Headlines Thursday 12th June

Green cars with a twist of lemon
Piers Akerman
GIVING Japanese car manufacturers millions to build green cars in Australia is the 21st Century equivalent of paying people to paint rocks white.

It is yet another example of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s propensity to make up expensive, meaningless, policy on the run. This stream-of-consciousness decision is the latest in an exponentially expanding list of Ruddelusions that would be marked as harmless except for the fact that they all come with a huge price tag for already suffering Australian consumers.

In this case, the ticket to dream costs $70 million in federal and Victorian government funds - a huge bonus for carmaker Toyota which was planning to build hybrid cars here with or without such a generous subsidy.
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Either way, the best place is in Italy
Andrew Bolt
Reader Cashew has returned from Italy to claim in comments in yesterday’s forum that the most beautiful place in the world is Lake Como
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Make you sick
Andrew Bolt
A reader tests a public hospital.

I have a wife, a 3 ½ year old boy H. and a 16 month old boy L. and live [on the Mornington Peninsula]. We have never previously taken either of our boys to the emergency department at the hospital and only take them sparingly to the doctor.

Last night our 16 month old developed a serious looking rash all over his body which prompted us, grudgingly, to take him to our local hospital, Frankston. This is what happened (times were recorded on my phone as a note as each occurred)
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Petrol price leaps to 166.9 cents a litre
As the price of unleaded fuel reached a reported "record" price at service stations around Sydney, an industry spokesman says the issue of petrol prices should not be "sensationalised" by records. - it is ok, ALP voters. Rudd is watching. -ed.
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Rudd accused of dodging Dalai
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has rubbished claims he has used his trip to Japan and Indonesia to avoid meeting with the Dalai Lama. -Rudd's previous grandstanding has created a diplomatic nightmare -.ed.
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I'll go to counselling, but I didn't do anything: Neal
The Federal MP at the centre of the Iguana Joe's scandal insists Prime Minister Rudd believes her version of events, despite ordering her into counseling.
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Police show face of serial sex attacker
Police have released a COMFIT image of a man wanted over five assaults, including sex attacks on teenage girls in Sydney.
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High Court says underage sex is excusable
A person who has sex with a minor in NSW could escape conviction if they honestly believe the teenager is over 16, the High Court has ruled.
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Top uni struggling to cover research
By Matt Williams
THE University of Adelaide is struggling to cover the cost of much of its research work, putting its staff and facilities under pressure, Vice-Chancellor Professor James McWha has warned.

In the latest edition of the university's newsletter, Adelaidean, Professor McWha revealed: "For every dollar we earn in research, the university needs to spend $1.50 just to make that research happen."
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Bebo blamed for boy's death
A 13-YEAR-OLD boy committed suicide after online bullies taunted him for appearing "emo" on a social networking site, his family said.
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Breakthrough in hit-run naked dad tragedy
POLICE have impounded a car believed to be linked to a hit-and-run accident which killed a teen.
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Watch Iran
Andrew Bolt
I haven’t been paying enough attention, despite Bush’s recent visit to Israel, and Olmert’s to the US:

President Bush, in a fresh warning to Tehran, said yesterday that he favors a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff with Iran but has not ruled out the possible use of military force.
Bush spoke at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but his words were aimed at Iran. Bush warned Iran against dragging out the dispute to run out the clock on his presidency.
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The persecution of Mark Steyn
Andrew Bolt
The extraordinary use of Canada’s human rights police to stop Mark Steyn from exercising his right to free speech reaches its climax. Can it get any more insane?
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Don’t mention the war on emissions
Andrew Bolt
People are dying for the sake of cheap petrol:

At least two people were killed during fuel protests that are spreading across Europe...
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Going sour under Rudd
Andrew Bolt
This isn’t really Kevin Rudd’s fault, but is in great danger of being seen as his problem:

CONSUMER confidence has crashed to its lowest level in more than 15 years, as record fuel prices and high interest rates cast a growing pall over the Australian economy. -while one appreciates Bolt's POV, the fact is that this is entirely a problem of Rudd's making. Rudd is not the conservative he claimed to be. He has pursued inflationary policy and it has hurt the market, and will continue to do so. - ed.
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Labor MP says Neal just doing the Labor thing
Andrew Bolt
The allegations keep coming against federal Labor MP Belinda Neal, ordered into anger management classes by Kevin Rudd for abusing waiters and kicking a soccer player:

A NSW Central Coast music teacher who taught Ms Neal’s son the trumpet described the Labor MP as a “total horror”.
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A light goes on in Perth
Andrew Bolt
Western Australia has a disaster on its hands with an explosion that has knocked out a third of its gas supplies for the next two months:

The Varanus Island gas explosion has already caused major disruption to a wide range of industries, but (Victoria’s) Longford incident suggests the problem could get worse.
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Surely he’s not THAT bad, Nicola?
Andrew Bolt
I hope that necklace isn’t an insight into the state of mind of Health Minister Nicola Roxon.
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Japanese journalists give Rudd wasabi
Andrew Bolt
Kevin Rudd gets a tough time from Japan’s journalists, in a trip which so far seems to have had no purpose but to fix the damage he himself has done - and may not have fixed. Oh, and to give Toyota $35 million it didn’t need.