KEVIN Rudd has launched an expletive-laden tirade at Labor MPs, among them three women.
Scuba wife killer faces death sentence
US officials will seek to have honeymoon killer Gabe Watson charged with capital murder, which carries the death penalty.
Girl, 4, jailed for 'extremist' support
PAKISTAN has jailed six Germans, including a four-year-old girl, on suspicion of trying to join an extremist group, after arresting them on the Iranian border in May, according to the weekly Der Spiegel. They reportedly include the brother-in-law of Munir Shuka, spokesman for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a militant group with ties to al-Qaeda that is often cited as a top security concern by governments in ex-Soviet Central Asia. Also held are a German converted to Islam and his wife of Eritrean origin along with their four-year-old daughter, according to Der Spiegel in a report to appear on Monday.
Times tough - but not for the boss
WAGES for most workers remain frozen, but many CEOs have taken double-digit pay rises. - thank you, Rudd. - ed.
Ex-Aide: Edwards Is the Father
Man who once claimed he fathered child of John Edwards' mistress now says in book proposal it's Edwards' kid
Antonia Kidman engaged to Craig Marran
ANTONIA Kidman will walk down the aisle for the second time after a romantic proposal from her boyfriend of nine months,the Singapore-based banker Craig Marran.
Slummy vs yummy in school gate style war
COMPETITIVE mums are waging a fierce style war over what to wear on school pick-up duty.
Ads get personal to win Facebook buck
FACEBOOK users are being targeted by outfits paying big money for personal information.
=== Comments ===
Labor’s women MP record an illusion
Piers Akerman
IT should not have escaped notice that in a week marked by an over-the-top outburst of confected Labor derision over its treatment of women, the Liberal Party selected a female, Kelly O’Dwyer, to stand for the blue ribbon Melbourne seat of Higgins to be vacated by former treasurer Peter Costello. - Thank you for this, Piers, happening so soon after the death of Virginia Chadwick. Mrs Chadwick was the Minister of Education who personally looked into my scholarship to become a teacher when I had pay problems. Mrs Chadwick was a gifted leader and NSW would have been poorer for her loss had she been on the ALP side and been shouldered aside from politics by some union stooge. - ed.
Tim replied to DD Ball
Virginia was a great dame.
Funny how the left picks chicks on quotas and the right picks them on talent.
The left spent a decade lamenting the lack of women in parliament - the right puts Maggie Thatcher in and the left attacked her!
The left is all symbolism and hype. If they were true to their word they would have praised Thatcher.
Talent beats affirmative action any day. People prefer the ‘real’ over the ‘imagined.’
===
The Valley Hope Forgot: Schwarzenegger Responds to Crop Crisis
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 17, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: We are live tonight from the San Joaquin Valley. We're in California, where the government has turned off the water, now forcing countless farmers into unemployment and food lines.
And joining me now from Sacramento is the governor of the great state of California. Governor Schwarzenegger is with us.
Governor, thank you for being here. Thank you.
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, R-CALIF.: Thank you very much, Sean. For covering this very important story.
HANNITY: Governor, you have said that, if you had the power, you would turn on the water tomorrow. You have brought out the Interior Secretary Salazar. You got scolded in a letter by two Barack Obama Cabinet secretaries. What is the status from your standpoint?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I think that, you know, we have a terrible crisis on our hands. And this is a crisis, not because of some disaster. It's a crisis self-inflicted. This is something that the federal government is doing to us. We have done, like you said, everything in the book to convince them otherwise and to turn on the water.
But all they're doing is, is just letting us know that this is impossible to do and do whatever you want, you're on your own. And they're not going to help us.
And I think that it is a horrible situation to have, you know, federal judges interfering with all of this. We have federal judges for the salmon. We have federal judges for the smelt.
Where is the federal judge for the farmers? That's what I'm asking myself. Where are the federal judges for providing our food and providing jobs and helping our state? That's what I'm asking for.
So I think the federal government has had a good relationship with us. We have had a good working relationship with them. But, in this particular case, they have absolutely screwed up in the worst way.
HANNITY: Governor, let me ask you this. Because this impacts over 38 million people. You had sent a letter to the — you brought out Interior Secretary Salazar. You got a letter back scolding you. And in that letter they went on to say — attack California's water infrastructure. They were disappointed that your letter would attempt to lay blame for the California water crisis on the feet of agency scientists.
Now, my question is, Governor, have you had any opportunity to talk to the president of the United States to tell his interior secretary and others in his administration to turn the water back on? And are you planning to talk to the president specifically about this?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Yes. First of all, I'm planning to talk to the president about this, and I have many, many times talked to the interior secretary and to others. And, you know, we have done everything that we can.
Writing the letters, bringing the political leaders out to our — the valley. And to show them firsthand the 40-plus percent unemployment rate, the way the people are suffering. How we have, you know, have to hand out foods to them. How they have no way of making a living or anything like this.
And this is not only just in the local area or in the valley. I mean, this limits us in the amount of food that we can produce in California, and the valley has specifically always been the place that, you know, feeds the world.
So, we are being handicapped here by federal judges, and this is the terrible thing about it.
In the meantime, I think it's also important for you to note that we're moving ahead here in Sacramento, because we have been negotiating for years to create a water infrastructure, to bring our water infrastructure up to date, because we have now 38 million people in California. And the last infrastructure that you see now that was done was done when we had around 18 million people.
So we are very close to coming to an agreement, and I have great hopes that it can get that done. So we can build infrastructure, build above the ground and below the ground water storage, and also fix the delta and do the kind of things that we need to do. But we've got to, you know, stop choosing the smelt and the salmon over the people and over farming.
HANNITY: All right. But Governor, let me ask you — let me ask you this question. Because I'm listening to the crowd here. And I spent a lot of time. I walked a number of the fields today. I mean, it's becoming a dust bowl. And the political back and forth has gone on and on and on.
What emergency measures do you think as governor of the great state of California do you think is your next step to help this problem sooner rather than later? What do you think you can do next? We have this 1978 endangered species act. They have the God Squad provision. What do you think you can do next and how soon do you think you can accomplish it, sir?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, the God Squad provision we had thought that through because, believe me, that would work. I would do that immediately. But it doesn't work because it takes years to come to a solution. And those five times they have tried that. Four times it failed. So this is not the right way to go. Believe me, otherwise I would have done it already a long time ago.
(CROWD CHANTING "TURN THE WATER ON! TURN THE WATER ON!")
HANNITY: Let me — let me, if I could just ask, I think this is an important question. Considering, Governor, that you don't have the power to do this, considering that you're now in a little bit of a political battle with the Cabinet.
President Obama has said so many times in so many different public speeches that he has an open door policy. Would it be possible, perhaps — I mean, look, he found time to have a beer with Professor Gates. Would it be — would it perhaps be possible for you to fly to Washington and sit down and explain the plight of these farmers and loss of job and maybe sooner than later meet with him and see if we can get this resolved sooner.
Is that something you would be willing to do. I'm asking are you willing to go there sooner than later and would you ask the president on this program tonight to meet with you over a beer and a cigar and bring water here?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, Sean, I think that I made it very clear that I will do whatever it takes to make sure that we turn on the water as quickly as possible so we can go back into the farming and produce the food and create jobs. Because that is the number one priority for me.
HANNITY: Yes. All right. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Thank you for being with us. We appreciate your time tonight. We're going to continue to follow the story obviously.
===
THEY THINK HE’S A HORSE ACTIVIST
Tim Blair
It’s the most confused protest since Jenny McCracken drove 550 kilometres to complain about global warming:
Climate change protesters have dumped a pile of horse manure at the home of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson in a protest about vehicle emissions.
Six women stood by the dung in the drive of his home in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, with a sign that read: “This is what you’re landing us in.”
They might have had a point if Clarkson regularly agitated for a return to pre-motorised transport on his program Top Saddle. As things stand, however, all these women have done is remind Oxfordshire residents how British streets must have reeked before cars were invented.
===
KINDNESS EBBS
Tim Blair
“Virginia has been kind to Democrats as of late,” reports Fred Barnes. But perhaps not for much longer:
The Democratic tide is ebbing in Virginia. In January Mr. Obama’s approval rating was 62%, according to a Survey USA. By August it had fallen to 42%. This has important political implications both in Virginia and nationally.It would also signal … raaaaacism! Sad that Virginia went all racist in just seven months. This is usually the sort of thing you expect from West Virginia.
In six weeks, Virginia will elect a governor, and Republican Bob McDonnell, a former state attorney general, leads Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, a state senator with a moderate-to-liberal record, in every poll by a small margin. A recent poll by the nonpartisan Clarus Research Group gives him a five-point lead.
A Republican victory here would signal that Mr. Obama may now be a liability for other Democrats running for office …
===
RUDD CENTRAL
Tim Blair
Anne Davies, the code-breaker, reports from Washington:
The twin concerns of devising a new global financial order and a new treaty to rescue the planet from global warming are set to dominate Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s visit to the US next week – and on both fronts Australia is well placed to make significant contributions as mediator between larger nations …Given how successful Rudd was at running a grocery prices website, there’s no reason we should doubt his ability to repair the global economy and change the planet’s weather.
During the climate talks, Mr Rudd has been given a central role as co-chairman of one of the round tables.
UPDATE. “Your boy’s being set up for a failure," emails US reader Smike. It might be so:
While virtually all of the largest developed and developing nations have made domestic commitments toward creating more efficient, renewable sources of energy to cut emissions, none want to take the lead in fighting for significant international emissions reduction targets, lest they be accused at home of selling out future jobs and economic growth.A fall guy is needed. Kevin is from Queensland, and he’s here to help.
===
BELIEF IS TRUTH
Tim Blair
Sunday Age production editor Michael Coulter:
There is not, now, much value in arguing about the science of climate change. Even if it’s wrong, enough people now believe it that it may as well be right.
This doesn’t seem particularly scientific.
UPDATE. Reworked Midnight Oil lyrics (why stop at just the words?) reflect a believerist view:
Where Mr Garrett once writhed to this opener: ‘’Out where the river broke/The blood wood and the desert oak/Holden wrecks and boiling diesels/Steam in 45 degrees’’, the remake will feature a chorus of well-meaning celebrities singing: ‘’Down at the river bed/The earth is cracked and dry instead/Farms a failing, cities baking/Steam in 45 degrees.’’
Climate change sceptics may ask why the temperature has not risen from 45 degrees in the intervening decades.
===
CARBON SINKS
Tim Blair
The rush for carbon millions – or sky money, as it’s beautifully known in Papua New Guinea – is slowing lately:
The legitimacy of the $100 billion carbon-trading market has been called into question after the world’s largest auditor of clean-energy projects was suspended by United Nations inspectors.
SGS UK had its accreditation suspended last week after it was unable to prove its staff had properly vetted projects that were then approved for the carbon-trading scheme, or even that they were qualified to do so.
The unqualified undone by the UN; perfect. Meanwhile, carbon prices keep dropping:
A poor economy and uncertainty about the fate of a climate bill on Capitol Hill made for a sharp drop in the price of carbon in the latest greenhouse gas auction by a coalition of 10 Northeastern states …
At the latest quarterly auction, held Wednesday, 28.4 million allowances sold for $2.19 each – down from $3.23 at the June auction and $3.51 in March … Another 2.2 million allowances sold for $1.87 each in a parallel auction of allowances that can be used in 2012. That’s down from $2.06 in June.
But the carbon market is holding up well in at least one sector, as Anthony Watts reports:
The SFO airport has now installed carbon offset purchase kiosks so that you can remove the guilt from your flight. Only one problem. The carbon offsets sold by kiosk sell at a rate that is about 60 times what carbon credits are actually selling for on the market now.
As Watts points out, you can presently buy a ton of carbon offsets on the Chicago Climate Exchange for just 20 cents. Yet an Australian company believes it can earn $1.6 billion by trading carbon offsets at a slightly higher rate:
Carbon Planet, in presentations to investors, says it has contracted 100 million carbon offsets over five years from projects in Papua New Guinea and 60 million over five years from Indonesia at an average of A$10 ($8.5) each offset, or credit.
The only possible way offsets can reach that value, of course, will be if emissions trading schemes are established. Follow the money.
===
OXYGEN GIVER
Tim Blair
Eep eep! Eep eep! KREEE! KREEE! Forgive me; just speaking in top-secret racist code there. Further to Currency Lad’s item below, this paragraph from Age Washington correspondent and code-breaker Anne Davies catches the eye:
Obama has also blamed the 24 cable news channels, because by giving attention to ‘’the loudest, shrillest voices’’ they give oxygen to fringe views.
We all know how much Anne Davies hates giving oxygen to fringe views.
===
NOT MY BROTHER’S LEAKER
Tim Blair
Besides being monitored, a certain English teacher might also be drug tested:
An English teacher is being closely monitored at Kingswood Regional High School after administrators said she assigned an inappropriate essay topic to her students.
Jack Robertson, superintendent of the Governor Wentworth Regional School District, said the teacher asked students to respond to the question: “If you knocked your brother down, would you urinate in his mouth?”
Difficult to say, really. It probably depends on how hard you knocked him down. Is he able to get back up?
No comments:
Post a Comment