AN ACADEMIC'S BILL OF RIGHTS?

by James Reed
At present in the United States the State Senate Committee on Education is considering a bill "An Academic Bill of Rights", which will guarantee that students are given fairness in assessment and not indoctrinated by teachers. The idea of protecting students from the epidemic of indoctrination spawned by political correctness is a very good one. Nevertheless some facts give caution to my immediate enthusiasm. The campaign for academic rights originated with those organisations committed to saving Israel from criticism. Another bill HR 3077, which was pushed through the House of Representatives by the pro-Israeli forces but which was defeated in the Senate called for monitoring of international studies programmes which criticised American foreign policy. The supporters of the bill included the American Israel Congress, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Israel Political Action Committee. What started as a hopeful sign soon revealed its gloomy hidden nature.

ALL GOOD STUDENTS NEED A PART-TIME JOB

THE SUBSTITUTION OF 'MEANS' FOR 'ENDS'

AS AMERICA - AND AUSTRALIA - WASTES AWAY

by Andrew Ryan
"Mother Jones' is a Left-green magazine published in the United States which carries the usual material we would expect. Sometimes though there are surprises to be found. The online version (www.motherjones.com) 11th May 2005, has two interesting articles documenting America's decline.
Onnesha Roychoudhuri's article, "Made in Palestine," tells us that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be openly discussed in the United States. The case of Professor Joseph Massad, a Palestinian-American at Columbia University is cited.
The University investigated Professor Massad for being not "anti-Semitic" but "anti-Israel". The Professor was cleared of all charges but one: he had become "angered at a question that he understood to countenance Israeli conduct of which he disapproved and … responded quite heatedly." Thus whilst a number of Jewish American professors can openly publish material supporting the use of torture ("stretching forth") to extract information from Palestinian terrorists, Professor Massad must not get angered at those he sees are acting unjustly. Thought crimes have moved to a new level.

The article goes on to discuss the example of James Harithas, an art curator in Houston who displayed a Palestinian art show "Made in Palestine" in May 2005. The exhibition was successful at his own gallery. But when Harithas attempted to get the exhibition seen at other galleries, he hit a brick wall. Rejection slip after rejection slip followed. Typically the letters of rejection said that the exhibition might offend people. Two New York legislators issued a statement saying that the exhibition was "anti-Jewish".

Battlespace America
The May/June online edition of "Mother Jones" has an article by Peter Byrne, "Battlespace America":
The new Pentagon can legally compile information on U.S. citizens and can put Marines "down the main street" if it thinks it is necessary.
Since 2002, after the U.S. Defence Department updated its Unified Common Plan, law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been shovelling information about U.S. citizens to the U.S. Northern Command, NORTHCOM, located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Deep inside the Cheyenne Mountain, in good James Bond fashion, intelligence analysts sift through this data to get a picture of 'battlespace" America. At their beck and call is the military might of the U.S.A. Northcom is the U.S. military's first combatant command centre.

America had traditionally distinguished between the role of the military and that of law enforcement. In the wake of 9/11 that distinction has now gone. Northcom's activities are kept in secret, naturally enough. Civil libertarians feel that the Pentagon is engaging in domestic intelligence and law enforcement is a major threat to the democratic safeguards that Americans cherish. Without doubt they are right.

In Australia an overhaul of security laws has given ASIO and the Australian Federal Police extraordinary powers to secretly investigate, detain and interview people in the battle against 'terrorism", so called. ASIO can interview anyone who they think may have information about a terrorism offence for up to 24 hours and detain them for up to seven days. Once questioned it is illegal for the person to discuss operational information from the questioning with any other person for two years. Refusal to answer ASIO's questions could land one in goal for five years. Welcome to the Australian Police State.

"THE POOR OF THE WORLD ARE OUR HOPE"

CLANCY'S MEN COME TO TOWN

The Mountain Cattlemen of Victoria, ("Clancy of the Overflow" country) have joined together to protest at the Bracks' government's plans to withdraw the leases to graze their cattle in the Victorian highlands. Just as the fishermen, the sugar-cane growers, the loggers, the dairy farmers, and as so many other Australians are finding, their livelihoods are being taken away from them by their very own governments.

Demonstrations are not enough
We hope these men and women are not going to let the matter rest there. All of the above groups should be joining together to put pressure on their political representative in Parliament and insist he/she truly represents their interests, not those of some financial/multinational shadowy power-group with headquarters in New York or London or wherever.

ENOUGH'S ENOUGH - THE COUNTRY VOICE RALLY
It is intended the Mountain Cattlemen will put forward a united country voice against the end of alpine grazing by rallying before Parliament House, Melbourne on Thursday 9th June 2005. The League posted the media release details on its website so that the information was available well before the rally, in the hope Melbournians would strongly support their fellow Australians from the country.

POLITICALLY MOTIVATED ATTACK ON 170-YEAR TRADITION
Last week, the State Government announced its decision to remove cattlemen from the Alpine National Park, effectively erasing 170 years of history. This is despite earlier promises that cattle grazing would remain a legitimate activity in the national park.
"This is nothing short of "a kick in the guts," according to Chris Stoney, a third-generation cattleman and spokesman for Country Voice, the group representing the cattlemen.
"For two years, we have co-operated with the Government only to find that it had planned to "do us over" all along. It is a decision driven purely by ideology and a hunger for Green preferences at the next state election, and has nothing to do with sound and sustainable land management," Mr Stoney said.
"After the decision was announced, the Government has undertaken a costly PR and advertising campaign to justify its actions, including hollow promises that cattlemen can move to forest leases, when that is simply not the case. "This deception reflects the Government's dismissive and arrogant attitude towards country Victorians," Mr. Stoney said.

The star of "The Man From Snowy River", Tom Burlinson, unable to attend the rally due to work commitments, has lent his support to the Country Voice campaign.
"The bush belongs to all Australians, and the High Country holds a special place in the hearts of people across the country," Mr Burlinson said.
Country Voice invited Victorians to march with them in expressing their opposition to a decision that seriously undermines Victoria's proud rural heritage. "This should be a warning for all country Victorians that this Government does not have their interests at heart. We fear this is only the thin end of the wedge," Mr Stoney said.
"One by one, it is picking us off. The only way to tell this Government to "pull its head in" is to vote with our feet. United, we can stop it."

PERPLEXING WARNING

Mr. Brian Handley, president of the Moe (Victoria) branch of the National Party responded to a public admission by his NP leader John Anderson, that Australia's farmers were under attack and the decline in numbers was cause for great concern. He 'had his say' in the Herald Sun 24/5/2005.
"The warning from National Party leader John Anderson about a farmer shortage within 15 years unless the sector gets help is perplexing. It raises the question as to what help Mr. Anderson has in mind other than short-term drought relief.
Is he planning to reverse the destructive tariff policies that force farmers to compete against cheap imports?
Is he planning to reinstate the domestic market support schemes dismantled under our competition policy?
Is he planning to reverse deregulation of the dairy industry?
Is he planning to reinstate government subsidies to a level comparable to that given to American and European farmers?

Yes, Mr. Anderson, your warning is accurate and timely, but please tell us what help you are proposing. Reversing government deregulation and free trade policies would be a good first step. If this doesn't happen, Australia will not have a farming industry or a National Party in 15 years.

SICK STRATEGIES FOR SENSELESS SLAUGHTER

The murderous fools are not trying to end the war; they're trying to keep it going as long as they can. From John Kaminski, skylax@comcast.net May 24, 2005.
The cat is out of the bag now.
It happened quite by accident, as most revelations do. And it is seen by most of the world as the most revolting of the American/Israeli atrocities in the past few years, although it's hard to prioritize that claim because of the level and frequency of barbaric acts that are committed on a regular basis by those affluent automatons who call themselves the good guys.
Yet everyone but the comatose American populace - blinded by its Orwellian media and stupefied by its demented diet of physical and mental poisons - can see it. So permit me to spell it out for those cowardly people who say they're living in the freest country on Earth, but absolutely refuse in their silent ignorance to see the blood they're spilling.

No country that condones deliberate torture for any reason can ever be trusted.
The first hint came in Imad Khadduri's "A warning to car drivers" written in Arabic and posted on www.albasrah.net on May 11. The dispatch was quickly picked up by two of the most realistic and reliable news sites on the Web, www.uruknet.info, and www.globalresearch.ca.
Khadduri recounted a scam that opens up a clear window to seeing who is perpetrating all this inexplicable violence in Iraq. Beyond the American attempt to pacify an outraged and abused nation through demonic destruction, and beyond the Iraqi attempt to resist this totalitarian takeover by a foreign conqueror, there are more than numerous acts of violence that simply can't be understood by straightforward explanations.
I mean, when a mosque blows up and Americans blame Islamic terrorists, whether Sunni or Shiite, it makes no sense. Muslims never blow up their own houses of worship. Or when reporters sympathetic to either the Iraqi cause of freedom, or even just general principles of international justice, are suddenly assassinated and the blame is placed on often imaginary Islamic extremists whose perspective is supported by these writers, how can anyone believe that Muslims did it, even thought this is what the Zionist American press and government continue to insist. So who's doing all these demented deeds? As if we didn't know ....

Khadduri's report went like this:
"A few days ago, an American manned check point confiscated the driver license of a driver and told him to report to an American military camp near Baghdad airport for interrogation and in order to retrieve his license. The next day, the driver did visit the camp and he was allowed in the camp with his car. He was admitted to a room for an interrogation that lasted half an hour. At the end of the session, the American interrogator told him: 'OK, there is nothing against you, but you do know that Iraq is now sovereign and is in charge of its own affairs. Hence, we have forwarded your papers and license to al-Kadhimia police station for processing. Therefore, go there with this clearance to reclaim your license. At the police station, ask for Lt. Hussain Mohammed, who is waiting for you now. Go there now quickly, before he leaves his shift work".
The driver did leave in a hurry, but was soon alarmed with a feeling that his car was driving as if carrying a heavy load, and he also became suspicious of a low flying helicopter that kept hovering overhead, as if trailing him. He stopped the car and inspected it carefully. He found nearly 100 kilograms of explosives hidden in the back seat and along the two back doors.
The only feasible explanation for this incident is that the car was indeed booby trapped by the Americans and intended for the al-Khadimiya Shiite district of Baghdad. The helicopter was monitoring his movement and witnessing the anticipated "hideous attack by foreign elements".
The same scenario was repeated in Mosul, in the north of Iraq. A car was confiscated along with the driver's license. He did follow up on the matter and finally reclaimed his car but was told to go to a police station to reclaim his license. Fortunately for him, the car broke down on the way to the police station. The inspecting car mechanic discovered that the spare tire was fully laden with explosives."
If this were the only example of this type I heard, I might have let it pass as just a story. But it wasn't. There was also the sorry tale of the Iraqi man who saw American soldiers plant a bomb which shortly thereafter exploded, and when he said so out loud for all to hear, he was hauled away, never to be seen again.
This story was reported on arguably the most authentic and riveting source of news from Iraq, the heart-rending "Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq," which is compiled by someone known only as Riverbend or Iraqi Girl <http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/>. Again, recommended reading.

She recounts, "the last two weeks have been violent ....
The number of explosions in Baghdad alone is frightening. There have also been several assassinations - bodies being found here and there. It's somewhat disturbing to know that corpses are turning up in the most unexpected places. Many people will tell you it's not wise to eat river fish anymore because they have been nourished on the human remains being dumped into the river. That thought alone has given me more than one sleepless night. It is almost as if Baghdad has turned into a giant graveyard.
The latest corpses were those of some Sunni and Shia clerics - several of them well-known. People are being patient and there is a general consensus that these killings are being done to provoke civil war. Also worrisome is the fact that we are hearing of people being rounded up by security forces (Iraqi) and then being found dead days later - apparently when the new Iraqi government recently decided to reinstate the death penalty, they had something else in mind.

But back to the explosions.
One of the larger blasts was in an area called Ma'moun, which is a middle class area located in west Baghdad. It's a relatively calm residential area with shops that provide the basics and a bit more. It happened in the morning, as the shops were opening up for their daily business and it occurred right in front of a butcher's shop. Immediately after, we heard that a man living in a house in front of the blast site was hauled off by the Americans because it was said that after the bomb went off, he sniped an Iraqi National Guardsman.
I didn't think much about the story - nothing about it stood out: an explosion and a sniper - hardly an anomaly. The interesting news started circulating a couple of days later. People from the area claim that the man was taken away not because he shot anyone, but because he knew too much about the bomb. Rumour has it that he saw an American patrol passing through the area and pausing at the bomb site minutes before the explosion. Soon after they drove away, the bomb went off and chaos ensued. He ran out of his house screaming to the neighbours and bystanders that the Americans had either planted the bomb or seen the bomb and done nothing about it. He was promptly taken away.

The bombs are mysterious. Some of them explode in the midst of National Guard and near American troops or Iraqi Police and others explode near mosques, churches, and shops or in the middle of sougs. One thing that surprises us about the news reports of these bombs is that they are inevitably linked to suicide bombers. The reality is that some of these bombs are not suicide bombs - they are car bombs that are either being remotely detonated or maybe time bombs. All we know is that the techniques differ and apparently so do the intentions. Some will tell you they are resistance. Some say Chalabi and his thugs are responsible for a number of them. Others blame Iran and the SCIRI militia Badir.
In any case, they are terrifying. If you're close enough, the first sound is a that of an earsplitting blast and the sounds that follow are of a rain of glass, shrapnel and other sharp things. Then the wails begin - the shrill mechanical wails of an occasional ambulance combined with the wail of car alarms from neighboring vehicles… and finally the wail of people trying to sort out their dead and dying from the debris.

Then there was this one.
On May 13, 2005, a 64 years old Iraqi farmer, Haj Haidar Abu Sijjad, took his tomato load in his pickup truck from Hilla to Baghdad, accompanied by Ali, his 11 years old grandson. They were stopped at an American check point and were asked to dismount. An American soldier climbed on the back of the pickup truck, followed by another a few minutes later, and thoroughly inspected the tomato filled plastic containers for about 10 minutes. Haj Haidar and his grandson were then allowed to proceed to Baghdad.
A minute later, his grandson told him that he saw one of the American soldiers putting a grey melon size object in the back among the tomato containers. The Haj immediately slammed on the brakes and stopped the car at the side of the road, at a relatively far distance from the check point. He found a time bomb with the clock ticking tucked among his tomatoes. He immediately recognized it, as he was an ex-army soldier. Panicking, he grabbed his grandson and ran away from the car. Then, realizing that the car was his only means of work, he went back, took the bomb and carried it in fear. He threw it in a deep ditch by the side of the road that was dug by Iraqi soldiers in preparation for the war, two years ago.
Upon returning from Baghdad, he found out that the bomb had indeed exploded, killing three sheep and injuring their shepherd in his head. He thanked God for giving him the courage to go back and remove the bomb, and for the luck in that the American soldiers did not notice his sudden stop at a distance and his getting rid of the bomb.
"They intended it to explode in Baghdad and claim that it is the work of the 'terrorists', or 'insurgents' or who call themselves the 'Resistance'.
I decided to expose them and asked your reporter to take me to Baghdad to tell you the story. They are to be exposed as they now want to sow strife in Iraq and taint the Resistance after failing to defeat it militarily. Do not forget to mention my name. I fear nobody but God, as I am a follower of Muqtada al-Sadir."

The background and admission of guilt for such satanic shenanigans was clearly outlined in Frank Morales' piece on globalresearch.ca: "The Provocateur State: Is the CIA Behind the Iraqi 'Insurgents' - and Global Terrorism," by Frank Morales <http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MOR505A.html> clearly demonstrates how Donald Rumsfeld said he was going to do exactly what these three sorry episodes show he actually did.

Morales writes
Back in 2002, following the trauma of 9-11, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld predicted there would be more terrorist attacks against the American people and civilization at large. How could he be so sure of that? Perhaps because these attacks would be instigated on the order of the Honorable Mr. Rumsfeld. According to Los Angeles Times military analyst William Arkin, writing Oct. 27, 2002, Rumsfeld set out to create a secret army, "a super-Intelligence Support Activity" network that would "bring together CIA and military covert action, information warfare, intelligence, and cover and deception," to stir the pot of spiralling global violence.
We never got the full story on those ghastly beheadings of Nick Berg and others. Nor have we ever understood who killed the American mercenaries in Fallujah that eventually precipitated one of the great slaughters in history. Nor have we ever been able to discern if Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is actually a real person or just another bin Ladenesque boogeyman. Nor if the al-Qaeda website which claims responsibility for various atrocities is not really run by the CIA.

Provoking this type of violence also further conceals the sinister genocide the Israelis continue to perpetrate on the hapless Palestinians, which is exactly its point, as is the entire Iraq invasion and destruction, and as was the inside job mass murder on 9/11 in New York City. The purpose of all these despicable acts is to conceal what the Israelis and the Americans have been doing all along to the entire Arab world, namely enslaving and destroying it.

There is not now nor ever was an Arab terror threat.
That was all invented by Rothschild, Rockefeller, Kissinger, Brzezinski, Bush, Cheney, Sharon, Zakheim, Perle, Wolfowitz, Feith, Abrams and Warren Buffett. These people are all traitors to not only their countries but to humanity in general, and should all be slammed and RICOed into Guantanamo immediately.
And so should the government officials, media lackeys, and ordinary citizens who, by their complicity or their ignorance, support them. The main point in understanding these deliberate provocations to prevent peace is to understand how the American capitalist system, now hijacked by billionaires with no trace of conscience, thrives on war and profits from the misery of others…"

BASIC FUND

KING GEORGE SQUARE - BRISBANE

MELBOURNE BOOK SHOP MEETING

TWO-DAY SCHOOL ON AUSTRALIA'S CONSTITUTIONAL HERITAGE

40 YEARS OF "ON TARGET" ON CD-ROM

A groundbreaking first for the League! Two years in the making. The CD-ROM covers over forty years of On Target plus a bonus - a selection of essays by Clifford Hugh Douglas and Eric Dudley Butler. "LIONS FOR FREEDOM" What an excellent tool for research and what a wonderful gift to your children and grandchildren - Forty Years of Australian political history and commentary at their finger tips. Just down load the search engine off the internet on to your computer, and you will have your own 'research assistant' at your fingertips as you 'crawl' all over the "Lions for Freedom" CD-Rom! Easy instructions for doing so are on the CD-Rom.

*** A SPECIAL OFFER FOR OUR ON TARGET SUBSCRIBERS ***
Offer lasts till 30th June 2005.
On Target subscribers who send in their journal's envelope-wrapping with their Mail Order can purchase one "Lions for Freedom" CD-Rom for $22.00 posted! That is a $10 discount! Over the counter purchase, again with your journal's envelope-wrapping offer is one CD-Rom for $20.00! Mail orders without the journal's envelope -wrapping is $32.00 including postage and over the counter sales without journal's envelope -wrapping is $30.00 each.