tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30813782683216220182024-03-22T14:48:43.807+11:00But Surely!Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-53663288325429951242019-07-18T22:02:00.002+10:002019-07-18T22:02:53.406+10:00<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
<b>Moon landing - finally, a challenger for Neil Armstrong</b></div>
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First budgies on the moon</div>
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The 20th of July nears and I still hate you<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><br />Neil Armstrong<br />For walking on the moon that day in 1969<br />Sullying it for billions around the globe<br />Ruining life for those of us who want to make our mark.</span></div>
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Sickening too, your false modesty<br />“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!”<br />Oh really?<br />I know exactly what you meant<br />“Hey, suckers, beat this!”</div>
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Well bad news, Neil, I’ve worked it out<br />Crowdfunding won’t fuel the rocket but<br />Donald Trump told me he was interested<br />At least until he tweeted, “I’d rather go to Mars”.<br />I only wish he would.</div>
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I messaged Vlad Putin, hero of the underdog<br />Whose aides told me he’ll be in touch, once various<br />Political and geographic realignments<br />Are all sorted, which they promised<br />Won’t take long.</div>
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Start worrying Neil<br />You of the namby-pamby inner- and outer-boot<br />Nothing human or intimate when you touched the moon.<br />For me it will be different<br />Budgie smugglers and bare feet.</div>
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Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-27335807924526251592018-12-21T09:00:00.000+11:002018-12-21T09:00:07.297+11:00Morrison and Jerusalem - a special sort of dunce<h1 class="entry-title" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We have to hand it to Scott Morrison. He has been at the heart of two major shifts in Australian political life. One made him Prime Minister, the other overturned a sensible long-standing approach on Jerusalem. Yet the new PM struggles to offer a coherent explanation how either development benefits Australia. His approach on Jerusalem exhibits a rare talent to combine the stupid with the pointless. </span> </em></h1>
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Once he’d dropped Jerusalem into the Wentworth by-election last year, Scott Morrison needed a face-saving formula. Two models were available, one from Putin’s Russia, the other from Trump’s America.</div>
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The Russian model came in the form of a 2017 Foreign Ministry statement. This reaffirmed Russia’s commitment “to the UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which include the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state.” It went to announce that Russia now viewed “West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”</div>
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The Russian move no doubt reflected a range of regional and international considerations, including a desire to put down a marker on Jerusalem ahead of Donald Trump. In a foretaste of things to come for Australia, the Russian action puzzled rather than pleased the Israelis. The <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jerusalem Post</em> noted that as Israel had annexed all of Jerusalem in 1980 and deemed “the entire city – not just the western half – its capital” it would be wary of Russia’s “surprise announcement”.</div>
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Never one to worry about complexity or nuance, in December 2017 President Trump declared it was “time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel”. America was “not taking a position on any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem”. There were no geographic qualifiers in the Trump announcement and Israel responded enthusiastically.</div>
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Caught in a dilemma of his own making, Morrison opted for a combination of the two models: recognition confined to West Jerusalem; the Australian embassy remaining in Tel Aviv; work starting to identify a “suitable site” for an Australian embassy in West Jerusalem; an Australian “Trade and Defence Office” opening in West Jerusalem; and time-worn references to the need for the parties to negotiate outstanding issues.</div>
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This approach is devoid of substance and offers no identifiable benefit to Australia. Its only achievement seems to be that of confusing and antagonising friends and foe alike.</div>
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The Israeli embassy in Canberra politely described the move as “a very positive first step”. Towards what, was left unanswered. But we know only too well from Israel’s actions of the past four decades—the formal annexation of East Jerusalem in 1980 and settling hundreds of thousands of Israelis on Palestinian territory in the West Bank—what the Israeli end point is. It is Israel in unquestioned control of all of Jerusalem, the antithesis of the scenario in the PM’s 15 December statement of a Jerusalem eventually divided between Israelis and Palestinians. Only romantics or the seriously deluded could envisage that Israel will negotiate a redivision of Jerusalem for the “prize” of Australian and other embassies in West Jerusalem.</div>
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Senior Israeli representatives, including the speaker of the Knesset, mock the very notion of “West” Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Post editorialised that there was “something absurd” about Australian (and Russian) recognition of “the heretofore unknown entity of west Jerusalem”. Canberra should reconsider “its unilateral division of Jerusalem, a united city for the past 51 years” (since Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967).</div>
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The PM’s December statement went on: “Pious assertions about a commitment to a two-state solution strain credibility if we are not prepared to question the conventional wisdom about how we believe this goal can be achieved”. Yet the statement itself is little more than pious assertion. There is nothing in it that offers a game-plan to break what Morrison described as the “rancid stalemate” of the peace process. What strategies, for example, does he have in mind to persuade Israel to rescind its 1980 Basic Law, which declared undivided Jerusalem its capital?</div>
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Morrison’s statement accepted that Australia was subject to UN Security Council resolutions on Jerusalem. This includes Resolution 478, passed in 1980 in response to Israel’s Basic Law, and which requires “States that have established diplomatic missions at Jerusalem to withdraw such missions from the Holy City”. In this context it would be helpful to have more detail about the planned Trade and Defence Office in Jerusalem. What exactly will the office do, especially given that Tel Aviv is Israel’s trade and technology capital as well as the headquarters of the Israeli defence establishment? What will it do that the embassy in Tel Aviv does not? Who will staff the office; what status will they have to represent Australia.?</div>
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This whole sorry episode grew out of the perceived need for advantage in a by-election. The prominent Palestinian politician, Hanan Ashrawi, described Morrison as “using Palestinian rights to bribe the Zionist lobby to gain its support in the election”. The bribe didn’t work, the subsequent rationalisation is negligee thin and there’s nothing underneath. Perhaps over the Christmas break the PM will get around to articulating the political, trade, economic, security, humanitarian, reputational benefits of his policy shift on Jerusalem. One thing is certain – this won’t take up much of anyone’s holiday time.</div>
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<a href="http://johnmenadue.com/peter-rodgers-morrison-and-jerusalem-a-special-sort-of-dunce/" rel="bookmark" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #777777; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="6:40 AM"><span class="entry-date" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">First posted on Pearls and Irritations 20 December 2018</span></a></div>
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Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-45619605926559351462018-12-13T06:57:00.002+11:002018-12-13T06:57:21.035+11:00Morrison and Jerusalem – what a way to run a foreign policy!<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
On 15 November, <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Sydney Morning Herald</em> reported the Morrison government as telling Indonesian ministers there was “less than 5 per cent” chance that Australia would pursue the idea of relocating the Australian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Yet the article also noted the PM was “prepared to move the embassy if it is in Australia’s interest”.</div>
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A month earlier, a joint statement by Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Government would carefully examine the merits of moving the embassy. Any decision would be subject “to a rigorous assessment of the potential impact of such a move on our broader national interests”.</div>
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It hardly requires a rigorous assessment to conclude that the negatives of any move easily outweigh the positives. It is impossible to see how Australia’s trade, political or security interests could be helped meaningfully by relocating the embassy. The disadvantages are so obvious that even an ideologically-blind government should be able to see them. The “by the end of 2018” time-frame for a decision merely adds a pretence of measured consideration.</div>
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True, three countries would be very happy: Israel, the United States and, wait for it, Guatemala. The latter followed the US in relocating its embassy to Jerusalem earlier this year. So too did Paraguay which then had a change of President and heart and moved back to Tel Aviv, so infuriating Israel it shut its embassy in Asunción.</div>
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Bhutan officially measures Gross National Happiness but the idea has hardly permeated the policy-making processes of other states. Countries cooperate and support each other mostly because of “rational” self-interest. It’s delusional to imagine that Australia’s trade or security links with either Israel or the US, let alone Guatemala, need the stimulant of neighbourly togetherness in Jerusalem.</div>
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So what does the argument for relocation boil down to? Amazingly, it’s the Israeli-Palestinian “peace process”.</div>
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The Morrison-Payne joint statement noted the arguments put forward by a former Australian Ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, that Australia “consider recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel … while acknowledging East Jerusalem as the expected capital of future Palestinian state”.</div>
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Proponents of embassy relocation cast it as Trumpian-style shock-therapy for the peace process. Declaring Australia’s continued commitment to a two-state solution, Morrison declared “Frankly, it hasn’t been going that well. Not a lot of progress has been made, and you don’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”</div>
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Pro-Israeli supporters outside the government echoed the argument that moving the Australian embassy could help unlock the stalled peace process. They asserted it would not pre-empt a “future Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem” with its very own Australian embassy.</div>
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This line of argument is a fraud. It suggests that Israel might be amenable to sharing Jerusalem as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians. Yet it is Israel that controls Jerusalem. It is Israel which annexed the eastern half of the city in 1980. It is Israel which has long spun the mantra of Jerusalem as its “eternal and undivided capital”, repeated yet again by Prime Minister Netanyahu at the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem last May.</div>
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If the idea of embassy relocation as a “spark” for the peace process had any merit, it would include a strategy for persuading Israel to relinquish East Jerusalem. That it doesn’t is a measure of the cant and hypocrisy afoot. Can we really look to Trump or to Morrison or to President Jimmy Morales of Guatemala to take the lead in persuading Israel that it has to let go of East Jerusalem?</div>
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The Australian Government, quite rightly, expresses concern about the lack of progress towards a two-state solution and the continuing level of violence on the ground. But there is a dog whistle in some of this concern, hinting that embassy relocation would somehow revive the peace progress and reduce the level of violence. It’s fatuous. On the very day the American Embassy opened in Jerusalem last May, Israeli security forces killed 58 Palestinians and wounded 1200 others protesting the action.</div>
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Scott Morrison dropped the idea of embassy relocation into the Wentworth be-election for domestic political advantage. He got a well-deserved comeuppance. With his fondness for slogans it’s now high-time for him to Stop the Stupidity.</div>
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<i>First published by Pearls and Irritations, 17 November 2018</i></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-45345825450832287042018-12-13T06:53:00.001+11:002018-12-13T06:53:22.805+11:00Postcard from Doha: blockaders, bovines and billions<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I stopped over in Qatar recently, coinciding with the first anniversary of the blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, intended to punish Qatar for flouting Saudi ambitions. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">A year on, the blockade shows no signs of ending. The Saudis continue to make mischief, hinting they might turn Qatar into an island by digging a wide canal between the two countries, or suggesting that Qatar could lose the 2022 soccer world cup because it (out?)bribed other contenders.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">For the blockaders, though, the reality is they’ve helped both
Qatar’s economic diversification and an improvement in its woeful human rights
record. If Qataris are troubled by what amounts to a family spat between very rich
relatives it doesn’t show. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Doha’s English-language newspapers evinced a spirit of
Churchillian doggedness. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The Twitterati, according to the <i>Qatar Tribune, </i>hailed Qatar’s resilience
in seeing off a co</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">nspiracy aimed at usurping its wealth, compromising
its sovereignty and denying it the right to host the 2022 World Cup. The <i>Gulf Times</i>, published by a <span style="background: white;">former deputy prime minister and head of the royal
court, commented that the blockaders had tried every trick in the book, “threats,
abuse, vitriol, bullying, fake news, unfounded charges, propaganda …even black
magic [and] failed miserably in their actions”. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Not surprisingly in a highly
authoritarian state, Qatar’s ruler, </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, gets most of the credit for all this</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">. His dashing
Omar Sharif-like image accompanied by the slogan, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Tamim the Glorious, appears e</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">verywhere—on
cars, trucks and buses, on buildings, constructions sites, shops, restaurant, T-shirts
and posters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Being in charge of the world’s richest country has been a big
help. Qatar’s abundance of natural gas and oil generates an average annual per
capita income of around $170,000. That figure masks the great disparity between
mega-rich Qataris, who make up only 15 per cent of a male-heavy population of
2.6 million, and the rest—mainly Indians, Nepalese, other Arabs, Filipinos,
Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans, working in </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">hotels, restaurants, transportation,
tourism, construction and as domestic staff. Tens of thousands labour on
projects driven by the 2022 World Cup. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In the first months of the blockade,
Qatar burned through some $50 billion to ensure supplies of basic commodities
which arrived by air rather than the traditional land and sea routes from Saudi
Arabia and other Gulf states. According to the International Monetary Fund, e</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">conomic
activity was affected but this was “mostly transitory and new trade routes were
quickly established”, with the financial system remaining sound. The World Bank
forecasts economic growth this year close to three per cent, compared to two
per cent in 2017. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Ironically,
the blockade prompted Qatar to become self-sufficient in milk products, essential
for many of its foreign workers. A farm outside Doha, established in 2013 to
rear sheep, has been transformed into a major dairy. By the end of 2018 it may
have as many as 20,000 cows, landed by air and sea from around the globe,
including Australia. As well as daily necessities the cows provide fun for
headline writers, witness “Milk Sheikhs” or “Land of Milk and Money” though I’m
still waiting for “Blockade an Udder Failure”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">FIFA’s 2011 selection of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, for which Australia
competed and managed just one vote, remains stained by accusations of serious
bribery and, at least until recently, the degrading and dangerous conditions for
foreign workers on the eight massive stadiums in or near Doha and a state-of-the-art
road and rail network which will link them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In 2013, the former ACTU President
and current General Secretary of the International Confederation of Trade
Unions, Sharan Burrow, described the workers as “basically slaves”, adding that
if two years on from the awarding of the cup the Qatari Government had not done
the fundamentals it had “no commitment to human rights”. Such criticism, and
the risk of losing the cup, finally stung Qatari officials into action. In late
2017 the Qatari government guaranteed these workers a minimum annual wage of about
$3,200.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Ms
Burrow said earlier this year she had </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">no doubt that Qatar </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">was now committed
to reform</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> and was on its way to becoming a model for other Gulf States. The end
of the “kafala” system, which gives sponsors great power, would she said, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“free two
million migrant workers” and promote “a mature industrial relations structure”.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">In late April, the </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">International
Labor Organisation opened an office in Doha to oversee the changes. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Qatar was hardly a household name
in soccer circles until its controversial selection, though Qatar Sports
Investment’s 2011 purchase of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) made that club the richest
in the world. PSG demonstrated the benefit of a wealthy Gulf connection in 2017
when it bought the services of Brazilian super-star, Neymar, for a mere $340
million. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">If money talks, the amount Qatar
is spending on the World Cup positively screams. Currently it’s about $660
million a week, with the final tally expected at more than $260 billion. That
should buy a fair degree of comfort for the anticipated 1 million plus fans
who’ll make the journey, though those expecting to rub shoulders with Qataris may
be disappointed. The only ones they’re certain to encounter are immigration and
customs officials, the latter courteously relieving them of any alcohol they’re
carrying. (I speak from personal experience!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Islamic Qatar is seriously dry, with a strict ban
on public consumption of alcohol and a very dim view of public drunkenness.
This does not seem a natural fit with soccer fans. With Budweiser a World Cup
sponsor it’s no surprise that senior FIFA officials declared that a</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">lcoholic
drinks are part of the cup and “we're going to have them”. Falling into line,
as Brazil was forced to do for the 2014 cup, Qatar will temporarily allow
soccer fans to buy and drink beer at the stadiums. (Some of which will be
dismantled after the cup and shipped to poor soccer-playing countries.) </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Still, fans shouldn’t relax too much. Homosexuality remains
illegal, and punishable by death if the offenders happen to be Muslim men
(though Qatar has not executed anyone since 2003). Disgraced former FIFA
President Sepp Blatter advised homosexual soccer fans to visit Qatar in 2022 “only
for the football”. Understandably, that comment didn’t go over well with gay right
activists, but he may have had a point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><i>First published by <a href="file:///C:/Users/peter/Documents/Qatar%20articles/PETER%20RODGERS_%20Postcard%20from%20Doha_%20blockaders,%20bovines%20and%20billions%20_%20John%20Menadue%20%E2%80%93%20Pearls%20and%20Irritations.html">Pearls
and Irritations</a>, 28 June 2018</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-91276658959437742622018-12-13T06:40:00.000+11:002018-12-13T06:40:47.247+11:00Israel-Palestine: vale the two-state solution, where to now?<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As millions around the globe
contemplated New Year resolutions on 31 December 2017, Israel’s ruling Likud
party came up with one of its own. Its Central Committee overwhelmingly endorsed
a resolution seeking to extend Israel’s legal jurisdiction to its settlements
in the West Bank, home to some 400,000 Israelis. Noting the 50<sup>th</sup>
anniversary </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">of the “liberation” of the West
Bank, the resolution called on Likud’s elected officials “to allow free
construction and to apply the laws of Israel and its sovereignty to all
liberated areas of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Like New Year resolutions elsewhere,
Likud’s was non-binding. This, and its timing, possibly explains why it
attracted little media attention. But it may prove an important marker in the
burial of the two-state solution. <span style="letter-spacing: .25pt;">Steven
Cook, a senior fellow at the US Council on Foreign Relations <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Israel%20Moves%20to%20Annex%20the%20West%20Bank%E2%80%94This%20Is%20How%20the%20Two-State%20Solution%20Dies%20_%20Council%20on%20Foreign%20Relations.html">commented</a></span>
that the resolution had “significant consequences” as “a prelude to annexation”.
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">In
the government halls that matter most in Israeli and Palestinian affairs—Jerusalem
and Washington—the resolution captured the spirit of the time. Prime Minister
Netanyahu is at his most credible when he<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="file:///C:/Users/peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Netanyahu_%20No%20Palestinian%20state%20on%20my%20watch%20_%20The%20Times%20of%20Israel.html">
denies</a></span> any possibility of a Palestinian state. His </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Education
Minister Naftali Bennett, one of two </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Jewish
Home party</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> representatives in the current Knesset, lauded Trump’s 2016 electoral
victory as a <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Israel%E2%80%99s%20Naftali%20Bennett_%20With%20Trump,%20%E2%80%98The%20Era%20of%20the%20Palestinian%20State%20Is%20Over%E2%80%99%20%E2%80%93%20Foreign%20Policy.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">tremendous opportunity</span></a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"> for Israel, signalling “the era of
the Palestinian state is over”. The two-state solution, he told a gathering of Jewish
students in New York in March 2018, was a terrible idea which “<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Israeli%20minister%20in%20U.S._%20Palestinians%20had%20their%20chance%20in%20Gaza,%20but%20they%20turned%20it%20into%20Afghanistan%20-%20Israel%20News%20-%20Haaretz.com.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">we’re done with</span></a></span></span>.” Citing
the example of Israel’s annexation in 1981 of the Golan Heights, Bennett spoke of
the benefits of international amnesia. “It’s never pleasant two weeks after,
but after two months it fades away, and 20 years later and 40 years later it’s
still ours.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Early
in his presidency, President Trump gestured towards an open mind, <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Donald%20Trump%20says%20US%20not%20committed%20to%20two-state%20Israel-Palestine%20solution%20_%20World%20news%20_%20The%20Guardian.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">commenting</span></a></span></span>, </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I’m looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one
that both parties like”. The idea that “both” parties could possibly agree on
what they like was fanciful. In any event, Trump’s subsequent actions made
clear that the US was not interested in using its clout to help the parties find
a way through the maze of claim, counter claim and mutual acrimony. Trump and
those around him have made the US a partisan player as never before. His former
adviser on Israeli affairs, now ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is an unabashed
supporter of “<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Trump%20adviser_%20Israel%20can%20annex%20West%20Bank%20and%20remain%20Jewish%20_%20The%20Times%20of%20Israel.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Israeli annexation</span></a>”</span></span>
of the West Bank, has been President of a fund-raising organisation for the
West Bank settlement of Beit El, and reportedly backed </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Netanyahu’s ludicrous <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/UN%20chief%20rejects%20Netanyahu's%20claim%20of%20%E2%80%98ethnic%20cleansing%E2%80%99%20by%20Palestinians%20_%20The%20Times%20of%20Israel.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">claim</span></a></span></span> that</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> opposition to settlements amounts to “ethnic cleansing”.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Writing in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Atlantic</i> in May 2018, the Israeli
author, </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Yossi Klein Halevi, described Israelis and
Palestinians as caught in a <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Israelis%20and%20Palestinians%20Are%20Caught%20in%20a%20Cycle%20of%20Denial%20-%20The%20Atlantic.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">cycle of denial</span></a></span></span>. “The
Palestinian national movement denies Israel’s legitimacy, and Israel in turn
denies the Palestinians’ national sovereignty.” The latter “sovereignty” is
greatly weakened by the schism between </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">the
feeble Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and the Islamist Hamas in
Gaza. For Israel, it is the gift that keeps on giving. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Of the parties most
closely entwined in the conflict, the PA has the strongest interest in a
two-state solution and the least capacity to do anything about it. It governs fully
in less than a quarter of the West Bank which, under the Oslo Agreements of the
early 1990s, remains divided into Areas A, B and C. The PA has full control of
Area A, about 18 per cent of the whole territory. Israel has full control of C,
about 60 per cent. B, the remainder, is divided between Palestinian civil
control and shared security control. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The terminal problem for
two-staters is what to build the state with. Israeli settlement has so sliced
and diced the West Bank it’s hard to imagine how the geographic shards might meaningfully
be gathered together. US Ambassador Friedman has </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Israel%20only%20occupies%202%25%20of%20West%20Bank,%20says%20US%20ambassador%20_%20World%20news%20_%20The%20Guardian.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">argued </span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">that settlements occupy only two per cent of the
West Bank. If true, that would make settlements easier to remove but it
completely overlooks their administrative reach. A <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Settlements%20_%20B'Tselem.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">report</span></a></span></span> by the
Israeli<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human Rights Organisation<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>B’Tselem in late 2017 calculated that the settlements
and their governing “regional councils” directly controlled <span style="background: white;">63 per cent of Area C and 40 per cent of the West Bank
overall. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Besides t</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">he West Bank’s geographic fragmentation, there’s
the open sore of the Gaza Strip, ruled by Hamas. In its revised <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Hamas%20Islamic%20Resistance%20-%20A%20Document%20of%20General%20Principles%20and%20Policies.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">charter</span></a></span></span> Hamas hinted for
the first time in 2017 that it might accept “</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian
state, with Jerusalem as its capital, along the lines of the 4th of June 1967”.
This amounts to a two-state solution, if not one Israel would accept. The charter
also described </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">armed resistance as
the “strategic choice for protecting the principles and the rights of the
Palestinian people”.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> This points backwards. Israel has long declared it will not negotiate if
under fire; Palestinians retort that Israel will not negotiate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unless</i> it’s under fire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A week after the Likud Central Committee’s New Year
resolution, Daniel Kurtzer, former US ambassador to Israel and Egypt, now at Princeton
University,<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/America%20can't%20save%20the%20two-state%20solution%20-%20Opinion%20-%20Israel%20News%20_%20Haaretz.com.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> wrote</span></a></span></span> that </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Israelis
and Palestinians were careening towards a one state reality, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which “carries extremely dangerous risks”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">These
risks hark back to Israel’s decades-old “<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/End%20Game.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">trilemma</span></a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“ of deciding what it wants to be: Jewish; an
occupier; a democracy. It can’t be all three. The two-state solution was
premised on the idea of ending the occupation, thereby preserving both Israel’s
Jewish identity and its democratic ways. Former Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Ehud%20Barak%20warns_%20Israel%20faces%20'slippery%20slope'%20toward%20apartheid%20-%20Israel%20News%20-%20Haaretz.com.html"><span style="mso-color-alt: windowtext;">warned</span></a></span></span> in mid-2017
that if Israel kept control of the area from the </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Mediterranean to the
river Jordan "it would become inevitably – that's the key word, inevitably
– either non-Jewish or non-democratic". If Palestinians in an annexed
West Bank were given full rights Israel would quickly become “a binational
state with an Arab majority and civil war”. Israel's current path he described
as a “slippery slope toward apartheid”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">D</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">emography
has long been a pressure point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The late
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat once <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Jewish%20and%20Palestinian%20women%20wage%20">claimed</a></span>
the </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“the womb of the Arab woman” as his “strongest weapon”. But </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">p</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">opulation figures—totals and growth
rates—are sharply contested (see, for example, <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Israel's%20Impending%20Demographic%20Reality%20-%20Foreign%20Policy%20Blogs.html">Israel’s
Impending Demographic Reality</a></span> and </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Demographics%20and%20the%20Israeli-Palestinian%20Conflict%20-%20Geopolitical%20Futures.html">Demographics
and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict </a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">). According
to the CIA’s World Fact Book, in 2017 there were 8.3 million people in Israel,
the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, of which 74.7 per cent were Jewish. The
West Bank’s population was 2.75 million, which included 391,000 Israeli
settlers. Gaza’s population was 1.8 million. Rounded, this produces a total
Jewish population of 6.59 million and a non-Jewish, primarily Muslim Palestinian,
population of 6.25 million, a 51:49 per cent split. Take Gaza out and the split
firms in Israel’s favour 60:40. While Israel has always had a significant
non-Jewish minority, the larger this minority the weaker the country’s sense of
identity and the more complicated its internal politics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">One “solution” to the
demographic dilemma involves the claim that “Jordan is Palestine”, given its
high proportion of citizens of Palestinian descent. “Relocate” Palestinians
from the West Bank to Jordan, so the argument runs, and they’ll have their
state and Israel will have demographic and identity comfort. Israeli Justice
Minister </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Ayelet Shaked, also from the Jewish Home party, last </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">February</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/Israel%E2%80%99s%20justice%20minister%20explains%20why%20Trump%20is%20good%20for%20her%20West%20Bank%20plan%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.html">outlined</a></span>
her plan for </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Israeli law to apply in Area C of
the West Bank while Areas A and B would “be part of a confederation, with
Jordan and Gaza”. She rightly acknowledged this might seem “a bizarre option to
the international community, but … in three years from now the international
community will understand this is the right solution”. </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">To many of us, the “right” solution has
long been two states for two peoples, reached through their own negotiations,
supported and encouraged by others. That has not happened, and there’s no
reason to believe it will. Sputtering efforts at negotiations over the past 20
years or so kept the “peace process” on life support. They also made it
increasingly clear that the two-state solution is dead, overwhelmed by the
weight of the past, myopia, ignorance, inhumanity, indifference, deceit, fanaticism,
miscalculation; it’s a long charge sheet. The solution will not be rescued by a
change of political leadership in Jerusalem or Washington, though we might see
more subtle funeral directors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Despite the recent flareups on the
Israeli-Gaza border a new Palestinian<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/IP%20ASPI%20article%20-%20links/How%20Likely%20Is%20the%20Outbreak%20of%20a%20New%20Palestinian%20Intifada%20in%20the%20Coming%20Years_%20-%20Carnegie%20Middle%20East%20Center%20-%20Carnegie%20Endowment%20for%20International%20Peace.html">
uprising</a></span> does not seem imminent. A new round of stalemate does. This
may well blur the issues that governments around the globe, including the 140
or so who officially recognise a non-existent “State of Palestine”, will eventually
be forced to consider. These comprise (at least): the prospect of Israeli
annexations and forced relocations; a Palestinian statelet in the West Bank; an
Islamist de facto state in Gaza which offers its citizens little more than
rhetoric. That may sound not much different to present-day reality. But governments
to date have been able to chant the two-state mantra to avoid having to think
anew. To continue in that vein will peddle false hope at best and, at worst, amount
to calculated deceit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">First
published by The Strategist (Australian Strategic Policy Institute), 16 June
2018</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-56747187803940452252017-10-20T10:55:00.001+11:002017-10-20T10:55:40.317+11:00<h1 class="entry-title" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Australia and capital punishment – rhetoric and reality</h1>
<div class="entry-content" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 12px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In pursuing Australia’s ultimately successful bid for election to the UN Human Rights Council, Foreign Minister Bishop declared that Australia would be ‘unrelenting’ in its efforts to abolish capital punishment globally. But Australia’s track record of selective outrage gives little hope for an energetic, universalist approach that goes beyond the rhetorical.</em><span id="more-13089" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
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The images are grainy and the filming unsteady, the voices of the officials smudged by the insistent, terrified chant of the black-robed women stretched before them: ‘I did not kill, I did not kill, I did not kill’.</div>
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Laila bint Abdul Muttalib Basim is about to be beheaded.</div>
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The executioner, a tall, burly man dressed in a traditional white gown and red and white checked head-scarf speaks impatiently to her. His left hand yanks at her shrouded head. The curved sword in his right hand glints in the early morning sun. The surrounding police seem to urge Laila to cooperate. Her awful plea beats on. Finally, unable to pull her upright, the executioner slashes at her throat. She screams at the first cut, the second one silences her. With a third sweep of the sword the executioner severs her head. Then, almost with a feminine grace, he lifts his gown with his left hand to avoid the blood splatter and steps away, carefully wiping his sword with a white cloth. A van comes into view and officials wearing surgical gloves hover over the body. One of them picks up Laila’s head and places it on her corpse, which is then wrapped and bundled into the van.</div>
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The date is 12 January 2015. This horrific scene, in the words of the Saudi Ministry of the Interior, has helped to restore security, realise justice, implement God’s rulings and warn others. It has also been captured on a cell-phone by one of the policemen on duty. His video appears briefly on You Tube and other social media sites. Those who see it cannot pronounce on Burmese-born Laila’s guilt or innocence, the alleged sexual abuse and death of her seven-year old stepdaughter. But they can judge whether such state-sanctioned killing (often in more clinical conditions) has a place in the modern world.</div>
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In pursuing Australia’s bid for a three-year term on the 47-member UN Human Rights Council, Julie Bishop termed the death penalty cruel, inhuman and degrading, no matter how it was carried out. She noted the lack of any credible evidence that it was an effective deterrent and that it was ‘regularly associated with miscarriages of justice … and the disproportionate execution of poor, ethnic and religious minorities’.</div>
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All true, and welcome comment to those of us who believe that the death penalty has no place in a world that pretends to be civilised. There is no evidence that the penalty deters crime in any meaningful way. Countries that have abolished the death penalty, or at least paused its use, have regularly experienced an actual decline in the murder rate. There is incontrovertible evidence that capital punishment continues to kill the innocent. An American National Academy of Sciences article in 2014, for example, estimated that if all those on death row in the US remained under sentence of death indefinitely at least four per cent would be exonerated. There are also clear indications that nations such as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and North Korea use capital punishment as a means of political and social control.</div>
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According to <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/death-penalty-2016-statistics-facts-figures" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Amnesty International</a>, at least 1,032 people were executed in 2016 in 23 countries worldwide, down from 1,634 in 2015. That figure excludes China, the world’s leading executioner but which withholds the data as a ‘state secret’. After China, the top executing nations were Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt and the US. While the number of executing countries globally is declining (104 in 1995, 60 in 2016) , the range of non-violent capital offences in some of them remains broad, including economic crimes and ‘deviant’ sexual or religious behaviour. These go well beyond the UN requirement that the death penalty be imposed only for ‘intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences’.</div>
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‘Extremely grave’ of course is open to wide interpretation. After the fall of President Mubarak in 2011, Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces included hooliganism and thuggery in the list of capital offences. Brunei has moved to make blasphemy and apostasy as well as sodomy and adultery by Muslims punishable by stoning to death. Papua New Guinea, a <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">de facto</em> abolitionist state which last saw an execution in 1954, has amended its Criminal Code to include robbery and sorcery-related murder as capital offences.</div>
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Australia’s strategy of urging retentionist states to reduce the number of capital offences, to introduce or maintain a moratorium on executions, and to work towards total abolition makes sense and we can hardly expect a major diplomatic outcry every time someone is executed. Yet if it is wrong to execute Australians it is equally wrong to execute Chinese, Americans, Indonesians, Bangladeshis, Saudis, Japanese and so on. Selective outrage gives executioner states the easy argument that it is essentially about nationality not principle.</div>
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If material I received in response to an FOI request about the US is any guide, Australia’s past advocacy can only be described as languid. A cable to DFAT from the Australian Embassy in Washington dated 18 September 2015 advised: ‘Since January 2014 we have not made any representations to the US federal government on the death penalty’. An email from DFAT to the embassy on 10 March 2016 asked: ‘We are responding to a piece of mincor [ministerial correspondence] on the death penalty … just wondering whether there are bilateral representations we could refer to?’ The reply: ‘Nothing at the federal level but a bit at the state level’. The latter in fact was ‘in support of foreign nationals, at the request of their governments’.</div>
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Yet between January 2014 and March 2016 there were more than 70 executions in the US including, in January 2016, a prisoner who had spent 36 years on death row.</div>
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The <a href="http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/Pages/aus-gov-response-jscfadt-report-a-world-without-the-death-penalty.aspx" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">government’s response</a> in March 2017 to a parliamentary committee report <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Australia’s Advocacy for the Abolition of the Death Penalty</em> is instructive. The government ‘noted’, ‘accepted’ or ‘accepted in principle’ 12 of the report’s 13 recommendations mainly couched in the language of reviewing, revisiting, developing and amending. Recommendation 3 was different. It noted the UN position that drug offences do not constitute the ‘most serious crimes’ for which the death penalty may be applied under international law and recommended that the AFP ‘obtain guarantees that prosecutors in partner countries will not seek to apply the death penalty before providing information’ in such cases.</div>
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The government rejected this recommendation, seemingly on the grounds that it might be difficult to implement and could impede intelligence cooperation with states that retain the death penalty. Yet in late 2015 the former Attorney General <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/philip-ruddock-says-police-guidelines-on-death-penalty-nations-should-become-law-20151127-gl9wel.html" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Philip Ruddock</a> had in fact suggested that such cooperation should be governed by laws rather than procedural guidelines. Ironically, in 2017 Ruddock was roaming the world as Australia’s special envoy on human rights, spruiking its UN HRC candidacy.</div>
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Any meaningful campaign to rid the world of capital punishment will pose risks to Australian interests and its international relationships. A genuinely ‘unrelenting’ campaign needs more than rhetoric about the evil of capital punishment and a dribble of financial support for civil society organisations campaigning against it. Unless there are <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">meaningful</em> costs for executioner states there is very little incentive for them to change their ways. Such costs, for example, could involve travel bans on selected individuals from law enforcement or judicial agencies, withholding support for candidacies in international organisations (the UN Human Rights Council perhaps) or downgrading intelligence or strategic information sharing. If Australia continues its current selective, inconsistent ways it doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously.<br />
<i style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "book antiqua" , serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "book antiqua" , serif;">First published on 20.10.17 at Pearls and Irritations </span></i><i style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , serif;"><a href="http://johnmenadue.com/"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #3778cd;">http://johnmenadue.com/</span></a></span></i><br />
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</div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-48779277258963964232017-06-30T22:47:00.001+10:002017-06-30T22:47:28.119+10:00Trump’s sugar hit in Israel mugged by reality<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Arriving in Israel on 22
May, Donald Trump told the Israeli President that he’d ‘just got back from the
Middle East’. Not the most geographically informed start to the visit but from
then on it was all schmooze, to the obvious delight of Trump’s hosts.
Remarkably, Trump gave his twitter fingers a well-deserved rest and stayed on
script. This might have been welcome except for the script itself. It appeared
to include nothing of consequence – so even Trump’s critics acknowledged that
as he had nothing to say he said it well. As Trump settled back into the White
House, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – both important to US strategic interests in the
Middle East – resumed their spiteful relationship.<br />
<br />
For a President who has spoken of Israeli-Palestinian peace as the ‘ultimate
deal’ to finish the <a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/Pearls%20and%20Irritations/i24NEWS%20-%20Resolving%20Israeli-Palestinian%20conflict%20is%20ultimate%20deal,%20says%20'dealmaker'%20Trump_files">‘war
that never ends’</a> what was truly remarkable about Trump’s two-day
sojourn in Israel was the public absence of any pointer as to how his
administration plans to put that deal together. Nothing about Palestinian
statehood – or the alternatives, nothing about Israeli settlements, nothing
about borders and capitals, nothing about mutual security, nothing about
Palestinian refugees. These issues are critical to any deal yet there was not
the faintest hint of how the Trump administration might approach them. In the
words of one <a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/Pearls%20and%20Irritations/The%20one%20thing%20missing%20from%20Trump's%20visit%20to%20Israel%20-%20Israel%20News%20-%20Haaretz.com.html">Israeli
commentator</a>, Trump offered Israelis a diet consisting almost entirely of
sugar and sweets. <br />
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<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Some of the saccharine
quickly rubbed off when, on 1 June, Trump broke an election promise and signed
a <a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/Pearls%20and%20Irritations/With%20an%20eye%20toward%20a%20Mideast%20peace%20deal,%20Trump%20puts%20off%20his%20promise%20to%20move%20U.S.%20Embassy%20to%20Jerusalem%20-%20LA%20Times.html">presidential
waiver</a> delaying the move of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem. Reaction from Israeli and Palestinian leaders was predictable, one
Zionist Union MP describing Trump as a ‘false Messiah’. But US Presidents have
signed the waiver every six month since 1998 and the fact that Trump broke a
pre-election undertaking surprised no-one. The White House said the waiver was
a ‘decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between
Israel and the Palestinians’. It’s a card to be dealt much later in any
negotiating process.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Media reports have
suggested the US is mulling over a <a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/Pearls%20and%20Irritations/U.S.%20mulls%20formulating%20a%20principles%20paper%20on%20core%20issues%20of%20Israeli-Palestinian%20conflict%20-%20Israel%20News%20-%20Haaretz.com_files">‘Principles
Paper</a> to restart negotiations. We might ask what new principles are
left to be discovered? The elements of a resolution go back to the much
maligned (sometimes unfairly) <a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/Pearls%20and%20Irritations/Declaration%20of%20Principles%20on%20Interim%20Self-Government%20Arrangements%20(Oslo%20Accords)%20_%20UN%20Peacemaker_files">1993
Declaration of Principles</a>. In late 2016, then US Secretary of
State’s, John Kerry, unveiled the <a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/Pearls%20and%20Irritations/'Jerusalem%20as%20capital%20of%20two%20states'%20and%20Kerry's%205%20other%20principles%20for%20peace%20_%20The%20Times%20of%20Israel.html">six
principles </a>which he said had to </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">underlie a renewed search for peace based
on a two-state solution. <br />
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<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Perhaps these familiar
principles are now old hat. During Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last
February, </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/Pearls%20and%20Irritations/Donald%20Trump%20says%20US%20not%20committed%20to%20two-state%20Israel-Palestine%20solution%20_%20World%20news%20_%20The%20Guardian_files">Trump
declared</a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"> that
the US ‘will encourage peace and really a great peace deal … But it is the
parties themselves who must directly negotiate such an agreement. To be honest,
if Bibi [Netanyahu] and the Palestinians, if Israel and the Palestinians are
happy – I’m happy with the one they like the best.’<br />
<u1:p></u1:p>Trump’s happiness is irrelevant. It is delusional to think that
the Palestinians will give up on a state of their own, or that Israelis will
accept a one-state solution in which, over time, Jews might become a minority.<br />
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<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Barely had Trump settled
back into the White House than Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain broke
off diplomatic relations with Qatar. There is a long history of antagonism
between the Saudis and Qataris, based on Qatar’s support for the Muslim
Brotherhood, its funding of Al-Jazeera and its less than openly hostile
relationship with Iran. The ostensible reason for the break was Qatar’s support
for ‘terrorism’, quite ironic given Saudi Arabia’s record of support for
extremist Islamic thinking.<br />
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<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">But with his tweeting
fingers back on normal duty </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/Pearls%20and%20Irritations/Trump%20Takes%20Credit%20for%20Saudi%20Move%20Against%20Qatar,%20a%20U.S.%20Military%20Partner%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times_files">Trump
wrote</a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"> with
usual modesty and understatement:</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><br />
<u1:p></u1:p><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><i>During my<span class="apple-converted-space"> recent trip to the Middle East [during which
he met with the Emir of Qatar] </span>I stated that there can no longer be
funding of Radical Ideology … Leaders pointed to Qatar — look!</i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><i><br />
<span style="background: white;"></span>So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit
with the King and 50 countries already paying off<span class="apple-converted-space"> … </span>They said they would take a
hard line on funding … Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the
horror of terrorism!</i><br />
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<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">We’ve
yet to see Trump’s analysis of the possible effect on the operation of al-Udeid
air base in Qatar, home to the US military’s Central Command and about 10,000
American troops. Vladimir Putin will be watching with interest.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><br />
</span></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">First published on 8.7.17 at Pearls and
Irritations </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"><a href="http://johnmenadue.com/"><span style="background: white; color: #3778cd;">http://johnmenadue.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-16423999340608396702017-06-30T14:26:00.001+10:002017-06-30T14:26:05.592+10:00Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia and the Hypocrisy Olympics<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The breathless hypocrisy
of Donald Trump’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia should leave us all reeling. The
fact that the new president could make his first overseas journey to the very country
he previously castigated, rightly, as the mother lode of 9/11 is bad enough.
But the sycophancy he displayed to his hosts, especially King Salman, demonstrated
just what a dangerous chameleon Trump is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">What an irony that Trump’s
speech in Riyadh to the leaders of more than 50 Muslim countries proclaimed
that “we will make history again with the opening of a new Global Centre for
Combating Extremist Ideology, located right here”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Does this man know
anything about history, including his own? Has he forgotten his 2011 observation
about Saudi Arabia: “It’s <span style="color: #232323;">the world's biggest
funder of terrorism. Saudi Arabia funnels our petrodollars … to fund the
terrorists that seek to destroy our people while the Saudis rely on us to
protect them.”?</span> Has he forgotten his 2015 comment: “<span style="color: #232323;">The primary reason we are with Saudi Arabia is because we
need the oil.”?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #232323;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #232323;">Even though he detested her, Trump might have learned
from Hillary Clinton. </span><span style="color: #222222;">A leaked 2014 email
from Clinton said the US should use it diplomatic and traditional intelligence
assets to pressure Qatar and Saudi Arabia, “which are providing clandestine
financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the
region”. These countries, she argued, should be forced to balance </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;">their ongoing competition to dominate
the Sunni world with the consequences of “serious U.S. pressure”. </span><span style="color: #222222;">Another Clinton email from early 2016 included an excerpt
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">from a closed-door speech in October 2013 in
which she stated baldly: “the Saudis have exported more extreme ideology than
any other place on earth over the course of the last 30 years”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #232323;">Using its enormous
oil revenues to fund this export, Saudi Arabia is in a league of its own. The
sums involved are vast – estimated by intelligence agencies, scholars and
others at upwards of US$100 billion. That buys a lot of “cultural advancement”.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;">The US State Department’s first special representative to Muslim
communities worldwide, Farah Pandit, wrote in 2015: “</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">I travelled to 80 countries between 2009
and 2014 … In each place I visited, the Wahhabi influence was an insidious
presence; changing the local sense of identity, displacing historic, culturally
vibrant forms of Islamic practice; and pulling along individuals who were
either paid to follow their rules or who became on their own custodians of the
Wahhabi world view. Funding all this was Saudi money, which paid for things
like the textbooks, mosques, TV stations and the training of Imams.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #232323;">In late
2015, the Algerian journalist, Kamel Douad, neatly described Saudi Arabia as
“an ISIS that has made it”. It is the country which </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;">produced Osama bin Laden and 15 of the
19 9/11 hijackers, sent more<span class="apple-converted-space"> suicide
bombers to Iraq </span>than any other country after 2003, and has supplied more<span class="apple-converted-space"> foreign fighters </span>to the Islamic
State than any country other than Tunisia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Perhaps the Saudi royal family and religious establishment have seen the
error of their ways. Perhaps King Salman, over whom Trump positively drooled,
has turned a new leaf. Or perhaps Trump’s wilful amnesia, combined with his limitless
vanity, make him an easy mark. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Salman certainly has form as an ardent promoter of jihadists. He was the
royal family’s bagman for jihadis in Afghanistan during the 1980s and the
Balkans in the 1990s. Shortly after ascending the throne, in early 2015 he
presented the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam to Zakir
Naik, an Indian Muslim “televangelist”. One of Naik’s contribution to
international harmony was to describe 9/11 as an inside job led by President
George W. Bush. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For a fleeting moment in
Riyadh, it seemed that Trump might call the Saudis out. No discussion of
Islamic extremism, he declared, would be complete without mentioning the government
that gives terrorists “safe harbour, financial backing and the social standing
needed for recruitment”. But he was speaking, “of course, of Iran”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Iran is no model
international citizen. But it has just <span style="background: white; color: #333333;">conducted a free and democratic election to choose a new political
leader. That’s more than can ever be said for Saudi Arabia or indeed for most
Arab states. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Trump termed the new
approach he unveiled in Riyadh – which omitted <i>any</i> reference to democratic governance and basic civil and
political rights – as “Principled Realism”. Tragically, this president wouldn’t
know a principal even if it were illuminated in neon from atop one of his
towers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">First published on 31.5.17 at Pearls and Irritations </span><a href="http://johnmenadue.com/" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">http://johnmenadue.com/</a></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-84052453550100366232017-06-30T14:25:00.000+10:002017-06-30T14:25:03.413+10:00Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the US: the conniving and the confused<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Saudi Arabia’s ultimatum to Qatar says much
about the Kingdom’s dreams of regional hegemony, its proxy war with Iran, and
its glaring double-standards over ‘interventionism’. It amounts to a demand for
Qatar’s total surrender. Qatar faces meaningful pain from the Saudi-led
economic boycott but the chances of it acceding to the ultimatum are zero.
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration struggles to develop a coherent approach.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">The </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/PI%20-%20Qatar/Qatar%20given%2010%20days%20to%20meet%2013%20sweeping%20demands%20by%20Saudi%20Arabia%20_%20World%20news%20_%20The%20Guardian_files"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">13 point ultimatum</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"> issued in late June
makes crystal clear the goal of bringing Qatar to heel and of brooking no
domestic or regional behaviour that challenges the authority of Saudi Arabia
and its anti-Qatar squad, principally the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">The ultimatum’s requirements range from the obvious
to the ludicrous. The more predictable ones include: winding back Qatar’s relations
with Iran and Turkey; the cutting of ties to individuals or non-state actors
opposed to </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Saudi Arabia and its allies—under the guise of anti-terrorism measures; the
closure of<i> al-Jazeera </i>and its affiliates—the contest here, despite the
rhetoric from both sides, not being about freedom of expression but which Arab
autocracy should rule the airwaves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The last four demands in the
ultimatum have a decidedly Monty Pythonesque flavour. They require Qatar to: pay
reparations and compensation for
loss of life and other financial losses caused by its policies in
recent years; consent to monthly audits for the first year, quarterly audits in
the second and annual ones over the following 10 years; align itself with other
Gulf and Arab countries ‘militarily,
politically, socially and economically’ and, finally, to agree to all 13 demands
within 10 days, after which the list becomes ‘invalid’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Qatar is as practiced as any of
its regional neighbours in dodgy behaviour but the ultimatum gives new meaning
to the term ‘ambit’. We can only puzzle, for example, how willing the Saudis
would be to allow a 10+ year audit of their financial or other support for
‘terrorists’, or to recompense those who have been victims of Saudi action or
inaction. And exactly which ‘other Gulf and Arab states’ offer the model for
Qatar to follow: Iraq, with its Shia majority; Bahrain (part of the Saudi-led
bloc), with its Sunni rulers perched atop a not always quiescent Shia majority;
perhaps Yemen, where the Saudis and the UAE are struggling to contain an
Iranian backed insurrection? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The 10-day deadline will pass
with the two sides locked in insult. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">If the ultimatum seems a bit over the place
it has a soulmate in US policy. In one of his infamous tweets, Trump took
credit for the Saudi-led move against Qatar. Since then the beleagured State
Department and Secretary of State Tillerson have tried to inject a measure of commonsense.
(Tillerson, we might note, is </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/PI%20-%20Qatar/Where%20Trump%20Zigs,%20Tillerson%20Zags,%20Putting%20Him%20at%20Odds%20With%20White%20House%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times_files"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">on record</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"> as observing: ‘</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
not involved in how the president constructs his tweets, when he tweets, why he
tweets, what he tweets’.) Before the ultimatum became public, Tillerson urged that
any demands be ‘reasonable and actionable’. Boris Johnson following a similar
script with ‘measured and realistic’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Trying to steer a course
through this mess, Tillerson has since headed for the half-way house, </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/PI%20-%20Qatar/Some%20Saudi-led%20bloc%20'demands%20very%20difficult%20to%20meet'%20_%20Qatar%20News%20_%20Al%20Jazeera_files"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">describing the ultimatum’s
requirements</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> both as ‘very difficult to meet’, yet offering
‘</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">significant areas which provide a basis for ongoing dialogue leading to
a resolution’.</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> He would much rather keep his distance and let the ‘Arab
family’ sort it out. But the US has a lot at stake with these family members. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With its
ostracisation, Qatar now faces the financial burden of needing to fly in a much
greater proportion of its food and other daily essentials. Given its ranking in
world GDP (PPP), at US$139,100 second only to Liechtenstein, (Australia sits at
29, with US$48,800), Qatar has an enviable cushion. But foreign workers,
including more than 200,000 Egyptians, make up nearly 90 per cent of Qatar’s
population of about 2.6 million. Many of them will be vulnerable to any significant
price rise for basic commodities. If the blockade were to be prolonged it could
also prompt nail-biting globally over the construction schedule for soccer’s
world cup in 2022. Flying in steel and cement is a rather different proposition
to flying in meat and vegetables. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">An immediate loser
from the blockade is Qatar Airways, shut out of busy regional markets at a time
when Doha and Dubai are competing to be the Middle East hub between Asia and
Europe. One bit of ‘good’ news for Qatar Airways is that its world-record
longest commercial flight, from Doha to Auckland, is now a little safer. The
airline took the title in early 2017 with a flight distance of 14,529
kilometres, beating the previous record of 14,200 kilometres—set by Emirates. With
Qatar Airways now having to avoid Saudi airspace, New Zealand is just that bit
further away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First published on
20.6.17 at Pearls and Irritations <a href="http://johnmenadue.com/">http://johnmenadue.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-32585941825842969362017-04-19T16:35:00.000+10:002017-04-19T16:35:22.866+10:00Fish Publishing Flash Fiction Competition (max 300 words) - my shortlisted entry: A Tongue Lashing<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A Tongue Lashing<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You’re not
going to enjoy this but it’s time for some home truths. Our life together must change,
which means you must change. Bluntly put, you’re extremely boring to live with.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You like
lists, so here’s the story of our tedious existence under four headings: words;
food; drink; sex. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes, I do
know your friends are impressed with your vocabulary; precipitation rather than
rain, axiomatic rather than bloody obvious. But your sentences are also stuffed
with phrases such as, oh really?, but surely!, is that so?, no kidding! They’re
an insult to your, and my, abilities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Look at what
we eat, even at restaurants. I know vegetarianism is all the go. But tell me this,
just how many brown rice and nut meat casseroles with a side order of tofu chips
are you planning to eat in your lifetime? I want variety, and a good rump steak
once a week. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At least
you’re not teetotal, even if you do hide the bottle in the bedroom, well away
from your mother’s prying eyes. But Marsala?! There’s a lot of fine wine around.
A good red might just help us bond. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As for sex,
you ponder why it happens so rarely. Simple answer, oral hygiene. Sucking your
teeth is not the same as cleaning them. It makes me want to puke. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now you’re
getting stroppy, I can feel your blood pressure rising. How dare I berate you,
you demand to know. Well, as your tongue, I have a right to express my opinions.
Change your lifestyle … or else. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here are the options we face: the odorous; the
ulcerous; the cancerous. Perhaps all three at once. Not pretty, I know, but desperate
times breed desperate measures. You’ve
been warned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-43840052150873550942017-03-12T15:14:00.000+11:002017-03-12T15:14:29.346+11:00Israel and Palestine: Dr Sigmund Freud interviews Warren Mundine on his recent Australian Financial Review article <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: A lot of
people seem to think your article, deriding the idea of a Palestinian state and
expressing unqualified support for Israel, was ignorant and unbalanced. You
were a bit selective, weren’t you now?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Of course,
I bloody was. I’m not going to put in stuff that undermines the point of view I’m
expressing on behalf of those who wish it expressed, am I?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Mmm … very
interesting, are you confirming that the article in fact was written by someone
else?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Look here,
my name was on it, and it was spelt correctly. What more do you want?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Perhaps
we might explore some of the elements in your article. You wrote that in 1917 Britain
declared support for a Jewish national home in Palestine. That was, of course,
the famous Balfour Declaration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Never
heard of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: I’m not surprised.
The Declaration said, and I quote, “His Majesty’s government views with favour
the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will
use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object—”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM (<i>interrupting</i>): Yeah, ripper!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Let me
continue, please! I quote again: “It being clearly understood that nothing
shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing
non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What do you
make of that last comment, Mr Mundine?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Bloody
Brits were simply pandering to a tiny minority of those with no ties to the
land whatsoever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: At that
time, Mr Mundine, there were less than 60,000 Jews in Palestine and an Arab
population of about 600,000. So could you clarify who the tiny minority was?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: No, I
could not! There’ll be no gotcha moment when I’m being interviewed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Did you
know that in 1891 a well-known Jewish writer observed, and I quote again: “If a
time comes when our people in Palestine push out the native inhabitants”, note
the use of the word native, Mr Mundine, “they will not give up their place
easily”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Now look
here doctor Freud, or whatever you are, I’ve never claimed to be a student of history,
it’s the feel of these things, the vibe. Facts are useful, but only when they
suit the purpose. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Perhaps
we should touch on more contemporary issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Now you’re
talking, I’m a very contemporary man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Your
article, I’m tempted to put your in inverted commas but I’ll give you the benefit
of the doubt, commented that since 1967 Israel has been surrounded by countries
who want to drive it off the face of the earth. Which surrounding countries exactly
did you have in mind? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Aw, well,
um, give me a mo, Iran, Uruguay, Albania, Ethiopia, Jordan, and that’s just for
starters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: When’s
your birthday?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: What’s
that got to do with it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: I want
to buy you an atlas. By the way, Jordan has had a peace treaty with Israel
since 1994.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: No-one
told me that! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Did
anyone tell you that in 1993 the Palestinian Liberation Organisation formally recognised
the state of Israel in an exchange of letters between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak
Rabin? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Can’t
remember, and I have no idea who you’re talking about. What I do remember is
being told that everything that goes wrong is entirely the fault of the Palestinians.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: There
are quite a few people, including Israelis, who strongly disagree with that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WM: Well,
they’re nothing more than, there’s a phrase for it, got it here somewhere (<i>reaches into coat pocket and extracts a
small, tatty piece of paper</i>), yeah, that’s right, self-hating Jews. Good
phrase that one. Come to think of it, doctor Freud, you probably one of them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-51694960248646410852017-01-28T13:15:00.000+11:002017-02-03T16:12:55.860+11:00North Korea Celebrates Trumpism with a new Ten-point Plan: Dr Sigmund Freud's exclusive interview with Kim Jong-un<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">SF: If I may, Beloved, Supreme, Leader, begin
with a profound apology for missing your recent birthday celebrations. I was
delayed in leaving what you described in your recent autobiography—volume 26 I believe—as
the Great Neo-Fascistic Capitalist Enterprise. So many Americans were departing
it was impossible to book a flight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">BSL: Relax Doctor, these things happen. And note
I have just offered you a beatific smile. It doesn’t happen very often. But I
feel particularly relaxed and comfortable even though I’ve never owned a
cardigan. Good times are upon us, Doctor, as we, I that is, have just finalised
our new Ten Point Plan. Here is your autographed copy. Let me summarise:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(<i>Reads</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Build wall to keep out South
Koreans<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Test Nuclear Device<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Build islands in Indian,
Pacific and Atlantic Oceans to increase living space for gallant North Korean
people, to expand territorial waters and to promote cultural exchanges<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Test Nuclear Device<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Make triumphant State Visit
to Great Neo-Fascistic Capitalist Enterprise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">6.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Test Nuclear Device<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">7.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Execute a few uncles and hordes
of other reprobates<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">8.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Test Nuclear Device<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">9.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dye hair of Beloved, Supreme
Leader a new colour to symbolise dynamism of new way forward <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">10.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Test Nuclear Device<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 39.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">11.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Update torture training
manuals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">SF: Excuse me for interrupting Beloved, Supreme, Leader
but that’s eleven points.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">BSL <i>(Silently
reads the summary while counting on fingers. His brow furrows but, remarkably,
he smiles.)</i>: What does it matter? We’ll be even more successful. And for
future reference Doctor please note there is no comma between Supreme and
Leader. I’ve overlooked it on this occasion because of my magnanimous frame of
mind but others have learnt that it’s an unhealthful mistake to make. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">SF: It’s certainly an ambitious plan, Beloved, Supreme
Leader, but some might question the priorities and surely the nation cannot
afford it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">BSL <i>(Smiles
again, setting a personal best for displays of good humour in a 24-hour
period.)</i>: Ah that’s the genius of my plan, Dr Freud. I will admit we are
not in the best of economic times. But from now on all those wishing to meet
our desperate need for the essentials of life will have to pay a tariff on
whatever they give us. We’ll collect millions, billions. <i>(Claps hands in delight.)</i> It’s genius, Dr Freud, pure genius. We
can build walls and islands and nuclear devices and torture chambers and we won’t
spend a cent of our own, even if we had one. I am most surprised no-one else has devised
this economic model before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">SF: I am sorry to dampen the occasion, Beloved, Supreme
Leader, but I think they have. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-15511516839824673012017-01-22T14:20:00.000+11:002017-01-22T15:22:44.717+11:00Dr Sigmund Freud's gallant effort to analyse Donald Trump's inauguration<div class="MsoNormal">
Among the spectators at Donald Trump’s inauguration was a
well-dressed, bespectacled man, wearing a carefully trimmed beard and a severe
look. He had been tasked by the International Association of Psychopathology to
make sense of the occasion. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SF: Excuse me madam, but I am enquiring as to the reasons people
are in such an exuberant mood today. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woman (<i>Looking warily
at Freud</i>): Because we all feel great again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SF: May I ask the factors that have produced this sense of
elation? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woman (<i>Shaking her
head in disbelief</i>): We feel great because with President Trump we know exactly
where we stand. You could never tell with those horrible Democrats. With Mr Trump,
there’s never a doubt. He’s put honesty back into lying, truly a new era for
our nation and the world. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SF (<i>Turning to a middle-aged
man</i>): And you sir, what brought you here today?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Man (<i>In strong
Southern drawl</i>): I just loved <i>The
Apprentice</i>. What a show! Couldn’t wait for those words, “You’re fired!” (<i>Chuckles</i>.) That’s exactly what Trump’ll
do with world leaders. If they don’t play their part in makin’ America great
again then, wait for it … “you’re fired!” Boy-oh-boy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SF: I am not so sure it will quite work that way. (<i>Speaks to elegantly dressed woman carrying a
poodle wearing a Trump cap</i>): And you madam, why are you here today?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woman: Why that’s easy, I’m so worried about my husband’s
hearing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SF: Could you elaborate?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woman: Oh my Chuck just loves to go shooting with his buddies—only wild animals of course, isn't that right darling. (<i>She smooches the poodle.</i>)
They all come home their ears ringing, they can barely understand a word anyone
says. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SF: I’m sorry, I am not quite following you. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woman: Oh, you must be a foreigner! But not from Mexico,
thank God, your beard’s too neat. It’s just so hard these days for honest,
hard-working Americans to buy silencers. It’s alright for
Socialists to wear ear-muffs when they go shooting, but no red-blooded American wants to look like Elmer
Fudd do they now? Never mind ISIS and Obamacare. It’s a fundamental right for
all Americans to carry guns with silencers. And Trump will make that happen. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Freud, looking a
little shaken by these encounters, now approaches a thickset man standing by
himself, an expensive camera hanging from his neck. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SF: I hope I am not disturbing you, sir, but may I ask what
brought you out today?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Man (<i>Speaking in
heavily accented English</i>): It’s a wonderful day for our great people.
Finally, we have our man in the Whitehouse. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SF: And which part of America are you from? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Man: I am not permitted to say anything more. Please contact my office if you need to discuss further with my superiors. (<i>He hands Freud a name card</i>.) Please note the opening hours of the Russian Embassy are 9am to 4.30pm Monday to
Friday. Goodbye. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-52220653148530319392017-01-08T13:51:00.002+11:002017-01-09T11:17:55.567+11:00 Australia’s campaign against the death penalty – real or phony?<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On 10 October 2016, Australia’s Foreign Minister, Julie
Bishop, commemorated World Day Against the Death Penalty with a media release. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Her eyes fixed on Australia’s candidacy for the United Nations
Human Rights Council – in which abolition of the death penalty is purportedly a
national priority – Minister Bishop said the right things. The penalty constituted
cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment regardless of how it was carried out.
Given the lack of any ‘credible evidence that it is an effective crime
deterrent’ the penalty was senseless. It was ‘regularly associated with
miscarriages of justice, the inadvertent execution of innocents, and the
disproportionate execution of poor, ethnic and religious minorities’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">All true, and welcome comment for those of us who believe
that the death penalty has no place in a world with pretences of civilisation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fast forward to 12 December 2016 when Ms Bishop delivered
a ‘Human Rights Speech’ to the <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney. In forum after forum, the
Minister declared, ‘</span>whether in bilateral meetings or in multilateral
settings like the United Nations, Australia has argued the case for abolition -
with calm, with patience and with determination’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">And,
regrettably it seems, with a distinct lack of success. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">If 2015 figures
are anything to go by, between Ms Bishop’s media release in October 2016 and
her Lowy Institute speech two months later some 250 people were executed by
governments world-wide. And that figure excludes China, the world’s leading
official killer, which treats death penalty data as a state secret. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Perhaps it’s
unrealistic to expect a major diplomatic offensive every time someone is
executed. But what levers, if any, is the Australian Government pulling to
pressure the world’s top five executing states: China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia and the United States? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Less than a
week before Ms Bishop’s Lowy Institute speech, William Sallie was killed by
lethal injection in the US state of Georgia. He had been on death row for 25
years. What did the Australian Government say to US governments about Sallie’s
execution, or the 18 other executions in the US that preceded it in 2016? Very
little it seems, if material I received in response to an earlier FOI request
is any guide. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">A cable from
the Australian Embassy in Washington dated 18 September 2015 advised the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra: ‘Since January 2014 we
have not made any representations to the US federal government on the death
penalty.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">An email from
DFAT to the embassy on 10 March 2016 asked: ‘We are responding to a piece of
mincor [ministerial correspondence] on the death penalty … just wondering
whether there are bilateral representations we could refer to?’ The reply:
‘Nothing at the federal level but a bit at the state level.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">This email
exchange hardly suggests an energised, determined effort. The 'bit at state level' in fact was 'in support of foreign nationals, at the request of their governments'. No independent initiative there. Yet six months
earlier, in announcing Australia’s candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council, Minister
Bishop asserted that Australia would be ‘</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">a strong advocate for global abolition of
the death penalty, one of Australia’s core human rights objectives.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ben Quilty, Archibald Prize winner and mentor and
confidant of Myuran Sukumaran, is currently co-curating an exhibition of Sukumaran's art which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the hanging of Ronald Ryan, the last person executed in Australia. Quilty wrote recently that 2017 was a year for ‘all
Australian to stand up … against the death penalty’. Internationally, he
claimed, ‘in 2017 we will have the moral high ground, the soapbox, and it
should be used’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yet if Australia is truly to occupy the moral high ground,
if its <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">campaign
against the death penalty is to have meaning, its advocacy needs to be more open and consistent. It must be genuinely universal, not mostly reserved for the occasions when
Australians are facing the hangman or the swordsman, the bullet or the needle. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">On that, we have a long way to go. </span> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-73946362872027085212016-10-31T17:38:00.000+11:002016-10-31T17:38:21.158+11:00Breaking News – Kevin Rudd to Run in US Presidential Race<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">USA Tomorrow</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">, 31 October 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Washington
is abuzz with the revelation that Kevin Rudd has offered himself as a
compromise candidate in next week’s US presidential contest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One
administration insider described the news as the breakthrough moment American
voters had prayed for. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">''With Kevin
in the race, with the full backing of Botswana and the FBI, voters will feel so
much better choosing between Clinton or Trump, knowing there’s now an even
worse alternative."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Asked
whether it was possible for a someone with Rudd’s background – failed national
leader (x2), failed UN Secretary General candidate (x1), non-US citizen
(ongoing), megalomaniac (ongoing), our source dismissed these as trifles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"The point
is that Kevin combines all the characteristics we loathe in Hillary and Donald.
It’s no mean feat to make them look good but by God he’s done it.''<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mr Rudd was
unavailable for interview. His spokeswoman said, ''I am authorised to say that Kev,
a humble man of the people, is delighted to step up to the plate, put his
shoulder to the wheel as the rubber hits the road and offer to serve the
American electors in any capacity as their President with a fresh load of
programmatic specificity''. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-23718922969802106652016-09-28T17:42:00.002+10:002016-09-28T17:42:42.260+10:00The past is a different country – they washed up then<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Every day,
tens of thousands of people dump on America without saying a word. They open
their mouths, it’s true. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">But that is for
the food consumed off polystyrene plates, often in bilious amounts, using
plastic knives and forks, or for the cold or hot drinks guzzled from
polystyrene cups.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There’s no more
alarming way to see this than to drive across America, which we did a little
while ago. In grand hotels and pit-stop motels polystyrene is king. And even
though some forms of this ubiquitous, environmentally iniquitous, product are recyclable
it mostly goes into the trash, destined for landfill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The hotel
and motel owners (and restaurateurs) of America need only take a peek at Trip
Advisor or elsewhere on the Internet to sense the cry for change:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Are
you serious – polystyrene plates and plastic cutlery at breakfast?!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Polystyrene
and plastic cutlery set the standard.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘<i>Everything</i> in the dining room was
disposable … Nothing cheapens a meal quite so much as using disposable plates
and cutlery.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Billy Connolly
joined in the lament against ‘polystyrene plates and plastic cutlery’ writing of
his road trip along the famous Route 66. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So what or
who’s to blame? Is the food so bad it doesn’t matter what it’s served on? Have the
dishwashers of America, threatened with deportation by Donald Trump, gone to
ground? Does the fault lie more with Saudi Arabia? Battling Russia and Iran it’s
pushed oil prices to record lows. Cheap oil equals cheaper plastic. Why clean
up when you can throw away? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No matter
how blame is apportioned it's a phenomenon that’s rubbishing America. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-8059590261084342092016-07-06T12:45:00.001+10:002017-01-11T08:51:36.246+11:00Pauline Hanson: ‘Muslims to blame for climate change’<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Following a
break during the election campaign to ensure his interviews would remain non-partisan,
Dr Sigmund Freud met with Senator-elect Pauline Hanson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Congratulations
Ms Hanson, are you surprised at your success?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PH: Of course not,
what a stupid question. The Strayan people have longed for my return to take
the country back to the time when everyone knew where they stood and who they
were standing on. A time when things were black and white and there was none of
this awful brindlelisation we see all about us 24/7. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: But aren’t
you a product of what you call brindlelisation? Some years ago a DNA test
showed your own genetic make-up was drawn from the Middle East, Italy, Greece
and Turkey as well as Europe. Makes you a bit of a piebald doesn’t it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PH: Dr Froid, if
you think you can show me up as an ignorant hypocrite you’ve got another thing
coming. The Strayan people won’t stand idly by while some foreigner with a silly
name insults the one person who gives them hope for the future of bigotry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Whatever you might
say, Ms Hanson, your electoral appeal remains limited.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PH: That’s what you think! Straya’s full of
people like me. That’s one of our education system’s greatest achievements. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Why do you
hate Muslims so much?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PH: What planet do
you live on Dr Froid? They’re out to get us, to ruin our way of life.
Everywhere you go these days there’s a Muslim. And those women in their scary black
robes. If there’s not a bomb under them there’s a development proposal for a
mosque or a school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: You do know
that Muslims make up only about two per cent of the Australian population? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PH: That’s what
you say, Dr Froid. That’s why we need a Royal Commission to discover the real
true facts, including how Muslims ruin the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Are you saying
that Muslims are responsible for climate change?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PH: Of course I
am. Who else would be? Just have a look at what they’ve done in the Middle East
– nothing but sand, barely a tree, no water. It’s a disgrace. And it’ll happen
here. Mark my words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: But most
Muslims don’t even live in the Middle East. They live in Pakistan and India and
Bangladesh and Indonesia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PH: And just look
where those countries are, Dr Froid, getting closer and closer to Straya. They’re
out to get us and I’m the only person who can stop it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[SF closes his eyes, shakes his head and is unable to
continue.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-20849829495591149252016-05-11T18:44:00.001+10:002016-05-11T18:44:12.772+10:00Tony Abbott laments the lost art of bribery in an exclusive interview with Sigmund Freud<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Resuming his
interviews with insignificant Australians, Dr Freud met Tony Abbott soon after
the latter revealed he was offered a bribe as he left a glitzy party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: So what was the truth about that $5000? Was it not
enough, were the notes dirty, was it all in 5 cent coins?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: Well, some of the notes were really grubby. They must
have circulated in Labor Party electorates. But it was the principle that
forced me to Reject The Bribe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Principle?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: There’s an Art To Bribery. You can’t just say, ‘It’s Not Enough’
or ‘What An Evil’ or ‘Turnbull’s A Grub’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: What on earth are you talking about?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: Bribery, like
knighthoods and Eric Abetz, has ancient and dishonourable traditions that must
be respected if voters in Manly Warringah are to Have A Future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Tell me more about these so-called traditions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: You can sneer All You Like! But there’s an
etiquette that Must Be Honoured. Bribes should always be given at the
beginning of the party, Not The End. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: For God’s sake why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: Leave God Alone. You get the envelope as you arrive, you
duck into the toilet and do a quick count and that tells you how long you’re
expected to stay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: So what’s your going rate?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: I Won’t Say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: How long did you stay at ‘that’ party?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: Over Two Hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Did you feel cheated?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: I Won’t Say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: I’m confused. If it’s all about principle why did you need
to consult Senator Heiferman? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: Because he, like me, is a Man of Tradition, who respects Ways Long Gone. He also knows a thing or two about what you can Get Away With.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: When will you ever accept that three word slogans are a stupid
way to communicate?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: No, They’re Not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Yes they are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: No, They’re Not. You Use Them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: This Is Stupid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: Ha, Got Cha!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: I’m going, I have another interview.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA: Really, Who With?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Jobson Grothe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TA (<i>incredulous</i>): Only
Two Words. What A Wanker!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-92060182977902018002016-04-20T13:27:00.000+10:002016-04-20T13:27:05.184+10:00'Muslim invasions' and the truth: a warningAmong the alarmist nonsense doing the e-rounds is a piece by someone claiming to be "Marty Skinner, Canadian historian". Here's a follow-up to help "Marty" recover from his deeply addled condition.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Hi there</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Recently I wrote a piece that suggested I knew
something about the Middle East and the problems of the Muslim world. I called
myself a historian. As I’m sure was obvious to most of you I didn’t know what I
was talking about. I’m certainly no historian. They do this thing called
research which helps them understand the situations they’re writing about.
There’s no App for research and you actually have to make the effort of reading
and thinking. What a chore! That’s why I make stuff up. I find when I do that
people who are even lazier than I am, say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that and what a
clever, brave person you are for drawing it to my attention. So scary!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">That makes me feel pretty damn good! But it’s
mostly a lie. Anyone who believes it is as big an ignoramus as I am. It’s time
I came clean. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">In case you think I’m being a bit hard on myself
here are a few examples from my earlier piece.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">-</span><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I said that the Syrian refugee crisis was SUDDEN. That’s only because I
just noticed it. And I couldn’t be bothered checking the outflow of refugees
from Syria. Turns out that it began in earnest in May 2011. By September 2013
the UN High Commission for Refugees, which I’ve now heard of, put the number of
refugees at 2 million (plus another 4 million people who fled their homes but
were still inside Syria). Guess where they went? To neighbouring Muslim
countries like Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and even Iraq. Maybe that’s why I missed
it because quite frankly those countries mean nothing to me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I also suggested that most of the
refugees were young men. That sounds really frightening, like an invasion. Only
trouble, it’s nonsense. It’s actually almost a 50/50 split between men and
women. I know now it was a bit of a stretch to rely on the ravings of the former
Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, for the invasion story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">-</span><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I said that countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain hadn’t
taken any refugees at all. That’s absolutely true. What I didn’t say because it
would have spoiled the story is that these states are pretty obnoxious and some
of their leaders have flirted with ISIS. The refugees are actually trying to
get away from ISIS. I guess if I were in their shoes I’d much rather go to
Europe too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">-</span><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I wrote that by 2050 Muslims will be a majority in Europe. Through the
wonder of this exciting thing called research I’ve discovered that by 2050
Muslims will actually make up about 10 per cent of the population of Europe.
Bit of a difference isn’t there? I probably gave the game away when I wrote
that European non-Muslim families have an ‘average’ of 1 to 4 children,
compared to 8 for Muslims. Between 1-4 must be the weirdest ‘average’
ever. By the way, the correct figure for Muslims is about 3. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Finally, a word to my Australian friends. Yes, I know
some of you are worried about the ‘Muslim threat’ to Australia. Yes, the world
of Islam is occasionally very difficult and it would be good for more Muslims
to publicly speak out against the actions of a vicious minority of their
co-religionists. I hate to use the research word again but I’ve been actually
looking at the figures. A question for you: is the Muslim population of
Australia around 2%, 12%, 22%, 32%? It’s not hard to check if you really want
to know what’s going on. If you don’t and you’d prefer to stay with my earlier
story then I’m afraid you’ll have joined me in the ignorant bigot club. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I’d also add two other points:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">-</span><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> - </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Australian children are at greater risk from Christian clergy than they
are from ISIS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">-</span><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> - </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The only people who can legitimately ‘Reclaim Australia’ are Indigenous
Australians: so most of you better be careful what you wish for or you might
end up joining the queue of all those trying to get to Europe!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">That’s all for now. What more can I say but that I
am really, really sorry. I know you’ll think I’m a clutz and you should. But I
am trying to make amends. Please share this with anyone who you think might be
interested in the facts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">With apologies again for misleading you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Marty<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-7140995700901052052016-03-29T19:44:00.001+11:002016-03-29T19:44:17.428+11:00Terrorism and words: a reality-check on Isis<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">If truth is the first
casualty of war, common sense is the first victim of terrorism. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">There are no better
examples than the hyper-ventilated assertions which followed the recent bombings
in Brussels. France’s President Hollande declared that ‘all of Europe has been
hit’. UK Prime Minister David Cameron warned that his country faced ‘a very
real threat’. Here, Malcolm Turnbull ticked off the Europeans for their sloppy
security. Prominent journalist Greg Sheridan, channelling Donald Trump’s
absurdity that ‘Belgium and France are literally disintegrating’, wrote that
the attacks represented a ‘damn [sic] burst’ which left the ‘structures of the world
… trembling’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">If we didn’t know better
we might easily mistake messrs Hollande, Cameron, Turnbull and Sheridan and
regrettably many others as Isis recruiting agents. Their comments are a dream
for the organisation’s propagandists. Worse, they paint a picture of the threat
from Isis that is not borne out by the reality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Isis terror threatens
individual <i>safety</i>. Does it really threaten the <i>security</i> of
European or Western states more broadly? There is a vital difference between
the two ‘s’ words. Isis is a truly appalling outfit which commits heinous
deeds. It has around 30,000 fighters and controls large tracts in Iraq and
Syria. But without a navy, without an air force, how exactly does that
translate into threat potent enough to make ‘the world’ tremble? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Fortunately, there is still
wise counsel to be had. President Obama’s 2016 State-of-the-Union </span><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/12/remarks-president-barack-obama-%E2%80%93-prepared-delivery-state-union-address"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">address</span></a><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> should be required reading for all those prone to
excitability: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">… over-the-top
claims that this is World War III just play into their hands. Masses of
fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments
or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they
do not threaten our national existence. That’s the story ISIL wants to tell;
that’s the kind of propaganda they use to recruit.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Some of the best
commentary on Brussels came from <i>The</i> <i>Guardian’s</i> Simon Jenkins.
The political and media over-reaction, he wrote, ‘converted a squalid
psychopathological act into a warrior-evoking, population-terrifying,
policy-changing event’. It also illuminated an appalling double-standard given
that the ‘atrocities in Brussels happen almost daily on the streets of Baghdad,
Aleppo and Damascus’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">For Americans, and quite possibly many others in
the ‘trembling’ West, household furniture poses at least as great a danger as
terrorism. </span><a href="http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2012/02/24/america-is-a-safe-place/"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Micah </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Zenko
</span></a><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">from the reputable Council on
Foreign Relations has written that in the decade after 9/11 an average of 29
Americans were killed each year in terrorist attacks. Figures compiled by the US
Consumer Product Safety Commission showed that about the same number were
crushed to death each year by unstable television sets and furniture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Unwelcome
news for the hyper-ventilators; important perspective for everyone else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-36072726805878247902016-03-11T15:27:00.000+11:002016-03-11T15:27:36.211+11:00Election update: the inside story from Malcolm Turnbull <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After
examining the intricacies of Australian politics and discovering there weren’t
any, Dr Sigmund Freud eased himself back into the interview circuit by chatting
to the Prime Minister.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Wonderful to see you again Dr Freud, there’s
never been a better time–<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Hang
on, we went through all that last time! I want to ask about you and the
forthcoming election. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Well there’s just never ever been a better
time to talk about me. I’m at the top of my game.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: That’s
not the message I’m getting. There’s a lot of grumbling about you, about your
indecisiveness, your lacklustre leadership. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Well
the Labor Party has always been a party of whiners and whingers, just shows we’ve
got them rattled.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: I’m not talking about the Labor Party— <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Well
then it’s just the sort of ingratitude we’ve come to expect from the Greens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: (<i>Slowly and precisely</i>) Read my lips. I am
talking about the Liberal Party, the party you lead, the party of government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: (<i>Turns to adviser</i>) Good God, are we in
government? I wondered why I was getting so much media attention. Thought as usual
it was my good looks and charm, and of course my extreme wealth. (<i>Adviser whispers, MT adopts a serious, there’s
never been a better time for me to be prime minister look, and lowers his voice</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Well
the Liberal Party has always been a broad church, even welcoming those with
absolutely no moral or social standards at all. We firmly believe that money
makes up for a lot of human failings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i> </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: You’re
being strongly criticised for your indecisiveness. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: And what
poppycock that is. When I make up my mind about something there’s no-one,
absolutely no-one who’ll be quicker than I am in setting up a detailed, in
depth examination or a series of Australia-wide focus groups in case I decide
not to go ahead with it and need an explanation that I can take to the
Australian people and explain why I’m such a decisive squib. That’s the basis
of representative government Dr Freud and explains why the Australian people,
my people, have such confidence in me as their leader. (<i>Turns to adviser</i>) How did that sound?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(<i>Adviser lowers heads
and looks sideways)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: What
about innovation?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: You
took the word right out of my mouth, Dr Freud! I’ve set new standards in innovation
in the short time I’ve been Prime Minister. (<i>Turns to adviser again</i>) How long did you say it was? Can’t believe
it, I must tell Lucy. Remind me after we finish here. <i>(Turns back to Dr Freud) </i>Where were we?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Innovation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Well
let me give you two quick examples. Look at the innovative way we’re keeping
the Labor Party from governing by pretending that we are. (<i>Beams</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: You
said there were two examples.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Of
course, of course, all in good time. I bet you can’t guess. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Prime
Minister, I am the father of modern psychoanalysis. Do you really think that
makes me a mind-reader?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Of
course not, my apologies. Well I am proud to say that as of today, this very
morning in fact, I have changed my name by deed poll. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: You’re
no longer Malcolm Turnbull?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Don’t
be silly, I would never do that to my people. Too unsettling for them. But from
today my name is no longer Malcolm Bligh Turnbull. It’s … </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;">SF:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;">Can’t
wait.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: It’s
Malcolm Forward-to-the-past-and-quickly-now-Eric-Abetz-is-watching Turnbull. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Mmm, if you must. And the election?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: I’ll
cross that bridge when I’ve passed it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-79964423789722452042016-02-14T16:32:00.002+11:002016-02-14T16:32:35.474+11:00Ruddock: ‘I was never knowingly an indiscriminate tosser’<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After a
short break to work on his understanding of the Australian accent, Dr Sigmund
Freud resumed his project of interviewing prominent locals. Fittingly, his
first guest was Hon Philip Ruddock, MP, the nation’s new SPECIAL ENVOY FOR
CONVINCING OTHERS WE HAVE A HEART DESPITE ALL THE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: I wonder if you could explain–<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PR: Dr Freud, it goes without saying that I am
always happy to explain any aspect of my long and extraordinarily distinguished
career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: The question I wanted to ask is why your
title is all in the upper case? Some people might see that as a bit shouty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PR: I do not think that is a judgment that
fair-minded people would draw. The capitalisation is intended to highlight the
fact that Australia, or at least the Government of which I have been a proud
member for more years than I care to remember, has a great deal, a very great
deal, to be proud of. It also acknowledges the reality that in our globalised
world we are dealing with many individuals whose first language is not English.
You will know from your own experience that those in that category respond well
to capitalisation, whether it be written or spoken. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: (<i>Shakes
his head and mutters, I’m not a fucking idiot, mate.)</i> Let me ask you about
boat people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PR: Here we go again! Why this obsession
with foreigners? Why not ask about decent hard-working Australians like Pauline
Hanson or Bronwyn Bishop or Joe Hockey or me perhaps? People who’ve contributed
unstintingly to the life of the nation without always having their hand out or
expecting some cushy appointment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: (<i>Determined</i>.)
Why did you chop off large chunks of Australia?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PR: Well I would strongly reject that characterisation
of the action we took to make Australia a tidier, more compact country and
thereby facilitate the processing of those who want to call Australia home but
will never ever do so and who, after the requisite number of years have passed,
will have the opportunity to go somewhere else like Cambodia or perhaps New
Zealand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Aren’t you at all ashamed at the way
you’ve behaved? Look at your own words from October 2001, and I quote: a number
of children have been thrown overboard. It was clearly planned and
premeditated. I imagine the children would be those who could be readily lifted
and tossed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was all a
lie wasn’t it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PR: Well the important point I was trying to
make was that in tossing children into the air it is incumbent upon the tosser
to carefully calculate the arc of the toss, the likely descent rate and the
landing zone. As a general principle I, and the government of which I was a
proud member, did not consider that water was a fit substance into which to
toss children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Unlike gaol?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PR: Exactly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Finally, how do you rate Australia’s
chances of getting elected to the UN Human Rights Council?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PR: To use a term I hear occasionally in my
electorate from those who are educationally challenged, it’s a no brainer. We
in this country understand human rights abuses like no other. Why, we even make
the Saudis blush. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-19862594197043961172016-02-04T12:47:00.000+11:002016-02-04T12:47:21.785+11:00Dr Freud’s house call on Malcolm Turnbull<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Following
his acclaimed interviews with the British Royals, Dr Sigmund Freud arrived in
Australia, his first ever visit down-under. Prime Minister Turnbull welcomed
him to the newly refurbished Lodge in Canberra.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: (<i>Grinning</i>)
Welcome Dr Freud, there’s never been a better time to visit Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Why?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: You want to ask why there’s never been a
better time to visit Australia?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: No,
I already have. What’s the answer?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Well
the answer is straightforward. Simply put there’s never been a better time to
visit Australia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: That’s not an answer, that’s mere assertion,
statement, declaration. I asked you why.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Well,
we have so much to be optimistic about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Such
as?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: (<i>Turns to adviser</i>) Not a bad question
when you think about it. Do you know?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A: (<i>Beaming</i>). Because you’re Prime Minister,
sir, our Mal for all seasons.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Darn
it, you’re absolutely right. How unusually modest of me not to think of that. What’s your name? I’ll
need to consider a promotion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A: It’s
Godwin, sir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Excuse me, may I interrupt? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: There’s never been a better time to
interrupt, Dr Freud. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: What
do you think of the advocates of same-sex marriage?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: They
should all be sent back to Nauru. Immediately! Oh, sorry, wrong talking point. (<i>Glares at Godwin.)</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Well?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: There’s
never been a better time to—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: (<i>Ashen-faced, trembling</i>) Sorry, I just remembered, I
have to go to the chemist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MT: Well
there’s never been … (<i>SF screams, Godwin
phones for an ambulance</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-3722576764217196292016-01-31T12:41:00.000+11:002016-01-31T12:41:16.274+11:00I don’t want to be King of Australia, Prince Charles reveals in exclusive interview<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Shortly
before his departure from London for Australia, Dr Sigmund Freud was granted an
audience with </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur
George, Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, PC, ADC, Earl of Chester,
Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of
the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: You have an awful lot of titles, do you
know what they all mean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: (<i>Smiling broadly</i>) Bit of a list isn’t it.
Still if One lives as long as One has and One doesn’t have much to do with One’s
time, One is inclined to keep One’s eye out for a bargain title if one comes
along as one or sometimes two do quite regularly as a matter of fact.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: I see, forgive my ignorance, I’m not
surprised PC is there but what exactly is OM? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: Om,
om, Good Lord man, you don’t know what Om is? Order of Meditation, thought
someone in your profession would be a little more up-to-date.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: I see, and Renfrew, I’m not sure where it
is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: (<i>Laughing</i>) That makes two of us, but don’t
tell the Scots! Somewhere up there One imagines but One can’t be expected to
know where every little pinprick in One’s Empire is, can One? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Speaking
of Empire what are you feelings about Australia?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: One
will simply never ever forgive those Australians.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: So you feel aggrieved about the possible republic?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: (<i>Looking puzzled</i>) Eh, what? No, no, no, One
couldn’t care less about it, Australia's the last place One wants to rule over! They had their
chance to give One a knighthood and they blew it. Gave it to that silly old
duffer who says he’s One’s father. As if he didn’t have enough gongs already. Just let One enlighten you on that score: </span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich, Extra Knight of
the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Grand Master and First
and Principal Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British
Empire, Knight of the Order of Australia, Additional Member of the Order of New
Zealand, Royal Chief of the Order of Logohu, Personal Aide-de-Camp to Her
Majesty, Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom,blah, blah, blah, etc. etc.
etc. You get the picture?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: One
does. If I might turn to current events. What are your views on the refugee
crisis?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: The world
should take a leaf out of One’s Mother Country’s Book. An unblemished record of
sending the worst of the worst to every corner of the globe pretending it was a
civilising endeavour. By the way, strange saying that, One never realised a
globe had corners. So there you are, One learns something new every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: So you’re opposed to any refugee
resettlement?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: Dear-oh-dear man, that’s just what One said. They’re
all scallywags. We know! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: What of the European Union?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: Never
tried that position, must ask Camilla. Hope she hasn’t been holding out on One.
By the way, when will this be broadcast?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Very soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HRH: One simply <i>must</i> find One’s tranny. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3081378268321622018.post-16244391214224451472016-01-26T12:46:00.000+11:002016-01-26T12:46:31.012+11:00 Australia Day Special – The Queen’s Exclusive Interview with Sigmund Freud<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Thank you so much for receiving me Ma’am.
How are you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">QE2:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">(</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Sharply</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">)
What’s it to you?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: (<i>Taken
aback</i>) Well, um, I was just being courteous, enquiring after your well-being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">QE2: Don’t you know the date?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: (<i>Warily</i>)
Of course I do, it’s the 26<sup>th</sup> of January.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">QE2: Exactly.
Awstralia Day. And you know what happens today. All those Awstralians check my health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: That’s
kind of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Q</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;">E2: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -36pt;">Nothing
of the sort. It’s about gambling.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Well, Australians do like a flutter, that’s
true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">QE2: But
they’re betting on how long I’ll live! Those dreadful republicans want me to
die so they can become independent. Such impertinence. Don’t they understand
they simply can’t survive without our tutelage? I’d have them all transported
if they weren’t already there. What do you suggest I do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: Open a By Appointment to Her Majesty betting
shop? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">QE2: Ha
ha, very funny Dr Freud. Prince Charles would just love that, especially short
odds. He did a gambling course when he went to school in Awstralia all those
years ago. But I have a better idea. I will ban everyone—particularly the
Awstralians—from calling me Ma’am. From now on it’s Mum. No one wants their mother
to die do they?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SF: (<i>Hesitantly</i>)
I wouldn’t bet on it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Rodgershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269365552797562790noreply@blogger.com0