Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuela's president

Dear friends

Following the Australian government's decision to arrest, place in solitary confinement and deport peace activist Scott Parkin, many of us are anxious to know whether other speakers from the USA or any other country would suffer this fate (and get a bill for their ill-treatment). We are concerned because we have been told by our Atthorney General, Phillip Ruddock that his recently announced increased police powers under the Anti-Terrorism legislation do not amount to the introduction of a police state in Australia.

We are very anxious to know whether we still enjoy free speech in this country and that we still have a democracy worth protecting. So, please could somebody invite this distinguished speaker, Pat Robertson, to impart his wisdom in Australia, where so many will be inspired by his messages of hope and international peace: http://www.patrobertson.com/

Pat Robertson, host of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club and founder of the Christian Coalition of America, called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
From the August 22 broadcast of The 700 Club:

ROBERTSON: "There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez]. And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken; Chavez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent".

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with".

Please write to Phillip Ruddock and tell him how much you want to have Pat Robertson visit our country to explain what nonviolence and peace activism is all about.
Hon Phillip Ruddock MP
Atthorney General
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra
ACT 2600

If you are concerned that you might be a peace activist and a 'threat to national security' - you are advised to visit your local AFP (Australian Federal Police) office and ask them to arrest you.

Top Copter

TOP COPTER

Matt black
Sinister
Science fiction
Marvel
Of technology
Obsolete
Carrion angels
Of the evil empire
Door gunners
Of the Fourth Reich
Video game missiles
Bearers of poisonous
Message
And the Ace of Spades

Top Copter
Sinuous Rambos
Of the air
Carrion Angels
Of the evil empire
Enforcers
Of deprivation
Peace keepers
Of a violent era
Wankers
Of an empire
Now lost
Mercenaries
Of a faded dream

Top copter
Oh the exhilaration
Computerised
Extermination
Infra red targeting
Heat seeking surety
Dazzling technology
Ejaculating death
Glamorised
Fire power
Hideous atrocity
Gunships
Of the Obsolete
Fourth Reich

Impotent gesture
Of irrelevant
Fantasy
Evaporating
Coke
In the hot sand

1991 - This poem was an icon of protests against Gulf War I. The same anger, but this time even more intense.

Today, 11 September 2005, we commemorated all who had needlessly died in this illegal war, in support of Cindy Sheehan's protests across America.

The Howard government arrested American school teacher and non-violence peace activist, Scott Parkin, from Houston, Texas in Melbourne today. This action bespeaks a police state. We had met Scott when he was in Brisbane for the Brisbane Social Forum. He had been telling people about Halliburton. We heard that Scott is ok and is being held at the Melbourne Custody Centre. He is being looked after by the Community Legal Centre & Greenpeace.

Apparently his VISA has been revoked under a provision of the Migration Act on the basis of poor character under the auspices of a "Adverse Security Assessment" - poor character, can you believe it. Someone who is prepared to put life & limb on the line to prevent war profiteers from causing further suffering in Iraq is deemed to be of "poor character", while Halliburton feeds its local Iraqi employees food scraps.

It is very likely that the Australian government will deport Scott to the USA. No one knows what awaits him there.

Memorial for the victims of the Sievx disaster

Listening to the dissident view

I heard last week on Radio National about the project to construct a memorial to the victims of the SievX tragedy on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. I have been following this issue closely and attended the Brisbane launch of Tony Kevin's book 'A Certain Maritime Incident'.

There is a web site for the group of artists who started this campaign http://www.sievxmemorial.com/index.html I congratulate them for they way they are involving children in making things whilst becoming aware of important human values like compassion, empathy and the confidence that develops from speaking out in the defence of other people.

I believe this is entirely appropriate and give my support and believe it should go ahead.