi law.

But the court could convict him of the lesser charge of an "attempted aggression" which carries a prison term of one to five years.

His lawyer had asked that the case against Zaidi be transferred from the central criminal court, which handles terrorism cases, to an ordinary tribunal but the judge refused.

Zaidi, 29, became a hero to many when he threw his shoes at Bush during the US president's surprise visit to Iraq on December 14, an action considered a grave insult in the Arab world.

The journalist for private Iraqi television station Al-Baghdadia was wrestled to the ground by security guards and is planning to sue over injuries caused, his lawyer Dhiya al-Saadi said on Sunday.

"There are bruises on his body. He has lost a tooth in his upper jaw, and his left eye is bloodshot," the lawyer said, adding that the list of injuries is backed up by medical checks.

Zaidi's actions were hailed by many in the Arab world who considered it an ideal parting gift to a deeply unpopular Bush, who ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq that triggered years of deadly insurgency and sectarian conflict.

His family has been demonstrating in a park near the central Baghdad government compound to demand his release from custody.

ninemsn 22 Dec 2008

One of the GREATEST COMEDIES of Modern Times is the Bush Administration, at the expense of the Liberties of Americans, later the Western World.

There was NO CRAZED GUNMAN as with John Fitzgerald Kennedy or Abraham Lincoln, just a Muppet throwing a shoe.

Bush, and his Nazi supporting grandfather, have committed more crimes against humanity than JFK or Abe, but there has been no 'retard' to assassinate him.

One of the reasons JFK was assassinated was because the wanted to bring back the "GREEN BACK", something the financiers could NOT let happen.

AFL player facing charges over 'rampage'

(Illustration: Another Footballer who qualifies for the Special Olympics).

Hawthorn ruckman Brent Renouf is expected to be charged with criminal damage offences after being arrested by police over the weekend.
The 20-year-old premiership player allegedly leapt onto the boot of a car parked on Burwood Rd, Hawthorn near the Geebung Polo Club, the Herald-Sun reports.
Police confirmed the man was apprehended by police on nearby Henry St at around 1am Sunday.
A spokeswoman told the Herald Sun the player would be charged on summons.
Renouf, who played seven games in his debut season in 2008 including the grand final victory over Geelong, has accepted full responsibility for the incident and will pay for all damages incurred.
A second Hawthorn player was a bystander to the incident and has been cleared of any involvement.
"Brent understands that he made some poor choices in relation to alcohol and social behaviour," Hawthorn football operations general manager Mark Evans said.
"Brent will personally meet the cost of damage to the vehicles.
"Hawthorn Football Club players and staff take their social and community responsibility very seriously and no-one is more disappointed than the player himself at his actions."
Renouf's likely to face further sanctions from the club after meeting with Hawthorn management and the leadership group.
The Geebung Polo Club is a favoured venue for AFL stars and was in the spotlight during the Collingwood drink-drive scandal earlier this year.
Heath Shaw ploughed into two cars after leaving the hotel with a .144 blood-alcohol limit and teammate Alan Didak was suspended by the 'Pies after lying about being in the car at the time of the accident.
This latest scandal will not be welcomed by the AFL, which has managed to generate some positive publicity about Ben Cousins' comeback after his headline-grabbing fall from grace.
Cousins returned to the spotlight last week to announce his signing with Richmond — and also to distance himself from alleged underworld figure Angelo Venditti.

ninemsn 22 Dec 2008

Australian Footballers are reknowned for their AntiSocial behaviour (which is now a crime in Australia) and their less than average I.Q. levels (hence their chosen professions of handling a ball with their hands and feet like Cro-Magnon.

Govt plans to halve homeless Australians

The federal government is aiming to halve the number of homeless Australians and accommodate all those sleeping rough under an ambitious new plan.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Sunday launched the government's White Paper in Sydney, which commits $1.2 billion over four years to building new housing and increasing services to prevent homelessness.
The funding is the first stage in a plan to halve homelessness and boost accommodation by 2020, and comes on top of the government's $6.1 billion affordable housing program.
The Commonwealth will fund $800 million of the new program, and the states $400 million.
"A country like this should not have this problem," Mr Rudd said at the launch.
"It's time we had a decent solution to this problem that has been around for a long time."
Every night in Australia, 105,000 people are homeless. About 16,000 of those sleep rough on the streets, Mr Rudd said.
"As a nation we can do a lot better than that," Mr Rudd said.

AAP 21 Dec 2008

Another empty promise (???) just like:
the Hawke Government's " No child shall live in poverty"
Keating's : "Australia the smart country"

Update: Crisis 'could impede homeless plan' : Might be just the ticket the Government was looking for to get out of this one.

PART SOLUTION: Mr. KRudd How about we do NOT import 1000 people per week into Victoria, as it is quite clear that we cannot afford to SUSTAIN these people with our current infrastructure with WATER, PUBLIC TRANSPORT and CURRENT ROADS.

Ship 'attacked' as China mulls navy use

Thirty Chinese sailors were missing after pirates attacked their China-owned ship in waters near Somalia on Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Pirates attacked the vessel, owned by China Communications Construction Co., in the Gulf of Aden at 12:43 pm Beijing time (0443 GMT), Xinhua said.

"Thirty Chinese sailors were aboard the ship, 'Zhenhua 4'," the news agency reported."

"The company has lost contact with the sailors and their conditions are unknown."

The report came as China considered sending warships to fight piracy off Somalia, state media said, announcing what would be an unprecedented display of naval power far from its shores.

"China is seriously considering sending naval ships to the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast for escorting operations in the near future," Vice-Foreign Minister He Yafei was quoted as saying in New York by the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency on Wednesday.

This would be the first time in modern history that the nation's navy carried out a mission outside Chinese waters, according to Shen Shishun, an expert with the Chinese Institute of International Studies, a government think tank.

He Yafei was speaking at a ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council - of which China is a permanent member - which on Tuesday unanimously authorised international land operations against armed pirates sheltering in Somalia.

Pirates have carried out more than 100 attacks in the key shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden, located between the south of Yemen and the north of Somalia, and the Indian Ocean east of Somalia since the start of this year.

Last month, they captured the world's attention when they hijacked the Saudi-owned super-tanker Sirius Star, carrying two million barrels of crude oil, and demanded a $US25 million ($A35.94 million) ransom for the boat and its crew.

It is one of about 17 ships, including a Chinese vessel, in pirate hands.

Vice-Foreign Minister He also met Somalia's foreign minister, Ali Ahmed Jama, on the sidelines of the meeting to raise concerns over the 17 Chinese nationals currently in the hands of the pirates, Xinhua reported.

AFP 17 Dec 2008

Here is another job for Team America World Police, with their brand new shiny acquired toys (Multiple Kill Vehicle)

to get rid of these terrorists*, because we all know how evil terrorists are thanks to the ever so diligent unbiased western media,

and how T.A.W.P. is the purveyor of justice and goodness !!!

so that we can sleep safely knowing that ship can pass safely near Somalia*.

Somalia ??? !!!! ??? Who ??? !!! ??? Have they any Oil ( $$$,$$$,$$$,$$$ ) ??? !!! ??? !!!

*Somalia - NOT a state of the US, but WTF, let's invade it (if there's Oil)

*Terrorists - "One man's freedom fighter, is another man's terrorist" (Die Another Day - James Bond).

Pratt prosecution a 'vendetta': court

Lawyers for Richard Pratt have demanded consumer watchdog boss Graeme Samuel be called before court to explain his "personal vendetta" against the cardboard king.

Robert Richter QC on Tuesday accused Mr Samuel, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman, of conducing a vendetta by pushing for Pratt to be criminally prosecuted.

Mr Richter demanded that prosecutors call Mr Samuel to a pre-trial hearing at the Federal Court to explain why he wanted the Visy Industries chairman prosecuted.

His comments drew an angry response from prosecutor Mark Dean SC who said it was not the job of the prosecution to call witnesses to satisfy Mr Richter's "lust and baseless conspiracy theories".

The fiery exchange came on day seven of the pre-trial Federal Court hearing to determine what evidence can be used in a criminal prosecution of Pratt, who is charged with misleading the ACCC.

Mr Richter asked why Mr Samuel backed down from an agreement made last year with Pratt in which they agreed a statement of facts used in a civil prosecution could not be used in any other proceeding.

"Mr Samuel is the only one who can give an explanation of what now appears to be a personal vendetta," he said.

"The application is that if my learned friends refuse to call Mr Samuel, we say your honour can call Mr Samuel.

"Could I foreshadow it will be our submission that this has been a shabby and deceitful case."

Mr Richter invited Justice Donnell Ryan to "draw inferences" against the prosecution if Mr Samuel was not called.

Justice Ryan said he would not be calling Mr Samuel to give evidence.

Prosecutor Mark Dean SC said the decision to prosecute Pratt came from members of the commission.

"It is not our job to serve up Mr Samuel to satisfy Mr Richter's lust and baseless conspiracy theories," Mr Dean said.

"There is no suggestion that supports the argument that after that point Mr Samuel actively drove the matter himself."

It is alleged Pratt misled the ACCC at a hearing in 2005 when he denied a conversation he allegedly had about price fixing with Amcor chief executive Russell Jones in 2001.

The hearing continues on Wednesday.

17 Dec 2008

In true spirit of Dr. Seuss : The Pratt that shat in the hat !

Quite simple: Corporate Fraud, BUSTED !!

Why: Not so quite simple.

"personal vendetta" - In the words of Pauline Hanson "Please Explain".

Maybe he did not listen to his colleagues from the "Buffalo Club" (the Flintstones)

* Buffalo Club - no women, were they Gay Satanists ?? !! ?? Surely they did not just go bowling.

Victoria Multicultural Awards : Discriminatory

On Tuesday, 16th of December, 2008 at Government House in Melbourne, an Awards ceremony was held in recognition of members of the community who work tirelessly within the vast multicultural society.

Such a great event, naturally requires a prospectus/booklet to be published promoting such an event. In this booklet there is no mention of the names of any of the key politicians who attended. a disgrace considering the profile of the event.

What is really more concerning is the policies the individual multicultural groups have to adhere to in order to gain "government grants". A directive has been given by the various Melbourne's City Councils, that a multicultural group will receive government funds IF it organises events that include the Muslim Community.

Clearly discriminatory / racist towards other sections of the community. Nothing new really here. A standard tactic employed by bureaucrats, kosher on the outside....

Only not so long ago the government officially employed a "White Australia" policy (maybe Baz Luhrmann should make a film ( mockumentary) about this too ?? !! ?? See earlier post ), maybe something the government would say "it never happened". These people are still in politics today.

We all know how racial intolerance is politically incorrect.

Luhrmann's Australia a 'disaster': Greer

Feminist Germaine Greer has savaged Baz Luhrmann's outback epic Australia, branding it a "disaster".

Joining a chorus of critics who have panned the movie, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, Greer picks apart its storyline and accuses Luhrmann of glossing over the exploitation of Aboriginal workers.

She describes the film as a "fraudulent and misleading fantasy" designed to promote the federal government's policy of reconciliation.

Writing in Britain's Guardian newspaper, Greer picks apart the film's plot and points out what she claims are several historical inaccuracies about how Aborigines were treated in 1939, when the film was set.

"The scale of the disaster that is Baz Luhrmann's Australia is gradually becoming apparent," Greer wrote in The Guardian newspaper.

Greer likens the love story between Jackman and Kidman's characters to one out of a Mills & Boon romance novel and describe's the film's plot as "fatuous".

On the film's Aboriginal characters, Greer says the film's "greatest asset" is Brandon Walters, a 12-year-old Aboriginal boy who plays Nullah.

However, she describes as "unforgivable" Luhrmann's decision to have Nullah speak "in a cutesified stage version of pidgin".

Greer accuses Luhrmann of using acclaimed Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil's character King George as "a cigar-store Indian, standing on one leg, the other foot propped up against his knee, silhouetted against the skyline, spar and spear-thrower in hand".

"To the few viewers who will know that this motif has been used repeatedly as a trademark, it does seem that Luhrmann is making a tasteless joke," she said.

Greer also criticises Luhrmann for not choosing to depict how Aboriginal workers on the vast outback cattle property where the film is set would have lived in a collection of "filthy" humpies without being paid any money for their work.

17 Dec 2008.

Only not so long ago, the Anglo Colonists would go out in the mornings to "shoot their quota" of aboriginals. That is part of the REAL history of Australia, just like the Stolen Generations is as well.

One of the greatest problems, is that rubbish like this may be taught in schools in later years as an accurate description of events.

Students to be taught there isn't a God

Victorian state primary school students will soon be able to take religious education classes which teach there is no evidence God exists.

The Humanist Society of Victoria has developed a curriculum for primary pupils that the state government accreditation body says it intends to approve, The Sunday Age newspaper reported.

Accredited volunteers will be able to teach their philosophy in the class time allotted for religious instruction, the newspaper said.

As with lessons delivered by faith groups, parents will be able to request that their children do not participate.

"Atheistical parents will be pleased to hear that humanistic courses of ethics will soon be available in some state schools," Victorian Humanist Society president Stephen Stuart said.

The society does not consider itself to be a religious organisation and believes ethics have "no necessary connection with religion".

Humanists believe people are responsible for their own destiny and reject the notion of a supernatural force or God.

Story : ninemsn 14 Dec 2008

Illustration (corpau) : http://www.pixelwiz.net/illustration/beelzebub.jpeg

Since there is no positive then there is no need for the negative.

Looks like good ol' Beelzebub may have to join the unemployment queue.

Pity for all the participants of BOHEMIAN GROVE*. Where will they go ?? !! ??

Maybe out of politics and into the schools for the masses of Victoria.

*Bohemian Grove : Google Video, Infowars