Shane Bradley

London

2005-07-08T07:58:00.000+10:00

Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School

A plug.

2005-06-21T21:12:00.000+10:00

I've been meaning to do this for a while - go and listen to Shire Network News (direct link) - the podcast of Silent Running.

Excellent work, Tom.

Douglas Wood Free

2005-06-16T10:22:00.000+10:00

Some great news:

AUSTRALIAN hostage Douglas Wood has been dramatically freed in a raid on his captors' Baghdad hideout by Iraqi military forces, who took several militants captive.

The 63-year-old US-based engineer was recovering last night in hospital, almost 50 days after being kidnapped in Baghdad by a radical Islamic group.

Mr Wood was delivered into the hands of Australia's emergency response team in Baghdad yesterday afternoon (Australian time) inside the city's secure Green Zone before undergoing a full medical examination.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told ABC TV that a number of people had been detained as a result of the military operation, which was aided by US units.

He could not confirm whether there had been any loss of life.

John Howard told parliament shortly after 6.45pm that "Mr Wood was recovered a short while ago in Baghdad in a military operation that I am told was conducted by Iraqi forces in co-operation in a general way with force elements of the United States".

In Douglas' own words:

"I wasn't sure what was happening," Mr Wood said.

"The first thing is there was a bit of shooting outside, then they came and covered me over with a blanket.

"And then there was still a lot of yelling and screaming. And then a gun, they actually fired inside the room.

"That was a bit scary."

I would like to thank the Iraqi government, the Iraqi and US armies and Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali in their efforts to free Douglas Wood.

Short Hiatus

2005-06-09T11:31:00.000+10:00

Work's been a real bitch this week and doesn't look like letting up. So I probably won't be posting much until next week.

Dept of the Bleeding Obvious

2005-06-06T11:59:00.000+10:00

No shit, Sherlock.

Dave the Docker

2005-06-01T17:59:00.000+10:00

Can he be arrested and tried for treason?

2005-06-01T10:52:00.000+10:00

Via Little Green Footballs, I found this Front Page Magazine article by David Horowitz detailing the "unholy alliance" between the extreme left and the Islamofascists, which leads us to this March 2005 interview of British MP, George Galloway - Saddam supporter and Oil-for-Palaces profiteer.

Calling for an alliance between the "progressive" left and Islam:

Not only do I think it's possible but I think it is vitally necessary and I think it is happening already. It is possible because the progressive movement around the world and the Muslims have the same enemies. Their enemies are the Zionist occupation, American occupation, British occupation of poor countries mainly Muslim countries.

They have the same interest in opposing savage capitalist globalization which is intent upon homogenizing the entire world turning us basically into factory chickens which can be forced fed the American diet of everything from food to Coca-Cola to movies and TV culture. And whose only role in life is to consume the things produced endlessly by the multinational corporations. And the progressive organizations & movements agree on that with the Muslims.

Otherwise we believe that we should all have to speak as Texan and eat McDonalds and be ruled by Bush and Blair. So on the very grave big issues of the day-issues of war, occupation, justice, opposition to globalization-the Muslims and the progressives are on the same side. But they now do have some other differences and they are nonetheless important.

These are the very big issues that divide progressive organizations and Muslims. But they are fewer than people imagine and the more they want work together as I am doing and have been for many years with Muslims organizations and sincere as well as devout Muslims the fewer the differences are and the less the gap there seems to be.

It's necessary because if we to use in English colloquialism "If we don't hang together we will all hang separately." Our enemies are very powerful and they are currently ruling the world and if we don't stop them they will finish both of us and they will be the new tyrants, new emperors of the world for a very long time to come if we don't stop them.

So it's necessary to unite these two great forces.

So the extreme left and "Muslims" (all Muslims? Surely not.) are anti-Israel, anti-America. Tell us something we don't know, George. "Tyrants", George? I think you mistake unelected Bashar Assad and Saddam Hussein for democratically elected George Bush and Tony Blair.

On the "anti-war" movement:

Well, the world wide anti-war movement didn't stop the war on Iraq that is true. But it came quite close to pulling Britain out of war. It has pulled Spain and I think it will soon be able to pull Italy. It is soon too pull Ukraine and Philippines and the El Salvador out of the foreign occupation of Iraq and that is a very significant achievement between the hammers of the Iraqi resistance and the worldwide anti war movement.

So I think that to describe the anti war movement a failure would be wrong. Bush and Blair thought that they could unleash this war and get away of that unchallenged. I don't think actually that they are getting away of that.
[...]
I think the Iraqi resistance and the anti war movement have made it more than Mr. Bush can chew that he has beaten off. In fact the Iraqis are chewing him.

So you support suicide bombings, kidnapping and the beheading of hostages, too?

On Iran's plans to develop nuclear weapons:

They don't explain why is Israel allowed to have a nuclear bomb and Iran is not? Why is Britain for that matter allowed to have a nuclear bomb but Iran is not? Why are the white people allowed to have nuclear bombs and black people and Muslim people are not allowed to have nuclear bomb? This is a logical absurdity.

This is the case against Iran. People who have nuclear bombs are threatening to attack somebody else because she might be trying to have a nuclear bomb. When the whole logic of the current situation in the world is that you must try and get yourself in defense. Korea is not being attacked because she has nuclear bombs. Iraq was attacked because she did not have nuclear bombs. So the logic is- get yourself weapons or you will be attacked by Gorge W. Bush and Tony Blair.

Now it's racism to deprive the mad mullahs of Tehran of nukes?

All of this from a man who used his democratic rights to stand for election, the rights his misguided constituents used to elect him, who used his hard fought right to free speech to say these things, all of which he would gladly deny the people of Iraq by supporting Saddam.

Big Brother intruder revealed!

2005-05-26T12:18:00.000+10:00

In a Shane Bradley exclusive, I give you the identity of the Big Brother intruder!

Click thumbnail for larger image.

Yes, it's the Hoff! Is there nothing he can't do?

Good News from Iraq*

2005-05-25T08:28:00.000+10:00

An unconfirmed report says that Jordanian terrorist scumbag, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, has been wounded:

"O nation of Islam... Pray for the healing of our Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi from an injury he suffered in the path of God," said a statement from the Al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq. Its authenticity could not be verified.

It was the first such statement by the group claiming that its leader, behind most attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, had been wounded. The language of the statement suggested that his injuries could be serious.

Not seriously enough, as far as I'm concerned.

* With apologies to Arthur

SMH: Not afraid to call a spade a tool for digging

2005-05-19T09:25:00.000+10:00

Who is the sub-editor responsible for this headline?

Timid guerilla? What the fuck?

He wasn't so timid when he and his fellow barbaric scumbags took 1300 people, mostly children, hostage. He wasn't so timid when Russian authorities stormed the school and - according to witnesses - he opened fire into the crowd of hostages.

Why is he a "guerilla"? He's just another fucking piece of scum that think actions leading to the deaths of 168 school children is an acceptable way to achieve Chechen independence. Calling him and his compatriots "guerillas" legitimises their actions.

It's just a damn shame he's only facing life imprisonment.

It's just a book for Pete's sake!

2005-05-17T12:46:00.000+10:00

A lot has been said in the blogosphere about Newsweek's article claiming that US interrogators were desecrating the Koran at Guantanamo Bay and the reaction in Afghanistan that led to people dying.

I don't have a problem with anyone trying to flush a Koran down the toilet or burning the Bible. That sort of thing - repellent as it may be - is protected as free speech, just as being able to write about it here is.

I do have a problem with a major news magazine like Newsweek publishing allegations from an anonymous source that did not witness the incident(s) but a report, was not corroborated by any other person and the source later said:

...that although he remembered reading investigative reports about desecration of the Quran, including a toilet incident, "he could no longer be sure that these concerns had surfaced in the [Southern Command] report."

But what I really have a problem with is that fanatics reacted to the report with violence and killed people.

Bomber Beazley Blocks Big Budget Bestowal

2005-05-12T09:37:00.000+10:00

A few weeks away from Labor becoming completely irrelevant on the Federal level, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, promises to block (love that headline!) the government's recently announced tax cuts:

The future of the budget sweetener has been thrown into doubt after Labor and the minor parties yesterday promised to block the tax cuts, ahead of legislation being rushed into parliament today.

Shocked? I know I was. But not as much as one Labor MP:

"We've blown our brains out," one long-serving Labor MP said.

This is just oppositon for opposition's sake. Clearly, giving $21.7 billion back to Australians is a good thing.

I'll leave the last word to Treasurer Peter Costello:

"The last legacy of the Labor Party's control of the Australian Senate could be to deny Australians their tax cut on July 1, 2005 - the last stand of the Labor Party under Mr Beazley."

Did they have a coupon?

2005-05-09T18:52:00.000+10:00

Apparently all you need to end a prison siege is 15 pizzas:

A late-night pizza delivery brought an end to a siege in Hobart's Risdon Prison, where inmates had held a number of prisoners and a prison warder captive for about 40 hours.

All captives have since been released unharmed, Tasmanian Prisons Director Graeme Barber said at an 11am press conference today.

Mr Barber agreed to a list of demands by the inmates, which included providing more job opportunities inside the overcrowded prison.

There would also be possible increases in prisoner pay, he said.

But the final sticking point in negotiations between police and inmates last night was the delivery of pizzas to a group of inmates who were occupying the jail's reception centre.

After the release of the prison officer about midnight, 15 pizzas were delivered to the inmates.

"Our staff member was negotiated out by the delivery of 15 pizzas," said Mr Barber.

I hope they enjoyed them because these prisoners will be spending more time behind bars:

Mr Barber expected criminal charges to be laid against inmates involved in the stand-off. Disciplinary action would follow against some inmates.

Shut up, Nettle.

2005-05-04T15:06:00.000+10:00

Advocates for the terrorist scumbags holding Australian citizen, Douglas Wood hostage have gathered in Sydney:

A small band of protesters has gathered outside the Prime Minister's Sydney office to call for the release of Australian hostage Douglas Wood and the withdrawal of Australian troops from Iraq.

Greens Senator Kerry Nettle says John Howard is not listening to his constituents.

Senator Nettle says Australians want to see Douglas Wood safe and Australian troops brought home.

"John Howard said yesterday he is taking personal responsibility, well that's right," she said.

"He got us into this mess and he needs to think seriously about the decision he has made that are putting the life of this Australian citizen, Douglas Wood in threat and in danger."

I didn't realise that John Howard's constituents included the fucktards that kidnap people and videotape their beheadings.

Senator Nettle, the reason Douglas Wood is "in threat and in danger" is because leftist anti-Americans like you act as appeasing shills for these murdering dipshits and get airtime and column inches expounding the same demands as the Islamist/Ba'athist fuckwits.

This post proudly brought to you by Jim Beam.

2005-05-02T11:34:00.000+10:00

First nominee in the "Get A Life and Leave Us Alone" awards is the Australian Drug Foundation.

EVEN before this year's Logies awards, the AFL version of The Footy Show is a winner - although it is probably not the type of gong it covets.
The Melbourne-based show has been named this year's winner of the annual Boozie Award conferred by the Australian Drug Foundation (ADF).

The ADF presents the Boozies at Logies time to an Australian-produced show which demonstrates excessive, inappropriate or unconscionable marketing of alcohol.
[...]
The Channel 9 program won the award for its 2005 season sponsorship by Jim Beam bourbon.

The sponsorship ensures bottles of Jim Beam are prominently displayed in most shots and the drink is regularly mentioned.

The director of the Community Alcohol Action Network at the ADF, Geoff Munro, highlighted the second show of the current season which featured "skolling" by co-host John "Sam" Newman.

"When Sam Newman skolled Jim Beam to the cheers of the live audience and pretended to be drunk it encouraged the audience to regard binge drinking as fun," Mr Munro said.

I'm sure that when people do binge drink, Sam Newman is not the reason (or at least the reason proffered by Mr Munro. Sam Newman is a bit of a tool.).

Surely, there are more important drug issues the Australian Drug Foundation should be dealing with.

I wish someone would invent Idiot-B-Gone

2005-04-26T19:25:00.000+10:00

Should we be watching less TV? Probably. But going around and turning off TVs in public places you believe shouldn't have TVs is going too far.

From today, a group of anti-TV guerrillas, as scathing as the poet about the influence of the small screen on society, plans to liberate people from its irresistible grip. They will be using a recently launched gizmo called TV-B-Gone to take direct action against television sets in public places.

The glorified remote control, about the size of a key ring, will switch off most television sets within a 45ft radius within 60 seconds.

The device will form the focus of TV-Turnoff Week, an annual protest against television's all-pervasive influence, which began in the US 11 years ago. Organised by the TV-Turnoff Network, White Dot and anti-consumerism group AdBusters, the protest has steadily spread to other countries including Canada and the UK.

The protesters plan to identify restaurants, pubs, bars and other public places they believe are ruined by the presence of a television.

They will then pay each one a visit and forcibly turn off their sets, leaving behind spoof menus and posters protesting about how the background hum of the television has replaced the art of conversation.

That may be so, but acting like fascists won't win over any new converts. I wouldn't appreciate some holier-than-thou activist coming in to my pub and turning off the TV I'm watching the footy or the cricket on. In fact, that could lead to said activist being thrown out of the pub on his arse.

Good News from Lebanon

2005-04-26T10:48:00.000+10:00

Syria has all but completed its withdrawal of military and intelligence personnel from Lebanon.

Here ends the 29 year domination of Lebanon by Syria. Congratulations, Lebanon!

ANZAC Day

2005-04-24T20:26:00.000+10:00

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
and the Mehmets to us where they lay side by side
here in this country of ours...
You, the mothers,
who sent their sons from far away countries
wipe away your tears,
your sons are now lying in our bosom
and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have
become our sons as well."

Ataturk, 1934

Lest we forget.

Idiots of the week

2005-04-21T14:08:00.000+10:00

Some people have no idea about the sacrifices made 60 years ago to free Europe from the evil that was Nazi Germany. A couple in Mannering Park on the NSW Central Coast have been flying the Nazi swastika from their flagpole, apparently without any knowledge of what the flag was:

The offending flag's owners, Darren Mackay and Jenni Duncombe, claim they bought the flag from Morisset Markets for $10 and hoisted it up the flagpole about a week ago as a bit of fun.

They have now refused to remove the flag after Ms Duncombe claimed an angry neighbour threatened to hurt her and her baby if it was not taken down.

Ms Duncombe claimed yesterday she did not realise the significance of the Nazi flag until the controversy erupted.

She said her four-month-old daughter Breeana enjoyed watching the brightly coloured flag blow around in the breeze.

Geez, it's only one of the most hated symbols of history. Dont you think you could find something a bit more appropriate for your daughter to look at? What were you learning in school? Haven't you seen Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan? Band of Brothers?

However, threats of violence should not be condoned, either. That's just acting like Nazis.

Former ALP minister blasts ALP

2005-04-21T10:22:00.000+10:00

Former NSW ALP Education Minister, Rodney Cavalier, laments the decline of the Federal ALP, placing the blame squarely on the ALP's penchant for preselecting political staffers and union hacks to safe Labor seats. The speech was given at a meeting of the Fabian Society last night. (Full transcript here.)

What is the portrait of the modern Labor Member of Parliament? She is cased at university where she is achieving less than academic greatness. He will have demonstrated a willingness to follow a leader, not to step out of line. She will join an ALP branch where the postage and the mail-out is met by an MP. His first serious employment is with an MP. Or a Minister where she will know nought of the subject area of the Minister's portfolio. Or a union where he will not have worked in the industry covered by the union employing him. Or her.

She is preselected perhaps for where she lives, perhaps for somewhere she has no association; he has minimal or zero community record. Her campaign is managed by people supplied by Head Office, it is paid for by Head Office, its strategy is determined by Head Office.

Having been elected, he enters the caucus of the faction to which he owes everything; she votes as the leadership instructs, he confirms for another parliamentary term the hegemony of the processes that made her possible. When she delivers her Maiden Speech, it is probable that the staffer of a Minister will have written it. Someone who hopes to walk in her or his footsteps.

Sounds a lot like Kate Ellis, ALP Member for Adelaide.

Kate grew up in a small town along the Murray River in rural South Australia before moving to attend high school in Adelaide's inner south-western suburbs.

She studied International Relations at Flinders University, where she was an active representative and President of the Students Association.

Kate entered the full-time workforce as a Research Officer for State and then Federal parliamentarians, and has subsequently worked as a Ministerial Adviser for South Australian Minister Hon. Rory McEwen, advising on trade related issues and was employed as a Ministerial Advisor to the Deputy Premier Kevin Foley before being elected to Parliament.

Cavalier's solution?

Unless the leadership at the machine level and the parliaments set about smashing the monopoly enjoyed by the political class the party is doomed. Rules changes are required which eliminate employees of the party and Ministers and parliamentarians from contesting selection ballots. The separate disaster of trade union officials should be addressed by legislation that requires each official to be drawn from the ranks of the working membership.

Impositions on the lines of Peter Garrett and Frank Sartor will occur more often during a transitional phase until the party membership rebuilds a catchment of candidates who can represent their fellow Australians and lead Australia's government. A good start will be candidates who are employees in productive employment where it is a dismissable offence during working hours to advance the cause of the ALP or your own preselection prospects.

That might work. Policies that Australian voters actually like would help, too.

New Pope

2005-04-20T08:43:00.000+10:00

The Conclave of Cardinals has elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope, with Cardinal Ratzinger taking the name Benedict XVI.

A delirious crowd of about 100,000 cheered and waved wildly as Ratzinger, the 265th pontiff in the church's 2,000-year history, smiled and acknowledged the applause from the curtain-draped balcony of St Peter's Basilica.

His first words were met by a huge ovation.

"Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II the cardinals have elected me a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord," he said, paying tribute to his immediate predecessor.

"I console myself with the fact that the Lord knows how to work and act, even with insufficient tools, and above all I trust in your prayers, in the joy of the resurrected Lord, faithful in his permanent aid.

"Let's go forward, the Lord will help us, and Mary, his most holy Mother, is on our side."

Some people are not so happy. Confedrate Yankee has a round up of some of the posts from (Anything but)Democratic Underground. Disgraceful.

FTA with China

2005-04-19T18:57:00.000+10:00

Should Australia be pursuing a free trade agreement with the People's Republic of China?

My reflexive response is no, on the basis that we should not reward dictatorships of any stripe, in any way. A move to a liberal democratic system with civil liberties for all on China's part is the goal I would put forward before any FTA discussions would take place.

But on reflection, trade creates wealth and the richer the Chinese people become, the more likely it will be that democratic reform must take place, to give those that create China's wealth a say in how China is run. China's burgeoning middle class will soon want more than the economic freedom that the ruling clique in Beijing have allowed.

Thanks, guys!

2005-04-19T11:12:00.000+10:00

In response to my first post, I've been given some advice by those with more experience in this crazy little thing called blogging.

Chris Muir: Thanks, Chris. Love the strip!

Not Tony.T: Sounds suspiciously like Tony.T.

Chris: Mooses? Is that the correct plural?

PB: I don't think a fatwa is something I can achieve straight up. Give me a few weeks. Thanks anyway.

First Post

2005-04-17T10:56:00.000+10:00

What do you write about in a first post?

Links and stuff to come.