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monday musings on the triumverate plus one

monday musings on the triumverate plus one

No matter what I go on to say about Rumsfeld and Ashcroft and the rest of satan's minions, rest assured that they pale in comparison to the evil, heartless prime minister of Australia. Keeping asylum seeking detainees in a camp under a baking sun, in horrid conditions is bad enough. But when told of a suicide pact among the children detainees (none of whom have parents with them) PM Howard blew off the report, claiming that people in that situation always make threats, and its up to people like (Howard) to know when they are bluffing. While Australians are mounting protests against the treatment of the refugees, and the refugees themselves are resorting to self-inflicted violence to get attention, Howard says they are being treated fairly and it's not his fault if they die.

And really, the only thing that sets Howard apart from Rumsfeld in the issue of holding detainees, is that Rumsfeld won't come right and speak his crazed mind like Howard. He's a bit more evasive when asked about the treatment of his prisoners of war. Oh, wait, they aren't POWs, are they? It must be nice to be a position of leadership where you can determine the outcome of events by changing some words around. You don't want them to be POWs because they would have to be treated according to the Geneva Convention? Fine! Let's call them something else and then we can call them guilty and be on with the inhumane treatment.

And then there's Ashcroft. Our beloved, insane Attorney General Ashcroft. He has ordered $8,000 drapes to be used to cover up statues that have appeared in the Great Hall in the Justice Department for over 70 years, because they are partially nude. Nevermind that these statues represent justice; I want to know what kind of filthy mind Ashcroft has when everyone else sees the statues as art, and he sees pornography. It takes a certain kind of mind to view all nudity as something dirty. A very Jerry Falwell type of mind.

And I would remiss if I didn't include a story about the third part of the evil triumverate, Mr. Cheney. Ok, so I don't really feel like picking this story apart right now. I just want you to look at his face in the picture. Is it me, or does he look like he's about to flick you away like a bug on his windshield?

So I think this is a long enough post to test out my moveable type skills. So far, I like it, I just don't know how to get the title to appear. Oh, and for now I am using what is mostly and MT template, but I will have a redesign as soon as I stop frustrating D and come up with something.

Posted by on January 28, 2002 06:01 AM |

Comments

is it the nudity that bothers him, or does he consider justice offensive?

Posted by: Mig | January 28, 2002 06:49 AM

You couldn't just have dumped a shitload of Lorem Ipsum in here like any normal person?

Posted by: D | January 28, 2002 09:15 AM

I stand by my statement. These guys will end up copping pleas in front of Congress someday. Don't ever touch them. They're concentrated evil.

Posted by: Todd | January 28, 2002 09:26 AM

Are we sure that he is not having another heart attack in that picture. Hell if his heart doesn't kill him. I hope we do with the whole Enron thing :)

Posted by: EdgartheBent | January 28, 2002 09:53 AM

this is one sexy redesign.

Posted by: Billy | January 28, 2002 10:37 AM

Is Cheney still in hiding? Do we even know where he is? What has stunned me since the Dubya campaign is how transparent they are in using rhetoric, courting votes, etc, etc. Does anybody really buy this shit? Well, apparently, since he's our leader now. shudder

Posted by: Persephone | January 28, 2002 03:42 PM

The draperies thing brings to mind the statues placed aloft in DC's Union Station. In the station's main hall there are statues -- all male and all at least partially nude -- along the upper half of the wall. Many years ago, all of the statues had "modesty shields" installed, to prevent people from being offended by stone schlongs. In some cases, the statues hands had to be modified so the shields would look like they had always been there.

Posted by: Fredo | January 28, 2002 04:37 PM

Michele i have to disagree with u on this one(Australian refugees).They have a roof over their heads,they get 3 hot meals a day(with fruit and snacks in between),they have a clean bed to sleep in,clean shower facilities,tv,video,snooker tables & the only thing they dont have is air conditioning.These people have come here illegally and expect to live like kings and queens.Who are these people? Its possible that just one of them could be a murderer from his/her own country and if we set them free just like that they could go on a killing rampage here.They must be held in detention til we can verify who they are and if they are ok to be let free in this country.How dare they throw themselves onto wire fences to get attention! I think that just goes to show just how crazy they really are and they should be sent back to their own country asap!Dont get me wrong,i agree alot of them should be allowed to stay here,especially the stranded kids,but they must not expect to get off their dingy ships,give authorities false names of who they are then expect to be let in this country to do as they please.I have been to a detention center here in Sydney to visit a friend of hubby's who we later found out was an illegal immigrant(this was 3 years ago)He was nigerian but born and bred in Italy.he was sent back to Italy.He now has just been granted access to this country again(under strict conditions).What i find weird is these boat people pay sometimes 10 times the ammount of what it would cost to get a plane ticket to get on a rickety boat.Now if they went thru the proper channels with immigration alot of them would be welcomed here .

Posted by: Nicole | January 28, 2002 04:45 PM

I like this template too. Very soothing to read.

Posted by: Davezilla | January 28, 2002 05:11 PM

I think we should throw our Austrailian refugees out. We don't know what crimes they commited, or attrocities they have performed. Many of them keep throwing themselves in front of TV, and Movie camera's to get attention. How dare they. Lets send them back. Did anyone see "What Women Want"? One of these Australians managed to inflict pain on over a million people. Kick them out!!!!

Ive read some idiotic statements before, but this does take the cake. Of course Ignorance always does lead to prejudice and fear.

Posted by: EdgartheBent | January 28, 2002 05:21 PM

hey, i don't mean to be critical in any way, but i liked the non-serif font on your other layout better. this is harder for me to read. sorry!

Posted by: denise | January 28, 2002 06:02 PM

I don't know if I'm very qualified to offer an opinion (as I've only been in Australia for two months now), but here goes. Despite the media's focus on the protestors, I think most Australians are in favor of the government's stance (if not their implementation). This is a very fair country, and they don't take kindly to what they call "queue-jumpers". Australia takes in more immigrants and refugees than a lot of countries, especially considering that what livable land they have is already overpopulated. It's just that you have to go through the proper channels. (I know all about that, as my own visa application process has taken about two months.) Now, I don't know anything about the conditions at the detention centers, but you've got to admit, sewing your lips together and throwing yourselves on razor blades rather than following the rules doesn't exactly make you look like a good prospective member of society, does it? I'm just trying to see both sides here. On one hand I think it's harsh that refugees should be physically locked up when they came here to escape oppression, but on the other hand I think it would set a dangerous precedent for Australia to just instantly accept anybody who got on an unsafe, leaky, overcrowded boat and tried to cross the Indian Ocean. It's a difficult situation, and I don't think it's easy to come to any sort of conclusion based on the shock footage the media is throwing at us.

Posted by: Kris | January 28, 2002 09:27 PM

2 cents.

Asylum seekers should go through the proper channels to gain admission to Oz.

This so does not mean that the Howard mismanagement machine gets to keep them in detention centres for months or years! They have to reform the system, get the processing done faster.

Posted by: andrea | January 29, 2002 12:47 AM

From all the accounts I read, it seemed like the detainees were kept in harsh conditions. I haven't read a single article that mentioned the conditions that Nicole says exists. Maybe the media is trying to slant the story a bit, I don't know. These are not terrorists like the American detainees in Cuba. They are people trying to escape a situation in one country by going to another. Like Andrea said, it's the system that needs to be fixed. It should not take so long to have to go through the proper channels and I think part of the reason it does take so long is to deter others from trying to get into the country. I think what bothered me most about the articles I read was Howards smug, flippant attitude about the crisis.

As far as the detainees in Cuba go: yes, I know most of them ARE terrorists. What annoys me here yet again is the attitude that the rules can be switched at any time in order to play the game your way.

Posted by: michele | January 29, 2002 05:08 AM

Re: previous posts on refugees in oz
I (an australian) for one am definitely not in favour of the governments stance on the situation.

Most of these people aren't just getting on boats to avoid the system. Certain death is a lot of these ppls definite near future, i don't they're thinking about applying for visas because it'll be more fair.
The problem is the government's slow processing of all immigrant/refugee's situations.

"How can it be bullshit to state an opinion?"

Posted by: jac | January 29, 2002 05:31 AM

I know from first hand experience that the best way to stay here in Australia longer is to lie who you are so the authorities cannot find out who you are.
Like i mentioned in my first post,i have been to a detention center here in Sydney,i actually live 5 minutes drive from this detention center and i use to visit hubby's friend there twice a week.This guy told us the ins and outs of getting a permanent stay in Australia and lying about your identity is number one.So i ask u this,if Joe Blow comes to Australia on a rickety boat and tells us his name is Simon Says and he is from Iraq.We contact Iraq and ask "We have a Simon Says here,does he have a trade? Is he a criminal?"
Iraq search thru their info and find no one by the name of Simon Says and they get back to Australian immigration and say"sorry we have no one that was born here by that name,or anyone that even visited this country by that name"
What are we spose to do then?

Posted by: Nicole | January 29, 2002 05:33 AM

you let this go on for this long without calling me in?

a)you can't be a queue jumper when there is no queue - ain't no legal process to apply for asylum bia Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan.

b)these detentionc enters, including woomera, were meant for short term holding only - ie 6 - 8 weeks. Most of these people have been in tther, in the middle of the desert, for 22 motnsh at least.

c)The people running the camps are the same people who run private jails in the US, they are notorious for death rates, and for secrecy clasues in their contracts.

d) not all Ozzies, certainly not the ones I speak to, approve of the govt decision at all. Many of us find it abhorrent, repulsive and are ashamed to call ourselves Australian.

e)during december over 800 people were kept in the xmas island detnetion camps, a camp built to house 200 people at the most - it is a tin shed, has only a few toilets, and is remeniscent of detention camps in pakistan, not in a so-called first world and democartic, compassionate country.

f) Phil Ruddock is a pig fucker.

g) Over 60 thousand illegal immigrants are loose in OZ at the moment - they are British, NZers, Yanks and other whites who have overstayed their visas. The government is doing little to deal with this, and it costs the Oz govt and people far more in terms of the blackmarket economy and cash in hand then less than 12000 refugees each year do.

h) When was the last tiem a refugee went on a killing spree when "released" into the general comunity? These people are coming to enjoy our country and what it offers, not to kill people.

i) Many people sell their posessions, their farms and their libvelihoods to often send just one member of their family via the smugglers. The smugglers are the dispicable people, making their fortune by exploiting those less off. Other cases of exploitation include indenturing the families who are left ebhind, ie virtual slavery, utnil they pay off the debt incurred to smuggle one person onto a rickety boat. That's how these people "afford" to come here.

That's all for now.

Posted by: g | January 30, 2002 01:38 AM

Thanks G. I knew you would come around eventually.

Posted by: michele | January 30, 2002 04:37 AM

re point f, please refer to the standard disclaimer as stated on Blogged Off ie no self respecting pig would allow themselves to be fucked by Mr Ruddock, and any aspersions cast on the pigs involved was absolutely uninteded and I apologise in adnvance and retroactivley for any offense caused.

Posted by: g | January 30, 2002 09:29 AM

g,you are missing my point entirely*sigh*

Posted by: Nicole | February 8, 2002 04:14 PM

It's people like Nicole that should be evicted...

Nice answer, g.

Posted by: Robert | August 16, 2002 10:59 PM

YOUR ALL MAD....TRY LIVING IN THE UK..THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT ITS LIKE TO BE OVER RUN WITH PEOPLE WHO SPONGE OFF YOUR COUNTRY!!! I DO PITY PEOPLE WHO ARE RUNNING AWAY FROM WAR AND REGIMES THAT CRUSH THEM BUT....ITS NOT LONG B4 YOU GET THE ECONOMIC IMMIGRANTS FOLLOWING.

Posted by: dawn | November 13, 2002 08:58 AM

you are all crazy

Posted by: simon | April 5, 2003 07:13 PM

i think it is really stuoid that the refugees that come to Austrailia by boats and say that they are joe blow from Afgaistan and then Austrailia try's to find if they come from there and the country has no record of them being there they should get sent back to where they should be sent on there way.

Posted by: robert | August 27, 2003 07:38 PM

Hello, have fun with easy blogging!

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