Patriotism

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official..."

~Theodore Roosevelt

Roadrage, vandalism, revenge and a new car

I've had a really fucked-up 24 hours. The punch-line is, my car was assaulted and badly hurt last night whilst I slept. I'll start from the start.......

My car is an embarrassment especially considering the money I earn and the fact that I drive to work on a client site every day. I have never been a rev head, so have spent very little on cars in the past. Every day I drive to the far corner of the outside carpark at my current client site (in Glen Waverley) and hope nobody sees me.

So, Tuesday night I was just arriving home when a tradesman in a white van came flying up the road on the wrong side. I was halfway through my turn when he swerved towards me, flashed his lights and started yelling. Not to be outdone, I pulled up next to him and called him a "Fucking Cunt" who "couldn't drive", I then called him a "Cock Smoker" and said he should stay on his own side of the road.

He was livid and a little speechless. He took off up the road, and for a moment I wanted to follow, as this particular road ends in a dead end, so I assumed he lived up there somewhere. I controlled my anger, parked my car (in the street) and turned my energies elsewhere.

The week proceeded as normal from then on.

So today is Friday, and I went out to my car as usual (ie, half asleep and running late). I pulled out of my parking spot, took off towards work, then tried to check my side mirror.

Nothing!

I tried the other one.

Nothing!

No mirrors. These were the kind built into the door. I made it to work without ripping off the steering wheel and throwing it at anyone. Upon inspection it looked like they had either kicked them off or used a blunt instrument. There was no other damage to the car. There is no way this could have occurred accidentally, as I parked in an alcove. Garden bed on one side, empty space on the other.

The first thing I thought was "white van guy".

Maybe he does smoke cocks and is embarrassed. I don't know. What I do know is that the white van he was driving HAS HIS COMPANY NAME AND NUMBER WRITTEN DOWN THE SIDE.

So, there may be more to this story after tonight.

The last bit. The new car bit. Thats about me being approved for a loan for a car today. Talk about a sign from the non existent holy father.
I am now shopping for my new car.

A day of mourning - Krispy Kreme invades Melbourne

So, back to my pet hate, American fast food. I will admit to eating KFC in Thailand and McDonalds in Malaysia, but by the time I went anywhere else I was more mature and aware of the colonialist strategy involving spreading the lazy self-righteous brand of obesity that is American "Free" Market Capitalism.

On Tuesday (26th September 2006) throngs of fools converged on an address at the less prestigious end of Collins Street in Melbourne. Sick of travelling to Narre Warren (Melbourne wasteland) and Sydney for their dose of fat, carcinogenic, deep fried balls of lard, the crowd cheered as Krispy Kreme began its reign of terror on the the Central Business District of this once great and proud (and fairly thin) city.

Radio stations, reporters and regular citizens alike greeted the invaders, oblivious of the gravity of the situation. Krispy Kreme is a disease, and it is a syptom. It is symbolic of the plague imposed on the world by a Super Power that no longer has an equal, and therefore answers to no-one.

We swallow the messages and the cheap, one-size-fits-all consumerism of the USA without question. Why? because we are stupid, just like America. It's not George Bush who is the devil as Hugo Chaves recently claimed. Bush is too inbred and stupid to be el-Diablo. It is the US political and social system that has grown out of control and beleives its own hype. This is where the evil lives.

Like the Roman Empire the USA will inevitably implode, and hopefully before it is too late.

Common tools and weapons used by the USA to colonise the world.....

Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds, Seinfeld, Dynasty, Dallas, Springer, Oprah, Burger King, Country Music, Bad Spelling, Wrong Pronunciation, Placating Politicians, Wars on Terror, Friends (TV), Vietnam, Fundamentalist Christianity....... Feel free to comment and add others.

By the way, for what it is worth, someone has put together a petition "Boycott Krispy Kreme...."

Democracy II

In the last few days I posted some pics I thought were funny about the state of democracy, or the American brand of democracy which is more neatly described and defined as "represenational democracy" as my colleague Angus pointed out. This isn't real democracy. In a real democracy, its everyone who gets a say, not just those with all of the benefits afforded by their status in society.

Angus is a fiesty little bastard, so take a Think Sink, a foolish little Right Wing American southerner. Perfect prey for any kind of taunts about US democracy, but you cannot use your gun over the internet buddy.

Definition of democracy - for the Americans who are not sure.

Here's a bit of what Angus Diesel-Fumes had to say - read the rest here

I've heard one after another whiny americans asking 'why would anyone hate?' (and those few that realise there are nations and governments outside america) 'Why won't the U.N. do what we want?' It's not exactly, that the rest of the world blindly hates america. It's just we don't trust you. Between faking evidence to justify war (try Vietnam, according to CIA reports, america fired on it's own ships, to pretend that it was Vienam.), and using any pretense necessary, AMERICA HAS BEEN IN 1 WAR EVERY 3 YEARS (on average) SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR. Every war, there's some great reason, which invarable turns-out to be fiction, or a misdirected over reaction. It all boils down to the fact that AMERICA RELIES ON WAR TO SUSTAIN IT'S WAY OF LIFE.

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT - hassle a redneck today

Think Sink - poor white narrow minded Pseudo-Intellectual Southern Republican trash.

Big White Hat - needs no further explanation

Conservathink- an oxymoron

Right Wing, Right Minded - a classic example of what is wrong with America. I'll wear fur, shoot stuff and waste resources cos its my God given right, or its in the constitution, or any other reason that does not involve an intellectual decision making process or compassion.

Illiteracy on the rise in the US - Is anyone surprised?

For those of you who didn't already realise it, the United States of America is one of the dumbest places in the world, and its not just my opinion. Aside from its disastrous foreign policy decisions, they also produce more waste per capita, more murderers per capita, and more fatty food per capita than anywhere else.

Corrupt Church leaders, crazy sectarians, drugs, guns, ridiculously big cars, steroid enhanced sports heroes, the list goes on. The US has it all often exclusively and always in abundance.

44% of the American adults do not read a book in a year

Illiterate Christians who swallow everything because their preacher says its God's word are the scariest by-product of this festering society. George W Bush and his Republican army rely on these people to vote for them, join their armed forces, crush sovereign states into submission (aka Democracy), and beleive the crap that the Fox network churns out day after day.

The NALS found a total of 21-23 percent - or 40-44 million - of the 191 million American adults (defined as age 16 or older) at Level 1, the lowest literacy level.

The rising rates of illiteracy has to be one of the most startling issues however, as the root of the problem lies in the South, and this is the Republican heartland. How do you know who to vote for (if you bother voting) if you can't read? Will there be millions of ballots with paw prints and scrawled crosses where names should be?

In an information age, no country with high and increasing illiteracy is going to stay on top for long.

Conservative politics (aka fear of progress), plus fundamentalist Christianity, plus illiteracy, plus a warped idea that guns fix things = we get an emerging disaster called the USA.

No book maker would bet on it lasting too much longer.

Amen to that.

1998 - Are all US adult citizens going to be illiterate soon?
2003 - The number of Functionally Illiterate Adults in the US is growing
2005 - Still growing

War criminals

Democracy

Monkey News

Since becoming a regular listener of the Ricky Gervais show with Ricky, Steve Merchant and Karl Pilkington, I've been forced to think about, and even investigate, some of the ridiculous subjects they bring up, purely to see how much of it it "utter shit" and how much is based in reality. I love Karl's Monkey News, cos its mostly garbage, but today when I looked up Chimpanzees, the subject matter of most Monkey News (despite the fact that they are Apes, not monkeys), I found a story that astonished me.

Did you know that in the US today there are over 1300 Chimpanzees in Laboratories being experimented on? Furthermore many of these were born in the 1950s and are either among the first to be captured in Africa and taken to the US for experimentation, or they are the children or grandchildren of the first.

Wenka is 52 years old and was born in the first facility (in Florida) of its kind, built to conduct experiments on Chimps. She has been used for decades in research including drug and alcohol, cognition, and other experiments. Her Grandmother was Wendy who was in the first wave of Chimps taken to the US from Africa.

It was news to me that Chimps lived this long for starters, and to top it off, I cannot believe that anyone would subject the little buggars to experimentation for decades without retiring them.

There is a group Release and Restitution for Chimps in the US fighting to release the older ones, and further, to stop the experimentation completely.

I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Sleeping on the job to advance your career......

For the past two months i have been training people in a technician deployment centre for one of Australia's largest employers. A contact centre is a contact centre, and many younger people don't see this sort of stuff as a career, so I can understand the lack of energy on one level, but sleeping in class????

In this place you get great desk space (mattered to me when I did similar jobs), you're not micro-managed (but some of these guys should be), you get freebies and food and stuff laid on, and it's a pretty nice environment.

Three big negatives have arisen though; it pays about 10% below comparable jobs in the market, the recruitment process has been too quick with not enough information being imparted to successful applicants about the job, and processes and systems have changed dramatically at least three times since day one.

The biggest positive of course is that all applicants get a weeks worth of paid training (with ME) before getting to work. Not many employers provide this much paid training for seemingly low-level roles.

So why have two people fallen asleep in training? A number of people have left after a short period, and other such things.

People expect a lot of their employer and the workplace these days. The guy who fell asleep in my class last week didn't care from moment one. He sat at the back of the class, wore iPod headphones, watched YouTube, and fell asleep.

I sat down to chat in the break. He is quite smart (if a little parent-pampered). He has a degree in IT. The thing that stood out though was, surprise surprise, he is lazy. His questions were about money and breaks. On his first day on the job after training, he didn't turn up. When his mate called him, sleepy asked him to fill in his timesheet and get it signed so he wouldn't miss a days pay. I advised the mate (after being consulted) not to get involved.

Sleepy no longer works here. He is just an example, but that's a 30% dropout rate from one intake of employees alone.

I may have mentioned previously that I was recently hiring graduates for my beloved employer (not sarcastic, I love my work). I see more and more evidence that a degree or other higher education doesn't make someone a better choice. You need to be intelligent on an emotional level, have a worldly outlook (not precocious) and simply think before you speak.

Any job you decide to take on, for the long or short-term, is worth doing well. Its not just for your employer, rather it is more for yourself. A sense of satisfaction at the completion of a job, or just doing a good job and knowing it within yourself, is worth so much. What I am seeing implies a lack of pride in the labours of one's hands and minds.

How to endear yourself to a prospective employer

I work for a consulting company which prides itself on its expertise, its young culture, and the talents of it's individual employees.

Each year we run a graduate recruitment program, targeting like minded individuals with a passion for one or more of our business streams, a great personality and loads of potential. I have interviewed all sorts of people for these (and numerous other) career opportunities over the years, and something that continues to amaze me is the simple mistakes people make when they could be making a good impression.

I can deal with people who cannot interview very well, unless they are sales people or professional communicators of some kind. I go particularly easy on fresh graduates. Yet, there are some things that indicate a lack of common sense. For example, when an interviewer asks about your 2-5 year goals during an interview for a permanent job, try to make it sound like you will be around for at least a part of that time. I had an answer to that question recently in which the young guy said he hopes to be working overseas in the short term. Our company is national only, and just minutes before this had been explained to him, along with the fact that we hope graduates will be with us for at least 3 years if possible.

My favourite though was a person to whom we sent a rejection email to. You know the ones, "Thanks for your application, we received many high calibre responses, please apply in future" etc etc. Most people don't respond to these except on the rare occasion to ask for specific feedback. A Masters student from Melbourne University thought he'd try to set himself up for next years intak. You know, get himself remembered and into our good books.

He wrote back, and I quote "you can kiss my arse, lol".

Nobody is perfect, and no employer would expect them to be, but write a good resume, present yourself professionally, respond thoughtfully at interview and avoid silly mistakes, and at least you know you did your best and you have a good chance.

One last thing. Also remember that there are probationary periods in most jobs. I had someone in a training session today who obviously forgot. He sat at the back of the class, had his headphones on, and fell asleep. Not a good look.

the parasitic workforce

Companies exist, in most cases, to make money. That way, they can pay employees, shareholders and bosses alike. For better or worse this makes sense in our free market capitalist society.

Why is it then that so many people expect a free ride? This isn't a dad rant or anything, as I concede that there are many people in society who need a free ride, either all the time or on occasion. I like to know that my tax money goes into paying unemployment benefits for example, as it is not out of the question that I may one day need to claim just such a benefit.

We have some large, partly government owned companies in this country full of people who do not want to work, but who turn up every day to draw a salary. Many are miserable, many complain about their employers, but they don't quit. Why is that? Put simply, it is because they are opportunistic. Put accurately, they are waiting to be made redundant. Many have been redundant in more that one meaning of the word for quite a long time already, and have simply waited, bored and bitter, often for years, just for a payout. Had they quit earlier they wouldn't receive as much money, and they would have had to prove themselves in the real world.

I think workers, when they are good, are the backbone of an organisation, and I don't agree with our new workplace reforms. I do however, see why the government could rally support for them from so many people. Parasitic workforces on the old cushy contracts which carried over from the public service mentality of the more senior employees of our largest former public assets are a liability. The main reason for this is, unlike those of us who have worked for private companies, these guys can hold their employer to ransom. Whilst the rest of us change jobs every 2 to 5 years, these guys rot for 20+ years in the one place, accumulating information which they hold onto to make themselves indispensable, doling it out only grudgingly towards the end of their career.

Another similar example is Ansett, where thousands of people thought they would hang around until the bitter festering end, rather than read the writing on the wall and leave earlier. Having hung around despite all of the signs, they then demanded compensation from tax payers.

Unions get a bad name, workers get a bad name, jobs get outsourced, and the government changes legislation so that all of the power I in the hands of employers. Whilst I hate John Howard, the ideas to screw workers have their roots in these parts of the workforce.

Rant over.

i ate a baby

What is the story with our fascination with fat people? I'm not talking about the slightly overweight, the solidly built, the big boned etc. I'm talking obese, lazy, two big macs and a diet coke, out of breath stepping onto a train then taking up two seats kind of fat.

First up I'd like to apologise to all fat people who:

eat in moderation,

eat only when they are hungry,

excercise regularly,

take the stairs where possible,

have legitimately done everything possible to be fit and healthy.

I don't want to offend people who have genuine problems, but I fear that there are not many with real problems, plenty who think they have a genuine problem, and even more who just don't care enough about themselves or anyone around them to think there is an issue.

TV is dominated by fat people. Biggest Loser, Honey We're Killing the Kids, Celebrity Boot Camp and countless other reality shows are focusing in on our big brethren.

These people are the product of our greedy, lazy and wasteful culture. "We" are fat and lazy in so many ways.

I found myself thinking recently about what would happen if tragedy struck, and the population was thinned out (ha ha) by an epidemic. Lets say bird flu did what the doom sayers think could happen, but more importantly, that economies around the world collapse as a result, and people are forced back to subsistance living. Each person would have to contribute to the means of production and very importantly would have to phsically contribute to the production of food.

Subsistence living

Imagine actually working for each morsel on your plate and actually needing it to fuel the body in order for it to be in good enough shape to go out and work for the next meal. No room for couch sitting, remote control jockeying, potato chip eating observers. If you don't work, you don't eat. No short order chefs, shop assistants, fast food child slave workers to do everything for you.

I looked around me and thought that most of the people in my city (Melbourne) would die, or at best, have a really tough time adjusting.

I can shoot, use a bow and arrow, skin a rabbit, catch and gut a fish and identify some edible wild plants, and I think I would have a really tough time without gadgets, email, a service industry and a cushy job.

We're soft, we're lazy, we're obsessed with luxury and ignorant of the basic, subsistence elements of life. Why celebrate it? Why not celebrate "My Big Fat Organically Grown Pumpkin", or "Fresh Food on a Budget"?

thwarting the UN

The Whitehouse has never held up under scrutiny, particularly in times of "war" and the justification used to wage "war". Lately, GW has used the defiance of UN resolutions as just provocation and justification to challenge "evil-doers" and unfriendly regimes.

I guess it is only a matter of time then, that GW learns to read, and finds out that Israel has the worst record of all regarding the violation of UN resolutions. They have consistently disregarded the UN from the day they stole the land now labeled Israel on Western maps.

Saddam was knocked down (after being propped up years earlier) by the US on the grounds that he violated UN Resolutions. Iran is being threatened with the same fate. International diplomacy is not a game in which favourites should be played. All members should be measured with the same stick, and beaten with that stick if they step out of line. No exceptions.

I wouldn't want to be in Israel's shoes when the US declares that enough is enough.........

.........but we all know that this will never happen. Israel is funded, protected and loved by the US. Here's a list, firstly of UN resolutions against Israel from 1955 to 1992. Following that is a list of US Vetos of UN Resolutions critical of Israel.

UN Resolutions Against Israel, 1955-1992

Resolution 106: "... 'condemns' Israel for Gaza raid"

Resolution 111: "...'condemns' Israel for raid on Syria that killed fifty-six people"

Resolution 127: "...'recommends' Israel suspend its 'no-man's zone' in Jerusalem"

Resolution 162: "...'urges' Israel to comply with UN decisions"

Resolution 171: "...determines flagrant violations' by Israel in its attack on Syria"

Resolution 228: "...'censures' Israel for its attack on Samu in the West Bank, then under Jordanian control"

Resolution 237: "...'urges' Israel to allow return of new 1967 Palestinian refugees"

Resolution 248: "... 'condemns' Israel for its massive attack on Karameh in Jordan"

Resolution 250: "... 'calls' on Israel to refrain from holding military parade in Jerusalem"

Resolution 251: "... 'deeply deplores' Israeli military parade in Jerusalem in defiance of Resolution 250"

Resolution 252: "...'declares invalid' Israel's acts to unify Jerusalem as Jewish capital"

Resolution 256: "... 'condemns' Israeli raids on Jordan as 'flagrant violation""

Resolution 259: "...'deplores' Israel's refusal to accept UN mission to probe occupation"

Resolution 262: "...'condemns' Israel for attack on Beirut airport"

Resolution 265: "... 'condemns' Israel for air attacks for Salt in Jordan"

Resolution 267: "...'censures' Israel for administrative acts to change the status of Jerusalem"

Resolution 270: "...'condemns' Israel for air attacks on villages in southern Lebanon"

Resolution 271: "...'condemns' Israel's failure to obey UN resolutions on Jerusalem"

Resolution 279: "...'demands' withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon"

Resolution 280: "...'condemns' Israeli's attacks against Lebanon"

Resolution 285: "...'demands' immediate Israeli withdrawal form Lebanon"

Resolution 298: "...'deplores' Israel's changing of the status of Jerusalem"

Resolution 313: "...'demands' that Israel stop attacks against Lebanon"

Resolution 316: "...'condemns' Israel for repeated attacks on Lebanon"

Resolution 317: "...'deplores' Israel's refusal to release Arabs abducted in Lebanon"

Resolution 332: "...'condemns' Israel's repeated attacks against Lebanon"

Resolution 337: "...'condemns' Israel for violating Lebanon's sovereignty"

Resolution 347: "...'condemns' Israeli attacks on Lebanon"

Resolution 425: "...'calls' on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon"

Resolution 427: "...'calls' on Israel to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon'

Resolution 444: "...'deplores' Israel's lack of cooperation with UN peacekeeping forces"

Resolution 446: "...'determines' that Israeli settlements are a 'serious obstruction' to peace and calls on Israel to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention"

Resolution 450: "...'calls' on Israel to stop attacking Lebanon"

Resolution 452: "...'calls' on Israel to cease building settlements in occupied territories"

Resolution 465: "...'deplores' Israel's settlements and asks all member states not to assist Israel's settlements program"

Resolution 467: "...'strongly deplores' Israel's military intervention in Lebanon"

Resolution 468: "...'calls' on Israel to rescind illegal expulsions of two Palestinian mayors and a judge and to facilitate their return"

Resolution 469: "...'strongly deplores' Israel's failure to observe the council's order not to deport Palestinians" 39. Resolution 471: "... 'expresses deep concern' at Israel's failure to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention"

Resolution 476: "... 'reiterates' that Israel's claims to Jerusalem are 'null and void'"

Resolution 478: "...'censures (Israel) in the strongest terms' for its claim to Jerusalem in its 'Basic Law'"

Resolution 484: "...'declares it imperative' that Israel re-admit two deported Palestinian mayors"

Resolution 487: "...'strongly condemns' Israel for its attack on Iraq's nuclear facility"

Resolution 497: "...'decides' that Israel's annexation of Syria's Golan Heights is 'null and void' and demands that Israel rescind its decision forthwith"

Resolution 498: "...'calls' on Israel to withdraw from Lebanon"

Resolution 501: "...'calls' on Israel to stop attacks against Lebanon and withdraw its troops"

Resolution 509: "...'demands' that Israel withdraw its forces forthwith and unconditionally from Lebanon"

Resolution 515: "...'demands' that Israel lift its siege of Beirut and allow food supplies to be brought in"

Resolution 517: "...'censures' Israel for failing to obey UN resolutions and demands that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon"

Resolution 518: "...'demands' that Israel cooperate fully with UN forces in Lebanon"

Resolution 520: "...'condemns' Israel's attack into West Beirut"

Resolution 573: "...'condemns' Israel 'vigorously' for bombing Tunisia in attack on PLO headquarters

Resolution 587: "...'takes note' of previous calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and urges all parties to withdraw"

Resolution 592: "...'strongly deplores' the killing of Palestinian students at Bir Zeit University by Israeli troops" 55. Resolution 605: "...'strongly deplores' Israel's policies and practices denying the human rights of Palestinians

Resolution 607: "...'calls' on Israel not to deport Palestinians and strongly requests it to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention

Resolution 608: "...'deeply regrets' that Israel has defied the United Nations and deported Palestinian civilians"

Resolution 636: "...'deeply regrets' Israeli deportation of Palestinian civilians

Resolution 641: "...'deplores' Israel's continuing deportation of Palestinians

Resolution 672: "...'condemns' Israel for violence against Palestinians at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount

Resolution 673: "...'deplores' Israel's refusal to cooperate with the United Nations

Resolution 681: "...'deplores' Israel's resumption of the deportation of Palestinians

Resolution 694: "...'deplores' Israel's deportation of Palestinians and calls on it to ensure their safe and immediate return

Resolution 726: "...'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of Palestinians

Resolution 799: "...'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of 413 Palestinians and calls for their immediate return.

The following are the resolutions vetoed by the United States during the period of September, 1972, to May, 1990 to protect Israel from council criticism:

…..condemned Israel's attack against Southern against southern Lebanon and Syria..."

…..affirmed the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, statehood and equal protections..."

…..condemned Israel's air strikes and attacks in southern Lebanon and its murder of innocent civilians..."

.....called for self-determination of Palestinian people..."

.....deplored Israel's altering of the status of Jerusalem, which is recognized as an international city by most world nations and the United Nations..."

.....affirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people..."

.....endorsed self-determination for the Palestinian people..."

.....demanded Israel's withdrawal from the Golan Heights..."

.....condemned Israel's mistreatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and its refusal to abide by the Geneva convention protocols of civilized nations..."

.....condemned an Israeli soldier who shot eleven Moslem worshippers at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount near Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem..."

.....urged sanctions against Israel if it did not withdraw from its invasion of Lebanon..."

.....urged sanctions against Israel if it did not withdraw from its invasion of Beirut..."

.....urged cutoff of economic aid to Israel if it refused to withdraw from its occupation of Lebanon..."

.....condemned continued Israeli settlements in occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, denouncing them as an obstacle to peace..."

.....deplores Israel's brutal massacre of Arabs in Lebanon and urges its withdrawal..."

.....condemned Israeli brutality in southern Lebanon and denounced the Israeli 'Iron Fist' policy of repression...."

.....denounced Israel's violation of human rights in the occupied territories..."

.....deplored Israel's violence in southern Lebanon..."

.....deplored Israel's activities in occupied Arab East Jerusalem that threatened the sanctity of Muslim holy sites..."

.....condemned Israel's hijacking of a Libyan passenger airplane..."

.....deplored Israel's attacks against Lebanon and its measures and practices against the civilian population of Lebanon..."

.....called on Israel to abandon its policies against the Palestinian intifada that violated the rights of occupied Palestinians, to abide by the Fourth Geneva Conventions, and to formalize a leading role for the United Nations in future peace negotiations..."

.....urged Israel to accept back deported Palestinians, condemned Israel's shooting of civilians, called on Israel to uphold the Fourth Geneva Convention, and called for a peace settlement under UN auspices..."

.....condemned Israel's... incursion into Lebanon..."

.....deplored Israel's... commando raids on Lebanon..."

.....deplored Israel's repression of the Palestinian intifada and called on Israel to respect the human rights of the Palestinians..."

.....deplored Israel's violation of the human rights of the Palestinians..."

.....demanded that Israel return property confiscated from Palestinians during a tax protest and allow a fact-finding mission to observe Israel's crackdown on the Palestinian intifada..."

…..called for a fact-finding mission on abuses against Palestinians in Israeli-occupied lands..."