Headlines Sunday 8th November 2009

No member of the military has been put to death since 1961, but law experts believe Maj. Nidal Hasan could change that if found guilty.


Massacre at Fort Hood sparks debate about whether it was terror act or soldier who snapped

Howard takes revenge on Rudd
JOHN Howard launches an extraordinary attack on the PM.

Turnbull gets ovation for slamming PM
KEVIN Rudd is running an "extraordinarily vain" government that is handing over Australia's immigration program to people smugglers, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says.

Obama: 'Finish the Job'
After meeting with Dems, Obama presses House to pass health care bill as vote nears

IEDs Constant Foe in Afghanistan
Instead of engaging Marines in battle, the Taliban's weapon of choice has become the deadly IED

Navy Welcomes USS New York
Sailors commission Navy's newest ship with a bow forged from tons of steel from the World Trade Center


Experts blame gloomy economic conditions and tougher UK visa rules for record numbers of Aussie expats chucking in the Old Dart to return home

'Tax banks for their success and greed'
PAYBACK time for banks could be just around the corner as the G20 considers creating more taxes to keep them accountable. - a Rudd policy, something that will never achieve anything worthwhile. - ed.

'Drunk' chief inspector's wild night out
POLICE champion of responsible drinking investigated for shocking behaviour during a boozy night.

'Children are too young for school'
STUDY finds children are not emotionally or socially ready to tackle school until age six.

Rihanna bares her soul over bashing
DIVA Rihanna has opened up about the brutality of former boyfriend Chris Brown's assault but the couple say they still love each other.

Jilted lover awarded $100k kiss-off
A CHEATING husband has paid his former lover more than $100,000 under Australia's new "mistress laws".

Eleven dead in military plane crash
A RUSSIAN military plane has crashed into the sea, leaving all eleven crew members missing and presumed dead.

PM gets behind Nathan Rees

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has stepped in to end the NSW Labor leadership crisis with a plea to the party to get behind PremierNathan Rees. - the corrupt backing the inept. -ed

Next Stop, the Moon: Seattle Team Wins Space Elevator Competition

A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space — an idea spurred by science fiction novels.
=== Comments ===
PM’s bid to gag climate change sceptics
Piers Akerman
HAVING allowed people-smugglers to hold an Australian Customs vessel hostage for three weeks, our pompous Prime Minister has now launched an extraordinary personal attack on those who don’t buy his views on climate change. - Not disagreeing with you, Piers, but I would like to point out that the root cause of the scenario we now find ourselves is that Rudd has no policy. He has an agenda to become UN, but not to prosecute a successful office of Prime Minister. This is because prior to the last election Mr Howard’s supporters allowed themselves to be run over .. like when 2GB had their expert commentary on the Rudd vs Mr Howard debates award Rudd the prize. In Rudd’s defense, he is doing now what he said he would .. and no more thought has gone into it. His criticism of Mr Howard were wrong on all points, from AWB, Child Overboard, Sieve x, Iraq, Afghanistan, economy and border security. But also, Rudd has not been challenged in office by the media as well. He has been excused for abusing staff, apologizing for some things and not apologizing for others. He has been excused for apparent corruption. Still, significant media are lining up to excuse or applaud him. Only the conservative politicians have presented a worthwhile case, and the biased press are not reporting with any degree of accuracy the true state of affairs. I know what will follow next, based on history. Rudd may be voted out, in which case the press will claim that the ALP has suffered enough pain and have regenerated and are renewed. Alternatively, the press will claim that no one is worth supporting, but the ALP are better dictators. - ed

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10 Biblical Truths That Shape My Worldview
by Bill Shuler
The question that will define us more than any other is -- upon what do we base our worldview? Here are ten of the truths that shape the way I see the world.
In a generation marked by relativism the public arena is filled with differing views on the largest issues of our time. The primary source from which we draw our worldview defines where we stand and why. The following are 10 biblical truths that shape my worldview:

1. Every human being has innate dignity: Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His own image."

2. Life is to be valued from the womb: Psalm 139:13 "You knit me together in my mother's womb."

3. A nation that honors God will prosper but a nation that turns its back on God will not: Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."

4. Image without character comes up short: I Samuel 16:7 "Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart."

5. We make an eternal investment when we tend to the poor: Proverbs 19:17 "One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deeds."

6. We are nurturing God's handiwork when we protect the earth: Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

7. We must stand against injustice wherever it is found: Amos 5:15 "Hate evil, and love good and establish justice."

8. Possessions alone will never satisfy the heart of man: Luke 12:15 "...be on guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

9. Love has the power to heal a broken world: John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

10. Death is not the final word: Isaiah 25:8 "He will swallow up death for all time."

The Scriptures tell us that it is in seeking first the Kingdom of God that we properly prioritize everything else. The issues that we face on a global and personal level demand that our convictions and actions be based in something more than subjectivity. The question that will define us more than any other is upon what do we base our worldview?

Rev. Bill Shuler is pastor of Capital Life church in Arlington, Virginia.
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LAND OF UNINTENDED OUTCOMES
Tim Blair
Saturday’s column salutes the latest in green technology.
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SLOWBAMA
Tim Blair
A no-cameras, no-media visit:

Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.

The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood’s Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night.

Barack Obama won’t make it until the memorial service on Tuesday. Meanwhile, he’s resting at Camp David.

UPDATE. A hopeful Christian Science Monitor asks:

Could Fort Hood visit redefine Obama’s relationship with the military?

It could, but it’s already defined in reasonable concrete way by Obama’s Camp David visit – and a certain shout-out.
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FAST SHOW
Tim Blair
I’m sorry, but this is the funniest thing I’ve seen in months:

Andrew Bolt is concerned for the lad – Paul Connor is one of our local carbon starvers – but how not to laugh? Wait for the scene in which Connor almost weeps with joy over an email about some limp press conference in Spain. This, apparently, is “the most amazing moment” of his life.

The rest of the cast is equally good, especially the woman who keeps saying “wow”. For something worrying, here’s Connor trying to convince small children about climate change.
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Who’d replace Kevin?
Andrew Bolt
With Kevin Rudd looking so brittle - and I don’t mean so much politically ... yet - the interest grows in who’d replace him. Two months ago I’d say Julia Gillard with a doubt. But with spending on the school halls so over-the-top and misapplied, plans for school accountability so delayed, and IR reform such a mistake, I wonder whether her colleagues are now having deep thoughts again about her abilility to be tough and to successfuly implement complicated programs.

But who is:

A: Your tip

B: Your recommendation. - I have thought deeply on this issue, since the news services have missed so many changes of ALP leadership and were wrong in the entire life of the Howard government about the Liberal leadership.
a) My tip is John Della Bosca, which explains why Rudd was attempting the dangerous maneuver of supporting Reees.
b) My recommendation is Malcolm Turnbull .. for the PM’s position and a drover’s dog for the ALP leadership. - ed
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Did Rudd hide behind dying people?
Andrew Bolt
Odd:

James Hardie says it is surprised by the announcement of a $320 million loan to top up the company’s asbestos fund.

A company spokesman says while the loan gives certainty to victims, it may not be needed should James Hardie’s financial woes improve.

Reader Alan RM Jones rightly asks:

Did Rudd rush this announcement out as part of a diversion campaign to deflect attention away from his border protection fiasco? Seems to be a pattern forming.
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That’s family money, not hers - or even his
Andrew Bolt
On the one hand you think, good, this is a law and a judgment that will strengthen marriages by scaring the bejeezus out of men thinking of having affairs:

A CHEATING husband has paid his former lover more than $100,000 under Australia’s new “mistress laws”.

In the first known case of its kind in Victoria, the Melbourne businessman was sued under changes to the Family Law Act - which gives rights to people in de facto relationships and same-sex marriages.

Legal experts say the case, prompted by the end of an affair of more than 20 years, will strike fear into the hearts of philanderers nationwide.

On the other hand, of course, a wife who has stayed loyal to her cheating husband has just lost $100,000 of the family’s income to some home-wrecker, who’se just been given priority over her to that cash.

Which turns me strongly against this law. It’s actually anti-families.

UPDATE

Say that a man in this position was out of work or largely supported by his professional wife. Wouldn’t such a judgment then mean that the wife had to in effect support the mistress?
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UN tells Rudd: give us your billions
Andrew Bolt

How many billions does Kevin Rudd promise to pay this man?

The video shows Yvo de Boer, executive secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate, setting out the demands that countries such as Australia must fulfil at the UNFCC’s Copenhagen meeting next month. De Boer is speaking at the end of this week’s preliminary meeting at Barcelona, attended by Australian delegates, to help reach the deal that Rudd says is vital.

Check out points three and four. De Boer wants Rudd to promise within the next couple of weeks how much cash he will hand over, and how. De Boer also goes on to explain the need for an “architecture” - a new UN body to take the cash, and fine countries which don’t pay up or don’t cut their gases.

How much does the UN want? It suggests 0.7 per cent of GDP every year - which in Australia works out to $7 billion a year, given to the UN to hand to countries such as China and Pakistan, minus its handling fees, of course.

How much of our cash and powers will Rudd hand over? He refuses to say, and has only attacked me for using ”back of the envelope” figures.

Well, if not $7 billion, Prime Minister, then how much? You see the man in the video make his demands; now give him - and us - your answer.

UPDATE

Meanwhile:

It will come as little surprise to most New Zealanders that the country shivered through the coldest October in 64 years.

And:

October 2009 3rd Coldest for US in 115 Years

UPDATE 2

Senator Cory Bernardi is running a petition against signing the Copenhagen treaty.

UPDATE 3

The grassroots reject Malcolm Turnbull’s disastrous decision to back what he should fight - and to turn a weapon into a suicide pill:

CLIMATE change sceptics ... dominated debate on climate change in a meeting of the Victorian division of the Liberal Party yesterday.

One rank-and-file Liberal member was given rousing applause when he said global warming was a natural phenomenon and the theory that human activity had caused it was ‘’absolute rubbish’’.

Another speaker said those proposing action on climate change were working towards creating a ‘’world government’’, while a third said any engagement on the issue would signal that the Liberals had ‘’raised the white flag’’.

The climate is indeed changing. The intellectual and political climate, that is, and the Liberal leadership should now lead what they’re so slow in following.

UPDATE 4

Changing climate indeed. ABC journalist Eleanor Hall asked Environment Minister Peter Garrett on Meet The Press this morning whether he’d been wrong to peddle a scare with his claim that global warming could soon cause the seas to rise 6 metres. He refused to even try to justify his patently false figure. Sadly, though, there was no follow-up question asking him to correct the record.

Garrett simply rabbitted about warnings that the IPCC had given. In fact, the IPCC, despite being alarmist, suggests sea level rises this century on now more than 59cms at worst. Not Garrett’s 6 metres.
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The week it went sour for Rudd: now Howard piles on
Andrew Bolt
What a week for Kevin Rudd: polls down, boat people still at sea, the Productivity Commission damning his spending, Rupert Murdoch calling him “delusional” and even Laurie Oakes giving a kick.

Now John Howard decides it’s the perfect time to finally warn of the mischief Rudd has wrought:

FORMER Prime Minister John Howard has branded Kevin Rudd as head of a “do-nothing’’ government that has wasted the nation’s savings and bungled asylum-seeker policy.

In his first extensive interview since losing office two years ago, Mr Howard criticised the Rudd government over its spin and symbolism, profligate spending and weakness on asylum seekers....

“The current handling of the 78 people aboard the customs ship? I’ll refrain from comment on that ... but speaking robustly in defence of our policy - we stopped the boats. People knew where we stood. We didn’t try and be all things to all men. The net result was support for immigration and a humanitarian refugee program increased.’’…

In the wide-ranging interview in his Sydney office, Mr Howard was scathing of Rudd Government achievements…

“I can’t think of a major thing it has done, except spend the bank balance that Costello and I left behind. Nothing else...”

If only Howard had admitted that his last-minute backing of emissions trading was a terrible mistake, made out of desperation and sheer opportunism. Then he might also add that Rudd’s scheme is the rolled-gold disaster that I’m sure Howard privately thinks.
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Rudd lied, but his Minister said nothing
Andrew Bolt
Labor-leaning Peter Hartcher catches Kevin Rudd out in more spin - a lie, in fact - yet does not draw the damning conclusions about the man’s disastrous lack of any credibility or competence:

Joel Fitzgibbon and his staff were commiserating over drinks in their final moments in his ministerial suite. During a lull in the conversation, Fitzgibbon asked his staff a vital question that he had not dared ask while he was still minister.

The Rudd Government had declared that it would help pay for a big defence build-up by finding $20.6 billion in cost savings over 10 years. This had been greeted with scepticism among expert commentators…

It was the most obvious piece of fiction in the plan, so it was the very first question reporters asked Kevin Rudd as he stood on the deck of the destroyer HMAS Stuart to announce the defence white paper on May 2.

“We are confident we can deliver on this in the future,” Rudd assured.

Fitzgibbon wanted to know of his staff, most of whom were Defence department officials: ”Does anybody think they’ll get the $20 billion of savings?”

The reaction was a gale of laughter all round, according to people who were present. Fitzgibbon joined in. The idea was plainly comical. And it was no longer his problem.

Rudd promised $20 billion in savings that even his minister knew was a fraud. What do his ministers think of his other wild promises - like the $41 billion broadband? The colossal tax on emissions? And so much more that will cement Rudd’s reputation as the worst Prime Minister since before Whitlam?

Those minister should know that their own reputations will go down with Rudd’s. We don’t forgive a Rex Connor by just blaming Gough Whitlam.

UPDATE

More deceit:

DESPITE repeatedly brandishing its green credentials, the Rudd Government has reneged on its election promise to run Parliament House and MPs’ electoral offices on clean energy. It has also failed to deliver on a promise to upgrade all government office buildings to minimum five-star greenhouse ratings… The Government has also failed to follow through with a requirement that all government agencies with more than 100 staff undertake energy and water audits and introduce energy efficiency improvement plans. The election commitments were bolstered to mark Earth Hour in March 2008.
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Dressed for the warming they’ve caused
Andrew Bolt
Flying contestants from all around the world to an air-conditioned resort in the Philippines seems a strange way for the Miss Earth pageant to fight the gases it claims cause global warming. But thankfully the girls aren’t complete hypocrites:

UPDATE

Oops. Spoke too soon. Then came the national costume round, and back came that sinful excessive packaging:

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Would removing all the Christians from the US help?
Andrew Bolt
The attempts to turn Muslims into the victims of a shooting that left 13 non-Muslims dead gets steadily more absurd. From the New York Times:

Mr. Obama has made it a goal of his presidency to repair relations with Muslims around the world; in a major speech in Cairo this year, he called for a “new beginning” with the Muslim world. The shootings at Fort Hood, however, pose a different problem for the president, by shining a spotlight on the tensions Muslims feel inside the United States.

“Feel” or “inspire”?
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Hot sots
Andrew Bolt
What an insult to firefighters is the log of claims lodged by their far-Left union leaders. Makes them seem on either the booze or the snake-oil:

MELBOURNE’S firefighters should be paid extra for turning up to work sober, according to a log of claims by their union.

The Victorian branch of the United Firefighters Union is also calling for a “global warming allowance” for the city’s 1600 firefighters, “in recognition of the increased work and risk to firefighters as a result of global warming”..