SYDNEY QUIET BUT TENSE

Just so you know, I've lived in Australia for coming up on 30 years – all of that time in Western Australia – and, while I can claim to have a good understanding of Australia and Australians, I can't claim any special understanding of events over east. Anyway, here are some links to help you stay informed:

Sydneysiders Tim Blair and Romeo Mike are both updating regularly.

Evil Pundit reports that all is not well amongst lefties organising Sunday's "United Against Racism" rally:

So a left-wing pacifist gets banned from a left-wing forum for expressing concern about the use of aggressive language in left-wing propaganda.

The ABC reports that Cronulla beach is almost empty and local businesses relying on beachgoer trade are really suffering.

The Weekend Australian has an overview:

Long before race riots broke out last weekend, trouble was brewing on Sydney beaches. Lifesavers who volunteer at North Cronulla - that gorgeous beach in Sydney's south that was the setting for Puberty Blues - have been complaining for years about a weekend invasion.

They don't mean by other freckled Anglo-Saxon sunseekers. It's the "young men of Middle Eastern appearance", the Arabs, predominantly from Lebanon, who arrive, en masse, in hotted-up cars, who rile them. These men - most of them still in their late teens or early 20s, who are Australian-born to Lebanese parents, often Muslim - come from the working-class western and southwestern suburbs, which have no beaches of their own.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders have denounced the violence while blaming radio 2GB for raising tensions – a Sydney shock-jock has apologized for comments about inbreeding within the Lebanese Muslim community. (I know nothing about marriage within Australia's Lebanese Muslim community and can't comment but the Muslim inbreeding "problem" has recently been raised in the UK.)

Update: Perth Muslims have been asked to stay away from some beaches:

Police are monitoring for any signs of violence stemming from a series of racist text messages calling for Australians to gather at Mullaloo and Scarborough beaches.

The head of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ameer Ali, says he has asked Muslim parents not to go to the two beaches until the situation calms down.

Update II: The SMH has a very interesting article attributing the Lebanese youth "problem" to rebellion arising from rejection. Joseph Wakim of the Australian Arabic Council sums up the situation:

"They become like mini-terrorists and the deeper they go, the harder it is to reform them."

It sounds like the police had better be prepared.

TOUGH CHOICE

Let's see, with US$1.25 million you could buy one of these or one of these and get $1,180,000 change. I can't afford either so there's no point in thinking about it.

PAKISTAN PROHIBITS ADOPTION OF EARTHQUAKE ORPHANS

The orphans will be sent to orphan villages instead:

Federal Minister for Social Welfare Zubaida Jalal told the National Assembly during question hour here yesterday,”We have decided to look after the thousands of orphans. We have imposed a complete ban on adoption of these children.”

She said: “The government has planned to establish children’s villages in Azad Kashmir and the North Western Frontier Province.”

The government was reacting to reports that at least one orphan had already been consigned to a fate far worse than death – growing up in Hollywood parented by a flake:

The move followed the National Assembly’s criticism of Angeline Jolie’s [sic] adoption of an orphan.

Apparently Jolie did not adopt a Pakistani earthquake orphan; just the rumour was enough to scare the government into action.

NSW POLICE URGE BEACHGOERS TO STAY AWAY

It looks like NSW police could have their hands full this weekend:

Police in New South Wales are urging people to avoid some beaches this weekend, with the expectation of more ethnic violence in Sydney and other parts of the coast.

Police Commissioner Ken Moroney says intelligence suggests many people are planning to bring weapons, including guns and baseball bats, to beaches to continue fighting.

"The beaches that I mentioned specifically were Cronulla, Wollongong, Newcastle - in particular Nobby's Beach - the eastern beaches of Sydney, and more particularly Maroubra and Bondi, and Terrigal on the central coast," he said.

A large number of non-locals are going to be disappointed if they can't get to the beach:

Police are investigating reports that interstate recruits ready to join in fresh racially motivated violence are arriving in Sydney by the bus and carload. The Australian reported today youths and ethnic "lions" from Melbourne are believed to be heading north intent on creating more mayhem. New South Wales police have called the reports "unconfirmed rumours" but said they are being investigated.

Expectations among the young Lebanese community in western Sydney that further trouble will develop over the weekend comes despite calls from their religious leaders, police and politicians for both sides to calm down.

One 22-year-old ethnic Lebanese man yesterday told The Australian he and his friends were ready for a turf war. "The boys reckon it'll be like a scene out of Braveheart," he said.

Sources within the Lebanese community said three busloads of young men from Melbourne - Lebanese, Serbians, Italians and Greeks - and more than 30 carloads were expected to arrive in Sydney today and tomorrow.

"I've talked to a few mates in Melbourne and I know that some of my other buddies have too," said a 29-year-old Lebanese man from Lidcombe, in Sydney's west.

No doubt they'll find something to do to amuse themselves.

In related news, a group of entertainers staged a "hey, look at us" moment at Coogee beach:

Some of Australia's most famous entertainers have gathered together to call for an end to the prejudice that led to violence across Sydney this week.

Cate Blanchett, Jimmy Barnes, Mario Fenech, Claudia Karvan and local federal MP Peter Garrett launched the 'Wave of Respect' campaign at Coogee Beach this afternoon.

Actor Bryan Brown says Australia has problems that it has to deal with.

Blanchett says she is against violence and racism.

Probably the best this bunch can hope to get from the troublemakers is the "Finger of Disrespect". Actually, that's the best they'll get from me.

AUSTRALIA A RACIST NATION

Antony Loewenstein condemns those who demonize "an entire ethnic group – people of Middle Eastern appearance" but in the same post demonizes Australia as a racist nation. Angry Ant varies the "Australians are racists" theme in a recent post by including the evil Jews:

Australia is not a racist country but the greatest place on Earth, says John Howard. And the fairy godmother is Jewish.

As usual it's impossible to work out exactly what Loewenstein's point is.

YOU CAN JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

Abdul Benbrika, who apparently used his spare – I'm just guessing here but I'll bet he had lots of it – time productively:

The Melbourne Magistrates Court has been told Taha was present during a conversation with the group's alleged leader Abdul Benbrika and other men when one of the men was recorded discussing grabbing members of the police and quietly slaughtering them.

The prosecutor alleged Merhi suggested a guide to making and using explosives might have been useful for the Jemaah Islamiah group and that Taha was present when members of the group suggested slaughtering police.

The court was also told Benbrika and Merhi were recorded discussing killing innocent families at the football in revenge for Prime Minister John Howard killing innocent Muslim families.

Really, does anyone with any sense object to people like these being disappeared – rendered, if you prefer – to some dark hole somewhere?

APARTHEID PROPOSED FOR CRONULLA BEACHES

A meeting of community leaders has resulted in a proposal that Cronulla's beaches be divided into sections:

Sunbathers, soccer players and surfers could each be allocated an area on the southern Sydney beach to reduce the chance of arguments and conflict over who controls the sand.

Muslim and Lebanese "marshalls" and elders might also be sent from the western suburbs to patrol the area and sanction troublemaking young men visiting the beach.

"The Mayor and Mr Baird have been looking at dividing beaches into areas for sport or for sunbaking or whatever," MacPherson said. "It's very early days but these are ways of avoiding confrontations on the beach."

Nada Roude, spokeswoman for the Islamic Council of NSW, said: "It's just better management. If we can get a grip on what are the factors that have led to these unfortunate events ... then I think we are better able to understand which solutions will bring people to harmony."

If the violence is racially motivated as so many have claimed, this isn't going to help. Maybe it would be more appropriate to have "taunting" and "no taunting" sections.

OVERNIGHT VIOLENCE IN SYDNEY

A total of 19 arrests were made overnight, with a molotov cocktail thrown at police. A number of molotov cocktails and stockpiled stones were found.

Romeo Mike, blogging from Sydney, has a short summary of events.

RACE RIOT OR CLASH OF CULTURES

Keith Windschuttle takes issue with the notion the Cronulla violence was racially motivated:

IT was inevitable, given the prevailing mind-set within government and the media, that Sydney's beachside violence this week would be called race riots. The NSW Premier, his ministers and many newspaper headlines all used the term. However, a more ungainly but nonetheless more accurate description would have been multicultural riots. For the doctrine of multiculturalism is really to blame.

The tensions that exploded this week were defined into existence by multiculturalist policies and ideas. It wasn't the youths at Cronulla beach who decided that all Lebanese constitute an ethnic group. That was done for them by politicians, bureaucrats and academics in the name of constructing ethnic communities. Those youths certainly can be blamed for trying to beat up a few outnumbered innocents but not for responding to people as ethnics in the first place.

Windschuttle, already much reviled by the left for, amongst others things, The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, is going to stir up the lefties with this opinion piece.

HAVE SOME FUN WITH THOSE YOU HATE

Go here and complete an anonymous e-card telling someone, anyone, they have the STD of your choice; all you need is their email address. Perfect for those you once loved but now hate.

Naturally, I expect my readers to be sensible enough not to to send the hoax email described above. Really.

DONALD RUMSFELD CAUSES CANCER

Well, sort of, indirectly:

A member of the parliamentary select committee on food and the environment yesterday called for emergency action to ban the artificial sweetener aspartame, used in 6,000 food, drink and medicinal products.

The Liberal Democrat MP Roger Williams said in an adjournment debate in the Commons that there was "compelling and reliable evidence for this carcinogenic substance to be banned from the UK food and drinks market altogether". In licensing aspartame for use, regulators around the world had failed in their main task of protecting the public, he told MPs.

Mr Williams highlighted new concerns about the additive's safety, raised by a recent Italian study that linked it to cancer in rats. He said the history of aspartame's licensing put "regulators and politicians to shame", with the likes of Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary and former head of Searle, the company that discovered the sweetener, "calling in his markers" to get it approved.

That explains the huge shipments of Equal to GITMO.

Update: Imagine what would happen to rats forced to eat this.

CRONULLA AFTERMATH ROUNDUP

Cronulla continues to be quiet but there's action elsewhere. Follow the links.

The ABC:

Police are out in force. (See related stories on right of linked page.)

Police numbers in Sydney will triple in anticipation of weekend violence – this despite community peace talks.

The Australian has the most stories:

Churches attacked. (Related stories on right.)

Opinion piece by Keith Windschuttle in which he argues the violence results from multiculturalism, not racism.

The Age:

Public comment on the role of Talkback radio – Alan Jones – in fueling tensions. Sample: Alan Jones is one of Johnny Howard's henchman. (Hey, it is a lefty rag.)

Surf gang apologises for it's role in the violence.

The Daily Telegraph:

The original assault on lifesavers that led to the later violence. Excerpt: "There was some pushing and shoving and then another bloke ran up from behind and king hit him and then he was on the ground. That's when I ran up to help," he said. "They punched me and kept fighting."

Online Opinion: has a short opinion piece – well worth reading – on the "Lebanese 'problem'" by Dr Tanveer Ahmed.

Larvatus Prodeo (wordy – always use three big words when a small one would do – lefty group-blog with a decided smarter-than-thou tone):

Lays much of the blame on Aussie macho culture; mentions Howard wimpishness.

Australians are insular and ignorant.

John Quiggin (lefty economist):

Blames shock-jock Alan Jones; thinks violence is just like France.

Tim Dunlop (wordy lefty academic):

Attacks PM for failure to condemn racism.

Attacks Alan Jones.

Blames Cronulla violence on "alchohol, thuggishness, bullshit machismo, a sick and twisted sense of white priviledge based on a racist understanding of what it means to be Australian, and an equally racist anti-Australian mentality". We're all to blame, apparently.

Tim Lambert (lefty academic): too involved writing about Lancet Iraq study – he's up to 68 posts – to notice Cronulla. (It's now 69 Lancet Iraq posts. Lambert continues to bounce my links: copy and paste http://timlambert.org/ .)

Imagining Australia (leftish):

rejects the idea it's Bush's fault.

Glen Fuller (wordy lefty – if you leave a comment, be nice; he's easily distressed):

blames "'reactionary nationalism' and the heteronormative homo-social bonds between young males". Huh?

The Currency Lad (hard to categorize; always worth reading – scroll down and enjoy).

Tim Blair (even if you aren't an RWDB you're an idiot if you don't enjoy his writing):

has a roundup of his own.

Evil Pundit (an RWDB who gets straight to the point):

has a series of posts including two funny Cronulla photoshops – go have a look.

Professor Bunyip (succinct rightish academic):

a number of Cronulla related posts plus lots of other stuff well worth reading – scroll down and enjoy.

Romeo Mike (New South Wales based RWDB):

day-by-day posts that comprise an excellent running roundup (scroll down).

Andrew Norton (rightish): offers thoughtful comments.

Update: By linking to me, Tim Blair has brought me by far the most visits in a 24 hour period, ever. Thanks Tim, if I ever get to meet you, it's my shout. Thanks also to those who have taken the time to visit and have a look around.

I've tried to keep this roundup up-to-date but the amount of traffic seems to be making Blogger a bit sluggish so there will be no more additions. There have been overnight developments, however. For the latest, go here.

TOOKIE EXECUTION OUTRAGES EUROPEANS

This isn't unexpected:

California's execution of Stanley Tookie Williams on Tuesday outraged many in Europe who regard the practice as barbaric, and politicians in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's native Austria called for his name to be removed from a sports stadium in his hometown.

Capital punishment is illegal throughout the European Union, and many Europeans consider state-sponsored executions to be barbaric. Those feelings were amplified in the case of Williams, due to the apparent remorse they believe the Crips gang co-founder showed by writing children's books about the dangers of gangs and violence.

Leaders of Austria's pacifist Green Party went as far as to call for Schwarzenegger to be stripped of his Austrian citizenship — a demand that was quickly rejected by Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel despite his government's opposition to the death penalty.

"Whoever, out of political calculation, allows the death of a person rehabilitated in such an exemplary manner has rejected the basic values of Austrian society," said Peter Pilz, a Greens leader.

How could Willams show remorse for a crime he claimed he didn't commit? Anyway, Arnold rejected Austrian values when he moved to the States and took up citizenship.

INNOCENT BYSTANDER TERRORIZED IN GITMO

Saudi Sulayem Al-Harbi was captured in Afghanistan; what he was doing there isn't known:

Sulayem went to Afghanistan well before Sept. 11, 2001. According to friends and family, his reasons for going there are not really known. He was there during the war against the Soviet Union. That war was supported by most of the world, including his present captors, the Americans. As time went on, however, policies changed. Friends became foes and foes became friends and now the father of three is locked in a prison that is beyond the reach of any civilized laws or standards. He is being involuntarily held in the place the Americans call Gitmo, a place whose purpose is not justice, a place whose purpose is only to terrorize.

Sulayem was obviously just hanging out with his mates and now he's being terrorized. He has, by the way asked his mum to find him a wife for when he gets out. It's good to see he's still optimistic after all that terrorization.

IRAQI VOTERS SPOILED FOR CHOICE

Boy, the political scene in Iraq sure has changed of late:

Back in the days of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi voters had one choice on their ballot. Now, with more than 7,600 candidates on various political slates vying for 275 four-year seats on the Council of Representatives, voters are spoiled for choice. Every night in recent weeks, debates featuring Shiite Muslim, Sunni Arab and Kurdish candidates, with TV journalists as hosts, have been broadcast across Iraq from studios in Baghdad.

And the TV discussion is apparently very civilized, except when the Saddam trial is on.

AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC: CRONULLA VIOLENCE JUST LIKE FRANCE

Lefty Australian academic John Quigging is hard to figure. Sometimes he's quite sensible but all too often he goes all hyperbolic and frothy. His reaction to the Cronulla violence is a classic example of the latter.

For one thing, Quiggin demands that the Federal government strip radio 2GB of its license as penalty for talk-back jock Alan Jones's alleged on-air incitement in the days leading up to the "riot". Unfortunately, precious little is offered by way of evidence of Jones's supposed incitement. Quiggin also thinks Jones should be tried, either under existing law or under the reviled-by-lefties anti-sedition laws. Now don't get me wrong, whereas Jones's on-air comments might well have contributed to the violence, it's just that all I've seen so far is a few out of context snippets that are far from conclusive. Maybe Quiggin has more on this that he hasn't posted or linked to.

Quiggin also mischaracterizes the Cronulla violence by comparing it to recent events in France:

The crowd at Cronulla on Sunday was large, but it seems that only a couple of hundred were engaged in violence. Similarly, forty car loads of thugs were said to have been involved in the subsequent round of attacks on Monday night. That’s alarming but again it amounts to a couple of hundred people. The same was true in the French riots, which mainly consisted of small groups burning cars under cover of darkness.

Yeah right, about the only similarity is the inclination of Muslim youths – here and in France – to launch unprovoked attacks on unprotected cars (close to 10,000 cars destroyed in France). France was forced to field a force of 18,000 police with a reserve of 1,500 and the riots were still uncontrolled for close to three weeks. There were 2,888 arrests, with 126 police injured. Property and personal damage is estimated to amount to AU$318 million (AU$32 million in damage to cars alone). There is no comparison.

Anyway, every non-leftist should hit the Quiggin link and read through the reflexive-lefty "Australians are racists" comments. Leftyland is a parallel universe in which no right thinking person wants to live.

IT'S ONLY MONEY

The Brussels Journal reports that two European Parliament committees recently met simultaneously: the Committee on Budgetary Control, which has to sign off on the fraud-riddled 2004 EU budget; and the Committee on Legal Affairs/Foreign Affairs, which considered the alleged CIA jails in Eastern Europe. Guess which one drew a standing-room-only crowd – no prize for a correct answer. Go here to read all about it.

Hey, it's not their money.

FACELESS = GUTLESS

Antony Loewenstein, a keen supporter of assorted balaclava-clad Middle Eastern thugs, kidnappers and terrorists, recently went so far as to advocate the killing of coalition forces in Iraq:

An insurgency against foreign occupation should not surprise the West (though we now learn that the US has a new recipe for "Iraq victory".) Indeed, resistance to occupation is both expected and necessary.

Strangely, Angry Ant's support for those who choose to remain anonymous does not extend to those who make comments he doesn't like:

I may just take all that advice on board. Who knew I could receive so much from a faceless, and therefore gutless, man?

Hmm, anonymous terrorists are brave freedom frighters but anonymous commenters are gutless – only in the lefty universe...

Update: Angry Ant advocates terror but promotes peace.

ABORIGINAL MUSLIM BOXER SPEAKS OUT ON RACISM

Anthony Mundine, Australia's most popular Aboriginal Muslim boxer, knows what's behind the Cronulla violence:

"I believe we have problems within society and racism is one of them problems, it's a bad disease.

"I believe we've got leaders that are cowards.

"They are in denial and will not confront the issues and confront the problems that we have with society and to make comments like the leader (Mr Howard) has said, it's really got me dumbfounded.

"I think people shouldn't be condemned because of their colour or creed, they should be judged on their deeds and their positive ways to their fellow man, their actions."

As always, Mundine, who better hope the public doesn't judge him by his actions, is simply trying to manufacture controversy in order to attract attention:

There was Mundine apeing his idol - fellow sideshow clown Mike Tyson - by making a throat-slashing gesture at Green and his wife Nina, sitting ringside.

Grabbing the opportunity to play the race card - yet again - Mundine declared that the crowd was out to get him because he was a Muslim fighting a "blond-haired corporate type". Such an analogy - at a time of such racial violence - is typical of the tasteless tripe that runs from his mouth.

It was Mundine who proclaimed on national television that he sympathised with the plight of Muslims, when those terrorists crashed planes into the Twin Towers in New York.

It was Mundine - egged on by his mindless mouthpiece - who kick-started his career beating up on corpses, by labelling his critics as racists, rednecks and crackers.

With blood running through the streets of our suburbs, the dim-witted drivel that emanated from Mundine yesterday struck a new low.

Okay, the "blood running through the streets" thing is a bit over the top but Mike Gibson does nail Mundine – and future opponent Green – with this:

We have two boxers in a wacko division - neither of whom holds a world title - fighting for an obscene amount of money in a bout set down for April next year.

With good boxers slugging it out for peanuts in other parts of the world, Green and Mundine can count themselves as the luckiest pugs on the planet.

Nowhere else on earth could two fighters with such undistinguished records in world title bouts hope to split the $5.5 million that Green and Mundine will be paid next year.

No doubt they will continue their tiresome tirades, and when there's a quiet week in real sport we can expect another childish instalment.

It's all about the money.

AUSTRALIAN BEACH HOONS GO INTERNATIONAL

Not satisfied with taking back the beach at Cronulla, Australian surfers have invaded Indonesia:

Indonesia has sent a small detachment of troops to a remote island to secure it against an invasion of Australian surfers and to monitor their activities.

This is going to ruin the Aussie surfers' "too lazy to do anything but surf" image.

LEBANESE GANG RAPISTS' NOTORIETY MANUFACTURED

If you'd like to see lefty Australian thinking on the violence at Cronulla, and its background, visit this thread at Larvatus Prodeo – scroll down for the action. The highlight so far is Stuart Fenech's comment regarding a series of horrific rapes commited by Lebanese Muslims on women of European descent:

The fact that can not be denied is that the rapes that have been most horrifically detailed by the media in recent years were by Muslims. This is a reflection of the media which you consume publishing what will sell the most newspapers and cause the most uninformed moral indignation. It is the media that makes the crime “notorious”, not the crime itself.

Stuart should try explaining that to the victims and their families. Fuckwit.

AUSTRALIA A RACIST NATION?

Sky News Australia asks the following question in an online poll:

Do you think Australia is a racist nation?

Sky News evening news revealed a 61% Yes vote so far. Click the link and vote! (The poll result is only available to Sky News viewers; I'll try to keep you posted.) Oh yeah, I voted No.

Update: a Sydney Muslim youth leader or representative or some such, whose name I didn't catch, just tried to explain away – during an interview on Sky – the conduct of youths of Middle Eastern appearance by citing their anger and... "hatred of the western world". Now there's some broad-brush racism for you.

Update II: Well, that was a waste of time. The poll is now gone and I never did hear the final results.

THE EU WAY = NO WAY

The EU insists diplomacy, not sanctions, will convince Cuba and Iran to follow a more enlightened. Well, the strategy isn't working: Iran continues work on its nuclear program and Castro has just thumbed his nose at enlightened Europeans:

The Cuban government has not granted permission for the "Ladies in White", the European Parliament's 2005 Sakharov Prize winners, to travel to Strasbourg to receive the award.

MEPs will hold a special ceremony on Wednesday (14 December) to deliver the prize for "freedom of thought" to the three winners chosen this year.

Press organisation Reporters Without Borders and a Nigerian lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim will share the reward with the Cuban activists.

The "Ladies in White" have been recognized "for their action in favour of political prisoners in Cuba."

The mealy mouthed wording – "the Cuban government has not granted permission" – of this EU Observer report is worth noting – wouldn't want to piss off those touchy Cubans, now would we?

SYDNEY POLICE FEAR MORE VIOLENCE TONIGHT

Police will be granted emergency powers in an effort to head off a repeat of the Cronulla violence. Police will be able to:

- declare lock-down zones

- confiscate vehicles

- shut down licensed premises

- impose temporary alcohol-free zones

Additional provisions:

- remove the presumption of bail for the offences of riot and disorder

- increase the penalty for riot by five years to 15 years in jail

- double the penalty for affray to 10 years in jail.

Expanded police powers might actually make the situation worse:

However, tensions show no sign of abating, with Islamic leader Fadi Abdul Rahman saying Muslim youths are angry that police appear to be treating them more harshly than "Anglos".

And things are already bad enough:

Last night bullets were fired at teachers' cars after men of Middle Eastern appearance abused parents and children at a school carols service in the multicultural Sydney suburb of Auburn, said Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell.

It's also alleged that the violence has spread interstate:

Tonight there were also alarming signs racial tensions were spreading to other states.

An attack on a Middle Eastern family in Perth and on a Lebanese Australian taxi driver in Adelaide were linked to the Sydney tensions.

The Islamic Council of Victoria said vandalism of its Melbourne offices was retaliation for the Sydney violence.

And on the Gold Coast, mobile phone text messages targeting ethnic groups have called for people to attend a demonstration on Sunday and to start "cracking skulls".

Perth police disagree:

Superintendent Shayne Maines says they are still investigating whether the attack was racially motivated and whether it has been incited by the events in Sydney.

"Can't rule it out obviously until the investigation's complete," he said.

"This is obviously a very emotional issue but this has got to be dealt with in perspective.

"This is an isolated incident and we'll deal with it on its merit."

The Australian Islamic College says the attack does not reflect any widespread intolerance in the community.

Four of the family's children attend the College in nearby Belmont and missed some classes today.

The college's Yahya Ibrahim says the school's community sees the attack as an isolated incident.

"Belmont, in general, and Perth is a very beautiful city, very safe and secure city. WA has always had a great deal of pride in the harmony that we enjoy."

Good on ya, Mr Ibrahim. I'm glad he finds Perth safe and secure because I sure don't - not like 20 years ago, anyway.

Editing note: "Police have been granted" changed to "police will be granted".

CRONULLA RIOT ROOT CAUSE REVEALED

Federal Tasmanian Labor MP Harry Quick knows what the problem is:

"It really concerns me that Australians - if you scratch them you discover a racist and this is one of the sad things about Australia, despite us espousing multiculturalism, deep down we have this fear of people who are different from us."

More specifically, it's a Sydney problem:

"Because in Sydney especially, I am in Melbourne today and I'd like to think that Melbourne has a totally different attitude but in Sydney there is overt racism."

Sydney, home of the Aussie redneck.

Update: Apparently the problem isn't confined to Sydney:

Western Australian police in Perth are investigating an attack by a group of young men against a family of Middle Eastern background.

Police spokesman Ian Hazelby says eggs were thrown at the family's home and the garage door was kicked in about 9:30pm AWST yesterday.

"They've also began yelling abuse at him and his family and he's saying to police he's been living in the area for about eight months, he's never had any trouble before and he's rather aghast that something like this could be happening in Perth, Western Australia," the spokesman said.

"It might have some sort of connotation to what's been going on in Cronulla, Sydney."

Ramdas Sankaran from the Ethic Communities Council [sic] of Western Australia is calling for calm.

"As long as it remains an isolated incident I suppose we've got every reason to be calm and not be unduly perturbed," he said.

A few years back a carload of yobs drove past my place screaming obscenitites and throwing eggs: I immediately assumed it was an anti-Yank thing and panicked. Silly me.

BETTER THINK TWICE BEFORE ORDERING THAT KILLER WHALE STEAK

Killer whales are the most toxic of arctic mammals:

Scientists found that the blubber of killer whales taken from a fjord in Arctic Norway was full of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides and even a flame retardant often used on carpets.

The finding gives the whales the dubious distinction of ousting polar bears as most polluted Arctic mammal.

The article doesn't give us any figures to put this in perspective so it's safe to assume this is a WWF scare campaign. There's no point in caring about these poor poisonous critters anyway; global warming is bound to kill them off before the toxins get them.

For something different in a dining experience, I suggest camel.

MORE TROUBLE AT CRONULLA

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

Mobs of men have damaged a number of vehicles in an outbreak of fresh violence in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla tonight.

A reporter from radio station 2GB said ``chaos'' had broken out in the beach shopping centre with vehicles damaged and police making arrests as mobs of men roam the streets.

The focus of the story soon shifts, however:

Earlier, police moved quickly to prevent violence at potential new flashpoints in Sydney tonight following some of the worst race-based clashes ever seen in Australia.

Police guarding against any repeat of yesterday's race riot at Cronulla tonight blocked off streets around the Lakemba Mosque, in Sydney's south-west, after about 500 mostly Muslim men gathered, apparently after rumours of an imminent attack on the building.

Wonder if these guys were gathered at the mosque to protect it or to hold a strategy session?

The Australian's report differs only slightly:

MOBS of men have damaged a number of vehicles in an outbreak of fresh violence in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla tonight.

A reporter from radio station 2GB said "chaos" had broken out in the beach shopping centre with vehicles damaged and police making arrests as mobs of men roam the streets.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said about 50 cars carrying men of Middle Eastern appearance had driven into the area tonight.

Some of the men emerged from the vehicles and began trashing every car in sight with baseball bats, the resident said.

The SMH editors must have just assumed readers would know that "men" meant "men of Middle Eastern appearance".

Update: The Currency Lad reflects on the background to the violence at Cronulla:

Yesterday's events came just a few days after a Muslim gang rapist told a court in Sydney that culture and mysterious voices made him brutally terrorise his teenage quarry - girls, he said, who "had no right to say no." The victims were called "Christian whores" and "white Australian sluts" during their ordeal. The Rodney King factor, however, was last Sunday's vicious gang assault on three lifesavers by as many as 14 "Middle Eastern youths." Most leftists would cite such background incidents as 'root causes.' Perhaps they'll now see how problematic that concept is.

Update II: The ABC reports widespread violence:

Police have arrested six people after a violent rampage in Sydney's south.

It is the second consecutive night of violence in Sydney following property attacks and fighting in beach-side suburbs on the weekend.

A large group of men police described as of Middle Eastern appearance gathered in Cronulla where cars and other property were smashed.

A witness said police with guns drawn arrested a number of people.

Glass is littering the streets in the beach-side suburb.

Nearby in Brighton-Le-Sands a large group of men pelted cars driving along Grand Parade with rocks and bottles.

Shop windows and dozens of cars there were damaged.

Police also confiscated iron bars and other weapons from a park and the roofs of nearby houses at Maroubra.

The weapons are believed to have been stored there by local residents.

Elsewhere in Sydney's south and west, police were responding to calls to monitor groups of cars travelling through Rockdale, a large gathering of people on the street at Punchbowl and another group said to be armed with baseball bats at Peakhurst.

Update III: The BBC makes it sound like all of the violence is being perpetrated by white Australians:

Violence triggered by race tensions has hit Sydney for a second night, with youths damaging cars and shops.

A reporter in the suburb of Cronulla, where dozens were arrested after riots on Sunday, described scenes of "chaos".

Police said carloads of people had come into the area from other parts of Sydney and committed violent acts.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard condemned the weekend's attacks by thousands of young white men on people of Arabic and Mediterranean background.

"We have shops damaged at Caringbah, cars damaged at Cronulla," said a spokesman for New South Wales police. "We have six arrests at this stage."

A reporter from the ABC national radio network said some of the people coming into Cronulla had carried out attacks on property.

At the nearby suburb of Brighton-Le-Sands, "a smaller crowd has thrown bricks and other objects at police cars and passing motorists", the reporter said.

Earlier in the evening police had confiscated iron bars from parks and the roofs of buildings at nearby Maroubra. Police believed they had been stored there by residents.

The ABC also reported police were monitoring cars travelling through the suburb of Rockdale, and large groups of people gathering in Punchbowl and Peakhurst.

Thousands of young white men attacked people of Arabic and Mediterranean background on Cronulla Beach on Sunday.

Even the included reader comment is one sided:

I think that the rioters are using national pride as a mask for racist behaviour.

Matthew Iles, UK

Nothing here about "root causes" or the ongoing violent contribution made by youths of Middle Eastern appearance.

ONE VS 10,000

Australian accountant Simon Patkin is in Hong Kong staging a one man pro-capitalism demonstration prior to the upcoming World Trade Organisation meeting. It's probably a good idea he got in early:

Police had told Mr Patkin to choose a time that would avoid confrontation with an expected 10,000 opponents of freer trade.

Those activists, including environmentalists, unions and anarchists, will demonstrate against the WTO meeting this week.

IRAN: EUROPEANS INTOLERANT

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi claims to be surprised at the reaction to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent remarks regarding the Holocaust and Israel:

"I'm surprised by the reaction to these comments," he told a weekly news conference. "Some foreign circles and foreign countries are giving a misleading impression (of what Ahmadinejad said)."

"I'm surprised that the Europeans cannot tolerate others' opinions. They are used to talking and want others to listen to them," he added.

Speaking in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Ahmadinejad said:

"Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces ... Although we don't accept this claim ...

"If the Europeans are honest they should give some of their provinces in Europe -- like in Germany, Austria or other countries -- to the Zionists and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

The remarks followed comments by Ahmadinejad in October in which he described Israel as a "tumour" which should be "wiped off the map."

Iranian academic Mehdi Motaharnia points to the evil Jew aspect of the controversy:

"Israel ... can exploit such comments by Iranian officials to mobilize all countries against Iran."

Well, if Ahmadinejad would just shut the fuck up, the Jews wouldn't be able to exploit his words. What a bunch of dumb-arses.

US USE OF TORTURE THOROUGHLY DOCUMENTED

According to Naomi Klein, US government sanctioned torture has been standard operating procedure for many years and is thoroughly documented:

It's a history that has been exhaustively documented in an avalanche of books, declassified documents, CIA training manuals, court records and truth commissions.

With all of this evidence floating around the best substantiation Klein offers is an unpublished book:

In his upcoming book A Question of Torture, Alfred McCoy synthesizes this unwieldy cache of evidence, producing an indispensable and riveting account of how monstrous CIA-funded experiments on psychiatric patients and prisoners in the 1950s turned into a template for what he calls "no-touch torture," based on sensory deprivation and self-inflicted pain. McCoy traces how these methods were field-tested by CIA agents in Vietnam as part of the Phoenix program and then imported to Latin America and Asia under the guise of police training programs.

"No-touch torture" is nothing new: women employ it to devastating effect. Speaking of women, where's the fake menstrual blood stuff?

ROOT CAUSES CONFUSED

Jeez, this whole "root causes" thing is getting complicated. It has often been alleged that the "root cause" of the 9/11 attacks was Muslims' perceived grievances related to US actions. But when Australians take action based on a perceived grievance against presumed Muslims, it's attributed to racism and media incitement:

Sydney's Islamic community has blamed the violence at Cronulla Beach on what it calls racist and irresponsible sections of the media.

Three people have been arrested and three others assaulted in renewed violence as about 5,000 people converged on the south Sydney beach, some yelling racist chants directed towards the Lebanese community.

The beach was the scene of two violent incidents last week - an attack on two young lifeguards, reportedly by middle-eastern youths, on Sunday and a brawl later in the week in which youths turned on a media crew.

Authorities have been calling for calm since last week's attacks, which sparked calls for vigilante style retaliation on "middle eastern" gangs.

Islamic Friendship Association of Australia president Keysar Trad said the violence was "bound to happen" because of racist rhetoric on Sydney talk back radio throughout the week.
"Sections of the media took this issue far too far and one can only surmise that the way this issues was dealt with on talk back radio amounts to incitement," Mr Trad said.

He said the media turned a common youth issue into an issue of ethnicity.

The local community is upset because beating up volunteer lifesavers is neither acceptable nor a "common youth issue".

Update: The root cause according to regular Antony Loewenstein commenter orang: Australia is "full of racist fucks".

Update II: Racism doesn't account for attacks on police and ambulance officers. Alcohol and yobbos, the perfect combination.

Update III: Lefty Gary Sauer-Thompson blames Bush:

The war on terrorism is the context for Cronulla.

Update IV: Lefty Glen Fuller blames Howard's "reactionary nationalism".

Update V: Roving gangs have again smashed car windows in a Sydney suburb. Go here.