TONY ABBOTT'S ALP CRITICISM COULD AFFECT US LINKS

October 28, 2013 David Wroe National security correspondent

'Coarseness, amateurishness and viciousness'

Americans will see Tony Abbott as uncouth, coarse and amateurish, according to international relations expert, Dr Clinton Fernandes, after the PM criticised his Labor predecessors in a Washington Post interview.

Tony Abbott's use of a Washington Post interview to brand his Labor predecessors as ''wacko'' and ''embarrassing'' could set back his working relationship with the Obama adminstration, a leading US commentator says.

Perhaps you can chalk it up to a rookie mistake. But it is a pretty big one. 

Norman Ornstein, an author and political scientist with the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said he ''winced'' when he read the interview in which Mr Abbott put the boot into the Rudd-Gillard government in unusually strong language for a foreign interview.

"It was an embarrassing spectacle and I think Australians are glad they are gone": Tony Abbott. Photo: Penny Stephens

''It really does violate a basic principle of diplomacy to drag in your domestic politics when you go abroad,'' Dr Ornstein said. ''It certainly can't help in building a bond of any sort with President Obama to rip into a party, government and - at least implicitly - leader, with whom Obama has worked so closely.

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''Perhaps you can chalk it up to a rookie mistake. But it is a pretty big one.''
Politicians around the world typically refrain from engaging in fierce domestic political argument when they are speaking to an overseas audience.
Dr Ornstein, a resident scholar at the AEI - one of Washington's oldest think tanks - was one of Foreign Policy magazine's 100 ''top global thinkers'' in 2012.
In the interview, Mr Abbott told The Washington Post that the former Labor government's conduct was ''a circus'' and was ''scandalously wasteful''.
''It was an embarrassing spectacle and I think Australians are relieved they are gone,'' he said.
Asked about Labor's plan to extend fibre to every household under the national broadband network, Mr Abbott said: ''Welcome to the wonderful, wacko world of the former government.''
Julia Gillard in particular forged what observers say was a warm and constructive relationship with Mr Obama, which included the deal to station US marines in Darwin. She was one of just 12 world leaders whose calls Mr Obama returned personally after they had called to congratulate him on his 2012 re-election.
Former diplomat and senior public servant John Menadue said it remained to be seen whether Mr Abbott could ''make the transition from a critic in opposition and an attack dog to a responsible and constructive prime minister''.
International studies expert Clinton Fernandes told Fairfax Media Mr Abbott’s comments to the Washington Post left behind an image of “coarseness, amateurishness and viciousness”.
Mr Fernandes, an associate professor of international and political studies at the University of New South Wales, said Mr Abbott’s predecessors, including John Howard, “would never have done any of this stuff, ever”.
“President Obama would never have made similar comments about his Republican opponent Mitt Romney in this country,” Mr Fernandes added.
“Nor would David Cameron have said anything about the opposition leader in this country.
“Generally speaking the convention is that you don’t go to a foreign country and attack your political opponents at home.
“Their commentators will be privately thinking that this is extremely uncouth.”
In 2007, then prime minister John Howard caused an international stir when he said al-Qaeda in Iraq would be praying for an Obama victory in the presidential race - a criticism of Mr Obama's plan to bring US troops home from Iraq.
Meanwhile, the White House has refused to comment on - or rule out - whether the US National Security Agency has ever tapped the phones of any Australian prime minister.
In the wake of revelations that the NSA may have bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone, Fairfax Media asked the US government whether it could rule out ever bugging Australian leaders.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said: ''We are not going to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity, and as a matter of policy we have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations.''

http://www.dailylife.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-alp-criticism-could-affect-us-links-20131027-2w9lv.html

A CHINESE SWAT OFFICER SHOWS HOW TO 'CONTROL' A RIOTER

Michael Kelley Nov 1 2013

Here’s a fascinating photo.
The Reuters caption reads: “A policeman (2nd L) of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) controls a mock rioter during a SWAT police performance drill at a training base in Xi’an, Shaanxi province October 30, 2013.”
That’s one way to put it. It appears that the mock rioter has lost his weapon and is lying helplessly on the ground while the SWAT officer moves in to violently subdue him.
Notice the officers watching intently as the 2nd Lieutenant shows them how to establish “control.”

 

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/chinese-swat-officer-and-mock-rioter-photo-2013-11

DEFENCE FORCE MAY HAVE KNOWN OF WEST PAPUA ATROCITIES

November 1, 2013 Deborah Snow

Two recent accounts by former Australian defence force personnel who worked in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya (now West Papua) in 1977 suggests there was ADF knowledge at that time of alleged atrocities committed by Indonesian troops.
The Defence Department has issued a qualified denial of a claim made by the Asian Human Rights Commission that military aircraft supplied by Canberra were used in bombing runs over Papuan villages resisting Indonesian rule.
Defence told Fairfax Media that ''an initial search of Defence archives does not support the claim that two Iroquois helicopters were supplied by Australia to Indonesia in the 1970s''.
But it side-stepped questions about ADF knowledge of the alleged massacres detailed in the report. The commission claims, in a report released on October 24, that both US-supplied Bronco aircraft and Iroquois helicopters were used in bombing and strafing runs over Papuan villages that were suspected of aiding the Free Papua Movement (or OPM). It said at least 4000 and possibly up to 9000 Papuan civilians died in air and ground attacks launched by Indonesian troops in 1977-78.

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Now two accounts from former ADF members operating in the region at the time have come to light. The Australians were part of Operation Cenderawasih, a mapping exercise of Irian Jaya being carried out by an army survey team, supported by RAAF Iroquois helicopters and Caribou and Hercules aircraft.
The first account, by former major Don Swiney and former sergeant Peter Jensen, was published in 2011 in an Australian survey corps association newsletter.
The authors say ''The Indonesian Army [in July 1977] was conducting an intense operation against the OPM, including setting villages alight with rockets from the air and accompanying ground operations.''
Mr Swiney was the commander of the Australian field survey squadron. He told Fairfax that ''I was aware of a ground operation based at Wamena and I estimated at the time of in excess of a battalion of [Indonesian] troops supported from the air by an OV-10 [Bronco] aircraft. This aircraft was armed with rockets. I witnessed from the air, huts in villages that had been burnt out but how that was done, I can only surmise.'' The Australians had a forward base at Wamena near the Baliem Valley ( a focus of OPM activity ) and were sharing an airfield with the Indonesian army from which they observed rockets being loaded onto Indonesian-operated aircraft.
The second account, written recently by former RAAF crewman Paddy Sinclair for a squadron reunion, also refers to Indonesian atrocities.
Mr Sinclair was on board a RAAF Iroquois helicopter that crashed while on survey operations in July 1977 on a steep, jungle-clad ridge near the Baliem Valley. An Indonesian army surveyor was also on board. In his account of the crash and subsequent rescue, Mr Sinclair reports that he and another crewman had used masking tape to write the word ''AUSTRALIA'' in makeshift letters on the tail of the helicopter.
Mr Sinclair says this was because ''Indonesian military were allegedly carrying out atrocities against the local population using Bell Iroquois aircraft painted in the same livery as the RAAF helicopters.''
However, another ADF source disputes this, saying ''AUSTRALIA'' was emblazoned on the tail as a way of alerting the OPM not to mistake the RAAF helicopter for an offensive aircraft.
Richard Woolcott, who was Australian Ambassador to Jakarta in 1977, said he had not received reports about atrocities from Australian defence attaches at the embassy.
The Hong-Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission claims the Indonesian army's 1977-78 assaults against Papuan villages constituted a '' neglected genocide''.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/defence-force-may-have-known-of-west-papua-atrocities-20131031-2wlv0.html#ixzz2jZLPS800

ABORIGINAL ACTIVIST REFUSES AUSTRALIA DAY AWARD

October 27, 2013 Amy Corderoy

Health Editor, Sydney Morning Herald

Aboriginal activist Michael Mansell speaking to media and aboriginal community members in 2010. Photo: Peter Mathew Photo: Peter Mathew

Prominent Aboriginal lawyer and activist Michael Mansell says he cannot morally accept an Australia Day award nomination because the day is inextricably linked to the invasion of Australia by white settlers.
Mr Mansell is a finalist in the Senior Australian of the Year award for his dedication to "social, political and legal reform to improve the lives of Tasmanian Indigenous People".
But he said he could not in good conscience accept it or the Tasmanian nomination because it is a key part of the Australia Day celebrations, which is a race-based day that "marks the coming to Australia of whites".

 
Michael Mansell. Photo: Fairfax Media

"Australia has not once apologised, and meant it, for the invasion of Aboriginal lands," he said. "There has been no acknowledgement of the massacres that remain hidden under a 'pioneers' version of Australian history. There is no effort to genuinely undo the wrongs that still affect Aboriginal people today."

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Mr Mansell said he was not concerned that his public rejection of the award would lead to a backlash from some sections of the community.
"I think it's important that when something isn't right, that people speak up about it," he told Fairfax Media.
He said other countries such as the United States and New Zealand would not have national days that coincided with the day settlers invaded the land of indigenous peoples.
"There is a growing movement of people who believe that celebrating on January 26 is the wrong date because it is a race-based celebration and that is not appropriate," he said. "It is one thing to acknowledge the fact of invasion; it is quite another to celebrate it."
Mr Mansell also said other Aboriginal leaders who had accepted Australia Day awards in the past were "star-struck" and had abandoned principles for personal glory.
"In my opinion, any person (not just Aboriginals) who accepts these nominations without condemnation of the essence of Australia Day celebrations, lacks a social conscience," he said in a statement. "There may come a time when it is legitimate for Aborigines to accept these nominations: when a treaty has been made between Aborigines and Australia to include land, an Aboriginal Assembly and 8 seats in the 150 strong Federal Parliament."
He said until such time "while I am grateful for the thoughts behind my nomination, I would be a hypocrite to accept it”.
A qualified barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Tasmania and High Court of Australia, Mr Mansell established the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre in 1972. He also played an integral role in drafting legislation for the Native Title Act.
"His advocacy has struck a raw nerve with some, but his courage and tenacity are admired by many," his Senior Australian of the Year award nomination notes.
The National Australia Day Council said Mr Mansell had the right to decline his award.
Deputy Chairwoman Shelley Reys said many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were achieving great things and should be acknowledged for their contributions, just like everyone else.
‘‘I am very proud of this and the growing number of Indigenous Australians nominated each year,’’ she said.
She added that it was not the Council's role to choose or change the date of Australia Day.
‘‘We have a shared history - we acknowledge that our shared past has been a difficult one, where Indigenous people have been marginalised and discriminated against,’’ she said. ‘‘It is the National Australia Day Council's intent to acknowledge our shared past and to move away from a discriminatory, single-focused view of what Australia Day means.’’
The winners of the Australian of the Year Awards will be announced on January 25.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/aboriginal-activist-refuses-australia-day-award-20131027-2w98h.html#ixzz2jRChrcqi

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO SUSPEND ITS SWIFT DATA EXCHANGE AGREEMENT WITH THE US

23/10

The European Parliament has voted to suspend its SWIFT data exchange agreement with the US.
They’ve called for US access to the SWIFT database to be halted following concerns that the US is spying on the EU, and not simply trying to combat terrorism.
EU lawmakers suspect that the US has abused an agreement giving it limited access to SWIFT.
As such, they voted to freeze Washington’s capacity to track international payments through the site.
The worry comes after leaked American documents indicating the US was covertly tapping into SWIFT were aired on Brazilian television. The US denies any wrongdoing.
Although the vote is not conclusive, it does reflect public anger at recent reports that US security agency the NSA is spying on European citizens.
The European Commission said it was “still waiting for additional written assurances” that the US is respecting its agreement with the EU.

Copyright © 2013 euronews

http://www.euronews.com/2013/10/23/european-parliament-votes-to-suspend-its-swift-data-exchange-agreement-with-the/

ESOTERIC FREEMASONRY WITH MARK PASSIO

TRAGEDY OF TWO YAMATJI DEATHS LEAD TO CALLS FOR EQUALITY

by Gerry Georgatos November 1st, 2013

 

The racial tensions that boiled over in the Western Australian coastal town of Geraldton after the hit and run deaths of two 40-year-old Yamatjis who were walking their children, has led to calls for equality and justice before the law – for Aboriginal peoples. The father of one of the victims, Wayne Warner has said that the driver had compassion shown to him that would not have been shown to an Aboriginal person.
“What is the difference between a black life and a white life? Are we worth less?” said Mr Warner.
Hundreds protested outside the Geraldton police station, and the young man was charged. But grieving Yamatjis have said that because the 23-year-old driver was tested positive for being above the limit for alcohol consumption he should have been charged with dangerous driving causing death, but he was not. He has been charged with leaving the scene, not rendering assistance and for reckless driving. But the charges may be upgraded.
Seven children have been left without a mother, and her funeral a Friday fortnight ago drew more than 1,000 mourners, mostly Yamatjis who filled the church, standing room only and with the crowd overflowing all around the church. Her friend was buried on Friday past and similarly his funeral drew as many mourners.
Rallies are calling for justice, not vigilante-like justice against the young man who has ruined many lives including his own, but justice that can see one day all Australians treated equally before the law. May that be redemption said Ms Capewell, but that it has to be the case for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.
Geraldton’s Joyce Capewell said that there are two sets of laws. “One is for non-Aboriginal people and the other is for Aboriginal people. Our people are arrested at horrific rates, our people do something allegedly wrong and they’re in the lockup, with a justice system that appears to have made up its mind, while if you’re non-Aboriginal you experience natural justice, we don’t get that.”
“Racism is everywhere. I was an Aboriginal Visitors Scheme officer for 20 years, I’ve worked two decades within the prison system and alongside authorities,and I can tell you racist mindsets flourish. Our people are at a disadvantage.
We have to start standing up for the call for one justice, a fair justice for all.”
Noongar rights advocate, Marianne Mackay, travelled from Perth to Geraldton with many others to the funeral of Mr Warner’s daughter.
“It was the biggest funeral I’d ever seen, so many people present, so much grief. The church was full, people everywhere, tears everywhere, wailing and aching sadness, the injustices of being Aboriginal were felt by all, despite us being a proud and honourable peoples,” said Ms Mackay.
“The police wronged in not charging this young man with dangerous driving causing death,” said the third-year University of Western Australia law student.
“His actions did lead directly to the deaths. It was not manslaughter but he should have been charged as would have been an Aboriginal person in the same circumstance. The racism just stinks.”
Rallies calling for equality before the law were held by Aboriginal communities State-wide last Thursday. Ms Mackay coordinated the Perth rally, at Forrest Chase, the heart of Perth’s commercial district.
“Our people turned out, not many others who should have did not, but our people, we who came, both grieved for those lost, and for the  injustice of how non-Aboriginal peoples make us feel. We spoke of the injustices we face before authorities and the law. But what made me really sad was some of the faces in the passing lunchtime crowd, or who were doing their shopping – they just didn’t care. I could see the smirks on their faces, the disparagement, the sneers and more, it was a real low point.”
“I have been part of hundreds of rallies but I had never been to one or organised one where I saw such distaste for us and such terrible racism staring us back – it was bad Gerry, it was bad. There were moments I felt it so affected that tears streamed. Is this what my children have to face in the years that are ahead of them?”
On November 7, Geraldton’s Yamatji community will host a downtown rally – it will most certainly stir up the town, there is no doubt that more than a thousand people will turn out. Ms Capewell said, “These two young souls are gone from nearby their children, from their parents, from their friends, left us all but their spirits will remain with us and we will allow their spirits to nurture the calls for justice, for all our people to live in this country, equal among others. As Aboriginal peoples we just cannot continue with the way we are treated and downtrodden.”
“There is racism and only the blind and cowardly would say otherwise.”

http://thestringer.com.au/tragedy-of-two-yamatji-deaths-lead-to-calls-for-equality/#.UnOe-iTwDRx