There are more heartbreaking stories from the Caribbean island of Turks and Caicos concerning so-called “squatters” forcibly removed from their homes by the British interim government.

These are people who have (unwittingly) built their homes on what the British say is Crown land. I sat shaking my head as I read the accounts of now homeless families that had sunk their life savings into building homes that are purported to be on Crown land. Their homes have all been demolished. One account of a worker suggesting he had orders to take their lives if they didn’t comply, was alarming. There was nowhere for these people to go. The British did not care.

The British also failed to make important resort developments whole by declaring their land bonafide transfers causing resort developments to collapse.

The British announced an increase of 1% tax on hospitality, as if the tourism industry needed that blow on top of everything else.

The British then announced revocation of many islander benefits whereby subjecting islanders to the high cost of living from living in a resort community.

The British announced a mandatory health care tax on all citizens. The British government has announced police force for those who do not comply.

The British announced an amendment to the financial banking sector of Turks and Caicos, thereby damaging that resource of the economy.

The British took the autonomous constitution from the people and declared an abolishment of “the citizens’ right to a jury trial” for the entire population of the islands. Not just those accused of corruption, but all people. This is almost unprecedented for the British, even in Northern Ireland this didn’t happen. Their reason is that the citizens of Turks and Caicos are all corruptible.

The police are now angry for UK’s failure to give them certainty about their jobs and their duties as law enforcement personnel with the new government.

Important record keepers and island officials have been dismissed from their jobs or forced out. New pink faces replace the distinguished islander law makers of yesterday.

Important resort developments have collapsed, causing a loss of jobs and tourism revenue.

Secret meetings are being conducted by the British government excluding island government personnel.

Turks and Caicos is being run as a dictatorship; Gordon Wetherell is making all decisions solely.

The former Premier Williams and new opposition party leader Doug Parnell both oppose the British direct rule and its poor governance of the islands.

International blocs, The United Nations, Caricom and European Union have all condemned this hostile take over of the islands and have called it illegal.

But wait! I also read an opinion from a chap called Carlos Simons published in the Turks and Caicos Sun Times, albeit buried a bit. Here is his opinion boiled down after you edit the verbose subtext:

1. Dissenters are causing further turmoil at a time when islanders need to be moving on in this tough economy.
2. Dissenters are peddling dangerous myths.
3. There has been no overthrow of the government or recolonisation.
4. There is no difference since the British took over governance.
5. The British are restoring good governance.

Mr. Simons, to your opinions as set forth in items 1 through 5, I refer you back to the facts above.

http://www.suntci.com/index.php?p=story&id=542

Turks and Caicos, a scarcely known group of islands in the Caribbean, had been enjoying the good life for the last 6 years. The economic windfall came from foreign resort developments and the financial banking sector known to be a tax haven.

In August 2009, the government and its autonomous constitution was over-thrown by the British. UK, purportedly having been told by a group of islanders (led by TCI Journal) that corruption existed between the government and foreign investors, conducted an investigation into these claims.

Since the UK’s take-over in August, the people of Turks and Caicos have grown mutinous over UK’s reported mismanagement of the island’s economy. Increased taxes, cuts in benefits, loss of jobs and amendments of the financial sector have caused many islanders alarm of the loss of prosperity that they once enjoyed. Many islanders claim that if UK is there to “bail them out” then why are they penalizing the people and what are they doing with the revenue.

Newly elected Peoples Democratic Movement leader (a political party in Turks and Caicos), Doug Parnell says that UK leadership in Turks and Caicos is now “akin to Cuba”, a dictatorship. The governor, Gordon Wetherell, makes all decisions solely.

Furthermore, all rights to a jury trial have been abolished by the UK as to the entire population. This has raised many eyebrows calling into question a witch hunt with a supreme decision already mapped.

When the UK took over governance of the islands in August, a newly elected Premier, Gallmo Williams, had been already elected and in office for nearly six months following the accused Premier Michael Misick’s resignation. Mr. Williams calls UK’s move, a coup.

How did these claims of wrong doing in Turks and Caicos come about? It was not an organic grass root’s effort as once reported. It is now known to have been caused by the accusations and orchestration of a web blog in the islands called TCI Journal which has been shrouded in controversy since early 2008.

TCI Journal is run by Shaun Malcolm, who the national main stream media calls a “political opportunist.” However, he is rumored to have several backers. The site is known to use fictitious letters to the editors and pseudonyms to make allegations and innuendo against the local government officials and foreign businessmen in the islands.

Some twelve months ago, TCI Journal wrote to UK parliament making claims of impropriety of then Premier, Michael Misick. However, once Misick left office under a cloud of suspicion, the accusations did not stop by TCI Journal.

It now turns out that the target of TCI Journal and Shaun Malcolm is ultimately UK’s Lord Michael Ashcroft, a major investor in Turks and Caicos.

Yesterday, TCI Journal and Shaun Malcolm wrote another letter to Parliament and Queen Elizabeth claiming to speak on behalf of “thinking citizens” of Turks and Caicos. It stated that islanders are grateful for UK’s intervention, which has islanders hopping mad. But the letter also asks Westminster the following:

“We respectfully and sincerely ask for your written assurance that Lord Ashcroft will not be influencing, directly or indirectly, decisions regarding the Turks and Caicos Islands should the Conservatives win the next election, and if you are willing to give us these assurances then we kindly ask for you to work with us now to establish tangible safeguards towards this goal.” The letter goes on with specific allegations of cronyism with Michael Misick’s government.

It is now reported that on Monday, Lord Michael Ashcroft will be required to face questions in the parliament with respect to these claims of alleged impropriety. These are allegations which Lord Michael Ashcroft flatly denies. Lord Ashcroft released a statement today stating that the accusations by Shaun Malcolm are false.

Sometimes I want to shake the famously quirky Lindsey Graham until his teeth rattle.   But every once in a while he is brilliant.

Yesterday was one of those times.   Watch  here as he absolutely slaughters Attorney General Eric Holder,  who was never able to provide any logical reason for transferring KSM and Co. to the civilian system,  despite hours of testimony.

I’m trying to find a clip of  Sen. Jon Kyle quoting from Andy McCarthy’s National Review article this week,  in which the latter accurately  described Holder as  “a lawyer whose firm is among those responsible for the litigation-driven delay that became a lawfare triumph for al-Qaida.”

Here is McCarthy’s  withering post on Holder’s performance as well.

Former Attorney General and Senator John Ashcroft thinks Holder  lacks authority to make such a decision.

And Terrence Jeffrey reminds us that  in May His Oneness said he’d use military commissions to try those who violate the rules of war.

The decision to bring the 9/11 plotters to New York is pure politics,  nothing else.

In a previous post, I mentioned the Sisters of the Visitation were for sale, and then mysteriously nothing happened. In a discussion with Uniform about why one of the workers was urinating on the sidewalk at the end of the day, I asked whether they were interested. His reply was that the neighbourhood appealed to them, but there are so many challenges with heritage designations.

According to Ken Gray, Ashcroft is the buyer, for more than $10 million. They’ve also bought the building that used to house Billy’s Appliances and another house. Strangely, it’s not in today’s newspaper, only on the Bulldog’s blog. Supposedly Ashcroft is going to start by meeting with the community first.

I’ll definitely be going to share my thoughts. What I’d like to see:

• buildings, no higher than 4 floors surrounding the original site
• stone incorporated into the architectural exterior features
• some green space
• underground parking for any new buildings
• more vrtucar spots
• retail on the ground floor that faces Richmond
• a nice English pub in the old building … could call it The Convent or The Sacred Sisters, The Nunnery, The Stone Chapel, The Fallen Wall

More thoughts and updates to come.

I think it is undeniable that in America the notion of fear plays a constant role in the election of leadership. While it may seem odd to say that in this modern day and age our government is elected not through who the public likes, but who the public fears, one need not look further than the role panic played in the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004 to be convinced. In fact, it seems that President Bush and his staff took a page right out of what could be seen as the “Machiavelli playbook” (which is, of course, colloquially called the Karl Rove Playbook) to ensure their victory. While their actions may differ from the advice Machiavelli gave to the Medici Family in the early sixteenth century, they certainly had many roots in “The Prince.” Their actions focused much more on having Americans fear what could happen to them should they be removed from power than on gaining widespread love from the public. A number of questionable decisions were made to ensure that they would remain in power for four more years.

By 2004, President Bush’s reputation could likely not be revived in the eyes of the public. From the outset of the Bush Administration, the legitimacy of his candidacy was in question. The election that put him in power was controversially decided in the Supreme Court, and many saw this election as an opportunity to finally defeat him. Now in the midst of two wars, neither of which had a foreseeable end, he was seen as an extremely vulnerable incumbent president. His opponent, Sen. John Kerry, was showing almost equal poll numbers in April of 2004, 7 months before the election. [1] This is when there was a stark change in strategy on the Bush campaign.

President Bush started using the memory of September 11, 2001 to woo back voters. He reminded American voters that since 9/11, America had not been attacked and that to change leadership would embolden the enemy in ways that would prove deadly to many Americans. The government also began to raise security levels in many different government run organizations to help foster this notion of danger. [2] Despite never directly saying anything specifically, they made it very clear that you were either with President Bush or against America. To support John Kerry was to support attacks on the American public.

All of this culminated on the eve of the election in 2004 when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield, and Attorney General John Ashcroft, asked Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, to raise the terror warning level to a higher level. [3] This was blatant politicizing of a system that was supposed to be in place to protect American citizens. The system was set up to allow Americans to see the threat of a terrorist attack at any given time. Ridge was encouraged to raise the level despite a lack of reason other than to incite fear.

In his just recently published book, The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege…and How We Can Be Safe Again, the former Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge says, “at this point there was nothing to indicate a specific threat and no reason to cause undue public alarm.” [4] Sec. Ridge did not end up changing the terror warning level (as he believed it to be wrong and that they would face backlash over such an action) but this was simply the climax of many different actions that put fear into the hearts of Americans, persuading them to vote Republican.

In the end, Machiavellian notions of fear prevailed. It convinced enough voters that to change leadership would be ultimately deadly for innocent Americans. Whether John Kerry would have been any more or less successful at preventing acts of terror against the American public cannot be said for sure. What can be said, however, is that George W. Bush and his allies were able to persuade more voters that to vote for Kerry (a probably more loved candidate) would be detrimental to their own interests.

Quick Note: This began as a comment to the blog post “Love Me or Fear Me” by serenagr. However, as I began to write I realized that while I was answering the first question she (sorry if I assumed wrongly here) posed, this was more of a new concept all together than a response to the many well thought out questions asked in that post. So I would just like to thank serenagr for the idea that helped me form this blog post. Also, given the short time I wasn’t able to actually obtain a copy of Tom Ridge’s book so all the quotes are from other blog style websites that offered excerpts of his book. Finally, the title is just a play on words of Hunter Thompson’s famous book. I just thought it was funny although this has nothing to do with the content.

Works Cited

1.  ”Poll: Bush Vulnerable, Kerry Not Benefiting.” April 14, 2004.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4739326/ (accessed September 30, 2009).

2. Sharma, Versha. “Tom Ridge: I Fought Against Raising Security Threat Level On The Eve Of 2004 Election.” August 20, 2009.http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/tom_ridge_i_fought_against_raising_security_threat.php (accessed September 30, 2009).

3. ibid

4. ibid

1.  This is awesome!

“Former Attorney General John Ashcroft and one of his hardline lieutenants face the rare prospect of being held personally liable for alleged violations of individuals’ rights in the aggressive aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
…
Senior officials are accustomed to having their actions in office judged by history, not the courts. Exposing them to legal risk might complicate recruitment as top prospects shun positions that could land them in personal trouble. It also could make officials think twice about aggressive use of executive authority.
…

When the New York-based court heard the argument in December, one judge voiced skepticism that the government and individual officials always could avoid liability in such cases.

“So the minute the executive raises the specter of foreign policy, national security, it is the government’s position that that is a license to torture anyone, a U.S. citizen or foreign citizen — license meaning that you can do so without any financial consequence?” the judge asked.

The judge was Sonia Sotomayor, now Supreme Court justice. “

http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/09/28/bush-officials-face-liability-for-terror-policies/

2.  Many of us knew this at the time, even though mainstream media told us the reverse:

“EU Report to Conclude Georgia Started 2008 War with Russia“

http://news.antiwar.com/2009/09/28/eu-report-to-conclude-georgia-started-2008-war-with-russia/

3.  “Israel’s tactic – I’ve also experienced this myself – is that rather than discuss the message, they talk about the messenger and try to discredit the auspices or the person who’s bringing critical assessments of their behaviour.

“They don’t make any effort to engage in the substantive debate because they really can’t do that with any degree of effectiveness.”

Goldstone also characterized the Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel as war crimes. But Falk said that, contrary to popular belief, the rocket attacks “did not precipitate the Israeli attack. They had basically stopped during the temporary ceasefire. It was Israel, not Hamas, that broke the ceasefire Nov. 4 by launching a big attack inside Gaza.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23589.htm

4.  “Netanyahu is almost correct. In his recounting of the 2^nd WW he surely admits here that Israel follows Roosevelt’s and Churchill’s mass murder tactics. But he surely fails to realise that if it was indeed down to ethics and Justice (rather than the usual dirty politics) Roosevelt and Churchill would have been charged with war crimes on a most severe scale. Shockingly enough, Netanyahu falls into the most obvious legal trap equating Israeli activity with acts of carpet bombardment on a huge scale. For those who fail to see it all, this is a rapidly blinking red light hazard. In Netanyahu’s perception of reality nuking countries and flattening towns is a justifiable act. Roosevelt and Churchill seem to be his moral entitlement. In fact these statements are enough to make it clear to every reasonable human being that Israel is a genocidal entity that is capable of bringing our civilisation to a devastating end.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23584.htm

5.  “The G20 in Pittsburgh showed us how pitifully fearful our leaders have become.

What no terrorist could do to us, our own leaders did.

Out of fear of the possibility of a terrorist attack, authorities militarize our towns, scare our people away, stop daily life and quash our constitutional rights.

For days, downtown Pittsburgh, home to the G20, was a turned into a militarized people-free ghost town. Sirens screamed day and night. Helicopters crisscrossed the skies. Gunboats sat in the rivers. The skies were defended by Air Force jets. Streets were barricaded by huge cement blocks and fencing. Bridges were closed with National Guard across the entrances. Public transportation was stopped downtown. Amtrak train service was suspended for days.

In many areas, there were armed police every 100 feet. Businesses closed. Schools closed. Tens of thousands were unable to work.

Four thousand police were on duty plus 2500 National Guard plus Coast Guard and Air Force and dozens of other security agencies. A thousand volunteers from other police forces were sworn in to help out.

Police were dressed in battle gear, bulky black ninja turtle outfits – helmets with clear visors, strapped on body armor, shin guards, big boots, batons, and long guns.

In addition to helicopters, the police had hundreds of cars and motorcycles , armored vehicles, monster trucks, small electric go-karts. There were even passenger vans screaming through town so stuffed with heavily armed ninja turtles that the side and rear doors remained open.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23582.htm

Looks like Eric’s done it again, earlier today I mentioned how  the good Tories of Wycombe had taken exception to The Beast of Bradford’s belligerent approach to their selection procedure by posting the following message on their website:

Yesterday (Tuesday 15th September 2009) Eric Pickles MP, Chairman of the Conservative Party, suspended procedure for the selection of Candidates in the Wycombe Constituency because of an alleged irregularity.  The selection procedure was being conducted by a Selection Committee of the Executive Council of Wycombe Conservative Association, but it appears that this action was taken without any direct communication with any of the officers of the Association.  It is also unclear until the Executive Council meet what the effect of the purported suspension is.

But if you visit their site now this message has gone and has been replaced with a news feed from 8 days ago. Tory websites are funded by Ashcroft, the Tory Vice-Chair, and I’m sure Eric and him were quick to point this out to their Wycombe colleagues.

Via Scott Horton and The Huffington Post: Spain demands to know how high the torture directive went.

The people of Spain, as you may remember, also threw their conservative government out of office shortly after that poor minister agreed to the Iraq War. They since provided a valuable European criticism of American policy all throughout the era of general acceptance. Now they have a serious mind to prosecute the authors of the famous “Torture Memos” which provided the legal groundwork for our abuses from Guantanamo to Bagram.

The Obama Administration has steadfastly refused to engage in “political” prosecutions, morality be damned – and no other country seems to want to bring the matter up, so little will likely come of this. But it is heartening to see such defiance of America (and on such a sensitive issue) amid the general obeisance one views from the rest of Europe.

• The Gang of Six is reserving judgement on the latest developments regarding healthcare reform.  (Politico)
• John Ashcroft may be held liable for the wrongful detention of people held as witnesses after 9/11 (Boing Boing)
• What Dubya can teach President Obama. (The Daily Beast)
• Today was Sonia Sotomayor’s first day as a Supreme Court Justice. Ricky Martin was there.  No one knows why. (Front Row Washington)
• Some one gave Mark Foley a radio show to be titled ‘Inside the Mind of Mark Foley’.  You are correct dear reader, that is indeed a terrible idea. (Daily Intel)

Abdullah al Kidd

It just keeps coming and coming and somehow Bush and Cheney avoid it all.  Ashcroft and Yoo have their necks on the block.

This was a 3 judge panel that issued their finding that Abdullah al-Kidd can sue Ashcroft.  And these judges were appointed by the Bush Administration.

I am a strong proponent of keeping us safe from terrorism, but this is beyond the pale what the Bush Administration did.  And worse, these people will end up hating us and then what.  Of course al-Kidd is an American but I’m sure he’s very bitter.  I hope he wins his case and Ashcroft will have to pay him big bucks.  They really need to learn that they just can’t arbitrarily seize someone just because he’s a Muslim and looks creepy.

I do believe we have our fill of domestic terrorists that are killing Abortion Doctors and anyone that disagrees with their loony ideals.

Click here for more from the Washington Post.

1.  More classy Israeli behavior:

“Israelis Target Medical Teams

Palestinian medical personnel who tried to reach the critically injured boy near the Jelazon refugee camp north of Ramallah were threatened at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers and shot at.

“We were sure that the boy was seriously wounded and needed urgent medical attention,” said Sameh Barghouti a medic in the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance which tried to evacuate the youngster.

“But the soldiers pointed their guns at us and told us to go back. When we asked to speak to their captain they shot rubber coated metal bullets and teargas canisters at the ambulance, but fortunately missed,” Barghouti told IPS.

Another ambulance driver, Osama Jarrer, was injured in the leg with a teargas canister after he too tried to reach the wounded child. Under Israeli law teargas canisters are meant to be fired in an upward arch and not directly at protestors so as not to endanger lives.

…

Mutasim Awad, director of the PRCS’s humanitarian law unit speaks of “lack of protection for medical personnel and their vehicles and the delay and denial of access to East Jerusalem on a daily basis.

“During military operations we are regularly targeted by the Israelis in shelling and shooting attacks. During the Gaza war 16 Palestinian medical personnel were killed, more than 30 injured, while dozens of clinics, hospitals and medical centers were bombed.”

http://original.antiwar.com/frykberg/2009/09/04/israelis-target-medical-teams/

2.  “Rethinking the Good War

Participation in the war against Hitler remains almost wholly sacrosanct, nearly in the realm of theology.” ~ Bruce Russett

But setting aside for a moment the facts of Roosevelt’s duplicity and culpability, as well as the U.S. provocation of Japan: Was it necessary for 405,000 American soldiers to die to avenge the 2,400 (1,177 were from one ship, the USS Arizona) who were killed at Pearl Harbor? Was it moral to incinerate hundreds of thousands of civilians in Japanese cities because Japan bombed the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, a military target? And setting aside for another moment the folly of U.S. intervention in World War I, which prevented a dictated peace settlement and paved the way for the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles, thus facilitating the rise of Hitler: Was it necessary that tens of millions were slaughtered to prevent Hitler from slaughtering millions? Was it wise to join forces with a brutal dictator like Stalin, who had already killed millions, with the result that he enslaved half of Europe under communism?“

http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance181.html

3.  “Churchill Spurred the Decline of the West”

http://original.antiwar.com/buchanan/2009/09/04/churchill-spurred-the-decline-of-the-west/

4.  “Debunking the “Money on the Sidelines” Myth

Everyone says that massive amounts of money are sitting on the sidelines, and will rush in and rally the markets any second now.

Are they right?

Well, as Henry Blodget pointed out in June, the entire concept of “money on the sidelines” fails to reflect the reality of how markets actually work”

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/

5.  “

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=15064

6.  “Major ruling against Ashcroft highlights evils of preventive detention

The principal legal issue strictly resolved by the court here is somewhat narrow and legalistic.  A political official has absolute immunity from lawsuits based on decisions made in a prosecutorial capacity (e.g., whether to indict or prosecute someone), but not for law enforcement decisions (e.g., whether to arrest or detain someone).  You can’t ever sue a prosecutor for deciding to prosecute you, but you can sue someone who arrests you if they acted illegally and in clear violation of your legal rights.  The Ninth Circuit ruled that where, as here, there is credible evidence that the real reason an official ordered someone detained as a material witness (normally a prosecutorial act) was to arrest them, that is a law enforcement act, not a prosecutorial one, and he is therefore not entitled to absolute immunity from lawsuits if he violated the law when doing so.  Hence, this lawsuit against Ashcroft personally — alleging that he ordered Muslims detained in clear violation of their legal rights — can proceed.
…
None of that changes because it is a non-citizen who is imprisoned without evidence of any crimes.  Preventive detention is a noxious and dangerous power to vest in the Government.  That’s what Thomas Jefferson meant when — in a 1789 letter to Thomas Paine — he wrote:  ”I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution” (emphasis added).  John Ashcroft’s abuse of the material witness statute to “preventively detain” numerous American Muslims who had done nothing wrong was “repugnant,” dangerous and tyrannical — and that’s exactly what any Congressional scheme would be that purports to vest the President with the legal power to “preventively detain” people in the absence of criminal charges.”

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

Quote Requests:

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Andrew Fox 0466 090 380
seachangeremovals@yahoo.com.au

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We are always happy to provide advice on how to ship and store any items.

SeaChange Removals Rates

Local Moves

Multiple items/Moving home

$110 per hour truck and 2 men

$150 per hour truck and 3 men

Negotiable 30 minutes travel time for removals Sydney Metro Local Service Area listed at the bottom of page.

n.b. SeaChange Removals subcontracts work from larger removals companies.

We are charged out  at:

$132 per hour 2 men

$198 per hour 3 men

Direct SeaChange customers get the same service level as premium, full service clients sourced by more established removalist agents/companies.

Sydney Local Purchase Delivery

Sydney local metro door to door up to 5 items one man $99

two man $150

Interstate Moves

Interstate minimum $330 for up to 3 cubic metres

Interstate whole of truck (46 cubic metres/4 bedroom house):

- Sydney to Brisbane (or Brisbane to Sydney) $3850

- Sydney to Melbourne (or Melb to Sydney) $3850

- Sydney to Adelaide (or Adelaide to Sydney) $4400

With enough notice and time to plan these interstate prices can be reduced by backloading.

A backload is where multiple jobs are carried on the same return journey.

The above prices are for whole of truck exclusive use. Backloads can reduce costs by up to 40%.

Nb: All prices include GST, prices are charged in 15 minute blocks, travel time is negotiated (no depot to depot charge)

Conditions on fixed price moves and deliveries:

Ground or first floor access, truck within 20 metres of front door, small items must be packed by owner into boxes. 150 kg per item limit. Packing service available at per hour rate.

About Seachange Removals

Seachange Removals Pty Ltd is wholly owned and operated by Andrew Fox.

The company was formed in April 2009.

Andrew has been moving furniture since 1993 when at 14 years old he was helping in his family’s furniture store in Sydney. Andrew and his father worked after school and on weekends delivering new furniture to customers.

After leaving high school Andrew worked for investment banks in trader support, technical and back office roles for approximately seven years.

During the other 7 years since finishing school Andrew has worked for many of the larger furniture removals and transport companies in Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin as an offsider, driver, team leader and operations manager.

Seachange Removals works with many of Andrew’s previous employers. Andrew’s ongoing relationship with these other established companies and operators gives his customers access to other trucks, discounted storage and backloads.

Do you need boxes?

If you need boxes to move we can help.

We buy boxes in wholesale quantities to keep the price low.

We provide new boxes for $4 new and used boxes for $3 (when available).

We can drop off boxes to you before your move for free.

We buy back boxes for $1.50 each (Sydney metro only)

If you are using another removalist service and just want to buy boxes from us we can deliver them for $20 (Sydney metro)

Fragiles/ Valuables/ Antiques/Heirlooms?

We will look after your items and treat them with the utmost care whether they have a high monetary or sentimental value.

We will keep your items safe by taking the time to ensure they are packed carefully and loaded securely.

We have bubble wrap, sensitive quilted freight blankets, boxes and crates. We will choose the most appropriate method to wrap, stack and load your items to avoid damage.

We are happy to safely move your paintings, artworks, pottery, heirlooms, fish tanks, glass, plasma tvs, pianos, AV/IT and electrical items and musical instruments.

What equipment do we have?

Sensitive freight blankets
Quilted furniture pads
Heavy duty trolleys and dolleys
Balcony Straps
Piano Straps
Battery Powered LED Lights
Power Tools for disassembly
Plastic covers for mattresses and lounges
Packing tape
Portable robes and boxes
Packing Boxes Available

What will we move?

Boxes, furniture, home, house, antique, artworks, cedar, oak, bookcase, drawers, table, chair, lounges, couch, dining, mahogany, blackwood, grandfather clock, hutch, desk, piano, draws, retro, sideboard, marble, glass, cabinet, stand, coffee table, mirror, dressing table, cupboard, bedroom, bed, cedar, lowboy, tallboy, bedside, bench, seat, dresser, china, tray, hallstand, washstand, lounge, seater, kitchen, pedestal, armchair, baltic, chest, setting, chaise, hardwood, tapestry, daylounge, daychair, commode, paintings, crystal, liquor cabinet, shop counter, pine, chic, headboard, armchair, sewing machines, credenza, display cabinet, fridge, freezer, washing machine, trunk, case, collectors items, cast iron, wardrobe, rocking chair, dresser, buffet, bookcase, leather, vinyl, veneer, particle board, office, reproduction, shop, single, double, queen, frame, shelf, teak, occasional table, corner suite, masonite, plywood, skate ramp,

What won’t we move?

Unfortunately we won’t be able to move any dangerous goods:

Gas bottles

Flammables

Liquids

Chemicals

Explosives

Infectious or decaying matter

Contraband

Weapons and ammunition of any kind

SeaChange Removals Sydney Metro Service Area

Abbotsbury – Abbotsford – Acacia Gardens – Agnes Banks – Airds – Akuna Bay – Alexandria – Alfords Point – Allambie – Allambie Heights – Allawah – Ambarvale – Annandale – Annangrove – Arcadia – Arncliffe – Arndell Park – Artarmon – Ashbury – Ashcroft – Ashfield – Asquith – Auburn – Auburn North – Auburn South – Auburn West – Audley – Austral – Avalon – Badgerys Creek – Balgowlah – Balgowlah Heights – Balmain – Balmain East – Balmoral – Balmoral Beach – Bangor – Banksia – Banksmeadow – Bankstown – Bankstown Airport – Barangaroo – Barden Ridge – Bardwell Park – Bardwell Valley – Barra Brui – Bass Hill – Baulkham Hills – Bayview – Beacon Hill – Beaconsfield – Beaumont Hills – Beauty Point – Beecroft – Belfield – Bella Vista – Bellevue Hill – Belmore – Belrose – Ben Buckler – Berala – Berkshire Park – Berowra – Berowra Creek – Berowra Heights – Berowra Waters – Berrilee – Beverly Park – Beverly Hills – Bexley – Bexley North – Bickley Vale – Bidwill – Bilgola – Bilgola Plateau – Birchgrove – 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One of the things about my tribe that that sticks in my craw the most is its horror at seeing a naked human body. (Or even a semi-naked human body, or even a naked human semi-body) . I am constantly amazed at the violent reaction this draws from folks wherever they may be.  Today’s story comes from Silt, CO, somewhere southwest of Denver… 

Two weeks ago, the town unveiled a new ornament to its traffic roundabout. Approved by the powers that be, it (appropriately enough for a Rocky Mountain burg) featured a climber scaling a rock face. Elemental. Raw rock. Nearing the top of its climb, the faceless, frontless, human scaler had- horrors- no clothes on!!!! Anyone could see its butt protruding as he (or perhaps she by the look of it) lifted himself up near the top. (See http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20090902/NEWS/909019972/1058) 

Certainly this could not offend any sane person. But, then- someone felt compelled to pin a cloth across the offending body part.  I’m not even going there with this comment by a local- “It’s not just me — there’s a lot of people. And it’s not the sculpture — it’s the one part — the naked man climbing the wall.” Jacobs, who is a plumber, said it was the “crack” of the sculpted figure’s buttocks that disturbed him.” A plumber said this?

I hope it was a joke. Considering how twisted the folks of this nation have been in the past, though, I fear the worst. Consider, after all, Att’y. General Ashcroft’s “drape across the naked Justice’s breast” stunt in 2002 (see http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/01/29/statues.htm ), or the south Florida’s brouhaha in July over an abstract nude near a school that led one parent to complain, “My daughter has been joking about it. She shouldn’t be talking to me about this.” (see http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/sfl-west-delray-nude-sculpture-p072309,0,5834016.story) 

In a 2005 controversy in Loveland, CO, the heart (or…. something of the matter) may have been struck-  “Dan Danowski, a local Mormon bishop, said the sculpture causes immoral thoughts. “My main concern is those who drive past and the things that will take place in their minds,” he said.

Sigh.

What do we do about our adolescent nudity angst? Education, I guess, is supposed to help. Maturity would be good. Or maybe it’s just time to move…

All this talk in the news lately about whether former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft condoned torture of suspected terrorists or urged President Bush to raise threat levels for political purposes evokes vivid memories of a night in the heartland twenty summers ago when I struck a blow for press freedom against Ashcroft.

Freedom, that is, from the commotion he and his entourage created one steamy Saturday night during a Giants-Cardinals game in St. Louis. That’s when I ejected then-Missouri Governor Ashcroft from the press box at Busch Stadium – for cheering.

It was July 8, 1989. The temperature was a sticky 93 degrees as 47,000 Cardinals fans packed the ballpark to watch Whitey Herzog’s Redbirds take on Roger Craig’s first-place Giants.

I was there in my role as the Giants’ PR executive and liaison to the team’s traveling beat writers and broadcasters. I sat with a half-dozen Bay Area sportswriters at the third base end of the expansive press box, some forty yards away from the St. Louis media contingent.

The Giants were leading 4-3 when left fielder Kevin Mitchell, enjoying an MVP season, led off the top of the sixth with a bomb to deep left field off reliever Frank DiPino, Mitch’s second homer of the game. One out later, Giants third baseman Ernie Riles singled up the middle. With a 1-1 count on the next hitter, Pat Sheridan, Riles attempted to steal second. Cardinals catcher Tony Pena nailed him with a perfect throw.

A shrill voice erupted directly behind us. “YEAH, TONY! ATTA BABY! GO CARDS! OH, YEAHHHH!”

We all turned in the direction of this jarring and unexpected outburst. Cheering in the press box is one of baseball’s cardinal sins – and not just in St. Louis.  In fact, “No Cheering in the Press Box” was the title of a book by the late, legendary Chicago baseball writer Jerome Holtzman. (Aside: Later that year, when the Giants were an out away from clinching the NL pennant, I left my seat in the Candlestick Park press box so I could join the screaming fans in the upper deck.)

A  half dozen people decked out in full Cards fan regalia had apparently emerged from a luxury suite adjacent to the press box and were gathered behind us. Several clutched beers, waving caps and pennants, whooping it up. Obviously, they were not sportswriters. One man who appeared to be the leader of the group continued shouting encouragement to the Cards at the top of his voice.

Nick Peters of the Sacramento Bee, who then was considered the dean of the Giants’ traveling writers, was seeing red. He scowled at me with his arms outstretched and his palms up, as if to say who are these people and what are you going to do about it?

I got up and approached the ringleader, whom I did not know or recognize. I glanced far down the press box to see if any Cardinals staff had noticed the disturbance, but they were all preoccupied with the game still in progress.

I felt awkward about enforcing decorum in another team’s park, but I had no choice. Peters, a veteran scribe who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer, could be demanding and impatient on deadline. He had already elevated my personal media terror alert. This called for some enhanced but tactful interrogation techniques. The conversation with the rowdy fan went like this:

Me: Excuse me, sir. This is a working press area.

Him: You could have fooled me.

Me: Well, it is, and there is no cheering allowed in the press box.

Him: But that’s wrong. When I see my team do something good, I cheer. Do you know who I am?

Me: I’m sorry, I don’t. Do you work here?

Him: Any time I am in Missouri, I’m working! I am the governor of this great state! John Ashcroft (extends hand). How do you do?

Me: Forgive me for not recognizing you, Governor. I’m Duffy Jennings, the Giants’ PR director, from San Francisco. I’m simply pointing out that these writers are working. It’s the same as if a bunch of people charged into your office while you were trying to work and started hollering.

Him: My door is always open! Everyone is welcome in the governor’s office! And if they saw something good happen, they could cheer.

Me: I understand, Governor, but with all due respect, I still need to ask you and your group to leave this area.

By then, Cardinals officials, alerted to the disruption, had converged on us. They quickly took command of the situation, apologized to Ashcroft for any misunderstanding and escorted the governor and his group back to their seats. To his credit, he returned a short time later and apologized to me for the inconvenience he had caused. The Giants finished off the Cards, 8-5.

Sunday papers all over the country carried the story of the dustup between a chagrined Giants PR director and Missouri’s popular governor – the only Republican ever elected to two consecutive terms in Missouri history. He was subsequently elected to the U.S. Senate before Bush appointed him U.S. Attorney General in 2001, a post he held four years.

It’s not for me to say whether Ashcroft is guilty of any wrongdoing in office, but there are plenty of people around who would like to have seen him tossed out for misconduct.

In retrospect, I look back on that summer night in St. Louis with an extra measure of personal pride.

This New York Times article suggests that the CIA retained tight control over the detainee interrogations.  A quote:

“The Central Intelligence Agency’s secret interrogation program operated under strict rules, and the rules were dictated from Washington with the painstaking, eye-glazing detail beloved by any bureaucracy.”

So these were not low level people gone wild, which was what was alleged with the Abu Ghraib scandal, but instead was orchestrated by the highest levels in Washington.

This just might get interesting…  Way past time, but, oh well…

Ridge Claims That He Was Pressured to Elevate Threat Warning. Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge, the first director of the Department of Homeland Security, says that he was pressured by other agency heads to raise the national security-threat level on the eve of the 2004 presidential election – a move he rejected as having political undertones. The disclosure comes in promotional materials for Ridge’s new book, due out Sept. 1, in which he writes that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Attorney General John D. Ashcroft tried to pressure him to raise the threat level. “After that episode, I knew I had to follow through with my plans to leave the federal government for the private sector,” Ridge writes in the book, “The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege … and How We Can Be Safe Again,” according to publishers Thomas Dunne Books.

He submitted his resignation within the month.

Another official in George W. Bush’s administration, White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend, told the Associated Press on Thursday that Ridge “was certainly not pressured,” while a spokesman for Rumsfeld rejected Ridge’s assertion.

Some years ago, as the terror alert seemed to change whenever it was incredibly convenient for the GOP, many wondered if the Department of Homeland Security was being used to spread fear to the citizens.  It seems the only time these assh*les actually admit to their wrongdoings is when they are pushing book sales, as Tom Ridge, the former DHS head has come out and admitted that the terror alerts were changed not on the basis on intelligence information, but on the basis of political need.

From The Washington Post:

By Garance Franke-Ruta 

Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge, the first director of the Department of Homeland Security, says that he was pressured by other agency heads to raise the national security-threat level on the eve of the 2004 presidential election — a move he rejected as having political undertones.

The disclosure comes in promotional materials for Ridge’s new book, due out Sept. 1, in which he writes that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Attorney General John D. Ashcroft tried to pressure him to raise the threat level.

_________________________________________________________

This news is really not that much of a surprise to a fair number of people, and no doubt there will also be a certain percentage that dismiss this and any other similar revelations as complete nonsense.  Lets face it, truth isn’t based on facts, it is based purely on opinion.  And no where is this shown more clearly than in politics and/or religion.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pours through Tom Ridge’s new book and offers the relevant passages where the former Homeland Security chief discusses the Bush administration’s desire to increase the terror threat level for political reasons. Ridge reveals that Attorney General John Ashcroft and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld argued in favor of raising the threat level by noting the correlation it had with Bush’s approval rating…

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/20/ridge-book-ashcroft-rummy/

Anyone watching the behavior of that administration at that time understood this.  Well, anyone not a crazed ideologue or a happy-to-be-paranoid-at-all-times consumer of fear-inspiring propaganda, that is.

But it is encouraging to see Ridge, a rare individual in that administration who seemed to have a smidgeon of integrity, state what was so obvious.

Richard Ashcroft es uno de esos músicos con talento que el gran público tanto desprecia porque carece de un torso sugerente o, simplemente, porque solo vive de la música que crea y no de los shows “extramusicales”. Nacido en Wigan (Inglaterra) en 1971, fundó la mítica banda The Verve en 1989. Sí, ellos fueron los que compusieron the Bitter sweet symphony y la canción que pongo arriba “The Science of Silence” es por la que le conocí.

Serprize, serprize:

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration built an unprecedented surveillance operation to pull in mountains of information far beyond the warrantless wiretapping previously acknowledged, a team of federal inspectors general reported Friday, questioning the legal basis for the effort but shielding almost all details on grounds they’re still too secret to reveal.

The report, compiled by five inspectors general, refers to “unprecedented collection activities” by U.S. intelligence agencies under an executive orderterror attacks. signed by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001,

Just what those activities involved remains classified, but the IGs pointedly say that any continued use of the secret programs must be “carefully monitored.”

The report says too few relevant officials knew of the size and depth of the program, let alone signed off on it. They particularly criticize John Yoo, a deputy assistant attorney general who wrote legal memos undergirding the policy. His boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft, was not aware until March 2004 of the exact nature of the intelligence operations beyond wiretapping that he had been approving for the previous two and a half years, the report says.

Most of the intelligence leads generated under what was known as the “President’s Surveillance Program” did not have any connection to terrorism, the report said. But FBI agents told the authors that the “mere possibility of the leads producing useful information made investigating the leads worthwhile.”