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War heroes forced to shell out for medals
By Brad Watts
VIETNAM veterans have opened fire on the Federal Government for making them pay for gallantry awards.
About 100 veterans have had to buy citations awarded for their bravery in the Battle of Long Tan in 1966.
Peter Jamieson, of Sydney's North Rocks, said Delta Company veterans were furious they had to pay $12 for the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry unit citation with palm - imported from the US.
The awards were offered by the South Vietnamese government in 1967 but were not accepted then by Australia.
The Federal Government approved the citations to be worn in August after an independent review by a panel of retired senior army officers.
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Iemma orders Costa to stay put
PREMIER Morris Iemma has told Treasurer Michael Costa to pull his head in after a threat to resign if Cabinet did not approve his radical public sector reforms.
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Schools to shut in teacher strike
By Bruce McDougall, Education Reporter
THE NSW Teachers Federation is urging 2240 principals to close their schools tomorrow in a strike over pay and staffing.
Teachers will walk out for two hours but the stoppage will force some schools to shut their gates as the federation has refused to authorise minimal supervision for 750,000 students.
The action will create widespread confusion for thousands of working parents who have not been able to arrange care for their children.
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BEAR LADY
Tim Blair
An Alaskan Democrat—currently experiencing “dread”—warns against underestimating Sarah Palin:
Sarah is a shark. She is smart, and she is shrewd. However, she comes across as extremely personable; you can’t help but like her in person …
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KETTLE STEAMING
Tim Blair
The Guardian‘s Martin Kettle, master of the velvet intro:
Maybe it hardly bears thinking about the morning of November 5 if Barack Obama has lost to John McCain the previous day.
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REASON: FEWER BODIES
Tim Blair
If you must jog, jog at night.
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HISTORICAL TICKET JUST BECAME MORE HISTORICALER
Tim Blair
The National Organization for Women rejects Sarah Palin:
Sadly, she is a woman who opposes women’s rights, just like John McCain.
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NAUGHTY LIBRARIAN BEATS TEDIOUS AUTOBIOGRAPHER
Tim Blair
Mark Steyn—briefly returned from his sinister hiatus—hails the Republican pre-VP:
What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, I’m not saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but it was certainly high on my list of priorities. And for the gun-totin’ Miss Wasilla then to go on to become Governor while having five kids makes it an even more uniquely American story.
Next to her resume, a guy who’s done nothing but serve in the phony-baloney job of “community organizer” and write multiple autobiographies looks like just another creepily self-absorbed lifelong member of the full-time political class that infests every advanced democracy.
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LIVING THE DREAM
Tim Blair
Bruce Wolpe, Fairfax corporate affairs manager and Australia’s highest-paid Democrat fanboi, reports from Denver:
Michelle Obama, with her strength and grace and human wisdom …
Teddy Kennedy, the lion in winter, daring to revive, one more time, for one more generation, the dream …
Hillary Clinton[’s] amazing intellect, ability, competence, passion and commitment …
In Australia, indigenous peoples might call it Obama Dreaming. It is Barack Obama and the American Dream. And he certainly brought it alive …
Meanwhile, staff at Wolpe’s newspapers remain on strike – and could now face lockouts.
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EVERYBODY HURTS
Tim Blair
REM’s Michael Stipe is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice:
Asked what he felt it would mean for America if McCain wins the election, Stipe smiled and said: “Well I’d have to move to England”.
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THE TRAP
Tim Blair
“Around the blogosphere you will see many left-wing writers criticizing Palin for lack of experience,” writes Tyler Cowen. “Maybe this criticism is correct, but these commentators are falling into The Trap.” (Via Instapundit.) “The Trap”, of course, is the whole experience issue. For the record, and future reference, this is the full extent of Obama’s experience:
Two years at Occidental College, two years at Columbia University, a year in business, three years as a community organizer and then law school. Obama’s four two-year terms in the Illinois state senate are his version of permanence, but in two of those terms, he was busy running for higher office.
That’s it. Sharp line (from a brilliant column) by David Brooks:
Barack Obama loves the future because that’s where all his accomplishments are.
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COMMENT OF THE WEEK
Tim Blair
From Courting Jester, after I’d declared my love for Mother Earth:
Careful there, Tim, she’s bipolar.
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BELIEVE
Tim Blair
Having already killed 71 people in the Caribbean, Hurricane Gustav is advancing on Cuba and New Orleans. Michael Moore’s view:
Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven.
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MEMO RECEIVED
Tim Blair
Folks at the Guardian are suddenly obsessed with age and illness:
• Michael Tomasky: “John McCain is 72 and has cancer.”
• Cliff Schecter: “John McCain just turned 72 today (happy birthday senator!) and has had skin cancer.”
• Amanda Coyne: “ … a 72-year-old man who has had cancer …”
• And Michael Tomasky again, on video: “John McCain is 72 and has cancer.”
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USO! USO! USO!
Tim Blair
Barack Obama maintains a consistent advantage among white voters only within the dense and bearded perfesser demographic.
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Strike while the Bush is hot
Andrew Bolt
After all, Israel has only a few months left before the reliable President George Bush is replaced, probably by the highly unreliable Barack Obama:
Israel will not allow Iran to attain nuclear capability and if time begins to run out, Jerusalem will not hesitate to take whatever means necessary to prevent Iran from achieving its nuclear goals, the government has recently decided in a special discussion.
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Iraq’s oil taken
Andrew Bolt
But, but, but ... didn’t the US invade Iraq so it could steal all its oil?
Iraq has signed its first major oil deal with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry said Saturday… The contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation could be worth up to $3 billion.
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Chilling truths
Andrew Bolt
The day after Channel 9 screens Scorched, an eco-alarmist drama showing Sydney being fried by global warming, we read this:
SYDNEY’S global warming sceptics have a new bit of ammunition - the harbour city just experienced its coldest August in 64 years.
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As poor and sick as your culture
Andrew Bolt
Poverty and bad health is increasingly just a side-effect of the culture you choose - or which your parents choose for you:
POORER women are now less likely to breastfeed than they were a decade ago, increasing the chance of their babies becoming ill and being hospitalised, a new study shows…
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Vote for the black guy to prove you’re not racist
Andrew Bolt
The Guardian’s Martin Kettle says making Obama president would be America’s way of saying sorry for its racism:
The election of Obama would be, beyond question, one of the noblest gestures of historical redemption that Americans have ever been called upon to make. But that is precisely why it may not happen.
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Piling onto Palin
Andrew Bolt
Wired Magazine jumps on an undoubted negative about Sarah Palin - at least for me:
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin wants creationism taught in science classes.
In a 2006 gubernatorial debate, the soon-to-be governor of Alaska trotted out the usual creationist education canard: “Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of education. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”
But Little Green Footballs points out that the criticism is dishonest if Palin’s subsequent “clarification” isn’t also noted:
In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:
“I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”
She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum.
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Perk-buster perks up McCain
Andrew Bolt
The more voters learn about Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the more they are hearing what they’d love:
One of her first official acts as governor was to sell the private jet purchased by the outgoing (Alaskan Governor Frank) Murkowski on eBay for $2.7 million.
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