Friday roundup

WE LIKE DEAD MAAARIS
Is it just me, or is there something a little hollow with the medias love fest over the Maori Queen’s funeral? Only last month the media were ripping Maori families to pieces over the Kahui twins, now it’s deep respect for the Queen. Wouldn’t it be nice if the media respected living Maori the way they do dead Maori.


THE END OF BUSH?
Powerful lobby groups are anticipating a massive power shift in the upcoming elections, will Bush and the Neocons finally die or will we see another synthetic terrorist attack on US soil to suddenly interrupt the democratic process with all these new Martial Law powers that have been put in place quietly behind the scenes?

This from the Washington Post….
WASHINGTON: Washington lobbying firms, trade associations and corporate offices are moving to hire more well-connected Democrats in response to rising prospects that the opposition party will wrest control of at least one chamber of Congress from Republicans in the November elections. In what lobbyists are calling a harbinger of possible upheaval on Capitol Hill, many who make a living influencing government have gone from mostly shunning Democrats to aggressively recruiting them as lobbyists over the past six months or so. "We've seen a noticeable shift," said Beth Solomon, director of the Washington office of Christian & Timbers, an executive search firm that helps to place senior lobbyists and trade association heads.


ALL QUIET ON THE IDIOT FRONT
One of the things I love is when something happens, and all the uninformed talkback rhetoric kicks off. You know when America illegally invaded Iraq, there were so many star spangled voices in NZ singing the praise of Bush and how Saddam was going to use WMDs within 45minutes to kill us all. Funny you don’t hear those fuckwits much now these days do you? Unless you’re listening to Radio Pacific, Newstalk or Radio Live! It’s a little like Israel invading Lebanon, remember a month ago the debate on this very site, ‘It’s all Hezbollah’s fault, Israel HAS to fight back, Hezbollah want to destroy Israel and they are evil, poor, poor victim Israel”. Remember the Israeli spokesperson on Campbell Live attacking John for even suggesting that Israel was over-reacting? Remember Paul Henry on Breakfast on TV One and the pro Israel bias? Remember that dumb bitch on TV One who was effectively reading out Israeli press releases?

Yeah well, after revelations that Israel planned this military adventure with the US in advance, with the beating back of Israel by Hezbollah who have legitimate complaints with the occupation of the Sheeba Farms, with the realization that the occupation in Palestine is breeding terrorists who are now becoming a pan Arabic nationalist movement, with all these elements of truth, isn’t it funny all those voices singing Israel’s praises, are now no where to be heard. This was an abortion to begin with and the damage and life lost can never be justified after learning of Israel’s premeditation. But of course we will never hear those voices apologise or admit they were wrong, we will simply hear from them again the next time a red neck button gets pushed.


ISN’T THIS WHAT DICTATOTSHIPS DO MR. BUSH?
Bush gets tapped by the law, this from Reuters…
DETROIT - A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to halt the National Security Agency's program of domestic eavesdropping, saying it violated the US Constitution. The ruling marked a setback for the Bush administration, which has defended the program as an essential tool in its war on terrorism. US District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor said the warrantless wiretapping under the "Terrorist Surveillance Program" violated free speech rights, protections against unreasonable searches and the constitutional check on the power of the presidency. "There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution," Taylor said in a 44-page ruling.


HOW DUMB ARE AMERICAN COPS?
I don’t know about you, but I could never work out what was creepier, child beauty pageant JonBenet’s death, or the fact that someone would dress their kid up like that in the first place. Wasn’t it weird? Her dressed up in make up and those outfits always left a really ill taste in my mouth. NOW we get these warped looking guy in Thailand who was a teacher at the time in JonBenet’s hometown, with a past history of Child Pornography. NOW I’M NO COP – BUT, how did this guy get missed in the criminal profile? How inept are American Cops? He could only be a more likely suspect if he had “I fiddle with kiddies” tattooed on his forehead and danced around in one of JonBenet’s blood-splattered dresses.

IRAQ IS GREAT!
One of the things that really piss me off is all these Generals and paid pundits who sit on these news shows with those surprised looks on their faces as the conditions in Iraq get worse and worse. Remember when we were told the Iraqis would welcome American troops just like the French did when liberating Paris? Oh there would be flowers thrown in the streets, milk and honey running through the gutters and young Muslim maidens impaling themselves on lads from Ohio. Yeah, well, that’s kinda gone arse over end, the way voices like mine and millions of others around the globe POINTED OUT BEFORE YOU INVADED YOU DICKHEADS! Oh and don’t start me about Afghanistan – the feminist war, that’s right, those Marines are fighting for feminism in Afghanistan, that war is all about women’s rights! Education and the right to not wear burquas. Wow, and all this time I thought it was a diversion war to prep America for invading Iraq. Here are some news clips from AlJazeera that show how well Iraq is going at the moment….

US officer charged in Iraq assaults
The military has charged a US Marine Corps officer with assaulting three Iraqi civilians in April, accusing him of beating and choking them and placing a pistol in one victim's mouth. The Marines said on Wednesday that 2nd Lieutenant Nathan Phan, the officer, was charged with three counts of assault and one count of making a false official statement relating to the incident on April 10, near Hamdania, a town west of Baghdad. Phan, 26, was the platoon leader of the troops charged with premeditated murder in the fatal shooting of an Iraqi man on April 26 in the same town, the Marines said; but he was not charged in relation to that incident.

Violence continues across Iraq
A series of attacks across Iraq have left several people dead and dozens injured as the country's prime minister says that Iraqi troops can handle the violence without US army support. The most deadly attack was a car bombing that killed at least two people in Sadr City, a mainly Shia area of Baghdad, on Thursday morning.

Bush rejects calls for early Iraq pullout
The US president has rejected calls by opposition Democrats for an early withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, warning such a move could result in a "terrorist state" with vast oil reserves. Those who say the United States should leave Iraq are "wrong," George Bush said on Wednesday.