Moshe Ya'alon, Unite! McDonalds, PTSD, Milton Friedman

Protecting a war criminal
norightturn

Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon (ret) is a former Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces. He is also a war criminal, .. was in New Zealand last week on a fundraising trip .. when some enterprising person had a judge issue an arrest warrant for him under the Geneva Conventions Act 1958, which allows universal jurisdiction for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. But rather than seeing Ya'alon dragged into court and made to face justice for his crimes, the government quashed the warrant. He has since fled the country.

I heard old Moshe speaking on Aus radio. Now, I always change channel whenever a Zionist official starts talking about anything - I'm not interested in balance, I'm concerned about keeping sludge out of my head. I actually turn off the 'good Jews' - Jew residents of Occupied Palestine, even if they are saying how Palestinians should get better whatever. I just dont need any IsNotReali opinions on anything. I've lived long enough, almost as long as the Zionist plot, And I've heard enough. For some reason, perhaps I thought Geraldine would guard me, I broke my own rule and listened to Moshe on Radio National. What a sickening, racist, arrogant, murderous creep. I encourage his killing, someone please put an iron bar through the top of this man's skull. The prick blathered on about 'homicide bombers' - that infantile FauxNews neologism, that I bet Rupert himself is embarrassed about. Moshe lets slip an interesting idea: he says Iran is supporting both Sunni & Shia insurgents in Iraq because they want instability. Moshe & me are the only 2 guys who hold this instability idea. Except in my case I reckon its USAZion who are fomenting instability. They love death squads more than they love bombing children, which is a lot. Fuck off and die Moshe Ya'alon.
abc
Meantime in Australia
smh

A group of distinguished Australian lawyers,..have just formulated a legal opinion ..
They say that the proposal to put Hicks before a fresh military commission is a contravention of the Geneva Conventions, that such a trial would be in contravention of the Australian Criminal Code and that to knowingly counsel or urge a trial to be conducted before such a military commission would constitute a war crime under the Australian Criminal Code.
War crime indictments could be drawn up in other countries that claim "universal jurisdiction" - just as Germany is doing in respect of the outgoing US secretary of defence, Donald Rumsfeld.
It could mean that in future Howard, Downer and Ruddock could not travel to countries that claim universal jurisdiction for crimes committed elsewhere. Such countries include Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Germany.
Just like Henry Kissinger, and now Rumsfeld, our ministers might have to be very careful with their future travel arrangements.

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bradblog

..Army Specialist Douglas Barber, who committed suicide last January ..upon returning from Iraq. ..

We come home from war trying to put our lives back together but some cannot stand the memories and decide that death is better. They kill themselves because they are so haunted by seeing children killed and whole families wiped out.

..Corey Davis, who was a machine gunner in Iraq, says he began "freaking out" after he came back to Ft. Carson; he had constant nightmares and began using drugs. He says he finally got up the courage to go to the Army hospital to beg for help.
"They said I had to wait a month and a half before I'd be seen," Davis said. "I almost started crying right there."
..A therapist diagnosed Tyler Jennings with PTSD in May, but the Army's records show he is being tossed out because he used drugs and missed formations. Files on other soldiers suggest the same pattern: Those who seek mental-health help are repeatedly cited for misconduct, then purged from the ranks.

The things they carry .. To Hell and Back: Spinning the Downward Spiral .. Full Metal Lockout: The Myth of Accessible Health Care .. Big Money: The Compensation Angle

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democracynow

SAMI RASOULI: If this happened now, before tomorrow, believe me, the 1,300 al-Qaeda members that the Study Group mentioned, they would leave, or they have no business in Iraq anymore. They are here to target American forces. You know, it’s a war against them, whether they are here or in Lebanon, in Afghanistan or elsewhere. So this is the first thing. Iraqis will take care of them. Right now, they are not bothered with them, because they help the resistance element to fight the US army.

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lefty
democracyarsenal

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democracynow

It’s a completely radical proposal made straightforward in the Iraq Study Group report that the Iraqi national oil industry should be reorganized as a commercial enterprise. The proposal also says that, as you say, Iraq’s oil should be opened up to private foreign energy and companies. Also, another radical proposal: that all of Iraq’s oil revenues should be centralized in the central government. And the report calls for a US advisor to ensure that a new national oil law is passed in Iraq to make all of this possible and that the constitution of Iraq is amended to ensure that the central government gains control of Iraq’s oil revenues.
All told, the report calls for privatization of Iraq’s oil, turning it over to private foreign corporate hands, putting all of the oil in the hands of the central government, and essentially, I would argue, extending the war in Iraq to ensure that US oil companies get what the Bush administration went in there for: control and greater access to Iraq's oil.

[I dont understand this, but it sounds nasty.. how can you 'privatise' oil while putting it 'in the hands of the CG'??? maybe it trickles down through the hands of the CG into a private barrel strategically placed beneath?]

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Australia: Vehicles C=12,711,000 population P= 19,000,000 (estimate Dec2006=20,710,518)
Smeed's law D = 0.0003 * P^0.67 * C^0.33 = 5000
but actual deaths road kill: 2005 = 1,636 2004 = 1,583
so Smeed's law is out by more than a factor 0f 2
People are more scared of crashes now? they know they are likely to end up crippled, because hospitals stop death more.
I reckon Smeeds 14kph is slightly pessimistic, hence my suggestion for 30kph speed limit.

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news
Nov 16, 2006 Rupert Murdoch ..

"When you have broadband - real broadband, not the type they're talking about here - where you get, say, 20Mbps of data into your home, it changes everything," he said.
"People then spend a lot of time with their laptops and computers. In Australia we only have a couple of million (people on broadband) and they don't even get 1Mb(ps)."
"I think it's a disgrace."
..We are being left behind and we will pay for it."

[belated reference to the big man's petulant outburst. Since Kerry carked it, we can call Rupert the big man. When Unwired internet is dragging, we say its a "Murdoch day"

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thenation on Milton Friedman..
His most profound damage, however, was as a moral philosopher. He championed an ethic of unrelenting, unapologetic self-interest that effectively pushed aside human sympathy.

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norightturn 5Dec06
For the past year, the Unite! union has been waging a campaign against McDonalds for fairer pay for its workers. They've had flash-strikes, protests, even a free concert. So, how'd they do?
They won - gaining a commitment to end youth rates, substantial pay rises for staff, secure hours, and overtime rates and a one-off bonus for their members. It's a stunning victory - made all the more stunning by McDonalds' anti-union reputation. I

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Moshe Ya'alon, Unite! McDonalds, PTSD, Milton Friedman