=== Bible Quote ===
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”- James 1:5
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Rep. Parker Griffith switched parties, but now the Republicans in his district who question his loyalty don't want him, and are staging a mini-revolt to say so.
Dems Hatching New Plan?
House Democrats weigh options, consider companion health bill to address party members' outstanding issues
In Haiti, First Contact Key to Survival
Fox News' Michael Sorrentino visits care unit where lives are saved by treating open wounds quickly
Ballplayer Ditches Cleats for the Cloth
As top prospect for the Oakland Athletics, outfielder Grant Desme leaves baseball for higher calling in priesthood
A new survey reveals Australians like the flag, the anthem and their general standard of living with Asian Australians the most optimistic
Sex abuse accused dad hits back
A DAD cleared of claims he sexually abused his kids is now hitting back at his ex wife.
Teenager drowns riding bike off jetty
A 14-YEAR-OLD boy has drowned after a bike trick he attempted off a jetty went tragically wrong.
Girl, 10, assaulted at Australian Open
POLICE outraged after a 10-year-old girl was indecently assaulted while watching tennis.
Cheaper, deadlier ecstasy hits streets
ECSTASY pills are getting cheaper and more dangerous, a new national study has revealed.
Nation's biggest sickie day is tomorrow
TOMORROW'S the biggest 'sickie' day of the year as workers try to turn the one-day holiday into four.
African Dreamz team blocked from play
AN African refugee team can no longer play after accusing basketball officials of racism.
Packer yacht makes waves in Sydney
DWARFING a tug boat, James Packer's new mega-cruiser arrived in Newcastle harbour yesterday chained to the deck of a cargo ship in time for Australia Day.
Another huge earthquake threatens Haiti
EXPERTS predict Haiti will be hit again with another huge quake, despite two in recent weeks.
Shools to be ranked on parents' income
SCHOOLS are to be given a "disadvantage'' rating to allow the federal government to direct funding based on need, as part of a controversial plan by the government to publish comprehensive information about schools. - this plan does not go far enough. Schools need to be accountable to parents. Otherwise the ridiculous scenario where teachers nobble year 7 students to justify their positions will continue. - ed.
=== Comments ===
Founding Fathers Smiling After Supreme Court Campaign Finance Ruling
By Ken Klukowski
In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday, every American should be worried when the president of the United States starts threatening the highest court in the land.
The Supreme Court’s action in striking down the worst censorship provision of McCain-Feingold restores vital free speech protection in America. The First Amendment does not allow the government to silence its critics, and Thursday’s decision would make our Founding Fathers applaud -- they built this country out of a revolution founded upon a critique of oppressive government. But fast forward to 2010, this week, instead of applauding the Supreme Court’s ruling, America’s current president is responding by issuing an ominous threat against our highest court.
On January 21, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United v. FEC. At issue was a key part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), better known as McCain-Feingold, that made it a federal felony—punishable by five years in prison—for a corporation to use any of its funds to criticize a candidate for federal office within thirty days of a primary election or sixty days of a November general election.
The group Citizens United made a documentary about Hillary Clinton during the 2008 campaign. The Federal Election Commission did not allow it to be distributed, and David Bossie, president of Citizens United, decided to fight back.
The case went to the Supreme Court, where former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson—a living legend among Supreme Court lawyers—fought it out against Barack Obama’s Justice Department. During argument, the Obama administration’s lawyer, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, made extravagant claims about the extent to which government can censor its critics, outlawing books, movies, and other methods of informing the public. Olson pushed back hard, pointing to the terrible power that this part of BCRA gives the government against private citizens banding together to speak out during election season.
The Supreme Court agreed that such power is frightening. In an opinion written by moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy, he noted that the Court upheld regulations decades ago on corporate speech, on the theory that corporations could amass vast sums of money to drown out ordinary citizens, distorting public debate.
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UN’s dead deadline exposes Rudd scam
Piers Akerman
THE UN has dumped the deadline to tackle climate change, leaving Kevin Rudd isolated in his view that “to delay any longer would be reckless and irresponsible for our economy and our environment”. - I think that history will record when Rudd faced the greatest moral challenge of our age, he began playing in the sand. And one thing is certain, Rudd will have a very difficult task before him convincing that 6 yo girl he corresponds with that his inaction is better than the mighty pork barrel he desired. - ed.
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FOOTBALL KICKED
Tim Blair
“Funny,” writes Ace, “but why is it when LGF was getting 500,000 hits a day on the right, he wasn’t worth a profile, and now that he’s getting 100,000 or less ...” Yes, Charles Johnson is suddenly of interest to the New York Times. Not that this interest will be entirely welcome:
If you read L.G.F. today, you will find it hard to miss the paradox that a site whose origins, and whose greatest crisis, were rooted in opposition to totalitarianism now reads at times like a blog version of “Animal Farm.” Johnson seems obsessed with what others think of him, posting much more often than he used to about references to himself elsewhere on the Internet and breaking into comment threads (a recent one was about the relative merits of top- versus front-loaded washing machines) to call commenters’ attention to yet another attack on him that was posted at some other site. On the home page, you can click to see the Top 10 comments of the day, as voted on by registered users; typically, half of those comments will be from Johnson himself. Even longtime commenters have been disappeared for one wrong remark, or one too many, and when it comes to wondering where they went or why, a kind of fearful self-censorship obtains. He has banned readers because he has seen them commenting on other sites of which he does not approve. He is, as he reminds them, always watching. L.G.F. still has more than 34,000 registered users, but the comment threads are dominated by the same two dozen or so names.That shrinking support base and paranoid self-obsession seem like an ideal platform from which to launch The Next Big Internet Thing. Which is exactly what Johnson and his new pal Barrett Brown have in mind:
Later this year, we’ll be launching a two-pronged campaign by which we hope to increase both the reach and efficiency of the blogosphere, as well as to bring pressure to bear on the media at large. Much of this effort will involve a loose network of bloggers that we’re now in the process of recruiting …The working title of this little project: “Operation F**k Everyone”. It can’t possibly fail. Further on this from Patterico.
As Johnson recently reminded me, he once attempted a similar improvement on the blogosphere in 2004 by co-founding the conservative blog compendium Pajamas Media. He later repudiated it as “just another right-wing parrot organization” and sold off his share in 2007. I suggested to him that, in contrast to that particular project, we try to recruit bloggers who aren’t completely deranged. He agreed that this might be an effective approach.
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WILLO UTED
Tim Blair
The worst thing is, now he’ll probably write a song about it:
Australian country music star John Williamson has copped a $250 fine in Tamworth for riding in the back of a ute.Given the rhyming potential of “ute”, Imre Salusinszky might be our man for this.
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