ONA Info Session, 3rd April.

In case you missed the UTAS-circulated email, the Office of National Assessments will be holding an information session for prospective applicants. Salary for ONA employees is usually around $50,000, and gets past $80,000, often with "irregular hours" promised!

Here’s a copy and paste job:

The Federal Office of National Assessments will be presenting an information session on their 2007 Graduate Program next Monday (3rd April) in the Centenary Lecture Theatre between 1:10-2pm.The Office of National Assessments (ONA) analyses international political, strategic and economic issues for the Prime Minister, senior ministers and government departments, and coordinates the national intelligence effort. ONA, which is an autonomous Commonwealth agency, is a small organisation - about 60 people, of whom two-thirds are involved in analytic work. Working under the authority of its own Act of Parliament, ONA is concerned only with international issues and has no responsibility for domestic Australian affairs. They are recruiting from a wide range of disciplines.

The ONA’s site is here.

The Occupied Territories.

Australia occupies over six million square kilometres of land on the continent of Antarctica, historically owned and farmed by Muslims.

The area was originally claimed in the name of the motherland- Britain, before being handed to Australia in 1933.

The Territories are occupied by Christian settlers under the guise of ‘science’, traditional Muslim owners still hold the keys to research stations they built and operated for centuries. Those who have not been forced into exile, live under a brutal occupation, which is ignored by the mainstream media, and supported by the Murdoch Press and successive United States administrations.

For an example of the mainstream media's refusal to recognise the Antarctic Muslims, see this article. Christian zealots have omitted the unique history and culture of the Muslims.

Please consider these facts, and support divestment from Australia until an independent state is established for the Antarctic Muslims, their identity recognised, and those in exile repatriated at the expense of Australia and the US.

Israeli Election.

Tim Blair’s link to Israelly Cool (an ‘Ozraeli site’), which is covering the country’s election, is an excellent place to follow the ongoing action.

No doubt, it will also be ‘interesting’ to see Crazy Ant’s response when a coalition including Kadima takes control of the Knesset.

Included will be the words, ‘racist’ and ‘neo-conservative’ (or similar). The failed journalist will also put it to his limited (in both a numerical and intellectual sense) readership that the Jewish state harbours the desire to exile, massacre, and generally destroy the Palestinians for being on Zionist turf or whatnot. Expect a link to some-such site as Counterpunch, and a mention of his book.

There will be a diatribe on the Jewish voters, on a much more scathing level than Little Lowy has ever heaped on Hamas supporters.

Lowy may also try out a new word, with poor results.

In any case, may the Israeli election produce a Government willing to take a Sharon-like stand against terrorist scum threatening the world’s only Jewish state, and the Western world.

Palestinians in the media.

“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” William Shakespeare.

Snippets.

An Australian journalist is responsible for the destruction of ancient statues in Taliban ruled Afghanistan.

THE TALIBAN TOOK [the journalist] TO BE AN UNDERCOVER AGENT SO ORDERED HIM ARRESTED AND THE STATUES DESTROYED

Phew, I’m glad that’s cleared up- all this time I thought the Taliban were just intolerant terrorist-sponsoring murderers.

The National Australia Bank has offered $1million to assist Queenslanders.

[The] NAB has already suspended home loan repayments and waived fees on new personal loans and early withdrawal of deposits.

Thankfully, Cyclone Lazza has been relatively merciful to the State. Although I’m sure this is some kind of punishment from Allah for Australia’s involvement in the taking back of Spain from Muslim rule…

... Speaking of Allah's wrath, take a look at cruelty in the Koran:

Unbelievers will be tormented forever with fire. When their skin is burned off, a fresh skin will be provided.

Heh heh, those zany Muslims…

What has power-hungry Crazy Ant been drinking?



"The reabsorption of semen by the blood is the strongest nourishment and, perhaps more than any other factor, it prompts the stimulus of power, the unrest of all forces toward the overcoming of resistances, the thirst for contradiction and resistance", Friedrich Nietzsche.

Stoopid Comment.

This one from smiths, over at Crazy Ant’s blog:

“murdoch himself sits with [Bush and Howard] to craft the lies that his machine then distributes"

... No.

I’ve (thankfully) been told, via email, that MS IE may be having some trouble with this page. Get Firefox, that’ll fix everything from your dog’s cancer to your girlfriend’s undersized breasts.

Fulbright Tasmanian Scholarship Program.

Looking to study in the land of the brave and the free? Tasmanian students will now have more opportunities to do so, with a $40,000 scholarship on offer. Here’s a copy and paste job from UniTas (PDF):

The Tasmanian Government and the University of Tasmania have joined forces to create an award to allow talented Tasmanians to undertake study or research in the United States for up to twelve months. Minister for Economic Development, Lara Giddings and the Vice-Chancellor Professor Daryl Le Grew, have announced their joint support in establishing a prestigious Fulbright Tasmanian Award, valued at up to A$40,000 a year. US Consul General to Melbourne, Earl Irving said this is the first state-based Fulbright Award to be established in the fifty-six year history of the Fulbright program in Australia. “I congratulate the Tasmanian Government and the University of Tasmania for their initiative. It demonstrates Tasmania’s vision for the future through the support of research and development, and the development of long-term international relations.” The Fulbright Tasmanian Award is open to Tasmanian residents to undertake 3- 12 months research or study in the USA. Projects undertaken in the US will add-value and contribute to Tasmania’s economic development and further research opportunities. Ms Giddings said the award will bring benefits to both sides of the Pacific. “This award will assist in building long-term linkages between Tasmania and the United States in the mutually beneficial areas of research and development. “It’s about recognising and encouraging the substantial talent we have in the State and building international partnerships. “In the same way the Rhodes Scholarship program develops ties between Australia and the United Kingdom, the Fulbright will complement and enhance our relationship with the United States,” she said. Professor Le Grew said the award will bring lasting outcomes for Tasmania. “Fulbright Awards are internationally recognised and certainly ‘open doors’ in the United States. “Tasmanians have won Fulbright Awards in the past, but this initiative of the Fulbright Tasmanian Award ensures greater opportunities for Tasmanians. “We are pleased to partner with the Tasmanian Government in establishing this award and we will seek donations to ensure its endowment for the future,” he said. The prestigious Fulbright program is the largest educational scholarship of its kind. Aimed at promoting mutual understanding through educational exchange, it currently operates between the US and 150 other countries. It annually grants up to twenty Fulbright Awards for Australians to the US and a similar number for Americans to Australia. See www.fulbright.com.au for more details. Applications for the first Fulbright Tasmanian Award will open in June for the inaugural Fulbright Tasmanian Scholar to commence a program of study or research from mid 2007.

Got Mail?

“A letter is an unannounced visit; the mail-man, the mediator of impolite incursions. One ought to have one hour in every eight days for receiving letters, and then take a bath”, Friedrich Nietzsche.

Iran Freedom Concert.

A rather odd coalition recently showed its support for Iranians- sorry Crazy Ant, that’s support for Iranians and Iranian students, not the Iranian regime, on the 18^th.

Included were Harvard Democrats and Republicans who’ve put their rather infamous, mutual disdain aside to recognise “that because we live in freedom, we have a responsibility to help echo the call of Iranians our own age demanding freedom,” without taking a stand on issues such as appropriate intervention programs.

It’s rather unfortunate that media coverage of the concert proved to be pitiful (at least here), but the effort put in by students across the US is an important sign, that regardless of the left-right divide, those who are still sane see the need to support Iranian students living in an intolerable regime.

Here is a statement from the concert’s planning committee:

CAMBRIDGE – On Saturday, March 18, Harvard University will host the
Iran Freedom Concert, a rally organized by Harvard students to support
their counterparts in Iran. Prominent Iranian student leader Akbar
Atri and Harvard's Undergraduate Council president John Haddock will
address the crowd.

"As tensions rise over nuclear issues, our diverse student coalition
wants to spotlight the human side of the Iran crisis," said
co-organizer Adam Scheuer, a senior and editor at the Harvard Middle
East Review.

"Iranian students are denied basic rights Americans take advantage of
every day. But there is a brave student movement in Iran working for
change, and we need to support them." Widespread student protests in
Iran have broken out in recent years, despite a brutal crackdown by
the regime's security forces.

The concert, which begins at 9 p.m. at Leverett House, features
leading campus musicians and speakers from campus groups exposing
repression in Iran. Nine organizations are co-sponsoring, including an
unusual alliance of campus Democrats and Republicans.

"The coalition doesn't take a stand on policy debates like foreign
intervention," explained freshman co-organizer Alex McLeese. "But we
agree that the fundamental rights of Iranians cannot be held hostage
to diplomatic maneuverings over Iran's nuclear program."

The Iran Freedom Concert takes place just before the traditional
Persian new year of Norouz – reflecting the students' hope for a new
day for freedom in Iran.

"Iranian students are arrested for what they write on their blogs and
have to take their exams in handcuffs," noted freshman co-organizer
Nick Manske. "In fact, the essential elements of this concert are
illegal in Iran: live singing, mixed dancing, and discussing social
messages. Not to mention the restrictions on women, minorities, and
journalists."

That message is being echoed on campuses across the country, with
simultaneous rallies planned at Georgetown, UPenn, Duke, and other
schools. Prominent Iranian dissidents, as well as the American Islamic
Congress, are sending statements of support.

"This is a critical moment for Iran," Scheuer said. "Iranian activists
need to know that American students are ready to help them hold the
Iranian regime accountable. We want to help our counterparts in Iran
seize the moment and advance their civil rights movement."

(Apologies to Manny for not posting on the concert before.)

See the website here.

Bye-Bye...

"We accept that we will not be in a position to form government after this election and I as leader of the parliamentary Liberal party accept full and total responsibility for the result and all the tactical decisions relating to our election strategies” - Rene Hidding.

*sigh*

An upsetting but mostly satisfactory result in the Tasmanian election.

What can we really say? The Liberals did not put in a good campaign, it took the work of non-party folk to get the Greens’ policies out there- which of course had the desired effect. Peg Putt bitched about how everyone is against her and the Greens (lets bloody well hope so), and Lennon will be picking a new moustache-wielding Deputy.

Life goes on.

The Greens on that pamphlet.

The Greens have decided; “members of religious group Exclusive Brethren have been […] the silent force behind campaigns attacking Greens gay policies.”

Homosexual-rights ‘activist’ Rodney Croome stated:

"The overwhelming majority of Tasmanian Liberal and Labor MPs support same-sex couple adoption and fostering, the formal recognition of same-sex relationships and the ability to legally change gender to match personal identity,"

But didn’t justify, in any way, why tax-dollars should fund gender change “to match personal identity”.

The fact is, the policy cannot be justified, and is completely illiberal. If an individual wants to change the sex he or she was born with- it isn’t an issue for Church groups; unless, of course, they are forced to foot the bill. It certainly won't be the largely unemployed student left, the Greens' prime market for gathering voters, who will pay for Croome et al to slice and snip their way to happiness.

The Greens have also taken the group they believe to be behind the pamphlets to the AEC. Clearly, they are afraid of the potential effects their non-environmental policies will have on voters. They should be.

Don't forget to vote, this Saturday, for a party that wont bugger you over like the Greens, or reward poor performance and crime like the Labor Party.

Election.

Here is a brief summary of the election campaign so far, in the lead up to the vote this Saturday.

We’re hoping for a Liberal victory, but also tossing up the advantages to the nation in a Green win (i.e., their devastating policies unleashed against their simpleton voters). Realistically, though, the outcome is grim- the Greens holding the balance of power.

Of course, most voters have probably heard of or read the pamphlet released by a 'group of Tasmanian families', which make the Greens’ policies- that is, their theories, not practices- clear for all to see, including the use of tax-dollars to fund sex change operations (a policy the Liberals should have pointed out). With Tasmanians finally exposed to the real Greens, though, Peg Putt’s propaganda drive over environmentalism and so-called ‘honest government’, is much less effective.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that ‘honest Greens’ is a laughable concept. If the party were so 'honest', they would not have altered their drug policies in the lead up to the election campaign- a deliberate manoeuvre to appear less extreme- a cover that will not last.

Good luck to all the candidates, except for the Greens’. Quit while you are ahead Peg Putt et al, and save the State some money you old socialist fools.

Dodos lacking the ability to engage in real debate.

Take a look at the comment section on one of Crazy Ant’s posts.

Ant Lowy's leftist buddies are trying (among other things) to defend the little man from legitimate, accurate criticism that his appointment to a publicly funded position is disgusting and wrong.

Is it funny, or is it sad, that while pro-Israel commenter Captain keeps her or his posts calm, logical, intelligent and coherent, Crazy Ant’s supporters respond with gems like this:

Darryl Mason (his blog) :

“…why would you even visit here, let alone bother commenting?”

Weezil:

“…captain is a troll. Popping around blog comments to vex and annoy is a troll’s main job.”

Addamo:

"Captain,

I actually thought you had something to contribute to this forum, but you have proven by this post that you are a complete and utter moron – a Troll in fact [ed: blah blah blah ad hominem, etc]. How dare you come to this forum and direct such insults to the moderator? [ed: insults, my arse] If you don’t like it, go forth and multiply. No one is forcing you to post or read theses threads. What are you here for? To try and slay a dragon so that you can run back to your Zionists [ed: later 'Zionazis', from Addamo] wing nut fellow travelers and get a pat on your head from your handlers as you boast of your great adventure? [ed: incidentally, Captain does deserve a to be congratulated for putting up with these blatantly ignorant anti-Zionist dodos. It’s hardly an adventure though; it’s a nightmare trying to speak rationally to anyone at Crazy Ant’s blog.]

You’re have made a pathetic attempt to trivialize Ant’s credentials [ed: what credentials?], and insisted that his success is purely the result of him exploiting his Jewish heritage. Who gives a damn whether Ant represents Jews or anyone else [ed: many Jews would care, a lot. Having Ant represent the Jewish community would be similar to having Forest Gump represent, say, Christians]. His appointment was not about politics, but academic inquiry [ed: But Ant accepts he is not an academic]. His pos8ition would be compromised if he were to be representing anyone [ed: HA HA! As if Ant is neutral in any way, as implied by Addamo!]– but for wingnuts like yourself, not being an Israeli apologist must make you biased against Jews., What utter BS.

[…]

Who gives a damn as to whether you think ant is qualified for his position? You have not been endowed with the responsibility of making that decision [ed: As a tax-payer, I sure as hell give a damn, make the lazy shit get a real job]."

It really is no coincidence that the left have such poor form when it comes to debate based on reason, and facts. They certainly cannot rely on these traits, and they cannot be consistent. It is an often funny, but usually sad state of affairs.

For now, let's all have a laugh at little Lowenstein, who seems to think he is a journalist, and not a failed trainee.

Make sure you also see A Western Heart’s recent post on the left and free speech, here.

Stoopid Comment.

Another silly comment so soon? Indeed.

This one is from a clearly disturbed individual calling himself ‘fatnigger’. Make what you will of her or his name. The individual’s post is first up at Wally’s Boltwatch.

“Obviously, abortion is a 'wedge' issue, mainly used by conservative governments to distract people from issues like war, economy, etc.”

Google it.

Iraq war. Nearly three million hits.

Economy. Nearly ten million hits.

Abortion. Just over two-hundred thousand hits.

Even accounting for non-news pages (and loads of porn), clearly society is focussed on the former issues. At the very least, we can conclude that abortion isn’t doing very well as a wedgy distraction.

Stoopid comment.

We should make this a regular thing. There are plenty of stupid comments waiting to be pointed out...

Addamo, over at Crazy Ant's blog.

“…what is seems is that the Iranians just want to be left alone.”

"Just leave us alone will you... with them Jooz!"

Labor's Little Protege:



“Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assaults of thought on the unthinking.”
John Maynard Keynes.

Snippets:

An interesting poll at news.com.au, asking readers whom they most prefer to play Prime Minister out of John Howard, Kim Beazley, and Julia Gillard:

Out of 3327 votes (so far), Kimmy has 208- 6%.

Unfortunately, Julia Gillard has 49%.

Thankfully, the poll is about as useful as the ALP’s leftist factions, and subject to change.

Former US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage underestimates the strength of middle powers in an otherwise accurate and interesting interview with the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (email us for a copy) :

GJIA: What is Iraq’s place on the world stage and what can we do to support it?

Armitage: Well, I don’t think Iraq has a place on the world stage. It’s hard for me to see a country of twenty-three million people having the necessary gravity, the necessary weight to be a world player. Clearly, we’re involved in a war of ideas, and the idea that countries should be able to pick their leaders is a worthy one […] but Iraq is a regional player, and doesn’t have a place on the global stage.

See this story on the gang-rape of Western women by Muslim criminals (may they choke on an old shoe) :

Aside from the usual bombing "protest" against Western "arrogance" and "unbelieving morals", the current rape wave is the vital expression of an ongoing jihad against women who under Western influence may drift slowly out of the grip of male Muslim hands.

The war character of this behaviour may become clearer from its archaic punishment perspective that has come out of use generally but survived in Islam until present times. During the Algerian independence war the freedom fighters used to publicly sodomize French officers in order to achieve the enemy's maximum degradation. The same applies to the woman as a possible internal enemy containing even a double danger: her alleged disobedience is a bio-political security risk for the Islamic entirety and her independent "devilish" sexuality represents a religious blasphemy, contaminating male purity. Both have to be dealt with accordingly: beating, raping, torturing, stoning, killing.

It is Cricket!

Not to sound cocky, but we Australians often prove better at sport than the Yanks, which is why I found this story so welcoming.

We can only win so many yacht races before the US simply say 'enough is enough' and give up completely. If the Americans take up cricket though, and it looks like it might catch on between our leaders, we'll have something else to beat 'em at!





Useless Bush! Take a look at a real player:



And just what kind of ball should be used in a match between prominent Western leaders?
Only the best, of course:



Yes- it is packed full of diamondy goodness...

Rational Fear.

I spent an hour today searching for a baby huntsman that I wasn’t sure even existed. I’d only just gotten home, and the light was off. Something did move, I knew that much.

I gave my place a good cleaning, throwing clothes that have been waiting in queue for a wash into the basket, and put some scattered papers and articles away- so as the huntsman couldn’t slip under them, hide for a month and emerge- bigger and more bloodthirsty- to bite my precious wannabe banker fingers.

I then went onto beating the absolute shit out of the floorboards with a broom- to scare it away if it had slipped under and out of my sight.

Anyway, to the point:

Is my fear of the global Islamofascist movement based on the same assumptions as my fear of this baby huntsman in the dark? Is the left correct to say that Bush’s War on Terror is a Republican grab for money, oil, and power? Is The Howard just an arse licker following Bushnik neo-conservative domestic and foreign policies?

Hmm. No.

Firstly, I reminded myself that calling anyone an arse-licker is a form of ad hominem argument that should only stiffen my opposition to the left.

Secondly, and quite simply, there are cheaper ways for the Republicans to grab money, oil and power.

Thirdly, the international neo-conservative movement hasn’t exactly made any long-lasting changes to Western societies. Our kids are still not studying Christianity as an absolute truth in public schools. Creationism has proven itself irrelevant.

And lastly, in any light, the Islamofascist movement clearly isn’t RWDB fiction.

I did kill the huntsman, by the way. Absolutely crushed him- and my room is clean!

* This post was submitted by an old college mate, currently studying at Ballarat and working at a local credit union. Yes- this individual is a little crazy.

** If you would like to submit a post to be published, feel free to send us an email. We do discriminate though, you have to be right wing, and preferably Tasmanian. Lefties can go here.

Standing Against the new Totalitarianism.

In support of the statements presented in this manifesto, and the document's signatories, I’m reproducing it here.

Thanks to Ben Ze'ev at Six Days for bringing it to my attention. I strongly recommend reading it and posting it on your site, unless… you’re too dhimmi? Dhimmi, dhimmi, dhimmi, dhimmi!

(Also note the Fiskian repetition I’m using- great technique)

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.

We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the Islamists' domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

12 signatures

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq

Presentations:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, from somilian origin, is member of Dutch parliement, member of the liberal party VVD. Writter of the film Submission which caused the assasination of Theo Van Gogh by an islamist in november 2004, she lives under police protection.

Chahla Chafiq
Chahla Chafiq, writer from iranian origin, exiled in France is a novelist and an essayist. She's the author of "Le nouvel homme islamiste , la prison politique en Iran " (2002). She also wrote novels such as "Chemins et brouillard" (2005).

Caroline Fourest
Essayist, editor in chief of Prochoix (a review who defend liberties against dogmatic and integrist ideologies), author of several reference books on « laicité » and fanatism : Tirs Croisés : la laïcité à l'épreuve des intégrismes juif, chrétien et musulman (with Fiammetta Venner), Frère Tariq : discours, stratégie et méthode de Tariq Ramadan, et la Tentation obscurantiste (Grasset, 2005). She receieved the National prize of laicité in 2005.

Bernard-Henri Lévy
French philosoph, born in Algeria, engaged against all the XXth century « ism » (Fascism, antisemitism, totalitarism, terrorism), he is the author of La Barbarie à visage humain, L'Idéologie française, La Pureté dangereuse, and more recently American Vertigo.

Irshad Manji
Irshad Manji is a Fellow at Yale University and the internationally best-selling author of "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith" (en francais: "Musulmane Mais Libre"). She speaks out for free expression based on the Koran itself. Née en Ouganda, elle a fui ce pays avec sa famille musulmane d'origine indienne à l'âge de quatre ans et vit maintenant au Canada, où ses émissions et ses livres connaissent un énorme succès.

Mehdi Mozaffari
Mehdi Mozaffari, professor from iranian origin and exiled in Denmark, is the author of several articles and books on islam and islamism such as : Authority in Islam: From Muhammad to Khomeini, Fatwa: Violence and Discourtesy and Glaobalization and Civilizations.

Maryam Namazie
Writer, TV International English producer; Director of the Worker-communist Party of Iran's International Relations; and 2005 winner of the National Secular Society's Secularist of the Year award.

Taslima Nasreen
Taslima Nasreen is born in Bangladesh. Doctor, her positions defending women and minorities brought her in trouble with a comittee of integrist called « Destroy Taslima » and to be persecuted as « apostate »

Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie is the author of nine novels, including Midnight's Children, The Satanic Verses and, most recently, Shalimar the Clown. He has received many literary awards, including the Booker Prize, the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, Germany's Author of the Year Award, the European Union's Aristeion Prize, the Budapest Grand Prize for Literature, the Premio Mantova, and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. He is a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres, an Honorary Professor in the Humanities at M.I.T., and the president of PEN American Center. His books have been translated into over 40 languages.

Philippe Val
Director of publication of Charlie Hebdo (Leftwing french newspaper who have republished the cartoons on the prophet Muhammad by solidarity with the danish citizens targeted by islamists).

Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq , author notably of Why I am Not a Muslim ; Leaving Islam : Apostates Speak Out ; and The Origins of the Koran , is at present Research Fellow at a New York Institute conducting philological and historical research into the Origins of Islam and its Holy Book.

Antoine Sfeir :
Born in Lebanon, christian, Antoine Sfeir choosed french nationality to live in an universalist and « laïc » (real secular) country. He is the director of Les cahiers de l'Orient and has published several reference books on islamism such as Les réseaux d'Allah (2001) et Liberté, égalité, Islam : la République face au communautarisme (2005).

Happy Anniversary!

There’s some bitching by Bob Brown in this story on John Howard’s 10th Anniversary as Prime Minister.

Interestingly Bobby claims that;

“[Howard] is able to dig a little bit below the surface to play on fears that people have and to be able to assure people that he will look after those concerns, even if they are figments”

So John Howard exploits fear, irrational fear at that? No doubt Bob is referring to terrorism, or what he probably thinks is the legitimate struggle against the West’s tide of secularism, and free-market liberal democracies.

If Islamic terrorists win, Senator, homosexuals like you will be the second to die. It should be obvious who is at the front of the queue. Need a hint? The Koran demands Muslims kill them, wherever they find them...

The idea that John Howard is playing on ‘irrational fear’ is laughable. The Western World has experienced Islamic terrorism firsthand- the US and Britain certainly know that fears over security are well justified. A number of Australians who travelled to Bali, and no doubt our Indonesian embassy staff, must also realise that fears over terrorism are not ‘figments’.

Bob Brown's claim is ironic, when noting that the Green’s successes stem from the Party’s ability to convince the electorate that global warming is as sure as death and taxes (it’s not)- and that they alone can fix the problem through their dark green philosophy (they cannot- nothing can).

And for the record, Bob himself was busy scaremongering before the last federal election. Here’s what he said;

"On Saturday a vote for the Coalition will be a vote for the chainsaws in some of the most magnificent forests on Earth and I hope every undecided voter has this in mind.

"Two-thirds of Tasmania's iconic forests that could be protected will go to the chainsaws under John Howard."

Oh, deary! Two-thirds of Tasmanian’s ‘iconic’ forests? Bob Brown is like a dictator who claims 99% support in a rigged election. He offers figures that mean absolutely nothing. What exactly is iconic to Bobby and the Greens? Everything! No parking lots, ever, because that is always at the expense of someone’s paradise.

With any luck, we'll get another 10 years of the Coalition, at the very worst- that's 10 years without the Greens.

Happy Anniversary, John.