Headlines Monday 27th April 2009

Aust on alert as deadly swine flu spreads
Australian health officials say no cases of swine flu have been detected here, but we're being urged to watch out for the symptoms.

Govt not convinced bikie warring is over
Senior members from at least six outlaw motorcycle clubs have promised to challenge new laws, allowing their gangs to be declared "criminal organisations".

Aussies under pirate attack
Australians are amongst those onboard a cruise ship which has come under attack by Somali pirates.

Federal MPs score a pay rise
Federal MPs have been awarded a $4,700 increase in their electorate allowance.

Govt to lift 'hardship' mortgage limit
The federal govermment will lift the limit for "hardship" mortgage assistance in an effort to stop struggling homeowners from losing their properties as the credit crunch bites.

Poor communications in Vic fire response
A communications breakdown meant firefighters couldn't tackle the Murrindindi blaze before it developed into an unstoppable fireball that consumed the Victorian township of Marysville on Black Saturday.

Dog dragged with tail in car door
A malnourished dog has had its tail slammed in the door of a vehicle and been dragged 30 metres......

Syd metro not on major rail project list
The New South Wales opposition says the absence of the state government's CBD metro plans from a......

Pair arrested over axe attack
A man and a woman have been arrested after a man was attacked with an axe at a licensed premises in......
=== ===
IT’S PERSONAL
Tim Blair
Now they’re attacking the Daily Telegraph:
Six pirates armed with AK-47s sped towards the cruise ship Melody as she sailed from the Seychelles to the Italian city of Genoa …

Among [passengers] was Daily Telegraph sub-editor David Cavenagh, who said passengers initially thought the gunshots were firecrackers.
Dave reports:
I was seated next to John Wright and his wife Trula from Charlottesville in the US.

They were our companions at dinner. John celebrated his 70th birthday that evening.

We walked towards the stern of the ship, through the library with its floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the ocean.

A small speedboat was keeping pace with the ship. There appeared to be about three people on board. I told John. He approached the window and looked out.

Turning away, a bullet passed through the window, narrowly missing his head. He was showered by glass fragments, cutting his back in several places.

We were then advised to go below decks. This was about 15 minutes after the first shots were heard.

As I write this, I am sitting in my cabin with the lights out and the door locked.
All onboard are fine following the ship’s successful escape. You’ll note that Dave’s copy – him being a sub – is completely free of spelling and grammatical errors, even though it was filed under pirate pressure.
===
PAY UP, JEFF
Tim Blair
The Wiggles charge for content:
Recent converts to user pays, the Wiggles are charging fans an annual cost of between $85 and $103 to join their virtual world.
It costs even more to escape. In other childhood media news, Antony Loewenstein doesn’t know the difference between an electric shock and electrocution.
===
SNOW WORRIES
Tim Blair
Following great snow years in 2007 and 2008, Australia is apparently headed for yet another:
If these weather predictions are correct, 2009 looks like being the third bumper ski season in a row.
Wonderful April snow is even trapping people in car parks. But, as someone on the ABC warns:
It’s snowing more because it’s getting hotter ...
Is there anything global warming can’t do? By the way, the New York Times might consider updating this two-year-old warmy panic story to better reflect current conditions:
How Do You Ski if There Is No Snow?
===
BOOM TIMES
Tim Blair
Australia’s shrinking employed population will love this:
Federal MPs have been awarded a $4700 increase in their electorate allowance and they could be set for a further wage boost within months despite grim warnings from the Prime Minister about the economy.

The 17 per cent jump in the allowance to $32,000 will almost compensate MPs for the pay freeze imposed by Kevin Rudd last year.
Maybe a 50 per cent tax rate will help.
===
ROAD STANDERS SAFE
Tim Blair
Pontiac should have persisted with muscle cars:
General Motors Corp. is readying plans to ditch its fabled Pontiac, an 82-year-old division that last flourished selling sporty, muscle cars, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

During its heyday three decades ago, Pontiac was the launching ground for young auto designers and executives including John DeLorean. But its sales have tumbled 70% since their peak in 1978, and the unit in recent years has been a steady money loser.
A famous Pontiac magazine ad was shot from the perspective of someone standing in the middle of a long, straight road. In the far distance an approaching car could almost be seen. “I wouldn’t stand there if I was you,” ran the copy. “That’s a Pontiac GTO.”
===
SMOKE TO SAVE THE PLANET
Tim Blair
Forgot to post Saturday’s column. Probably due to smoking.

UPDATE. Do you want to smoke … FOREVER?!
===
WHEN ACADEMICS ATTACK
Tim Blair
A student rates University of Georgia marketing professor George Zinkhan:
Witty guy, some information useful. But he demonstrated himself to be cold hearted and just plain nasty when I needed help. Stay away from this man.
Very prescient advice, that. In accordance with tradition, neighbours describe Zinkhan as a quiet man who kept to himself.

UPDATE. Zinkhan is on the run after his community theatre murder spree. The Jeep-driving killer academic and mystery man, last seen near his house in Bogart, Georgia, has already eluded police for more than 16 hours.

Readers are invited to nominate a time of capture. Factors to consider:

• Zinkhan seems a wily fellow, for an academic. He’s reportedly turned off or discarded his mobile phone to avoid police location attempts.

• All photographs of Zinkhan depict him wearing a beard. He’ll be more difficult to pick out once he shaves it off.

• He’s a marketing professor, so probably thinks himself quite the expert on behavioural patterns and such.

• Where might Zinkhan be headed? Police are monitoring airports – Zinkhan has a home in Amsterdam – and are also looking at Austin, Texas, where Zinkhan’s relatives live.

UPDATE II. Searching for Zinkhan:

UPDATE III. Zinkhan recently impressed a jury. This ability may prove helpful down the track, considering Georgia has the death penalty.

UPDATE IV. Further background: “He always came to class and acted like he was under the influence of some drug. Disorganized, confused, scatter-brained.” Hmm. And according to neighbour Dana Adams, Zinky was “kind of a strange character,” who would sometimes walk off in the middle of a conversation.

UPDATE V. Building interviewed: “Police surrounded his house in Bogart, talked at the house with bullhorns and broke down the front door to inspect the home, but Zinkhan was not located in the house.”

UPDATE VI. Faces of George:

UPDATE VII. Georgia’s Steve Huff is an excellent source of Zinkhan data.

UPDATE VIII. As well as turning off his phone, Zinkhan thus far hasn’t used any credit cards or made any ATM withdrawals. The killer professor is something of a specialist in tactics and strategy – at least as they apply to the internet.

UPDATE IX. Athens-Clarke County Police Capt. Clarence Holeman: “We’re doing everything we can to shut him down. I believe he will turn up somewhere, somehow.”

UPDATE X. Fred’s theory: “Searching the web I found some poems he’d written, including one about hiking in North Georgia. Makes sense to me that he might head there.”

UPDATE XI. Former student Ronald A. Guillemette recalls:
In my experience, George Zinkhan, as a professor, was very good and professional. I would never have expected these allegations; it doesn’t fit with what I remember of the man. Yet something very wrong happened in Georgia, and nobody is above the law. I pray for the victims of this crime and tragedy and the children whom have lost their mother – and possibly the presence of their father in their lives. If and when Dr. Zinkhan is apprehended, I hope that he will be extended his full Constitutional rights, including that of a fair trial.
UPDATE XII. A timeline of events.

UPDATE XIII. Police say Zinkhan “could be anywhere”.

UPDATE XIV. The victims.
===
Pandemic watch - did Rudd release a pandemic on us?
Andrew Bolt
Will this be the pandemic we’ve been warned about since Avian flu and SARS?

The swine flu virus that has killed more than 80 people in Mexico may mutate into a “more dangerous” strain, the World Health Organisation has warned.

“It’s quite possible for this virus to evolve… when viruses evolve, clearly they can become more dangerous to people,” said Keiji Fukuda, of the global health watchdog.

A partial list of countries affected so far:

Mexico: President Felipe Calderon has assumed new powers to isolate people infected with the deadly swine flu strain that health officials say has killed up to 86 people and likely sickened about 1,400 in the country since April 13.

New Zealand: Health Minister Tony Ryall has this evening confirmed ten positive influenza results from testing carried out on 13 Rangitoto College students who returned from Mexico early yesterday morning.

Canada: Health officials in Nova Scotia and British Columbia are reporting “mild” cases of swine flu, the first confirmed Canadian cases since an outbreak of the illness began in Mexico several days ago.

US: The US declared a public health emergency as 20 cases were confirmed in the country, including eight in New York City, one in Ohio, two in Kansas and seven in California.
===
Rudd’s cash: From those who earn to those who gamble
Andrew Bolt
This is gambling financed by the $900 a person giveaways that was cash taken from people who actually worked hard to earn it:

In an unusual move, the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation has warned that “extra government payments can lead to customers or club members spending extra money gambling. Gambling providers are encouraged in these times to watch for signs of problem gambling among patrons."…

The warning comes as the Government puts the final touches on the federal budget and after recent cash hand-outs caused an almost $30 million increase in poker machine spending in a month (in Victoria)… April figures to be released next month are expected to show a continued jump in taxpayer-funded spending on poker machines.

Not only was the cash wasted, it reinforced exactly the kind of behaviour that left some people broken enough to qualify for the cash in the first place. And the taxes to pay for the handouts will be raised from hard workers who will wonder why they are such mugs.
===
Nowhere is too far away to be no risk
Andrew Bolt
Australians were killed in the September 11 attacks in New York and the bombings in Bali, financed or inspired by terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were injured in Islamist terror attacks in London, Turkey and Mumbai. They were nearly killed in the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. And now this, off the coast of Somalia:

AUSTRALIAN tourists narrowly avoided being hit by machinegun fire as heavily-armed pirates tried to hijack their luxury liner.

True, this is merely piracy. But the point is that any place on earth left to fester will in the end release a poison that affects us all.
===
How temporary is Rudd’s “temporary”?
Andrew Bolt
“Temporary” is the buzz word now of the Rudd Government. Here’s Treasurer Wayne Swan today:

. The fact is levels of debt are a consequence of revenue downgrades and the responsible thing to do in these circumstances is to run a temporary deficit to support jobs and to return growth to trend levels over time.

Here was Kevin Rudd before him:

In the current unprecedented global conditions a temporary deficit is not an option, it is an inevitability.

“Temporary” sounds reassuring. But how temporary is “temporary”, exactly? Is it temporary as in gone in three or four years? Or temporary as in “temporary” classrooms, left there for generations?

We should be told.
===
Appeal to a closet sceptic #3
Andrew Bolt
Small Business Minister Craig Emerson,

You have been identified by colleagues and friends as a sceptic - someone who accepts there is no proof man is warming the world dangerously.

It is your public duty to now say so, before the global warming fearmongering costs Australia more jobs, dollars and sense.

Why won’t you?

(This is the third of a series. Defend reason and our economy. Send your tips, with proof, to bolta@heraldsun.com.au. Previously named in this series: Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, who hasn’t responded, and Opposition Leader in the Senate Nick Minchin, who protests that he is out of the sceptics’ closet. Note: No one who has confided their scepticism to me will be named unless others have independently dobbed them in to me. Confidences will be respected.)
===
Pakistan falling to barbarians
Andrew Bolt
Islamists capable of shooting dead this couple - and on video - merely on suspicion of “adultery” now control much of Pakistan outside the cities.

If you think you’ve seen many refugees already, watch would happen if Pakistan and its 170 million people fall completely to the Taliban. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is getting nervous about something else, too:

“One of our concerns, which we’ve raised with the Pakistani government and military is that if the worst, the unthinkable were to happen, and this advancing Taliban encouraged and supported by Al-Qaeda and other extremists were to essentially topple the government for failure to beat them back—then they would have the keys to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan,” Clinton told Fox News.

What might India’s fall-back position be?
===
Charles blows out yet more hot air
Andrew Bolt
Yet again, Prince Charles seems utterly blind to the irony of flying the world to condemn the gases he just blew out of the back of his private jet:

Prince Charles is being accused of hypocrisy after it was revealed that he is chartering a luxury private jet for a five-day tour of Europe to promote environmental issues.

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall, plus ten Clarence House staff, will fly from London to Rome this evening. Then they will fly on to Venice and Berlin, before returning to Britain.

Clarence House aides stress that the trip is at the request of the Government to promote its climate change policies. But instead of using scheduled flights, the Royal party has hired a private plane, thought to be an Airbus A319.

According to experts from the Carbon Managers company, which carries out environmental audits, the aircraft’s four European flights over 2,200 miles will leave a carbon footprint of 52.95 tons - nearly five times the average person’s 11-ton footprint for an entire year

Before that was this:

Prince Charles is to fly to New York, booking the entire first-class and business class section of a jumbo jet for his 20-strong entourage - to pick up an award for his work on the environment.

And this:

Prince Charles, 60, and Camilla, 61, were on a 10-day, three-nation tour taking in Chile, Brazil and Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands - the research inspiration for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution - meant to draw attention to the challenges posed by climate change.

If everyone fought global warming as Charles does, the planet sure would cool. The planes would simply block out the sun.
===
Snow falls early. Spot the first to blame..
Andrew Bolt
Global warming?

NSW has experienced its first snow of the year, with five centimetres falling in the state’s Snowy Mountains the earliest fall in more than a decade.

Of course, one bit of freak weather doesn’t prove blah blah blah. So where were all those caveats when outlets like The Age and ABC freaked over a poor snow season six years ago and swallowed alarmist nonsense like this:

The twin forces of drought and climate change have forced a Victorian ski resort to get creative when it comes to grooming its slopes. Mount Buller has hatched a $3.5 million plan to use water recycled from sewage to make artificial snow.

And this:

A 2003 CSIRO report, part-funded by the ski industry, found that the resorts could lose a quarter of their snow in 15 years, and half by 2050. The worst case was a 96 per cent loss of snow by mid-century.

And this:
New research indicates that, under the worst-case scenario, none of Australia’s ski resorts will be economically viable by the year 2070, he said.

UPDATE

The CSIRO may really, really need to check those climate models it uses to predict endless doom:

WINTRY weather conditions have hit Victoria with a vengeance, dumping up to 20 centimetres of snow on the state’s main ski resorts…

“If these weather predictions are correct, 2009 looks like being the third bumper ski season in a row. This would be great news for all Australian ski resorts,” Mt Hotham weather forecaster Pete Taylor said.
===
JIM TERRY: Sometimes “No” Is the Only Right Answer
Principal, Third Dimension Strategies/Republican Political Strategist
A new ad from Democratic groups denounces Republicans for saying “no.” But sometimes, “no” is the right answer. Yes, that’s right, just say “no.”

Anyone who has ever managed a staff–or raised children–will tell you that very often saying “no” to a bad idea is more important than keeping everyone happy. Yes, indeed, it can be difficult to stick to your guns in the face of angry, pleading, responses and “alternative offers” that amount to little more than semantic or cosmetic changes.

But, no matter how many different times and how many different ways the idea is pitched if it is still a bad idea, the answer should remain “no.”

Since taking office, the Obama administration, and Democrats in Congress have worked at a fevered pace. They have shattered records on government spending and debt with a massive bill chock full of Democrat pet projects cleverly named a “recovery package” in seeming recognition that it will do little to stimulate our economy.

They have continued to shovel hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to Wall Street elites with little to no accountability and pushed policies to socialize our economy by giving government vastly more power and control. Overall, they have advanced an agenda that simultaneously increases the cost to taxpayers and decreases their freedom.

Republicans have rightfully and consistently opposed these policies. And Democratic groups, no doubt encouraged by the Obama White House and the Democratic leadership in Congress, are now trying to punish them for doing so by labeling them “the party of ‘no.’”

Republicans should not fear such a label when the policies being proposed are so bad. Rather, they would be well served to produce their own video entitled “100 Days of Bad Ideas” to help America understand exactly what it is that they’ve been opposing.

Because, in politics–just like with managing a staff and raising children–there is no quota or limit on doing the right thing. And no matter how slickly it might presented, a bad idea remains a bad idea.
===
BILL SHULER — THE FIRST 100 DAYS: Ten Ways to Pray for President Obama
By Bill Shuler
Pastor, Capital Life Church, Arlington, Virginia
On January 20, the presidency of Barack Obama was a blank canvas upon which millions of Americans projected their hopes and fears. Now, almost 100 days later, issues such as the economy, foreign affairs and military activity are beginning to define this presidency. As we pause to measure the decisions of this president–or any American leader–let us not neglect the highest honor and responsibility given to each member of the community of faith.

The following are ways we can pray for our president:

1. Pray that God will continually honor him with great wisdom amidst the difficult decisions that he faces each day.

2. Pray for God to protect him and our nation from harm.

3. Pray that his decisions will always reflect a courage that goes beyond polls and politics.

4. Pray that he will be blessed in his role as husband and father.

5. Pray that he will be refreshed in his physical body.

6. Pray for First Lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters, that they will experience great joy in this new chapter of their lives.

7. Pray that he will be encouraged and filled with the “peace that passes all understanding.”

8. Pray for his staff, that they will serve him well and be a strength to him.

9. Pray that he will be humble but fearless in seeking and fulfilling God’s will.

10. Pray that he will build bridges to unite a nation.

The Scriptures command us to pray for “all who are in authority that we may live a quiet and peaceful life.” Let us dedicate ourselves to taking the next 100 days to strengthen our President in prayer.

By so doing, we call forth God’s blessings upon our nation.