by cameron | Jun 28, 2007 | Iraq, Podcast, technology
If you aren’t on Twitter yet, you are probably wondering what it’s all about. It’s kind of like a steady feed of… stuff. Stream of consciousness from your friends. What they are doing, thinking about, reading, watching, etc. Here’s my last couple of days of twitters e.g. the things I’ve written. Inane? Or addictive? I guess that depends on your state of mind. In a way, it’s a kind of constant background conversation between your friends that all of you can see and participate in. Like most things internet, I guess it is what you make of it. If you and your friends write about what you had for lunch, so be it. Or you can write about the current news. Or ideas. It’s like that old quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
You can me to your Twitter friends list by going to my profile and clicking “add” in the sidebar.
My recent twittering:
I remember when the sweetest sound in the world was a modem actually connecting to my ISP and not giving me a busy signal less than 20 seconds ago from web
watching the “Mac or PC” Rap Music Video http://youtube.com/watch?v=… 1 minute ago from web
@Scobleizer Consider yourself lucky to be in a country that will actually see the iPhone before 2008! about 1 hour ago from web in reply to Scobleizer
MODM #3 is July 5. Hope to see Melburnites there. Register: http://tinyurl.com/23of3r about 2 hours ago from web
@mspecht you moved hosting providers? about 3 hours ago from web in reply to mspecht
discussing napoleon’s invasion of russia with j. david markham, my co-host on the napoleon podcast napoleon.thepodcastnetwork.com about 4 hours ago from web
recording new episode of the Napoleon podcast – today we take 500,000 soldiers deep into Russia. Doh! about 5 hours ago from web
@leslienassar interesting article, i admire her views on iraq and US politics, but she’s a catholic, the very opposite of “progressive” about 5 hours ago from web in reply to leslienassar
@leslienassar can anyone who believes in a supernatural magic ghost being really be considered “progressive” ? about 5 hours ago from web in reply to leslienassar
@leslienassar all xns believe the same bronze age mythology as the nutjob. about 6 hours ago from web in reply to leslienassar
my thoughts – http://tinyurl.com/28xhjs about 9 hours ago from web
not enough – 4 out of 5 adults in an educated, intelligent society, still believe that mythological, supernatural beings govern the universe about 9 hours ago from web
Australian census data – the number of people having “no religion†jumped from 15.5% of the population (2001) to 18.7% (2006) about 9 hours ago from web
watching Christian pastor who wishes 33,000 were killed at Virginia Tech http://view.break.com/291886 about 9 hours ago from web
@bronwen – I always ask them – how does their economic model stand up against 100,000,000 new media choices? How can they stop the bleeding? about 16 hours ago from web in reply to bronwen
@delic8genius Billy Walsh is da man! Along with Michael Bay! about 17 hours ago from web in reply to delic8genius
G’DAY WORLD #257 – MY TRANSFORMERS REVIEW! http://tinyurl.com/2fccq7 about 17 hours ago from web
@cait dunno but I’m going again tomorrow! twice! about 18 hours ago from web in reply to cait
JUST SAW TRANSFORMERS!!!!! GREATEST MOVIE SINCE MATRIX 1!!!! 5 STARS!!!! about 19 hours ago from mobile web
G’DAY WORLD #256 – Brian Goldfarb, Silverlight http://tinyurl.com/2yyznt about 23 hours ago from web
just booked a photo shoot for Saturday arvo. This is for the Anthill story. about 23 hours ago from web
oooh my gdayworld custom laptop skin from http://www.tekskin.com.au/ is in the mail! about 23 hours ago from web
just picked up my kids from school. making them dinner. then going out to see TRANSFORMERS! Hope it doesn’t completely suck. Michael Bay. 🙁 about 23 hours ago from web
@mspecht forget about synching! just dump outlook’s sorry ass and join the gcal revolution compadre. 04:17 PM June 27, 2007 from web in reply to mspecht
@duncanriley I *am* on Twitter you goose! Where you been? 04:16 PM June 27, 2007 from web in reply to duncanriley
@mspecht using google calendar is the solution, not plaxo! 03:51 PM June 27, 2007 from web in reply to mspecht
recording interview with michael georgeff for gdayworld.com 03:22 PM June 27, 2007 from web
got free tickets to see TRANSFORMERS preview screening tonight! thanks to my friends at Paramount! 02:53 PM June 27, 2007 from web
@mollyfud christian – they only talk to you when they want something for free 02:51 PM June 27, 2007 from im in reply to mollyfud
@mollyfud the 10 mins comes from not having to edit down from wav files which I’ve been doing for the last few months 02:45 PM June 27, 2007 from im in reply to mollyfud
@mollyfud yes i do but only for TPN hosts. 02:45 PM June 27, 2007 from im in reply to mollyfud
@mollyfud stopped using skylook as callburner is the same product without requiring Outlook. 02:37 PM June 27, 2007 from im in reply to mollyfud
prepping for interview this afternoon with Michael Georgeff http://www.theage.com.au/ar… 02:12 PM June 27, 2007 from web
just got callburner working properly! thank darwin. that’ll cut 10 minutes off my post-production time per show! 02:10 PM June 27, 2007 from web
back at the office. Father Bob was in a shitty mood. 01:55 PM June 27, 2007 from im
about to catch up with australia’s oldest podcaster, father bob maguire 12:26 PM June 27, 2007 from mobile web
heading out to meetings for the next few hours 10:57 AM June 27, 2007 from im
listening to Hilltop Hoods “The Calling” 10:22 AM June 27, 2007 from im
@delic8genius – lets hug it out bitch 10:14 AM June 27, 2007 from im in reply to delic8genius
@cait – school holidays! 10:01 AM June 27, 2007 from im in reply to cait
by cameron | Jun 18, 2007 | CIA, Iran, Iraq, US politics
Charley Reese (ex-Orlando Sentinel) has written an interesting piece for AntiWar.com about Iran. He makes the following points:
I don’t see how any honest man can believe that Iran is a threat to the United States or its neighbors. Iran has not invaded anyone in the past 100 years. Iran has from the beginning insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes, and there has been no evidence – I repeat, no evidence – to the contrary. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty explicitly authorizes countries to enrich uranium. In other words, Iran has not done anything illegal.
Iran has no intercontinental missiles, and the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons is Israel. Please note that the United States flatly refuses to endorse the idea of a nuclear-free Middle East. Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel has refused to sign it. Iran admits international inspectors. Israel flatly refuses to allow international inspectors. The only country in today’s Middle East with weapons of mass destruction and a history of invading and occupying other people’s countries is Israel.
So why are the US so interested in Iran? According to Wikipedia:
Iran ranks second in the world in natural gas reserves and third in oil reserves.
Or course, the US has been trying to get its hands on Iran for decades. The Iran-Iraq war was started when Saddam Hussein, backed by the USA, invaded Iran in 1980.
According to Robert Parry there was a secret encouragement by the US administration (President Jimmy Carter, conveyed through Saudi Arabia) which was embroiled in a dispute with the new Islamic Republic of Iran. In the words of Alexander Haig, secretary of state from 1981, “It was also interesting to confirm that President Carter gave the Iraqis a green light to launch the war against Iran through Fahd.”
(Source: Wikipedia)
Robert Parry, btw, was the journalist who broke the Iran-Contra scandal involving Oliver North. For those of you too young to remember,
It involved several members of the Reagan Administration who in 1986 helped to illegally sell arms to Iran, an avowed enemy, and used the proceeds to fund, also illegally, the Contras, a right-wing insurgent organization in Nicaragua.
(Source: Wikipedia)
They also turned a blind eye to the Contras raising money by exporting crack cocaine to the US.
Ever wondered what happened to the people in the US administration that were convicted in the Iran-Contra affair? Most got away with it, pardoned by George H. W. Bush when he was President. Many of the people involved are now working for the current Bush administration. Including Robert Gates, the guy who replaced Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense.
He served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991–1993 under George H.W. Bush. During Iran Contra he was Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. In 1984, as deputy director of CIA, Gates advocated that the U.S. initiate a bombing campaign against Nicaragua and that the U.S. do everything in its power short of direct military invasion of the country to remove the democratically-elected Sandinista government.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Where does that leave us?
It’s important to understand that the people running the US at the moment have a history. And anyone who thinks these things are “conspiracy theories” only need to read a couple of books. The Iran-Contra affair wasn’t a conspiracy theory. It happened. Ronald Reagan admitted his involvement in it (after first denying it). He admitted George H. W. Bush knew about it as well.
These things happened.
Israel, on the other hand,
has received substantial direct economic aid from the United States, including approximately $1.2 billion per year since the mid-1970’s, although that regular annual amount has been being tapered off by $120 million per year beginning in 1998.
(Source)
Israel’s relationship with the United Nations is pretty bleak.
From 1967 to 1989 the UN Security Council passed 131 resolutions directly dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Of the 131 resolutions passed, 43 could be considered neutral while the remaining 88 either criticized and opposed the actions of Israel or judged against its interests. Nearly half of the 88 resolutions against Israel “condemned,” “censured,” or “deplored” the member state or its actions. During this time, in the UN General Assembly, 429 resolutions against Israel were passed, and Israel was condemned 321 times.
(Source)
It makes you wonder.
by cameron | Jun 1, 2007 | Australian media, Iraq
James Packer is selling down another 25% of PBL, taking his ownership to a minority share. I predicted this last October when Packer first announced he was selling off PBL.
As I pointed out back then, you probably won’t hear the mainstream media talking about the real reason Packer is selling down. They will focus on the his interest in gambling. Sure sure. Gambling is swell. But Packer doesn’t need to sell off PBL to get into gambling. He is James Packer. This isn’t like your university drop-out brother selling his PS2 so he can upgrade. The real reason (IMHO) that Packer is selling off PBL is that he wants to get out while he still can! He knows what we know, what Buffett and Gates and Murdoch know. The old media business is dead in the water. It’s a floater, just waiting for CSI to come along and fish it out with a long gaff so someone can autopsy the corpse.
Murdoch is the only guy who is still buying old media assets (apart from the vulture PE firms who can’t wait to pick the flesh off the bones… oh and Sam Zell). That’s because Rupert thinks he can just buy EVERYTHING. This is his last great gasp before he shuffles off to the Great Satellite Network in the Sky. He’s like Kane, buying all of the antiques of Europe, and then stuffing them into a warehouse somewhere in New Jersey, where a few years from now, a handful of guys will be sorting through them, chucking them into a great oven. I wonder if Rupert’s last dying words will be “Advertiserrrrr….”??
So anyway… I guarantee you won’t see a single mainstream media article in this country talk about the real reason why Packer is getting the hell out of dodge. Why? Because no-one wants to admit that their industry is on its last legs. The only old media guys I’ve met who are able to admit that are the ones that have resigned and walked away before the crash. Like Hugh Martin. I’m pretty sure Mark Jones would, but he’s still apparently counting on them for a pay cheque until he’s earning his keep from Yahweh.
And you won’t see Today Tonight, the kids that LOVE to throw the book at drunk drivers, talking about how their boss, Peter Meakin, has been sentenced to 18 month jail (on weekends) for trying to dodge a booze bus while he pissed behind the wheel. Nice one Pete. Nice to see his former colleagues at Nine News dancing on his grave as well. Classy, fellas.
And I doubt you’ll see any of them talking about the privatization of Iraq oil that I mentioned this morning.
Prove me wrong.
by cameron | Jun 1, 2007 | Iraq, US politics
Ann Wright served 29 years in the US Army and US Army Reserves and retired as a colonel. She served 16 years in the US diplomatic corps in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Micronesia and Mongolia. She resigned from the US Department of State in March, 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq.
Here is what she wrote recently on TruthOut:
On Thursday, May 24, the US Congress voted to continue the war in Iraq. The members called it “supporting the troops.” I call it stealing Iraq’s oil – the second largest reserves in the world. The “benchmark,” or goal, the Bush administration has been working on furiously since the US invaded Iraq is privatization of Iraq’s oil. Now they have Congress blackmailing the Iraqi Parliament and the Iraqi people: no privatization of Iraqi oil, no reconstruction funds.
This threat could not be clearer. If the Iraqi Parliament refuses to pass the privatization legislation, Congress will withhold US reconstruction funds that were promised to the Iraqis to rebuild what the United States has destroyed there. The privatization law, written by American oil company consultants hired by the Bush administration, would leave control with the Iraq National Oil Company for only 17 of the 80 known oil fields. The remainder (two-thirds) of known oil fields, and all yet undiscovered ones, would be up for grabs by the private oil companies of the world (but guess how many would go to United States firms – given to them by the compliant Iraqi government.)
Read the full article with the link above.
This comment on AfterDowningStreet is informative:
The specific benchmark relates to what is called The Production Revenue Act and The Production Sharing Agreement,Look up these two terms and you will discover an unbelievable story of what is going on. For thirty years the oil monopoly companies would receive a majority percent of profits. Thus depriving Iraq of money needed for reconstruction and the US will simply pony up taxpayers money for the reconstruction needs.
Large media is ignoring this issue even though it is the number one Benchnark Bush wants to preserve. No other middle East oil countries will allow this sort of profit sharing. It reinforces the reason Bush went to war and ignored all intelligence about the future problems. How much more do Americans have to endure before Bush supporters come to their senses.Also Democratic leaders are ignoring it except for Kuchinch.
That lead me to this article on Al-Jazeera:
“The law is designed for the benefit of US oil companies,” Ramzy Salman, an Iraqi economist who worked for the Iraqi oil ministry for 30 years, said. “If approved, it would take things back to where they were before the nationalisation of Iraq’s oil in 1972.”
And this from UPI:
“The people as well as all the members of Parliament believe that this law is not only for robbing Iraq of its oil wealth but also for the division of Iraq,” said Mohammed al-Dynee, a member of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue’s contingent in the Parliament. “People have started understanding that at first they believed that America had come to give them freedom and democracy,” Dynee said, “and they have now started to understand that America did not come at all for that; they came for the oil, and the best proof of that is this oil law.”
Scoop has the “Summary and Notes from Congressman Kucinich’s One Hour Speech Before the United States House of Representatives On Administration’s Efforts to Privatize Iraq Oil”. Here’s just one excerpt:
Except for three scant lines, the entire 33 page “Hydrocarbon Law,” is about creating a complex legal structure to facilitate the privatization of Iraqi oil. As such, it in imperative that all of us carefully read the Iraqi Parliament’s bill because the Congress is on the record in promoting oil privatization.
This war is about oil. We must not be party to the Administration’s blatant attempt to set the stage for multinational oil companies to take over Iraq’s oil resources.
As Rosie O’Donnell again reminded us (who would have thought I’d ever be quoting Rosie??) last week on her final appearance on The View:
“Who are the terrorists?†“I’m saying if you were in Iraq, and the other country, the United States, the richest in the world, invaded your country and killed 655,000 of your citizens, what would you call us?â€
Bush has been stitching up the deal with Talabani and is sending Meghan O’Sullivan back.
Wonkette has some coverage of her called “Lady Who Fucked Up Iraq to Fix It”.
by cameron | Apr 29, 2007 | Iraq, Uncategorized
Retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom said today:
“The challenge we face today is not how to win in Iraq; it is how to recover from a strategic mistake: invading Iraq in the first place,” he said.
“He [Bush] lets the United States fly further and further into trouble, squandering its influence, money and blood, facilitating the gains of our enemies.”
According to Wikipedia, Odom is “a former U.S. Army 3-star general, and was Director of the NSA under President Ronald Reagan” and has called the illegal invasion of Iraq “the worst strategic blunder in the history of U.S. foreign policy”.
I just thought these are a good couple of quotes for folks like Mike who seem to still have this idea of the USA being Mr All-White-Guy John Wayne on a white horse wearing a white hat protecting the nice white lady from the terrible injuns.
Even at least one US 3-star general thinks is was a really, REALLY bad idea.
by cameron | Apr 24, 2007 | Iraq, Uncategorized
Eddie Van Halen has new teeth!
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Thanks to everyone who commented, emailed and IMd about my dark clouds yesterday. Really, there is nothing to worry about. Today I’m back on top, thinking more about “the future” and less about “the past” (neither of which really exist, of course, other than mental constructs in “the now”). It’s part chemical, part psychological. The questions I’m asking myself today are better than the self-pity dialogue I had yesterday. Today’s it’s all about “what can I do differently?” rather than “how the hell did I end up here?”.
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John Howard won’t pull Australian troops out of Iraq because he doesn’t want the US to be “humiliated”. It’s this kind of muddled thinking which has totally undermined Australia’s credibility on the world stage. Our continued involvement in the tragedy of Iraq, our refusal to sign Kyoto, our treatment of refugees in internment camps, and our treatment of our indigenous people have left Australia’s international reputation severely lacking. Humiliated? The US has already been humiliated by Iraq. I can’t see how acknowledging their mistake is going to lead to more humiliation. We teach our children that admitting a mistake is the first step to learning from it and resolving it. So it tells you a lot about a government’s willingness to learn and grow when it cannot admit its own mistakes. Do they think history will punish them more for admitting a mistake than for perpetuating one?
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