Headlines Friday 3rd April 2009

G20 deal praised for absurd crackdown on ‘financial cowboys’
The financial market "cowboys" who wreaked havoc on the world economy will be brought undone by the agreement struck on Thursday by the world's 20 largest economies, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says. - I don't think the G20 will overturn the US election of Obama or congressional Democrats - ed.

Rudd's red meat mid-air outburst
The Prime Minister is accused of reducing an RAAF flight attendant to tears, after abusing her over a meal she served him. - he then cravenly fails to apologize properly after getting his office to claim it never happened. - ed.

Court decision on $900 handouts heard this morning
We will know later this morning whether the Rudd government's $900 cash handouts will be blocked by the High Court.

Search for Comanchero chief continues
The search continues for Comanchero bikie chief Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi over a fatal brawl at Sydney airport that involved rival group the Hells Angels.

NSW parliament passes tough bikie laws
Members of a criminal bikie gang who associate with each other will soon be sent to jail, under tough new laws passed through NSW parliament. - under what charge? Why were papers told before these crims? Why 'soon', and not 'now'? These laws don't sound tough enough - ed.

Chinese spies have Rudd worried
The email and mobile phone communications of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd have reportedly come under attack from Chinese spies. - Communist spies are still welcome. - ed.

Woman tied up while men ransack house
A woman has been tied up and threatened with a knife during a home invasion at Oatlands in Sydney's......

NAB slashing branch staff numbers
National Australia Bank is set to reduce its branch staff numbers in an attempt to rein in costs....

Names of Fromelles fallen released
The names of 191 Australian World War I soldiers believed to be buried at Pheasant Wood in......
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Your will becomes a judge’s will instead
Andrew Bolt
THINK you should have more say than a judge in deciding who gets your money when you’re gone?

Yes, Brian Naylor thought so, too. Little did he—or you—know.

The former newsreader, who died in the Black Saturday fires, did not want his estranged son Greg to inherit a cent of his $20 million estate.

His will, drawn up last year, was adamant: “(Greg) has during my lifetime received considerable benefit from me and my associated entities and his actions have caused me substantial emotional and financial costs.”

Greg was to get nothing more.

You may well think Naylor had the brains to make this call. He was no fool.

You may also think he had the right to make it, given this was his own cash and Greg is 54, long past the age when a man must stand on his own two feet.
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Betraying Latham as Latham betrayed
Andrew Bolt
BETRAYING close comrades is now good business, but Dr Mike Richards has surely crossed a line even in that grubby trade.

Richards was chief of staff to then Labor leader Mark Latham and now dishes intimate dirt on his old boss.

He’s written a 13,000-word piece describing Latham as a “narcissistic loner” with a “paranoid personality” that shaped his political behaviour.

“The core features of that style are a distinctive political brilliance and drive that is accompanied by paranoia and destructive tendencies—anger, rage, envy and resentment—which suggests an inner dynamic involving overweening ambition defending against (that is, compensating for) low self-esteem.”

If that reads as not just a backstabbing but a patient’s record from a psychiatric clinic, be not surprised. - Bolt seems to view this as a falling out among thieves. Something he'd never do. - ed.
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Not all that he appears
Andrew Bolt
...and not very Christian:

KEVIN Rudd reduced a young female RAAF cabin attendant to tears with a tirade of abuse because he did not get a meal he wanted during a VIP flight. The Prime Minister was forced to apologise for his behaviour, which appalled a number of senior Government officials.

An official report was filed by the flight crew about the behaviour of VIP No. 1 - Mr Rudd - after the flight from Port Moresby to Canberra in late January...The PM’s chief spin doctor, Lachlan Harris, initially tried to cover up the incident with a flat denial that it had even occurred.

But of course he would. Think Sunlies, Scores ...

UPDATE

Rudd apologises - in the modern, conditional, admit-nothing way:

I had a discussion with, I think, one of the attendants on the provision of food. It didn’t last very long and if anyone was offended by that, including the attendant concerned, of course, I apologise.

If.

And he then betrays precisely the attitude which led him to so monster a young women much his inferior in position:

As I said at the time to one of the staff on the plane, that’s it. We’re all human, we all make mistakes, your prime minister included.

“Your prime minister included.” What does that phrase do that “me included” doesn’t?
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Some countries really are different
Andrew Bolt
Fergus Hanson at the Lowy Institute reminds us of data that suggests why the Rudd Government’s infatuation with China might hurt it.

Question 2: If a company, bank or investment fund controlled by a foreign government was trying to buy a controlling stake in a major Australian company, please say whether you would be strongly in favour, in favour, opposed, strongly opposed or you don’t know, if the foreign government was the government of: *
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Bryce confirms she did Rudd’s business
Andrew Bolt
Governor General Quentin Bryce confirms she’s done Kevin Rudd’s political bidding in Africa, just like the political flunkey she claims she’s not:

Speaking at the conclusion of her trip, the vice-regal said that while the Security Council bid was discussed at most of the meetings with African dignitaries and officials, her bipartisanship was not compromised.

Good doggy. Does she know that what she’s done is not really lobby (improperly) for Rudd’s United Nations Security Council seat, but for Rudd’s United Nations career after politics?
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It’s love
Andrew Bolt
And they do this in public at the G20:

Mr Obama uttered a sentence. Mr Brown nodded. Mr Obama paused. Mr Brown froze, frowning. Mr Obama made a very slight joke. Mr Brown gassed himself, laughing for a good 30 seconds, eyelids fluttering like the wings of a soft-flapping Cabbage White.
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Trust them with your life and fortune?
Andrew Bolt

Here are thousands of people who think the world would be better if run on their lines - or else.

Meet their spokesmen - Marxists, brawlers, ferals and an Anglican bishop of London:

Yes, indeed, that bishop is the same political naif responsble for this cringe-maker:
Bishop Richard Chartres heaped praise on the Australian prime minister during a forum at St Paul’s Cathedral in central London on Tuesday…

``It would not be too strong to say the election of Kevin Rudd constituted something of an ‘Obama moment’ for that country,’’ Bishop Chartres told the gathering.

``He has a reputation as a politician who takes ethics very, very seriously.’’

More preaching from Chartres:

Redundancy could be a blessing in disguise for City workers who have fallen victim to the credit crunch, the Bishop of London said yesterday.

So why’s he so angry about the recession?
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More billions on what isn’t working
Andrew Bolt
Yet more of what hasn’t worked:

TREASURY is preparing the ground for a massive new burst of fiscal stimulus in next month’s budget, declaring that the measures to date have averted a plunge in consumer spending.

Consumer spending isn’t the problem. This is:

SENIOR federal ministers and industry leaders are laying the ground for a sharp rise in the number of Australians out of work, with the budget forecast on unemployment now certain to pass 7 per cent.

Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner and Treasurer Wayne Swan all conceded next month’s budget would reveal a higher forecast for unemployment in the wake of gloomy new global economic predictions, and an admission by the Reserve Bank that Australia is in recession.

And this was precisely what Kevin Rudd once claimed his lavish spending of our savings - and now borrowings - would avert:

Last November, Rudd thought his $10.4 billion stimulus package would ”create up to 75,000 additional jobs over the coming year”. He was wrong...

Terry McCrann is getting nervous:

If the rest of the world is in serious recession, we can’t avoid following. That was deputy (Reserve Bank) governor Ric Battelino’s message on Tuesday.

To attempt to pump-prime our way from following would not only be futile. Much like standing on the beach as the tsunami approaches, thinking you could drain the water away with a big hose.

Worse, it would threaten to do serious damage itself. From further promoting especially first-home buying at the bottom end of the property market to—from the fiscal pump-priming—leaving us with an excessively large public debt.
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Dying to be on TV
Andrew Bolt
Sydney shows that life is now resembling reality TV, and not vice versa:
OUTRAGE is growing over tales of sick voyeurism at the scene of this heartbreaking crash at Burwood, where a young mum lost her life this week. When the woman slammed into a tree late on Monday night, a male loved-one ran to the car, pulling at the door in a desperate bid to drag her free.

Instead of rushing to help, some onlookers filmed the scene on handicams and mobile phones, even as the distraught man screamed for help.

Rescue workers have told The Daily Telegraph Online, the phenomenon is becoming all too common at accident scenes around Sydney…

Dean Ivory, who lives directly opposite the crash scene, was one of the few to assist.... “People were taking photos, they had their video cameras out,” Mr Ivory said…

Mr Ivory’s wife Ingrid Clifford said another young woman was filming the scene on her mobile phone.
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The real butchers of Gaza
Andrew Bolt
Will Louise Adler and Q&A be as loudly condemnatory of these real abuses by the Palestinian Authoriy forces as they were last week of unsubstantiated abuses by Israel:

Since the end of December 2008, during and after the Israeli military offensive which killed some 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, Hamas forces and militias in the Gaza Strip have engaged in a campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of “collaborating” with Israel, as well as opponents and critics.

Note Amnesty International’s anti-Israeli spin, incidentally, even when criticising Hamas. Its claim that Israeli forces killed 1300 Palestinians, “most of them civilians”, is credibly denied by both Israel and journalists.

Should you be inclined to prefer the Hamas (and Amnesty) account of the death toll, and the claims that 960 of the alleged 1434 dead were civilians, consider this: What are the odds that most of the dead were civilians when even Hamas concedes that men outnumber the women among the dead 1025 to 121?
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Cooking up an immigration scam
Andrew Bolt
The immigration rorting is as blatant as this:

A LOOPHOLE in Australia’s skilled migration program has led to an eightfold increase in overseas students enrolling in cooking courses as a means of achieving permanent residency and a danger of a “race to the bottom” in wages, according to a Monash University study release…

Between 2004 and 2008 the number of overseas students enrolled in cookery courses rose from 1019 to 8242, according to the study… However, due to the low regulation of many of these courses, “relatively few actually work as trade-level cooks once they obtain permanent residence” and there remains a shortage of skilled cooks in Australia, says the study, authored by Bob Birrell, Ernest Healy and Bob Kinnaird and published today in the Monash journal People and Place.

I’m told by those involved that precisely the same rorting occurs with hairdressing courses. The question is why either category of employment needed such a dramatic increase of immigrant workers in the first place.
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SORRY DAY
Tim Blair
A certain someone requires counselling:
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was forced to apologise mid-flight to an RAAF cabin attendant on a VIP jet after he berated her because his “special” meal went missing.
Apparently the matter involved meat:
News Ltd reported that on a flight from Port Moresby to Canberra Mr Rudd shouted at a 23-year-old attendant because his request for a special meat-free meal could not be met.
Rudd’s vegetable rage marks a distinct change from the flying antics of previous Prime Ministers.
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NEVER BEFORE SEEN
Tim Blair
Inside Buckingham Palace’s secret corgi zone. - you need to click on the link. - ed
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White House Insults Britain Again?
By Sean Hannity
School was in session onboard the White House press charter Tuesday as it traveled to the G20 Summit in London.

According to Telegraph reporter Toby Harnden, White House staffers distributed press kits to members of the media that were supposed to help inform them about their destination, but instead it read more like a children's book, like the description of the U.K. which said it is "slightly smaller than Oregon."

More importantly, Harnden noted that the document isn't going to help improve relations between the U.S. and Great Britain either. It seems that the Obama team has downgraded our view of the country once referred to as our closest ally to "one of the United States' closest allies."

And even the bios included were a bit liberal with the facts: Hillary Clinton's didn't mention that she ran against Mr. Obama for president, but instead says only that she "campaigned for the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden."

Another brilliant foreign policy move by team Obama. They truly are hitting the reset button on our relations with countries around the world, and that's not a good thing.
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Giving Crazies Air Time
By Bill O'Reilly
Authorities estimate about 4,000 loons are roaming around London right now. Some of them trying to cause trouble as President Obama and other world leaders are trying to right the economy.

These protesters hate the world economy and just about everything else. Many of them are angry misfits, who derive pleasure from destroying stuff. Luckily, nobody has been seriously hurt thus far, but property has been damaged, arrests been made and the London police are showing remarkable restraint in the face of provocation.

From what we've seen, there are basically three groups of loons: anti-capitalists who want universal communism; environmental extremists who have a litany of complaints; and anti-war folks who want to give peace a chance while bin Laden and his crew cut off people's heads.

Of course, these groups have been around for decades, but the Internet has given them a lot of power. They can now mobilize, organize, and provoke in worldwide cyberspace. That gives the loons a tactical advantage.

Now we're seeing this in America as well. Political pressure groups using the Net to damage their opponents by organizing and smearing and pressuring President Obama. President Obama should take a hard look outside his hotel window this evening at the crew in the street because they are becoming very dangerous.

Also, jihadists are now using the Net to organize violence and recruitment. The president should think about how to deal with the growing threat.

Today, Mr. Obama met with world leaders and the queen and other dignitaries -- mostly dog and pony show stuff. The two best sources of information we've seen on the summit are stratfor.com and globalpost.com. You can check both of those out on billoreilly.com.

You see, we use the Net to do good.

Talking Points remains uneasy, however, about the Obama administration's lack of urgency when it comes to terrorism and anarchy. Jettisoning the "War on Terror" phrase, closing Gitmo, considering the release of captured jihadists, all of that is dubious to say the least.

So maybe -- just maybe -- President Obama will see the future when he looks at the hoards rampaging around London. He better see something because sooner or later, he's going to have to deal with it.
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CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: The important meeting was with China to set up what will essentially be a G2 — ongoing meetings between the leaders of the two largest national economies in the world. That's important.

What I was struck by, however, was what came out of the meeting with the Russians, where Obama persisted in his habit — which is incessant — of denigrating American foreign policy before him, when he said that for the last several years relations between Russia and the United States have been allowed to "drift." That's how he put it.

Drift? Russia invaded Georgia. Russia threatened to put missiles in Europe to threaten our allies, the Poles and the Czechs. Russia gave a bribe — $2 billion worth — to Kyrgyzstan to kick us out of our air base in Manas, which has injured our war effort in Afghanistan.

The idea that somehow there was an evenhanded neglect of relations or we're equally responsible is simply not so. And if he didn't want to blame the Russians — it's their aggressiveness that's the reason for the coldness in our relations — if he didn't want to say that openly in his meeting, he should have said nothing.

It is not a good idea. He's the president of the United States. He owns American history and if he won't defend it, he out to at least not denigrate it in public and give our adversaries ammunition in attacking us.