Headlines Saturday 23rd January 2010

=== Todays Toon ===

=== Bible Quote ===
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”- Matthew 7:7-8
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It isn't just Google, and it isn't just China. Security experts say there's a raging, worldwide cyberwar going on and governments, businesses need to be on alert.

Boat people only guilty of hope - Abbott
TONY Abbott talks tough, then says boat people are only "guilty of choosing hope over fear". - why does the ALP hate boat people that they would kill so many? - ed.

Obama: 'I'm Not Going to Give Up On a Big Pork Barrel
President tells Ohio crowd he'll work to finish sweeping legislation despite crippling effect his party's loss in the Massachusetts Senate election had on the Democrats' bill

Race to Restrict Elections Spending
Lawmakers rush to keep corporate cash from midterm elections after high court strips limits

Athletes Helping Haiti
Some of America's biggest sports stars lead charge to raise millions for devastated country


Temperatures are soaring in some parts of the country, prompting authorities to warn us to play it safe at Australia Day barbies.

New danger for Haiti's children
CHILDREN have gone missing from Haiti's hospitals, raising fears traffickers are exploiting post-quake chaos.

Army reservists could soon face front line
DEFENCE chiefs are considering a secret plan to send more army reservists off to the front line.

Mum jailed for claiming healthy son was ill
A "SADISTIC" mum has been jailed for "torturing" her son by pretending he was severely ill.

War has been declared on hoon drivers
IDIOT drivers will soon have their cars destroyed if they continue to play with other people's lives.

Couples' sex survey results just revealed
WHAT do married women in their 30s want? More sex but they don't think they're going to get it.

Guilty of assaulting elderly in care
AMANDA Louise Manuel will serve no time in jail, despite assaulting three elderly people in care.

Grandma jailed for $200,000 fraud
AT 81, a partially blind and deaf grandmother will go to jail for at least six months for defrauding Centrelink of almost $200,000 over a period of 19 years.

Brothers tortured boys 'out of boredom'
A COURT has heard two brothers only stopped torturing two younger boys because they "were tired".
=== Journalists Corner ===

President Obama made a sweeping promise to transform a nation.
From health care to unemployment and troop withdrawal -- Did he deliver?
We look back at what he said and what's really been done.
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Special: Live Free or Die
If we're going to fix our problems in the future, we need to understand the past.
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Who is Scott Brown?
Greta takes you inside his family, his historic win, and what he plans to do next. LIVE from Massachusetts!
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Guest: Neil Sedaka
The pop icon rocks out with the governor and "The Little Rockers"!

=== Comments ===
Chaos Among Liberals
By Bill O'Reilly
In just a few moments, we will show you some nasty business: liberals attacking liberals, trying to assign blame for the debacle in Massachusetts Tuesday night.

Basically, it comes down to this. The far left believes President Obama is not radical enough. The moderate left believes the far-left loons are killing the Democratic Party. No matter what you believe, there's no question the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts has badly damaged the Democratic agenda, especially Obamacare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE SPEAKER: In its present form without any change, I don't think it's possible to pass the Senate bill in the House. I don't see the votes for it at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Indeed.

Now for conservatives, this is all great fun, watching the left descend into turmoil.

Thursday, The New York Times published an editorial about the Bay State election that is simply hard to believe: "To our minds, it is not remotely a verdict on Mr. Obama's presidency, nor does it amount to a national referendum on health care reform."

Well, our latest Rasmussen poll on the subject says just 38 percent of likely voters now favor Obamacare. Memo to the editor of The Times: Do the words tone deaf mean anything to you? No referendum is needed. Health care is dead in its present form.

Also, Mr. Obama's entire presidency has been damaged. I mean, some Democrats believe the president's trip to Massachusetts actually hurt Martha Coakley. And The Times is telling us it's not a verdict on Mr. Obama's presidency? Are you kidding me?

All of this tells "Talking Points" the left has not learned anything from the elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Somehow uber-liberals believe that regular folks think the way they do, that massive government spending is terrific, that a nanny state can solve all problems. I mean, how out of touch are these left-wing people?

The crazy-left media outlets are all in desperate shape, and the mood of the country has shifted dramatically to the right. In the face of all of that, the committed left continues to blame everything on the Bush administration, conservative radio commentators and Fox News.

Paging Rod Serling, the "Twilight Zone" is back.

"Talking Points" embraces political analysis, not ideological nonsense. We do not drink anyone's Kool-Aid here, and it's obvious the American people don't like what they're seeing in Washington right now. And they are rejecting the left-wing media as well. President Obama should take note.

We predicted all hell would break loose if the Republican won in Massachusetts, and that prediction is coming true.
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KEVIN COOLS
Tim Blair
As noted earlier in the week, Kevin Rudd seems to be avoiding the subject of climate change – the “great moral challenge of our generation” – these days. This trend continues, writes Michelle Grattan:

Kevin Rudd has made Australia Day policy speeches around the nation on each of the past five days, with two to come. We’ve heard about productivity, fiscal responsibility, infrastructure, jobs and disadvantage. Today he speaks about health; tomorrow (unless there is a change) he’s due to talk about cities.

Anything odd about this list? You’ve got it. Climate change and the need for an emissions trading scheme haven’t been the focus of any speech so far.

Maybe he’s in denial.

UPDATE. In other cooling news:

The Indian head of the UN climate change panel defended his position today even as further errors were identified in the panel’s assessment of Himalayan glaciers.

Dr Rajendra Pachauri dismissed calls for him to resign over the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change’s retraction of a prediction that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035.

But he admitted that there may have been other errors in the same section of the report, and said that he was considering whether to take action against those responsible.

Oh, yeah! That’s gonna happen! Pachauri could start by handing back a certain prize:

The IPCC’s 2007 report, which won it the Nobel Peace Prize, said that the probability of Himalayan glaciers “disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high”.

But it emerged last week that the forecast was based not on a consensus among climate change experts, but on a media interview with a single Indian glaciologist in 1999.

Things have changed since 2008, when Kevin Rudd was the IPCC’s leading yay-boy:

Well, I just look at what the scientists say. There’s a group of scientists called the International Panel on Climate Change - 4000 of them. Guys in white coats who run around and don’t have a sense of humour. They just measure things. And what they say to us is it’s happening and it’s caused by human activity

They also said that Himalayan glaciers would vanish by 2035. More 2008-era Rudd:

Well, I stand by what the International Panel of Climate Change Scientists have had to say. There will always be argy-bargy about elements of the detail.

Such as elements so bogus that the head of the UN’s climate change is now talking about “taking action” against IPCC authors. One more line from our newly climate-shy PM:

Here’s a measurement which people should just sit back and pay a bit of attention to - the 12 hottest years in human history have occurred in the last 13 years. That’s a fact.

It’s also a fact that Rudd once witnessed Colin Cowdrey stride out to smite global warming in Brisbane. Kevin seen it with his own eyes, he really did!
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MIKE HEAD TAPPED
Tim Blair
Vanity Fair‘s James Wolcott – you might vaguely remember him; the hurricane guy – attempts to take down Jim Treacher:

You know what Jim Treacher’s blog at Tucker Carlson’s Pringles can reminds me of?

I shall tell you.

It reminds me of a really bad standup comic tapping the mike head and asking “Is this thing on?” after a joke bombs.

It’s awesome to see a gifted writer deploy the full range of his abilities in order to destroy an opponent. It really is. But I’ve wandered way off-topic; we were talking about Wolcott. Who on earth says “mike head” (apart from Mike Head himself)? Who on earth, among those who are paid to write, would imagine that this air swing of an insult deserves a two-par intro?

I shall tell you.
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EVERYONE WAS DOING IT
Tim Blair
Emmanuelle Seigner to the rescue:

Roman Polanski’s wife has defended the filmmaker in a rare interview, saying the 1970s, when he was convicted of having sex with a 13-year-old girl, had been a ‘’crazy’’ age of sexual permissiveness.

And the 1960s, when Polanski’s previous wife died at the hands of the Manson family, was a “crazy” age of murderous Californian drug cults. And the 1940s, when Polanski’s parents were imprisoned in concentration camps – his mother died in one – was a “crazy” age of Nazi genetic purity theories. Just the mood of the times, you know.
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DAS BOOTED
Tim Blair
Previously in love with Barack Obama, Germany now grieves:

US President Barack Obama suffered a painful defeat in Massachusetts on Tuesday. With mid-term elections looming, it means that Obama will have to fundamentally re-think his political course. German commentators say it is the end of hope.

Headline on this item: “The World Bids Farewell to Obama.”

(Via R. Black)

UPDATE. Goodbye to bad radio:

Air America Radio, a progressive radio network that once aired commentary from Al Franken and Rachel Maddow, said Thursday it is shutting down immediately.

It’s been a fun week.