E D I T O R I A L

Shock and Awe
And so it has begun, the cartoon caricatures are locked in; the cowboy and the tyrant his father created, locked in an endgame that will trash more than the infrastructure of Iraq.

F E A T U R E S

Poetry: If I Were a Rich Man
Through a distortion in the time-space continuum, we have found a recording showing how people a few years into the future will deal with health care.

Interview: League of Nations
ICFTU general secretary Guy Ryder on the war, core labour standards and why Australia is an international pariah.

Industrial: 20/20 Hindsight
A retrospective analysis of the Accord is needed to help develop future strategies. Is it worth trying again? And if so, what would need to be different?

Organising: On The Buses
A new rank and file leadership team is standing up for the harried bus driver in the run-up to the NSW State Election

Unions: National Focus
A gaze around the country reveals some inspiring and innovative organising initiatives, a fruitful connection with young workers in South Australia and some typically robust industrial campaigns reports Noel Hester.

History: The Banner Room
On the eve of it�s refurbishment, Jim Marr ventures into one of Trades Hall�s best kept secrets; the room that houses relics of labour�s halcyon days.

International: The Slaughter Continues
Chilling new statistics from Colombia's main trade union confederation CUT: nine trade unionists assassinated in the first two months of this year.

Legal: A Legal Case For War?
Aaron Magner looks at the legal implications of the crusade of the Coalition of the Willing

Culture: Singing For The People
When there�s a struggle for social justice, when a war is brewing or rights are being eroded, the first ones to pen, paper and protest are often the folkwriters.

Review: The Hours
On the eve of International Women�s Day Tara de Boehmler follows the tale of three women who would rather choose death than a life devoid of personal choice.

Poetry: I Wanna Bomb Saddam
Scarier than Star Wars, the latest weapon to be deployed in the battle for Iraq is the Singing Dubya.

Satire: Diuretic Makes Warne's Excuses Look Thin
Australian cricketer Shane Warne today admitted that he was still feeling the after effects of the diuretic he tested positive to.

N E W S

Peace Marchers Warn Off Provocateurs

Monk Ignores Job Losses

Trade Warriors Turn to Water

Gap, Target Pay Sweatshop Dues

Firies Douse Insurance Blaze

Kennett Delivers $2m Gas Bill

Vials Sparks Security Scare

Buggers Hit Six

Rail Towns Win Jobs Reprieve

Telstra Dotty Over Witching Hour

Crow Eaters Choke on Waste

CSL Boss in Political Pickle

Lawyers Push Super Class Action

Fair Clothing Activists Take Stock

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Workers Friend
Shock jock Alan Jones snubbed his Liberal mates to bucket the Cole Royal Commission and launch Jim Marr's book

The Locker Room
Boer Bore Boring
In the face of oppression Phil Doyle falls asleep in front of the TV

Guest Report
Dead Labor
The Hawke and Keating legacy is John Howard, Leonie Bronstein argues.

Seduction
Hands Off, Tony
John Della Bosca argues the NSW Industrial Relations System gives his State a competitive advantage.

Bosswatch
Groundhog Day
Another year, another round of corporate excess. Bosswatch returns from its summer slumber to find the same old dogs up to the same tricks.

L E T T E R S

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***

Not all tools are members of One Nation/

But all members of One Nation are tools

Any idea that One Nation was simply the ideological equivalent of line dancing was put to rest when their sinister side sunk to the forefront with the launch of their website http://www.muslimterrorists.com

This charming example of what is possible with a bit of HTML, no brains and a bucket load of bigotry was put together by Tony Abbott's one time right hand man David Oldfield. Oldfield, of course, continues to suck on the public teat as a member of the NSW Upper House and this latest stunt is part of his attempt to keep this ratbag outfit in the public eye.

The site starts with the disingenuous proposition that "nearly all terrorists are Muslims", which will be a theological brain widener for members of the Shining Path, Real IRA and the November 17 Movement.

Putting aside the fact that this website doesn't let a scintilla of accuracy stand in the way of a bit of hate mongering they also offer up other juicy gems such as "The biggest mistake a person can make is to think Muslims are people just like us - they are nothing like us".

And they're right. I don't think any of us could kick a football with as much accuracy as Hazem El-Masri. Apart from that, recent scientific studies would seem to indicate that - shock horror - Muslims and Non-Muslims seem to share a remarkably similar amount of DNA. No doubt One Nation will be calling on ASIO to investigate how this dastardly subterfuge has been perpetrated on an unsuspecting public.

These are the same warmongers that want to drown Muslims at sea, and "save" them by bombing the living crap out of them at home.

For a website that seeks to "convert" Muslims it appears distinctly un-Christian in its attitudes. This pathetic effort brings new meanings to the term bizarre, especially when it has a thinly veiled reference to pedophilia and the Prophet Muhommed, and a rather unscientific look at birth defects and the Western suburbs. They may wish to get the log out of their own eye first.

While satire may have died the day Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize, muslimterrorists.com does have all the hallmarks of a good pisstake on a loopy organisation. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. But what can be expected of an organisation who is running identical twins at the top of their Upper House ticket, along with other members of the same dysfunctional family running in a brace of lower house seats along the NSW North Coast.

Nothing like keeping it in the family, but they should really look at expanding their gene pool, otherwise health complications and birth defects may develop.

This Irony Free Zone reveals that the former Tony Abbott staffer has nothing positive to offer our community and it would do us all a world of good if he crawled back under whatever rock he came out from under to start with.

The only thing they have achieved making the Citizens Electoral Council look vaguely sane.

Show Us YOUR TOOL! The most inspiring interpretation of this week's tool get's a souvenir edition of Ship of Tools. Deface the Tool of the Week, click the button above to post your artwork, fill out the form and send your entry in and we'll post the winners next week in the Tool of the Week Gallery.

Ship of Tools - All the tools in one shed!

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005