Headlines Wednesday 24th June 2009

Rudd's culpability ignored after claims Grech is a mole
There are calls for Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull to come clean on the nature of his relationship with a suspected government mole.

Turnbull unbowed: 'Bring it on'
Malcolm Turnbull is holding steadfast in the face of continuing questions about his relationship with Godwin Grech, challenging the Rudd government to "bring it on".

Utegate opens up questions about Heiner affair
In the light of the carry-on in Canberra in what has become known as Ute-gate, it is clear, as David Crowe in the Financial Review wrote yesterday, that other car dealers did not receive the attention extended to Mr Grant by the Rudd Government.

Ferries boss' $237K spending spree
Former Sydney Ferries boss Geoff Smith continued his $237,000 personal spending spree on a corporate credit card, despite being warned to stop, the ICAC has been told.

Swine flu man waited 'hours' for ICU bed
A man diagnosed with swine flu after he died had waited up to three hours for an intensive care hospital bed the day of his death, his parents say. - died from ALP broken promises so that they might further a scare campaign on Swine flu. - ed.

Third Australian dies with swine flu
A 50-year-old woman with life-threatening cancer has become the second person to die in Victoria with swine flu.

Left continue extraordinary assault on Berlusconi
Embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he has never paid a woman for sex, the subject of an embarrassing investigation underway in southern Italy.

Iran tense as Obama questions election
Iran remains tense as US President Barack Obama expresses outrage over a crackdown on protests and......

Hewitt into Wimbledon second round
Lleyton Hewitt eased into the second round at Wimbledon with a straight-sets victory over Robby Ginepri of the United States on Tuesday.

World could face 10 per cent unemployment: OECD
The OECD has warned that unemployment in the industrialised world could approach 10 per cent next year, a level not seen since the 1970s, and would remain high "for a long time to come."

Ed McMahon dies at 86
Ed McMahon, the loyal Tonight Show sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" for 30 years, has died.
=== Journalists Corner ===
Cracking the fed's books wide open!
Sen. Jim DeMint gives Glenn the latest on the new legislation fighting to keep the government accountable!
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'The Factor' Investigates!
Illegals win a multi-million dollar settlement after getting injured on the job. Glenn Beck responds!
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Guest: Newt Gingrich
The president tested! Has he said and done enough on the Iranian crisis? Newt gives his grade!
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Turmoil in Iran!
What should Obama should do next? Greta has insight on the president's next move!
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UPDATE ON MAX (and I hope she calls!)
Just a quick update on Max (the 24 year-old who has been severely disabled since age 8 months when he had a seizure.) We are still calling the Governor of North Carolina daily and hoping to get a call back by the end of the day from her press secretary. We just want to make sure the Governor looks closely at the bill that is making its way to her desk that would - in its present form - cut the benefits of Max and other severely disabled in North Carolina.
=== Comments ===
NO UNDERSTANDING AT ALL
Tim Blair
David Thompson reviews 1970s British feminism, featuring remarkable Guardian stereotype Julie Bindel:
What I could never understand – and I did resent – was [heterosexual feminists] going home to men at night. It just seemed such a contradiction. And often I would get very angry when I would challenge them about this, and they would say, “Well, that’s just the way I am. I just don’t fancy women.” Having no understanding at all of the fact that sexuality is a social construct and that we all make choices depending on the way we want to live and the world we want to see.
As David replies: “This, presumably, is how she still sees the world. Sexuality simply is a social construct - it’s a fact - and all human beings can reconfigure their desires in accord with ideology.” England must’ve been hell in the 70s; in between listening to leftist bulldozers trying to force attractive women into Soviet lesbianism, you got to drive one of these, dance to this, and be killed by a floor. They were ahead of the curve when it came to Earth Hour, though.
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OCEANS STOP RISING, EARTH BEGINS TO HEAL, ETC.
Tim Blair
The LA Times reports:
Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of heat-trapping gases that cause global warming, but President Obama’s plan to fight climate change would result in the nation burning more coal a decade from now than it does today …

The Environmental Protection Agency projects that even if the emissions limits go into effect, the U.S. would use more carbon-dioxide-heavy coal in 2020 than it did in 2005.
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Our Government Is Acting Like Alcoholic, Abusive Parents
By Glenn Beck
Despite our economy's so-called "green shoots" — a phrase that's been used in a staggering 1,017 articles since the inauguration — some economists are calling for a third stimulus.

But here's the one thing that nobody seems to understand: If America is our family, the government is acting like alcoholic, abusive parents. And I have news for you, kids: They're lying to us. "Green shoots," my foot!

And if I hear someone say we've made it through worse times, I'll hang myself. Has America ever had it this bad? Sure, but the events were clearly defined.

Economically, we had the Great Depression, which was worse than we have now.

War? Way worse: We barely survived a Civil War that cost 700,000 American lives; two World Wars in which about 90 million people worldwide died combined.

And a lack of trust from our politicians? We've also dealt with dysfunctional relatives and their huge breaches of trust — like Watergate, Monica-gate and Gate-gate — but we still bear the scars.

But on this struggle, we just haven't had any defining event, because our parents are abusive alcoholics destroying everything that made us strong.

We sit in fear of their arbitrary punishments, where the law is applied unequally. For example, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus proposed paying for the estimated $1.6 trillion health care bill by taxing health care benefits — unless you're in a union, of course.

Or the Chrysler-Fiat deal that saw junior creditors in the UAW paid before senior creditors in a teachers fund — violating the trust of bondholders.

The list goes on and on: Us kids are afraid to do anything.

The bad parenting also includes ruining our children's education. When 17 of the country's 50 biggest cities graduate less than half its students; lawmakers let the D.C. voucher program die, even though kids were a grade-level ahead of their peers; and two out of three students can't even locate Iraq on a map; are you really surprised that home schooling rate has doubled in the past 10 years?

How can family survive when the parents destroy their kid's education?

On top of all that, America's parents are gamblers, betting the future on "quick fixes" that are neither "quick" nor "fixes." Here's what the president said about the idea of another stimulus today:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER QUESTION: Do you think you need a second stimulus package?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Well, not yet because I think it's important to see how the economy evolves and how effective the first stimulus is....

I'm not suggesting that I have a crystal ball. Since you just threw back at us our last prognosis let's not engage in another one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Hey, I have a crystal ball! Also, did you notice he didn't say "no" — he said, "not yet"?

How could we possibly be talking about a third stimulus when the nonpartisan CBO estimates that only 5 percent of the 2nd stimulus has been spent? Even if you go by the White House's numbers, it's only 14 percent, for the quick fix that they rushed through.

Is it any wonder that 52 percent of Americans say stimulus is working — down 7 percent in just two months.

Confidence in the Midwest is dropping faster than anywhere else. Look at Elkhart, Indiana, the "RV Capital of the World," where Obama launched the stimulus program: the unemployment rate is 19.2 percent. And that's not the worst in America.

And yet at least a dozen of the same economists who as an industry missed the $8 trillion housing bubble, including our best bud, 2008 Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, are calling for a third stimulus. Although most didn't get into specifics, former Clinton treasury official Brad Delong suggested guaranteeing all states' debt in addition to another $500 billion in aid.

Wow. How does the family survive?

So, do I think America's family will survive? Yes, you'll be living under a bridge, fending off bums with broken bottles. Know this: Americans will always survive, because the American spirit never gives up. But, before that, the parents need to admit they have a problem.

Your parents are lying and need to be checked into rehab. But first we need to usher them out of the bar.