tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36346282240459260342024-03-15T18:11:27.491-07:00Magpie's Asymmetric WarfareMaybe the world is going to hell. But I'm not going down in silence.Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.comBlogger1088125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-2790973634379067742023-10-22T10:08:00.002-07:002023-10-22T23:44:22.010-07:00A Little Bragging.<div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY1IBRxIE_CsiLxIMiuR93G5KXKHEHxXs5gROabSc5k_qNC7T9gen4OLdNSHnZP5eI4vgPBc6AXAqzz_eaoEGOiQ_BRe9dU5pykszrafYt2ra1vYAxTbL-d_KV4fwD5hrl2gcsCaPuCdTJB60kfnp-CgcjQJ1CtBk8d5IF20h5UeiIyX4NNpE10EShqs/s709/US%20vetoes%20Security%20Council%20resolution.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="709" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY1IBRxIE_CsiLxIMiuR93G5KXKHEHxXs5gROabSc5k_qNC7T9gen4OLdNSHnZP5eI4vgPBc6AXAqzz_eaoEGOiQ_BRe9dU5pykszrafYt2ra1vYAxTbL-d_KV4fwD5hrl2gcsCaPuCdTJB60kfnp-CgcjQJ1CtBk8d5IF20h5UeiIyX4NNpE10EShqs/w400-h186/US%20vetoes%20Security%20Council%20resolution.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142507">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
To help de-escalate the Gaza crisis António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, has pleaded for:<br /><ol><li>
Release of hostages.</li><li>
Ceasefire.</li><li>
Humanitarian access to Gaza, so that essential supplies of food, water, medicine, and fuel are delivered immediately.</li></ol>
That sounds reasonable to me. More importantly, Australian organisations, ranging from the <a href="https://beta.actu.org.au/speeches-and-opinion/actu-calls-for-an-urgent-ceasefire-in-israel-and-palestine/">ACTU</a> to <a href="https://acfid.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/LETTER_ACFID-Members-Letter-to-Prime-Minister-re-Israel-Palestine-19-Oct-2023.pdf">charities</a> – independently of the UN – were already asking the Albanese Government to lobby “like-minded” nations for something like that. So, I wasn’t surprised when last week two UN Security Council members proposed draft resolutions reflecting similar requests.<br />
<br />A week ago today, on Monday 16th, the <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142427">Russian Federation</a> submitted to the SC a draft resolution calling for “a humanitarian ceasefire, release of all hostages, aid access, and safe evacuation of civilians”.<br />
<br />
To be approved such proposals need no less than nine votes from the 15 SC members (ten non-permanent members[*], plus the five permanent members with veto power: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States).<br />
<br />
Four countries voted against the draft (France, Japan, the UK, and the US – unsurprisingly) and six abstained (Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Malta, and Switzerland). With only five votes (China, Gabon, Mozambique, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates) the proposal was rejected.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br />
Upon hearing that Western readers – particularly ABC journos – would sigh with relief, I suppose: coming as it did from Russia, that proposal must have been malevolent, a kind of a Trojan horse. The evil inherent in anything Russian, no doubt cleverly hidden in its wording, would have materialised if the draft had been approved. That the death toll in Gaza keeps rising is a price they are eager to pay, so long as the ultimate victory of the unadulterated good the West and they represent is not compromised.<br />
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Two days later another draft resolution – proposed as alternative to the Russian one – bit the dust.<br />
<br />
This one added measures to the Russian draft, to make it more comprehensive:<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Humanitarian pause in the fighting</li><li>Condemnation of violence and terrorism</li><li>Release of hostages</li><li>Protection of medical and humanitarian personnel</li><li>Provision of essential goods and services</li><li>Rescission of evacuation order</li></ol>
This draft, however, could not be dismissed out of hand as evident spawn of wickedness, as the Russian one: its sponsor was Brazil.<br />
<br />
Perhaps because of that only two countries, Russia and the UK, abstained, and only one voted against (guess which).<br />
<br />
Yes, 12 members of the Security Council – more than enough to pass the draft – voted for it: Albania, Brazil, China, France, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland, and United Arab Emirates. The US is not in that list, because it voted against it.<br />
<br />
That achievement of Brazilian diplomacy, however, will make no difference whatsoever, because of the US.<br />
<br />
Question: can you guess why?<br />
<br />
Answer: because the US exercised its veto power. Yes, that’s right, it’s not only the Russkies who exercise their veto power, the Yanks do as well.<br />
<br />
I said it once, I’ll repeat it again: this is no accident. It’s a constituent part of the much hyped “international rules-based order”.<br />
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As an Australian citizen and voter, I demand the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs – who’s paid to represent Australian interests – to condemn the American abuse of its veto power, as she condemned that of the Russians.<br />
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Who Bombed Al-Ahli Arab Hospital?<br />
<br />
The narrative that’s becoming dominant among the self-described educated in Australia is that “it was done by the other team [the Palestinians], not you [the Israelis]”. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-19/peter-lerner-says-israel-not-responsible-for-gaza-hospital-blast/102999788">Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, from Israel</a>, set forth the American-Israeli version to the ABC: allegedly, a rocket launched by Islamic Jihad – a minor Islamist group based in Gaza – and aimed at Israel went astray and accidentally hit the hospital.<br />
<br />
In short: Palestinian evil backfired.[@] And the delightful irony is that key evidence supporting that narrative, according to the Israelis, comes from an Al Jazeera Arabic video.<br />
<br />
The thing is Al Jazeera explains how the Israelis misinterpret that video.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/60EK-3-kGLI" title="Israel’s changing narrative on hospital bombing | Fact Check" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>Notes:</b><br />
[*] Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland, and United Arab Emirates.<br />
[#] Albania, Brazil, China, France, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland, and United Arab Emirates.<br />
[@] Well, the Israelis add a detail: the Palestinians – all of them, without exception – are liars, so the blast may have killed some Palestinians, but much fewer than they claimed.<br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-26445239704114040942023-10-12T10:27:00.012-07:002023-10-16T02:13:16.238-07:00The Looming Genocide? (Updated).<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ_QTGhgJJ5XhBFSVwrW6h4FWGN0DaHp_c1gIqz1oMtRZbNRSQ4petuvDfYeIksAN-5xNwPgTSP8Dcr-8ZH9hQAPD0OOJS_XLal23_Y9b9-AY1mxC4BvgnFPElg51pi7u20IEIxNsiT0YphCQgW7mNw-kyvV1CS7plWrhFjdtVNpL827JNv_epGQnHAc/s640/Skulls.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ_QTGhgJJ5XhBFSVwrW6h4FWGN0DaHp_c1gIqz1oMtRZbNRSQ4petuvDfYeIksAN-5xNwPgTSP8Dcr-8ZH9hQAPD0OOJS_XLal23_Y9b9-AY1mxC4BvgnFPElg51pi7u20IEIxNsiT0YphCQgW7mNw-kyvV1CS7plWrhFjdtVNpL827JNv_epGQnHAc/w400-h266/Skulls.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of a museum exhibit in Rwanda about the country's genocide [A]</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
Over-use of a word leads to it losing meaning. Think of “neoliberalism”. More recently no current affairs show goes by without the word <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=the+word+trauma+is+being+overused">“trauma”</a> being heard.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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I believe that is happening to the word “genocide” as well. In the last year and a half or so it has been used relentlessly. You don’t need to have paid much attention to the coverage of the Ukrainian war to remember President Vasily Goloborodko using it <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=zelensky+genocide">whenever he felt like it</a>, you only need some memory.<br />
<br />
And, to be fair, he may not have been the most assiduous user of the word. Vitali Klitschko, the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Klitschko+genocide">Kiev Mayor, could well beat him</a>.<br />
<br />
The end result? I myself remember hearing a news report where a local man from Derna saying of the flash flood affecting that Libyan town last September that is was not terrible, tragic, catastrophic even apocalyptic, but “genocide”.<br />
<br />
I sincerely hope to be mistaken, but I fear the siege of Gaza by the Israeli military may provide a bloody illustration of the real meaning of the word “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/genocide">genocide</a>”.<br />
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The Gaza Strip is a small place: some 365 km² in area. To give Australians an idea how small that is: Hobart, the smallest capital city of an Australian state/territory, is over four times larger.<br />
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Population-wise, however, things are much different: some 2.3 million Palestinians live inside those 365 km². In Hobart’s case, less than one tenth as many people.<br />
<br />
On top, Hobartians are free to leave their town whenever they please. The inhabitants of Gaza are trapped there.<br />
<br />
And they are facing a powerful enemy, one that never cared much about human rights, international laws or the customs of war and that now, if one trusts media reports, are filled with justifiable hatred towards Palestinians.<br />
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Many Australians, particularly the self-described educated, need to learn what “genocide” means. Unfortunately, it seems they’ll learn by becoming accomplices of genocide (some, like Peter Dutton, <u>eager</u> accomplices). Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Wong: this may happen during your watch. If it does, you will be remembered in part for that. What are you doing to prevent it?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Update (16/10/2023):</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Quotable quotes:</b><br />
<br /><blockquote>
Sarah Ferguson: You are saying that Hamas is responsible even for those people who are killed by Israeli weapons?<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
<a href="http://tveeder.com/561/byrange?&from=1697445000&to=1697446864">Tzipi Livni</a>: Yes. What did they think when they decided to enter into Israeli areas and enter Israeli homes and to massacre and kill women and children and babies and to kidnap?</blockquote>
So, there you have it, folks: Hamas is responsible not only for their own crimes, but for the crimes Israelis commit. <a href="https://medium.com/anti-anti-science/she-was-asking-for-it-e40a12dde7c7">I mean, they asked for it</a>.<br />
<br /><b>
Image Credits</b><br />
[A] “A collection of human skulls. This is part of a museum exhibit in Rwanda about the country's genocide”. Author: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Inisheer">Fanny Schertzer</a>. Source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nyamata_Memorial_Site_13.jpg">WikiMedia</a>. File licensed under the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Creative_Commons">Creative Commons</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en">Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported</a> license. Nobody endorses me or my use of the file.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-57809805355260940922023-09-28T11:11:00.001-07:002023-09-29T17:09:44.738-07:00Karma (Updated).<div><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DN52qR_Pmbc" title="Canada parliament speaker resigns after welcoming Nazi into Commons and calling him 'hero'" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
But… but… but… we know that there is no such a thing as a Ukrainian Nazi. It’s an impossibility. It’s been scientifically proven that something in Ukrainian DNA makes them inborn anti-Nazi, democrats, liberals.<br />
<br />
Besides, President Goloborodko is Jewish, people!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/trudeau-apologizes-for-recognition-of-nazi-unit-war-veteran-in-canadian-parliament">Justin Trudeau</a> and this bloke, Anthony Rota, are fools playing into Putin’s hand. They are falling for conspiracy theories. Ask ABC journos.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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That kind of thing happens whenever the <strike>cynic</strike> pragmatist acts all sanctimonious. You can’t moralise and believe that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” at the same time. There is a contradiction. Shock horror!<br />
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You’ve got to choose, either one or the other, but not both.<br />
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Albo is setting himself up for a world of embarrassment. Mark my words.<br />
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Update (30/09/2023)<br />
Quotable Quotes</b><br />
<blockquote>
<i>I can remember going to have lunch at his </i>[Rupert Murdoch’s]<i> home in the hills outside LA and just to sit there and watch him eat lamb chops was quite an honour</i> — Graham Richardson, as quoted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/29/afr-powerlist-ai-images-distorted-sam-kerr-margot-robbie-sky-news-climate-change-weekly-beast">here</a>.</blockquote>
I guess the honour could only have been surpassed if he had watched as the lamb chops emerged from Murdoch’s other end the next day.<br />
<br />
</div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-66830515854072787862023-09-24T11:01:00.003-07:002023-10-23T12:37:07.112-07:00Ms Wong goes to New York.<div><br />
God, I admire Penny Wong. I honestly do.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="280" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kDP8gF5owjA" title="???? Australia - Minister for Foreign Affairs Addresses United Nations General Debate, 78th Session" width="500"></iframe>
<br />
If you have heard her speaking before the UN General Assembly recently you know why. If you haven’t, just look at her. Listen to her.<br />
<br />
The climate threat … Kiribati, Tuvalu and Marshall Islands are only a few metres above sea level … Many developing countries are rightly frustrated … Approaching climate tipping points … We must demand more from permanent members [of the UN’s Security Council], including constraints on the use of the veto … <br />
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Powerful words.<br />
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Her forte is the dispassionate, almost academic, speech. Articulate, something extremely uncommon among Australian politicians, her clear diction and the earnestness, calmness and self-confidence with which she speaks as she addresses her audience reminds one of a wise, experienced teacher.<br />
<br />
Well, I suppose with enough practice and effort (in my case perhaps with a lot more practice and effort than most others), one could acquire, in some measure, some of Wong’s skills.<br />
<br />
But there is something in Wong’s public speaking I can’t imagine ever achieving, no matter how hard I tried. It’s something that I believe one has to be born with and I wasn’t born with it. It’s a limitation in my character.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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Indeed, it’s not just that I admire Wong’s special ability, is that I envy her: her imperturbability in front of an audience as she says falsehoods or promotes madness without blinking an eye. And her hypocrisy! God, her hypocrisy!<br />
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I couldn’t match any of that.<br />
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After WW2 the five victorious powers (at the time the only nuclear armed nation, the US, the UK, France, China and Soviet Union, now commonly referred to as P5) became permanent members of the Security Council. They, on top, were given the veto right by all UN members: a UN resolution cannot pass if one of the P5 countries decides against it.<br />
<br />
Why would that power be freely given to them?<br />
<br />
Because it ensured P5’s participation in and cooperation with the United Nations. It safeguarded P5 countries’ interests. It was also the only check and balance against a member or coalition of SC members becoming hegemonic.<br />
<br />
Since then, the Soviet Union became the Russian Federation and China became the People’s Republic of China; all the P5 acquired nuclear weapons. Everything else remains the same.<br />
<br />
And ever since, all P5, but especially the US and the Soviet Union/Russian Federation, have used their veto power to protect their own interests. That wasn’t an accident. That’s how the system was meant to work: a shock absorber. Wong may be disingenuous, but stupid she ain’t. She knows all of that.<br />
<br />
Is that an unsatisfactory arrangement in general? I don’t know. Perhaps. Does it hurt legitimate Australian national interests? I can’t see how.<br />
<br />
So maybe it’s just an unfortunate accident that Wong seems to be acting as someone else’s mouthpiece: Russian veto power sure is a source of frustration for Ukrainian President Vasily Goloborodko. But I suspect it is the American President who finds Russian veto power more disturbing: the coalition US-vassal states, which he leads, is the likely hegemon.<br />
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Regardless, however unsatisfactory that arrangement may be to some, it beats the alternatives: no UN at all or having a UN v2.0 to rubber stamp the dictates of an American Emperor of the World in all but name.<br />
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There is ultimately something standing between that scenario and reality: the veto power itself.<br />
<br />
It’s difficult to ascertain how the General Assembly would react to a proposal to strip the Russian Federation of its veto power.<br />
<br />
One should hope people can see what is there for all to see. If that were the case, then such proposal is dead in the water.<br />
<br />If you are not so optimistic, consider this: season four of the Ukrainian TV series “Servant of the People: the Great Patriotic War Against the Evil Empire” seems to have reached the jumping the shark stage.<br />
<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAaX60pnhxCiFh1TNXTElXFXQR8hCPMlr8hiVbXVEX7z5oChi9JrLp2OnyovWId-DO2sRVgF84yWEcCYbkswy1BItx34ZEsCDQs5G5FwLinpTYva8KkwE93x2WFqgdp3jIfRpRFBmM6KV6zZVwGq06kRRkOqaRCJpUwHHmQpn5C0ctOAnAWe_Sq84q2A/s1227/Zelansky%20insulting%20Poles.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="1227" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAaX60pnhxCiFh1TNXTElXFXQR8hCPMlr8hiVbXVEX7z5oChi9JrLp2OnyovWId-DO2sRVgF84yWEcCYbkswy1BItx34ZEsCDQs5G5FwLinpTYva8KkwE93x2WFqgdp3jIfRpRFBmM6KV6zZVwGq06kRRkOqaRCJpUwHHmQpn5C0ctOAnAWe_Sq84q2A/w400-h314/Zelansky%20insulting%20Poles.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/23/polands-pm-tells-ukraines-zelenskyy-to-never-insult-polish-people-again">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />After over a year and a half, the antics of its protagonist, Goloborodko, once celebrated as creative and imaginative, now appear tiresome if not outright impertinent. The man himself looks less defiant than jaded and swollen, less passionate and funny in equal parts, more cranky; his sartorial choices, more artificial. Goloborodko looks, in one word, unconvincing.<br />
<br />
Perhaps it was unavoidable. Novelty and repetition don’t mix well: showing Goloborodko’s face day in day out on SBS World News may not have been such a good idea. Add to that an over-hyped counteroffensive stalling, a <a href="https://www.google.com/q=game+changer+ukraine">series of game-changing weapons</a> that fail to change the game (Javelins and Stingers were the first, then HIMARS, Gepards, Bradleys, Bushmasters, Patriots, Leopards, Challengers, Abrams, and now F-16s, cluster munitions and depleted uranium shells), news of <a href="https://www.google.com/q=russians+running+short">Russians running short of everything</a> from intelligent bombs, tanks, long range missiles to manpower as it is the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=us+ammunition+shortage">US that is running short of ammo</a>, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/28/ukraine-leader-frees-convicts-with-combat-skills-to-fight-russia">criminal</a> <a href="https://www.google.com/q=private+military+company+iraq+war+crime">Wagner mercenaries</a>, fears of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=fears+of+russian+chemical+attack+ukraine">Russian chemical attacks</a> that never happen and a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=russia+threat+europe">Russian looming invasion of Europe</a> and the viewers’ ability to suspend disbelief could stretch beyond breaking point.<br />
<br />Diplomats of the US and vassal states have so far failed to enlist the Global South to their anti-Russian crusade. Wong, for all her undeniable skills, may not be enough to entice the viewing public back and lift the ratings. It’s not her fault. Bottom line: it’s unlikely a unanimous decision against Russia would be reached and even a majority could be a bridge too far.<br />
<br />
However, that’s far from saying a Goloborodko-Wong resolution will not be passed. Israel has recently illustrated how to make a poor, non-white country like Papua New Guinea support a rich, racist, aggressive, authoritarian, international law violator country in its bullying of poor non-white people: bribe them with a new embassy.<br />
<br />
It could happen. People could still be persuaded to accept what should be unacceptable.<br />
<br />
The thing is, even if that happens there is still the veto power. It’s a certainty that the UK would pass enthusiastically such resolution. Poms value the status <strike>of America’s bitch</strike> the “special relationship” confers them (most Aussies feel the same). Unlike Julius Caesar, they are happy with being the second or third or fourth in Rome, as long as they are not stuck with their village.<br />
<br />
It’s possible, maybe even likely, but less than certain, that France would as well: the French know that would be a self-defeating mistake, but could be weak to veto it.<br />
<br />
Enter China. It would be highly likely they would veto it. (The French would likely welcome that: it would save them the trouble.) They know stripping the veto power from Russia would create a dangerous precedent: after Russia, they would almost certainly follow.<br />
<br />
And, of course, Russia still has the power to veto such resolution.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Would that be the end of it?<br />
<br />
It’s possible. Wong, I am sure, knows that possibility. But, who knows? Maybe she has an ace up her sleeve: those behind the movement could envisage a UN 2.0 without Russia and China and plan a kind of coup.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Incidentally, Wong, people are waking up to the fact that there is a gap between your rhetoric on climate change and the Pacific family and all those pretty words and the reality of your Government, as there is a gap between your rhetoric on peace and international rules based order and peace and what you and your Government really stand for.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveF3QRlTl-BcYKjaYBHwSu_2q2Xrj2CKqEG0BYlt2zPF9UsneXjDkSl4t_9_UEbf56R9j3W0f66dmPf-q-FzqwyomPNTEpE68VxkSbGpPmzVe3smVkjjl5SuqQVxuX43uZh0JipFOWQeLN7zHJ6NgX2z9nZDRRpEHWVKsZkYZ2ddxse8mwusc3M-0Ecg/s1754/Pacific%20Elder's%20Voice%20ad.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveF3QRlTl-BcYKjaYBHwSu_2q2Xrj2CKqEG0BYlt2zPF9UsneXjDkSl4t_9_UEbf56R9j3W0f66dmPf-q-FzqwyomPNTEpE68VxkSbGpPmzVe3smVkjjl5SuqQVxuX43uZh0JipFOWQeLN7zHJ6NgX2z9nZDRRpEHWVKsZkYZ2ddxse8mwusc3M-0Ecg/w283-h400/Pacific%20Elder's%20Voice%20ad.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/24/pacific-island-leaders-say-support-for-australias-un-climate-bid-should-be-linked-to-ceasing-fossil-fuel-expansion">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />
<br />
That is why Australia was not allowed to speak at the United Nation’s Climate Ambition Summit.
</div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-63298839352738244522023-08-28T11:55:00.005-07:002023-08-31T11:38:06.753-07:00Let’s Take a Stroll Down Memory Lane.<br />
Do you remember this?<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Be6tunbRcs8" title="Best of the Bushisms" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
If you do, congrats. People have short memories. But, yep, once upon a time, George W. Bush was the butt of everybody’s jokes. For very good reasons too, as you can see.<br />
<br />
As a matter of fact, that wasn’t an exclusively American thing. Down Under Dabya was cause of much hilarity.<br />
<br />
This clip, however, never made it to a top-10 list of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=bushisms#ip=1">Bushisms</a>:<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="340" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-PKRHgmHzK0" title="Bush - Why do they hate us?" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
In part, I suppose, that was because people were not in a laughing mood <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/21/september11.usa13">less than two weeks after 9/11</a>.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br />
But even if the circumstances of the day had not been tragic, I’m sure many in the rich world would not have laughed at that. For him – and them – what drove Al-Qaeda was nothing but hatred for freedom and democracy. And because America embodies those things it was the target of gratuitous hatred.<br />
<br />Bush’s views on that were the accepted wisdom of the day. They remain so today, even among those who, back then, used to laugh at him (they also adopted the so-called Bush doctrine: “<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/11/06/gen.attack.on.terror/">You are either with us or against us</a>”).<br />
<br />
So, we went full circle back to where we began. As Australia enters into a new Cold War in full “All the Way with the U.S.A.” mode, I’d bet you – whether you are a centrist liberal, liberal/Leftish or third-worldist – can’t remember having ever heard of this. You should.<br />
<br />
<h1 class="legacy"><span style="font-family: courier;">How Indonesia’s <span class="nobr">1965-1966</span> <span class="nobr">anti-communist</span> purge remade a nation and the world</span></h1>
<figure>
<img height="267" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96473/original/image-20150928-30986-1sysdn9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C2093%2C1398&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" width="400" />
<figcaption>
Back in 1965, bodies of victims of the anti-communist massacre floated along the Brantas River in Kediri East Java.
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABrantas_140722-44832_kdi.JPG">Wibowo Djatmiko/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asvi-warman-adam-191190">Asvi Warman Adam</a>, <i><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/indonesian-institute-of-sciences-lipi-1539">Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)</a></i></span>
<p><i>Between October 1965 and March 1966, members and supporters of Indonesia’s Communist Party (PKI), the third largest in the world at the time, were hunted down and murdered. Historian Robert Cribb estimates <a href="http://works.bepress.com/robert_cribb/2/">200,000 to 800,000 people</a> were killed.</i> </p>
<p><i>The anti-communist violence brought <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto">Suharto</a> to power in 1967, replacing the country’s founding president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukarno">Sukarno</a>. In the midst of the Cold War, the tragedy changed Indonesia from a fiercely independent Asian nation into a pro-Western country.</i></p>
<p><i>Below historian Asvi Warman Adam explains what happened and the impact it had on Indonesia and global politics.</i></p>
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">Who carried out the killings?</span></h2>
<p>The army, with the help of civilian militias mostly from Islamic groups such as the <a href="http://www.insideindonesia.org/killing-for-god">Nahdlatul Ulama</a> (NU), carried out the murders of communists and their supporters. </p>
<p>The army trained the militias in Central and East Java with a directive to eradicate the PKI “down to its roots”. The militias interpreted this directive freely to encompass everything from arrest to murder. </p>
<p>Before the anti-communist crackdown, Muslim clerics and the PKI were already caught in conflict. The PKI and Indonesia Peasants Front (BTI) had been taking land from religious clerks and owners of Islamic boarding schools to be given to the state for land reform. Before October 1965, NU created a youth militia called Banser (an acronym for multi-purpose front).</p>
<p>Black campaigns that fuelled distrust between the two groups were also swirling around. A recent gathering of <a href="http://www.syarikat.org/en/tags/syarikat-indonesia">Syarikat</a>, a youth NU organisation working on truth and reconciliation for 1965 crimes, revealed that people from NU received a list of their names to be killed by PKI and vice versa. Neither side had a clue about the creator and distributor of the hit lists. It is not hard, however, to suspect the culprit. </p>
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">What triggered the downfall of the PKI?</span></h2>
<p>In <a href="http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/3938.htm">Pretext for Mass Murder</a>, historian John Roosa has provided the most comprehensive analysis on the events of 1965. </p>
<p>In the years leading to October 1965, there were three significant powers in Indonesia: Sukarno, the army, and its rival the PKI. A charismatic independence leader, Sukarno held the powers in balance. </p>
<p>The PKI placed fourth out of 172 political parties in the country’s first national election in 1955. They were popular among farmers because of their programs on land reform. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the army’s political power was also rising following their victory in crushing regional uprisings in 1958. In July 1959, Sukarno released a presidential decree to return to the 1945 Constitution, giving the military seats in the People’s Consultative Assembly. </p>
<p>By 1965, the balance between Sukarno, the army and the PKI became disturbed for three reasons. First, the army and PKI were concerned about Sukarno’s health after he suffered a mild stroke in August 1965. </p>
<p>Second, suspicions about army’s disloyalty grew after a letter allegedly written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilchrist_Document">British ambassador Andrew Gilchrist</a> surfaced in May 1965. The letter raised the prospect of a joint military intervention in Indonesia with the US that would involve “our local army friends”. Third, there were rumours about a “Generals’ Council”, a group of generals meeting in secret that were planning to stage a coup against Sukarno on October 5, 1965. </p>
<p>The PKI politburo, collaborating with officers from the presidential guard, decided to carry out a pre-emptive move by kidnapping members of the so-called “Generals’ Council”. But the operation went horribly wrong. Instead of arresting the generals to be brought to Sukarno, they killed the generals and dumped the bodies in an unused well. </p>
<p>The operation – the “30th September Movement” – was easily crushed in a matter of hours by Suharto, the commander of the army’s strategic reserve, who proceeded to carry out a witch-hunt against communists and left-leaning groups. </p>
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">Where was Sukarno?</span></h2>
<p>Sukarno did not exactly know what happened on the night of the 30th September. On his way to the presidential palace from the residence of one of his wives, Dewi Sukarno, he saw unknown troops. Presidential guards decided to bring the president to Halim airbase. According to standard operational procedure, in emergency situations the president should be safeguarded to either an airbase or seaport. </p>
<figure class="align-left">
<img alt="" height="400" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96616/original/image-20150929-30964-1o9rkkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96616/original/image-20150929-30964-1o9rkkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96616/original/image-20150929-30964-1o9rkkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96616/original/image-20150929-30964-1o9rkkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96616/original/image-20150929-30964-1o9rkkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96616/original/image-20150929-30964-1o9rkkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96616/original/image-20150929-30964-1o9rkkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" width="280" />
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Sukarno.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Presiden_Sukarno.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At Halim airbase, Brigadier General Soeparjo, an officer that was part of the 30th September Movement, told the president about the movement that aimed to save Sukarno from a military coup. Soeparjo also told him that some of the kidnapped generals were shot. Upon hearing the report, Sukarno ordered the movement to stop.</p>
<p>Sukarno was aware of the anti-communist killings and condemned them. Between October and December 1965, he called for the killings to end. However, the army by then controlled the media and his speeches were no longer published in newspapers. He was still allowed to give speeches from October 1965 to February 1967. He was banned from giving speeches from then on until his death in 1970.</p>
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">What was international community’s role in the killings?</span></h2>
<p>In 1965, Western countries saw communists as their enemy. They knew of the mass murders but considered them a necessary evil. The Soviet Union mildly condemned the killings. Japan knew but kept silent. </p>
<p><a href="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB52/">Declassified US files</a> show that the US supported the anti-communist operations in Indonesia by providing funds and radio devices. The US also gave a list of names of PKI members to the army to be killed.</p>
<p>The UK and Australia were also complicit. Declassified files from the UK showed that UK and Australia carried out <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1468274042000283144">covert operations</a> to spread false, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_propaganda">“black propaganda”</a> to encourage hostility against the PKI. The UK had an intelligence office in Singapore that they use to launch an anti-communism campaign. </p>
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">How did the violence change Indonesia and the world?</span></h2>
<p>The mass murder became a watershed moment for Indonesia. It transformed the country’s politics, economy and intellectual culture. </p>
<p>After the anti-communist massacre, Indonesia became very pro-Western. Previously it was an active player in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement">non-Aligned movement</a>. Western and Japanese capital <a href="http://www.scipublish.com/journals/ER/papers/480">flowed into Indonesia</a>, replacing economic co-operation with Eastern European countries. </p>
<p>Indonesia’s intellectual culture became uniform. During the era of Sukarno’s leadership there were many public debates between left- and right-wing intellectuals. In contrast, Suharto did not allow criticism and suppressed any dissent. </p>
<p>The destruction of communism in Indonesia benefited capitalist countries such as the United States and Japan. If the communists had come to power in Indonesia, the US forces in South Vietnam would have been surrounded by communist countries in Southeast Asia. </p>
<figure class="align-center">
<img alt="" height="276" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96614/original/image-20150929-31002-6n62nq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96614/original/image-20150929-31002-6n62nq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96614/original/image-20150929-31002-6n62nq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96614/original/image-20150929-31002-6n62nq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96614/original/image-20150929-31002-6n62nq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96614/original/image-20150929-31002-6n62nq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96614/original/image-20150929-31002-6n62nq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" width="400" />
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Japanese investment entered Indonesia after the crushing of the communist party in Indonesia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Beawiharta</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Prior to 1965, Japan, which occupied Indonesia in the second world war, had very little investment in Indonesia. But after the anti-communist massacre, it became the biggest foreign investor in Indonesia. </p>
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">Will there be justice for the victims?</span></h2>
<p>Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/07/23/komnas-ham-declares-1965-purge-a-gross-human-rights-violation.html">released a report in 2012</a> declaring the military responsible in gross human rights violation in 1965. There has yet to be a criminal inquiry. </p>
<p>However, there has been gradual progress in the political will of Indonesian leaders to resolving the 1965 tragedy. </p>
<p>In his election manifesto, Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised to solve past human rights abuses. He has incorporated this in his administration’s medium-term plan. </p>
<p>In his national address on August 2015, Widodo called for a national reconciliation. This is a step forward from his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But how reconciliation will be carried out is yet to be seen.<!--Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE.--><img alt="The Conversation" height="1" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48243/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" style="border: medium; box-shadow: none; margin: 0px; max-height: 1px; max-width: 1px; min-height: 1px; min-width: 1px; opacity: 0; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="1" /><!--End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines--></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asvi-warman-adam-191190">Asvi Warman Adam</a>, Researcher, Centre for Political Studies, <i><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/indonesian-institute-of-sciences-lipi-1539">Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)</a></i></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-indonesias-1965-1966-anti-communist-purge-remade-a-nation-and-the-world-48243">original article</a>.</p>
Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-78536835630630309252023-07-27T14:50:00.008-07:002023-07-27T19:08:52.541-07:00The Star-Spangled Roo, LOLZ.<div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHXClABP34gbZCs8BOEzKfb4bQL7-WD__LZXvEnb-wgWdqTlm1sBQtIWD_GLe6xhQl1etOBZnAlUo1V8oj6KGp9HDIJnkbb_lldpO7F-jWcuq-6yt2hq5V-cq7LG6luUKRS_HREatDuISVXwOv54FTyxBfAgGkgb_hrWQ6k1j8nhyvYI-IKx62K3v4B0/s709/The%20Star-Spangled%20Roo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="709" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHXClABP34gbZCs8BOEzKfb4bQL7-WD__LZXvEnb-wgWdqTlm1sBQtIWD_GLe6xhQl1etOBZnAlUo1V8oj6KGp9HDIJnkbb_lldpO7F-jWcuq-6yt2hq5V-cq7LG6luUKRS_HREatDuISVXwOv54FTyxBfAgGkgb_hrWQ6k1j8nhyvYI-IKx62K3v4B0/w400-h225/The%20Star-Spangled%20Roo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/news/2023-07-25/star-spangled-kangaroo-adorns-uss-canberra">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
The newest US Navy warship — allegedly built Down Under — was named USS Canberra and commissioned in Sydney (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!) a few days ago. To symbolize the US-Oz “alliance” nothing better than to overlay the Stars and Stripes on the kangaroo, the Australian Defence Force national marking (quite appropriately, actually).<br />
<br />
Oz just gave another step in the road to become the 51st State of the Union. We’re neck to neck with Puerto Rico (eat your hearts out, Latinx!) and we’re gaining ground fast, because we’re buying our membership.<br />
<br />
A high-ranking official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed to Magpie News that Albo’s been promoted, from Prime Minister to Governor.<br />
<br />
“Why now?” — I asked the source. “If not now, when?” — was the answer.<br />
<br />
Un-fucking-believable!<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div><div>
<br />
Sovereignty!<br />
<br />
</div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-1681020336010314462023-07-25T10:37:00.004-07:002023-07-26T13:27:06.332-07:00Explaining the Russo-Ukrainian War.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Destruction_of_Russian_tanks_by_Ukrainian_troops_in_Mariupol_(4).jpg/640px-Destruction_of_Russian_tanks_by_Ukrainian_troops_in_Mariupol_(4).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Destruction_of_Russian_tanks_by_Ukrainian_troops_in_Mariupol_(4).jpg/640px-Destruction_of_Russian_tanks_by_Ukrainian_troops_in_Mariupol_(4).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Choose one:<br />“Destruction of Ukranian w:BMP-3 IFV by Russian troops in Mariupol” or <br />“A destroyed Russian BMP-3 near Mariupol, 7 March 2022”. [A]</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
You know the conventional wisdom about the Ukrainian war: it’s all entirely Putin’s fault. That story is easy to understand, isn’t it? Politicians and journos and pundits for hire never cease to drive home the message.<br />
<br />
It has its weaknesses though. One of them is that it needs Putin – who on top of having <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/vladimir-putin-sick">Parkinson’s disease</a> and at least <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/02/putin-battling-pancreatic-cancer-parkinsons-disease-report/">two different flavours of terminal cancer</a> – to be both bad and kooky … never mind that madness precludes responsibility. Depending on who you hear, the bloke is a Machiavellian master manipulator … or an inept tin pot dictator. Incidentally, the same applies to the Russian military, at times described as a serious and imminent threat to the security of Europe, at times lambasted as useless, clumsy, incompetent and corrupted – sometimes by the same people, at the same time.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br />
(Rationality and consistency, you see, are too much to ask from simplistic speculative accounts, mixing in equal parts wishful thinking, virtue signalling and ignorance. To those basic ingredients, they only need to add a pinch of contempt for our intelligence, and personal dishonesty to taste and ta-da! Bon appétit!)<br />
<br />
What you may not know, because politicians and journos and pundits for hire relentlessly do their best to hide it, is that there is a better, smarter explanation, advanced not by fringe conspiracy theorists or Putin puppets, but by bona fide academics and practitioners. It’s particularly good, because it shows how we got into this mess. Who would have thought that history actually matters?<br />
<br />
It has a drawback though: it’s more complex than the dominant good-and-evil morality tale.<br />
<br />
The good news is that a basic understanding can be gained, with little effort, thanks to serious academics:<br />
<br />
<h1 class="legacy">Ukraine war follows decades of warnings that NATO expansion into Eastern Europe could provoke Russia</h1>
<figure>
<img height="265" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448787/original/file-20220228-26-1blqcs2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C23%2C5216%2C3454&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" width="400" />
<figcaption>
On Feb. 24, Russian tanks moving into Ukraine.
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tanks-move-across-the-town-of-armyansk-northern-crimea-news-photo/1238728359?adppopup=true">Sergei Malgavko\TASS via Getty Images)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ronald-suny-376643">Ronald Suny</a>, <i><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-michigan-1290">University of Michigan</a></i></span>
<p>As fighting rages across Ukraine, two versions of reality that underlie the conflict stare across a deep divide, neither conceding any truth to the other. </p>
<p>The more widespread and familiar view in the West, particularly in the United States, is that Russia is and has always been an expansionist state, and its current president, <a href="https://cepa.org/putin-is-determined-to-rebuild-the-russian-empire/">Vladimir Putin, is the embodiment of that essential Russian ambition: to build a new Russian empire</a>. </p>
<iframe height="110px" id="noa-web-audio-player" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-follows-decades-of-warnings-that-nato-expansion-into-eastern-europe-could-provoke-russia-177999&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" style="border: none;" width="100%"></iframe>
<p>“This was … always about naked aggression, about Putin’s desire for empire by any means necessary,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/us/politics/biden-putin-sanctions-ukraine.html">President Joe Biden said on Feb. 24, 2022</a>. </p>
<p>The opposing view argues that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/opinion/putin-ukraine-nato.html">Russia’s security concerns are in fact genuine</a>, and that NATO expansion eastward is seen by Russians as directed against their country. Putin has been clear for many years that if continued, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/23/22948534/russia-ukraine-war-putin-explosions-invasion-explained">expansion would likely be met with serious resistance</a> by the Russians, even with military action. </p>
<p>That perspective isn’t held just by Russians; some influential American foreign policy experts have subscribed to it as well. </p>
<p>Among others, Biden’s CIA director, William J. Burns, has been warning about the provocative effect of NATO expansion on Russia since 1995. That’s when Burns, then a political officer in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, reported to Washington that “<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2022-02-10/html/CREC-2022-02-10-pt1-PgS632-2.htm">hostility to early NATO expansion is almost universally felt across the domestic political spectrum here</a>.” </p>
<br />
<p><iframe class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" frameborder="0" height="610px" id="qiPOU" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/qiPOU/4/" style="border: none;" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<br />
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">NATO edging toward Russia</span></h2>
<p>The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato">is a military alliance that was formed by the U.S., Canada and several European nations in 1949 to contain the USSR</a> and the spread of communism. </p>
<p>Now, the view in the West <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2022-01-17/time-nato-close-its-door?check_logged_in=1">is that it is no longer an anti-Russian alliance but is instead a kind of collective security agreement</a> aimed at protecting its members from outside aggression and promoting peaceful mediation of conflicts within the alliance. </p>
<p>Recognizing the sovereignty of all states and their right to ally with whatever state they wish, <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2022-01-17/time-nato-close-its-door?check_logged_in=1">NATO acceded over time to the requests of European democracies to join</a> the alliance. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Pact">Former members of the Soviet-established Warsaw Pact</a>, which was a Soviet version of NATO, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/03/30/7-former-communist-countries-join-nato/476d93dc-e4bd-4f05-9a15-5b66d322d0e6/">were also brought into NATO</a> in the 1990s, along with three former Soviet republics – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – in 2004. </p>
<p>The Western view is that the Kremlin is supposed to understand and accept that the alliance’s activities, among them <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-russia-suwalki-gap/nato-war-game-defends-baltic-weak-spot-for-first-time-idUSKBN1990L2">war games replete with American tanks staged in nearby Baltic states</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-01/u-s-dangles-offer-to-russia-on-missile-checks-at-key-bases">rockets stationed in Poland and Romania – which the U.S. says are aimed at Iran</a> – in no way present a threat to Russian security.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448785/original/file-20220228-20-g59hjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three military members in camouflage and wearing helmets move through turf holding guns" height="221" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448785/original/file-20220228-20-g59hjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448785/original/file-20220228-20-g59hjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448785/original/file-20220228-20-g59hjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448785/original/file-20220228-20-g59hjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448785/original/file-20220228-20-g59hjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448785/original/file-20220228-20-g59hjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448785/original/file-20220228-20-g59hjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" width="400" /></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Georgian troops joined large-scale joint military exercises with NATO forces outside Tbilisi, Georgia, on Aug. 1, 2018, on the 10th anniversary of its war with Russia, which strongly opposes Tbilisi’s NATO membership bid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/servicemen-take-part-in-the-joint-multinational-military-news-photo/1008841458?adppopup=true">Vano Shlamov/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">Many warnings about Russia’s reaction</span></h2>
<p>Russian elite and broad public opinion <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/why-nato-has-become-flash-point-russia-ukraine">have both long been opposed to such expansion</a>, the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/05/18/478414178/u-s-enlarges-its-military-footprint-in-eastern-europe-to-mixed-reviews">placement of American rockets in Poland and Romania</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-historian-corrects-misunderstandings-about-ukrainian-and-russian-history-177697">arming of Ukraine</a> with Western weaponry. </p>
<p>When President Bill Clinton’s administration <a href="https://millercenter.org/president/clinton/foreign-affairs">moved to bring Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into NATO</a>, Burns wrote that the decision was “<a href="https://peterbeinart.substack.com/p/bidens-cia-director-doesnt-believe">premature at best, and needlessly provocative at worst</a>.” </p>
<p>He continued, “As Russians stewed in their grievance and sense of disadvantage, a gathering storm of ‘stab in the back’ theories slowly swirled, leaving a mark on Russia’s relations with the West that would linger for decades.” </p>
<p>In June 1997, <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/act/1997-06/arms-control-today/opposition-nato-expansion">50 prominent foreign policy experts</a> signed an open letter to Clinton, saying, “We believe that the current U.S. led effort to expand NATO … is a policy error of historic proportions” that would “unsettle European stability.” </p>
<p>In 2008, Burns, then the American ambassador to Moscow, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/561709/the-back-channel-by-william-j-burns/">wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice</a>: “Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin). In more than two and a half years of conversations with key Russian players, from knuckle-draggers in the dark recesses of the Kremlin to Putin’s sharpest liberal critics, I have yet to find anyone who views Ukraine in NATO as anything other than a direct challenge to Russian interests.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448788/original/file-20220228-27-2hapu6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Vladimir Putin in a dark jacket and white shirt speaking into a microphone while gesturing with his hands." height="228" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448788/original/file-20220228-27-2hapu6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448788/original/file-20220228-27-2hapu6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448788/original/file-20220228-27-2hapu6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448788/original/file-20220228-27-2hapu6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448788/original/file-20220228-27-2hapu6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448788/original/file-20220228-27-2hapu6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448788/original/file-20220228-27-2hapu6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" width="400" /></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks in Moscow on Feb. 14, 2008, sparking NATO’s anger by threatening to target missiles at former Soviet bloc countries that host bases from the military alliance or a U.S. missile defense shield.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/russian-president-vladimir-putin-speaks-during-his-final-news-photo/105231477?adppopup=true">Alexander Memenov/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2><span style="font-family: courier;">Responding to Russia’s insecurity</span></h2>
<p>There are different outcomes to the current crisis depending on whether you see its cause as Russian imperialism or NATO expansionism. </p>
<p>If you think the war in Ukraine is the work of a determined imperialist, any actions short of defeating the Russians will look like 1938 Munich-style appeasement and Joe Biden becomes the reviled Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who acceded to Hitler’s demands for territory in Czechoslovakia only to find himself <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Munich-1938/David-Faber/9781439132340">deceived as the Nazis steadily marched to war</a>. </p>
<p>If, however, you believe that Russia has legitimate concerns about NATO expansion, then the door is open to discussion, negotiation, compromise and concessions.</p>
<p>Having <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/history/people/faculty/rgsuny.html">spent decades studying Russian history and politics</a>, I believe that in foreign policy, Putin has usually acted as a realist, unsentimentally and amorally taking stock of the power dynamics among states. He looks for possible allies ready to consider Russia’s interests – recently <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/russia-and-china-unveil-a-pact-against-america-and-the-west">he found such an ally in China</a> – and is willing to resort to armed force when he believes Russia is threatened. </p>
<p>But at times he has also acted on the basis of his ideological predilections, which include his <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/vladimir-putins-revisionist-history-of-russia-and-ukraine">fabricated histories of Russia</a>. Occasionally, he’s acted impulsively, as in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/world/europe/ukraine.html">seizing Crimea in 2014</a>, and rashly, as in his disastrous decision to invade Ukraine. <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/02/22/ukraine-looking-forward-five-years-after-the-maidan-revolution/">Annexing Crimea after Ukraine’s pro-democracy Maidan revolution</a> in 2014 combined both a strategic imperative to <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2022/02/25/what-makes-the-black-sea-so-strategically-important/">hold onto the Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol</a> and a nationalist justification, after the fact, to bring the imagined cradle of Russian Christianity and a historic conquest of the czars back <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/02/25/vladimir-great-putin-ukraine/">into the fold of the “motherland.”</a></p>
<p>Putin’s sense of Russia’s insecurity vis-à-vis a much more powerful NATO is genuine, but during the current impasse over Ukraine, his recent statements have become <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/24/putin-russian-president-ukraine-invasion-mental-fitness">more fevered and even paranoid</a>. </p>
<p>Usually a rationalist, Putin now appears to have lost patience and is driven by his emotions. </p>
<p>Putin knows enough history to recognize that <a href="https://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/english/EU/EU14-00.html">Russia did not expand in the 20th century</a> – <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/eastern_front_01.shtml">losing parts of Poland, Ukraine, Finland and eastern Turkey after the 1917 revolution</a> – except for a brief period before and after World War II when <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Baltic-states/Soviet-occupation">Stalin annexed the Baltic republics and pieces of Finland</a>, and united lands from interwar Poland with Soviet Ukraine. </p>
<p>Putin himself was traumatized by <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7632057">the disintegration of the Soviet Union</a> in 1991, the loss of one-third of its former territory and half of its population. In an instant, the USSR disappeared, and Russia found itself much weaker and more vulnerable to rival great powers.</p>
<p>Many <a href="https://theconversation.com/putins-public-approval-is-soaring-during-the-russia-ukraine-crisis-but-its-unlikely-to-last-177302">Russians agree with Putin</a> and feel resentment and humiliation, along with anxiety about the future. But overwhelmingly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/23/world/europe/russia-ukraine-war-putin.html">they do not want war</a>, Russian pollsters and political analysts say. </p>
<p>Leaders like Putin who feel cornered and ignored may strike out. He has already threatened <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10553723/Putin-turns-attention-Finland-Sweden-Kremlin-official-warns-nations.html">“military and political consequences” if the currently neutral Finland and Sweden</a> attempt to join NATO. Paradoxically, NATO has endangered small countries on the border of Russia, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/24/ex-georgia-president-saakashvili-lessons-georgia-2008-invasion-ukraine/">Georgia learned in 2008</a>, that aspire to join the alliance.</p>
<p>One wonders – as did the American diplomat <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/02/opinion/foreign-affairs-now-a-word-from-x.html">George F. Kennan, the father of the Cold War containment doctrine who warned against NATO expansion</a> in 1998 – whether the advancement of NATO eastward has increased the security of European states or made them more vulnerable.</p>
<p>[<i>Understand key political developments, each week.</i> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s politics newsletter</a>.]<!--Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE.--><img alt="The Conversation" height="1" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177999/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" style="border: medium none; box-shadow: none; margin: 0px; max-height: 1px; max-width: 1px; min-height: 1px; min-width: 1px; opacity: 0; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="1" /><!--End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines--></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ronald-suny-376643">Ronald Suny</a>, Professor of History and Political Science, <i><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-michigan-1290">University of Michigan</a></i></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-follows-decades-of-warnings-that-nato-expansion-into-eastern-europe-could-provoke-russia-177999">original article</a>.</p>
<br />
<b><br />
Image Credits</b><br />
[A] Choose one of them:<br />
“Destruction of Ukranian w:BMP-3 IFV by Russian troops in Mariupol” or
“A destroyed Russian BMP-3 near Mariupol, 7 March 2022”.
Author: mvs.gov.ua. file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International license.
Source: WikiMedia. Nobody endorses me or the use I make of this file.<br />
<br />Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-73225801888267579872023-07-18T17:37:00.004-07:002023-07-20T18:14:15.710-07:00The Mountain in Labour: EU-CELAC Summit.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeB52fjwEz_rQCApduWzubmXViZx2CAaFrWsGf9U5kYagWv8OS41g8c8A_Gk_W8av_btfQfbnl73Aayl5S4M8zbly0kjnCQxudyhCov2Q2yoY__IBeW1Or53penJbGUOv7-4dj40Ijm6OfRvJJwzVypqJAZpw35NxtvLaZwJ9a_XoxfkQBxCoTxJxgD_w/s798/The%20mountain%20in%20labour%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="798" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeB52fjwEz_rQCApduWzubmXViZx2CAaFrWsGf9U5kYagWv8OS41g8c8A_Gk_W8av_btfQfbnl73Aayl5S4M8zbly0kjnCQxudyhCov2Q2yoY__IBeW1Or53penJbGUOv7-4dj40Ijm6OfRvJJwzVypqJAZpw35NxtvLaZwJ9a_XoxfkQBxCoTxJxgD_w/w400-h333/The%20mountain%20in%20labour%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mountain in labour (<a href="https://fablesofaesop.com/a-mountain-in-labor.html">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Summit of the European Union–Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_Latin_American_and_Caribbean_States">CELAC</a>, by its initials in Spanish), held in Brussels just concluded.<br />
<br />
Representatives of some 60 countries from the Americas and Europe, including President of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen and head of the European Council Charles Michel plus heads of state and government, gathered for the summit, the first in eight years.<br />
<br />
Although the European side offered economic cooperation, one of the main topics on the agenda was to gain CELAC’s support in the NATO war against Russia. China was also part of the agenda.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br />
President Vasily Goloborodko had been scheduled to address the summit.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6g-lSUja43O-dHJ6bvm9C81e8rjJz2XNVLSAyqEMwa99whRFyeNu-It9tScqRE6u4MmCCBq4kbXLBDviMFVdrP6SNBYDbJokeDdFWTYYmy3uvFHNniu_0tNypDnFqWkEI-vNJnheIDNs8eDZiBsRMaUIdZv-u4KmesPkZHUfLGYU9eK-IQsqv0LbwCzY/s400/jack%20in%20the%20box.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6g-lSUja43O-dHJ6bvm9C81e8rjJz2XNVLSAyqEMwa99whRFyeNu-It9tScqRE6u4MmCCBq4kbXLBDviMFVdrP6SNBYDbJokeDdFWTYYmy3uvFHNniu_0tNypDnFqWkEI-vNJnheIDNs8eDZiBsRMaUIdZv-u4KmesPkZHUfLGYU9eK-IQsqv0LbwCzY/w320-h400/jack%20in%20the%20box.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://clipart-library.com/clipart/BcaKMABqi.htm">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
Since last November the Ukrainian President has been making surprise appearances at high profile international gatherings. First it was the November G20 Hiroshima Summit, where he delivered a video address.<br />
<br />
Then in May Goloborodko unexpectedly dropped by the Arab League’s Jeddah Summit, before travelling to Hiroshima, for the G7 meeting. There he held bilateral talks with Indian PM Narendra Modi. India has a policy of strict neutrality in the Ukraine-Russia war.<br />
<br />
A similar meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva – whose country is also neutral in the conflict – did not happen. According to Brazilian news outlets, the increasingly temperamental Goloborodko did not attend the meeting.<br />
<br />
Amid concerns a final declaration of the EU-CELAC Summit <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-06/ukraine-issue-set-to-sour-eu-summit-with-latin-american-leaders#xj4y7vzkg">would not be reached</a>, Goloborodko’s address was cancelled.<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div>
<br />
Among motherhood statements about cooperation on climate change and conservation and social justice issues, the main concrete deal reached was the one with <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_3859">Argentina, on clean energy and energy security</a>.<br />
<br />
The communiqué makes no reference to China. Instead of a harsh condemnation of Russia for its brutal, illegal, unprovoked invasion of the Ukraine – in the terminology preferred in Western countries – <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/65920/st12000-en23.pdf">the wording the EU-CELAC Summit agreed on</a>:<br /><blockquote>
We express deep concern on the ongoing war against Ukraine, which continues to cause immense human suffering and is exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy, constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity and elevating financial stability risks. In this sense, we support the need for a just and sustainable peace. We reiterate equally our support for the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the efforts of the UNSG to secure its extension. We support all diplomatic efforts aimed at a just and sustainable peace in line with the UN charter.</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Pedro Sánchez, Spanish PM and leader of the centre-left PSOE, is a strong supporter of the Ukraine. He had placed high hopes on the summit.<br />
<br />
On Sunday Spain will have its general elections and polls show his incumbent Government may face difficulties retaining power. A success in the summit, given Spain’s assumed influence among her former colonies, would not have hurt his chances of re-election.<br />
<br />
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the opposition Popular Party (centre-right) and Sánchez's main political adversary, is no less unconditional in his support to the Ukraine. His influence on Latin American countries is, however, much more questionable.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Increasingly isolated, uh?<br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-16876862151682603912023-07-18T14:08:00.003-07:002023-07-19T01:48:49.728-07:00Quotable Quotes.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://goldenageofgaia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/self-importance.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="280" height="400" src="https://goldenageofgaia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/self-importance.jpeg" width="350" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://goldenageofgaia.com/2017/03/23/self-importance-and-entitlement/">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
Say what you will about us Aussies, there’s something you can’t possibly say: that we collectively suffer from pathological doubts about ourselves and our place in the world.<br /><blockquote>
<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-18/treasurer-jim-chalmers-speaks-to-7.30/102617608"><i>Did you </i>[Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers]<i> discuss the concessions that you expect from China on trade if there's to be a visit to China by you and the Prime Minister?</i></a></blockquote><br />
So, we are in a position to extract concessions from arguably the largest economy in the world, armed with ICBMs that can hit every major Australian city – including Hobart! – before we even talk, just in exchange for the privilege of setting one foot on their land.<br />
<br />Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-52431805613654062512023-07-16T16:23:00.001-07:002023-07-16T16:32:08.168-07:00NATO Summit 2024.<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://anticap.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/2-6-23.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="800" height="307" src="https://anticap.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/2-6-23.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://anticap.wordpress.com/2023/02/10/cartoons-of-the-day-887/">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />A high-ranking official in the Albanese Government, speaking under the condition of anonymity, confirmed to Magpie News that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was invited to the NATO Summit to take place in Gallipoli, Turkey.<p></p><p>Ukrainian President Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko has repeatedly asked for additional military assistance. It is understood that Albanese plans to donate one of the new AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines.</p><p>Military experts believe the Ukrainian military needs more materiel for their upcoming summer counteroffensive. “It promises to be as successful as their 2023 predecessor”, they believe.</p><p>Last week it was revealed that a number of Australian Army generals, with experience gained in Afghanistan and Iraq, are planning to travel to the Ukraine, to volunteer their expert professional services there.</p><p>“With that and the sub”, they say, “the war in the Ukraine could be over very soon, maybe even within ten years.”<br /></p>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-77007089844470249152023-07-10T12:22:00.008-07:002023-07-10T15:36:02.354-07:00Robodebt: the Week that Was.<div><br />
Sometimes the do-gooder/bleeding heart image can be an asset.<br />
<br />
Surprising? Not really. It’s been one of Labor’s traditional selling points: voters perceive Labor as “caring” about fairness.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=albanese+mother+on+a+pension+in+social+housing+quote">Using his mum as example, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has gone to great lengths to highlight that</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVhQHGYTGiEResoqqTq39OQ-LPPJ505mwXzOkEsqL6w5lZoI8dBZ_bf2pbxDs6n07B8ZuAJoqpVPnD70nRK9InTKdbmMI6LVyDe7bnVkvaeoBBTDAow1FWbc4-zO_MV8aMmQv-2DsYFAFaKCq4Xjt_y2P9eKLzSfB3E8PnyXQSg3joyTdIiJ8maQSQeE/s709/Albo%20and%20his%20home.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="709" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVhQHGYTGiEResoqqTq39OQ-LPPJ505mwXzOkEsqL6w5lZoI8dBZ_bf2pbxDs6n07B8ZuAJoqpVPnD70nRK9InTKdbmMI6LVyDe7bnVkvaeoBBTDAow1FWbc4-zO_MV8aMmQv-2DsYFAFaKCq4Xjt_y2P9eKLzSfB3E8PnyXQSg3joyTdIiJ8maQSQeE/w400-h225/Albo%20and%20his%20home.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />(<a href="https://twitter.com/AlboMP/status/1336175802195484674">source]</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
There is a historical reason for that perception. Although the term “welfare state” is no longer fashionable, the Australian Labor Party was key in its adoption here, and its governments established its general institutions, including public health (under Medicare). They also created the main welfare payments. The age pension, for example, dates to 1908, during the Fisher Government; the unemployment benefits (currently called JobSeeker) was product of the Chifley Government in 1945. More recently, in 2013, it was under the Gillard Government that the National Disability Insurance Scheme was created.<br />
<br />
So, unsurprisingly the Albanese Government launched the Robodebt Royal Commission last year.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
A brief background of the Robodebt scheme is in order.<br />
<br />
As Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison (Liberal Party of Australia, main COALition partner) established Robodebt in 2015. The idea was to “recoup” $1.5 billion from social welfare payments recipients. They – top decision-makers alleged – were often overpaid (often too as a result of their deliberate defrauding the government). It considered welfare payments ranging from those to students to those to age pensioners, but its main targets were JobSeeker and its recipients.<br />
<br />
It was evidently absurd. Using fairness as a pretext, those payments, without exception, are highly targeted to ensure that those who don’t need them are excluded (they all are “means tested”, meaning not that they depend on applicants’ net wealth – as could be reasonable – but on their assets, regardless of liabilities – which is not). They are also highly regulated, with ever-changing rules and procedures and requirements (including so-called “mutual obligations”).<br />
<br />
The Government has unlimited access to – and closely spies on – the financial transactions of recipients.<br />
<br />
On top, as a rule, those payments in general aren’t generous.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUG9x6NsLqcq9KnbmB6qdkq-fPPV-cHseyh40a9KJUDKCpIB0CjR8ZrseoOGxHRJJ1vuBHXWeIdSNFYMQvNdNQbgmBBXASt_WMmG7dYbsbYvohq26D6HtptIM6AriwGfgGtrLyK3VHlrj-yIoa2Fu74a4PdjSM_SFq6jGRZ8-1Q9V46xeyWDdCvwhS9A/s709/Figure%206.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="709" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUG9x6NsLqcq9KnbmB6qdkq-fPPV-cHseyh40a9KJUDKCpIB0CjR8ZrseoOGxHRJJ1vuBHXWeIdSNFYMQvNdNQbgmBBXASt_WMmG7dYbsbYvohq26D6HtptIM6AriwGfgGtrLyK3VHlrj-yIoa2Fu74a4PdjSM_SFq6jGRZ8-1Q9V46xeyWDdCvwhS9A/w400-h215/Figure%206.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/sites/ministers.treasury.gov.au/files/2023-04/eiac-report.pdf">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
Let’s focus on JobSeeker and compare Australia with other rich nations. Luxembourgers, for example, losing their non-qualified, minimum wage jobs get unemployment benefits of between 80% and 90% their wages. Aussies get a miserly 26% – if they actually get anything, after all the bureaucratic hassle they need to go through[*]. Only Poms and Kiwis, among workers in OECD countries, get slightly less than Aussies. Most OECD workers get between 50% and 80%.<br />
<br />
And, by the way, to call JobSeeker miserly is no exaggeration:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipTshab4tFg-vBzobwqaAcm_O8iOcRf5ohux-9fKwutElSjDe0cG2HioVH0yoi_7hkiTvTqP2Gy_fpgWOUN63YrS5KNMM9R5mfB5ykAR1yIq0pSopcxd-c4SjRnXoZYjWoW9d1xB1Sqtp9GW2sW68Ir3_1aETqNlWn2gSNdmpC6QedWy5qX6dqfYabS0k/s600/Mitchell's%20jobseeker%20and%20poverty%20line.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="600" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipTshab4tFg-vBzobwqaAcm_O8iOcRf5ohux-9fKwutElSjDe0cG2HioVH0yoi_7hkiTvTqP2Gy_fpgWOUN63YrS5KNMM9R5mfB5ykAR1yIq0pSopcxd-c4SjRnXoZYjWoW9d1xB1Sqtp9GW2sW68Ir3_1aETqNlWn2gSNdmpC6QedWy5qX6dqfYabS0k/w400-h241/Mitchell's%20jobseeker%20and%20poverty%20line.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=60789">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />
(You see that spike around 2020? We’ll come back to that in a moment.)<br />
<br />
Robodebt, in other words, was an overreaction to an essentially non-existing problem. But it was much worse than that.<br />
<br />
First, with Robodebt it was the alleged debtor who had to prove that no debt existed: it shifted the burden of the proof, from the accuser to the accused. The Government could and did make up debts; it was those the Government harassed as deadbeats who had to prove the Government wrong. If there was a cheater and a rorter, it was the Government.<br />
<br />
Second: the timing. It targeted people when they were under constant pressure to find a non-existing job opening (in the process, lowering the wages of those actually employed: “So, you ain’t happy with yah job? That’s the dough-ah. There’s plenty who won it”), pestered by never-ending paperwork, while struggling to live on the pittance the Government deigned to throw at them.<br />
<br />
Third: the people targeted. By design, JobSeeker recipients are near destitution and are frequently uneducated and unable to argue their own case.<br />
<br />
Fourth: macroeconomic policy creates the same unemployed (as even <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-25/the-rba-wants-more-unemployment-lets-applaud-it/102506500">RBA Governor Phil Lowe has admitted in public</a>) that Centrelink persecutes.<br />
<br />
Fifth, Robodebt was defended in public by ministers, top ranking bureaucrats and footsoldiers at every Centrelink office, even as repeated public challenges against its lawfulness were launched and judicially upheld and internal doubts were vox populi among the bureaucrats.<br />
<br />
Sixth, in a touch of demonic malice and cruel irony, the Government assigned a law enforcement agency, the Australian Federal Police, to enforce their unlawful scheme.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_I9-9_yFgKH8zZOUbDSfeRo7Y36wKi7JrYmLlZZHEfBEMAgiw0keJAhtBOsSz52_ayXblV7toxfhm0zm1vhYbyvQiUYwS1xJVBKOasUY2uwGHlEOg56FjQjnK6aJx2SVZuPzTOF0uDMT4ZNRViCHVzFtXUNeXDO8O1QQZ22OUDKyqLO1rhf5zOSk2Bbc/s954/centrelink%20afp%20debt%20letter.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="709" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_I9-9_yFgKH8zZOUbDSfeRo7Y36wKi7JrYmLlZZHEfBEMAgiw0keJAhtBOsSz52_ayXblV7toxfhm0zm1vhYbyvQiUYwS1xJVBKOasUY2uwGHlEOg56FjQjnK6aJx2SVZuPzTOF0uDMT4ZNRViCHVzFtXUNeXDO8O1QQZ22OUDKyqLO1rhf5zOSk2Bbc/s400/centrelink%20afp%20debt%20letter.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://twitter.com/juniperlilacs/status/893312874671611905">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />5 years the democratically elected, legitimate COALition Government of democratic Australia lied to the public, extorted money, persecuted, threatened, slandered, humiliated and mocked over<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-08/robodebt-case-studies/102577632"> 400 thousand Australians with that unlawful abomination</a>. At least two youngsters took their own lives while harassed by Robodebt.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-07/robodebt-royal-commission-findings-revealed/102531450"><br />
Last Friday the Commission released its report</a>. Commentators say it was scathing. Among other things, it referred some as yet undisclosed individuals – potentially ranging from ex prime ministers to top ranking bureaucrats – to the Australian Federal Police (delightful irony!). Commissioner Catherine Holmes said Robodebt was an extraordinary saga of “venality, incompetence and cowardice”.<br />
<br />
I can be blunter. This hellish bureaucratic nightmare was the product of a monstrous, immoral abuse of power, concocted by evil bastards and enabled by inept, cowardly and corrupted bureaucrats, including cops who, lacking a commitment to justice, follow the laws.<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div></div><div>
<br />
Why did this happen? Why didn’t we see torches and pitchforks as a response to Robodebt? Those are the questions one hears repeated by talking show hosts and panelists.<br />
<br />
They are good questions, but they deserve better answer than the usual “it’s all about the culture”.<br />
<br />
I’m sorry, folks, but “cult-cha” is not a good answer because it doesn’t explain where “cult-cha” came from and why it endures. If culture explains everything in general, it explains nothing in particular.<br />
<br />
Robodebt happened because the unemployed and the marginalised are living, tangible, concrete, visible warnings to the employed: “Be grateful for what little you may have. Accept your situation. Keep your head down and behave, because you could be them”.<br />
<br />
This is not how unemployment benefits began or how they were sold as policy. And as international comparisons (and COVID, btw) show it doesn’t have to be this way. But soon enough politicians realised that is how it works and it’s functional for capitalism in Australia.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
To his credit, PM Albanese called for this Royal Commission.<br />
<br />
But, sorry Albo, that is not good enough. To see why let’s go back to the spike in Prof. Mitchell’s chart. Remember?<br />
<br />
During the pandemic the Morrison Government, out of fear of what could have been the mother of all recessions, renamed the until then NewStart Allowance as JobSeeker and lifted it above the poverty line. Just like that, for a few months hundreds of thousands of Australians were lifted from abject misery. <br />
<br />
That is the clearest possible demonstration that when there is political will, the money appears. It’s not a matter of magic. There’s no “how are you gonna pay for that?” Financially, the difference between lifting the JobSeeker rate and paying for the piece of shit nuclear subs is that nobody really gives a rat’s ass about people on JobSeeker: the decision to spend or not comes first, the question “where’s the money coming from?” comes later, only to justify the negative.<br />
<br />
Morrison’s unprecedented generosity towards the unemployed didn’t last. As soon as the recession was essentially averted by the spending, the Government decided they could no longer spend. And just like that, the unemployed were thrown again back into poverty.<br />
<br />
But now we have a Labor Government. Will it do much better? Call me pessimistic, but I doubt it.<br />
<br />
I’ll give it a try anyway. Instead of following in Morrison’s footsteps, instead of adding another nail in the coffin of the welfare state Labor created, walk your talk, Albo. Prove me wrong. And make sure some heads actually roll.<br />
<br />
<b>Notes</b>:<br />
[*] Adding insult to injury, the 2021 minimum wage in Luxembourg (equivalent to AUD15.55 per hour) was higher than its Aussie equivalent at the time (AUD14.21).<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-34651905222747759862023-06-25T10:32:00.028-07:002023-06-27T02:19:44.317-07:00Russian Embassy Farce (II). Updated<div><br />
The New Russian Embassy is still making headlines. The Australian – the broadsheet among the many other Murdoch tabloids – broke the news in exclusivity on Friday 23rd:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgap-UaI7ejLG1Yz6fb2ArQXWJ81P5FhxBhbZ0iixM4h5UVK9v3wX0x_0kWLhKRRDHPnTdnKolxgOsmC4TeXmZw1EPlB6YRu3bA3w6AGk0kYfro6O_JV_Zgy5ZVPjzflkG9x9zEaLAGXx1B61ohzl7yTwWI1xpyivwe3D9VWWQ8MBDM1af73-eObx5SlZg/s709/Dastardly%20plot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="709" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgap-UaI7ejLG1Yz6fb2ArQXWJ81P5FhxBhbZ0iixM4h5UVK9v3wX0x_0kWLhKRRDHPnTdnKolxgOsmC4TeXmZw1EPlB6YRu3bA3w6AGk0kYfro6O_JV_Zgy5ZVPjzflkG9x9zEaLAGXx1B61ohzl7yTwWI1xpyivwe3D9VWWQ8MBDM1af73-eObx5SlZg/w400-h145/Dastardly%20plot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Presumably the day before – according to The Oz, remember that – its reporting team found a Russian diplomat on the Yarralumla block of land in dispute. (Was that man quietly enjoying the land – in the terms of the Federal Court’s decision – or squatting, as The Oz prefers? That’s for you to decide.)<br />
<br />
The Australian Federal Police, the report added, is present at the site, but cannot arrest the man because everybody <u>says</u> he has diplomatic immunity.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">----------<br /></div><div>
<br />
Aussie readers may not need it (I’d still advise them to read on), but those overseas will likely find a little background useful (<a href="https://aussiemagpie.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-russian-embassy-farce-jalisco-nunca.html">more details</a>). The federal Government unilaterally terminated a lease it had granted the Russian Federation over land for their new Embassy; their rationale was that the construction site was an eye sore. Unhappy with the termination, the Russians took their case to the Federal Court; they won. Instead of appealing the Court’s decision, the federal Government prepared a bill making of that plot of land an exception to all relevant Australian law. The Australian Parliament passed the bill into law in a matter of hours, likely establishing a record: apparently, no MP raised an eyebrow when facing the strange bill and even stranger circumstances of its parliamentary passage.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
With that in place, what else did The Oz said?<br />
<br />
This is the only interaction it reports between its team and the man:<br /><blockquote>
“Can I help you?” he asked in thickly accented English.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
When asked to identify himself, the man shook his head and entered the shed, which was mounted with multiple CCTV cameras.</blockquote>
Call me fussy, but on that basis alone it seems a little risky to conclude that bloke was a Russian diplomat with diplomatic immunity. A Russian? Well, maybe. Maybe his accent was Russian beyond any doubt and The Oz reporters, expert linguists as they surely are, can tell.<br />
<br />
Fine. But a diplomat?<br />
<br />
Still, I can see how one can jump to the conclusion that he is a Russian and a diplomat.<br />
<br />
Even less defensible, however, is the conclusion that he has diplomatic immunity: even if he is a Russian diplomat, not all diplomatic staff are entitled to it. For example, administrative and technical embassy staff generally are not protected by diplomatic immunity, according to the <a href="https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf">Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (article 37)</a>. Clearly, The Oz doesn’t require its reporters to know what they write about, before writing it.<br />
<br />
Let me put my objection this way: the guy may indeed be a Russian diplomat entitled to diplomatic immunity, but based on what we <u>know</u> I wouldn’t bet my life. Of course, I wouldn’t dream of imposing my opinions on Aussie journos: ultimately to put a loaded gun to their heads is their prerogative.<br />
<br />
But it gets worse. By late Friday afternoon, the often level-headed John Barron, one of the ABC’s The Drum’s hosts, was worrying about the possibility that the AFP will have to confront a spy: “<a href="http://tveeder.com/561/byrange?&from=1687507200&to=1687510800">He’s a GRU operative</a>”.<br />
<br />
Go figure.<br />
<br />I have to admit, though, that there is a reason to worry about a physical confrontation between James Bondsky and the AFP. You see, Simon Birmingham – a leading COALition voice and one of the few Liberal Party “moderates” surviving the 2022 mass extinction of his faction – is eagerly calling for that confrontation:<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuHviNs0R-ygzXfyNbmyFXSlSP-BC-egGagytfMBpjkXe5sEGbEcjTdgAoXbf8q91gF2I539q9WdacrC42A13ZFcLJGKbWKY-9frDVKVPKUswitvHAgDIzZ88UyqHwDumno-nKJB0gmzFz7_QgSyP2TAOXKK-nY_Yu3cOP7F73An0tgf3BdsOggMcdAw/s709/Birmingham's%20tweet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="709" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuHviNs0R-ygzXfyNbmyFXSlSP-BC-egGagytfMBpjkXe5sEGbEcjTdgAoXbf8q91gF2I539q9WdacrC42A13ZFcLJGKbWKY-9frDVKVPKUswitvHAgDIzZ88UyqHwDumno-nKJB0gmzFz7_QgSyP2TAOXKK-nY_Yu3cOP7F73An0tgf3BdsOggMcdAw/w400-h385/Birmingham's%20tweet.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
(<a href="https://twitter.com/Birmo/status/1672009206592045058">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
In exchange for indulging his party’s taste for brutality, Birmingham offers PM Anthony Albanese and Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil their support and the credibility it affords (?!).<br />
<br />
You may not believe it, but Labor pollies crave that, particularly in economic and foreign policies.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
So far, to their credit, Albanese and O’Neil have shown uncharacteristic good sense on this specific issue. Asked by the media Albanese played down the importance of this development:<br /><blockquote><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-23/russian-diplomat-refusing-to-leave-terminated-embassy-site/102515020">A bloke standing in the cold on a blade of grass in Canberra is not a threat to our national security</a></blockquote>Note, by the way, that Albanese did not use the “Russian diplomat” and “diplomatic immunity”. One may suppose that his media handlers might have advised him before fronting the media.<br />
<br />
It remains to be seen, however, how long Albanese’s common sense will last.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
So, why did the building process take so long?<br />
<br />
The Oz suggests one reason I hadn’t thought:<br /><blockquote>
It’s understood Russia had sought to bring in its own contractors in over the years to work on the Yarralumla site but the Department of Home Affairs had denied them visas, believing they would include members of Russia’s Federal Security Service.</blockquote>Now, one may ask oneself why wouldn’t Aussie contractors be good enough to build the new Russian Embassy?<br />
<br />
Paranoia, I suppose, is inevitable in matters of national security and for all I know it may affect both Russian diplomats and Australian Home Affairs officers. Maybe both sides are paranoid.<br />
<br />Of course, just because you are is paranoid, it doesn’t mean that nobody wants to screw you:<br /><blockquote>
It all began in 2004, when under the guise of an aid project to help renovate the Palace of Government in Dili [East Timor], spies from Australia’s foreign intelligence service ASIS snuck in and installed listening devices.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
They were targeting East Timor’s prime minister at the time, Mari Alkatiri, and his negotiating team, who were in talks with the Australian government over a treaty dealing with oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea.</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
According to Matthew Doran, last Friday <a href="http://tveeder.com/560/byrange?&from=1687500000&to=1687503600">the Russian Government is seeking an injunction against the Australian Government</a>, to stop it from taking back control of the Yarralumla site.<br />
<br />According to the media, Albanese seems confident his Government’s position is safe.<br />
<br />
We’ll see. The High Court should pronounce itself on that matter today, Monday June 26th.<br />
<br />
<b><br />
Update (27/06/23).</b><br />
<br />
On Monday morning <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-26/high-court-throw-out-russia-embassy-site-access-commonwealth/102522722">the High Court denied the Russian Federation’s application for an injunction</a> against the federal Government.<br />
<br />
The injunction was part of a substantive case against the unconstitutionality of the new law the federal Government rammed through Parliament earlier in the month. The dismissal of this request does not preclude the substantive case from being further considered. I suspect it’s likely, however, the Russians will drop the case, given comments by Justice Jayne Jagot.<br />
<br />
Upon the announcement of the Court’s decision, the “Russian squatter” (not caretaker, or security guard, all terms that to me look appropriate, but squatter as Aussie Russophobes like) who had been staying on the plot of land quickly left – I believe even before PM Albanese urged him to leave – without any trouble. Much to the disappointment, I suppose, of Birmingham and many journos, there was no need for the AFP, worldwide famous for their peaceful ways, to “intervene”.<br />
<br />
I think we may still regret the precedent this absurd law creates. People who should know better are being blinded by their Schadenfreude and irrational ill will towards anything Russian.<br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-58281451823941893742023-06-19T10:58:00.003-07:002023-06-27T01:53:04.951-07:00The Russian Embassy Farce: Jalisco Nunca Pierde … (Updated)<div><div><br />
… y Cuando Pierde, Arrebata.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6YjC7KwNwDHUjhkrxQpAECn3AHHRkEk0Gixp_TigtGTmyGcbFgQHl7hF681X4eMHBCE7P2R30MOqRjNCh-db34hSGhG8923T1TJD2Thu9mO8VMJF36gYjoTke2f2j6tRNiXfApqtdEmu0VC9g-gF0qhKKr-XWuwYRywRUXUw44FChcDMQb3yf18ucgc/s709/Jalisco%20nunca%20pierda.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="709" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6YjC7KwNwDHUjhkrxQpAECn3AHHRkEk0Gixp_TigtGTmyGcbFgQHl7hF681X4eMHBCE7P2R30MOqRjNCh-db34hSGhG8923T1TJD2Thu9mO8VMJF36gYjoTke2f2j6tRNiXfApqtdEmu0VC9g-gF0qhKKr-XWuwYRywRUXUw44FChcDMQb3yf18ucgc/w400-h233/Jalisco%20nunca%20pierda.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jalisco nunca pierde y cuando pierde, arrebata. (<a href="http://butacayaccion.blogspot.com/2010/03/jalisco-nunca-pierde-1937.html">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />
That’s a popular saying in Mexico. <a href="https://transversalthinktank.org/blogTransversal/3/">Literally</a> it means Jalisco (one of the states of the Mexican federation) never loses, but if it ever were to lose, it would cheat. The “Jalisco” stands for “Mexicans” or “we”. Perhaps a less literal translation works best: we always win, by hook or by crook, if needed.<br />
<br />
I suppose that saying’s appeal owes much to its unapologetic chauvinism. Personally, however, I doubt many Mexicans really use it as their guide when dealing with others, especially foreigners. Think about it. Would you be anxious to deal with Mexicans if you thought they take that saying seriously? Well, Mexicans are likely aware of that.<br />
<br />
It’s ironic, isn’t it? Mexicans could be too scrupulous to apply their own saying.<br />
<br /></div>
Others are certainly a lot less squeamish. Don’t believe me? Read on.<br /><span><a name='more'></a></span>
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<br />
In 2008 the federal Government had no problem granting the Russian Federation a lease to a plot of land in Canberra, for their new embassy. Local authorities gave their building approval to the project in 2011.<br />
<br />
The building was to be completed in three years, but twelve years on, it is not yet ready.<br />
<br />
Why not? I don’t know. I suppose many things (ranging from weather and COVID, passing through red tape, to lack of money and ineptitude) could be involved. One thing, though, suggests itself: the Russkies didn’t really consider the new building a priority.<br />
<br />
Any way, last year the federal Government decided that what was okay in 2008 no longer was okay. So, <a href="https://www.nca.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-08/final_220817_-_media_release-nca_terminates_lease_for_new_russian_embassy.pdf">they unilaterally terminated the lease agreement</a>.<br />
<br />
Why? If you follow the news this may remind you of the <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/woollahra-council-to-change-street-name-where-russian-consulate-is-located-to-demonstrate-support-for-ukraine/news-story/d8da2512a6b39c6d11cf20ae1d130537">Woollahra City Council renaming the street</a> where the Russian Consulate General is as Ukraine Street. (The councillors also took further steps to hurt Russia: they cancelled the Consul’s free-parking permit – take that, Putin!)<br />
<br />What the federal Government alleged was this: after years on end, they suddenly realised that “on-going unfinished works detract from the overall aesthetic, importance and dignity of the area”. The rights the Russians had acquired be damned.<br />
<br />
The Russkies fought back: they took the case to the Federal Court. And, lo and behold, the latter declared that <a href="https://www.comcourts.gov.au/file/Federal/P/NSD770/2022/3943809/event/31427800/document/2111987">the lease termination notice was “invalid and of no effect”</a>.<br />
<br />
I’ll spell it out: the federal Government lost. Worse still, they lost badly:<br /><ul><li>
the Court restrained the federal Government from re-entering and taking possession of the land, or interfering with the Russians’ quiet enjoyment of it;</li><li>the Russians won by playing entirely within the rules of the game in a democracy.</li></ul>
It clearly was a humiliating defeat for the Albanese Government. But in the cosmic liberal democracy versus autocracy narrative the Western governments love it had a much deeper and critical upside: it would have served as a shining example of the much boasted virtues of liberal democracies. The Albanese Government overreached badly, but the system had its own checks and balances and the rule of law protects the rights of all – even the unpopular – from abuse of the powerful.<br />
<br />
So, after losing that battle what did the Albanese Government do? Go ahead, guess.<br />
<br />
Simple. Given that the Russians had the law on their side, Albanese changed the law. You know what “move the goalposts” mean, don’t you? Block 26, Section 44, Yarralumla, where the Russians wanted their new embassy, <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r7050">is excluded from all Australian legislation</a>. In particular, that bill cancels all legal rights administrative decisions had created and conferred on the Russians. With a snap of one’s fingers one can take away any legal rights in the Australian liberal democracy, if one is an Aussie pollie.<br />
<br />People — particularly talking heads — often have difficulty with that kind of things, so I’ll put this in two different ways:<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>the federal Government interfered with the Russians’ quiet enjoyment of that block of land;</li><li>they channelled Jalisco! <a href="https://translate.google.com/?sl=es&tl=en&text=Ellos%20arrebataron&op=translate">Ellos arrebataron</a>, as Mexicans would have said. They cheated.<br /></li></ol></div><div style="text-align: left;">
But, wait! There’s more. The whole process of tabling, reading, debating, and voting Home Affairs Bill 2023 was completed the morning of June 15th. The voting itself – press gallery reporters say – took <u>6 minutes</u>! You see, this was a bipartisan thing (to be fair, I’m not sure the crossbench actually opposed the bill, or even abstained, not that that would have made any difference).<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
What did the two parties involved say?<br />
<br />
Albanese justified this saying that his Government “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/15/australian-government-to-pass-law-cancelling-lease-on-new-russian-embassy-site">received very clear security advice as to the risk presented by a new Russian presence so close to Parliament House</a>”. You wouldn’t expect him to say he didn’t want to be the loser in a fight against the Russkies, would you?<br />
<br />
The Russians said – although you wouldn’t learn of it from ABC, who apparently cannot find their phone numbers – that their old embassy was vulnerable to Aussie spooks.<br />
<br />
It may be very clear to the parts, but things look obscure to me, which is common in “national security”: zero details. We are forced to take their word for it – because you know that pollies never lie.<br />
<br />
I’m no expert on these matters, but the lengthy building process suggests both Australian and Russian claims are bullshit: the Russkies didn’t seem to be in a hurry to complete the new building, neither to protect themselves against Aussie spooks, nor to spy on the Australian Parliament. Frankly, I think both sides are full of shit.<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Regardless, I personally doubt either country has much to gain from their relations.<br />
<br />
Let me put this differently: it’s vital for the US and Russia – the two top nuclear powers – to maintain communication, come hell or high water. But Australia is not a nuclear power (yet).<br />
<br />
Maybe a downgrade of Russian-Australian relations – even a total break – would be advisable. Should the need for their governments to contact each other ever arise, they could use the US as intermediary. This, in fact, given Australian self-imposed subordination to American interests, would probably be most appropriate.<br />
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<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cbyosq8NMRpw6uWuNQn1MzT9FhyDGFyWziRdIr-UJAFjQlUEVLuidZ6VniYjG_XTIzzhhE8X43rBqXSiNII3Q9xrCIhbH_j6H41DrVOjFc5cEgEXnODP8bqT4h6uTHvnW_Q0yDG840Kpz5cDD-SqARyH705toh8eW-HybpShwelQX29eqI_N8-kqYfY/s709/map.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="709" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cbyosq8NMRpw6uWuNQn1MzT9FhyDGFyWziRdIr-UJAFjQlUEVLuidZ6VniYjG_XTIzzhhE8X43rBqXSiNII3Q9xrCIhbH_j6H41DrVOjFc5cEgEXnODP8bqT4h6uTHvnW_Q0yDG840Kpz5cDD-SqARyH705toh8eW-HybpShwelQX29eqI_N8-kqYfY/w400-h286/map.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Speaking of which, I must remark that the American Embassy is not much more removed and they boast that their techno-espionage capabilities are second to none. Aren’t they considered a threat? <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24690055">Angela Merkel</a>, former chancellor of another American ally, could have something relevant to say about this.<br />
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<br />
What really bothers me in this farce is, one, the thoughtless way with which the bipartisan dictatorship produces absurdly authoritarian legislation like deranged magicians pulling deformed rabbits out of a hat. I’ve already written about the monstrosity the <a href="https://aussiemagpie.blogspot.com/2022/03/bits-and-pieces-week-in-news.html">Perrottet/Minns two-headed Cerberus</a> imposed on NSW. Well, just in May the South Australian <a href="https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2023/5/31/sa-antiprotest-laws-pass">Malinauskas repeated the dose in his state</a>.<br />
<br />
Two, as they do that, the hypocritical motherfuckers go around waxing lyrical about democracy.<br />
<br />
And, three, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/insiders">the brainless talking heads</a> on our small screens are apparently blind to this.<br />
<br />
<br /><b>
Update (27/06/23).</b><br />
<br />
On Monday morning the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-26/high-court-throw-out-russia-embassy-site-access-commonwealth/102522722">High Court denied the Russian Federation’s application for an injunction</a> against the federal Government.<br />
<br />
The injunction was part of a larger, substantive case against the unconstitutionality of the new law the federal Government rammed through Parliament earlier in the month. The dismissal of this request does not preclude the substantive case from being further considered. I suspect it’s likely, however, the Russians will drop the case, given comments by Justice Jayne Jagot.<br />
<br />
Upon the announcement of the Court’s decision, the “Russian squatter/GRU operative” (not caretaker, or security guard, all terms that to me look appropriate, but squatter/spy as Aussie Russophobes like) who had been staying on the plot of land quickly left – I believe even before PM Albanese urged him to leave – without any trouble. Much to the disappointment, I suppose, of Birmingham and many journos, there was no need for the AFP, worldwide famous for their peaceful ways, to “intervene”.<br />
<br />
I think we may still regret the precedent this absurd law creates.<br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-79442471736628944022023-05-17T02:49:00.005-07:002023-05-17T23:28:23.735-07:00On Embarrassment and Humiliation.<div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQJFvymFDWtOfnhESP27B7GKAyflfFLMwBsCfrxBgyqSrHB0O5qWRDXETHvq1YJV62Yn1BAMsBWnOH8AvYSqNOj9LqdmDR-feT8TYpe4G7QP1lxHGNd2wbP7aZkD_x59X6vALkKEhsfTrl8jJp9wIjpjYT7LL7nbNGgCreoge55GOM_ThpwYhBjZP/s709/Quad%20minus%20one.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="709" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQJFvymFDWtOfnhESP27B7GKAyflfFLMwBsCfrxBgyqSrHB0O5qWRDXETHvq1YJV62Yn1BAMsBWnOH8AvYSqNOj9LqdmDR-feT8TYpe4G7QP1lxHGNd2wbP7aZkD_x59X6vALkKEhsfTrl8jJp9wIjpjYT7LL7nbNGgCreoge55GOM_ThpwYhBjZP/w400-h266/Quad%20minus%20one.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quad minus one (<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-24/anthony-albanese-joe-biden-quad-meeting-tokyo/101094698">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
You live and you learn. I never thought that a person’s embarrassment and humiliation was one of the most important things to consider when commenting on international events.<br />
<br />
However, judging by how frequently Aussie journos have used the words “humiliation” and “embarrassment” lately, I might have been mistaken.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br />
So I suppose they would welcome that I remark on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s humiliation and embarrassment with the news that President Joe Biden will not come to Australia to the much anticipated Quad meeting. I mean, you prepare an expensive party for your powerful friend, you brag about it, his cars and gear arrive. You are rubbing shoulders with the big boys!<br />
<br />
Then, at the last moment it’s a no show. The old geezer doesn’t come. Embarrassing, uh?<br />
<br />
And indicative that “world leaders” of liberal democracies may have been created equal, but some are way more equal than others.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
But Albanese’s embarrassment pales in comparison to Biden’s own. It turns out that the “leader of the free world” – in the somewhat outmoded title President Zelensky has rediscovered – has less power than Nancy Pelosi had.<br />
<br />
At least you conclude that if you were to believe the White House: when last year Pelosi – at the time, Speaker of the House – decided to visit Taiwan, the President could not stop her, they said then. This year, the President had to ditch his visit to Australia and Papua New Guinea, because he needs to negotiate a higher debt ceiling with Kevin McCarthy, the current Speaker of the House.<br />
<br />
Last year, Biden could not penalise Pelosi; this year McCarthy can force the US Government default on its debt.<br />
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<br />
Some Aussies, including apparently our PM, had expected Biden’s visit would have provided an opportunity to discuss Julian Assange’s case.<br />
<br />
Not any more, I guess.</div>
<br />
That’s the thing with Australian sovereignty: the lives of Australian citizens depend on decisions made by our American masters. But we remain proudly sovereign!<br />Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-55678181848494088162023-04-24T20:03:00.005-07:002023-04-25T02:07:08.694-07:00War Schizophrenia (Updated).<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6qAMzEfMScpigN_4gZHB_iFRzXw6GjQO8p6-XZgX6IEiMed-5lxh9BX1_QZNn68GKHVP_U0Tmvj0jUcT-77-7Ri_90gLv1pwiWZhzo1MJ-_OcVAVIAWfOrs-YUqCJ8XBb9OSLoNRNbHG_pV0_9q6ETjhW9s6-xX5PIWkaoaKdxXwFSeUEBeLoB_0/s719/Anzac%20Day.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="719" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6qAMzEfMScpigN_4gZHB_iFRzXw6GjQO8p6-XZgX6IEiMed-5lxh9BX1_QZNn68GKHVP_U0Tmvj0jUcT-77-7Ri_90gLv1pwiWZhzo1MJ-_OcVAVIAWfOrs-YUqCJ8XBb9OSLoNRNbHG_pV0_9q6ETjhW9s6-xX5PIWkaoaKdxXwFSeUEBeLoB_0/w400-h270/Anzac%20Day.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.broome.wa.gov.au/files/assets/public/images/anzac.jpg?w=1200">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
Today Australians and New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day: the anniversary of the tragic Anzac Corps landing in Gallipoli, in 1915.<br />
<br />
Since then, however, Australians also commemorate today all the wars and engagements of the Australian military since Federation: from World War 2 to Iraq and Afghanistan – all of them, without exception, overseas, most of them in far flung places around the world.<br />
<br />
The official ceremonies start before dawn. As you might expect, they’re a solemn even sombre affair, where Australians are warned “lest we forget”.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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<br />
A little levity may be welcome today. You know, to cheer Aussies up.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IJNR2EpS0jw" title="Dumb Ways to Die" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
That’s a cool video, isn’t it? I’m sure millions of people worldwide would agree it’s catchy and funny. The thing is, that was a public service announcement.<br />
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<br />
This, too, would have been funny. It wasn’t:<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWWId6BcL9r3qBNHShNOk1nlyzuvrZkhvuvLkE1OIkzmt2Q_rRj1vGuYYanc2-16votCx0K7LO5woacn8r_4w93_tblEvwDANzO-oY1EcdK3Nt7nqdhjKLPxzGkt-n--ue7qcW2ZtrQ9rao9Ue8Tkg4tJpFG1OrD9YzH8frFA94t_OB-ChtGUQ-Mx/s709/Dutton%20china%20has%20amassed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="709" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWWId6BcL9r3qBNHShNOk1nlyzuvrZkhvuvLkE1OIkzmt2Q_rRj1vGuYYanc2-16votCx0K7LO5woacn8r_4w93_tblEvwDANzO-oY1EcdK3Nt7nqdhjKLPxzGkt-n--ue7qcW2ZtrQ9rao9Ue8Tkg4tJpFG1OrD9YzH8frFA94t_OB-ChtGUQ-Mx/w400-h225/Dutton%20china%20has%20amassed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Peter Dutton, Minister for Defence at the time (November 2021), tells his audience of all the many ways China threatens Australia and the world, as part of a longer speech.<br />
<br />
He throws at them everything but the kitchen sink, keeping however this gem to close the catalogue of horrors:<br /><blockquote>
“China has amassed more than 2,000 ground-launched ballistic missiles and ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of up to 5,500 kilometres. Over the next decade China’s nuclear warhead stockpile, estimated to be in the 200s last year, is projected to reach between 700 and 1,000 warheads. Every major city in Australia, including Hobart, is within range of China’s missiles.”</blockquote>
Scary stuff, uh? Mercifully, he stopped just short of describing mushroom clouds. One wonders, however, what went through the minds of those listening:<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqZiqLGL8H0xoxrKB0CObGUCLwtVpPoUm7y8GlTZjz661q-ASF-xrz_XTVzXrXX0LwSOB_vY-zktS3oYtlGks2olcuXGcRnVj9-lPxdR4PIZgIimysstzyBzjlr6ysLLqV_dpY-oEzSS0WbWYgRNI228L2fZ-SnPpipbmP4nuwSe5GXuyJvz85l22/s709/Dutton's%20audience.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="709" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqZiqLGL8H0xoxrKB0CObGUCLwtVpPoUm7y8GlTZjz661q-ASF-xrz_XTVzXrXX0LwSOB_vY-zktS3oYtlGks2olcuXGcRnVj9-lPxdR4PIZgIimysstzyBzjlr6ysLLqV_dpY-oEzSS0WbWYgRNI228L2fZ-SnPpipbmP4nuwSe5GXuyJvz85l22/w400-h225/Dutton's%20audience.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
A pressing question inevitably arises, particularly today, in Anzac Day: how can we prevent the looming apocalypse?<br />
<br />
Think about it, but don’t give me your answer. I’ll spare you mine.<br />
<br />
Instead, I’ll tell you Dutton’s, because as a former Minister for Defence and current federal Opposition Leader it’s much more to the point. To make Australia safe he proposes to poke a stick at a grizzly bear:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-v-cQFwdZIlX8hwp6JpLRWzBte-GIZXUG0fmaGcQyZgXpqWbdcH0s50BC9WZIPy4KsmanjovLEPA_L5omgDwC_H62rUpGeI5tPFH5Sx6Nf9cODBLiUVhdaamaGQM-ILNPCG7jGKeKV5UZYp6ZPdfrgHZQmTC7-TarKkMxwfIein_Guz-2JEuZ2ky/s709/Inconceivable.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="709" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-v-cQFwdZIlX8hwp6JpLRWzBte-GIZXUG0fmaGcQyZgXpqWbdcH0s50BC9WZIPy4KsmanjovLEPA_L5omgDwC_H62rUpGeI5tPFH5Sx6Nf9cODBLiUVhdaamaGQM-ILNPCG7jGKeKV5UZYp6ZPdfrgHZQmTC7-TarKkMxwfIein_Guz-2JEuZ2ky/w400-h194/Inconceivable.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/inconceivable-australia-would-not-join-us-defend-taiwan-australian-defence-2021-11-12/">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
Don’t get me wrong, If we were talking about Peter Dutton in person poking a literal stick at a real grizzly bear, I’d be strongly tempted to encourage him. I’d even applaud his hawkishness.<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLllt-5ga-n5PBhGQQB9kx6kqHXMkKY9C0Nt3K71KU6o52NV9AiZ47Tsw23wnW36AaRWr5FmWppDJv7nqWZU3p2MSbVqj5ac2lo3ky25W5Q0uRb9nzuKLbYUGnCtLep0dTbZBnooH6pYNySX9zoH1blESodQ60UMq5pkX-1xhAP2snSMaJMfF2LbB/s709/poke%20a%20stick.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="709" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLllt-5ga-n5PBhGQQB9kx6kqHXMkKY9C0Nt3K71KU6o52NV9AiZ47Tsw23wnW36AaRWr5FmWppDJv7nqWZU3p2MSbVqj5ac2lo3ky25W5Q0uRb9nzuKLbYUGnCtLep0dTbZBnooH6pYNySX9zoH1blESodQ60UMq5pkX-1xhAP2snSMaJMfF2LbB/w400-h225/poke%20a%20stick.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Any similarity between that picture and real <br />persons and situations is, I am sure, accidental.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. His belligerence does not involve him personally poking at the bear. It’s us, the people, who are to hold that stick.<br />
<br />
It’s worth to dwell on this because many Aussies seem not to understand the situation. It shows in Dutton’s rambling speech. Or maybe his vagueness is deliberate.<br />
<br />
After enumerating all those terrifying statistics, Dutton’s conclusion is that Australia must pick a fight with China at the behest of the USA, <u>no matter that every major Australian city is within reach of Chinese rockets</u>.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div><div>
<br />
You want to see what Dutton’s ideas may entail?<br />
<br />
Suppose a 5 Mt warhead, carried by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DF-5">Dong-Feng 5 </a>Chinese ICBM, detonated above the Sydney Harbour Bridge on a weekday morning, as people go to their workplaces. (An explosion at ground level maximises radioactive fallout, leaving the soil contaminated, at the cost of diminishing the number of casualties; an air burst maximizes the casualties, with limited fallout).<br />
<br />
According to Alex Wellerstein’s <a href="https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/">NUKEMAP</a>, this is the result for Sydney:<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFc5dRtMdMzL2C4qu8AFkUc9tD-vzBFpw4uTXHQJeHviaHGa1XrdbQvNiKeEmYDjhFp0dNc7YRljmU1ZjTSOG4PSdsCfQ087LmR7EXPQp6oFf06XAF6PUlZsh_N0Xxh-eiQXqjQRcwQdAAZFxkVV7hJi7zCv-QVi6-8vsTIzkO67uuyyYzLyh8Cbt/s709/Nuked%20Sydney.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="709" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFc5dRtMdMzL2C4qu8AFkUc9tD-vzBFpw4uTXHQJeHviaHGa1XrdbQvNiKeEmYDjhFp0dNc7YRljmU1ZjTSOG4PSdsCfQ087LmR7EXPQp6oFf06XAF6PUlZsh_N0Xxh-eiQXqjQRcwQdAAZFxkVV7hJi7zCv-QVi6-8vsTIzkO67uuyyYzLyh8Cbt/w400-h346/Nuked%20Sydney.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
According to the simulation, the detonation itself would cause over 700 thousand deaths, leaving additionally a million and a quarter people injured: roughly one in every twelve Australians would be either dead, dying or injured. English-speakers often misuse the words “decimate” and “carnage”; they fit this situation, though.<br />
<br />
The blast would be felt around a circle of nearly 34 km of radius (light grey): inside that circle falls pretty much the whole of Sydney, from Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park (north) to the Royal National Park (south) and from Bondi (east) to Blacktown (west).<br />
<br />
Worst hit, however, would be the 11 km² circle around the Bridge (small yellow circle in the map): “Anything inside the fireball is effectively vaporized”. That circle contains a number of very well-known landmarks: the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel, Circular Quay, Sydney CBD, NSW State Parliament and Library, Kirribilli House, HMAS Kuttabul.<br />
<br />
Sydney Town Hall and the ABC’s Ultimo studios are barely outside this area (Channel 7 and the Reserve Bank of Australia drew the short straw: they fall within too), but they aren’t out of the woods: in the smaller grey circle buildings collapsing and/or catching fire would be common and “injuries are universal, fatalities are widespread”. With some luck, Aussie media hawks may survive long enough to regret their hawkishness.<br />
<br />
Even as far as Parramatta, Hornsby, Liverpool, and Sutherland 3rd degree burns would be common. Those surviving with disfigurement and/or mild disablement would be the lucky ones: amputations could be common.<br />
<br />
If you live somewhere else and want to know how things could be where you live, go <a href="https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/">here</a>.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
For all the ritualistic Anzac Day talk about the horrors of war and the hardships soldiers go through and the need for peace, Australia keeps sleepwalking to war. Apparently the word “dissonance” does not ring a bell.<br />
<br />
Last year, after May 21st, for a while I dared to hope Anthony Albanese’s newly formed federal Labor Government would show more sense on this subject. Their stance on China, I thought, was just for show. You know what wishful thinking means, don’t you?<br />
<br />
Fast forward to the present.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ujzINoNpzKuqj1zU5u1Nz8mXYq6opG4QnSKSO9W5ltSOjn-Z3pn0HrBGOv3wZMRuKRNbY5c1bQq0raLpjD7Kz8buJWaINv8cayVRdFP7bWUtvS_w8Fc5f69KpOpvdmm0raSXEUARS3HJh6b3kGUZF--8e118-3uk96oTnUJnnQ1sb4VgmnZdkgRk/s709/Albanese%20whingeing.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="709" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ujzINoNpzKuqj1zU5u1Nz8mXYq6opG4QnSKSO9W5ltSOjn-Z3pn0HrBGOv3wZMRuKRNbY5c1bQq0raLpjD7Kz8buJWaINv8cayVRdFP7bWUtvS_w8Fc5f69KpOpvdmm0raSXEUARS3HJh6b3kGUZF--8e118-3uk96oTnUJnnQ1sb4VgmnZdkgRk/w400-h313/Albanese%20whingeing.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/liberals-just-sit-back-and-say-no-to-absolutely-everything-albanese/video/ee077e984bcd249ffc72688ba3a6a03d">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<br />
Lately the Prime Minister has been <a href="http://tveeder.com/560/byrange?&from=1680382800&to=1680390090">whingeing</a> about the Opposition’s opposition (!) to his Government’s policies:<br /><blockquote>
“He [federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton] is just saying no to everything and not being a part of any solution … He said no to manufacturing jobs. He said no to our plan for more social and affordable housing. He has said no to getting wages moving again. He has said no to renewable energy and climate change action”.</blockquote>
In opposition – you’ll remember – the Australian Labor Party often supported the COALition Government’s policies. Now in opposition, the COALition ingrates are not reciprocating.<br />
<br />
(In opposition Labor pollies would say they didn’t oppose for opposition’s sake. They were the adults in the room. Those more cynical might have said that it was all about offering the smallest of small targets to criticism).<br />
<br />
So, the COALition – in the witticism Aussie journos came up with – opposes everything, everywhere all at once. It’s the NOalition (hilarious, uh?).<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div><div>
<br />
Now, now, that’s not really fair, is it?<br />
<br />
Dutton can play bipartisanship. You guys may have forgotten, but I can’t forget Dutton jumping to show his <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/13/peter-dutton-says-coalition-would-support-ndis-cuts-to-pay-for-aukus-submarines">enthusiastic support </a>for the AUKUS nuclear subs deal shortly after the Three <strike>Stooges</strike> Amigos announced it from San Diego. <br />
<br />
It didn’t end there. Although a self-annointed priest of fiscal rectitude, he is not whingeing either about the purchase of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-05/australia-america-himars-missile-system/101827334">American HIMARS rocket launchers and Norwegian Naval Strike Missiles</a> or the acquisition of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-17/tomahawk-guided-missile-us-sale-to-australia-approved/102109084">American Tomahawk cruise missiles</a>. Why would those two deals – adding together a measly 3 to $4 billion – be a problem, when the eye-watering price tag of those boats (between 268 and 368 billion) wasn’t one?<br />
<br />
Indeed he went as far as to suggest his party’s support (maybe even in Parliament) for cuts in the NDIS budget, so as to make funds available for the subs.<br />
<br />
That, mateys, is bipartisanship: the pinnacle of wisdom, according to Aussie centrist talking heads.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div><div>
<br />
The bottom line is that bipartisanship made the AUKUS submarines, not meant to protect Australia but to hunt Chinese submarines, all but inevitable. The “radical” crossbench cannot even attempt to moderate the monumental mistake the two mainstream parties are making. And with the fucking subs no matter how many times the PM parrots the “sovereignty” word, the likelihood of Australia once again joining thoughtlessly the Americans, this time in a war with China they cannot win.<br />
<br />
This is how the much talked about <a href="https://www.defence.gov.au/about/reviews-inquiries/defence-strategic-review">Defence Strategic Review</a> – released on Anzac Day’s eve, for crying out loud – refers to Australia’s defence policies:<br /><blockquote>
“Australia’s strategic culture has long been based on a major power alliance. Every Australian Government since Federation has assessed our strategic circumstances and reaffirmed the centrality of an alliance partnership in relationship to our strategic interests.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
“Contrary to some public analysis, our Alliance with the United States is becoming even more important to Australia.”</blockquote>Nothing spells sovereignty like that.<br />
<br />
And as climate change fades in the background of public consciousness replaced by a war engineered futilely to attempt to preserve American hegemony in a dying world, the damned review only mentions climate change in two fucking pages, for Christ’s sake. There is no indication the idea of attempting to minimize the damage climate change creates even crossed the minds of the review authors. The only thing they have to say is that the Australian Defence Forces are not to be used in the case of emergencies.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
---------- <br /></div><div>
<br />
Sometimes it feels like Australia is suffering from a kind of collective schizophrenia. Let me give you yet another example. This is the first sentence of the review: “Defence policy and strategy serve to secure peace and prosperity”.<br />
<br />
Compare that with this:<br /><blockquote>
“From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party:<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
“War is Peace<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
“Freedom is Slavery<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
“Ignorance is Strength” – George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty Four</blockquote><br />
<br /><b>
UPDATE (25/04/23)</b>:<br />
<br />
Today the Government announced yet another review, this time of the surface fleet. The idea is to see if those vessels go with the subs, which Australia eventually may get. You know, unless you are Michael Portillo – who insists on dressing like a clown, with red trousers, green or yellow shirt and blue jacket – you need to pick clothing that matches. The same principle applies to warships, it seems. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-25/retired-us-admiral-to-review-australias-warship-fleet/102262644">And the thing is that US Navy Vice Admiral (ret.) William H Hilarides will be one of three reviewers</a>. Sovereignty!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/25/australian-army-chief-urges-soldiers-to-adapt-amid-dispute-over-labors-defence-overhaul">The Australian Army is not happy with the treatment the DSR gave them</a>. And shadow Minister for Defence, Andrew Hastie, hastily manifested his displeasure: the new subs will be paid for in part by “can-ballising” Army projects. Outrage!<br />
<br />
Welcome to the circus.<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-25001559033742744642023-04-04T10:14:00.005-07:002023-04-05T01:23:51.029-07:00The Interview: not Sarah Ferguson’s Finest Hour.<div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJ-lJXGJsC2NhFIVFwsBiGS5E7bhjmw5tB8HjQOO7XCjqIDfE8dpKHuYrNHDh8yuGz_Vh8udGv_YwhMwyiQbf2oxZQygrC8aSwPki3aUhUV36AyBo0On5Ercn65RVW55fxIO1UHAtug3sn8HKsQ8dUs24GEQFyFfCwQ1Qa5YMz6xvVtYLMYkQ8g15/s709/Ferguson,%20Pavlovsky.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="709" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJ-lJXGJsC2NhFIVFwsBiGS5E7bhjmw5tB8HjQOO7XCjqIDfE8dpKHuYrNHDh8yuGz_Vh8udGv_YwhMwyiQbf2oxZQygrC8aSwPki3aUhUV36AyBo0On5Ercn65RVW55fxIO1UHAtug3sn8HKsQ8dUs24GEQFyFfCwQ1Qa5YMz6xvVtYLMYkQ8g15/w400-h253/Ferguson,%20Pavlovsky.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah Ferguson (L), Alexey Pavlovsky (R).</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
I don’t know about you, but I think Sarah Ferguson’s interview on March 20th with Alexey Pavlovsky, Russian Ambassador to Australia, is not her proudest moment. Mind you, I’d be surprised she (and maybe even most Australians) agreed with me on this right now. But, who knows.<br />
<br />
After welcoming her guest (a gesture which in its context is blatantly insincere) and barely seconds into the interview, Ferguson shot point blank:<br /><blockquote>
“Ambassador, you’re here in Australia enjoying the benefits of a free and open society. <u>How do you live with yourself</u> representing the repressive, dictatorial Putin regime?”</blockquote>
Read that again. I’m not making this up. <span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br />
Frankly, you may or not agree with Ferguson’s assessment of Putin and his Government. It’s irrelevant here. What nobody can deny is that that question not only shows ill will, it’s also openly hostile and just plain rude. Worse, its ill will, hostility, and rudeness are directed <u>personally</u> against Pavlovsky (“I think for the audience, it’s important for them to understand who you are”).<br />
<br />
Lacking Putin to vent her ire, I guess, Pavlovsky was good enough. Better than nothing.<br />
<br />
It was an ambush. The result was predictable and she and/or her team prepared for it. From then on, he was the proverbial rabbit caught in the headlights of an incoming truck.<br />
<br />
Ferguson was savouring the situation, almost as much as she would have enjoyed slapping Pavlovsky in the face: it was written all over her face. That’s a mocking, cruel smile you see in that photo. It shows her deep contempt for the man sitting haplessly in front of her.<br />
<br />
What they didn’t expect was Pavlovsky’s reaction. The bloke was taken aback, of course, as one would have expected; but instead of just turning pale and falling silent as he squirmed, he chuckled, somewhat nervously.<br />
<br />
Smelling blood in the water, Ferguson moves to give the coup the grace: “You find that funny?”<br />
<br />
A better word, I think, is “ridiculous” as in “you find that ridiculous?”. I did and I suspect Pavlovsky did too even if his broken English – or his lack of guts – did not allow him to say it.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Because English speakers often use words they don’t really understand, you can check <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ridiculous">a good dictionary definition of the word here</a>.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
From that, you can pretty much get the gist of the interview. Pavlovsky was weak and ineffectual. Ferguson quickly brushed aside or simply talked over his occasional attempts to make a point. He let her.<br />
<br />
One example is enough: “Let me first ask you” – Pavlovsky asked Ferguson – “the reports or documents you are referring to, do they say anything about war crimes committed by the Ukrainian side?”<br />
<br />
I’m not sure which reports they were talking about. But I do know that this is a <a href="https://ukraine.un.org/en/224744-un-human-rights-ukraine-released-reports-treatment-prisoners-war-and-overall-human-rights">recent report on war crimes in the Ukraine</a>. Go ahead, read it. It answers his question.[*]<br />
<br />
Ferguson’s answer? I will only say she has learned from the Aussie pollies she often interviews.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
This was Pavlovsky at his most forceful: “First of all, Sarah, China is not an ally, you should have done your homework. Neither Russia nor China describe their relations as an alliance.”<br />
<br />
He said that in response to Ferguson’s “Now your ally, Russia's ally, Xi Jinping will travel to Russia shortly”.<br />
<br />
Note how Ferguson conflates a country with its leader. Russia is just Putin’s appendage; Pavlovsky himself is too. Or how China’s Xi is Putin’s ally for not joining the anti-Russian chorus, but India’s Modi, or Brazil’s Da Silva, or South Africa’s Ramaphosa are not branded as Putin’s allies, while maintaining good relations with Russia and keeping themselves neutral in that conflict. In fact, while being courted by Australia and the United States.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
----------<br /></div><div>
<br />
You don’t need to be reminded that credibility is vital for journalists, Sarah. Don’t squander it with ridiculous gimmicks like that.<br />
<br />
But if Ferguson’s fault is large, Pavlosvky’s is probably larger. Pavlovsky, you represent your country and its people overseas. If it’s too much for you to demand respect for them, or even for yourself as a human being, walk. Just walk. Don’t dignify her questions with answers. Don’t suggest the truth, tell it. Don’t play her game.<br />
<br />
Let me be blunt: grow some spine, man.<br />
<br /><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-20/russias-ambassador-to-australia-accuses/102122166">Watch the whole sorry affair here</a> (includes a transcript).<br />
<br />
Just for fun, compare that with the interview <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-04/ukraine-ambassador-to-australia,-vasyl/102187530">the Ukrainian Ambassador gave Ferguson on Tuesday</a>.<br />
<br /><b>
NOTE:</b><br />
<br />
[*] Apparently, Pavlovsky spoke to Ferguson <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-20/russia-ambassador-to-australia-accuses-the-icc-of-bias/102117504">“hours before” the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin</a>. The ICC alleges Putin and a co-defendant may be responsible for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. The Kremlin denies the accusation and claims they were rescuing the children, which had been left behind in a war zone.<br />
<br />
News of the event broke in Australia on Saturday 18th. So, if the interview took place <u>before</u> the news reached Australia, the interview, although aired on Monday 20th, must have taken place either on Friday 17th or at the latest on Saturday morning.<br />
<br />
In addition to the illegal deportation, however, Ferguson mentions vaguely, providing no further detail, a UN report detailing “wide ranging war crimes” allegedly committed by the Russians: torture, rape, and the execution of prisoners.<br />
<br />
I know that there is one such report, but the report I know of was issued on March 24th. It is the report I linked to above. I don't know if Pavlovsky had this report in mind, but it seems likely.<br />
<br />
The situation is confusing, in part because of Ferguson’s vagueness. Was she talking about another UN report where only Russia is said to have committed war crimes? Did she and/or Pavlovsky know of the March 24th report in advance?<br />
<br />
Regardless, if you read it, you know it does a lot more than what Ferguson seems wiling to admit.<br />
<br />
</div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-78626963389920987082023-03-23T01:35:00.004-07:002023-03-29T01:46:31.724-07:00The Pot and the Kettle: the Iraq War.<div><br />
People living in Western liberal democracies have short memories. That makes them self-righteous. Perhaps a stroll down memory lane is due.<br />
<br />
This week was the twentieth anniversary of the Iraqi War. Use your memory, my friend.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CowOdkKNb0A" title="Shock And Awe Iraq Baghdad Bombardment March 2003 The Start Of Iraq War | Air strike Clips (H.D)" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
Twenty years ago your TV screen was showing that or something very much like it.<br />
<br />
As a consequence of that war, the whole Arab world, from the Tigris River in the east, to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, was destabilised. Already poor countries lost valuable infrastructure. Millions of people were displaced or left disabled, orphaned or destitute.<br />
<br />
But let’s talk about deaths only. Nobody knows how many people died in that war. The lowest partial death estimates range from some 100 thousand to 113 thousand <u>civilians</u> killed between 2003 and 2021. A higher estimate shows some 600 thousand <u>civilians and combatants</u> killed between March 2003 and June 2006 <u>alone</u> (roughly two thirds of them, civilians, including women and children).<br />
<br />
How did we get there?<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Let’s go back in time a little earlier, to the beginning of the War on Terror.<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFd7pgthn1bzBIjD3L4oHrfyJtrSAdP1bZPH8PeIwTrJSbstG4dBSpYgYgbMJwLwsvkEk9eW3h9GjOQyXGD-nuvb3V1aue9p8npOANzcsrewzPIjKnczARRqhIEcpfNQSsIiK4gELTpjyyQlcYhtj-CyI5cRkv0Go4B5AJOETohp9Swa4K87R7X0MB/s640/911%20firefighters.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="640" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFd7pgthn1bzBIjD3L4oHrfyJtrSAdP1bZPH8PeIwTrJSbstG4dBSpYgYgbMJwLwsvkEk9eW3h9GjOQyXGD-nuvb3V1aue9p8npOANzcsrewzPIjKnczARRqhIEcpfNQSsIiK4gELTpjyyQlcYhtj-CyI5cRkv0Go4B5AJOETohp9Swa4K87R7X0MB/w400-h263/911%20firefighters.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“Rescue workers climb over and dig through piles of rubble<br />from the destroyed World Trade Center as the American flag<br />billows over the debris.” [A]</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
The 9/11 terrorist attacks were a powerful motivator. After them, the US was riding an understandable wave of international solidarity. The American Bush II Administration didn’t need to argue their case: images spoke for themselves. The UN Security Council’s recognition of the US’s right to self-defence (UN SC Resolution 1368, September 12) was proof of that: the PRC and Russia could have vetoed it, but didn’t.<br />
<br />
The US also demanded from the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership – all very reasonable and entirely within their rights. In short, the American Government was ostensibly acting within international laws and a peaceful, civilised solution to the crisis seemed possible.<br />
<br />
The Taliban, however, refused thereby giving the US Government additional justification for a direct military intervention. The result was Operation Enduring Freedom. It started less than a month after 9/11, initially as a bombing campaign.<br />
<br />
Days later, with bombs raining over Afghan soil, the Taliban relented and offered Bin Laden. It was the Americans’ turn to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5">refuse</a>. That was a lot less reasonable, but charitably one could say that emotions were running too high on the American side. Regardless, ground operations began. <br />
<br />
Canadian and Australian troops joined the Anglo-American forces already deployed. Soon many others followed.<br />
<br />
This table below shows the countries contributing combat troops:<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLUwzMH7gXREgyx4XD3rr6gr7E_qnfcivveqfm4vEOzEsvCd_HmwB5eeTbLNkOgzrPGr6UGbeThcC1wG6n_lSzQZB_jJtTu9ZVAFwGLAr-969yueQT-N1Fb8xsKYCVv2eodKFfhHyL636fLAESgTbWn8VP_xWIZxp-8kKqvvYwb6cQ3XFfb0E9gX5/s433/table%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="383" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLUwzMH7gXREgyx4XD3rr6gr7E_qnfcivveqfm4vEOzEsvCd_HmwB5eeTbLNkOgzrPGr6UGbeThcC1wG6n_lSzQZB_jJtTu9ZVAFwGLAr-969yueQT-N1Fb8xsKYCVv2eodKFfhHyL636fLAESgTbWn8VP_xWIZxp-8kKqvvYwb6cQ3XFfb0E9gX5/s320/table%201.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><br />
<br />
It shows more than that. It shows that the invasion of Afghanistan was not a purely American thing: many took their side. Together with Resolution 1368 that made the invasion a legitimate matter. Think of it this way: if you wanted to argue the American President launched a war of aggression, you’d need to argue all those heads of state/government also launched a war of aggression.<br />
<br />
In a matter of weeks the Taliban regime collapsed. This was no surprise. At one hand, Taliban fighters were little more than glorified brigands having no foreign support. On the other hand, this was in all but name the first extra-European NATO war. Although the US did by far the heavy lifting, virtually all NATO members as of 2001 (plus overseas partners) sent troops. That’s saying a lot: as Australian Army Major General (ret.) Mick Ryan loves to remind us, those are the world’s most professional militaries, led by the most competent officers – extremely expensive, too, I’d add.<br />
<br />
However, by 2003 la crème de la crème of militaries had failed to achieve their stated goal: the original targets of the invasion – Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leadership, and the Taliban chieftains were neither captured and brought to justice, nor killed. <br />
<br />
Worse still: the Taliban had suffered terrible losses, but were still fighting.<br />
<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
By 2003 the Bush Administration decided to take advantage of Islamophobia’s demonstrated motivating power.<br />
<br />
Enter Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.<br />
<br />
Against usual recollections, the American case against Iraq was based on three allegations:<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam%E2%80%93al-Qaeda_conspiracy_theory#Cheney's_claims">The Iraqi regime was linked to al-Qaeda</a> (“Saddam had an established relationship with al-Qaeda, providing training to al-Qaeda members in the areas of poisons, gases, making conventional weapons” – Vice President Dick Cheney, October 2003).</li><li>
The most remembered rationale: they had developed and stockpiled weapons of mass destruction (“Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised” – President George W. Bush, March 17; “We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more” – Secretary of State Colin Powell, February 5) and they or the terrorists they sponsored were ready to unleash them against the Western world.</li><li>
Saddam Hussein was a bastard, so Iraqis would welcome his ousting, no matter what (“Of course there is no doubt that Iraq, the region and the whole world would be better off without Saddam” – UK PM Tony Blair, September 24, 2001).</li></ol>
The first allegation was outrageously absurd: Hussein and Bin Laden may have been evil bastards, but evil bastards who despised and feared each other. This may come as a shock to Western talking heads, but there’s no universal brotherhood of evil men. Their mutual loathing was founded: the former was a sexually promiscuous atheist, drunk, and thief, the latter was an ascetic religious fanatic hellbent on imposing a medieval morality on others. Nonsensical as this allegation was, it was a transparently deliberate attempt at exploiting Islamophobia. After all, that worked brilliantly two years earlier, it was worth a try now, I suppose.<br />
<br />
The second one was only a little less absurd. It was easier to falsify in real life though: the UN WMDs inspection team, led by Hans Blix, had left no stone unturned and no evidence of WMDs was found. Nada.<br />
<br />
Of the three allegations the third was the most plausible: Iraqis would be glad to see Saddam Hussein’s back. It was also the least compelling: okay, Iraqis despise Saddam, so it follows that Western powers should spare no effort to remove him? Seriously?<br />
<br />
It was plain to see – even at the time – the whole thing was out-and-out baloney.<br />
<br />
But even many unwilling to dismiss outright the whole case still opposed the new American adventure on other grounds. For example, because the most professional militaries in the world were already in deep doodoo, stuck in the Afghan quagmire. In short, it was inconvenient from a military standpoint.<br />
<br />
There were other misgivings. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_National_Assessments">ONA</a> intelligence analyst and former Australian Army Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wilkie (currently independent MP for Clark):<br /><blockquote>
“I think that invading Iraq at this time would be wrong. For a start, Iraq does not pose a security threat to any other country at this point in time. Its military is very weak, it's a fraction of the size of the military at the time of the invasion of Kuwait. Its weapons of mass destruction program is very disjointed and contained by the regime that's been in place since the last Gulf War. And there is no hard intelligence linking the Iraqi regime to al-Qaeda in any substantial or worrisome way.” – March 12.</blockquote>
To recreate the universal support Americans enjoyed for the invasion of Afghanistan was now impossible.<br />
<br />
Unsurprisingly, unlike two years earlier, the UN Security Council did not pass the resolution the US wanted, authorising their invasion of Iraq. Worse, France – an important ally of the US, indeed, their first ally – joined Russia and Choina voting against the resolution.<br />
<br />
Resistance against the pro-war Borg was futile, however. Either out of stupidity or dishonesty, or both, Australia’s then COALition Government stubbornly parroted their American masters’ cheat sheets:<br /><blockquote>
“Iraq’s continued defiance of the UN and its possession of CBW (chemical and biological weapons) and its pursuit of a nuclear capability poses a real and unacceptable threat to the stability and security of our world.” – Prime Minister John Howard, March 3.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
“Possession of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons by terrorists would constitute a direct, undeniable and lethal threat to Australia and its people.” – PM Howard, March 18.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>
“Saddam Hussein does have proven links to terrorism. The combination of his weapons of mass destruction and the determination of terrorists to acquire them is for this government an unacceptable threat.” – Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer, March 18.</blockquote>
In spite of the hawks, this time few countries sided with the Yanks:<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JDtakzetgocHjVnpu4cBQRfzeye5lHrh1GVlJ4OzQoE2T4e5cL3IyHdJPMtlr_9DiSND3f0imJJKfeoepQ-i8yHO2GyH9Ib5bfk9JuTpNMPDo_BuwshdjFcz4qBcZiYy7vVG9z_G2mZYQQa5tvE32lIABxpWiQl27MNCL60N2yAW0CKGQMB5dbUr/s167/Afghanistan%20party%20guest%20list%20-%20coalition%20of%20the%20willing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="152" data-original-width="167" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JDtakzetgocHjVnpu4cBQRfzeye5lHrh1GVlJ4OzQoE2T4e5cL3IyHdJPMtlr_9DiSND3f0imJJKfeoepQ-i8yHO2GyH9Ib5bfk9JuTpNMPDo_BuwshdjFcz4qBcZiYy7vVG9z_G2mZYQQa5tvE32lIABxpWiQl27MNCL60N2yAW0CKGQMB5dbUr/s1600/Afghanistan%20party%20guest%20list%20-%20coalition%20of%20the%20willing.jpg" width="167" /></a></div>
<br />
Eventually Denmark, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Czech Republic, South Korea, and Japan were persuaded to also contribute in a way or another. Compare the list of attendants to the Iraq “party” and the list of those attending the Afghanistan one. Quite a difference, uh?<br />
<br />
Clearly that difference means something, but what exactly?<br />
<br />
ABC agenda-pushers in foreign affairs have become very fond of the words “humiliation” and “isolation”. Well, that list says both, humiliation and isolation: the invasion of Iraq was to be an American thing. Unlike the UK, Australia and Poland, even moderately decent and civilised governments would not take part in that war.<br />
<br />It says more than that. That made of the invasion of Iraq, waged without the approval of the UN Security Council, an illegal war. To be blunt: it was a war of aggression, a war crime in itself.<br />
<br />
Don’t take my word for that. Ask the then UN Secretary General:<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-wJHK_gLR0bkmNwnqLHwoSt2JWuvPh1zFiIOvuA7KApCvbXs2XVmwZzsLlZvkmWUtduz7SNpxF_7roixF3PWycWLShFh59ZKL7vaxDuAXsSe_hCM0XhIYrEA8IFJHbmn7L8OLP-2U3UOG6Xoh126kyTn-AOL7QqbQzt_WY3H1cgpuDsnzYYpNVXm/s709/Iraq%20war%20illegal.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="709" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-wJHK_gLR0bkmNwnqLHwoSt2JWuvPh1zFiIOvuA7KApCvbXs2XVmwZzsLlZvkmWUtduz7SNpxF_7roixF3PWycWLShFh59ZKL7vaxDuAXsSe_hCM0XhIYrEA8IFJHbmn7L8OLP-2U3UOG6Xoh126kyTn-AOL7QqbQzt_WY3H1cgpuDsnzYYpNVXm/w400-h297/Iraq%20war%20illegal.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Koffi Annan, UN Secretary General (<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-09-16/iraq-war-illegal-says-annan/552504">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
Or ask <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/qanda/2023-20-03/102090656">Geoffrey Robertson, KC</a>.<br />
<br />
Twenty years after America’s Iraqi adventure started – twenty two after NATO’s Afghan one – the elite of the world’s militaries saw their highly professional, magnificently equipped and trained, expertly led and expensive asses kicked by a bunch of quasi illiterate, lousy half gangsters/half medieval anti-crusaders, untrained, undisciplined, lacking any support from overseas and equipped with whatever museum pieces they could lay their dirty hands on. Twice, in Afghanistan and Iraq.<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYJSsCrxCDyDTb4WWj7BN7_cYUrl5eY6a4rYJllDmy-Rk3tgapnb7l6vV_SeVPXz6QwRux6vQLEOzyAodSs4fM6OmcxDOnzb-B54Om97GqHxb70DZJ1igPX8m_1DtLYPM1OlIubLQ40Hi9BvtjIjRwU72Z87cIbqYCvBXIFP5u5GTy6ekqN78tFU0/s709/Martini-Henry%20rifle.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="709" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYJSsCrxCDyDTb4WWj7BN7_cYUrl5eY6a4rYJllDmy-Rk3tgapnb7l6vV_SeVPXz6QwRux6vQLEOzyAodSs4fM6OmcxDOnzb-B54Om97GqHxb70DZJ1igPX8m_1DtLYPM1OlIubLQ40Hi9BvtjIjRwU72Z87cIbqYCvBXIFP5u5GTy6ekqN78tFU0/w400-h255/Martini-Henry%20rifle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aussie soldier poses with <u>1880</u> rifle seized from Taliban (<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-30/afghanistan-taliban-tarin-kot-rifle-failure/100416590">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
Australian talking heads – like the ABC’s <a href="http://tveeder.com/560/byrange?&from=1679169609&to=1679176890">John Lyons</a> – never mention it, but what you saw on your TV screen 20 years ago was the beginning of a war of aggression. The Australian Government enthusiastically joined in that enterprise. Perhaps that explains those people’s reluctance.<br />
<br />
To use the words willingly amnesiac Aussie pollies love (I’m looking at you, Albo): the governments of the UK, Australia, and Poland were America’s main accomplices in that <u>unprovoked, brutal, criminal war of choice</u>. Those, Albo, were not autocracies, but four Western liberal democracies (if you can call Poland, a nation ruled by bigots, xenophobes, racists, homophobes and woman-haters – equivalently, fundamentalist Catholic religious fanatics – a liberal democracy).<br />
<br />
When it comes to the Iraq invasion, two evil autocracies were on the side of the angels. And a select group of Western liberal democracies, with their mighty militaries, were on the opposing side; on top, they were the losers. I don’t know about you, but that makes me see the arch-villains of today – Russia and Choina – in a more charitable light.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Three of those four Western liberal democracies subscribed to the Rome Convention and fall, therefore, under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. In particular, Australia and the UK, where John Howard and Tony Blair live, did sign the Rome Convention.<br />
<br />
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. That is something Aussies, particularly politicians and journalists, should keep in mind. Get off your high horse, mate.<br />
<br />
<br /><b>
Image Credits:</b><br />
[A] “Rescue workers climb over and dig through piles of rubble from the destroyed World Trade Center as the American flag billows over the debris.”. Author: Andrea Booher/ FEMA News Photo. Source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FEMA_-_3969_-_Photograph_by_Andrea_Booher_taken_on_09-19-2001_in_New_York.jpg">WikiMedia</a>. File in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/public_domain">public domain</a>. Nobody endorses me or my use of the file.<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-37046351416314058212023-03-16T01:15:00.014-07:002023-03-18T03:35:18.974-07:0055 Years Ago: My Lai.<div><br />
I’m sure experts can say many deep things about war crimes. Alas, I’m no expert. And yet, that caveat in place, I think I’ve noticed two things about war crimes. It’s up to you to judge how interesting they are.<br />
<br />
The first thing I can say about war crimes is that for years we hear next to nothing about them, even during wartime. It’s almost like wars became civilised affairs.<br />
<br />
Then, suddenly, news reports are full of alleged war crimes.<br />
<br />
That’s what happened since February 2022, when the Russian Federation invaded the Ukraine: the term “war crime” became almost as frequent on our TV screens as the daily appearances of the Ukrainian President.<br />
<br />
The second thing I’ve noticed is that current news coverage of war crimes is inevitably framed within a cosmic good versus evil conflict – sorry – Western liberal democracies versus autocratic regimes narrative. In this story war crimes are the preserve of the Other: autocratic regimes (aka, the bad guys). Western liberal democracies (We), the immaculately good guys, abhor such things. Living under the rule of law, We promote an “international rules-based order”.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
If you are young enough (and certainly, many Aussies old and young do their best <a href="https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/vietnam-war-1962-1975/all-way-lbj">to erase this episode</a> from public awareness) you probably never heard of My Lai, let alone remember it, but today is its anniversary. <br />
<br />
Fifty five years ago the military of the United States of America, our ally, the world’s richest and most democratic nation, did this:<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xfhniSU0lgY" title="EHL: Exploration 3D - What we did at My Lai" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /><blockquote>
The whole thing was so deliberate. It was point-blank murder and I was standing there watching it … I walked up and saw these guys doing strange things … Setting fire to the hootches and huts and waiting for people to come out and then shooting them … going into the hootches and shooting them up … gathering people in groups and shooting them. — <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/plain-dealer-library/2009/11/eye_witness_account_of_the_my_lai_massacre_story_by_seymour_hersh_nov_20_1969.html">Sgt. Michael Bernhardt</a>, US Army.</blockquote><br />
The American Army kill count that day reached between 347 and 504, depending on who you believe. Virtually no single fighting-age male was there: victims were elderly men, women, children and even babies (women, on top, were often gang-raped before being murdered).<br />
<br />
That’s not how the US Army reported the event: as a result of a successful “search and destroy” operation, a communiqué claimed, 128 fighters, among the most battle-hardened in the Viet Cong lines, had been killed. 20 civilians, it added, were accidental victims (what we now call “collateral damage”).<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
It’s said that it’s impossible to conceal the truth when too many people witnessed the events. It’s a comforting thought and there probably is truth in it, but reality is more complicated than that.<br />
<br />
In reality, My Lai could have been swept under the carpet, even though many knew what really happened there. <br />
<br />Vietnamese survivors, for example. They, however, may not mean much: would American journalists or investigators want to approach them to hear their stories? Even if approached, would they trust any Americans? Assuming a positive answer to both questions, would the American public believe those stories?<br />
<br />
There were more witnesses. That morning some 100 troops – not counting helicopter crews – from the 23rd Infantry Division (the Americal Division) took part in that action. Under the command of Captain Ernest L. Medina, those men were grouped in three platoons – one of them led by 2nd Lt William “Rusty” Laws Calley Jr. <br />
<br />
They, too, knew the truth: after the massacre rumours inevitably started circulating.<br />
<br />
They were hard to believe though. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110209113219/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/ridenhour_ltr.html">Ronald “Ron” Ridenhour, another Americal GI</a>:<br /><blockquote>
… I couldn’t quite accept it. Somehow I just couldn’t believe that not only had so many young American men participated in such an act of barbarism, but that their officers had ordered it.</blockquote><br />
However, in spite of initial doubts, Ridenhour went on to substantiate the allegations. The result (the letter you see at that link) started a low-profile military investigation.<br />
<br />
Eventually investigative free-lance reporter Seymour Hersh heard the rumours and learned of the investigation. He cobbled together the pieces and put out an <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/plain-dealer-library/2009/11/eye_witness_account_of_the_my_lai_massacre_story_by_seymour_hersh_nov_20_1969.html">explosive report</a>.<br />
<br />
But even that, by itself, could have led to nothing. Just like Ridenhour, newspaper editors could not believe the story.<br />
<br />
Serendipity intervened. Sgt. Ronald Haeberle, a war photographer assigned to Americal, had photographed the massacre. The editors of The Plain Dealer (a Cleveland, Ohio, local newspaper) learned about Haeberle’s photos at about the same time they read Hersh’s story. And although Haeberle had <u>destroyed</u> photographs depicting individual GIs committing the atrocities – out of a sense of “mateship” with the perpetrators: he wasn’t there to point fingers at anybody, he said – the photos he kept were enough to corroborate Hersh’s report. It was those photos and the interview Haeberle gave reporter Joseph Eszterhas that made that story reach the public.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Once news of the massacre spread the Army was forced to charge 26 GIs (although the three platoons took part in the action). Medina and Calley were included among them. No higher ranking officer was charged. Only Calley – out of the 26 indicted – was convicted, even though military witnesses testified having seen Medina executing a female Vietnamese and claimed he personally had ordered the massacre.<br />
<br />
The American public suspected Calley was an escapegoat. It’s hard to disagree. But one shouldn’t feel too bad for him. He could have gotten death, I believe, but the prosecutor asked for life, later reduced to 20 years after conviction. After serving three and a half years in house arrest, he was pardoned.<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
This fifty fifth anniversary of the My Lai massacre finds Australians sleepwalking towards a world war with China as the baddest guy of all under the pretext of a crusade against autocracies. That makes it critically important to spell out the lessons of this episode.<br />
<br />Here goes nothing, as Yanks say. We may live in what our leaders call civilised Western liberal democracies, we may feel solidarity towards “our” boys and girls in arms, we may even find it hard to believe them capable of such things, but we are wrong. Even them can commit war crimes. Or better, even <u>we</u> can commit war crimes. We cannot let that happen, least of all in our name.<br />
<br />
War crimes are not the preserve of autocracies, my friends: they are intrinsic to war and no laws of war can change that.<br />
<br />
That is not something we left behind in a distant past or something only the “bad guys” do. This happened only a few years ago. The protagonists were Australians, citizens of a civilised Western liberal democracy:<br />
<br />
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xBRzm1zDHfE" title="Full HD Video Australian troops killing unarmed farmer | Sas in Afghanistan killing innocent" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-54552681445742917352023-03-05T09:44:00.001-08:002023-03-05T09:44:35.118-08:00Bits and Pieces.<div><br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5x1MA9_B-BBGLA_4uUlTap-kltdVB-8tvI_5hRN_0OGCaB8dvjrjmDivdHPp9ikbCnIP7x25XjI9N2SFrATLttTozYsR5Dd2IEsa4QDrcZnBnCiNMBlBn4XKFXpZ9Sbs9MDOvA4ejLGMqB_pTgtF8Kh7vlTQJUWrBDPOZb8n1I7hrJb6jzrqGr_3/s709/Rallying%20in%20the%20rain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="709" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5x1MA9_B-BBGLA_4uUlTap-kltdVB-8tvI_5hRN_0OGCaB8dvjrjmDivdHPp9ikbCnIP7x25XjI9N2SFrATLttTozYsR5Dd2IEsa4QDrcZnBnCiNMBlBn4XKFXpZ9Sbs9MDOvA4ejLGMqB_pTgtF8Kh7vlTQJUWrBDPOZb8n1I7hrJb6jzrqGr_3/w400-h300/Rallying%20in%20the%20rain.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
Image Credits: your intrepid reporter.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br /></div><div>
<br />
Last Friday hundreds of students, their parents, activists, unionists and First Nations representatives gathered at Sydney Town Hall to demand effective action against climate change.<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJlhnFMa37SCGWhbUaznCayA43ee5zEyafz0t3zLKzUgGYbvU8QlTGL_P_g9NPz3Zbx2XDbyRFxbo2AFxNSOl7Cdshqj66Vkrc0jJfMnHvrgQsJ0Njn2ILC5SUYrdTa9CAETjwBH8wei9UauDjdzBfvFKw2u_TKM_DNn-qd2-ekGd3WCFe0IoeO39/s709/MUA.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="709" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJlhnFMa37SCGWhbUaznCayA43ee5zEyafz0t3zLKzUgGYbvU8QlTGL_P_g9NPz3Zbx2XDbyRFxbo2AFxNSOl7Cdshqj66Vkrc0jJfMnHvrgQsJ0Njn2ILC5SUYrdTa9CAETjwBH8wei9UauDjdzBfvFKw2u_TKM_DNn-qd2-ekGd3WCFe0IoeO39/w400-h300/MUA.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
Image Credits: your intrepid reporter.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Heavy rain fell as a series of speakers addressed the crowd, exiting fromn Bathurst Street to march.<br />
<br />
These are the protesters’ demands:<br /><ul><li>
No new oil, coal, or gas projects, including the Adani mine</li><li>
100% public renewable energy and exports by 2030</li><li>
Fund a just transition and job creation for fossil fuel workers and their communities</li><li>
Real carbon cuts, not offsets</li><li>
First Nations-led solutions that guarantee land rights and care for Country.</li></ul>
As usual in those events, excessive heavy police presence surrounded the rally. This time, however, no police officer ranking above sergeant saw it fit to endure the rain. Concern for the public’s safety has a limit, it seems.<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63BaES47unwvG3QYsM7XQ9SqLH5KF7-NpzmMpb5cnclF2EaC2AEU1O1G_UK81RwX40nKD7uEjSxDII2k2PW12jFbLIoT8YGKkRnM0Nuhk1f3_cX7zmGW_xwhoC12p41Q0vVheqZ3Iw_af3S5TTxxuLSVmGO3dpfGY9p8ZAv5y36zqxpr5eK8W8bQy/s709/Wet%20cops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="709" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63BaES47unwvG3QYsM7XQ9SqLH5KF7-NpzmMpb5cnclF2EaC2AEU1O1G_UK81RwX40nKD7uEjSxDII2k2PW12jFbLIoT8YGKkRnM0Nuhk1f3_cX7zmGW_xwhoC12p41Q0vVheqZ3Iw_af3S5TTxxuLSVmGO3dpfGY9p8ZAv5y36zqxpr5eK8W8bQy/w400-h300/Wet%20cops.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
Image Credits: your intrepid reporter.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Reporters were as conspicuous by their absence. A Google News search using the string “climate protesters sydney” yielded two results: the <a href="https://thewest.com.au/news/climate-protesters-march-through-drenching-rainstorm-c-9928048">West Australian</a> and <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/climate-protesters-march-through-drenching-rainstorm/news-story/1b9b18f6ac740eaf947ba4dd4bd791bf">The Daily Mirror</a>.<br />
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<br />
Lately, the State of Israel is having a hard time: to the worrying anti-democratic initiatives of the Netanyahu regime, we have to add that generally respected international human rights NGOs are beginning to call it an <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/">apartheid State</a>.<br />
<br />
To make things worse, in the areas the State of Israel illegally seized in 1967 and still occupies, and where illegal settlements proliferate, settler attacks these last few days against Palestinians start to look a lot like the old-fashioned pogroms which once targeted Jewish populations in Europe.<br />
<br />
Enter Israel apologists. The word “apartheid” cannot be used to describe Israel, they say, for it only applies to situations where a minority oppresses a majority, to the minority’s benefit. But the majority of the Israeli population is Jewish.<br />
<br />
Following that line of thought, apartheid applied to South Africa because there it was a white minority oppressing a large black and mixed race majority.<br />
<br />
Now, astute readers may say the objection of Israel apologists is childish: they are evidently saying something like “don’t look at the facts, let’s focus instead on semantics”.<br />
<br />
Astute readers would be right, of course. The whole things is obviously a diversion, a red herring.<br />
<br />
But the thing is that, on top, that red herring is not only false, but demonstrative of ignorance.<br />
<br />
You see, in situations like this, it’s always helpful to study the <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/apartheid">etymology</a> of words. And “apartheid”, although widely used in English speaking countries, is not of English origin. It comes from the Dutch and it was kept in Afrikaans, the language of South African Afrikaners (aka Boers). Over there it was used to describe the practice of keeping people of different categories (in the South African case, racial categories), regardless of their share in the South African population, unmixed, separate (yes, you guessed it: apart).<br />
<br />
In other words, one could translate the Dutch/Afrikaans “apartheid” with an English neologism: “apart-hood”. But that’s not really necessary. The word “segregation” as used in the American south fits the bill.<br />
<br />
It also seems, to me, to fit the policy of the State of Israel towards the Palestinians.<br />
</div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-13701133842009719072022-11-23T09:50:00.002-08:002022-11-23T09:50:36.990-08:00Not a Russian Missile.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKpqCIZ_94gqzEwIvsnzTpuYseEmTi3TA9o2rwnPUYvqAN2CPaT4FvapU-i2nUEg6BVoToqHz_VsW1HajVsKwHLN279e0HsKXTzmQhoMbJmQ11jvcM8Y2ULdVrflb82I_QCxokdAfKls9QE9ABz9BCJHhZ0tc-15eo_7ewPQ_k7r8oj_7BJ_maan0/s709/AP%20headline.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="103" data-original-width="709" height="58" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKpqCIZ_94gqzEwIvsnzTpuYseEmTi3TA9o2rwnPUYvqAN2CPaT4FvapU-i2nUEg6BVoToqHz_VsW1HajVsKwHLN279e0HsKXTzmQhoMbJmQ11jvcM8Y2ULdVrflb82I_QCxokdAfKls9QE9ABz9BCJHhZ0tc-15eo_7ewPQ_k7r8oj_7BJ_maan0/w400-h58/AP%20headline.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nato-ap-news-alert-europe-poland-government-and-politics-ba48101fd25c86e68e57dc56fe2adf80">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
Last Monday, the ABC’s Media Watch did something surprising. Its presenter, Paul Barry, cast a critical eye on Aussie media coverage of the Ukrainian war. The event catching Barry’s attention was the missile that hit a Polish town, killing two farmers.<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1X5IRCtsFUYx-OCSrT4q_0yOd7oO2o2iEnizV35S2gB2EAA30MJuPONW3RPE-3oAXVUhBAqRAVp-Gzb-WdhgRJPVO9NKn-QI27YwrCfQ1dNGOw-W8KP6bthsZN5i2lLqJFbyua8WoLe7obFWWJn0gYaYeov76XyQKCkeRiMFq7fabf9IOUrr6Vid/s709/Kochie%20and%20Sutter.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="709" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1X5IRCtsFUYx-OCSrT4q_0yOd7oO2o2iEnizV35S2gB2EAA30MJuPONW3RPE-3oAXVUhBAqRAVp-Gzb-WdhgRJPVO9NKn-QI27YwrCfQ1dNGOw-W8KP6bthsZN5i2lLqJFbyua8WoLe7obFWWJn0gYaYeov76XyQKCkeRiMFq7fabf9IOUrr6Vid/w400-h228/Kochie%20and%20Sutter.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/rocket/101677968">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />
Unless you were comatose, you must have seen the veritable procession of “experts” coming out of the woodwork to pontificate on the latest Russian outrage.<br />
<br />
It’s hard to pick a winner, but after much thought my vote for the most idiotic comment must go to Greg Sheridan, The Australian’s <strike>chief agenda-pusher</strike> foreign editor.<br />
<br />
“It’s hard to imagine that anyone else fired the missile except the Russians”, said Sheridan. “Joe Biden said it didn’t seem to come from Russia, so presumably it was fired from Donbas or Crimea or perhaps from the sea. Russia fired 100 missiles on Ukraine in a day. No one else was firing missiles on Ukraine”.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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<br />
Barry rightly castigates the unexamined assumption common to all those irresponsible boofheads and their equally stupid media enablers: that the Russkies fired that fucking missile (even though the Ukrainians also use the same damned missile; indeed even as people like Biden, Stoltenberg and Co had already cautioned that the missile had probably been launched by the Ukrainians).<br />
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Barry puts that failure down to stories developing faster than journos can follow them. There may be something to that, but I don’t find his explanation fully persuasive: the Russians were quick to deny responsibility. Aussie journos either dismissed their denials as lies or did not even consider them.<br />
<br />
But then, he really jumps the shark. He thinks that The Australian was particularly slow to correct itself because its former editor-in-chief had suddenly resigned.<br />
<br />
The elephant in the room that Barry cannot see or is unwilling to admit is that merely hours after the event hit the headlines, Zelensky had already concluded beyond any doubt that it was all Russia’s fault and that it vindicated his repeated and unhinged warnings that Russian <strike>Asiatic, non-European, subhuman</strike> hordes were readying themselves to cross the Rhine and maybe even the English channel.<br />
<br />
And he knew that his cheerleaders in the Western media, including those in the ABC, sharing his Russophobia, would automatically, uncritically accept his word as Gospel truth.<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99p6sSCDkV5BMA1a35bHZf96OkwxXW2O5eRGTH9ggvifBQykV_t_rybdHbEPzBT3Zx9jFcanpzGVVZHDXixvrd6RqJaArsyEkHbM-GXbhknMZHBE_GTWwVRnzhWNb1dRVMPiYdnTi0AiGP3LfLBteNmBRGMZ2PQOoNl2jSfyHfdZlo3z7TPAnfR8b/s709/Zelensky.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="709" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99p6sSCDkV5BMA1a35bHZf96OkwxXW2O5eRGTH9ggvifBQykV_t_rybdHbEPzBT3Zx9jFcanpzGVVZHDXixvrd6RqJaArsyEkHbM-GXbhknMZHBE_GTWwVRnzhWNb1dRVMPiYdnTi0AiGP3LfLBteNmBRGMZ2PQOoNl2jSfyHfdZlo3z7TPAnfR8b/w400-h225/Zelensky.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Zelensky wanted Poland to invoke <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm">Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty</a>. The missile was just the right pretext. Tough luck for the world it that means the start of World War III. <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/zelensky-insists-missile-hit-poland-222041376.html">That is why he insists, against all reason, that the missile is Russky</a>.<br />
<br />
The problem for Zelensky is that his American masters are rational enough to not want a direct military confrontation with Russia: it could turn nuclear in no time at all. Instead, the Yanks are happy to fight the Russkies to the last Ukrainian in a conventional warfare.<br />
<br />
Learn your place, Volodya Z, you are not Biden’s peer or friend, you are his puppet, his proxy. The President of the Ukraine may be hot shit in the Ukraine, but it is just small fry to Biden.<br />
<br />
And you, Biden, realise that you are playing a very dangerous game. Things could go out of hand very quickly. This is just an example.<br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-88828550161204667452022-11-11T13:07:00.001-08:002022-11-11T13:07:48.990-08:00Between a Rock and a Hard Place.<br />
I couldn’t suppress a smile when I saw this:<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHR2WHR8Ce8xedAAYtPKtfOS0zUSEYunv7htib7V3pdnV0jd7a1qteh2lyvqzg1nrJAs32W478SdOVM-fXA1Jyfwcw4jZi8tzioVEKi-mv3jEf9tBxBYh4Tujd8tqXwFxDqHtXZQixAHKg3ywUTJanOmew85X-EJYm-7XI0AU0AXkeosTBAAWB0qhK/s639/Trumpty%20Dumpty.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="573" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHR2WHR8Ce8xedAAYtPKtfOS0zUSEYunv7htib7V3pdnV0jd7a1qteh2lyvqzg1nrJAs32W478SdOVM-fXA1Jyfwcw4jZi8tzioVEKi-mv3jEf9tBxBYh4Tujd8tqXwFxDqHtXZQixAHKg3ywUTJanOmew85X-EJYm-7XI0AU0AXkeosTBAAWB0qhK/w359-h400/Trumpty%20Dumpty.jpg" width="359" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-11/us-midterm-elections-results-analysis-experts/101625436?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web#live-blog-post-11485">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
First, I despise that bloke. Second, I despise his fans (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/nov/11/daily-telegraphs-innacurate-reporting-taken-into-account-by-judge-when-sentencing-paedophile">including the Aussie ones</a>). To see the evil bastards look like the fools they are feels good.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<br />
But don’t get me wrong. I’m not really happy. It’s a matter of being stuck with the lesser evil.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNSf5fypBJuIdQfOzkwYiIPcuFrMUu75KKvQXlCZfhd5WxKjDPg2xyeVPTEiTBxwFBcbRkfCk1mIvcX9oWwzej-Y4c2V9gmfc9BYlQ-9uMRKMbmYvjLGJwbu-VFpl-_0GrsNzMGsraNAy4VT9RRvo_iPQta6FMyfJefAvwx0gPI79AaVYefFies7P/s709/your%20right%20to%20vote%20for%20the%20democrats.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="709" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNSf5fypBJuIdQfOzkwYiIPcuFrMUu75KKvQXlCZfhd5WxKjDPg2xyeVPTEiTBxwFBcbRkfCk1mIvcX9oWwzej-Y4c2V9gmfc9BYlQ-9uMRKMbmYvjLGJwbu-VFpl-_0GrsNzMGsraNAy4VT9RRvo_iPQta6FMyfJefAvwx0gPI79AaVYefFies7P/w400-h314/your%20right%20to%20vote%20for%20the%20democrats.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://anticap.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/10-28-22.jpeg?w=1024">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5c2ypBld4OnxJ5jD-5mjgD_fJGyOAoc6uEl8mEouASIvXvpgsEwZqqxOiA1zRhJGLkarv5oX-Qa9Lu0yn9TqSO_kOXRsGXljdrKZAWIcrD08iLpppx-mANlPlazKg3vrNLWTumgxtVoFpdRgvLV_TDFMopaKmoPEG6CVmMpptXammCeAsN9mdpaD/s709/Voter%20suppressionist.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="709" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5c2ypBld4OnxJ5jD-5mjgD_fJGyOAoc6uEl8mEouASIvXvpgsEwZqqxOiA1zRhJGLkarv5oX-Qa9Lu0yn9TqSO_kOXRsGXljdrKZAWIcrD08iLpppx-mANlPlazKg3vrNLWTumgxtVoFpdRgvLV_TDFMopaKmoPEG6CVmMpptXammCeAsN9mdpaD/w400-h309/Voter%20suppressionist.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://anticap.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/8-19-22-1024x790-1.jpeg">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Besides. I suppose there’s a good chance the demented Baba Yaga of San Francisco won’t remain the Speaker of the House.<br />
<br /><br />Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-69156049592494432322022-10-16T10:06:00.007-07:002022-10-17T10:16:16.435-07:00Bits and Pieces.<div><br />
I think we can give up hope this third consecutive La Niña will be any better than her two previous sisters.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-06/sydney-breaks-annual-rainfall-record/101506452">On Thursday 6th Sydney broke the record</a> for the rainiest year since data collection began in 1858: that day rainfall over Observatory Hill meteorological station totalled 2,206.8 mm. The previous record (2,194.0 mm in 1950) had stood for 72 years.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5H5ylwy4INoTxCk6zq5fiK98JmpZLi5JnETsxzgxTAA-u5AmppF5F4MRU9l-PP9VpW_cRme6lRtHVke0ukLKI6aTYaJq4a1CaUromzmdmBjQlDAWJeTi3ZKL-thtq4tJjf-W2t6wRIK95B1oKjnh361MWQ6ifPII6SWJ84w5Qpk3Gbm5vDjb3ziY/s709/Sydney%20rainfall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="709" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5H5ylwy4INoTxCk6zq5fiK98JmpZLi5JnETsxzgxTAA-u5AmppF5F4MRU9l-PP9VpW_cRme6lRtHVke0ukLKI6aTYaJq4a1CaUromzmdmBjQlDAWJeTi3ZKL-thtq4tJjf-W2t6wRIK95B1oKjnh361MWQ6ifPII6SWJ84w5Qpk3Gbm5vDjb3ziY/w400-h319/Sydney%20rainfall.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/06/nsw-weather-state-braces-for-storms-hail-and-floods-amid-warning-dams-and-rivers-are-full">source</a>])</td></tr></tbody></table>
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To give readers – particularly European ones – an idea how much rain that is: in the 278 days of the year from January 1st to October 6th 2,606.8 litres of water fell over every square metre around Observatory Hill (1,000 litres of distilled water weigh 1,000 kg: one tonne).<br />
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From October 6th to the end of the year there are 87 days.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3tetUpSuHZ1DLQuoCKwTDeFoHR_gyu5v5plKOT5HBw7A9xq6Hg0D_Ng5qbssvcEr1ce3BrErnioh0_P6AGtL14jqzrdYmycm0HC67ycWzrTyZzeem7Rrt7yyZFLGa7_sZ1S5HstK4g3d5xH7lcQwnXL9ctzrfpzaVr0VZytquCY7Eem4uqZicOI7/s709/SES%20crews.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="709" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3tetUpSuHZ1DLQuoCKwTDeFoHR_gyu5v5plKOT5HBw7A9xq6Hg0D_Ng5qbssvcEr1ce3BrErnioh0_P6AGtL14jqzrdYmycm0HC67ycWzrTyZzeem7Rrt7yyZFLGa7_sZ1S5HstK4g3d5xH7lcQwnXL9ctzrfpzaVr0VZytquCY7Eem4uqZicOI7/w400-h249/SES%20crews.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-16/victoria-tasmania-nsw-flooding-evacuation-rainfall-live-updates/101540122">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
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Not surprisingly, rains these last few days have left New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania flooded. In VIC, more severely affected, these are the current (Sunday 16th 1823 AEDT) warnings:<br />
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<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DE7uugtPOC4dbIsnJREz53nJsKocGTdfiVmgBQf4kVZmeNZIAC_dpRwV1PSpa09KRmYOvXsapjBHeFTR1WrfhfokW_YFLbdEnfuQNdyQVxXbLd91BIZYb5z_jiJjejwDFb7n7ysUuY_XTd34mDMGEjRXGSk5_14uDE60XbXh4XRvpvzhRgRPTdx2/s709/SES%20Victoria.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="709" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DE7uugtPOC4dbIsnJREz53nJsKocGTdfiVmgBQf4kVZmeNZIAC_dpRwV1PSpa09KRmYOvXsapjBHeFTR1WrfhfokW_YFLbdEnfuQNdyQVxXbLd91BIZYb5z_jiJjejwDFb7n7ysUuY_XTd34mDMGEjRXGSk5_14uDE60XbXh4XRvpvzhRgRPTdx2/w400-h190/SES%20Victoria.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://emergency.vic.gov.au/respond/">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;">Legend: red triangle means emergency warning and normally recommend immediate evacuation.<br /></div></div><div>
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The peak in the water level is expected on Monday 17th.<br />
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Elsewhere also Venezuela, Nigeria, and Bangladesh are currently being affected by floods. Over there the loss of life has been much higher.<br />
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Once again the Morrison Stage 3 tax cuts is making the headlines. The question of the week was: will PM Albanese go ahead with them?<br />
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We all could use a reminder. In 2019 the then Morrison regime decided to change how personal income tax is calculated. Up to the 2019/20 financial year, these were the income thresholds and marginal rates:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81KEASRXMC9pX8PC5UEEBwRULR_ZsX_2MxKQ0IXJqV7acdlAvKZwbruoy3f4qoqPNVT-BfGAdNrausZlCwpM3D2NfnqItlLGMn3ZrnnMoreZbIPlMgofUo0AdPoRO5Ez2stFJA8cSykJ-aGYaMXP7xGALP2EPsiAgKIv6IuQAtg-1OX9u0ZjMmFyC/s420/income%20tax%20rates%202019-20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="420" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81KEASRXMC9pX8PC5UEEBwRULR_ZsX_2MxKQ0IXJqV7acdlAvKZwbruoy3f4qoqPNVT-BfGAdNrausZlCwpM3D2NfnqItlLGMn3ZrnnMoreZbIPlMgofUo0AdPoRO5Ez2stFJA8cSykJ-aGYaMXP7xGALP2EPsiAgKIv6IuQAtg-1OX9u0ZjMmFyC/w400-h254/income%20tax%20rates%202019-20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Okay, first question: How do you use that table?<br />
<br />
Try this. Imagine your income is water and each income bracket is a bucket. You proceed from top to bottom: pour enough water to fill the first bucket, then move to the next, until you have no water left. Now, you apply the marginal rate to the contents of each bucket. Finally, you add those partial amounts to have your combined tax bill.<br />
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An example. Suppose that year your combined income (salaries/wages, interests, dividends) was $60,000. This means that you have enough “water” to fill completely the first ($18,200) and second ($18,800) buckets and still have enough left ($23,000) to pour on the third one ($18,200+$18,800+$23,000=$60,000); the fourth and fifth buckets, however, get nothing. Apply now the corresponding tax rates, to get $0 (0% of $18,200), $3,572 and $7,475, respectively. That adds up to $11,047: your total income tax bill for that year.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6brQwna5yuPaBamgk2bxaLjZk_KPQkOREr74P9Rq_TsLFHWD5oXmF8YXoRI4XsOZ0q3T9uQY4beHLCgJRWOtv3ss6Qv4DkEdRWSLvwzsE0QRYT8maSYIl2YA73DqEquCMrASb3Gxk9Rh6qCQnCD3sGIjikvFBFMRrPhzK7ikQtNI0z-2BqpUqB8Gu/s567/calculation.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="567" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6brQwna5yuPaBamgk2bxaLjZk_KPQkOREr74P9Rq_TsLFHWD5oXmF8YXoRI4XsOZ0q3T9uQY4beHLCgJRWOtv3ss6Qv4DkEdRWSLvwzsE0QRYT8maSYIl2YA73DqEquCMrASb3Gxk9Rh6qCQnCD3sGIjikvFBFMRrPhzK7ikQtNI0z-2BqpUqB8Gu/w400-h213/calculation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, what’s the tax rate corresponding to that hypothetical $60 k tax unit?<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>
0%?</li><li>
19%?</li><li>
32.5%?</li></ul>
None of the above. The effective income tax rate is 18.4% (= $11,047/$60,000): a little over 18 cents per dollar of income.<br />
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(It’s important to highlight that those are only estimates. Personal circumstances – number of dependants, rebates, offsets and other factors, including whether you are a citizen/permanent resident or not – affect those figures.)<br />
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The mechanics of the calculation covered, you may be curious about the changes. So, what are they?<br />
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The reform needed legislation (which Labor supported in Parliament). The changes were introduced by stages. The following table reflects the first two stages:<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHsPAimA4pEEwa1QqMx2PC2UhvHozvIn0sW193wBpxbFeUW5r6yJ2FHCqckYtHG5Pdi45bbj7YHT1UCOVOyCYoYRd81rK52DVbXbhm5e9T4LognhHqZP7w6-Mxuwi_Y0v9F2K_8dfquvvUqFpQox_6Wx4ECdnUuRfPGPCeMQRZc_qBgSlYlJqv4aB2/s442/income%20tax%20rates%202020-23.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="442" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHsPAimA4pEEwa1QqMx2PC2UhvHozvIn0sW193wBpxbFeUW5r6yJ2FHCqckYtHG5Pdi45bbj7YHT1UCOVOyCYoYRd81rK52DVbXbhm5e9T4LognhHqZP7w6-Mxuwi_Y0v9F2K_8dfquvvUqFpQox_6Wx4ECdnUuRfPGPCeMQRZc_qBgSlYlJqv4aB2/w400-h283/income%20tax%20rates%202020-23.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />That table is – and will remain until July 2024 – in use; then – if the Government goes ahead with that – it should be replaced by:<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kGemI2yH8qC4G8y69N1YS--ihFUwh1gTt9_koYBTdVbS2njt2Mimm7GFGHcaoZs2RzUU0or8kSyxuodjRuMYCaN755min-hGAyh8rQjmudAMcv7T-zvXYViNEPKaqpF-WMGTB6Jeq6LVA02pqFWq-s7R8UfoZl--yYDbgoPGu6blSl4ODWyb8Knk/s422/income%20tax%20rates%202024-25.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="422" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kGemI2yH8qC4G8y69N1YS--ihFUwh1gTt9_koYBTdVbS2njt2Mimm7GFGHcaoZs2RzUU0or8kSyxuodjRuMYCaN755min-hGAyh8rQjmudAMcv7T-zvXYViNEPKaqpF-WMGTB6Jeq6LVA02pqFWq-s7R8UfoZl--yYDbgoPGu6blSl4ODWyb8Knk/w400-h230/income%20tax%20rates%202024-25.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
That is the Stage 3 tax cuts table.<br />
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Now, compare the three tables.<br />
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Readers may find a little exercise interesting: calculate the effective tax for three hypothetical income levels: $25 k, $60 k and $200 k (you already have one value). A calculator, pen and paper is all you need, but if you feel a little more adventurous, you may enjoy setting a spreadsheet. You can use this as an example:<br />
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<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkiesO-bTQZd8X9x0PQ6Wl5rN1Oa9a8-Vr4J4HBJgP02Re0cH-XjvL65AhwkQ6rU5uhaJoGaPGXxnGxFHPUKnDDKTDjBsr8-WakQb0uQQF9DWfb6pOg78spLAl-bcYB8cRivIH6bLsfKyPOVIFY9ae0RpVEMlEgaQL6Xvk_h3GAlOdqaHYrZzuZ6e/s1612/spreadsheet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="1612" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkiesO-bTQZd8X9x0PQ6Wl5rN1Oa9a8-Vr4J4HBJgP02Re0cH-XjvL65AhwkQ6rU5uhaJoGaPGXxnGxFHPUKnDDKTDjBsr8-WakQb0uQQF9DWfb6pOg78spLAl-bcYB8cRivIH6bLsfKyPOVIFY9ae0RpVEMlEgaQL6Xvk_h3GAlOdqaHYrZzuZ6e/w400-h95/spreadsheet.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(h/t anonymous)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />To the right, the functions underlying the $60 k calculation example above; to the best of my knowledge, the most popular spreadsheets use the same syntax.<br />
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(To be continued)<br />
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<br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-MFDm2nK-0s" title="The Living Planet Report 2022 ?? | WWF-Australia" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/the-2022-living-planet-report-what-does-it-mean-for-you-and-nature">WWF Australia released its 2022 Living Planet Report</a>.<br />
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Some key findings:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>
“Global wildlife populations fell by 69%, on average, between 1970 and 2018.”</li><li>
“Australia continues to have the most mammal extinctions in the world. The report tells a disturbing story of continual decline of more than 1,100 wildlife populations in Australia due to pressures from climate change, habitat destruction and introduced predators.”</li><li>
“Populations of sharks and rays have dropped by 71% worldwide over the last 50 years due to fishing practices.”</li><li>
“Globally, land use change is still the biggest current threat to nature, destroying or fragmenting the natural habitats of many plant and animal species on land, in freshwater and in our oceans.”</li><li>
“If we cannot limit global warming to 1.5°C, climate change will likely become the dominant cause of biodiversity loss in the coming decades.”</li></ul>
Among other things, WWF Australia is promoting <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/get-involved/save-threatened-wildlife/save-threatened-wildlife">a letter writing campaign asking federal Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek</a> for action on the extinction crisis in Australia.<br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-68274258304474510462022-10-08T12:46:00.002-07:002022-11-05T02:05:09.500-07:00Quotable Quotes: Zelensky and Biden.<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFINFJaqqMg1mezko-8ue7lvnwjUf76czoUuPAGXLF9Q2xBDrVI17d_buOQaBHHTINt58bq0NtYrptjuu5yW75qNFkHvGAliP2gAq6GDpQgTaXSOE5cUwo-HctuqaMu93SjwzUciUn6nGurPEgGi5q6afO13zIItnt1jObRNtFZwHhCHesj0dS7zC/s705/Badger.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="705" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFINFJaqqMg1mezko-8ue7lvnwjUf76czoUuPAGXLF9Q2xBDrVI17d_buOQaBHHTINt58bq0NtYrptjuu5yW75qNFkHvGAliP2gAq6GDpQgTaXSOE5cUwo-HctuqaMu93SjwzUciUn6nGurPEgGi5q6afO13zIItnt1jObRNtFZwHhCHesj0dS7zC/w400-h340/Badger.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A small nuclear explosion: only 23 kilotons. [A]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><blockquote>
“But what is important – I once again appeal to the international community, as I did before February 24 – we need pre-emptive strikes, so that they [the Russians] will know what will happen to them if they use nukes, and not the other way around.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>“Don’t wait for Russia’s nuclear strikes, and then say, ‘Oh, since you did this, take that from us!’ Reconsider the way you apply pressure. This is what NATO should do – reconsider the order in which it applies pressure [on Russia]” – Volodymir Zelensky (English translation, as reported <a href="https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/zelensky-calls-for-preemptive-strike-against-russia-in-speech-to-lowy-institute/news-story/80b4cd30b1ac06298d995ce96950d744">here</a>).</blockquote><br />
With that Zelensky was answering Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute, in Sydney on Thursday 6th. During the question and answer session following Zelensky’s speech Fullilove had asked:
“Mr President, in your remarks you mentioned nuclear blackmail. Mr Putin told us the other day that he’s not bluffing. So may I ask you, do you believe that the likelihood of the use of Russian nuclear weapons against Ukraine has risen, and what more do you want NATO to do to deter Russia from using nuclear weapons?”<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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Although it did not fully surprise me (see <a href="https://aussiemagpie.blogspot.com/2022/09/quotable-quotes.html">here</a>), that did cause a bit of shock among others, better disposed towards the Ukrainian.<br />
<br />
To alleviate their anxiety, Serhii Nykyforov, Zelensky’s spokesman, explained: “Colleagues, you have gone a little too far with your nuclear hysteria and now you hear nuclear strikes even where there are none. The president spoke about the period before 24 February. Then it was necessary to apply preventive measures to prevent Russia from starting the war. Let me remind you that the only measures that were about then were preventive sanctions” – as quoted by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/oct/07/russia-ukraine-war-live-nuclear-threat-is-worst-in-60-years-biden-says-ukraine-recaptures-500-square-km-in-a-week?page=with:block-633fffec8f08e561623cada4">The Guardian (UK)</a>.<br />
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I don’t know about you, but I still remember when Joe Biden said, referring to Vladimir Putin: “<a href="https://aussiemagpie.blogspot.com/2022/04/why-joe-bidens-remarks-are-dangerous.html">For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power</a>”.<br /></div><div>
<br />
Calls like that used to be a serious no-no in international relations among nuclear powers, a red-line uncrossed even during the height of the Cold War: whether Biden’s cognitive state allowed him to understand it or not, he was openly calling for Putin’s deposal – at best – or assassination – at worst.<br />
<br />
Understandably, Biden’s call was received with anxiety (much like Zelensky’s statement this week). To alleviate that anxiety, Antony Blinken, Biden’s Secreatary of State, explained at the time: “I think the President … made the point last night that, quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else.”<br />
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<br />
Of course, I don’t know how persuasive and reassuring you find those denials, and it’s not my place to tell you what to think.<br />
<br />
What you cannot deny – and I feel free to highlight – is that both situations seem very much alike.<br />
<br /><b>IMAGE CREDITS:</b><br />
<br />
[A] “The BADGER explosion on April 18, 1953”. Badger was a small device: some 2. Source: <a href="Griffith University climate change research in Lamington National Park studies impact on insects">WikiMedia</a>. Author: National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office. Image in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Public_domain">public domain</a><br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-64187128764296265902022-10-05T14:40:00.002-07:002022-10-06T14:57:13.862-07:00Peddling Fake News.<div><br />
Last week SBS journos – self-appointed guardians of journalistic truth – were wondering:<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqs6AZ5SdKRazJk6KM921akqqsEu161yPcabxW3v8x29MVjtOQoQoMUvEWGVwJB8s_76K_EXv4iATSqvInymsyV3glAt2a3uStL2aik6GnQEEbzy4YmhUVMJnJX7_ro6u3DOYEqX3yJ4Tbvq3Dql8BZk9qdEKobFomIFzoIt-x_HntAsYgLpJz7Rw/s898/did%20china.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="898" height="63" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqs6AZ5SdKRazJk6KM921akqqsEu161yPcabxW3v8x29MVjtOQoQoMUvEWGVwJB8s_76K_EXv4iATSqvInymsyV3glAt2a3uStL2aik6GnQEEbzy4YmhUVMJnJX7_ro6u3DOYEqX3yJ4Tbvq3Dql8BZk9qdEKobFomIFzoIt-x_HntAsYgLpJz7Rw/w400-h63/did%20china.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/did-china-just-have-a-military-coup-and-is-xi-jinping-missing-heres-why-rumours-are-swirling/jsh171vry">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
Alas, it was fake news. In fairness, they were not alone, and – as a matter of fact – did not fully commit to the rumours, as other news outlets did. A number of talking heads, accepted worldwide as experts on the matter, were much more sure that something was going on:<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsjZN5dbzw6MZ23wfuTVEzagoq5NKjBjz3OSCtkr4XKqkS8T1J7SO_3eavJ8qSWG-8IIMDRfcw757dwki-1A78zUCDa7Ylgk477Tt07RpYNjC7dOBtoxGcS9dCba1frGE0EobE5siFNmUtBNnzpDiotWCfbhMHtujC6eiTcOdS6RnpQAaSZrEyWKL/s599/Gordon%20chang.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="153" data-original-width="599" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsjZN5dbzw6MZ23wfuTVEzagoq5NKjBjz3OSCtkr4XKqkS8T1J7SO_3eavJ8qSWG-8IIMDRfcw757dwki-1A78zUCDa7Ylgk477Tt07RpYNjC7dOBtoxGcS9dCba1frGE0EobE5siFNmUtBNnzpDiotWCfbhMHtujC6eiTcOdS6RnpQAaSZrEyWKL/w400-h103/Gordon%20chang.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/did-china-just-have-a-military-coup-and-is-xi-jinping-missing-heres-why-rumours-are-swirling/jsh171vry">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
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There’s a lot of Western experts and journos who lost the plot, which means the Western media is suffering from Putin-Xi Derangement Syndrome.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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SBS banned <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7636290/sbs-suspends-russian-state-media-outlets/">Russian</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-05/sbs-will-temporarily-stop-airing-chinese-state-tv/13219498">Chinese</a> news programs: media in those countries peddle fake news, propaganda. The general view in the West is that, being state-owned, media there are merely mouthpieces of their governments, sorry, authoritarian/autocratic regimes.<br />
<br />It’s a good thing that in liberal democratic Australia state-owned media — like SBS and ABC — somehow refuse to be mere mouthpieces of our own regimes, sorry, democratic governments. That's how SBS is structurally incapable of peddling fake news, as you can see.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">----------<br /></div>
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Incidentally, after banning Ruskies and Chinamen from our small screens, SBS’s champions of inclusiveness and representation included a Ukrainian news broadcast in their new WorldWatch channel 35. It is important for minority communities to have their own voice<br />
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Inclusiveness and representation are only critical when they are not.<br />
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<br />Speaking of derangement:<br />
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2wbrl--9mxK6Z8ut3N40dYRMuKk4-XotPf2sfP1Ads8DN8jaj6RNCvI0pD-cey-mLO05-0wnPOOnrKWJDvnAfGDZmwezOwwlFJU0A9RM_x0EX-nwtpPnZ1CKW9TjxTWgeUKqarumpMZV9HDO8AMUvo5IyACVtxgOAKwMnh0ah9VprEsLwB1gs98kZ/s628/cnn.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="628" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2wbrl--9mxK6Z8ut3N40dYRMuKk4-XotPf2sfP1Ads8DN8jaj6RNCvI0pD-cey-mLO05-0wnPOOnrKWJDvnAfGDZmwezOwwlFJU0A9RM_x0EX-nwtpPnZ1CKW9TjxTWgeUKqarumpMZV9HDO8AMUvo5IyACVtxgOAKwMnh0ah9VprEsLwB1gs98kZ/w400-h360/cnn.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1577157628421373952">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
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The interviewer (left) introduces the segment: CNN has learned that the US is developing contingency plans for possible Russian escalation in its war in Ukraine, including potential use of tactical nuclear weapons.<br />
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<br />To what extent our extremely trustworthy media created this mess?<br />
<br /></div>Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-10272843688580253472022-09-27T13:36:00.000-07:002022-09-27T13:36:50.604-07:00Workers’ Mail: Proud to Protest. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/386/698/original/Protest-petition-header-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/386/698/original/Protest-petition-header-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/protect-our-right-to-protest?link_id=0&can_id=efd2e4091eb585c6c86a4b9143877ef0&source=email-how-we-can-build-on-our-strike-fines-campaign&email_referrer=email_1675740&email_subject=how-we-can-build-on-our-strike-fines-campaign">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
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In Australia we’ve grown used to be endlessly lectured on how lucky we are for living in a liberal democracy. It’s “government of the people, by the people, for the people” this; “rule of law” that. Aussie pollies go around the world in a crusade against foreign autocrats. <br />
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It sounds good, right?<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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Our reality, however, is a lot less rosy: we have the right to ask, but our <u>representatives</u> are free to deny. If we are not happy, we can complain, but our <u>representatives</u> gave themselves the right to disregard our complaints. We can protest, as long as we do not disturb our <u>representatives</u>.<br />
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Our “representatives” do not represent us. In their views, we should be grateful because they are generous enough to allow us to ask, complain and protest, no matter how ineffectually. Their rule is redeemed not for the solutions it brings to our problems, but for allowing us some room to express our discontent.<br />
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In other words, we are not the masters, but the slaves. They make the rules and we are coerced into following them. And they are reducing what room we had to express our discontent. <br />
<br />If we want to slow down the constant empowering of our masters we are forced to act within the limits of what they still find acceptable.<br />
<br /><a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/protect-our-right-to-protest">So, if you, like me, are worried about the increasingly liberal democratic authoritarianism of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, you should give a thought to the letter Sam, from Unions NSW, is promoting</a>.<br />
<br />Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.com0