Slashdot Mirror

Disclaimer: I am an Aussie and I know what I am talking about.

So the government used its own intelligence-gathering arm to get as much information on the situation as possible, before making decisions. And this is bad, uh, how? Its well founded that it was spying and intelligence that helped prevent the cold war turning into WWIII. The Cuban missile crisis proved how invaluable intelligence is in a crisis.

To compare the TAMPA issue with Cuban missile crises, or any other crises is totally incomprehensible. Where is the national security risk when it comes to some refugees coming into the country? They weren't the first and they certainly weren't the last. The issue with the DSD supplying information in this case to the government (disregarding the disgusting term used by Crean of UnAustralian) is that it was a misuse of government policy.
Notice that none would have compained if ASIO was involved, because it is within their mandate to monitor internal security risks. The DSD is solely mandated to monitor International communications where there is a threat to Australian scurity.

Has the government done the right thing? No. I believe the whole TAMPA thing is a sham. Remember the allegations they raised that refugees were throwing their kids into the water? Allegations that were denied by the Navy! Besides, if the TAMPA was dangerous, why is it allowed to come back to Australian ports?

_anyone_ can submit, people who were interested in subverting the collection effort would be anxious to post erroneous or misleading information.
BZZZT. The reason it works is that its private. The people who read it know the other people who read it. And just like slashdot, you ignore the guys who talk crap.

In fact, it is a samller, more targeted Slashdot... As you pointed out, you wouldn't use the one list or source as your only source. I bet you use other sites, even for linux "propaganda". I know I don't rely on slashdot for all my tech news, and to just cut-and-paste an internet article before passing it up the chain of command is unprofessional in any job...

but as confirmation or background, knowing, for example, that all the aircraft from a given squadron were doing a flyby would confirm or disprove other reports about their activities and / or readiness....

According to this, yes. Of course they're privately held so there's no proof.

According to this, Google made a profit.

Since my article on Google's profit was rejected yesterday I can only assume Slashdot editors only care about the performance of dotcom companies they own stock in.

true, there is no oil in Afghanistan to speak of (though there is some gas) - but oil and gas are a crucially important part of the current unpleasantness there.

why? simple. there are very large oil and gas reserves in Turkmenistan (and surrounding nations), directly to the north of Afghanistan, and for years American oil companies have been maneouvring to have a pipeline built from Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan, south to Pakistan and thence to the giant markets in North America, Europe, etc.

by "very large", read oil deposits similar to those of Saudi Arabia, and the largest gas reserves in the world.

when the stakes are this high, a lot of the strange stuff going on in this region recently starts to make sense...

Pipeline Politics: Oil, gas and the US interest in Afghanistan

Oil and Gas International editorial

Control of Central Asia's oil is the real goal

The oil behind Bush and Son's campaigns

The fact that the author of this article thinks Harry Potter is racist because the wizards are shown as superior to the muggles just shows that he hasn't read the books, which make it pretty clear that only the "bad guys" think that the pure-blooded wizards are superior to others.

Speaking of which, you have to wonder what Tolkien would have said about the recent criticism of the LoTR movie that it is a way for Americans to act out racist tendencies in a politically correct way. Given current events, this might be a very satisfying and even cathartic outlet for such feelings, but it is no replacement for introspection.

All in all the whole "Tolkien as a web-saavy ghost" schtick was pretty funny, and definitely worth the link.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald it was a blitz across 6 countries.

I prefer this article to show how important this particular "terrorist's" words are to Australia.

Anyone who requires their Jewish landlady to get them out of bed and drive them to pilot school, so they can then nick off to the knocking shop might be regarding as a wannabe, like the reporters and editors who actually started reporting this crap in Australia.

OT!? but AC started it.

There was a recent incident here in Australia where an accident victims fingers were transplanted from one hand onto the other...

One hand was severed during the accident, the other hand was crushed, they took the good fingers from the severed hand and put them on place of the crushed fingers. Wow.

The team leave for Korea on Thursday with Miss World Cyber Games Australia, Anna George, and Dimitri's mother as chaperone.

I almost feel sorry for her. :|

Not only americans are observed by Echelon.
US wins Spain's favour with offer to share spy network material
ETA (a terrorist group from Spain) is one of the tarjets of Echelon.

And I'm sure that CIA is not planing to get information only about Americans but about any person in the world that get caught in his net.
Even worst: "Unlike information on US citizens, which officially cannot be kept longer than a year, information on foreigners can he held without time limit."
So Echelon is a WWP not only USA.

You should consider boycotting Xboxes, because they did a "Vandal Marketing" campaign in Sydney. This was similar to the IBM campaign. Microsoft paid another company to go and paint green "X"s all over the place. The Councils are very annoyed about the damage to their footpaths and want to charge the advertising company for the cost of cleaning off the advertising.
Xbox vandals

So whats the deal? Katz is now a dupe of the man as well? Remember right after the 9/11 there was an email from muslim man circulating around the interenet? Yep.. Propaganda.

So while Katz is airing out his complete crap about *nothing* in particular, nothing but a heart warming tale spun to augment the beard shaving, women baring their faces, and the possiblility that MTV is coming to Kabul soon. Lets not forget the reality of the situation:

The Northern Alliance is a brutal regime as well. People welcomed the Taleban after being ruled by these losers.

On the homefront, the administration is taking power in sweeping gestures whose effects will leave us reeling for possibly fewgenerations.

Like the fancy stories you see above. People from the less fortunate countries in the world like Australia and Europe think our media is full of shit, and lying to us point blank.

But never fear, America is the home of the free. The best country in the world dude. And all that shit.

Anyway, just a reminder to use that search engine of yours and get the facts, see some other perspectives, especially now since Mr. Katz has obviously become a tool as well. Yeah maybe he was a tool before, but at least he had the power in his court to say something to Slashdot readers. I guess no more.

Here is one of many: Just search google for "toast butter down".

An article on Icelands Hydrogen plans can be found here: [smh.com.au] Actually very interesting, I have to say its refreshing at least to see some countries making serious efforts to resolve these energy problems we all face!

Not quite so funny when you consider the following:

Did Al Gore Win After All? US Newspapers Would Rather Not Say.

Media Supresses News That Bush Lost Election to Gore.

Palast Clarifies "Gore Won" Statements.

The NORC Florida Ballot Study.

Disclaimer: I don't live in the US, so I've got a little safe distance from many of these US issues (for now: Australia looks set to become a suburb of the US any day now...).

Anyway, I think the issue with FBI surveillance is not so much that we're concerned about Them spying on Us, and finding out all of Our secrets: after all, if that were the only problem, then some of you would be quite right, and we needn't worry if we're not doing anything wrong.

No, the worry is more about who's monitoring and what they're doing with it. Can the watchers, given this degree of access to our private communications, *really* be trusted to be as dispassionate and unbiased as we hope?

The problem with *any* abrogation of authority, surveillance, administrative or enforcement powers is that they then have the ability to use if for their purposes. Okay, rooting out terrorists is a worthy aim, but can we trust that they'll stick to that? Do we know that *Their* definition of "terrorist" matches *Ours*?

My definition of terrorist includes stuff like "blowing up as many people as possible". How do I know that theirs *doesn't* include stuff like "belongs to a subversive organisation like Amnesty International"?

Check this article on the work of the NSA during the cold war. I'm tempted to buy the book, depressing as it may be, but I'm not sure how much of it hasn't already been covered in the selection of Chomsky books on my shelves. The NSA *may* have been protecting what they thought of as American freedoms, but if those schemes were enacted, how many Americans (and others) would have suffered? Is *that* justifiable?

And as for the "who's a terrorist" question, well, how about the Reclaim the Streets crowd? How about Women in Black, recent nominees for a Nobel Peace Prize? When the definition of "terrorist" stretches that far, how many of us are innocent?

Given that there are at least 2 countries right now who are using the "War on Terrorism" excuse to launch a greater offensive against their enemies, I'm not overly confident that this surveillance would be used *solely* to find and bring to justice those guilty of the Spetember 11th bombing. Anyone criticising current US government policy could be considered a suspected terrorist. Anyone protesting the indefinite detention of material witnesses could be considered a terrorist. What then? Who's made any safer by this, and who suffers?

According to this, bin Laden is indeed using verbal codes to communicate with his people. What better way to get the message out than a public statement?

I'm still bitter it's not getting played on US tv stations; how can a video taped statement from public enemy number one not be "newsworthy"? They say it "might contain a message". Well one message I heard was "infidels out". Is that the message they don't want us to hear? That his main demand is for us to stop occupying his 'homeland' and whatnot?

Sure, there might be a hidden message too. But people waiting to get the hidden message will undoubtedly obtain it from some foriegn news source that DOES deem it "newsworthy".

Censorship will only hide the message from joe sixpack & friends, and I think thats exactly the goal.

Was just looking for URL's to qualify my report.. Couldn't find anything anywhere.. Just this audio clip at CBC.

Other news items of interest are this (explaining the US change in motives) and this (showing the growing anti-US response worldwide) at smh.com.au. Otherwise unsurprisingly little except for how great the states is. Bleh.

Was just looking for URL's to qualify my report.. Couldn't find anything anywhere.. Just this audio clip at CBC.

Other news items of interest are this (explaining the US change in motives) and this (showing the growing anti-US response worldwide) at smh.com.au. Otherwise unsurprisingly little except for how great the states is. Bleh.

Tune out with some movies, Katz:

KOYAANISKATZI. Discuss.

POWAKKATZI. Discuss.

NAQQOYKATZI. Discuss. (This film hasn't been made yet, but thankfully the US Government have arranged for live television screenings over the next few weeks.)

While my caffiene addled mind urges me to invoke jihad against jingoistic, xenophobic and increasingly schizophrenic Americans, it seems that the great Australian champions of free speech, This Is Serious Mum, have already beaten me to it. The first stanza of their 1983 epic "Kill Americans" runs as follows:

Kill all the flag-waving, red-blooded, young Yankee boys
String their torsos up and use their dicks as toys
Nuke every US city, blow them to the sky
Every single fucking yank deserves to fucking die ...

obviously encourages the reader to find out what could possibly make the US the subject of such wanton and vitriolic language.

While I myself am not in a position to lament the absence of death threats at slashdot, rather, to amend this woeful state of affairs, I am in a position to threaten to amend this state of affairs.

I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb.

0rl0k
Former Sov-Cit PsiKop

"Cardboard tubes just like giant loo rolls support the cardboard panels that form the walls and roof," Dr Cripps says.

This article in the Sydney Morning Herald suggests rats and fleas may not be to blame for the spread of the plague.

OH MY GOD, I can't resist turning to look at your sig!!!

For the moderators who are just joining us, please look here before modding me through the floor - it was a /. article a while ago

Sydney Morning Herald online www.smh.com.au had plenty of images of the wtc, including the accident itself, the rescue effort, international reactions, etc..

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/28/world/index.htm l

these images REALLY bring out the feeling of the whole event.

b.t.w. the photos are in the far right column.

Sydney Morning Herald online www.smh.com.au had plenty of images of the wtc, including the accident itself, the rescue effort, international reactions, etc..

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/28/world/index.htm l

these images REALLY bring out the feeling of the whole event.

b.t.w. the photos are in the far right column.

Interesting reading:

• Terror in the Mind of God: the Global Rise of Religious Violence
• Political Islam

Danny
[I have written 600 book reviews]

The attacks happened around 11pm our time. Our Channel 9 took the ABC coverage. My original comment was kamikazes.

The scenes were horrific. The images of the buildings collapsing will stay with me the rest of my life. I alternated between CNN live, BBC World Service and ABC the rest of the night.

Our Prime Minister, John Howard, was at the Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C. at the time. He was transferred to a safe room.

Your former President Clinton was holidaying at remote Port Douglas, Queensland at the time. Security was increased and a plane provided at Cairns for him.

An Australian company recently acquired a stakehold in the World Trade Centres. Refer to
The Age and the SMH

May I say that America is the greatest country in the world? The incredible tolerance shown by Americans in the wake of the tragedy is remarkable and displays exactly why America is what it is.

Condolences to the friends and families of the victims.

The SMH Has an article on this at http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/12/world/world35.h tml
Quote: The Iraqi commentator said that "the explosions at the heart of United States power, in particular the Pentagon, represent a painful slap in the face to American politicians to direct them to put an end to their illegitimate hegemony and their attempts to impose their authority over peoples."

The SMH Has an article on this at http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/12/world/world35.h tml
Quote: The Iraqi commentator said that "the explosions at the heart of United States power, in particular the Pentagon, represent a painful slap in the face to American politicians to direct them to put an end to their illegitimate hegemony and their attempts to impose their authority over peoples."

The Sydney Morning Herald is carrying the story

The Sydney Morning Herald has info and pictures. And the site also hasn't been /.ed.

Story Links:
BBC
MSNBC
CNN
Chicago Tribune
Globe and Mail
Washington Times
Sydney Morning Herald
New Zealand Herald
LA Times


Picture Links:
BBC
Sydney Morning Herald

Story Links:
BBC
MSNBC
CNN
Chicago Tribune
Globe and Mail
Washington Times
Sydney Morning Herald
New Zealand Herald
LA Times


Picture Links:
BBC
Sydney Morning Herald

Other English-language news sites still responding quickly:
-- The [Toronto] Globe and Mail
-- The Sydney Morning Herald
-- The [Hong Kong] South China Morning Post

No, you go & do other bloody things while the computer's humming along.

Like chatting up one of the pretty girls in human resourses.

Or buggering off down to the 'cross' (less than 10mins walk from the central business district) & scoring some smack, then you can go to the legalised injecting room to wack it up, to put you in a good mood while you killing time at work till knock off time (oh you can't beat ole Sydney town for conveniance). Or you can duck next door to the pub & have a bit of a liquid lunch.

Fuck, who wants a fast computer at work, they'l only give you more work to do.

Its much better having a slow one, so you can spend the day browsing pr0n & download MP3s while its humming away on your maths/science calculations or re-compiling or ripping video, in the background.

Michael, how on earth can you justify linking the phrase (the entire internet will) "cease to exist" to the article Washington sounds alarm over "Code Red" worm virus, when the article itself says or implies no such thing?

You might as well link the phrase "alien attack imminent" or "Elvis seen in Redmond" - it has as much to do with the story as your title suggested. Of course, most people won't read the story, they'll just remember the catchy phrase that "the internet might cease to exist" - how exciting! - and that they read it first on slashdot.

Code Red is a pretty serious situation as it stands; we don't need to mislead people while we talk about it.

TomatoMan

I don't think anyone can save this whale. I wonder if anyone will have a video camera handy ;-)

• "BigPond has not been hacked. What has happened is a Trojan virus has been lodged on a number of BigPond users," Mr Gray said. ... The virus had been found on the sites of the affected customers.

My BigPond Cable-connected system regularly gets portscanned by other cable/DSL users. This seems to be just a lot of FUD caused by the deceptions of script kiddie. Telstra don't do anything to protect their users systems from attack, but then how many other ISPs do?

What do I owe Africa?

Really?

"Fruits of the 21st Century?"

How about if Africa gets itself out of the 6th century by producing something the world wants?

And this time, try not to make it slaves, terrorists, virus es, endangered species, or diamonds to raise money to hack people to death.

--Blair
"You are only as free, happy, smart, and rich as you think you are."

Blake's Seven may be returning:

see: http://www.smh.com.au/news/0004/10/features/featur es5.html

dave

When I read about this in the paper the other day, I checked around to find out some stuff about Christmas Island. One thing I found out is that there is currently no real estate for sale on the island. I guess speculators found out about the space port early and bought it all up. Too bad if you live there.

Slander, is false defamation, while libel is defamation that must meet other qualifications (that the statement is about a person who is identifiable to one or more persons, and that the statement i s distributed to one or more persons other then the injured party, i.e. published). In other words, slander _must_ be a lie. If it's the truth, it's not slander. However, if it's true, it can still be defamation. It must meet the other above criteria to be libel.

Whether this argument holds or not ... is up to the courts to decide.

See the article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hmmm...Napter does well, CD sales do well. Napster is emasculated, CD sales begin to slip. Now, I realize one cannot prove causation from this, but if they are going to use the "Napster is to blame" game, then they should work it both ways and realize that by their logic, when Napster is rocking their sales improve.

The point I'm trying to get to is that some Maori tribes have got into a habit of making claims on property not because they were cheated out of it by colonists but because that property is now comercially valuable. In the Lego case three tribes from the northern part of NZ are making these claims and if I were feeling cynical I'd say it's because they think they can get some money out of Lego. AFAICS Lego are not stealing or commodifying anyone's identity, they are just using a couple of Maori/Polynesian words (nothing specific to the Maori language at all) in a ficitional game. Here is an article from the Sydney Morning Herald which has specific details of the usage of the words in the game.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0106/01/text/world13.ht ml

According to the original article, "86% of all respondents ['Of those who had downloaded free music' ?] said that they HAD purchased a CD album as a direct result of downloading free tracks from it." This seems pretty clear indication that using Napster does affect buying habits. Interestingly, though, this doesn't tell us anything about whether they actually buy more CDs, it just tells us that at least some of their decisions on what to buy are based on what they downloaded from Napster. If some of these people would buy a set number of CDs within a given period anyway, some of these specific purchases could actually be at the expense of music they would have learned about through more traditional channels of promotion (which the music industry better understands how to manipulate): radio play, mtv, etc.

There have been a couple of semi-ralted articles in the Sydney press in the past few days:

Consumers with mobiles can't hide: about the new services that 3G will bring - mainly push SMS advertising, walk past a department store and get an ad & discount voucher for that store (or it's rival).

Mobile network trap: about the IMEI database, called Find A Phone, now in service in Australia and it's ability to identify stolen mobile phones - even after they have had a change of SIM-card.

enjoy