Look, this has got to be the baseball story of 2004!

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 30 (AP) — Cleveland Indians pitcher Kyle Denney won’t complain about having to dress like a cheerleader again. The white go-go boots that went with the outfit might have prevented a bullet from seriously injuring his leg.

The rookie was hit in the right calf by a shot that came through the side of the Indians’ bus in Kansas City late Wednesday as the team traveled to the airport after a victory over the Royals. The bullet caused only a flesh wound, probably because of the tough leather of the knee-high boot, Denney and his trainers said.

The story continues at the Washington Post.

http://www.empirenotes.org/september04.html#30sep043

September 30, 7:07 pm. Another slaughter of innocents in Iraq. There was a car
bombing (involving two cars) of a U.S. convoy at the inauguration of new sewage plant just as children flocked around it to get candy. 35 children were killed.

This is an absolutely appalling act. It’s not clear yet whether children were deliberately targeted, as in Beslan. Zarqawi’s Tawhid wal Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it involved
“martyrdom operations,” but officials on the scene refused to confirm or deny reports that suicide bombers were involved (as opposed to just cars loaded down with bombs). This makes a difference because, of course, if actual suicide bombers were involved then it’s clear that the presence of the children did not dissuade them from attacking.

This is not more barbaric than the U.S. missile attack on a crowd gathered around a destroyed Bradley Fighting Vehicle on Haifa Street on September 12. The crowd also contained numerous children and the excuse of protecting U.S. equipment — well, what do you need to say?

But it is also not less barbaric. Tawhid wal Jihad has committed many acts that are deliberate in their grotesqueness, so this is in a sense nothing new — unless children were deliberately targeted, in which case it’s a new height even for them. Either way, Zarqawi has emerged
as primary de facto PR person for the United States in Iraq.

http://www.empirenotes.org/september04.html#30sep042

September 30, 6:38 pm. And some bad news. Israel has begun Phase 2 of the Gaza
withdrawal plan (for a little context, see a previous post).

Billed as a retaliation for the Qassam rocket killing of two children in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, the offensive, which includes an invasion of Jabaliya refugee camp, has already resulted in the killing of at least 24 Palestinians, and three Israelis.

An entire brigade of the IDF has moved into northern Gaza. It’s the 12th IDF operation in northern Gaza alone in the past three months. The operation has been code-named “Days of Penitence,” named for the first ten days of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah started on sundown of September 15 this year and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on sundown of September 24). It’s hard to
think of a more inflammatory name this side of “Infinite Justice.”

Amira Hass’s column in Ha’aretz yesterday, What does the Turk have against us?, is very definitely worth reading.

Here’s the beginning:

“Kill a Turk and rest” - a popular Israeli saying meaning “don’t rush” - is not only a statement of doubtful political correctness. It is also the middle of a Jewish joke. But only the middle. In Israel it has a separate existence, which distorts the spirit of the original Jewish anecdote.

And here is the story, which was passed on by a Yiddishist father from the old country to his Israeli-born daughter: A Jewish mother says farewell to her son, who has been drafted into the
Czar’s army and goes to fight against Turkey in 1877. She is of course very worried about her son’s welfare. While she is packing his knapsack, she says to him: “Listen, when you get to the front, kill a Turk, and rest. Kill a Turk, and rest.”

“But Mother,” replies the son, “what happens if while I’m resting, the Turk kills me?”

“Good God,” says the mother, horrified, “what does the Turk have
against you?”

A contemporary echo to the view of that same Jewish mother can be found in the reports in the Israeli media last weekend. They unquestioningly adopted the label “terrorists” applied by IDF commanders and spokesmen to the three young Palestinians who last Thursday killed three Israeli soldiers of their own age at the Morag outpost in the Gaza Strip.

Of course, this story also perfectly encapsulates the attitude of most Americans to the violence in Iraq.

http://www.empirenotes.org/september04.html#30sep041

September 30, 5:35 pm. An actual piece of good news, for once. Russia has finally
stopped dithering and decided
to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

The Protocol calls for the so-called “Annex 1″ industrialized countries in aggregate to make sure that by 2012 their emissions of a basket of six greenhouse gases (excluding ozone and water vapor) are 5% below their 1990 levels. The emissions of the six gases are combined by an agreed formula into a
“carbon dioxide emission equivalent” and it is this number that is to be reduced by 5%. The cuts are not spread evenly across Annex 1 countries; for example, the United States is mandated to reduced its emissions by 7% by 2012.

The Protocol was planned to go into effect once at least 55 countries representing 55% of the Annex 1 countries’ combined emissions signed it. When the United States pulled out, the Protocol would have been effectively dead in the water had Russia not signed. But Russia’s
signing now puts Kyoto over the threshold and so it is scheduled to go into effect.

The Protocol is obviously just a band-aid. The goal is to stabilize the atmospheric level of greenhouse gases, not to stabilize emissions. In order to do so at reasonable levels, the emissions level per year has to be reduced significantly (how much precisely is complicated and depends on many things, including what you think is a reasonable level). And thus some on the left dismiss it as too little, too late.

But, viewed as a stepping-stone on the way to genuine control of greenhouse gases, Kyoto is extremely important. Had it not been rescued, it’s hard to imagine that more significant action would have been taken in its stead, at least not for many years.

Expect more from me on Kyoto and global climate change. Paradoxically, this most difficult issue is also one on which a way forward has opened — at least if developments in the United States can be brought to heel.

Free Radio Santa Cruz Raided by Federal Government
http://www.indymedia.org/or/2004/09/111912.shtml

Goodness me it’s been a busy day. Global Village Idiot, Alexander Downer, was placed under citizen’s arrest in Melbourne this morning. Unfortunately he got away.

The “warrant” for GVI’s arrest laid charges of war crimes in relation to Iraq, also violations of the United Nations charter, violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and violations of the Convention against Torture.

Melbourne Indymedia has photos together with a copy of the arrest warrant.

AAP has a report which tells us that the incident was “not a security breach, but an example of police and security staff doing their jobs well.”

UK: Freedom in the Balance
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/09/30/uk9426.htm
Britain’s Highest Court to Rule on Indefinite Detention (London, October 1, 2004) — Britain’s highest court will begin deliberations on October 4 in a landmark challenge to the government’s indefinite detention of foreign terrorism suspects, Human Rights Watch said today.

Congratulations to Daisuke Inoue, winner of the 2004 Ig Nobel Peace Prize. Inoue was the inventor of karaoke, providing, according to the official citation, “an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other”.

The 14th annual Ig Nobel Prizes were presented at Harvard University on Thursday night. The ceremony was webcast (damn, if only I knew in advance!). Among other winners in the ten categories, the authors of “The Effect of Country Music on Suicide” won the Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine, the Coca-Cola Company of Great Britain won the Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the Vatican won the Ig Nobel Prize in Economics for outsourcing prayers to India.

The complete list of 2004 winners can be found in the Harvard Gazette, while the badly-designed Ig Nobel Prize website (probably on purpose) has all the winners since inception in 1991.

Reports from the New Scientist and the Guardian.

The first Major Parties Mass Debate is under way in Florida. The stunned mullet versus the coiffured totem pole.

The theme is foreign policy and homeland security. From my perspective, Kerry is walking all over Bush, as he should. I couldn’t help noticing Bush confusing Saddam with Bin Laden and then correcting himself. Bush is trying to get by with homespun folksy sound grabs. Kerry is not the most charismatic man, and certainly not the Reagan-Bush style of communicator. But he’s a far more intelligent man than the current president.

Bush has defended his decision not to allow the US to join the International Criminal Court, saying “I will not let a foreign court decide if Americans should be prosecuted”. Why ever not, Dubya?

Of course, one of the issues that rankles about these debates (of which this is the first of three) is that only two presidential candidates are taking part. All of the others have been excluded. Earlier today there was a debate at a venue across the road from Mass Debate 1 between David Cobb of the Green Party and Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party. Ralph Nader was invited to join Cobb and Badnarik but declined to do so.

A live webcast of the Cobb-Badnarik debate failed to materialise, with suggestions of a DOS attack on the Free Market News servers. Discussion on the Badnarik supporters’ blog, and hopefully a transcript later.

Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party was also invited to the “Peoples Debate” but declined, claiming prior engagements in Utah. Peroutka is also highly critical of the closed nature of the Bush-Kerry debate. He’s a curiosity, the most conservative of the seven presidential candidates I’ve referred to here. But unlike both GWB and JFK, he would bring the troops home from Iraq straight away - the same time, in fact, as he would deport all illegal immigrants…

Here is the live commentary from the New York Times’ Katherine Q.Seelye (not sure how long it will be up).

Mass Debate 1 is just wrapping up as I write this paragraph. Jim Lehrer from PBS was moderator and sole questioner. Mass Debate 2, on Friday week, will be more of a “Town Hall”-type event, while Mass Debate 3 will focus on domestic policy and be more of a “twin news conference” like this one.

Links to more analysis later this afternoon I hope. I think Kerry won MD1. He drove home a lot of significant issues, including the non-capture of Osama Bin Laden, the unaccounted nuclear weaponry in Russia, the lack of an exit strategy from Iraq. But he won’t pull the troops out straight away.

Can I just repeat what Mark Latham said about GW Bush on 5 February 2003: that he is the “most incompetent and dangerous president in living memory”. He oozed incompetence today.

Debating Dubya
http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_526.html
George Bush will make lots of promises in his debates against John Kerry. How did the last set turn out?

Footy Fans Against Sexual Assault (FFASA) is a highly commendable cause. Founded earlier this year after a serious of scandals surrounding allegations of sexual assaults by NRL and AFL footballers, and the evidence of a culture that has been around for years. The FFASA is advocating, among many other things, that sporting teams hold a “purple armband” day, where they wear purple armbands demonstrating a committment to a united stance against sexual violence. Several NRL clubs have already taken part as have sporting teams from other codes. Some Australian Rules teams have done so, but none in the Australian Football League, who consider it “just another cause we are asked to support”.

Purple armband days will be conducted by the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League and the AFL Northern Territory this weekend. A press release from the FFASA gives details and I reproduce it in full:

Hi Footy Fans and Friends

The FFASA purple armband campaign is taking on a life of it’s own.

This weekend sees purple armbands on the arms of:

* over 1700 rugby league players from across NSW during games at the NSW Aboriginal Knockout at Henson Park and Redfern Oval in Sydney; and
* over 400 AFL players from throughout the Northern Territory during games at the 2004 Perkins Shipping Umpires Carnival at Marrara Stadium in Darwin.

Both these stands follow directly from the original action by the Australian Women’s Rugby League, Brisbane Broncos and Manly Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium earlier this year.

The NSW Aboriginal Knockout has extended the meaning of the purple armbands to include other forms of violence. They are also taking the campaign to a new level.

Besides the purple armbands, they have organised:

* educational material to be distributed over the weekend;
* Koori community support workers at the games and on a Hotline number; and
* a giant banner where players and supporters can make handprints signifying their opposition to family violence and sexual assault.

FFASA congratulates the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League community for making the campaign their own, as part of their “Blackout Violence” campaign, and taking the lead shown at the elite level of their sport so much further.

We also commend the AFL NT for continuing the stance of other Territory sporting teams from the AFL, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Netball earlier this year.

With GF fever ebbing to a close this weekend, we encourage Sydney-siders and Darwinites to get along to these events and take in some footy with a conscience.

Knockout teams will also include footy greats, past and present, such as David Peachy, Nathan Blacklock, Cliff Lyons, Nathan Merritt and Ronald Price. See program details for both competitions below.

For a listing of FFASA Purple Armbands Teams see Purple Armband Teams.
(NB: Knockout and Umpires teams will be listed next week)

AFL Up-date

FFASA received a response from the AFL re: their strategy for dealing with sexual assault and harassment.

Unfortunately, their response raises more questions than answers.

For example, although the AFL is talking to representatives from the State-wide Committee for the Reduction of Sexual Assault, it remains unclear whether they are talking directly to representatives from the Committee with expertise in working with victim/survivors.

They also advised FFASA to take its concerns re: the Saints Get Real program directly to the Saint Kilda Football Club.

FFASA will follow-up both matters and bring you an up-date soon.

FFASA Petition
50 signatures to go …

Yours in football
Kath Haines
www.ffasa.org

2004 NSW ABORIGINAL RUGBY LEAGUE KNOCKOUT

Friday 1st October 2004 Redfern Oval

10:00 am – 12:00 pm: “TJ Hickey Memorial Junior Rugby League Competition

U6’s, U10’s, U12’s, U13’s, U15’s NSW Selection Trials

1:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Women’s Knockout Competition

ADULTS ENTRY FEE $6:00
SCHOOL STUDENTS OVER 12 $2:00
CHILDREN UNDER 12 AND AGED PENSIONERS FREE

Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd October 2004 Redfern Oval & Henson Park

Saturday 8:30am: Official Opening and Welcome (Redfern Oval)

Games commence at 9:30 am on both days at both venues.

ADULTS ENTRY FEE $8:00
SCHOOL STUDENTS OVER 12 $2:00
CHILDREN UNDER 12 AND AGED PENSIONERS FREE

Monday 4th October 2004 Redfern Oval

Games commence at 9:00am: 2 Semi Finals, Under 16’s Final, Women’s Final, Grand Final

ADULTS ENTRY FEE $7:00
SCHOOL STUDENTS OVER 12 $2:00
CHILDREN UNDER 12 AND AGED PENSIONERS FREE

2004 PERKINS SHIPPING NTFL UMPIRES PRE-SEASON CARNIVAL

Marrara Oval, Darwin NT
Saturday 2nd October – Sunday 3rd October

Saturday 2nd October 2004

11.30am GATES OPEN
12.30pm Sthn Districts vs Western Aranda
1.10pm Palmerston vs Mutujulu (Docker River)
1.50pm Nightcliff vs Wanderers
Darwin vs Belyuen
2.30pm Waratahs vs Maningrida
Tiwi Islands vs Loser Game 2
3.10pm St Marys vs Loser Game 1
3.50pm Winner Game 2 vs Winner Game 1
Loser Game 4 vs Loser Game 6
4.30pm Winner Game 4 vs Loser Game 5
Winner Game 8 vs Loser Game 7
5.10pm Winner Game 5 vs Loser Game 8
5.50pm Winner Game 7 vs Winner Game 6

Sunday 3rd October 2004

9.30am GATES OPEN
10.30am Winners – Winner Game 10 vs Loser Game 12
11.10am Winners - Winner Game 11 vs Loser Game 13
Winners - Winner Game 12 vs Loser Game 10
11.50am Winners - Winner Game 15 vs Winner Game 13
12.30pm Winners - Winner Game 14 vs Loser Game 11
Winners – Loser Game 14 vs Loser Game 15
1.10pm Winners ¼ Final – Winner Game 17 vs Loser Game 18
Consolation Semi-Final - Loser Game 16 vs Loser Game 17
11.50pm Winners ¼ Final - Winner Game 16 vs Winner Game 19
Consolation Semi-Final – Loser Game 20 vs Loser Game 21
2.30pm Winners ¼ Final - Loser Game 19 vs Winner Game 20
Winners ¼ Final - Winner Game 18 vs Winner Game 21
3.10pm Winners Semi-Final - Winner Game 22 vs Winner Game 24
3.50pm Winners Semi-Final - Winner Game 26 vs Winner Game 27
4.30pm Annual Footballers 100 metre Gift
4.45pm Consolation Grand Final - Winner G23 vs Winner G25
5.30pm Winners Grand Final - Winner G28 vs Winner G29
6.20pm Announcement of Percy Ellis Medal Winner & Presentations

NB: AFL NT teams will purple armbands on Sunday 3rd October

Bahrain: Rights Center Closed as Crackdown Expands
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/09/30/bahrai9422.htm
The Bahrain government should rescind an order that closed one of the country?s leading human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch said today. The closure of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights on Wednesday follows the arrest last week of its vice-president, `Abd al-Hadi al-Khawaja, after he publicly criticized the prime minister.