a quick ozzie update cos things are getting a bit weird here - the similarity between the am & oz situations is kinda funny.

theres a new ban on gay marriages here.

the pm has been lying thru his teeth in parliament about what he knew of abuse at abuG, and when he knew it - prostituting national defence and the military in the process.
"The Federal Government's claim that no Australian personnel knew of abuses of Iraqi prisoners until January was demolished during an extraordinary Senate hearing yesterday amid accusations of a cover-up by the Government and military leaders." http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/31/1085855502334.html and http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/01/1086058847228.html

as an aside, i flipped on QuestionTime to watch Howard get slammed in pariliament - and they opened the session *with a prayer* - our fucking father - complete with amens and stuff. i couldnt believe it! im not sure if that is new, or unusual or wtf

that terrorist guy got sentenced yesterday - he's the guy that knows obl and every other terrorist around the globe (he apparently realised how much trouble he was in when he looked at the fbis 'most wanted' list and knew 5 or 6 of them...). he had plans to blow up the israeli embassy and assassinate jewish leaders here and surprisingly changed his plea to guilty 10 days into the trial. he got 9 years and is expected to be outta jail in 3 years... the prosecution was expecting he'd get 25 years (he is the posterboy and first 'success' for oz's new terror laws) - surely they are kidding. (this is the same guy who got flattering pix in the paper)
http://au.news.yahoo.com/040517/2/p0xr.html

and to continue demonstrating the oz/am similiarities, we also have spooky institute types - this one called "the sydney institute". http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/31/1085855500038.html?from=top5 using the occasion of the DDay anniversary to complain about the french - titled "French have much to be humble about", subtitled "The republic's inglorious military history leaves it on the wrong side of debate about proper use of force" - and so it goes...

and for the local take on mmoore, try http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/24/1085389333854.html?from=top5

"His film, whatever its merits, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival on purely political grounds, as a manifestation of French anti-Americanism and American leftist self-hatred.

"The chairman of the award jury was Quentin Tarantino, who made his name in cinema through the portrayal of excessive and pointless violence and yet considers himself anti-war.

"There is little doubt that the inspiration for the inexcusable treatment of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers came from filmmakers like Tarantino and their counterparts in the American pornography business."
im tempted to quote the entire article it is so disgusting - but ill leave it there...

i havent seen this anti-french thing here - and then 2 thunmping articles in one day.... hmmm - praps its a premeptive strike for the french appease thingy. one interesting thing ive noticed here is that there doesnt seem to be any sense that we mite get madrided - which is odd given the election is just a few months ago...