Cobra Sting

11 MPs from India’s leading political parties have been caught taking bribes to ask questions in parliament.

Codenamed "Operation Duryodhana”, the sting was carried out over eight months, by an internet media portal, Cobrapost and a TV channel. (Note: Indian websites tend to be heavily loaded with pop-ups and other crap.)

Journalist Aniruddha Bahal, who spearheaded the sting operation, said:

“the probe logged more than 56 videotapes and 70 audiotapes besides recording over 900 phone calls.
"At times we thought our cover would be blown. But we stuck in there and finally it came through well.”

A dangerous rivalry broke out between two of the principal middlemen, Gupta and Dinesh in May when Dinesh realised Gupta was undercutting and double crossing him by introducing us to MPs without his knowledge, putting the whole operation in peril.

The team posed as representatives of a fictitious lobbying organisation called the North Indian Small Manufacturers' Association (NISMA).
They succeeded in having the MPs submit more than 60 questions in the rigorous question balloting system of parliament, of which 25, at the last count, were selected.
Sometimes, the same set of questions was put in by more than one MP.

(1 US Dollar = 46.15506 Indian Rupee INR)

The going price for questions ranged between INR15,000 and INR 110,000.
Several MPs even wanted an "annual fee" of INR 500,000 to INR 600,000 from NISMA to put in as many proxy questions as it wanted.

MPs caught on tape range across India’s political parties: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Cobrapost paid a total of INR 500,000 to the MPs for asking questions. Manoj Kumar, the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) MP from Palamau, topped the list with INR 110,000, said post on the website.

'The particular configuration of MPs that finally emerged had all to do with the particular middlemen that the team came into contact with. If it had been a different set of middlemen, the configuration of MPs would obviously have reflected that.' Cobrapost

Among the questions commissioned:
Has the ministry lifted the 1962 ban it imposed on the book "For whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway and the 1975 ban on Ken Kesey’s book "One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest" and Hunter Thomson’s book "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"? If so, when were the bans removed?

A Reason to Rort?

There was a side report on what an Indian MP gets paid. The salary of an MP in India is INR 144,000 per year (about $3,200), which works out to just INR 12,000 (about $266) per month. This is supplemented by a range of benefits:

* INR 14,000 (about $311) for office expenses every month, which includes INR 3,000 for stationary items, INR 1,000 on franking of letters and INR 10,000 for secretariat services.

* A monthly constituency allowance of INR 10,000.

* A daily allowance of INR 500 when Parliament is in session. Parliament has three sessions every year. The Budget Session (February to May), Monsoon session (July to September), and Winter session (November and December).

* A daily travel allowance of INR 8 per kilometre.

* Each MP and his spouse or companion is entitled to unlimited, free, first class railway travel anywhere in the country.

* They can also travel anywhere in India, with a spouse or companion, 40 times by air free of cost every year, business class.

* An MP gets a sprawling bungalow in the heart of New Delhi for which he pays a rent of just INR 2,000 (about $44) per month.

* Each MP gets near-free electricity of 50,000 units every year, and free water.

* The MP's bungalow is furnished, with air conditioners, refrigerators and television sets; free of cost. Maintenance of the house, including washing of sofa cover and curtains, is done free of cost by the government.

* MPs are entitled to three phone lines and 170,000 free local calls every year.

* When an MP travels abroad officially, he is entitled to free business class air tickets. He is also paid a daily travelling allowance, which varies depending upon the country being visited.

* Most medical expenses of MPs are taken care of by the Contributory Health Service Scheme of the Union government.

* Each MP also gets INR 20 million (about $434,782) each year from the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund. But the MP does not get the money directly. Instead, it is transferred to respective district headquarters where projects are being implemented.

* After an MP completes a term in office, he is entitled to pension. The basic monthly pension amount is INR 3,000 (about $66). But it goes up according to the number of years an MP has served in Parliament.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India last year alleged that many MPs have violated the intention of these extra benefits and money.

Surf Sand and Riots

I personally find the Sydney riots profoundly disturbing. As an Australian and a native of the region which is at the epicenter of the trouble it ranks as a ‘worst nightmare’. As a friend to a number of wonderful Lebanese Australians I am fearful for their security.

As a commentator I can only repeat my Jeremiah like warnings that the Federal Government under John Howard, and the Labor opposition, are driving an ugly agenda, purporting to be anti-terrorist but in reality racist and hateful. To say I am angry at the political establishment of my native country is a wild understatement; mindful of that, rather than irate ramble, I offer views and quotes from others. I’ll risk posting the graphics, they speak volumes.

For about 12 hours mobs rampaged through Sydney's southern beach suburbs of Cronulla, Maroubra, Brighton-le-Sands and Rockdale hounding, harassing and beating those who fitted their Middle Eastern stereotype. Women were not spared. Then came the inevitable revenge raids later in the day when some 60 cars were trashed by carloads of youths from the western suburbs, the homeland for some 200,000 Muslims. (Bali, Tampa, 9/11: a potpourri of causes. The Australian)

They called it a day of pride, but it will go down as a day of national disgrace. Nation's day of shame

"I believe yesterday's behaviour was completely unacceptable but I'm not going to put a general tag of racism on the Australian community. I think it's a term that's flung around carelessly and I'm simply not going to do it." Prime Minister Howard. We're not a bunch of racists, PM says

On the money? Racism? Alcohol? Just plain youthful stupidity? Nicholson's cartoon doesn't seem far from the mark.

"Mr Howard is very slow to call a racist spade a racist spade ... he has taken Australia backwards from the last half-century which celebrated multiculturalism in our nation” Greens senator Bob Brown (We're not a bunch of racists, PM says)

Chris Mogan, the Melbourne Clinic's head of psychology,
said global terrorism fears had exacerbated the usual tribal tensions.

"I don't think it matters what your background is. To see those sort of events is not what we understand Australia is all about." Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, who is of Lebanese descent.

"To be an Aussie is about looking out for your mates, protecting our beautiful land; and if ever something stops us enjoying our quality of life, we shall prevail over all …
"To anyone who thinks they can overcome an Australian that has a fire in their belly and a passion to see our land remain exactly the same way it was when we entered into this world, you underestimate the ferocity we can create using our hands." Attributed to a group called a group called White Sydney. (Who'd have thought it - Blinky Bill, the face of race hatred)

Arrests on the beach

The Patriotic Youth League, whose members handed out "Aussies Fighting Back" pamphlets at Cronulla, said it had been inundated with callers wanting to riot in Melbourne.

"If it wasn't for the massive police presence there already, and the fact that it's mainly confined to a peninsula, we really could have had a Paris situation on our hands (in Cronulla)," league spokesman Luke Connors said. (Melbourne Age)

"Come to Cronulla this weekend to take revenge. This Sunday every Aussie in the shire get down to North Cronulla to support the leb and wog bashing day …" SMS message.

"All Arabs unite as one, we will never back down to anyone the aussie's will feel the full force of the arabs as one 'brothers in arms'..." SMS message.

“Rioting at Cronulla Beach, in Sydney, is revenge for the Bali bombings and the September 11 attacks.” Federal Liberal backbencher Bruce Baird.

"I've sensed within some elements of this (Middle Eastern) community a hate. It's a hate that I don't understand, I don't understand it as a man," NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney.
Mr Moroney added that there was clear fault among the two groups who carried out the Cronulla violence and talks between the sides were vital to solve the problem.

Hallelujah! There is a silly season!

Hardly scandalous, just dumb, are two stories of ‘political correctness’ and Christmas.  The first was noticed in a Sydney, Australia, newspaper:
"In 1915 two ammunition ships collided in Halifax harbour, Nova Scotia. The blast totally flattened Halifax, with hardly one building left standing.
Good American neighbours in Boston were the first and most generous providers of help. Ever since, Nova Scotia has sent the finest, most perfect Nova Scotia pine Christmas tree to Boston as a token of thanks. Farmers compete for the honour of being the donor.
This year Boston announced that it was no longer a 'Christmas tree' but, so as not to embarrass ethnic groups; it would become a 'Holiday Tree'. The Canadian farmer asked them to send it back." Boston has now changed its mind - it's a Christmas tree again.My Boston correspondent advised me that: “No one really noticed until the ‘Canuks’ kicked up a stink.

The second story, again an Australian newspaper, tells of George W. Bush and Laura sending out their Christmas cards to 1.4 million of their closest friends, without mentioning Christmas. Instead, they wished everyone a happy "holiday season".

I don’t see the problem with Christmas. For those who can derive a spiritual message from the event, I say; “Good on you.” For most it is, and was created in the ‘good old USA’, to be a commercial cum sentimental celebration, The reason for the season is to generate retail sales, and possibly spread a bit of good spirit.
Of course George W is in trouble with his ‘evangelical’ fans, but it will be ever thus in a pluralist society. Someone is going to object no matter what you do. Why not leave as Christmas and simply invite all and sundry to make of it what they will.
I was struck by a discussion on thanksgiving recently, and how it has become a widely accepted tradition. The comment was that it reflected the fact that everyone, pilgrims notwithstanding, has need to stop and give thanks.
In the same way Christmas, for most, is nothing more than an opportunity to take a break from crazy reality and indulge in a bit of unreal generosity of the spirit and material. So call it Christmas, reach out and hug someone. But be careful; check out the crazy sister in law and the demented brother for hidden weapons.

Driving Miss Appropriation

Sorry Mike, the potential for scandal overload looks like becoming dangerously terminal.

mikevotes (Born at the Crest of the Empire) is among the few regulars who comment on this blog, and one of the very few who does so publicly – take note you cowardly email responders.

This has to be one of the strangest Decembers in my memory. I noted on November 10, privately, that it was the ill anniversary of an ill fated election bid back in 1977.

Always being on the foolhardy side, I contested the Federal seat of Bass, in Tasmania.

Each year, without realizing why, the looming date still fills me with a mix of anticipation and dread. It was a great experience, but one I was never tempted to repeat.

The December which followed the campaign was spent tidying up the election debris. The debris included electoral expenses returns and, appropriately enough, my own mini scandal.

Back then there was a $1000 spending limit on election campaigns. It had been in place for many years and was woefully inadequate. I didn’t have a big problem with it, we ran a very colourful, dollar shop campaign, and spent $1100. What to do? Declare it of course. If I spent that on my cut price campaign, surely the big parties spent far more.

When the returns where published, spurred by my declaration of overspending, it turns out that the two major spent; $0 and $110 in that electorate. For the most part candidates ignored the reporting requirement entirely, as no one had ever been prosecuted for that breach.

Well, it was a storm in a tea cup. During the next parliament the duly elected members miraculously agreed to abandon the pesky spending limit altogether. Why should they, after all, have to account for everything they must do to become a noble elected representative?

I note that, in the same spirit of noble endeavour, parliament is to vote to lift the ‘undisclosed’ cap on corporate donations. Well as the Classical Greeks were wont to say; ‘bad laws are made to entrap the lawmakers’. It will come to pass.

But I digress (it’s Friday), back to this December. We are used to the media winding down this time of the year. Christmas advertising is diminished by diverting news stories, and advertising is the engine which drives the media.

But here in Canada we have an election campaign. The US and Australia are embroiled in the fallout of the Iraqi adventure. Not only that, the US lawmakers seem to be taking ‘friendly fire’ from domestic corruption on top of their adventurism.

Of course that dreaded ‘political correctness’ has a role to play in creating an ‘around the calendar’ news feast. We stopped calling it Christmas because of some misguided idea that the name suggested a religious holiday. Adopting the ‘festive season’ nomenclature has simply opened the floodgates to a further corruption of our R&R season.

It’s hardly fair, either, on those who traditionally use the media ‘silly season’ to gain their 15 minutes of fame, to have the whole year dominated by professional publicity hounds. Besides, we have become accustomed to this idle period, the eventual yearning for some real news to break the spell of nonsense. Ahhh for the good old days!

Meanwhile, I am doing follow up on a series of stories in the Melbourne Age on even more revelations of corruption in the Iraq saga. US queried over $20b war spoils. There is also the story on David Hicks, the harebrained Australian detainee at Guantanamo Bay. The only westerner left in detention and the only one totally ignored by the government of his own country. Even Hick’s American Defense Counsel thinks it somewhat odd that a country would not speak out for one of its citizens. He obviously doesn’t know Australia very well.

The Australian inquiry (whitewash) into the UNScam is about to get underway, and things are looking very interesting in Britain. No silly season here for a while.

Scandal fatigue be Damned

Your elected leaders are encouraging you to lower your expectations on their ethical practices. There is no reason they should invite scrutiny of their behaviour, equally there is no valid reason for you to cease your vigilance of, and your outrage at corruption of public institutions.
Corruption, in all its manifestations, is spreading like a rash across the planet. The odd thing is, just like each generation believes they invented sex, there is a conviction we have just invented corruption.
For what its worth, the first laws aimed at mitigating public corruption date back to the Code of Hammurabi, circa 1780 B.C. The Babylonians were well aware of public scandal.
Societies require rules if they are to function in an orderly way. As soon as we have rules we have a basis, a definition of expected behaviour, which can be corrupted.
Most of the time we can ignore, or ‘tut tut’ revelations of corruption. We all know how scandalous behaviour is manipulated for political reasons, resonant of the ‘boy who cried wolf’. So the temptation is to revel in, or ignore completely, the game playing.
Periodically, the sheer magnitude of a ‘scandal’ forces us to pay attention. Generally, before there is any real resolution, various gambits and stalls take the heat and immediacy out of allegations. A few scapegoats are sacrificed, ‘mea culpas’ are issued, life returns to normal and corruption continues.
What those at the heart of corruption scandals rely on, why they are so deft with obfuscation and stalling tactics is they know that ‘scandal fatigue’ will soon set in. As soon as the media sense that their readership is no longer fascinated, that a story has lost its selling power, the news feeds stop.

This latest rash of scandal, breaking out like boils across the globe, could well go the same way. There is already talk of the UN’s Volker report being little more than a whitewash, for all its dramatic revelations.
Indeed, the games are evident in the comments of Leaders like Australia’s Prime Minister, John Howard on the allegations against that country’s monopoly wheat exporter. Howard told the Australian Parliament, this week:
"…there is no proof the AWB was involved in giving kickbacks" to Saddam Hussein's regime.” And "It has not been established AWB paid any kickbacks."
Howard’s concern is not for the company executives, who he would happily sacrifice on the issue. His concern is to head off the implication that his own government, ministers and departments will be caught up in the affair.
His response: Set up a whitewash inquiry, skate awfully close to outright lying then stall and stretch until everyone is thoroughly sick of the discussion - scandal fatigue. It’s worked for him before.

The US administration and Congress heavies are working the same kind of tactics. The danger there is that the disease has gone rampant through the body politic. The boils and ulcers of scandal are erupting in so many places at once; it will take a deft hand to control the infectious spread.
That is, of course, unless scandal fatigue swamps the whole mess, with the people simply turning away and losing interest.
To be sure, there will still be those out their fighting for justice to be done, for those who have corrupted the intuitions of government to be brought to book. It is to be seen if their outrage and perseverance can prevail over wider apathy.


At the root of the current outbreak of this disease, corruption, ravaging the US and its allies, is that obscene military action, the Iraq war, and the political culture which spawned it.
As much as Bush, Blair or Howard deny the fact, the war was based on false premise; lies! One of the fiercest advocates, and after the fact, beneficiaries of the war is the shady Dr. Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), now a deputy prime minister of Iraq. Unlike his patrons, he makes no bones about the basis of the adventure:
"We are heroes in error. As far as we're concerned, we've been entirely successful. That tyrant Saddam is gone and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important."
But it is Dr Chalabi, it is vitally important to the health and vitality of our democratic institutions. We invest these people with the authority to govern on our behalf, which is the nature of democracy.
If those leaders choose to lead us with lies and distortions in something as crucial as prosecuting a war, why should they concern themselves about any other ethical considerations?
To be sure, it is an underlying culture of greed which set the scene for this war. It is that culture which made lies, apparently, acceptable. It is that culture which decreed; ‘win at any cost’, leading to the excesses of the kind for which Tom DeLay has been indicted.
It is the culture which seduced the previously honoured, Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham, to become the ‘most corrupt member of Congress in the history of the institution’.  

By succumbing to scandal fatigue, tiring of the whole mess, we become implicated in the corruption of our democratic institutions. The sad part is, we are not really asked to do anything other than be outraged, and to express that outrage.
While people show interest, and at least a level of emotional involvement, media will continue to cover these issues. While the media reflect the public interest investigators and prosecutors are encouraged to keep digging to uncover the truth.
While you are expressing outrage, jurists are more inclined to recognise and respond to the standards demanded by the public at large. It is a self feeding cycle. Fail to feed it and it dies, the crooked public officials win and you can start to kiss the fundamentals of democracy goodbye.
Develop and maintain the outrage. Lift the bar of acceptable public sector, ethical behaviour high, and keep it there. The disease of corruption can only spread in a disinterested society.

Australia, Saddam's best friend?

"If the allegation is that DFAT [Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] was helping AWB sell wheat - good on them, that's its job. And I will always support departments promoting and assisting the legitimate business activities of Australian agencies and Australian companies." John Howard, Australian Prime Minister

Prime Minister Howard is steadfast in his refusal to widen the terms of a judicial inquiry into Australia’s role in the UN ‘Oil for Food’ scandal. This refusal is despite increasing indications of tacit approval for the role of wheat exporter, AWB, by DFAT and government ministers.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd today said Howard could not sustain his defence the United Nations had sole responsibility for policing the now discredited oil-for-food program.

"This is starting to fall apart at the seams, when he had his own officials into Iraq at this time in the company of the wheat board and the government has now confirmed that. That's why this commission of inquiry can't simply be allowed to turn into a cover-up."

There are new allegations that kickbacks paid by AWB, to Saddam’s regime, were put into a bank account used to finance a $10million slush fund for families of Palestinian suicide bombers.

“US Government and CIA documents reveal a trail of blood money flowing from companies now known to have taken bribes into bank accounts in Jordan, which were then used by the Iraqi Government to pay money for deadly bombings or to buy weapons.

“A separate CIA report suggests Saddam used the payments into the Jordanian bank accounts to buy weapons, which could have been used against US-led forces, including Australian soldiers, which invaded the country in March 2003.” Wheat bribes funded bombers The Australian

"Three hundred million went off into Saddam Hussein's back pocket to buy guns, bombs and bullets, thereby making the Howard Government, by definition, the best friend Saddam Hussein has ever had."

Kevin Rudd said, adding that the Government had at the least approved "culpable negligence" by turning a blind eye to the AWB's practices.

THE Pakistani Government has launched an inquiry into kickbacks made to government officials by the Australian monopoly wheat exporter, saying it believes several "very senior" officials were involved.
They are looking at allegations that officials from Pakistan's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) had demanded payments from the AWB in exchange for wheat contracts.

My Rendition

Why does George W say these things? He was reported yesterday, claiming: The United States does not secretly move terrorism suspects to foreign countries that torture to get information.

I guess it is for home consumption, because few people outside the US believe it. But even for home consumption, he must know by now that these kind of statements will come back to bite him on the bum.

He made the same claims about torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. They were bad enough; little wonder he is now denying ‘rendition’wich is far more sinister than earlier revelations.

The question is, what shape will a brutalised democracy take at the hands of those willing to ignore its fundaments, to adopt authoritarian methods, in the supposed effort to protect it? You can't simply put the principles of our democracies 'on the shelf' for the time being, then roll them out when all is safe. All will never be safe for the ambitious, avaricious politicians.

Condoleezza Rice is a little more direct, at least while in Europe, in defending the ‘justifiable’ practice of rendition, at least so far as she will define it. That is as the covert capture and transfer of terrorism suspects without the involvement of a court.

I think the CIA should be prosecuted for taking perfectly good words and assigning them to horrendous operations. It’s a form of sanitizing and deception which has long been recognised around the planet. The modified language invariably signals a problem; it also screws up perfectly good language. But I digress…

Let’s start with a few fact about the practice:

* It was first authorised under President Bill Clinton in the mid-1990s to counter the threat of Islamic terrorism and overcome CIA difficulties in obtaining a conviction against suspects.

* It was expanded hugely under President George Bush, who gave the CIA sweeping new powers after the September 11 attacks.

Since then the staff of the Counter-Terrorist Centre, the CIA branch that oversees renditions, is reported to have quadrupled to more than 1000 people.

* More than 100 more people have disappeared or been "rendered" in the past few years, in addition to the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay.

* The most common destinations are Egypt and Jordan, which are known to have tortured prisoners.

I have a sneaking respect for Condoleezza Rice, though I’m not sure how far I would trust the emotion. Still, she’s out there, super salesman for what is proving to be a super lemon.

Trying to justify the unjustifiable, she says: ''The United States, and those countries that share the commitment to defend their citizens, will use every lawful weapon to defeat these terrorists. Sometimes these efforts are misunderstood."

Are they? For a country which speaks of liberty, of rule of law, of innocence until proven guilty, there isn’t much to misunderstand. Pre-emptive justice is dangerous territory. It must presume guilt which sadly, many Americans appear ready to do.

To allow the diminishing of these basic standards to fight unseen enemies invariably makes lowering the standards against ordinary citizens easier. If you can justify ignoring basic principles abroad, even the ordinary citizen will soon believe it can be justified at home. But then it already is, isn’t it.

Where is that Nine Billion Dollars?

Call me nosy, but I’m still curious about what happened to the missing $9 Billion the Volker inquiry ignored. Volcker had admitted that the inquiry was not even going to look into what happened to the $9 billion in OFF surpluses that were handed over to the American occupation authorities.

No one else seems particularly interested in asking the question, and sadly, I doubt anyone is going to be the slightest bit concerned if I keep raising it. It just bothers me.

There is a chart at A brief history of the United Nations Oil-For-Food Program website which clearly shows the missing slice of the pie. Here is a taster, but you need to go to the site for the full thing.

This must be the ultimate in ‘pay to play’ politics. We aren’t happy with Saddam, so we declare war and wreck what Saddam hasn’t already destroyed in the country.

“But wait fellas! It’s going to cost you NINE BILLION DOLLARS because we had to do this the hard way. So forget the desperate need to feed people and rebuild a country, we’ll just take the money out of this here humanitarian Programme.”

Of course the UN could probably even see the point of that, although I’m surprised they didn’t take their cut first.

Talk about hypocrisy! Now some countries are going to find some nice crooked businessmen to take the heat for the ‘oil for food’ scandal, while they, the governments, have been milking the Programme all along.

The truth is the last thing we are likely to hear. But you get that much greed happening at one time and the slow leaks will emerge.

Corruption and the polls

If corruption does not serve the wider community well, the negative election campaigns it often produces add an additional layer of unnecessary pain and dislocation.

Oppositions don’t win government; governments lose it

Tracking the ‘scandal’ induced Canadian election BLOG presents a great opportunity to reflect on the wider fallout from corruption on voters.
In this marathon, eight week campaign, early polls are unlikely to give any real clues to the outcome. I’m not even convinced that they have any great value in fine tuning a campaign.
Without the pressure of a looming election day, the pools are simply a vent for feelings rather than a considered, final intention.
Viewed in that way, they might have something to tell us. Conservative’s leader, Stephen Harper, no doubt with encouragement from his backers, has been chafing at the bit to force this election. He, they, can smell opportunity that must not be missed, an opportunity to win government.
All it will take, in their view, is to push the electorate just a bit further in their perception of how rotten the Liberals really are.
That means a negative campaign, one continually promoting the idea of corrupt politicians and a corrupt political party. Those negative concepts must be cemented into the minds of voters to the extent that they override any other electoral imperatives.
You see, people don’t generally vote on single issues, they make their final judgment on a whole complex of factors.
What invariably happens, when a negative campaign is pursued, is that it simply confirms a widely held belief that ALL politics is rotten and ALL politicians are tainted.
The early polling clearly shows the negative effect the campaign strategy is having on Harper and the Conservatives. If the Liberals are suspect, there is very little trust building for the Conservatives either, in fact they are slipping in key regions of the country.
The personal image of leaders, Harper and Martin are taking a beating. Martin is coming across as weary and hesitant; no doubt the result of holding together a party and parliament through the sponsorship scandal mess.
Harper cannot seem to break through the bogey of being extremist, with a secret agenda to be unleashed on the country if he were ever elected.
These feelings are exacerbated by comments, like a recent article in the Washington Times, which link the Conservative agenda too closely to the Bush Administration. Canadians want good relations with their neighbours, but the fear being melted, irretrievably, into that pot at the cost of their own identity.
Harper hit the ground running, releasing a new ‘promise’ every day, from day one. It seems a strange strategy for such a long campaign and has done nothing, yet, to ameliorate the negative basis of his campaign.
It is a grave mistake to predicate an election campaign on the negative! The Democrats must also think twice before they rush down that road. Let the courts, the prosecutors, the media even, drive the negative message.
The old political truth stands: Oppositions don’t win government; governments lose it.
If the politicians would just get out of the way, give reasons to support them, and let peoples good sense judge those who abuse the trust, we might begin to see some better performances all round.

Put a crook in charge at the bank?

Australia now has its very own pay-to-play political drama playing out. It’s hardly a new phenomena downunder, but is resonant with the current scandals surfacing in the US.

The basic scenario is: Local industrialist make good; donates wads of cash to major political parties; falls foul of the taxman over bags of bucks sent offshore for cleansing; is appointed to the Reserve Bank board as a thank you.

The Liberal Party, Prime Minister Howard’s party, had already offered Industrialist, Robert Gerard, position as the party’s treasurer. Gerard, obviously cognizant with ethical sensibilities, declined the position, citing his $150million battle with the Australian Taxation Office.

Not to worry young Robert, came the reply. We have a pozzie on the Reserve that should suit nicely. “No worries me, mate,” was Robert’s warm response as he grabbed his new seat.

Odd isn’t it? Considered too shady to be party treasurer, but just fine to sit in on the country’s central bank board. Perhaps it was thought that Gerard could add some experience in the field of tax free investment. Well, fairly tax free. The Tax office settled for a good deal less than it claimed he owed them.

One of Australia’s most respected commentators, Alan Ramsay, takes this story far deeper than the Reserve Bank fiasco; deep into the political life of his home state, South Australia – A little dirty laundry in Adelaide It is a fascinating look at the way its done elsewhere.

Anyway, our friend Robert is exposed as ethically challenged, but the government are wary of responding to the charges and looking bad in the process. So they defend the guy, tell us why he’s just the man for this job, and make themselves look worse.

“He is a major employer, a major manufacturer,” Costello told parliament.” He brings a great deal of understanding about the Australian manufacturing industry to the Reserve Bank board.”

Actually, suggestion has it that they didn’t really know how to dump him anyway. This is the government rewriting workplace laws so employers can dump employees at will, and they were worried he’d attack them if they sacked him.

They didn’t have much to worry about on that score. Gerard was appointed to the board in March 2003, and had the worst attendance record of any board member in the year ending June 30, 2005, going to seven of the 11 meetings, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia's annual report. Under the Boards own rules he could have been dumped for non attendance alone.

Well they finally give him his marching orders and things really take a turn for the worse, becoming a regular French farce. You see there are sub plots, even more sub plots than in the above quoted Alan Ramsay story.

For a start, Treasurer Peter Costello wants Prime Minister John Howard’s job. He’s been waiting in the wings making impatient noises and irritating the PM. So said PM says, rather publicly, that appointing Gerard was all Costello’s fault.

A not surprisingly upset Peter Costello told Parliament how the PM had enthusiastically embraced the idea. "I have never seen such an enthusiastic response in all my life, in all my life". He chortled to the House.

So on top of the appointment of a crooked businessman to the central bank board, we now have to watch as the Prime Minister and his heir apparent go at it hammer and tongs.
Shadow treasurer Wayne Swan said the finger pointing suggested the affair had become a major leadership issue in the Liberal Party.

"We saw back-biting and finger pointing at its highest levels of the Government, and we saw it for all to see on the floor of the Parliament," he said.

Happy Christmas Australia! Just think, it could be worse, Canada was forced to a Christmas election, you’ll get a break while these combatants go off to the beach, or wherever summering pollies go.

Duplicitous Governments

First it was the Volker Report, now the AWB (Australian Wheat Board), is alleged to have paid kickbacks to Pakistan, Indonesia and Yemen in order to gain lucrative grain contracts.
Describing a system of kickbacks for contracts within the Australian Wheat Board when it was still under government control in the 1990s and after it was privatised in 1999 to become AWB, one former employee with direct knowledge of the payments said bluntly,
AWB managing director, Andrew Lindberg said the company was "forced" to deal with regimes in the Middle East and other developing markets because of the "unfair [farm] subsidy regime" in the US, EU and Japan.

"We deal with regimes as best we can: we try to understand and observe the customs of each country in which we operate. We have a code of conduct and we ensure that it's followed," he said.

In Indonesia, under President Soeharto, the AWB paid a special rebate on its wheat contracts to the Bogasari Flour Mills. The company was controlled at the time by a close friend of Soeharto and the rebate was paid into an offshore account that avoided government taxes and charges.

"...a was a deal that would not have reached Australian business practice standards"

It was a deal that "would not have reached Australian business practice standards", said one former AWB employee.
Pakistani and Indonesian kickbacks were reviewed in 2000 after the Government passed new laws making it a criminal offence to bribe foreign officials anywhere in the world to win or retain business. AWB held internal meetings with a law firm and the anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International, to brief employees on the anti-bribery laws.

The Australian government has established a judicial inquiry to look probe three local companies cited in the Volker report, including AWB. In the process they have attempted to insulate ‘government ministers, their staff and public servants,’ from the scope of the inquiry.
These latest allegations drop the government, including Trade Minister, Mark Vaile and his department, right into the thick of it. If there were doubts previously, and this correspondent certainly canvassed doubts, the inevitable leaks are destined to disavow them.
The actions of Vaile and his Trade officers must come under the scope of the judicial inquiry. They can no longer simply hang the board and management out to dry. Documents already show that US authorities were aware of the Iraq allegations back in 2002. You can bet they were quick to take their Australian counterparts to task at that time.
In fact, the collusion and deal making goes right to the US administration, but you can bet that they won’t submit to any investigation. The UN is also cited, by AWB officials, as implicit in some way, in at least turning a blind eye to the alleged illicit payments. But again, the UN is in no hurry to investigate their own.
What is developing is a sordid picture of carving up lucrative international trade markets, dealing these ‘murky’ markets out to Australia, and then blindly accepting the unethical activities which accompany the shitty end of the stick.
That was until Iraq became a more acceptable market for US wheat traders. That is when the US lobby screamed for their share, in the process, outing the AWB’s shady dealings. Everyone who mattered knew. This, it seems, will emerge as a sick reality of international trade. For all that laws might be enacted to curb corruption in International trade, as many meetings the ‘oh so respectable’ developed nations lead on teaching ethical behaviour to our disadvantaged neighbours, the stench of corruption is entrenched in the system.
To Paraphrase:

"The culture of the trade is: get the job done."

While in Australia, and discussing duplicity: Reports reveal, that while forcing draconian anti-terrorism laws onto the hapless people of that country, the government has actually allowed Oday Al Tekriti, a former Saddam henchman, to settle peacefully in an Australian suburb.
Prime Minister has now called on the Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone, to tell him of "any further options" available for handling the case of Saddam Hussein's former bodyguard, who is living in Australia on a temporary protection visa.
No doubt, having drawn the short straw with the US and UK, to harbour this criminal, for reasons we can only guess at, the PM now must see the difficulties the disclosure poses for his new laws.
I’m not sure why the governments of the UK, US and Australia even bother with the window dressing of anti terrorism laws. Their respective populations seem to be suitably gullible and cowering already. Totally gullible if the accept that ‘the butcher’s apprentice’ can quietly be accommodated in a coalition country while the high farce in Iraq and elsewhere continues.

Talking About Corruption

The Scandal Files site keeps on growing, with ‘in-depth’ sections looking at Canada’s Sponsorship Scandal, the UN Food for Oil scandal and increasing exposure of the Washington dramas.
Now we offer you the opportunity to have your say. The Talking About Corruption message board is now ready to roll, ready for your input. Come and visit the message board, join the discussion or start your own topic. We look forward to seeing you.

Murderous Barbarians

"Bu chance bu?" Nguyen Tuong Van asked his guards as he stood in the doorway of his cell, just a short walk from the gallows. "Do I have a chance?” Apparently it was an attempt at gallows humour in Changi Prison in Singapore; all that was left for the kid as they led him on his final walk.

For its size, around 3.5 times the size of Washington DC, according to the CIA factbook, and population of just under 4.5 million, Singapore is undeniably one of the strongest economies in the world.
In fact, since decolonization, then breaking away from the Malaysian Federation in 1965, Singapore has become talked of in some quarters as the desired economic model – that is ‘Singapore Corporation’.
Under the repressive leadership of old ‘Harry’ LEE Kuan Yew Singapore took a slightly different direction than most emerging economies, it put money first and people somewhere down the ladder.
The old ‘board chairman’ has retired now, but hangs around as something called ‘Minister Mentor’, presumably to keep tabs on his loot and its growth potential.
This little country, where you go to jail for spitting on the sidewalk, is now led by Harry’s son, LEE Hsien Loong, a smiling businessman type and the non-executive chairman is President S R Nathan.
If you go to the Singapore Official site There is a whole photo album of the benign, businessman looking rulers of Singapore.
But don’t be fooled, these men are not benign, they are barbaric murderers.
It is not often that I am at the keyboard at 5:50 am, but I couldn’t sleep this morning. In fact every fibre of my body is screaming in outrage at the monstrous act of the Singapore Government, around this time Friday morning in that part of the world.
They took a young, 25 year old, Idiot out and hung him. Legal, official, barbaric MURDER!
Nguyen Tuong Van was charged for importation of 396.2 grams of diamorphine or pure heroin into Singapore, which is stupidity in so many different ways.
Anyone who traffics drugs deserves punishment. Anyone who presumes they can traffic to a country like Singapore deserves serious mental treatment. In Singapore there is only one, rigid punishment, hanging.
Van was an Australian, although you'd never know it by that government's behaviour. The Australian Government really distinguished themselves in this affair. Prime Minister Howard made a last minute plea, to allow the kids mother to hold his hand on the final visit.
You see, Australia is busy, among other things, arranging a marriage of convenience between the old flagship QANTAS and Singapore Airlines, and we must not let humanity interfere with economics.
To add insult to injury, while Van was heading off to the gallows PM Howard was heading off to the cricket.

So where is the corruption? Singapore is the darling of the neo-liberal economics or monetarist set. It represents the direction would be corporate government lusts after. It marries Cheney and Abramoff and cuts out the middle man. All the loot flows straight into the pockets of those who hold power.
If corruption is tolerated in our developed economies, we will look more and more like Singapore. People will be downgraded to mere drones, the generation of profit and power for an elite few the being the only function of society.
Life itself will no longer have any value, apart from being a commodity. Severe punishment will be justified as essential to ensuring a strong economy, strong for those in a position to benefit. State/Corporate control can justify any measures to ensure that the rest of humanity 'toes the line'.
This is the vision held for our 'free' democracies by the current crop of neo conservative, power elites. If that is not a total corruption of our social values I don't know what is.

I note the USA has just completed its landmark 1000th execution since the reintroduction of the death penalty, 28 years ago. Congratulations…

Vietnam Bares All

A recent corruption survey out of Vietnam makes a fascinating study. Although I haven’t yet found the source document, reports paint an interesting picture of the nature of corruption.
The survey was taken in the Construction, Transport and Industry Ministries, in the cities of Ha Noi and HCM City and the provinces of Son La, Hai Duong, Nghe An, Thua Thien-Hue and Dong Thap.
This was a cooperative project with the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

So, the nuts and bolts:

• Between 80-90 per cent of senior managers, public servants, business people and ordinary citizens think embezzlement, bribery and the abuse of power to misappropriate State property corrupt

• Despite that he survey found that 30 per cent of public servants would accept a bribe if offered.

• 11% of officials polled said that accepting a bribe depended on the case, some 6.5% of officials would readily take them, and over 14.5% are non-committal.


• Up to 70% of officials take money and gifts from acquaintances at different levels.


• Making phone calls or sending handwritten letters to intervene on behalf of their acquaintances is the most popular method for officials. This is because telephone calls and handwritten letters are not legal documents.

• 57% of people polled said that they have had to pay traffic police bribes when they are pulled over.

• Nearly half of officials polled agreed with the viewpoint that anyone not participating in group bribery would be excluded from important departmental dealings, legitimate or otherwise.


• According to the survey, of 10 areas rife with corruption in Vietnam, the three considered top are land management, customs and traffic police.

• The top 10 list includes: financial and taxation bodies, management bodies and organisations in construction, bodies granting construction licences, the health sector, planning and investment bodies, management bodies and organisations in the transport sector as well as economic police.


• In Hanoi, 8.6% of officials selected the media as the least corrupt and 66.5% chose land management as more corrupt.

Comparison, of course, would be ludicrous. It is difficult to perceive such candid responses coming from any Western developed economy. Yet, at least in some areas, these figures strike a note. Oh, the temptation…

Legalised Corruption

You gotta love a country which legalises aspects of political corruption. My attention has been drawn to a couple of strange anomalies of late. Today’s example is the announcement that former Wisconsin state Sen. Brian Burke, six months in jail and required to pay $75,000 in restitution to the state can pay the money out of his ill gotten gains.
Now your average ‘garden variety’ criminal usually have the earnings from their crimes confiscated before they can even blink. Pollies and corporate cons, on the other hand, are allowed to use proceeds of their crime against and financial judgement. That should discourage them…
The National Capital has an interesting dilemma with its lobbyists. The recent plea bargaining of Michael Scanlon has thrown the spotlight on the laws which [protect lawmakers from corruption prosecution.An article in Bloomberg asserts: “Scanlon's testimony may allow the government to overcome a defense based on the ‘speech and debate’ clause of the Constitution, which protects lawmakers from being prosecuted for legislation they introduce or speeches they make in Congress, Cole and other experts said. Scanlon may be able to testify about deals between lawmakers and lobbyists; such quid pro quos wouldn't be protected by the Constitution.
The speech and debate clause only prevents you from using a legislative act'' as evidence, Cole said. "The agreement is the crime.”
Yup, unless prosecutors can prove that there was an actual agreement made, regardless of other evidence of corruption being committed, they cannot proceed.
The Bloomberg continued… Says Stephen Saltzburg, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington: “It is not going to be easy for the government to nail members of Congress. It is very difficult to decide where the lines are between ordinary campaign contributions that get you access and illegal gratuities and bribes.”
The 35 to 40 investigators and prosecutors on the Abramoff case are focused on at least half a dozen members of Congress. The investigators are looking at payments made by Abramoff and his colleagues to the wives of some lawmakers and at actions taken by senior Capitol Hill aides, some of whom went to work for Abramoff at the law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP But it will take some very precisely aimed testimony from Scanlon to make any of thee charges stick.

The moral of the story: Don’t be surprised at the carnage when you put the fox in charge of the hen house. While politicians have a monopoly on laws covering ethics and public corruption, they will err well and truly on the side of caution. Or to put it more bluntly, protect the ability to plunder the public purse at will.

New Corruption Roll Call USA

Corruption Roll Call USA
The November update is online today.

The CIA leak As the 'Scooter' Libby prosecution limps forward, a second Time magazine reporter has agreed to cooperate in the CIA leak case
Torture Claims There is increasing anger in Europe over secret CIA interrogation camps in some Eastern European countries.
Randy "Duke" Guilty Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, has resigned after a guilty plea to a corruption indictment.

We take a look at The GrandScan (Greed Incorporated), a who’s who of the growing corruption scandal engulfing the national capital.

*** Corruption Roll Call USA then swings through the states to put the spotlight of public corruption down home. Find out how deep the roots of corruption dig into the country.



Our new feature – ***A World of Corruption takes the update journey around the globe, with information briefs from all corners.

Scandal files continue to dump the bucket on corruption. The site is growing constantly, with a wide range of corruption related recourses.
If we have missed an important corruption story, please email details to: dennis@galleonpoint.com

Christian Terrorists?

Why not Catholic or Christian terrorists? That is what Australian Islamic leaders are asking. Focusing on ‘Islamist terrorism’, and at the same time, marking the card of anyone with Islamist connections, they argue, is counterproductive to the whole exercise.
The fact is governments like Australia and the US and to be fair, a number of Islamist governments, are all to ready to promote fear and xenophobia.
Without, in any way, approving or condoning such acts, I can understand how the zealot can reach that stage of outrage and disconnection from normal society. I can see how the IRA soldier, the fanatical anti abortionist, the freedom fighter reaches their ultimate misguided end.
What I can’t understand is how governments, those entrusted with our safety and well being, can promote vilification and hate as powerful as those held by the terrorist. Indeed, if the desire is to create enemies, why not constitutional or entrepreneurial terrorist?

While on the subject of entrepreneurial approaches, I note that the US military is paying to have articles place in Iraqi newspapers. These are gloss pieces, propaganda, intended to improve the increasingly tarnished image of the US military in that country.
Good Luck!
A compliant ‘homeland’ readership might respond well to the warm human interest stories of cuddly, gum chewing GIs. The people of Iraq might just be a little bit past that stage. Having been raped by Saddams’s pirates they are now basking in the largess of a multitude of rapacious invaders and claimants.
The western military have not particularly distinguished themselves, in the eyes of Iraqis. The genius who decided that democracy could flourish in a culture of murderous competing claims for power has ensured chaos for years to come.
The Pentagon has outsourced propaganda propagation in Iraq to a Washington-based firm called Lincoln Group. This is not to be confused with the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, Inc., founded in 1935 and devoted to extolling the virtues of old Abe.
The war department’s Lincoln Group formed Lincoln Group was created in 1999 “to pursue private sector opportunities in Iraq.” It claims to bring “a unique combination of expertise in collecting and exploiting information; structuring transactions; and mitigating risks through due diligence and legal strategies.”
Good on you Donald Rumsfeld, that plan is almost, just almost as good as your plan to beat those damned insurgents!
What plan, I hear you ask. Well that old war horse, Donald, is getting rather tired of this continuing insurgency business. It’s costing him sleep.
"Over the weekend, I thought to myself, 'You know, that gives them a greater legitimacy than they seem to merit'.” 'Enemies of the legitimate Iraqi Government' — how's that?" asks Donald.
Yup, that should solve the problem alright. Oh, and Don… While you are at it, let’s drop the terrorist label, it only encourages them. You know they get up at three every morning to see what is in the papers about them. I think we should call them ‘enemies of the legitimate government of the United States of America’.
Let’s face it Don, it has a ring to it, and it allows you to take a whack at just about anyone you like, or don’t like as the case may be.

Canada's Scandalous Election

I was struck by the Globe and Mail photo, juxtaposing Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, during the non confidence vote in the Commons. The vote was hardly a surprise to anyone; this train had been screeching its warning whistle for days.
Martin looked his normal, weary of late, self as her conferred with colleagues sitting behind him.
Harper, sitting across the Table, seemed to have more of a ‘I hope I’m doing the right thing here,’ look about him. Gone was the boyish cockiness, replaced with boyish doubt.
I can hardly blame him. Having jumped at what he sees as a real opportunity to trounce the Liberals, on the back of the sponsorship corruption scandal, he puts everything on the line, including his leadership.
No doubt, somewhere in the back of his mind, Harper does understand the harsh realities. He has launched a negative campaign, a campaign which relies heavily on voters perceptions of public corruption. To run solely on this negative agenda he must successful isolate and smear the Liberals on questionable ethics.
The problem with that scenario is that once the mud starts flying the public have difficulty discerning the supposed ‘black hats’ from the ‘white hats’, or ‘all cats are grey in the dark’, as my old Granny was fond of saying.
To illustrate this we only need to look at the polls, which show all the major parties separated by a whisker on the issue of ethical perceptions. Stephen, if you belittle one group of politicians, you belittle them all. That is the reality of public perception.
On the other side of the coin, there is an issue supporting Harper, another perception; the public are ready for change. Martin’s perpetual look of weariness, of late, suggests a party which is tired. I’m not convinced that is the case, but it’s easy to see why it might be a common conclusion.
Evidence against that argument is the masterful way the Government has led the opposition by the nose over the past months. An election was inevitable, and for the Liberals, almost better that it is forced at this time of the year.
Far better for Martin’s team to defend themselves against this premature dismissal then to defend calling an election, early next year, on the basis of the corruption argument.
Martin, on the face of it, has been handed the right to proceed with his statesmanlike, ‘more on sorrow than anger’ approach.
There is one certainty in all of this; a week is a long time in politics, eight weeks is an eternity. I expect Martin’s team will goad Harper to keep firing wildly during this early part of the campaign. They will be looking for him to exhaust his ammunition and bore the country with his corruption arguments. After that we will all be looking to see if the Conservative actually have any positive policies.

Independent oversight
The lamentable aspect of politicizing corruption is that while it resolves nothing, it drives the public to deeper cynicism and weariness on the subject. All the bluster of ‘getting to the bottom of the scandal’, is just that in the end, as long as politicians interfere and disrupt the judicial processes.
The only way of minimizing the temptation towards corrupt activities is to have powerful, independent anti-corruption agencies. Typically these bodies have the power to initiate investigations and force testimony. They act right up to the stage of recommending prosecution and providing gathered evidence to support it.
Agencies in other countries have shown an ability to go beyond partisan interests and focus purely on unethical and illegal behaviour whenever it surfaces.
The great benefit is that the issue of corruption and scandal is largely taken out of the political arena. It cannot be hindered by political interference; it cannot be employed as a political weapon.
Certainly corruption will always accompany opportunity, but an independent watchdog has the ability to react to the slightest whiff of malfeasance throughout the public sector. Indeed, the best of these agencies are empowered to investigate high level crime of all types, particularly where the public and private sectors interface.
The current scandal would have been uncovered and stopped years ago with the proper mechanisms in place. Then we might be fighting an election over real policy, not the pissing competition we are going to subjected to now.

Inviting Repression

The Australian government, in the face of criticism from legal circles and now a joint Senate committee, is determined to ram harsh anti-terrorism laws through parliament.
Two recent, and seemingly unrelated incidents, should have the Australian people in an uproar over the potential of these laws.

First is the impending hanging, in Singapore, of convicted Australian drug courier, Nguyen Tuong Van. True, anyone stupid enough to carry drugs into that ruthless city state doesn’t conjure immediate sympathy. But hanging?
The Australian Government, under John Howard, has been reluctant to involve themselves on Van’s behalf. Given the laws they are proposing, one should accept tacit approval of Singapore’s merciless approach.
And where will Prime Minister John Howard be when the hapless Van faces the executioner? Watching the cricket!

The second story broke at the weekend, out of neighbouring Malaysia. Complete with video footage (BBC Britain) is a story of a female detainee to strip naked and squat repeatedly while holding both ears. Note, detainee, not convicted prisoner.
The country's deputy inspector general of police said the practice was standard procedure.
A warm and friendly (that is sarcasm unless you missed it) Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the action of the policemen involved did not reflect the Government’s policy towards Chinese citizens.He said Malaysia did not have any policy stopping Chinese nationals from visiting the country. Instead, it encouraged and welcomed their visits. But they do have a policy of abuse of detainees it seems.Malaysian MP, Teresa Kok, and lawyer Sankaran Nair are raisng hell over three Chinese nationals who took their case to Kok alleging that they had been forced to strip after being detained for alleged visa violations and then spied upon by male police personnel.

The Proposed Australian Laws

The link between Australia and these two tiny, but economically dynamic countries is trade. Singapore, for one is talked of as a 'corporate society'. That is, it is run like a business, without the burden of regulation. John Howard likes that model.

That could be why, in the face of mounting criticism, but with the numbers to achieve success, Howard is ramming draconian anti-terrorism and workplace laws through the parliament. The latter we will deal with later, but the anti terrorism laws are ready to go.

The issues of concern, raised by a Senate committee and others:

■Preventive detention orders should not be issued on the basis of hearsay evidence.
■Minors should be segregated from adults in detention.
■Detainees should have the right to make representations before a continued preventive detention order was issued.
■Detainees should be told why they were being held.
■The Ombudsman should oversee the detention process.

The committee was also united in urging withdrawal of the sedition section of the new laws, pending review by the Australian Law Reform Commission. They propose extensive changes to the section if the Government won't do that.

The committee's argued that;

a delay would not weaken Australia's anti-terrorism capacity "given the nature of the existing law in this area… The committee is not convinced of an urgent need for the provisions in light of existing laws such as the offence of treason . . . and the crime of incitement."

These are the laws the Government tried to force through the legislature without time for proper review. As a package, they give Australian governments incredible powers of arrest, detention and abuse.
They begin to emulate the restrictive Malaysian and Singaporean regimes, and are a good long step in that direction. These laws might be promoted as an anti-terrorism tool, but once in place, government can target anyone (or group) it sees as a threat or critic.
Of course the Australian people won’t cop that easily, but if they allow this legislation to succeed there is little they will be able to do about it.
No point crying about it when you are stripped naked in a cell, holding your ear lobes, doing sit ups!

US Media scandal

LONDON – A civil servant has been charged under Britain's Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking a government memo that a newspaper said today suggested that Prime Minister Tony Blair persuaded President Bush not to bomb the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.
The Daily Mirror reported that Bush spoke of targeting Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, Qatar, when he met Blair at the White House on April 16, 2004. The Bush administration has regularly accused Al-Jazeera of being nothing more than a mouthpiece for anti-American sentiments. (Story as syndicated by AP)

This is an important story, by any measure. It suggests a willingness by the US administration to bomb innocent people to achieve its ends.
Yet a survey of Google news (using search terms Bush Blair – and/or Al Jazeera) threw up over 300 stories just in the ‘all related>’ section.
Of those stories just 16 were 15 were from US media outlets (see below).

‘…bomb innocent people to achieve its ends.” Does that phrase sound familiar? It is the claim the media regularly use to justify this so called war on terrorism. Yes, a description of those lunatics we call terrorists.
Is that the level Bush aspires to? Is that how the American people want to be known?

A look around the blogs, trying to get a handle on the US attitude to this event was a real eye opener. The general trend, summed up by the comments of one avowed ‘liberal’: “I don’t have much time for Al Jazeera. They promote terrorism.”

How in God’s name would any American, kept in the dark, ‘the mushroom club’, promoted by the scandalously selective reportage of the US media, know the truth?
All you know about Al Jazeera, about terrorism, about any of those ‘fear’ issues which rule your life is what comes 'filtered' through your 'sanctioned' media.

It was a standing joke, in the rest of the world, that US media not only avoided reporting casualties during the Iraq war, they also acceded to the administrations desire that flag draped coffins, arriving at US airports, should not be photographed. I shudder to think that the American people actually endorse this officially sanctioned ignorance.

Al Jazeera, like the New York Times and Washington Post, harbour zealots and misguided staff. You can’t tell me that the games being exposed in the Plame Affair display a laudable media, intent on honest and informative reportage.

In Qatar, as in New York and Washington, those media offices house many ordinary people, simply striving to do their job in a professional way as possible. They are decent people with families, not raving lunatics.

Google News: Bush/Blair search

The 16 US media reports.
Al Jazeera wants bomb memo explanationBoston Globe, United States - 23 hours ago
British paper: Bush wanted to bomb Al JazeeraChristian Science Monitor, MA - 23 Nov 2005
Britain seeks to protect memoWashington Times, DC - 23 Nov 2005
Did Blair persuade Bush not to bomb Al-Jazeera?Seattle Times, United States - 22 Nov 2005
Did Bush Want Al Jazeera Bombed?CBS News - 22 Nov 2005
London Bureau Chief Responds to Report of Memo Alleging Bush ...Bay Area Indymedia, CA - 23 Nov 2005
British newspaper: Bush spoke to Blair of bombing Arab TV network ...Helena Independent Record, MT - 23 Nov 2005
Bush, Blair should set record straight on leaked Al-Jazeera threatCPJ Press Freedom Online, NY - 23 Nov 2005
Bush Targets Al Jazeera? CNN Head Should Get Job BackProgressive.org, WI - 23 Nov 2005
Report: Blair halted Bush planColumbia Daily Tribune, MO - 23 Nov 2005
British lawmaker calls for publication of document alleging Bush ...WTNH, CT - 22 hours ago
Lawmaker urges release of bombing documentNews & Observer, NC - 22 hours ago
Beyond That Memo: Bush Wanted al Jazeera GoneNYC Independent Media Center, NY - 24 Nov 2005
Britain Blocks Press On Bush-Blair MemoHartford Courant, United States - 24 Nov 2005
Britain threatens newspapers with prosecution if leaked memo is ...Austin American-Statesman (subscription), TX - 23 Nov 2005

Bush Bombs Again

George W and his regime are increasingly seen, by many people around the world, as a danger to decent civilised standards.
News that he had discussed a plan to bomb the Al-Jazeera satellite channel's headquarters in Qatar, while not surprising, is nonetheless horrifying.
We are talking here of the self appointed saviours of the free world, the President and administration of the USA. Those wild adventurers, who in the name of a war on terrorism have put us all into personal peril of savage reprisal.
Bush's alleged comments about bombing Al-Jazeera's building in Doha are reported to be contained in a note of the meeting, with Britain’s Tony Blair, at the White House on April 16 last year.
Fortunately leaders of other allied countries face far more thorough scrutiny and criticism that that allowed in the US.
Criticism is not met, as in the US, with personal attack and vilification. The kind of attacks, on the likes of Murtha in the US, those who would question policy, would be a costly political exercise.
What is curious is that a country which glories in the language of free speech and free press is so ready to be cowered by their own leaders who demonstrate a willingness to attack those very freedoms at home and elsewhere.

Strategically, in the so called ‘war on terrorism’ the fact of the plan, revelations aside, evidences an unspoken agenda by the Bush covin.
Al-Jazeera is not friendly to the Bush administration, but that does not mean they are actively supporting terror campaign.
They are journalists, reporting events to their readership, as they perceive them. Much like US media outlets, which tailor the news you get, filtering out anything which might give cause for doubt.
The US administration would have us believe that all Islamists are terrorists, but Al-Jazeera does not hold the reverse, they simply report the truth they see.
There have been strong suspicions that their offices in Kabul and Baghdad were deliberately targeted by the Pentagon in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
This leaked memo gives currency to those suspicions, and widens the rift created by the ill-founded strategies to date.
The scandals surrounding the Washington political establishment are a mix of, terror related, double dealing and financial plunder.
That in itself creates a picture of policies based, not in security and freedom, but personal gain and enrichment of the elite few.
Again, I give thanks to those of other countries who simply won’t wear bullying of a crooked leadership. Time and again, these revelations come from outside the US and are largely ignored inside. I wager that this the White ‘House of Cards’ is about to fall.

Queensland Cowboy Politics

The Queensland (Australia) Liberal Party has been caught up in a bribery scandal after an independent MP yesterday alleged she had been offered a $50,000 inducement to join the Liberal/National Coalition.
Responding to a question in Parliament, Ms Roberts (Independent MP for Gympie) alleged that the Liberals had offered her repeated inducements over a lengthy period of time, and singled out a senior party figure who allegedly offered the $50,000 bribe.
Liberal leader Bob Quinn would not return calls last night but through a spokesman denied the allegations. Liberal Party state director Geoff Greene insisted the allegations were "completely false".
The Australian political scene is still in transition from a sordid past. Queensland’s reputation just happens to be enriched by a measure of approval by its citizens for political waywardness. Queenslanders have, seemingly, applauded a robust, if shady, approach to government over the years.
Times have changed, following inquiries, prosecutions and a serious effort to clean up the system. Still, it seems, old habits die hard.
But there is a noticeable difference now, in the way things are conducted. The alleged offer is standard fare. What is different is the response. Having been accused, and with three investigations into the allegations under way, Liberal leader Bob Quinn has actually denied the charges.
Quinn confirmed that he had held talks with Roberts in the lead-up to a Coalition agreement being signed with the National Party in late September. But Quinn insisted yesterday that he had not offered Ms Roberts any bribe or inducement, or sought to pressure her, and would defend his reputation.
That beats the hell out of the old, arrogant – So what? You see, these people, in the past, could not even se the wrong in manipulating the electorate. It was cowboy rules all the way; if the electorate didn’t complain too much anything was fair.
Roberts, a product of a short lives party from the ‘wooly’ right, is also a new breed of politician in that state, more in the amateur class. Roberts said:

"…Quinn kept telling me that I couldn't win my next election and, because Peter Beattie was on the nose, the election would be polarised and no one would vote for an independent and my only chance was to be with a party."

Although there appears to have been a benefit to her to take the bribe and play the game, she responded with a righteous indignation in the end. That is not to say that she was clear about how to deal with the issue.

"I have a number of, at least 15 people, who I spoke to about that and who are prepared to sign *stat decs about the amount of money.
"There was another amount of $10,000 for polling as well. I kept putting him off. I never gave him a response because I didn't know what to do."

If Roberts is right, and can prove the fact, Quinn adds lying to Parliament to to accumulating sins.

"At no stage was any inducement of any kind offered to the Member for Gympie. I absolutely repudiate any suggestion that involved offering $50,000.
"My position is absolutely clear, I completely repudiate any claim that I've engaged in any kind of inappropriate or corrupt behaviour."

Again, that is not new or unusual in that state. However times are changing and the old ways are passing. The right to rule, by any means available, is even becoming obsolete in Queensland.

* For readers not familiar with Australian terms; stat dec or statutory declarations is a form of affidavit. This instrument is in effect, a sworn statement which is accepted which is equal to giving evidence under oath.

Exploitative Sex

We have ignored, thus far, the numerous sex scandals in the US involving teachers and/or school children. To be sure, these are matters of great concern, but are a product of a society steeped in hypocrisy and double standards.
Contrast this against a poor rural and devoutly Muslim district of Indonesia, where aberrant sex is not just a scandal; it invites severe ostracism and punishments.
The Indonesian ‘scandal’ was made public after a teacher reported to the media that 11 students and a teacher were expelled from the senior high school after they were found to have been involved in an orgy in a classroom during which some of the students were reported to have kissed each other and had oral sex in the classroom. (SEX SCANDAL ROCKS WEST JAVA)
Sources at the school said a teacher, who was also a school counsellor, summoned two students, after they were caught smoking in a classroom. As the two young girls were reprimanded and labelled slutty by the teacher, in an act of defiance they revealed that many more students in the school and also a teacher there had been involved in prostitution.
Fortunately the Indonesian legal system is based on an amalgam of Roman-Dutch law, custom and Islamic law. Fortunate, because there is a good deal more latitude to deal with behaviour of this type in a reasonable way, depending of course on the local religious climate.

Still, regardless of cultures, there is the wider issue of authority and responsibility. As far as young people are concerned, adults be they teachers, parents or priests, have an unquestionable duty of care.
We might reasonably expect that children and young adults will have some difficulty separating fantasy and acceptable behaviour as they experiment with the world around them. There is simply no such leeway for adult/authority lapses.
The double standards, bred out of puritan mores and religiosity, cause enough grief in the adult world. It breeds an inability, by some in society, to accept that the private behaviour of consenting adults should be just that, private. At the same time, it ignores the treal problem at issue, exploitative sex.
What I cannot understand is the reluctance of these people to attack ‘exploitative’ sex with the same passion and venom as they do with their view of 'imoral' sex.
I cannot claim to be an expert on this, but it has been long understood, that ‘exploitative’ sex is essentially about power and control. Doubtless the raging against homosexuals and adulterers, or whatever ‘consenting adults’ activities they choose, is a manifestation of feelings of powerlessness in these attackers.
Given our societies obsession with underage sex, perhaps the issue and potential is just too close to the surface to allow for close scrutiny.
There is a problem in all this is defining underage and maturity. These are, by any measure, subjective concepts. They are confused by the sometimes, apparent, maturity of a young person. It is forgotten that these ‘pups’ are simply role playing at being mature, part of the learning and growing process.
It seems both children and adults are equally susceptible to confusion over the role of sex in our lives; the potential beauty of sexuality in a fulfilled and fulfilling relationship.
As adults, it must be our role to protect the vulnerable. That, in part at least, overcomes question of maturity. This is bsis of fighting any public corruption; because it exploits the vulnerable.

I can, almost, accept the pleas of some who claim they were victims as well. Not victims of the children, however, but of society’s inability to come to grips with the fundamentals of sexuality.
For the sake of the vulnerable, the exploited, let’s start getting some real sense into this discussion.
Children learn all too soon, the rudiments of sex. In teaching the realities, the wonders and it’s place in our lives and relationships, we might begin to teach ourselves something of the issue as well.