Headlines Wednesday 13th January 2010

=== Todays Toon ===

=== Bible Quote ===
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. - Matthew 10:34
===

Officials estimate 'thousands of people dead' after the largest earthquake to strike the Caribbean nation in more than 200 years devastates buildings and homes.


An injured man is pulled from rubble after a 7.0 earthquake in Haiti caused devastation, with reports of people being buried and homes destroyed.

Hunger farmer winched to freedom
A FARMER who just ended a 52 day hunger strike is craving Vegemite and poached eggs.

Couple threatened over charity 'donation'

DEBT collectors threaten couple with legal action over a charity donation they have already paid. - I will never give money to such a charity. Almost as bad as giving to Green Peace. I prefer to give to charities who will spend it effectively helping the poor and needy - ed.

Why men are single - the maths equation
SINGLE student proves finding a girlfriend can be only 100 times more likely than alien life.


Australia's chief medical officer has strongly refuted claims that swine flu was a "false pandemic" with a "campaign of panic" by drug companies to sell vaccines.

'Attacks racist and we're in denial'
AUSTRALIA'S in denial on racial student attacks and hasn't taken action, an academic claims. - and the issue of Hamidur Rahman needs to be reexamined. - ed.


Internet threats are nothing new, but New York City police say volatile 140-character threats may have led to the death of 22-year-old Kwame Dancy, allegedly gunned down by his childhood friend in what could be the first Twitter murder.

Obama May Tax Rescued Banks to Recoup Bailout
President weighs plan to recover taxpayer dollars from Wall Street firms that accepted billions in rescue funds

Book Outs '08 Trail's Bad, Ugly
Behind the scenes account dishes on just about every character that made up the 2008 presidential race

Crackdown Taken With a Grain of Salt
NYC mayor wants to add salt to regulations that include nutrition label displays and transfats ban

Rebound is now tipped for stagnant rents
RENTS across Australia stagnated or fell last quarter but are tipped to rise later this year.

Boy, 11, pleads to carjackers 'let us go'
A BOY, 11, has been hailed as a hero after saving his brother and sister from a daylight carjacking.

Three children killed in smash
A WOMAN and three girls aged between six and 10 killed in a car crash of "utter devastation".


Schapelle Corby will spend every day and night for years in this dreary cell, sleeping on a thin mattress surrounded by six cellmates. Picture: Lukman S Bintoro - relative comfort for a convicted drug dealer. -ed.

Women set to road test 500 boob styles
WOMEN wanting bigger breasts can now test drive a new pair before going under the knife.

Google Might End Operations in China After Activist's E-Mail Hacked
Google Inc. will stop censoring its search results in China and may pull out of the country completely after discovering that computer hackers had tricked human-rights activists into exposing their e-mail accounts to outsiders. The change of heart announced Tuesday heralds a major shift for the Internet's search leader, which has repeatedly said it will obey Chinese laws requiring some politically and socially sensitive issues to be blocked from search results available in other countries. The acquiescence had outraged free-speech advocates and even some shareholders, who argued Google's cooperation with China violated the company's "don't be evil" motto.

Boy's skull shattered in surfboard jungle
A BOY'S skull was crushed by a novice surfer's board at a break so overcrowded it is a "zoo".

Face sewn onto ball in grisly drug war
A VICTIM'S face was sewn onto a soccer ball by drug lords in a grotesque intimidation tactic against a rival gang.

Missing British girl Madeleine McCann 'died in Spanish holiday apartment'
A REPORT into the Portugal disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann, signed by a police chief, said she died in her family's holiday apartment, a court has heard today.
=== Journalists Corner ===

A New Face at Fox News!
As the former governor joins the best news team in the business, Sarah Palin sits down with Bill to take on America's top issues! Get her take starting tonight with Bill O'Reilly.
===

Harry in Hot Water?
How will Senator Harry Reid's racial slurs against Obama impact voters? His opponent Sue Lowden reacts!
===
What Happened to Transparency?
Why did health care become a backroom deal, and what impact will it have on the final bill?
===
The Constitution and Freedom
It's the Constitution, and it's under attack! Judge Napolitano exposes why your personal freedoms are at stake!
=== Comments ===
The O'Reilly Factor

Talking Points
Sarah Palin signs on with Fox News
===
THINGS SCIENTISTS SAY VII
Tim Blair
According to scientists, reserves of amusing science-related material in the NYT’s archives are unsustainable. Who cares? Let’s keep mining:

• 1948: “Within the next three years scientists should have enough basic knowledge of man-made rain and snow to be able to divert large snow or rain storms from big centers of population to relatively isolated areas …”

Those relatively isolated areas being New York, Beijing and Europe. Incidentally, China has increased foreign purchases of coal due to the colding. Snow makes Australia rich.

• 1955: “Sun power still is a losing proposition in dollars and cents. But experts agree that its prospects never have looked so good.”

And haven’t things changed since then! Apart from the dollars and cents, of course.

• 1956: “WEAR HAT IN COLD SCIENTISTS ADVISE.”

Back in those days, scientists cared.
===
WARMING UNSPUN
Tim Blair
An intense disappointment for warmies:

Australian government climate experts have failed to detect an increase in the intensity of tropical cyclones after analysing 26 years of data since the early 1980s.

Climate scientists have warned that Australia should expect to see more intense cyclones in the future fuelled by rising global temperatures caused by greenhouse gases.

But this latest research from seven Bureau of Meteorology scientists shows that so far there is no conclusive evidence to suggest this is already happening

But let’s just keep trying to save the planet:

“Even if we do everything possible to reduce emissions between now and 2050, we’d only have even odds of hitting the two-degree target – and then only if we also did everything possible over the second half of the century too,” said co-author Keywan Riahi, a researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria.

(Via Nicole, who emails: “Then what the hell’s the point?")
===
SHOCK NEWS
Tim Blair
So that’s what he’s been up to.

UPDATE. In other write-your-own-Age-headline developments …
===
SPENCER EATS
Tim Blair
Farmer Peter Spencer – previously mentioned here – is ending his hunger strike. Some background on Spencer and his cause from Michael Duffy.
===
COOLING CONTINUES
Tim Blair
Two further signs that warmening is scuttling off the agenda: Australians are flying overseas in increased numbers, and a survey of our major worries doesn’t once mention the environment. Kind-of related: the Eleven Most Painfully Obvious Newspaper Articles Ever.