This made the newspaper?!

From today’s Age:

RACIAL harassment of Africans increased following former immigration minister Kevin Andrews' claims they were engaged in crime and failing to integrate, according to a confidential Immigration Department report.

...

The Immigration Department maintained this was because of an improvement in some African countries and the need to help Iraqis displaced by war and Burmese refugees living in camps on the Thai-Burma border.

...Mr Andrews...claimed, after the fatal bashing of Sudanese refugee Liep Gony, that the refugee intake from places such as Sudan had been cut amid fears that "some groups don't seem to be settling and adjusting into the Australian life as quickly as we would hope".

The community update says African community leaders had reacted to the ministerial comments and public debate about the change of intake. "There was widespread unease that public comments encouraged racism."

...

Multicultural Affairs parliamentary secretary Laurie Ferguson said Mr Andrews had caused lasting damage.

"His comments were not only counterproductive in regards to stirring up racism and hostility. It is also now very hard to convince the African community the intake hasn't been reduced to zero," he said.

...

The chairman of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria, Sam Afra, said the documents obtained by The Age confirmed the group's worst fears. "Some might consider polarising society to be a clever political tactic in the lead-up to an election, but these alarming findings reveal such ploys do not come without a cost," Mr Afra said.

I can imagine the African-Australian community sighing one great collective “Duh!”

I wonder if the Age realises that the whole point of Andrews’ little stir was to redivide the community along ethnic lines again. Tampa was brilliant at that: “teh terr’izts ar cumin! in terh ebil botes! we muzt stops dem!’ (Ignoring the obvious fact that if anyone with a grudge against us were to come into Oz, coming by boat-generating massive media attention-would be the most unsubtle way of doing it) Tampa turned us against asylum seekers/refugees and won Howard the election. Sudagate (my God that was an awful pun) unsuccessfully tried to turn us against the Sudanese, and by extension the Australian black community, when Howard and co. realised that their only chance of winning wasn't just to tar and feather Labor but to find an easy scapegoat to blame for something.

So they waited for the opportunity to make such a statement-that ‘they' aren’t integrating into ‘our’ culture. Therefore, instead of examining the root causes as to why 'they' aren't integrating (such as lack of education or hostility and bigotry from other Australians), we must block the elusive ‘them’ from entering 'our' country. Of course, they waited and nothing happened. Hilali didn't say anything dramatic that could be blamed on Muslims, there was no Cronulla riots...it was almost mid-October, with a month and a half before the looming election, and there was still no 'other' for the Libs to divide the rednecks against. So, grasping at straws, Andrews used an example of a Sudanese being bashed to death by white racists to justify the Sudanese not 'integrating.'

I just love the fact that we didn’t fall for it this time...if still somewhat annoyed that something so blatantly obvious made the paper.

Teh Baebeez!!1!!!!!11!

Ah...abortion. The social issue in which the Right wingers' brain cells melt in a runny slime and they become a mass of rabid moronic bigots, unable to comprehend anything other then "youleftistsarekillinginnocentbabies*youwillallburninhellnodontshowme
anyinformationaboutillegalabortionsijustwannaprotectthebabies!!!!!" No offence to any moderate Righties, by the way. But sadly, abortion, in Victoria, in the 21st century, is still only legal if the mother's life is in serious danger if she gives birth. Thankfully, this might change as Brumby is willing to decriminalise it in a conscience vote.

With a name like 'Helpers of God's Precious Infants' (from now on known as HOGPI), take a wild stab in the dark as to where these fellows stand on the debate. These Christians are the sort of people who'd make Randall Terry proud, intimidating and bullying women who wish to have an abortion. I'm no Christian, but I recall a certain passage about not being a judgmental asshole.

That's where the GrodsArmy comes in. We, inspired by surviving soldiers of previous battles with HOGPI, have now begun the monthly task of protesting against HOGPI on the last Saturday of every month. A short film (filmed by a hung over FM Editor) as well as a funnier version of this post by Capt Lefty are also available.

During the battle, I decided to see if any common ground could be found between us, as I tried to sell fundraising chocolates to support building a school and hospital in Zimbabwe. Needless to say, they were quite uninterested (although that may have had something to do with a) me not being loud enough and b) being interrupted by the police several seconds into the attempt).

However, despite this minor setback, the rally was very successful. We were able to keep the fundies to the opposite side of the clinic, and it was clear that they weren't willing to use their more bullying tactics (such as waving signs of bloody fetuses in the air), instead praying and holding up a statue of a tall hominid creature that was supposed to be either Mary or Jesus. Lt. Keri thought it was Mary holding Jesus, the Captain thought it was Jesus holding himself in a time paradox, and I say it was both; a transsexual Jesus-turned-Mary that had given birth to himself.

For more information on these protests, email General Bron at general_bron@hotmail.com.

*Babies, of course, being small clumps of cellular matter with more biological relations to an amoeba then to a complex human being.

In the beginning...

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and anybody and everybody in between...welcome to my blog, '☮ is my religion'! For the record, yes, I am a fan of Ziggy Marley and Prince, and yes, the title is a blatant rip off from their albums.

But who am I? I am a mere soldier, enlisted in GrodsCorp Military Force to work on the front lines of peace and social progression. In fact, just last week, I crossed no man's land to engage the enemy on their home grounds. With chocolate. (More on that to be posted shortly.)