Musings, perspectives, rants

I saw the following back in September and had meant to post it but life has a way of intefering with plans.  Better late than never:

Academic freedom under threat in Australia

Academic freedom is under threat from increased
Australian Federal Government interference in
university affairs and the country's reaction to
the "war on terror", according to the National Tertiary Education Union
(NTEU).
NTEU National President, Dr Carolyn Allport, said
that the Union was particularly concerned by the
fall-out from the Federal Government's
counter-terrorism measures which, she said,
threaten to stifle research and critical debate,
and place university staff at risk of being
questioned by the Australian Security
Intelligence Organisation. She said that staff
would also be subject to control orders or, in
extreme cases, being gaoled, simply for doing their jobs.
Ms Allport said that the potential for new laws
to stifle the ability of academics to undertake
research and engage in debate was highlighted by
the controversy over a Flinders University
researcher awarded a significant grant by the
Australian Research Council for a study on
suicide bombers. "The academic in question has
been forced to scale back the project after being
informed by the Federal Government that his plans
to interview leadership figures of several
terrorist organisations could contravene the
Anti-Terrorism Act 2005," she said.
"Academic freedom is also under attack from
mounting Federal Government interference in the
day-to-day operations of universities, changes to
the Australian Research Council and its
independent peer review process and making
funding contingent on meeting
workplace-relations-policy objectives," said Ms Allport.
"Academic freedom, including the ability of staff
to freely teach, assess, publish and research,
engage in debate and participate in professional
and representative bodies without fear or
harassment, is absolutely essential to the work
of universities and is increasingly being eroded."

The current Australian government is pandering to the paranoia (which is actually a disguise for imperialist motives) of an undemocratic American government led by liars.  I won't say what I really think of Howard...

Mood: furious

The New Zealand secret service are keeping an eye on students in university labs to see if they're what, concocting bombs and weapons of mass destruction?  Perhaps that's not a bad idea to blow up parliament and all the idiots within.  It's reached ludicrous proportions.  Read about this stupidity here:

Terrorist alert in universities

"Government spies and other officials are trying to educate the heads of New Zealand universities to beware of potential terrorists in their midst.....Though there was no specific intelligence to indicate any threat, they were needed to stop New Zealand universities training students to develop weapons of mass destruction, he (Disarmament Minister Phil Goff) said. " 

Disarmament Minister?  This is New Zealand we're talking about - a paltry little country of 4 million people who generally don't give a shit about the rest of the world - the attitudes of "I'm alright, Jack" and "she'll be right, mate".   Disarmament???  The NZ army is pathetic.  We have no nuclear weapons.  Why the fuck do we need a "Disarmament Minister"?  And do they seriously believe some lecturer is going to train students to make weapons of "mass destruction".  I'm sure there's more likelihood in training people in mass stupidity.

This fear-mongering has gone way beyond the bounds of reason.  The whole war against terror thing is total bullshit, made up by the yanks to justify all their illegal and imperialist actions.

In hearing about this story I was told that some New Zealand university academics have been spoken to by the FBI for things they've said.  I get so angry at the US interfering in every single aspect of people's lives all over the world.  We are not permitted to think independently, to disagree with the outrages of the US government.  I'm sure they'd like all independent thinkers locked up or otherwise silenced.  Freedom of speech is a thing of the past.

of the US never fails to amuse me. 

I just read this - Bush's strategy against 'the terrorists' (and the danger is in defining who terrorists are) - and laughed inwardly at this statement:

"United States will work to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the entire Middle East. "

Who the fuck do they think they are kidding?  Well, yes, there are still millions of ignorant people in the world who believe every word he utters, even though he's proven to be a total moron.

Rather than replacing hatred, the actions of his government are fomenting it.  Who wouldn't hate the US after their injustices and continuing aggression?

I'm still reading Stephen Zune's book 'Tinderbox', having been diverted from it with other tasks.  US hypocrisy angers me.  This morning I was just reading about the human rights abuses by the Israeli government and in particular a massacre on a refugee camp, which killed hundreds.  You won't have heard about it because journalists and medical aid were refused entry to the area by the Israelis.  The international community wanted an inquiry into the incident, but US vetoed it (just as the US vetoes every attempt at bringing peace and justice to an area).  The Israelis are guilty of gross human rights abuses but anyone who protests against it is labelled as anti-semitic.  Besides which, Israel is America's sponsored ally against the Arabs.  Any attack by a Palestinian on an Israeli is heavily publicised and punished.  Any similar attack by Israel on Palestine (including innocent women and children) goes unpunished and news of it suppressed or just not reported.  Whereas the murderers of an Israeli government minister were jailed and guarded by Americans, the murderers of a Palestinian government minister were not even arrested.  The double standards are apparent for anyone to see. 

And Bush talks about 'freedom' and 'democracy' when it is US actions that have prevented peace throughout the world by its support of dictators and anti-leftist or anti-communist regimes.

There will only be hope for peace and democracy if US stays the fuck out of other countries.  But it never will.  The US is the worst imperialist of them all.

As I suspected, at least one of the Bali bombs was probably NOT placed by terrorists but by the Indonesian police or military.

Police had role in Bali blasts

This wouldn't surprise me as the Indonesian government is, and has always been, corrupt.

When you find out about such truths/doubts/confessions at a later date doesn't it make you want to doubt all claims of 'terrorism'?  It's not unheard of, by any means, that governments will undertake terrorist attacks and destructive covert action and blame the 'bad guy'.  Any attack, any act of destruction can be blamed on some elusive or obscure terrorist group.  How's anyone to know?  The mainstream media certainly don't make any efforts to investigate superficial reports.  And these attacks are a perfect excuse for more invasions, more laws, more restrictions.  It's in our 'best interest', for our own 'safety'.

Bullshit.

Postscript:  This is basically what Ray McGovern is saying here.  (Another article at Prisonplanet reports on a fake terrorist alert in NY.) 

So, DON'T BELIEVE THEM!

At least the French Ambassador to Australia recognises this. 

Iraq invasion breeds terrorists, ambassador says

Perhaps that's America's intention all along - to create terrorists so it has justification for continuing its war of imperialism.  Its ultimate goal to rule and dominate the world - to have all countries under its power as outlined in articles linked below.  The US will never leave Iraq.  Iran's next, then Syria.

Dick Cheney's song of America

The president's real goal in Iraq

Mind you, Bush provides less and less justification as he goes along.  He doesn't need any.  No-one's stopping him.  He'll do as he likes and keep on.  This isn't a war on terrorism.  He's the terrorist.

The War Against Terrorism = TWAT

Something that's also happening in Britain.  Animal rights activists and environmental activists are starting to be treated as 'terrorists'.

 "I believe legislative efforts that brand activists as 'terrorists' are largely aimed at intimidating compassionate Americans from speaking out against institutionalized animal cruelty, such as the abuse and exploitation of animal (sic) by the multi-billion dollar meat, dairy and egg industries," said Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy For Animals.."

Stepping Up the Attack on Green Activists

Yet another nail in the coffin for freedom of speech, resulting from the Patriot Act. ".. According to the law, the crime of domestic terrorism is committed when a person engages in activity... appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence the policy of government by intimidation or coercion."  That's a pretty broad definition which can be used to label anyone a terrorist.  The point of all protests is to influence policy.  Pretty soon anyone in a protest will be arrested as a terrorist.

I've just started reading another book 'Tinderbox' by Stephen Zunes.  I'm still on the Introduction, but one bit amused me.  After saying that Osama bin Laden's political agenda shouldn't be taken any more seriously than that of Timothy McVeigh...

"anyone who would be willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent lives for any reason is psychopathic..."

He was talking about 'terrorists' but my immediate thought was BUSH.  He's a definite psychopath - willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent lives - and not just Muslim lives, but American lives too.

Aside from that little slant, the book looks to be a good read.

Iraqis and other muslims are still being 'rounded up' and interrogated four years after 9/11.  Hmm - where's the logic in this, when the overwhelming majority of 'hijackers' were Saudi Arabian AND the whole family of Osama Bin Laden were escorted out of the US just days after the actual event.  It's not enough to have innocent people locked away and tortured in Guantanamo, but they want to find more innocents to lock up.  Everyone's a suspect simply because they're of a certain race or religion.

Read an excerpt from Tram Nguyen's book "We Are All Suspects Now: Untold Stories From Immigrant Communities After 9/11."

The Great Immigrant Crackdown

There's an Iraqi woman at my work whose husband had to travel to the states last September.  She didn't want him to go, afraid that they'd arrest him simply for being from Iraq.  He wasn't too keen himself but it was work-related.  I can imagine their fear.  As it happens all was ok.  He managed to get there and back safely.  I've spoken to a lot of NZers who no longer want to travel to the states - it's now viewed as an oppressive regime, basic rights having been taken away from many people purely on suspicion - no legal right to defend themselves.  Anyone can be regarded as a 'terrorist'.  Anyone, that is, except Bush himself.

See also:

128 Guantanamo prisoners go on hunger strike

Incidentally, I'm currently reading  Inside the wire : a military intelligence soldier's eyewitness account of life at Guantanamo by Erik Saar and Viveca Novak.  He went in there full of pride and wanting to do his bit to catch terrorists only to find that the majority of 'detainees' had been randomly caught by the Northern Alliance (for money) and had nothing to do with Al Qaeda or even heard of it.  Yet these innocent people are still being held there with absolutely no rights to be heard.  Check out the link to Guantanamo Human Rights Commission.