[Shit. My housemate is leaving today and taking his Internet connection with him. So… things’ll be a little quiet for a few days ’round these here parts. In other news, Rockin’ Ricque and I enjoyed the sights and sounds of Bruce Griffiths, TV Smith and The Thought Criminals at a public house known as The Tote this evening. FYI, Sunday arvo “TV Smith of The Adverts (UK), Jon Langford of The Mekons (USA) and our very own Kim Salmon play two sets each in rotating order, including an exhibition of Jon Langford’s renowned artwork from 2pm.”]
- …NSW Premier Morris Iemma said Mr Habib still had questions to answer to the Australian public and predicted he would get little support from voters. “The voters of Auburn, like Australians everywhere, won’t put up with lunacy, no matter who’s putting it forward,” Mr Iemma told reporters.
Former guest of the US Government at sunny Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Mamdouh Habib has recently announced his intention to run in the upcoming NSW state election in the seat of Auburn, currently held by Labor’s Barbara Perry by a margin of 26.5%.
Auburn:
(b) 89,000 constituents, of which 45,000 are electors. (c) The area is approximately 1/3 residential, 1/3 commercial, and 1/3 recreational. (d) Working class electorate with 82% employment and 18% unemployed. (e) One in five constituents over the age of 65 years. (f) 48 different nationalities. (g) Suburbs: Regents Park, Berala, Lidcombe, Auburn, Silverwater, Homebush Bay, Birrong, Sefton, Yagoona and Chester Hill. (h) Two local council areas: Auburn and Bankstown. (i) Religions: Catholic, Church of England and various Protestant churches. Also Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu. (j) Eight high schools and sixteen primary schools. (k) One university campus. (l) Area: 45.54 sq km
Mamdouh Habib was one of a number of individuals subjected to ‘extraordinary rendition’ by the US state, a process in which ‘persons of interest’ to the US state are kidnapped and taken to other countries — in Habib’s case, Egypt — where they are tortured for information (and pleasure). The HoWARd Government denies these facts, as it does the torture taking place at Guantánamo; a position which Habib, at a rally in Sydney last month to commemorate the five-year anniversary of the concentration camp, made pointed reference to: “PRIME Minister John Howard should spend a year at the US naval base in Guantánamo Bay, says former detainee Mamdouh Habib, who claims inmates are subject to torture, electric shock and beatings” (Stay a while at Guantánamo, Habib tells PM, AAP, January 11, 2007).
While the Australian Government simply cannot do enough to support George II’s regime, the German Government is currently chasing the ghosts of the CIA responsible for kidnapping and torturing German citizen Khaled al-Masri in December 2003. al-Masri was kidnapped in Macedonia and tortured in Afghanistan: “Mr Masri says he was abducted by US agents in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, on 31 December 2003. He is seeking to sue the US government over his detention, but in May a judge dismissed a lawsuit he filed against the CIA, citing national security considerations“. In Italy, “Osama Mustafa Hassan, or Abu Omar, says he was abducted from the streets of Milan and then tortured in Egypt”. Italian authorities may also choose to chase CIA ghosts.
NB. Such practices as ‘extraordinary rendition’ are eminently sensible, and absolutely vital to securing national security. What’s cRaZy is Habib’s platform, which reportedly consists of the following lunacy:
In a statement today, Mr Habib said he would be campaigning for “the right of freedom of expression and in opposition to the anti-terrorist laws, state and federal”.
“The right to fight racism, the end of scapegoating of Aborigines, Muslims and migrants,” Mr Habib said.
“The right to oppose Australia’s involvement in Iraq.”
He said he was also standing on education, housing, health and environment issues.
As you can see, it’s patently obvious that Habib is barking, and the Australian Labor Party, in the form of NSW Premier Morris Iemma, is absolutely right to describe freedom of expression, opposition to draconian laws, racism, and the scapegoating of Aborigines, Muslims and migrants, the war on Iraq and support for better education, health, housing and an end to the destruction of the natural environment as consisting of all those things which the ALP abhors.
- …We put the work in
We put the time in
Assumed we were doing the right thing
We put the effort in
Our whole lives in
But in the end we’re second class citizens
So we zipped our lips
We worked for tips
We aimed ever-lower but still missed
In this compassionate land
The helping hand
Shows you two fingers then a fist
I put the work in
I put the time in
What did I get back? Virtually nothing
I put the effort in
My whole life in
But in the end I’m still a second class citizen…
