Headlines Thursday 6th August 2009

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Forgotten keys cost Melissa Parker her life
A NINE-year-old girl's decision to get off her school bus and return home to collect keys cost her life yesterday when she was hit while crossing the road.

Woman fights off rape attempt in home
A Sydney woman fought off a man who broke into her home and then tried to rape her while armed with a pair of scissors, police say.

NT Labor kicks into election mode
LABOR has already kicked into election mode in the Northern Territory as a renegade MP bent on ousting the government is urging the Commonwealth to intervene for the sake of all Territorians.

'Sordid predator' had sex with girl
AN aspiring basketballer who had sex with an 11-year-old girl in secluded public places is a sordid predator, a judge says.

Library users 'kicked out for lewdness'
MEN are regularly being thrown out of a coastal community's public libraries for masturbating.

Death penalty for 2003 Mumbai bombers
THREE people, including a married couple, have been sentenced to death for planting bombs that killed 52 in Mumbai.

Maddie McCann search turns to Australia
The search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann is reportedly turning to Australia, with detectives pointing to an Australian who could be linked to her disappearance.

Man shot in face with home-made gun
Police in South Australia believe a man has shot another man in the face with a home-made bolt gun and then killed himself with the same weapon.

Priceless Gallipoli flag stolen from RSL
The first flag carried ashore by Australian troops at Gallipoli has been stolen from the RSL offices in Sydney's CBD.

Jehovah's Witness wins right to die
A dying Jehovah's Witness has been granted the right to refuse life-saving treatment..

Major drug network broken
Police believe they smashed a major Sydney metropolitan drug distribution network in a well....

Dick Smith pushes immunisation
Australian entrepreneur and businessman Dick Smith is very publicly throwing his support behind a......

Crime show host 'ordered TV deaths'
A TV crime show host faces jail after allegedly ordering murders in a bid to boost his ratings.
=== Journalists Corner ===
Obama Returns to Elkhart
But did his stimulus help the R.V. town on the road to recovery? Bret takes you inside!
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Presidential Report Card!
From economics at home to international business & affairs, is Obama making the grade? Morris, Miller, Crowley, and Rove respond!
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A Hannity Exclusive!
Inside the Imus ranch for kids with cancer. It's the I-man -- like you've never seen him before!
=== Comments ===
Ghosts of the Balibo Five return to haunt Labor
Piers Akerman
I HAVE reservations about some of the thinking behind the film Balibo, which deals with the murder of six journalists in East Timor during the 1975 Indonesian invasion but brushes over the bigger political questions. - Good points and great question, Piers. I also want to know when Rudd is going to pass off to another person, possibly Gillard or Swan. ALP leaders have gone to elections in recent years never telling the electorate that they intend to not be there post election. The questions are not being asked. Although, the question was asked of Howard continuously over his careeer as leader and he never stood aside. The failure is staggering and indicative of the leanings of the mainstream press over the years since Balibo. It is possible Whitlam was not complicit with the killings, but we don't know because due diligence of journalists has not been followed.
Clearly Rudd will not stay back to face the bill the nation has to pay for him. His wife is joining a UN gravy train of political compassion for corrupt peoples and flawed celebrities.
A young girl died the other day. I never knew her, but she was a friend of a friend. She was nine years old when she went to school, and got on a school bus. She realized she had forgotten something, and went to go home (across a street) and was hit by another bus. It was a tragedy. Her neighbors tried to save her but she was too hurt. Her parents have a right to feel cheated at their loss. But the girl was loved and loved in her short life. She was blessed. Her friends grieve deeply at her loss. but if she were to speak, now, of what she wanted others to know about her, it may well be gratitude for what she was given in her life. The same would not be said of those in office in Australia now or then. Whitlam and Rudd acted shamelessly and shamefully. Something worth remembering as people turn on Malcolm Turnbull for the failings of Rudd. Rudd is responsible for the appallingly bad proposed legislation of the ETS, and Turnbull is offering a solution of improvements. Rudd and his coterie have acted corruptly over utegate, and Turnbull has correctly exposed it. The willingness of the press to die for ALP should not color our judgement of them.

Pork Sword replied to DD Ball
Thu 06 Aug 09 (11:58am)
Wow, your ignorance is staggering, although I guess I should be used to it by now.

Rudd isn’t being asked those questions because he has given no indication that he will hand over the leadership. Where you get the idea that he is planning to step down I have no idea. Howard was always going to hand over power to Costello, that much was confirmed, he just refused to give a time, and that is why he was continually asked.

So a young girl died? Clearly a tragedy for all involved, but you trying to imply that it was somehow Kevin Rudd’s fault is ridiculous. You are ridiculous.

No one is ‘turning on Turnbull for the failings of Rudd’ as you claim. People are turning on Turnbull for his own failings. He has failed himself, he has failed the Liberal party, and he has failed the people of Australia.

And what any of this has to do with Balibo isn’t exactly clear. Stay on topic.

DD Ball replied to DD Ball
Thu 06 Aug 09 (02:01pm)
Pork Sword, you are both anonymous and a fool. Were your reading level higher than that required for abridged versions of Australia and Penthouse you might have been able to follow what I wrote, which was logical, sequential and heartfelt. You might not care for a dead girl, or dead journalists. But it is more than just the loved ones who will despise you for your thoughtless indulgence.
Even in your arrant foolishness you recognize the paucity of talent that has let Rudd pass by without revealing his plans. You probably think it clever that Turnbull be attacked for Rudd’s failure.
In schools, at the moment, year 9 kids are being handed a $200 computer shell with some $7k of software. In a few years, all of Australia’s kids could have had a better set up more cheaply. None of the curriculum taught will diverge from that endorsed by the previous government. Yet Rudd will be highly lauded for blowing a great wad over the school kids. The computers won’t work as intended for some time, as schools lack the facility to support the devices. Yet Gillard will have her name on thousands of plaques across Australia. No wonder they wish to lower the voting age below that for which people can drive, drink or marry. It is just as well voting is by chronological age and not mental age .. you might never have gotten the vote.

1975 is not that long ago. The people who did the murders are still around, so now there must be a serious attempt to address the issues of who did it, why they did it and the wider issue of why Australia seemed to not do anything to stop the invasion. There seemed to be then a fear of Indonesia. If that’s still the case we should at least acknowledge the fact that we still live in a dangerous world. Maybe we shouldn’t let in people here as migrants who don’t play by our rules, and who don’t wish us well.

V Kelly of Lismore

Stephen replied to V Kelly
Thu 06 Aug 09 (09:31am)
Why didn’t Australia stop the invasion? Well, this is the pertinent bit that Piers has left out. You see, it wouldn’t have mattered if it was a Labor, Liberal or Communist government is Australia at the time. The fact is Australia had NO way of stopping the invasion. Not through diplomatic means nor through military action. Well, the last choice we could have tried. of course it would have resulted in the deaths of 10’s of thousands of Australian servicemen....and we probably still would have failed but that doesn’t matter, right? Right? Piers?

DD Ball replied to V Kelly
Thu 06 Aug 09 (02:11pm)
Fear is a tool of the ALP, as is envy. If the prattering of a thoughtless section of the community be considered then indeed there was fear that Indonesia would invade. I’m sure there were even contingency plans among the military. But it was less of a threat than reality. Whitlam wanted Indonesia to invade Timor because of his Vietnam policy. In leaving Vietnam as precipitously as he had, and with the fall of the Southern government, Modern US weapons were in the hands of the Vietcong. Vietnam weren’t going to use those weapons but communists around the world were anticipating a fire sale. As was Gough. Gough wanted Indonesia to take Timor to contain communism in balance for his security issues.
If Gough was ever asked about this, I’m sure he would have spoken about private school kids and inequity .. but he would never have answered the question. And so some journalists died for the great ALP cause.
===
COMPUTER SAYS RAIN
Tim Blair
The only thing better than one computer model is 39 computer models:
Australia’s annual rainfall will increase by an average 8.4mm by 2099, according to results from computer models that have been brought under the one roof for the first time.

Two academics from the Australian National University, Michael Roderick and Wee Lo Lim, have crunched the numbers from 39 models …
And the results:
According to the data, by 2099, the Top End will be receiving 50-100mm more rain than the 1970-1999 average.
All of Victoria, and most of South Australia and Western Australia, will receive up to 50mm a year less than now.
These things might carry a little more credibility if they could predict rainfall – to the millimetre – for next month.
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IT’S GENOCIDE
Tim Blair
The media lost it when Sarah Palin turned up at a turkey processing plant, and now two CNBC muppets are having seizures over Kevin Rudd the camel killer.

UPDATE. Rudd should take advantage of this controversy to boost his image, commie-style:
Leonid Brezhnev … was fond of hunting for bears and wild boar. He grew so incapable towards the end that KGB officers would drug and tether animals to trees so that Mr Brezhnev could shoot them.
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A warning to you
Andrew Bolt
I don’t know if this includes News Ltd blogs, but I have a funny feeling…

NEWS Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch has given his strongest indication yet that the company’s newspapers will charge for their online content within a year.
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Sceptics create a best-seller
Andrew Bolt
Professor Ian Plimer’s Heaven and Earth, a bestseller here despite being rejected by four preachy publishers, has now been released in the US - and should do some damage to global warming alarmists there, too, to judge by its Amazon ranking:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #132 in Books…

Popular in these categories:…

#1 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Ecology
#1 in Books > Science > Earth Sciences > Meteorology
#1 in Books > Science > Earth Sciences > Climatology > Climate Changes

Once more scientists and politicians realise there’s an audience for scepticism at the claims of warming alarmists, more will speak out.

Meanwhile, a new paper by Henrik Svensmark implicates the sun in global warming - and cooling:

Our results show global-scale evidence of conspicuous influences of solar variability on cloudiness and aerosols… From solar activity to cosmic ray ionization to aerosols and liquid-water clouds, a causal chain appears to operate on a global scale.

Anthony Watts explains:

This paper confirms 13 years of discoveries that suggest a key role for cosmic rays in climate change. It links observable variations in the world’s cloudiness to laboratory experiments in Copenhagen showing how cosmic rays help generate atmospheric aerosols. This is important, because it confirms the existence of a sun-earth atmospheric modulation mechanism for clouds and aerosols.
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How did we make them like this?
Andrew Bolt
What kind of ferals are we breeding now? Check the video, amd empathise with the judge:

A 20-year-old repeat offender has been jailed for a vicious and drunken attack on a bus driver which a judge has described as ”complete savagery” that defied description or understanding.

James Elphick, who was on parole at the time of this offence, admitted being extremely intoxicated when he attacked Ian Chalmers in February this year, using the metal handrails on the bus to swing and inflict repeated kicks to the 51-year-old bus driver…

District Court Judge Paul Conlon ... slammed prosecutors for failing to recognise the severity of the assault - had they referred the case to the District Court sooner, he could have sentenced Elphick for up to 10 years, he said.

It’s no longer enough for newspapers to report the crime and the sentence of young animals such as this or this:

John Caratozzolo laughed as he and six other youths bashed and kicked Dr Zhongjun Cao, 41, to death in a Footscray street in January last year.

I suggest it’s time also to highlight the factors that create such monsters. I want the parents in the dock, too, and I want the family backgrounds meticulously described in the press as a guide and a warning to others. The judge’s comments in the Cao case on this were, in my opinion, too cursory.
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Who put him in charge of our billions?
Andrew Bolt
Why was Rudd relying on this same sick and troubled Grech to run a $2 billion government handout?

THE Auditor-General, Ian McPhee, has ... found Treasury wanting in its handling of Godwin Grech, saying it had over-relied on the bureaucrat. He should have received more help to implement OzCar, devised to provide financial guarantees to car dealers affected by the global financial crisis.

It would have been prudent for Treasury to have approached more than one provider in seeking a program manager for OzCar, Mr McPhee found… “This approach seriously weakens the commonwealth’s negotiating position and provides little comfort that the commonwealth is receiving value for money in agreeing to the contractual arrangements.”

The report found Treasury should have considered allocating extra resources to the OzCar program run by Mr Grech, given its complexities, tight deadlines and the need to contract multiple service providers.

“The under-resourcing of the implementation phase of the policy placed at risk the anticipated policy outcomes,” it said.

“It also placed a considerable workload on Mr Godwin Grech, the Treasury official primarily responsible for the policy measure, particularly in the light of his medical condition.”
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Not exactly disowned
Andrew Bolt
A tiny, unrepresentative minority of Somali Australians - charged over an alleged terrorist plot - turns out to have a few friends:

A Melbourne Magistrates Court hearing for the men yesterday was tense, with family and friends clashing verbally with police as they entered the court.

Inside the court, one of the accused, 33-year-old Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, launched a tirade about the Australian military being the real terrorists.

“You call me a terrorist, I have never killed anyone in my life,” Mr Fattal shouted. “Your army kills innocent people in Iraq.”

Mr Fattal also attacked Israeli forces, commented on the Palestinian situation and said Australian troops were killing innocent people in Afghanistan.

“Take me from this country,” he said as he was being led from the court by security guards.

In the courtroom, supporters of the accused showed little respect for magistrate Peter Reardon, reading newspapers, talking and even pointing out to one suspect in the dock that his face was on the front page. “It’s not a library, if you want to read the newspaper, go outside,” Mr Reardon snapped at three young men.

Of course, these may all be people who are sure of the men’s innocence.
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Obama Protege Tied to Organized Crime?
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 4, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right, we've certainly learned about the ugly side of Chicago politics in the past year. The Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris pay-to-play scandal seemed to represent the worst of the Chicago political machine.

But now it seems another questionable character is running for the Senate seat that President Obama once held. Our special investigation examines Obama's newest protege. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXI GIANNOULIAS, CANDIDATE FOR ILLINOIS SENATE SEAT: Today, I am very proud to formally announce my candidacy for the United States Senate seat once held by my friend.

HANNITY (voice-over): It looks like the Chicago political machine is turning out another questionable character to run for the Senate in Illinois. His name is Alexi Giannoulias. A, quote, "friend of Obama's," he was once considered such a political liability that he was mentioned by Obama's opponents in conjunction with terrorist Bill Ayers, slumlord Tony Rezko, and controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright.

He was born to Greek immigrants and raised in Chicago. His parents started the Broadway Bank, a very successful chain of banks, in the Chicagoland area.

ABDON PALLASCH, REPORTER, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: With the bank's success, he was able to live a pretty good life. And at a young age, he was the vice president of the bank. Got his master's of business administration from the University of Chicago about the same time as Barack Obama was teaching law at the University of Chicago, so they got to be friends, playing on the basketball court there. Giannoulias actually played professional basketball in Greece for a couple years.

HANNITY: The budding friendship with Giannoulias would soon work, like many of the other Chicago friendships, to the president's advantage.

RICK PEARSON, POLITICAL WRITER, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Giannoulias' family owns a major bank in Chicago, and Alexi Giannoulias was very much an integral player in helping Barack Obama get seed money for his 2004 U.S. Senate race. In exchange for that, there was also the fact that Giannoulias also provided an entre to the Chicago Greek community. Some of the people who have money in that community. And that was a big factor in helping Obama win that 2004 U.S. Senate race.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Thank you.

HANNITY: As Obama's Star began to rise, so did the young banking heir's. He was named vice president and senior loan officer of his parents' Broadway Bank. And at just 30 years old, with the backing of his good friend Barack Obama, he ran for state treasurer, a position that lawmakers in the downstate capitol of Springfield had already slated to be filled.

PALLASCH: Giannoulias walked into the picture with the backing of Barack Obama. And that rankled some of the state party leaders, who wanted a regional balance. They weren't looking for a Democratic primary, but Alexia Giannoulias got in, with a commercial from Barack Obama endorsing him, and Barack Obama's endorsement was crucial to him winning that primary over Paul Mangieri.

OBAMA: Alexi Giannoulias. He's one of the most outstanding young men that I could ever hope to meet. He's somebody who cares deeply about people. He got that from his family. They really exemplify and embody the American dream.

PEARSON: I think's fair to say that Giannoulias, by using Obama, featuring him in his ads, that was a very big factor in him becoming the youngest state treasurer in the country at that point.

HANNITY: But during the campaign, some troubling decisions he made as chief loan officer of the Broadway Bank came back to haunt him.

PALLASCH: The bank had given out some loans with people with ties to organized crime. They also gave out loans to Tony Rezko, who was later indicted for influence-peddling in the Blagojevich administration.

HANNITY: Giannoulias reportedly loaned $12 million to Michael "The Jaws" Giorango, who was convicted twice of bookmaking and promoting prostitution. And he also loaned $450,000 to Tony Rezko to help fund a 24-story condominium project that subsequently was never built.

But despite the serious allegations, Giannoulias won the election and became state treasurer. And to nobody's surprise, he was one of the first people to give money to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

During his first term as state treasurer, he has made some controversial decisions that have many people in Illinois wondering where their money went.

PEARSON: A number of states have prepaid college tuition funds. Illinois is called "Right Start." One of the things that Giannoulias did when he got into office was change the management of that fund and also try to streamline it.

But at the same time, late in his first term here as treasurer, it was discovered that one of the 529 funds managed by Oppenheimer was heavily invested in mortgage-backed securities at the time when the housing market was collapsing. That fund alone lost an estimated $85 million.

HANNITY: But he said he had no idea that the taxpayers' money had been put in such a risky fund, although many people point out that he was the one who streamlined the whole project in the first place.

PEARSON: In the midst of this talk about the lost $85 million, it was disclosed that Giannoulias had spent roughly $26,000 of the management fees to buy an SUV for the — for the Illinois state treasurer's office. And he had no real records as to who was using that SUV or where it went or, really why it was needed.

HANNITY: So far, he's been accused of corruption. He has made more than questionable relationships with mobsters and is the least experienced since his basketball buddy ran for the Senate years ago. But he's still relying on his relationship, yes, with the king of Chicago politics to pull him through.

PEARSON: Whenever you listen to Alexi Giannoulias speak, it's always in a mandatory five references about Barack Obama and the role that Obama has played in his life.

HANNITY: When asked if the president endorses him the primary, Giannoulias had this to say.

GIANNOULIAS: I think the — the president and I will be just fine. We're excited about this.

HANNITY: But the young playboy and bank heir may have gotten more than he bargained for. He is running against an experienced Republican named Mark Kirk and has a state population that wants to distance themselves from the corruption and the scandals of Blago and Burris that have plagued the government for the last year.

I think you're going to see the spotlight intensified greatly on Giannoulias. You do have kind of the Obama factor in play here. You have the fact that he's 33 years old and really playing that new generational type of message out there.

But you know, running for Illinois state treasurer is one thing. Running to join the world's most exclusive club of 100 is another.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And there you have it, folks: Chicago politics at its finest.
===
The Health Care Duel
By Bill O'Reilly
nteresting fight going on for the hearts and minds of the American people. The president knows he has lost momentum on health care, so now he's sending out surrogates to try to convince you that the feds should call your health care shots. Of course the liberal media is helping Mr. Obama out. Here's NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell on why some regular folks are bailing on health care:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC NEWS: They don't like what they're hearing. Now they may not know what's good for them, but the problem is that he always knew he was going to have to persuade people with insurance — that's the largest number — not the people without insurance for expanded coverage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Note the line: They may not know what's good for them. A classic elitist play by Ms. Mitchell.

The White House is also taking on the Drudge Report, which along with YouTube and Breitbart TV ran this clip:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: But I don't think we're going to be able to eliminate employer coverage immediately. There's going to be potentially some transition process. I can envision a decade out, or 15 years out, or 20 years out.

LINDA DOUGLAS, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF HEALTH REFORM: Hi, I'm Linda Douglas. I'm the communications director for the White House office of health reform. And one of my jobs is to keep track of all the disinformation that's out there about health insurance reform, and there are a lot of very deceiving headlines out there right now such as this one. Take a look at this one. This one says "Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will Eliminate Private Insurance." Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Again, the president's words in the past coming back to bite him.

At this point, the only way President Obama can get any health care plan passed is to compromise and deeply cut the expense while allowing tax breaks for working Americans who pay their own way.

Most Americans want strict government oversight on the health care and insurance industries, but don't want the feds calling their medical shots. Once again, Americans are saying no to a socialistic program that puts more power in the hands of the government. Most folks, including me, do not want that.

If President Obama does not wise up to that reality, his administration will be badly damaged.