Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs:
The good, the bad & the RAMBAMMED
Chair: Teresa Gambaro MP, Lib RAMBAMMED 2012
Deputy Chair: Nick Champion MP, Lab RAMBAMMED 2011
Members:
Bob Baldwin MP, Lib RAMBAMMED 2012
Michael Danby MP, Lab Serially RAMBAMMED
Sean Edwards MP, Lib RAMBAMMED 2015
David Feeney MP, Lab RAMBAMMED 2014
Senator Alex Gallacher, Lab
Alan Griffin MP, Lab
Natasha Griggs MP, Lib
Andrew Hastie MP, Lib
Dennis Jensen MP, Lib RAMBAMMED 2005
Craig Kelly MP, Lib RAMBAMMED 2014
Senator Joe Ludwig Lab RAMBAMMED 2007
Senator Ian Macdonald, Lib
Richard Marles MP, Lab RAMBAMMED 2010
Senator Anne McEwen, Lab
Senator Bridget McKenzie Nat RAMBAMMED 2015
Andrew Nikolic MP, Lib
Senator Deb O'Neill, Lab
Melissa Parke MP, Lab
Senator Linda Reynolds, Lib
Philip Ruddock MP, Lib
Bruce Scott MP, Nat
Senator Lisa Singh, Lab
Sharman Stone MP, Lib
Maria Vamvakinou MP, Lab
Nickolas Varvaris MP, Lib
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Greens
Matt Williams MP, Lib
Total: 29
RAMBAMMED: 11
Friday, April 8, 2016
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Dennis Jensen MP: More Space Cadet than Sky Warrior
Most Liberals have a fairly shaky hold on reality at the best of times. Take, for example, the case of the recently dumped Liberal MP for the WA seat of Tangney and member of parliament's joint standing committee on foreign affairs, Dennis Jensen:
"If federal MP Dennis Jensen is dumped by Liberal Party preselectors in his blue-ribbon West Australian seat of Tangney on Sunday, he can always pursue a back-up career as a writer of far-fetched fiction. The Australian can reveal that Dr Jensen secretly used his parliamentary letterhead to seek a publishing deal for what he described as his 'controversial' first book, The Sky Warriors, about a fictional war between Australia and a coalition of Indonesia and China. And as for a Liberal MP who's being backed by the evangelical Christian Right in the coming preselection vote, the unpublished novel contains some surprisingly graphic sex scenes. One of the female journalists has breasts 'as firm as they had been in her late teens' and moans in delight as her married lover gropes 'her inner thigh until he felt the warm wetness with his hand. She pulled his trousers off, ripped the underpants off excitedly, and took him in her mouth,' Dr Jensen writes." (MP Dennis Jensen used official stationery to spruik his novel, Andrew Burrell, The Australian, 31/3/16)
As if Jensen's fantasies about the invading yellow/brown hordes and pert-breasted, hot-to-trot female journos with a taste for battered sav, aren't worry enough, allow me to remind you of this ex-South African's views on colonialism and Gaza*:
"Hell, how long ago was colonialism? Get over it... every country in the world has been successfully invaded in the past!"
"... I was in Israel... in 2005 [when] Israel allowed Gaza self-determination. I would have thought that the way in which Palestinians at that stage would have shown good will was to try to make Gaza as much as possible a model state. Instead, what they did was that they started firing rockets into Israel."
Let's hear that again:
Israel. Allowed. Gaza. Self-determination.
And just to remind you what the member for Tangney's been up to - at least while in federal parliament - since 2013:
Joint. Standing. Committee. On. Foreign. Affairs
Terrifying!
[*See my 22/4/13 post Tony's Crew.]
"If federal MP Dennis Jensen is dumped by Liberal Party preselectors in his blue-ribbon West Australian seat of Tangney on Sunday, he can always pursue a back-up career as a writer of far-fetched fiction. The Australian can reveal that Dr Jensen secretly used his parliamentary letterhead to seek a publishing deal for what he described as his 'controversial' first book, The Sky Warriors, about a fictional war between Australia and a coalition of Indonesia and China. And as for a Liberal MP who's being backed by the evangelical Christian Right in the coming preselection vote, the unpublished novel contains some surprisingly graphic sex scenes. One of the female journalists has breasts 'as firm as they had been in her late teens' and moans in delight as her married lover gropes 'her inner thigh until he felt the warm wetness with his hand. She pulled his trousers off, ripped the underpants off excitedly, and took him in her mouth,' Dr Jensen writes." (MP Dennis Jensen used official stationery to spruik his novel, Andrew Burrell, The Australian, 31/3/16)
As if Jensen's fantasies about the invading yellow/brown hordes and pert-breasted, hot-to-trot female journos with a taste for battered sav, aren't worry enough, allow me to remind you of this ex-South African's views on colonialism and Gaza*:
"Hell, how long ago was colonialism? Get over it... every country in the world has been successfully invaded in the past!"
"... I was in Israel... in 2005 [when] Israel allowed Gaza self-determination. I would have thought that the way in which Palestinians at that stage would have shown good will was to try to make Gaza as much as possible a model state. Instead, what they did was that they started firing rockets into Israel."
Let's hear that again:
Israel. Allowed. Gaza. Self-determination.
And just to remind you what the member for Tangney's been up to - at least while in federal parliament - since 2013:
Joint. Standing. Committee. On. Foreign. Affairs
Terrifying!
[*See my 22/4/13 post Tony's Crew.]
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The Wisdom of the Elder
"An examination of [Ahmed] Merhi's past reveals the former Sydney labourer traded a life of drugs, petty crime and unemployment for the cult of militant Islam. His father, Faraj Merhi, said his son was wild, headstrong and frequently in trouble with the law before leaving Australia for the Syrian battlefield. 'He was going the wrong way when he was here, too,' Mr Merhi told The Australian. 'He was on drugs or something... We tried to help him a lot. Always, he do his own mind. He's got his own way.' Mr Merhi said his family was essentially unreligious. While his wife, who is Lebanese, prays, Mr Merhi says he foreswore religion after migrating to Australia from his home in Syria, where he still has family. 'I hate religion since the time they create Israel,' he said. 'That's when they start, when I was young. That's when they start religious hatred'." (Father slams 'stupid' terrorist son, Paul Maley/Mark Schliebs, The Australian, 4/4/16)
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
What Makes Walt Secord Tick
Now we know what makes weird* Walt Secord tick:
" [NSW] Labor's health spokesman Walt Secord, born in Canada with a Mohawk-Ojibway father, told the upper house of their frustration and tears. 'For reasons that we do not understand, our heritage, our blood or narrative is vital to us. What else could explain the boom in genealogy and the success of programs like Who Do You Think You Are?" (Heartfelt plea that helped change sperm donor ID plans, Kirsty Needham, The Sun-Herald, 27/3/16)
It's not that hard, Walt, sheer boredom.
"I for one have traced my father's rare family origin and I know the responsibility of belonging to a race of only 1800 people in the world...' "
So you discharge that responsibility by migrating to Australia and advocating for the apartheid state? Right...
"'Our genes are the reason for our existence'."
Blood... race...
Hang on. Now where have we heard that before?
[*Merely click on the label below.]
" [NSW] Labor's health spokesman Walt Secord, born in Canada with a Mohawk-Ojibway father, told the upper house of their frustration and tears. 'For reasons that we do not understand, our heritage, our blood or narrative is vital to us. What else could explain the boom in genealogy and the success of programs like Who Do You Think You Are?" (Heartfelt plea that helped change sperm donor ID plans, Kirsty Needham, The Sun-Herald, 27/3/16)
It's not that hard, Walt, sheer boredom.
"I for one have traced my father's rare family origin and I know the responsibility of belonging to a race of only 1800 people in the world...' "
So you discharge that responsibility by migrating to Australia and advocating for the apartheid state? Right...
"'Our genes are the reason for our existence'."
Blood... race...
Hang on. Now where have we heard that before?
[*Merely click on the label below.]
Monday, April 4, 2016
Just Another Palestinian Anne Frank
"The father of a 12-year-old boy on the run for a week from Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank has told Middle East Eye that he fears his son will be killed if caught. Ramzi Abu Ajamia has been in hiding for the past 7 nights, the boy's father, Nasir Abu Ajamia, said from their family home in Bethlehem's Dheisha refugee camp. Israeli forces first showed up at the family's home on 24 March, raiding the house and detaining Ramzi's older brother.
"Ramzi said he had no idea why Israel was seeking to detain him. He says he attended protests against Israeli occupation, where rocks were thrown. 'I don't go to the clashes outside of the camp, but when soldiers come to us inside the camp, yeah I go out with the other boys - but that's it - only when they come to us,' he said, speaking to MEE during a furtive visit to the family home. 'I can't explain why they want me, other than it's my turn. Tomorrow it will be another kid's [turn].'
"Nasir said: 'The soldiers have been to the house 3 times now, the first time they took my 16-year-old.' At the time, 12-year-old Ramzi was not at home. 'They beat his brother bad and afterward Ramzi saw the blood on the street and heard about how bad his brother had been hit, so he's too frightened to let himself be arrested.' Nasir said the Israeli soldiers had asked where Ramzi was on 3 subsequent visits to the house.
"While Nasir has urged his son to stay home and allow Israeli soldiers to take him in for questioning, Ramzi has refused. Instead, Ramzi said, he plans to dodge the apparent arrest order for as long as possible. His father fears the situation risks escalation by the day. 'I'm scared that they will kill him if they find him now. I know it happens, after coming to arrest someone 3 times and not finding them, they aim to kill them when they do,' the father said." (From Palestinian 12-year-old on run from Israeli forces, Sheren Khalel Abed al Qaisi, middleeasteye.net, 31/3/16)
"Ramzi said he had no idea why Israel was seeking to detain him. He says he attended protests against Israeli occupation, where rocks were thrown. 'I don't go to the clashes outside of the camp, but when soldiers come to us inside the camp, yeah I go out with the other boys - but that's it - only when they come to us,' he said, speaking to MEE during a furtive visit to the family home. 'I can't explain why they want me, other than it's my turn. Tomorrow it will be another kid's [turn].'
"Nasir said: 'The soldiers have been to the house 3 times now, the first time they took my 16-year-old.' At the time, 12-year-old Ramzi was not at home. 'They beat his brother bad and afterward Ramzi saw the blood on the street and heard about how bad his brother had been hit, so he's too frightened to let himself be arrested.' Nasir said the Israeli soldiers had asked where Ramzi was on 3 subsequent visits to the house.
"While Nasir has urged his son to stay home and allow Israeli soldiers to take him in for questioning, Ramzi has refused. Instead, Ramzi said, he plans to dodge the apparent arrest order for as long as possible. His father fears the situation risks escalation by the day. 'I'm scared that they will kill him if they find him now. I know it happens, after coming to arrest someone 3 times and not finding them, they aim to kill them when they do,' the father said." (From Palestinian 12-year-old on run from Israeli forces, Sheren Khalel Abed al Qaisi, middleeasteye.net, 31/3/16)
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Slip, Slop, Slap Journalism
Read this:
"Otto Skorzeny was a diehard Nazi: an expert in special operations nicknamed 'Hitler's commando' who rescued Mussolini from Italian partisans, ensured the murder of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews and departed to eternal damnation with a posse of elderly Nazis making the fascist salute over his grave. This week, it was revealed that Skorzeny had also been a Mossad hitman, contracted after the war to kill another ex-Nazi who was helping Egypt develop a strategic missile program." (To catch the devil from the shadows, you need to recruit his disciples, Ben Macintyre, The Times/The Australian, 2/4/16)
Now watch as Macintyre goes on to slip, slop, slap a few coats of whitewash on Mossad:
"Mossad, probably the world's least sentimental secret service, was merely demonstrating a reality of the seamier side of intelligence work: to catch the devil, you sometimes had to recruit his disciples."
"... this uncomfortable accommodation with evil..."
"The balance between utility and morality, between extracting value and maintaining ethical values..."
Bloody hilarious...
OK, Ben, OK, enough already, I get it!
Mossad's the most ethical intelligence agency in the world, and the IDF is the world's most moral army, and Israel's the only democracy in the Middle East, if not the world, and Israel's a bastion of Western civilization in a sea of barbarism, and...
"Otto Skorzeny was a diehard Nazi: an expert in special operations nicknamed 'Hitler's commando' who rescued Mussolini from Italian partisans, ensured the murder of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews and departed to eternal damnation with a posse of elderly Nazis making the fascist salute over his grave. This week, it was revealed that Skorzeny had also been a Mossad hitman, contracted after the war to kill another ex-Nazi who was helping Egypt develop a strategic missile program." (To catch the devil from the shadows, you need to recruit his disciples, Ben Macintyre, The Times/The Australian, 2/4/16)
Now watch as Macintyre goes on to slip, slop, slap a few coats of whitewash on Mossad:
"Mossad, probably the world's least sentimental secret service, was merely demonstrating a reality of the seamier side of intelligence work: to catch the devil, you sometimes had to recruit his disciples."
"... this uncomfortable accommodation with evil..."
"The balance between utility and morality, between extracting value and maintaining ethical values..."
Bloody hilarious...
OK, Ben, OK, enough already, I get it!
Mossad's the most ethical intelligence agency in the world, and the IDF is the world's most moral army, and Israel's the only democracy in the Middle East, if not the world, and Israel's a bastion of Western civilization in a sea of barbarism, and...
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Indigenous Terminology (Australia & Palestine)
AUSTRALIA - from the document Indigenous Terminology issued recently by the University of NSW (teaching.unsw.edu.au)
More appropriate
Invasion
Colonisation
Occupation
Australia was not settled peacefully, it was invaded, occupied and colonised. Describing the arrival of the Europeans as a 'settlement' attempts to view Australian history from the shores of England rather than the shores of Australia.
Less appropriate
Settlement
The use of the word 'settlement' ignores the reality of Indigenous Australian peoples' lands being stolen from them on the basis of the legal fiction of terra nullius and negates the resistance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The fact that most settlers did not see themselves as invading the country, and that convicts were transported against their will is beside the point. The effects were the same for Indigenous Australian peoples.
PALESTINE - suggested draft for the University of NSW's next Indigenous Terminology guideline
Appropriate
Invasion
Ethnic-cleansing
Colonisation
Occupation
Palestine was not settled peacefully. It was invaded, occupied, colonised, and ethnically-cleansed from 1918 to 1948 by Zionist immigrants under the protection of British bayonets and with the aim of carving out a Jewish state. Those remnants not ethnically cleansed in 1948 - the West Bank and the Gaza Strip - were invaded, ethnically-cleansed, occupied, and colonised from 1967 on.
Not at all appropriate
Return
Redemption
Land of Israel (Eretz Israel)
Terrorism (unless applied to the ethnic-cleansing operations of Zionist forces)
Describing the invasion of Zionist immigrants as a 'return' to, and 'redemption' of, the 'Land of Israel' (Eretz Israel) panders to political Zionist mythology and ignores the settler-colonial reality of the Zionist project in Palestine. Palestine was never, in Zionist terminology, 'a country without a people.' In 1918, 90% of its population were Arabs (Muslims and Christians), and, up to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist terrorists in 1948, they were still a two-thirds majority in their own land. The use of the terms 'return' and 'redemption' ignores the massive Zionist theft of Palestinian homes and lands which followed the ethnic cleansing of 1948, and the Zionist label 'terrorism,' used against the Palestinian Arab people, negates their resistance to Zionist colonisation, a resistance which began in earnest in 1920 and continues to this day. The fact that some Zionist immigrants left their European homes and invaded Palestine in response to anti-Semitic persecution in Europe is beside the point. The effects were the same for the Indigenous Palestinian Arab people.
More appropriate
Invasion
Colonisation
Occupation
Australia was not settled peacefully, it was invaded, occupied and colonised. Describing the arrival of the Europeans as a 'settlement' attempts to view Australian history from the shores of England rather than the shores of Australia.
Less appropriate
Settlement
The use of the word 'settlement' ignores the reality of Indigenous Australian peoples' lands being stolen from them on the basis of the legal fiction of terra nullius and negates the resistance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The fact that most settlers did not see themselves as invading the country, and that convicts were transported against their will is beside the point. The effects were the same for Indigenous Australian peoples.
PALESTINE - suggested draft for the University of NSW's next Indigenous Terminology guideline
Appropriate
Invasion
Ethnic-cleansing
Colonisation
Occupation
Palestine was not settled peacefully. It was invaded, occupied, colonised, and ethnically-cleansed from 1918 to 1948 by Zionist immigrants under the protection of British bayonets and with the aim of carving out a Jewish state. Those remnants not ethnically cleansed in 1948 - the West Bank and the Gaza Strip - were invaded, ethnically-cleansed, occupied, and colonised from 1967 on.
Not at all appropriate
Return
Redemption
Land of Israel (Eretz Israel)
Terrorism (unless applied to the ethnic-cleansing operations of Zionist forces)
Describing the invasion of Zionist immigrants as a 'return' to, and 'redemption' of, the 'Land of Israel' (Eretz Israel) panders to political Zionist mythology and ignores the settler-colonial reality of the Zionist project in Palestine. Palestine was never, in Zionist terminology, 'a country without a people.' In 1918, 90% of its population were Arabs (Muslims and Christians), and, up to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist terrorists in 1948, they were still a two-thirds majority in their own land. The use of the terms 'return' and 'redemption' ignores the massive Zionist theft of Palestinian homes and lands which followed the ethnic cleansing of 1948, and the Zionist label 'terrorism,' used against the Palestinian Arab people, negates their resistance to Zionist colonisation, a resistance which began in earnest in 1920 and continues to this day. The fact that some Zionist immigrants left their European homes and invaded Palestine in response to anti-Semitic persecution in Europe is beside the point. The effects were the same for the Indigenous Palestinian Arab people.
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