Rumble Down Under

The largest protest so far during US President George W. Bush's visit to Sydney ended peacefully Wednesday, but police predicted a "full-scale riot" later in the week.

About 300 students, many still in their high school uniforms, marched through central Sydney chanting anti-war slogans in protest at the US leader's presence in Australia for this week's Asia-Pacific summit.

[...]

But authorities successfully appealed in the courts for a curb on the main protest action planned for Saturday, which police estimate could attract up to 20,000 demonstrators.

Chief superintendent Steven Cullen, head of the state Public Order and Riot Squad, said he had never been so worried about a demonstration in his career, predicting "horrendous" implications for public safety.

"Police lines will come under attack and a full-scale riot is probable," Cullen told the Supreme Court.

  Raw Story

Well, that's an interesting stance to take.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Welcome to Sydney, Mr. Bush

Part 2. Snubbed by the official greeter.

Still Speaking of Bush at the G8

Bush was tossing back some (Heineken) Buckler "non-alcoholic" beer (0.5% alcohol, as opposed to the average 3-5% alcohol in American beer). My (somewhat limited but very close) experience with alcoholics drinking non-alcoholic beers is that it's probably a public ploy, but most certainly a sign of the alcoholic mind-set and addiction still being uncontrolled.

Why, if you knew you had this debilitating and serious condition, why not drink something else truly non-alcoholic? Why would you put yourself in the situation? Getting as close as you can? Proving something to yourself or others? Or simply unable to stop?

If I were a betting person, I wouldn't have any qualms about betting that George is still drinking (and/or drugging) in private. An alcoholic is an alcoholic for life. How he deals with it is what else he is.

An upset stomach crimped Bush's schedule on a busy day that took him from Germany to Poland and finally to Italy. The president stayed in bed and skipped morning sessions at the summit of world leaders in Heiligendamm, Germany, and he appeared subdued later after talks in Poland with President Lech Kaczynski.

"Still not 100 percent but better all the time," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said of her boss.

  Yahoo

Uh-huh.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Speaking of Bush at the G8

Cutting through the self-styled "war president's" aw-shucks, "my friend Vladimir" sugar-coating of his disingenuous-sounding claims that the missile-defense facilities he wants to set up in Poland and the Czech Republic would never be meant for use against Russia itself, Putin instead proposed "that the United States and Russia jointly use a radar in Azerbaijan as part of an anti-missile shield that would protect all of Europe." So much for Bush's need or desire to set up sites that would be too close to Russian soil for the Kremlin leadership's comfort.

Putin said of his proposal: "We can do this automatically, and hence the whole system which is being built [by the U.S.] as a result will cover not only part of Europe but the entire Europe without an exception....This would also...allow us not to redirect our rockets [to targets in Europe] and, on the contrary, allow us to create conditions for joint work." ("Joint work" with the Russians is obviously not what Bush originally had in mind.)

Bush, taken by surprise by Putin's unexpected, measured response to his own latest, thinly disguised saber-rattling, remarked sheepishly to reporters: "He made some interesting suggestions."

  SFGate

I don't believe he said...

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

G8 results

World leaders concluded an economic summit shaken by terrorism on Friday, offering an "alternative to the hatred" — a $50 billion aid package for Africa and up to $3 billion in additional support for the Palestinians.

[...]

Blair lost his push to get all summit countries to commit to boosting foreign aid to an amount equal to 0.7% of national income by 2015. Instead, a summit document said the European Union had agreed to that support but did not mention the United States.

President Bush had refused to be bound by the 0.7% target. The United States is currently giving 0.16% of national income, the smallest percentage of any of the G-8 countries.

[...]

Aside from the massive increase in aid for the African continent, leaders signaled support for new deals on trade, endorsed cancellation of the debt of 18 of the world's poorest nations, pledged universal access to AIDS treatment, renewed their commitment to a peacekeeping force in Africa and heard African leaders promise to move toward democracies that follow the rule of law, he said.

[...]

Despite the leaders' expressions of anti-terror solidarity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hinted Western countries were being hypocritical because they do not call Chechen rebels international terrorists.

Russia has objected vehemently to Britain's granting asylum to a top Chechen rebel representative, Akhmed Zakayev, and the United States giving refuge to another, Ilyas Akahmatov.

"It is highly dangerous and misleading to think that those who support and encourage terrorism can be called political figures," Lavrov said in Moscow.

  USA Today article

One man's freedom fighter...

The major failure was in the area of global warming, where staunch opposition from Bush thwarted Blair's efforts to get a U.S. commitment to firm targets for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for warming the earth's atmosphere.

[...]

On climate change, the United States, the only G-8 country that has not ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming, was successful in rejecting Blair's call for setting specific targets and a timetable for reducing greenhouse emissions.

[...]

Upon arriving in Washington, the president was going straight to the British Embassy to sign a condolence book on behalf of the American people.

Wow, thanks, dude! Refuse to sign on to global warming treaties, but by God you got that condolence book signed "on our behalf."

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

London Terror

EWR commented on my previous post about the terrorist attacks in London and my suggestion that it could have been an Operation Gladio-type event:

The G8 summit before this had shifted to an 'environmental' separation consisting of the G7 and the United States -- now I suspect it may be a solid G8 again.

Does this mean that Blair now will keep his troops in Iraq (they were planning a pullout towards the end of next year)?

Will this also mean that England's version of the Real ID act will have less resistance now?

I'm bringing it up here to respond and offer another assessment from an obscure source.

When I originally posted, I had wondered about the British intention to pull troops from Iraq as a possible reason for the timing of these bombings, but then I remembered that the intention included moving most of those troops to Afghanistan, and is only tentative, assuming the Iraqis are able to take over for themselves. With that caveat, I don't imagine the Brits will actually pull any troops.

The reduction in resistance in England to PATRIOT act type maneuvers remains to be seen. And it seems logical to suspect that the sagging support for Blair might be hoped to be reversed in the wake of these acts, as well.

At any rate, the question of who actually is behind these al-Qa'ida-claimed bombings appeared today in a VHeadline article by Andrew McKillip suggesting that the intended effect might be to get Buttie on board to take on the Saudis.

[T]here is plenty to ask about who was behind these multiform, varied, and well coordinated attacks in central London.

For the mass media and editorialists of the UK tabloid press there will only be one bottom line: Al Qaeda, and behind that Saudi Arabian Wahhabism, tolerated and also directly financed by the Saudi ruling family.

This in turn will serve to sharpen the already unfriendly relations between the Blair government of England and the Saudi rulers.

Unlike George W Bush, Blair never refers to the Saudi rulers as his friends, and the British press and media is almost uniformly hostile to Saudi Arabia, while claiming to be ‘studiously neutral.’

As a candidate for regime change, therefore, Saudi Arabia has top billing in UK right-wing political elites, whether New Labor or not. It is also widely supported by England’s opinion forming, editorial and media circles, more and more openly.

[...]

Neither Bush nor Blair have profited from the Iraq experiment: more attractive, and more realistic targets must be sought. Blair and Bush could come together, so naturally, on the last best choice of Saudi Arabia.

[...]

Ray-jeem changing Tay-Ran is not a slogan Blair whistles each day, for one reason because his European colleagues and rivals, such as the Schroeder-Chirac duo, would never come onboard in this venture, even less so than in the tomfool Iraq experiment. Another reason is that Iran is 3 times the size of Iraq or Saudi, quite well armed, is quite well organized, and has increasing amounts of nuclear materials, if not yet the bomb.

[...]

So Riyadh and Jeddah become the natural targets for bombing to a pulp from nearby Qatar and Iraq, with a few B2 flights across the Atlantic to thrill the techno-freaks. Above all, British, American and world public opinion has to be worked up, to a nice frenzy of blood lust, to support the venture.

Bush of course has first to be brought onboard, and what better way to start the process than a designer Al Qaeda attack in London the day the G-8 summit began?

Don't ask me.

All I know is the CIA essentially created al-Qa'ida, and Operation Gladio really exists. So does the Project for a New American Century and the Proactive Pre-emptive Operations Group.

You add 'em up.

Terrorist clowns

More than 200,000 campaigners formed a human chain around Scotland's medieval capital, demanding that the world's most powerful nations lift Africa out of poverty.

[...]

A river of protesters clad in white streamed through the cobbled streets of the Old Town, over the Royal Mile and through the commercial district, encircling Edinburgh Castle with a giant human bracelet in white, the symbol of the anti-poverty campaign.

[...]

Waving banners, blowing whistles and clutching balloons, the marchers called for a massive increase in aid, an end to trade tariffs that hobble impoverished countries and for Africa's debts to be wiped out. Their peaceful but powerful message was echoed by rock stars and celebrities as a series of Live 8 concerts took place around the world.

[...]

The atmosphere in Edinburgh was festive, with a percussion band from Ghana playing and some demonstrators wearing masks depicting the faces of G-8 leaders including Bush, Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[...]

  CNN article

Police and protesters scuffled in Edinburgh ahead of Wednesday's G8 summit as officials braced for more demonstrations and the possibility of a terrorist attack.

Helmeted police and officers on horseback stopped a march by about 300 black-clad anarchists and antiglobalization protesters as helicopters circled overhead Monday.

In a second standoff in Scotland's medieval capital, riot police stood three-deep to stop a mix of about 150 anarchists, clowns and local people, The Associated Press reported.

[...]

One clown waved a carrot at a police horse, while other protesters kissed police riot shields, leaving lipstick marks.

[...]

At Gleneagles, the rural site for the Group of Eight summit north of Edinburgh, 10,000 police were on standby amid watchtowers, surveillance cameras, a no-fly zone and a five-mile ring of steel around the hotel and country club.

[...]

"It is a potential terrorist target," Vine told AP. "All our planning has been based on it both being a terrorist target and of course a target for public protest, so there is a necessity for us to have an exclusion zone."

[...]

Operation Sorbus -- named after the berry of the rowan tree, which according to folklore wards off evil spirits -- includes a 6-foot-high steel mesh fence around the hotel's perimeter.

  CNN article

That oughta keep those clowns out.

The favors only go one way

President Bush said Tony Blair should not expect any special favors at this week’s Group of Eight summit despite the British prime minister’s solid support for the United States in Iraq.

Speaking on the eve of a 3-day meeting of the G-8 leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland, Bush said he did not view his relationship with Blair as “one of quid pro quo”.
  MSNBC article

And whaddaya gonna do about it?

“If this (the agreement expected at Gleneagles) looks like Kyoto, the answer is 'no,'” Bush said. “The Kyoto treaty would have wrecked our economy, if I can be blunt.”

Buttie, my dear, you can be downright obtuse.

Butthead Two takes on Butthead One

The Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, today sent a robust message to US President George Bush to face up to the reality of global warming.

Climate change is at the top of the agenda for next week’s G8 summit in Gleneagles, but reports suggest that Mr Bush is blocking a deal on action to tackle it, with some commentators even predicting the other seven nations may agree a statement excluding the US rather than leave Scotland without an accord.

Leaked drafts of the proposed communique on climate change appear to suggest that Washington is unwilling even to sign up to a document which states that global warming is occurring or that human activity is responsible for it.

Without mentioning his president by name, Mr Schwarzenegger used an article in tomorrow’s Independent on Sunday to send a clear message of his disagreement with Mr Bush’s stance.

“The debate is over,” wrote the Governor of the US’s largest and most economically powerful state.

“We know the science. We see the threat posed by changes in our climate. And we know the time for action is now.”
  Breaking News article

Well, some of us don't believe in science. And some of us don't believe in placing environmental concerns in the way of corporate profits.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.