I’ve been digging into some of the legal foundations concerning the Iran nuclear facility question over the last couple of days. In this process I should point out that getting the facts has not been at all easy. I can say that what is clear is that recent events have been either overplayed, under-documented, or more probably a combination of both.
There is the Iran Safeguards Agreement (entered into force 15 May 1974) which contains the following article:
DESIGN INFORMATION
General provisions
Article 42
Pursuant to Article 8, design information in respect of existing facilities shall be provided to the Agency during the discussion of the Subsidiary Arrangements. The time limits for the provision of design information in respect of the new facilities shall be specified in the Subsidiary Arrangements and such information shall be provided as early as possible before nuclear material is introduced into a new facility.
Clearly, this article is subject to the implementation details of the Subsidiary Arrangements. However, for the moment I have not been able to track down an on-line copy of that agreement. If you do some digging around the Internet you will come across references to Code 3.1 which exist in two forms, one from 1976, and a revision established in 1990. The following quote seems to be viral when digging into the subject:
The Subsidiary Arrangements specify when a state must report a new facility to the IAEA. “Code 3.1” of the 1976 version of the Subsidiary Arrangements requires states to report on new facilities “normally no later than 180 days before the facility is scheduled to receive nuclear material for the first time.”
It became clear that this requirement did not provide the IAEA with sufficient time to plan and prepare for safeguards. So, in the early 1990s the IAEA modified Code 3.1. The new version requires states to report on a new facility as soon as the decision to construct it is taken.
From what I understand, Iran is and remains compliant with the 1976 version of the agreement, and that following the 1990 amendment, Iran undertook a number of reporting actions consistent with that amendment, although, IAEA minutes back to around 2003 claim Iran breaching 1990 criteria. Iran on the other-hand made the distinction between state authorisation (which they point out has never occured) as opposed to their voluntary supply of information consistent with both the 1976 and 1990 criteria. Iran claims that prior voluntary actions do not constitute state endorsement (and on this I’m tempted to side with Iran). According to James M. Acton the IAEA claim that amendments are not subject to unilateral modification.
In accordance with Article 39 of Iran’s Safeguards Agreement, agreed Subsidiary Arrangements cannot be modified unilaterally; nor is there a mechanism in the Safeguards Agreement for the suspension of provisions agreed to in Subsidiary Arrangements.
If the IAEA states that Subsidiary Arrangements cannot be modified unilaterally, how was it possible that the 1990 amendments came into force if not by a unilaterally decision of the IAEA? We should keep in mind that there may be a perfectly plausible legal basis supporting the right of the IAEA to undertake unilateral action, but for now, I have not found any supporting evidence, and frankly, I doubt it exists. It may also be the case the bilateral agreement was established but not formally ratified (a more probably scenario).
An interview on MSNBC with Scott Ritter, former Chief UN Weapons Inspector supports a growing scepticism forming in my mind. In fact I think that perhaps there are grounds to argue that IAEA processes dealing with formal adoption, resolution of amendments, and accountability provisions may not be everything we would hope them to be. But if we turn around and look towards IAEA as an improvement opportunity, one cannot ignore the Israeli issue as reported by Reuters just a few days ago (18 September 2009):
The UN nuclear assembly voted on Friday to urge Israel to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and place all atomic sites under UN inspections, in a surprise victory for Arab states.
The resolution, passed narrowly for the first time in nearly two decades, expresses concern about “Israeli nuclear capabilities” and calls on International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei to work on the issue.
One could argue that the IAEA frameworks and the geopolitical integrity of the UN (vis-a-vis Israel) are the things to watch as this process unfolds. Even more interesting in the short-term will be the approach Iran takes in the negotiations ahead.
/Cat.
Supplementary Information
Recommended Reading
Concrete Steps to Improve the Nonproliferation Regime
Pierre Goldschmidt, April 2009
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Nonproliferation Program
903 replies on “On Unilateral Action”
Just for reference …
Nuclear warheads around the globe (with a highlight against those countries that are not signatories to the NPT) are summarised in the following table …
Source: guardian.co.uk
Note: North Korea withdrew from the NPT in 2003.
Catrina
There is always that old fallback Article.
Article 4U2C;
Do as i say not do as i do.
gaffhook at 2
I just received an email from James Acton with some additional links and comments (most of which are referenced in his article). One of the notes deals with the subject of the Subsidiary Arrangements in that they are not public, but are disclosed to some extent in a IAEA Board of Governors meeting back on the 23 May 2007.
Perhaps more immediate information can be gained from reading the report by Pierre Goldschmidt titled Concrete Steps to Improve the Nonproliferation Regime (pages 8-9) (credit to James Acton for providing the link). I still have a bunch of reading to do, but for the moment, I remain somewhat sceptical on the question of Iran’s obligations towards the 1990 amendments.
As a post-script (and before HarryH beats me with a big stick), I think Iran should do everything in its power to take a positive, open, and transparent approach to demonstrating and validating that their claim to nuclear capability is not feeding a military ambition, that they should defend the right to nuclear power with vigour, and that the UN as a matter of principal and integrity must balance actions and resolve towards Iran with the non-compliance of Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.
Catrina, this is an excellent piece – thanks so much for writing it, and providing the link to the Scott Ritter interview.
It’s about time someone gave it to the Republicans. They can dish it out but they can’t take it. What whining wimps. If you haven’t seen the video check it out.
==============================================
continued on The Huffington Post
Palin’s having trouble booking speaking engagements in the US.
Yup.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/30/palin-blithering/
The revolution continues! If everyone’s doing it there’s no one left for wars! So come on girls do your bit for world peace! 😆
===============================================
continued in The Global Post
Alan Grayson: Republicans Are “Knuckle-Dragging Neanderthals” On Health Reform (VIDEO)
===============================================AlaAlan Grayson is REALLY REALLY good. He’s a newby in congress (eight months). Here is another video of him on CNN. We are going to hear a lot more from Alan Grayson. Expect Alan to make the Republicans squirm a lot.
continued on The Huffington Post
Alan is what the health debate has been missing. The pendulum is swing the Democrats way!
Alan Grayson has certainly got the Democrats enthused. Just read the comments on The Huffington Post.
Yumbo-gumbo! Young hearts, minds and tummies to get the good oil early.
“”All these seeds need to grow are sun, soil and water. If you eat these healthy foods, you’re going to grow up to be big and strong – like me,” Ms Obama says.
“I know you’re going to like these vegetables, because in addition to being healthy, they really taste great!”
Guess Monsanto won’t be sponsoring these episodes of The First Lady on Sesame St.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/30/2700352.htm
Without putting too fine a point on it, I reckon that Sesame Street’s push for a multi-ethnic face from it’s get-go played a part in the establishment of the vege patch at 1600 Penn.
Mistah Green agrees,
Cool post, Catrina, now going back to re-read and mull it before replying. Whatever the pros and cons, I’ve no doubt global rubes are being softened up for Israel whacking Iran as they did with Iraq and Syria because they claimed that at the time those countries were developing nuclear bombs.
US Health care explained on the back of a napkin.
Brilliant stuff that even I can understand.
(Though maybe Miss Moose might struggle to grasp it, and the comments section shows there’s plenty of “stupid” to go around in the dear old U.S.A.)
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_best_slide_deck_in_the_world_explaining_health.php
11 Oh o! Isn’t that indoctrination EC?
It’s a wonder the Republicans don’t protest over it.
Firstdog on executive salaries.
https://politic.osm.net/2009/10/unilateralism/comment-page-1/#comment-39921
Oops. Wrong address. 😳
http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/10/01/first-dog-on-the-moon-413/#comment-39460
Charting the rise of Tectonic Terrorism:
(Keating was wrong about our beloved land all along! Pine Gap is the schnoz, whilst Oz’s bight not only looks Great, it’s beautifully positioned)
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/76428
16 paddy. No kidding, I never would have picked that. 😈
Bonzer MoonDoggy toony, paddy. The guy is consistently a monster of wit. Really funny AND prolific ain’t easy, let’s hope his mojo Berger Breezes.
Yes, Chris, seems capitalists, bless their made-in-China cotton sox, are Number One in long-term re-cycling. Thoroughly commendable in a Do The Right Thing sort of way. It’s a total Win-Win type situation really. Any long range reasoner would have to agree. The thing is…..they get to win first!
paddy at 15-16
Did you mean …
http://media.crikey.com.au/Media/images/091001-Jonah-ac8d3c53-b32c-4d48-a194-478f039dd4f2.jpg
20
Cat
Errr…Ummmmm…Yes!
Thanks, Oh Mistress of the intertubes. 🙂
6
Katielou
I read the first thirty or so comments on that thread and they all hate her with a passion.
I’ve just finished reading Pierre Goldschmidt’s report on ‘Concrete Steps to Improve the Nonproliferation Regime‘ and I must say that it is compelling material. You get a real sense of things inside the IAEA, the progress and achievements already gained, but also inherent weaknesses together with constructive recommendations for improvement.
As the paper deals with the interplays between the sovereign nations, the IAEA and it’s Board of Governors, and the UN Security Council, it is probably a good idea to watch Obama’s full address to the UN as the tone and willingness of UN Members to move forward directly relates to the recommendations that Goldschmidt is making.
23 September 2009
US President Obama address the the United Nations General Assembly (transcript)
Vale Nadine Frahamer. Only 27 very intelligent and very pretty. With so much to give. I only knew her for a short time, before the big C took her so quickly. We knew it was coming. Two days ago she had normal plans for today. But it was so quick, in the end. With so many evil people in the world. Life can be so cruel.
http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=srp&sfxp=&q=we+love+nadine+frahamer
Farmer’s daughter disarms terrorist and shoots him dead with AK47.
An Indian farmer’s daughter disarmed a terrorist leader who broke into her home, attacked him with an axe and shot him dead with his own gun.
continued in the Telegraph
This bloke would have been a good aide to Colin Powell with the photos of the mobile labs. He could have drawn them for him.
Autism is no real setback for him.
Brilliant.
http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=0k4lsi1dql
I wonder how many conspiracies I have to list here before David admits he was WRONG! Considering there was over 700 conspiring against Obama on that Facebook group alone.
===============================================
Obama Coup Fantasized About By Right-Wing Fringe.
continued on The Huffington Post
===============================================
The difference between the Kennedy conspiracies and now, is that they are upfront about it.
This man is fucking good. Go Alan!
============================================
Alan Grayson Apologizes.
video on FireDogLake
The Republicans will look like they have been running a death panel!
EPA Will Begin Regulating Industrial Global Warming Pollution In March, 2010
==============================================
What a difference a new leader/party makes.
continued on Think Progress
Steele Dismisses Report That Obama Has Received 400 Percent More Threats Than Bush
==============================================
What 400 percent more conspiracies than Bush. Well I never.
David must be due to say he was WRONG any minute now.
continued on Think Progress
Negotiations scheduled for the 1 October in Geneva between the G5+1 and Iran have completed. During the day the US signalled that it would be willing to conduct subsequent one-one-one negotiations with Iran (which have not occured since 1979 during the Iran hostage crisis). Also of interest is confirmation via MSNBC that the Iranian Foreign Minister is in Washington (even though the US does not have formal diplomatic relations with Iran). Andrea Mitchell is reporting that Iran have pitched a proposal wherein Iran gets supplied with enriched uranium from the other negotiating parties (which would fold nicely into the desire of the Iranian government to acquire nuclear power generation capability and the desire of the opposing parties to see internal nuclear production capabilities in Iran dismantled). But as Andrea said, it’s way too early to make any conclusions.
Oh, to be a fly on that wall!
No chance, Cat. Spooks sweep the area meticulously for bugs. Unless…………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IidHjCm3xGI
—————————————–
Health Care then:
~BHO on the campaign trail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om5gGBVy_4k&feature=PlayList&p=CF4338D1ADD137AA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=62
Health Care now:
Aw gee, whadaya know?! BHO took the votes, his Party got a thumping majority on The Hill but somehow, The Mighty Baz can’t muster enough leadership to deliver. Too bad, I guess for the people who believed what Obama said prior to his POTUS 44 handle becoming operational. And of course those same cock-eyed optimists will be there to support his Party in 2010. Especially the netroots. Just like last time. Afterall, it’s just politics. Presidents lie and obfuscate all the time. The American people who supported Obama and Co. understand the practical realities of K St. and will rally behind the status quo once again in droves when the clarion call goes out in 2010.
Some voters just can’t get enough of change they can believe in. Rubes and masochists top the list.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/stewart-destroys-dems-for_n_305948.html
Chris
No doubt you will be extremely happy with the Rude Pundit today.
He loves Alan Grayson as well.
33
EC
Jon Stewart, what more can you say.
Chris B,
Wrong about what?
Enemy Combatant,
By what methodology could Obama prevail on health care in the way that you wish him to, given that the ‘thumping majority’ that you referred to does not actually exist?
Senate Committee Passes Quasi-Public Option Amendment
===============================================
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/senate-committee-passes-q_n_306831.html
Michelle Obama, Oprah Visit Copenhagen Opera House: Belles Of The Ball (PHOTOS)
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/michelle-obama-oprah-visi_n_306856.html
If you ask me i would not have a clue who is doing it and who is not paying.
Yesterday two public options got trashed in the Senate committee hearings and now Harry Reid says there will be a public option in the final bill. Go figure.
Maybe JOn Stewart and Alan Grayson have given them a bit of spine or something overnight.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/reid-says-public-plan-wil_n_307011.html
It will likely be a very watered down public option if it happens – perhaps something as in the link that ChrisB posted.
What can I say. The name of this church says it all. 😈
http://failblog.org/2009/09/29/church-store-fail/
41 David Gould If it gets up it can be expanded later.
Chris B,
Over the dead bodies of the DINOs …
Talking about loonies we could use in the next election. Here’s a good nut case.
Bachmann: “Sex Clinics” In Schools Will Result From Health Care Reform (VIDEO)
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/bachmann-sex-clinics-will_n_306292.html
Orangutan and Dog are Best Buds.
=========================
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mteaujyyeO0
Brilliant!!!! Five Stars.
The GOP seems to be taking a leaf out of Malbulls LNP book with the polls.
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/assessing_the_gop_brand.php
“David Gould says:
2 October, 2009 at 8:45 am
Enemy Combatant,
By what methodology could Obama prevail on health care in the way that you wish him to, given that the ‘thumping majority’ that you referred to does not actually exist?”
Bullshit, mon ami! In Congress the nos. are (D) 257, (R) 178: in The Senate, (D) 60, (R) 40.
In round figures that’s,
D=318 R=218
Exactly what part of my “thumping majority” statement is prooving difficult to grasp? 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_of_the_111th_United_States_Congress
“By what methodology”, you enquire, Mr.Gould?
Like this, David, remembering that BHO cut his political teeth in the rough and tumble of Chicago.
The Kid calls the dissenting DINOs to the Oval Office, and has them sit down for a bit of chow, vino and general back-slapping. He then stands and starts to pace around behind them, speaking slowly and steadily at first, before a gently surging cresendo kicks in:
“You muthafuckas were elected as Democrats, not GOPpers or Indys! Now get with my Health Care Program you Bendict Arnolds or I’ll personally make sure each and every one of you cocksuckers is dis-endorsed next time you’re due to front the voters…. etc.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc9zF8G2Pvc
The thing is, David, Barack would probably have to tone it down just a tad, however, the point about playing for the Democratic Team is ably demonstrated in this short clip about the exercise of power.
If his own lawmakers don’t respect POTUS, let alone fear him, then the power POTUS weilds is nothing but a token.
The majority does not exist simply because those people are not Democrats. It is a majority in imagination only.
As to disendorsement, I think that they would laugh. They would say, ‘If we vote for this thing, we will lose to the Republican candidate in any case, so the disendorsement threat has no weight.’ And they would point out that in their districts the only Democrats with a chance to win are Republicans in a Democrat suit, so Obama would either be replacing them with someone identical or with a Republican in a Republican suit.
Executive power in the US is in general wielded through a combination of threat, promise, negotiation and compromise. This is the whole point of democracy, after all – that no-one has the bulk of the power.
In other words, if the Democrats had this ‘thumping majority’ that you claim, then any Democratic legislation should go through on the nod. The fact that it does not *proves* that this ‘majority’ is a fiction.
As to what they were elected as, quite a few of them were elected as Bible-thumping, gun-toting, climate-change-denying, homosexual-bashing, big-city-liberal-hating conservatives.
Rachel Maddow providing a short summation of the US/Iran negotiations.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/33131216#33131257
Enemy Combatant at 48
What David said (49-51) is on the money. But beyond this you need to fold into the equation the torturous process of legislation within the USA. Keep in mind that the recent votes on the public option deal with only one of five healthcare reform proposals and before this puppy emerges, the various proposal need to be reconciled into a single proposal. As that moment approaches I suspect that we will see a sixth proposal from the White House that combines priorities from the right and left. The negotiations around the final bill will take place, and only then when we get to the parallel votes in the House and the Senate on identical versions of that final bill, only then will we see the necessity for Democrats to work as a block.
Even then there still remain a number of avenues:
♠ vote to block a filibusterer and go to a down the line vote
♠ if that fails, vote for legislation with the 60/40 requirement on the final plan
♠ if that fails, execute the process though reconciliation as a part of the budget
So much to do, so little time!
🙂
David, I take your point on realpolitik. The Dem majority is merely numerical and functionally a fiction. Sadly it indicates the sham of the two-Party Sep system. Gore Vidal was right about it all along in his oft quoted:
“It makes no difference who you vote for – the two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people”
Still, call me old fashioned, but if one pulls on a jersey to play for a team and one keeps giving “free kicks” to the opposing team and one won’t take instructions from the Captain, then any Captain worth his salt would be spitting the dummy bigtime; as The Imbecile always did if he perceived Congress were messin’ with his agendas, especially from 2006-2008 when W. didn’t have a (numerical) Congressional majority.
Goodo, Cat. I’m back up me tree but watching like a hawk while ideologically a dove. 🙂
55
While you’re up that tree Ecky, start practising your heavy metal air guitar.
http://media.crikey.com.au/Media/images/091002-PoliticalSongs-0c650ab1-6136-4a26-add4-37608daf83f8.jpg
Once upon a time there was a POTUS who was blessed with a Virtual Majority. Despite all the style in the world, he couldn’t do a thing with it.
‘Twas an occasion of great sorrow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVSmzchu1h4
52
Catrina
The second/follow on video on that link regarding De Mint going to Honduras is an absolute doosie.
He intends going to Honduras and telling the coup government to take no notice of US foreign policy FFS.
Hot dang, paddy, mah air ghee-tah strings done broke.
Makes a man downright sorrowful ‘most all o’ tha time.
Turturro, Clooney wit’ some nifty plinkin’ from Chris Thomas King will tide us by, brother.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzK0739QQqQ
And, gaffy, here’s one for Dipstick De Mint
Wot a rod walloper!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiulgP9kR7c
“Takes much longer to get up norf…. va slow way.”
Totally hot band though.
Taking a short detour away from U.S. Realpolitik…where the ONLY majority will ALWAYS be the 4%…to the Realpolitik of our mob.
What are ticsters opinion on how the CPRS will go down?
It seems Malbull has returned from his favoured Medittaranean hideaway as a newly minted conviction politician.
And after hearing Minchen bloviating earlier today my guess is:
Libs put up a smallish batch of deliberately ludicrous amendments that practically neuter any effect Labour’s CPRS may have.
Labour accept(after a bit of amending of their own) a couple of the Lib amendments but reject most of it.
Greens scream blue murder at both Parties for rejecting the scientific evidence.
Libs reject Labour’s mildly amended CPRS
And we go to an election with Labour offering their new, ever so slightly browner CPRS…The Libs running against a CPRS (yep..they will)…and the Greens promising to save the Earth.
Ultimately i don’t think the Libs will pass the CPRS, so the ball will be in K Rudds court to see how he wants to play this.
gaffhook at 58
But if you keep on watching, this number pops up a couple of segments later. Not only do we have a West Wing retrospective moment, but we also witness the real power of China’s military.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/33131216#33131462
61
That’s a great clip Cat.
It’s good to know someone is praying for us. 🙂
P.S
I’m assuming that was you in the third row, second from the left in Tiananmen square.
Very fetching outfit with the sub-machine gun and high heels.
Cat, stop it! Hot pink, packin’ heat and synched to the nth degree. On behalf of the Degenates of Oz, I propose that we surrender to China at once. Such images are what Chris B’s wildest fantasies are made of. Bet there were lots of very naughty boys on the loose in Beijing the other night when those gorgeous commo-pinko strutters bundied off from the Grand Parade.
“Hi, Zhong Lee, sweetie, sorry I’m late for our date….”
“Boy, are you gonna pay for this, you worthless insect!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFjCJ6xkYNU&feature=PlayList&p=7ED2FA68447731B8&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
60
HarryH
I have a sneaking suspicion that Malbull might unleash the “conscience vote” routine. Esp. if he can’t get dinosaurs to fall in behind him.
The Libs are in such a God awful mess right now, the backbenchers must be worried about their jobs when Rudd decides to call an election. (BTW. I don’t think he’ll call a DD. Too easy to find he’s given the BOP to the greens)
Interesting times ahead. But not really much hope of actually getting any real movement on CC. The CPRS really *is* a dog. 🙁
61
Catrina
And there are more.
Especially how Newt Gingrich ripped off those clubs for $5k each with his prize winning awards.
62
Paddy
Yep i saw that. Out of step and all!
things like small plane crashes and mystery illnesses are not confined to Seppo land;
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=72573
The mind boggles at the spending power of the USA on defence. And attack for that matter.
And they worry about a few bucks for a lousy bit of health care.
At last count there are 761 US military bases across the orb.
Incredible.
The US Has 761 Military Bases Across the Planet, and We Simply Never Talk About It;
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=68431
On top of that the US airforce “thunderbirds” were here last weekend for the air show.
!2 F15’s at US$30 mil a piece plus two giant support aircraft with all the spare pilots and service back up crew.
I must admit they are an awesome piece of machinery but i hope we in Australia did not have to foot the bill for their appearance.
Assessing the GOP brand
==========================
============================================
Landslide!!!
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/assessing_the_gop_brand.php
Once the health bill is passed it will be oblivion for the Republican Party!!!!!
Olympic Bids: Chicago eliminated in first round …
More on Huffinton Post …
Update: Rio wins the bid for the 33st. Summer Olympiad (2016).
The Curse of Black Hawk:
Pity some Seps don’t get antsy about Global Heating the same way they turn sulky when they don’t win EVERYTHING. Talk about up ’emselves! Namby-pamby sore losers. Bloody whingers. Worse than Australian cricketers they are.
Huffpo’s headline: “OLYMPIC SNUB”!
(Chicago got arse-holed in the first round of voting)
The shame and ignominy of it all…… to be outbid by a goddamn bunch of coffee-coloured, Third World, Socialist, Un-American Injuns! God-fearing, Family Values businessfolk in the Home of the Brave are being systematically oppressed in the Land of Free Enterprise by the decendants of New World cannibals whose only claim to fame is a “soccer” team and a half-decent annual Street Party!
Naturally, it’s all Barry’s fault, that uppity escapee from Woodpile America. No Rebublican who ever took a bribe or swore on a bible would dare allow The Windy City, capital of Abe Lincoln’s State of Origin, Illinois, to be so humiliated. Mercifully, Chicagoans have bountiful supplies of booze and a rich history of Urban Blues, so adequate acoustic and alcoholic comfort is readily available for distraught developers and their attendant flea circuses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_War
And won’t this look really good in an anti Republican advertisement in 2010. They are tying a noose around there own neck. If the polling wasn’t bad enough in #69. The Republican brand name WILL get worse. 😈
Conservatives Revel In Obama’s Olympic Bid Failure
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/02/conservatives-revel-in-ob_n_307794.html
Ten worst verses of the bible. Full of sexism and genocide. Leaves out some of the ones I know, like its ok to sell your daughters as slaves and kill your children if they swear. This is a very good one to turn into a viral email by sending it to your friends.
http://www.shipoffools.com/features/2009/chapter_and_worse_results.html
For an as yet undisclosed consultancy fee, John Fahey has been secretly coaching Brazilian Olympic delegates in appropriate celebratory responses for this very moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7qQ5nbg1b0
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/76514
http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/20091001_early_adopters/
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/76465
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/76487
Linus is huge on the Tooth Fairy too:
http://www.turtlejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/226_pea_welcome_great_pumpkin.jpg
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/76494
Oct 2: suggest also check Oct 1
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/jeff-danziger
Oct 1:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/ben-sargent
Sept 30: Moosetta launches MILF-driven literacy initiative
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/pat-oliphant
Oct 2, 2009.
“Dear Mr. Toles,
My son came home from school today all upset. My boy said his Leftist, almost certainly gay, atheist, latte-lapping teacher said a fine upstanding Republican President, Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, warned Americans on CBS-TV in January 1961 about some cockamamie Military Industrial Complex.
Can you please help me out here and explain what the kiddie mindbender was talking about?
Thanks a million, Tom,
Concerned Dad of Oklahoma”
(correct name and residential address supplied)
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/tom-toles
EC I’m sure someone will tie the Republicans in nicely with that in 2010.
http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/20091001_early_adopters/
Can you imagine the reaction if Rudd had supported a Brisbane bid for the games and it lost – and the Libs attacked Rudd for putting effort into it. Good luck with the GOP attacking Olympic games bid.
And anyway – good luck Brazil and Lula. About time that we had a left fiesta (assuming the right don’t get back pre 2016)
Salve, Wakefield. Sure has got a lot on his plate has El Presidente Lula. Your obsevation slips seamlessly into Cat’s thread……. 🙂
“Brazil, just like Iran, is a signatory of the NPT. Just like Iran, it is enriching uranium. Just like Iran, it does not allow unlimited, invasive IAEA inspections. And just like Iran, it has in the past kept some aspects of its nuclear technology “secret”.
Brazil enriches uranium to less than 5%, as part of its $1 billion nuclear industry, which will invest on seven new atomic plants to diversify the country’s consumption of oil and hydroelectric power. Brazil plans to start exporting enriched uranium before 2014. Brazilian centrifuges could be used to produce highly enriched uranium. But that’s a matter of political will. The letter of the Brazilian constitution effectively forbids the building of nuclear weapons.”
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/01-3
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Bill Maher on Global Heating Denialists:
“THESE PEOPLE ARE SO STUPID THEY MAKE EVEN ME QUESTION EVOLUTION”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/03/bill-maher-slams-gop-clim_n_308501.html
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http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/76529
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/76527
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Chris, like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and endorse the ongoing intensity of your venom for GOPper apparatchiks. Those people are scum.
1859 (150 years ago) from the Mr. Fish toony, “Early Adaptors”, was the beginning of some pretty significant U.S. History. Even Goebbels might have a spot of bother tying The Sep Civil War to the GOP in 2010. However, Beck, RushBo, O’Reilly, Hannity, the Wingnut Warblers and the Dingbat Chorus could probably give it a fair shake.
It’s not as if they’re pitching to Quantum Physicists.
Au revoir Peter Dutton.
I have written here before that i have always thought the “Rising Star” tag attatched to this plodding ex plod was somewhat misplaced.
Seems the folk in the McPherson pre-selection agree
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/dutton-loses-liberal-preselection-20091003-gh7a.html
Dutton might want to have a quiet round of golf with Mal Brough and ponder whether being the second wave of Howard Liberal is a smart career move.
78
I’d also like to add a hearty…..ME TOO!
Maintain the rage Chris. 🙂
Those cretinous fucktards make Lord Haw Haw look like a Nobel peace prize laureate. I just hope I’m still around, when that appalling Oz reject, “Herr Rupert of Adelaide”, finally shuffles off and we get to watch the good ship News Corp. sail straight into the last remaining iceberg.
(Naturally, it would be a *far* greater pleasure, if the arsehole went broke while he was still alive.) 👿
Train of Thought: (first, they wanna be a fly on the wall)
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2009/10/-kafka-on-the-train.html
Hope the Lit-Graf sticks in Gotham; commuters would then be subject to delights afforded passengers on Aer Lingus.
” On the upholstery of Aer Lingus planes, slices of ‘Ulysses’ and poems have been embroidered. William Butler Yeat’s ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ spills over the back of the seat in front of you–truly a beautiful arrangement of words. With the plane going down, what would you like to enter your head in the moment before you realise death is coming at a thousand miles an hour, Hugh Grant or:
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the heart’s deep core.
(pp 147-148 of Don Watson’s ‘Death Sentence–The Decay of Public Language’)
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HarryH
It’s a glorious irony, that the “conga line of suckholes” in the MSM, have been spruiking the inevitability of Dutton and Brough as the new wave.
Thank God the average Oz punter, seems a bit more discerning than our poor old cousins across the pond.
81
Oh FFS Ecky….If death is rushing towards me at 1000 Mph….I would insist on at least a pint of Guinness
http://www.beerbrains.com/guinness.jpg …….to go with the Yeats. 🙂
Dunno about ex-copper Dutton, Harry, but Mal Brough was a loss to the tories. Don’t like the prick, but he’s a good little media performer. Rat Features tapped him to head the 2007 NT intervention debacle, but it was Brough’s tub-thumping for Work Choices that cost him his federal seat based around the Pleeblands of Caboolture in S-E Qld.
If Brough wants back in as a player, he should be sucking up to Brandis and the other tories who eschew Rodentism, grovelling for a cushy seat in plenty time for Broughie to grease the electorate before the next Big One in Oz.
Ecky
Dunno about Brough suckin up to Brandis.
If memory serves me correct, i think old Broughy cracked a stinky at the LNP and migrated down South to be with us Mexicans.
Fair enough, H, although you little ol’ Southern folk are more than welcome to him.
paddy, on a bang/whimper basis, some exit strategies sure beat the hell out of palliative care 🙂 (And to be sure, you’re right about the Guinness)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMYLjlpP0NY&feature=related
Thanks guys. I’ve just come back from seeing the first 2 parts of a brilliant ABC series (available on DVD) called Battleship. Now if you want to see criminal wast of tax payers money and going to war for the flimsiest of reasons, Bush wasn’t the first to do this. This was it. You also see the British Parliament tricked into buying 8 Dreadnoughts a year. By, wait for it, making them think that the Germans were secretly building more dreadnoughts than Britain was, with false intelligence. No George Bush wasn’t the first at that either.
Here’s how I would run the 2010 election.
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First priority. Blame Bush for all Americas problems, continually reminding everyone how we got into this mess in the first place, (you mean they will have forgotten?).
Second priority. Run a series of advertisements showing all the loonies such as Limbaugh, Palin, Glen Beck and the tea party loonies. Making a feature of the aggressive signs they are carrying.
The point being, these are the loonies you would be entrusting our country to. Oh, and a feature of the Republicans cheering the loss of the Olympic games. How un American.
Third priority. Run a scare campaign, saying vote Democrat or the Republicans will take away your newly won health care.
It won’t take much to cause this landslide. All the above will tie in nicely with their poor brand name recognition. It’s about 50% behind the Democrats.
I expect that the Democrats will already have all this well in hand.
Irish ‘Yes’ to EU treaty expected.
Voters appear to have backed the EU’s Lisbon Treaty in the Republic of Ireland’s crucial second referendum.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8288181.stm
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Yes! Another victory for world peace and breaking down the dominant paradigm. Two right wing governments Poland and the Czech President are still stalling. The UK Conservative Party is pushing for a referendum. But its too late! 😈 Most opposition has come from right wing EU governments or organisations. Except the two old warring nations France and Germany. Who have co-operated all the time. Even to the extent of being far more moderate than any other major Conservative governments. War does that to you. The bigger the EU the less chance for wars in Europe.
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Apparently Tony Blair is the big favourite to become the first EU President. I am in two minds about this. I still have huge issues with him over the Iraq war. But, being a big EU fan they need a high profile person for their first President.
Fry finds ‘funniest ever’ mating ritual.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8281382.stm?ls
What can I say.
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Chris
Many moons ago when i was in NZ my mates and i had quite a startling encounter with a Kakapo.
On the way in to Milford Sound there is a Tunnel through the mountains called the Homer Tunnel.
It was basically one way for twenty minutes or half hour at a time, i can’t remember.
We were waiting to go through said tunnel to Milford when out walks this Kkapo. It immediately started chewing the caps off the tyre valves and any door rubber seals and wiper blades. It was a constant battle to keep it away. Can’t remember if they are flightless like the Kiwi or can only hop/fly very short distances.
Interesting how friendly they are in the wild though and were not easy to find.
EC
Dutton now Mutton!
Won’t it be funny if their execs try to over rule the pre selections.
Not only Brough liked workchoices but he was going to send all those Eumundi single mums back to work.
That went down a treat.
Here’s the full story. A massive landslide!
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Ireland backs EU’s Lisbon Treaty.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8288181.stm
Another Poll Shows Corzine Getting Closer
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http://politicalwire.com
GOP Brand Still in Bad Shape.
=======================
http://politicalwire.com
Not Like 1994
http://politicalwire.com
A Political Murder-Suicide Strategy?
=========================
http://politicalwire.com
Could backfire badly.
A little something to relax with after Sunday School, kiddies. Please disregard the wanton abandon of the normal courtesies of the road, such as failure to use her lane-change indicators, as well as several more serious traffic breaches by the young woman. She’s on a mission from Senator Fielding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mU2lJKkQ04&feature=related
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As Big Jaryd is one of their own, the HillSong mob are very publicly rooting for the Eels.
Yet how can the back-sliding, Mexican Pagans be thrice denied the game’s greatest honour? They can’t; here’s why……
Parra have got this far by chacing their arm and off-loading just enough good late ball to thwart solid defence thereby giving their “zip-zip men” more room to “convert the razzle dazzle into points”. Reckon Parra will figure that if they’re on a good thing tactically, they should stick with it. Afterall, this is how they won nine of their last ten games. However, not “respecting the football” will be their undoing. Conditions are going to be slippery. Parra will spill a lot of pill and The Storm will whisk it up like a Southerly Buster, “promote the football” wisely. Result? At the end of the day a crestfallen gaggle of yellow-jerseyed warriors will have had their faith in the god of football badly shaken.
Carn the Stormies!
(for “Rabbits” Warren, the Bard of Steedon, who constantly transgresses the bounds of polite cliche to remind us that “Rugby League will be the real winner on the day”)
Poll: Christie Up By Only Four — Is There A Hidden Minority Vote, Or Not?
continued on TPM
Is this enough polls for you David?
Conservatives Revel In America’s Olympic Defeat.
This is excellent material to use against the Republicans in 2010.
continued on TPM