Australian Performers Snub our Troops

The entertainers who are snubbing our troops make no sense in their reason for not performing in Iraq. They are against our troops working to give democracy in Iraq a chance, but at the same time they support our troops who are doing the job? If these entertainers simply said they will not go to Iraq because they fear for their safety, then I could understand them.

Our troops are doing a tough job, standing up to a murderous extremist minority. In turn they will prevent Iraq from remaining a rouge state that will export terror. The line used by the entertainers is that of Mr Beasley’s and even he realised the lack of logic in what he was saying – is that why he has passed the baton onto these entertainers?

These entertainers have a media profile, but no claim to intelligence or responsibility. They sit safely in Australia, immune from accountability for the propaganda fuel they provide to terrorists. Once entertainers stray from satire and move to promoting a political point of view, to me they loose their appeal. In turn I can refuse to pay for their CD’s or tickets to their shows and encourage others to do likewise.

Have your say, register and lodge your comments in the Rewards Club community Forum. Should we out these performers and boycott their performances?

Google founder infers they were evil

Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin, has acknowledged that his company has compromised its principles by accommodating Chinese censorship demands. Google's corporate motto is "don't be evil".

Sergey Brin one of the key helmsmen in charge of Google, the most dominent search engine in the world, said Google is wrestling to make the Chinese deal work before deciding whether to steer an alternative course.

At a meeting with reporters near Capitol Hill in Washington, Brin said Google had agreed to the censorship demands only after Chinese authorities blocked its service in that country.Google's rivals accommodated the same demands - which Brin described as "a set of rules that we weren't comfortable with" - without any prompting or from fear of international criticism, he went on to say.

"We felt that perhaps we could compromise our principles but provide ultimately more information for the Chinese and be a more effective service and perhaps make more of a difference,"

I personnally believe any Google is better than no Google in China - the world knows the "tank man" - the Chinese have had that image erased. So now there is a need for creeping subtlety.

Like the fabled man with the finger in dyke one can not stand for ever plugging holes. As the pressure builds and China opens up, as it must do - not the least for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, there is a need for creeping subtlety. In this case any Google is better than no Google in China. So I think Brin was right in his first call to accomodate censorship demands.

The world can still see and remembers the "tank man" image - the Chinese have had that image erased from their own public - or have they?