Title: (Labor) He Doesn't Need Eyes with Us to Guide Him
Subjects: Labor -- Labor unions -- United States -- 1900 - 1910
Political Cartoon -- 1900 - 1910
Source: Harper's Weekly, June 15, 1901
Medium: Engraving
=== Bible Quote ===
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”- 1 John 4:10
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Two-term Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh announces he won't seek re-election, opening another possible door for GOP
Taliban Ramp Up Attacks
Militants launch strong counterattacks on U.S. Marines and Afghan troops in Taliban stronghold
Whose Presidents Day Is It, Anyway?
FoxNews.com poll results on who we should honor on Presidents Day range from Washington to Obama
Gillibrand-Van Jones Forum Draws Fire
Challenger says New York senator's plan to speak beside ex-Obama adviser proves she's out of touch with voters
Global Warming in Last 15 Years Insignificant, U.K.'s Top Climate Scientist Admits
The embattled ex-head of the research center at the heart of the Climate-gate scandal dropped a bombshell over the weekend, admitting in an interview with the BBC that there has been no global warming over the past 15 years. Phil Jones, former head of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, made a number of eye-popping statements to the BBC's climate reporter on Sunday. Data from CRU, where Jones was the chief scientist, is key evidence behind the claim that the growth of cities (which are warmer than countryside) isn't a factor in global warming and was cited by the U.N.'s climate science body to bolster statements about rapid global warming in recent decades. Jones's latest statements seemed to contradict the CRU's data.
An elite squad of assassins is suspected of killing an arms dealer, possibly with an injection that stopped his heart, then leaving a "Do Not Disturb" sign on his hotel room door.Memorial as murder accused held
MORE than 1000 people attend service as vandals deface tribute page to schoolboy Elliot Fletcher.
Driver error suspected in train carnage
RESCUERS forced to perform amputations after rush-hour trains crash head-on killing 18.
Gambler ordered to pay casino $1 million
HIGH-STAKES gambler fails to convince court that casino exploited his mental condition
Stranger 'smeared chilli on kids' faces'
A MAN has been arrested after the assaults of two toddlers while they were in their prams at the shops.
Jackpot couple richer than rock stars
A LUCKY couple's $98 million lottery win means they now have more money than Oasis.
Man jailed over sex with schoolgirl
A VICTORIAN man who raped an intoxicated 14-year-old schoolgirl has been jailed. Jason Griffin, 36, of Traralgon, raped the girl at his home after giving her alcohol and a white tablet in December, 2007, the Victorian County Court in Melbourne heard. The court heard Griffin first offered the girl oral sex in exchange for cannabis, which she agreed to. But he later approached her as she was playing computer games and raped her.
Underage sex photos 'an insurance policy'
PHOTOS of Glenys Heyward's estranged partner having sex with an underage girl did not stop him murdering her, a court heard.
Batt Man makes his escape
PETER Garrett left bureaucrats to handle the crisis consuming his home insulation program while he went to a national park to meet a rare angle-headed gecko.
Dungeon dad begs daughter for cash
JAILED Josef Fritzl has been writing letters begging for cash from the daughter he locked up and raped repeatedly in a secret dungeon.
Girl's death in spa 'preventable'
THE tragic drowning death of a girl who became attached to a filter drain at the bottom of a spa was "preventable", a coroner has found. NSW Deputy State Coroner Paul MacMahon has made four recommendations including that a ban be placed on installing active main filter drains on the floor of spa pools.
=== Journalists Corner ===
Bill's brought you the biggest names in the biz, and now he's back in La La Land for more!
Which Tinseltown titans will he talk to next?
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All Eyes on China!
The country's banks tighten their belts on lending. So, why the sudden slow down, and how will it impact a global recovery?
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The Fight for Rhode Island!
Kennedy's out, & the race is wide open! So, what's John Loughlin's plan to win? He reveals campaign strategy!
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Health Care Reform!
Will Dems defy public concerns and rush the plan through?
=== Comments ===
Does Obama Walk the Walk When It Comes to Christians and Jews?
By Ken Blackwell
President Obama is big on civility. He talks a very good game. But his nominee for a top slot at the Department of Justice--Dawn Johnsen--is a leading exponent of incivility. Johnsen worked with the ACLU for years. And she joined ARM--the so-called Abortion Rights Mobilization--to strip the Catholic Church of its tax-exempt status because of its pro-life advocacy. The Catholic Church eventually won that case--but not until it had spent years and millions of dollars defending itself. The Catholic Church was just the biggest ARM target. If they had succeeded against the Catholics, they surely would have come after the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Association of Evangelicals, and The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.
If Mr. Obama is serious about civility he needs to withdraw Dawn Johnsen’s nomination. If she is confirmed, we will see a radical anti-Catholic, pro-abortion zealot influencing policy thoughout the Justice Department—but also policy throughout the entire federal government.
What we are witnessing right now is an anti-Christian programmatic pogrom. What is a “pogrom” it’s the word that describes anti-Jewish raids by Cossacks and others in czarist Russia, but a programmatic pogrom best describes what is happening right now. These are not isolated attacks. And while we no longer have Cossacks to threaten, we now have left-wing bloggers who actually call themselves Kossacks (after the Daily Kos).
In North Carolina, the Catholic college Belmont Abbey, is threatened with closure for its refusal to dispense contraceptives. Radicals are not impressed with the college president’s response: We don’t give contraceptives to female staffers--or to the monks! In this case, the local branch of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission smells discrimination.
In Washington, President Obama’s nominee to the federal EEOC, Prof. Chai Feldblum of Georgetown University, is blunt: If there’s a clash between the gay agenda and religious liberty, your liberties lose. If confirmed, she would be in position to pursue the pogrom nationwide. (more at the link)
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Fmr. Aide Reveals Bizarre Voicemails From Elizabeth Edwards
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," February 12, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And tonight there are even more bizarre twists in the scandal surrounding John Edwards.
Now earlier this week, his former aide Andrew Young revealed that Elizabeth Edwards has threatened him with a lawsuit. Now, if filed, the so-called alienation of affection suit would allege that Andrew Young was partially responsible for the breakup of the Edwards marriage.
But even with a legal battle looming, the man who was at one time John Edwards' closest confidante is continuing to tell his side of the story. And tonight, for the first time, he and his wife revealed never-before-heard voice mails that he says Elizabeth Edwards would not want you to hear.
And joining me now are Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri. Andrew is also the author of the New York Times best seller, "The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards' Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought Him Down." (read more at the link)
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Two Worrisome Situations
By Bill O'Reilly
Last Thursday, Iran celebrated the 31st anniversary of the fascist regime there. Mullahs were nervous the protesters would disrupt the proceedings, but the Iranian secret police apparently neutralized dissenters, which is not good news for the world. Iran continues to cause all kinds of trouble and is close to developing a nuclear weapon. This will become a huge story later on this year. Wait and see.
The second troubling situation is President Obama's spending. According to an op-ed in Friday's Wall Street Journal, Mr. Obama will add more debt in his first two years in office than President Bush, himself a big spender, did in eight years.
Economist Michael Boskin says: "The Obama 10-year budget — unprecedented in its spending, taxes, deficits and accumulation of debt — is by a large margin the most risky fiscal strategy in American history. So worrisome is this debt outlook that Moody's warns of a downgrade on U.S. Treasury bonds, and major global financial powers talk of ending the dollar's reign as the global reserve currency."
Now, economics is boring, but here's something that's not tedious. The USA is on the verge of bankruptcy. And if America goes under, that is cannot fulfill its financial obligations, every one of us will suffer.
"Talking Points' is not Chicken Little. We don't issue doomsday scenarios here. But the federal government is acting recklessly, and you should know it.
In order for the craziness to stop, Americans will have to vote new people into office. Also, we'll all have to suffer a bit. Social Security's going to have to be revamped. Medicare will have to be restructured, and millions of Americans will lose entitlements.
President Obama is correct when he says that spending on medical care must reverse itself. Americans can no longer afford to get sick. Something has to be done and quickly.
Most Americans instinctively know we're in trouble. That's what the Massachusetts vote was all about. We know Iran is dangerous, and we know the Obama administration is spending far too much money.
So I fully expect big changes in November, as voters will elect people they believe will be tough on terrorism, including Iran, and will stop the spending madness, because if Americans continue to go down the liberal lane, the entire country will go down.
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Improving The Gap’s safety is a no-brainer
Piers Akerman
WHEN Kevin Rudd was campaigning for the top job in the nation he was painted as Kev the Compassionate. - The Rudd government already looks beaten and lifeless. This issue was to be avoided by Rudd by going for an early election. He didn’t want to be running while the bills were coming in for his pork barreling. I don’t think Rudd would spend one cent on these projects and it has nothing to do with their worth, but the fact that his mates aren’t gathered around to profit from the work. Typically, the ALP will only endorse spending money on their own. While it may well be that the mentally ill are more likely to support the ALP, the ALP is not moved by its’ supporters, but by its creditors. - ed
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SOLAR BEAR
Tim Blair
Sydney artist Judy Hungerford explains her environmental message:
Hungerford admits she often uses incongruous elements within her paintings, which have dreamlike qualities about them.At least we have Judy’s art to cheer us up:
“We are merely an insignificant and transitory part of life on a small and extraordinary planet,” she said.
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ONE IS COLD-BLOODED, THE OTHER IS JUST A LIZARD
Tim Blair
A bushland encounter:
Environment Minister Peter Garrett left bureaucrats to handle the crisis consuming his home insulation program yesterday while he went to a national park to meet a rare angle-headed gecko.No word yet on whether the tilt-lizard survived. Meanwhile:
The Rudd government is facing a legal storm over the bungled insulation scheme linked to at least four deaths with at least three families considering suing for damages.There are more smoking guns here than you’d see in a Sergio Leone festival.
And new correspondence has revealed Environment Minister Peter Garrett was warned in October last year by the Master Electricians that “the potential for further fatalities cannot be dismissed”. Mr Garrett suspended the use of foil insulation only last week …
The letter called on Mr Garrett to immediately suspend the foil insulation program - which the government did not do for another four months - warning of “the potential for further fatalities”.
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FISTS OF FURIOUSNESS
Tim Blair
Caroline Overington’s thesis on gamers provokes a lively response from the gamey/twittery community
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THE FOIL ON THE HILL
Tim Blair
In their place, concerned celebrities are not a bad thing. Particularly if they’re getting their kit off to promote People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or offering entertainingly stupid opinions on some issue of social justice or other.
A few years ago, for example, Baywatch blonde (and PETA pinup) Pamela Anderson discovered something terrible about ugg boots. “I’m getting rid of our Uggs,” Anderson announced. “I used to wear them with my red swimsuit to keep warm – never realising that they were SKIN!”
Forgive her. She’s a celebrity. As a class, celebrities aren’t known to be especially observant. Which is why it was always fun to imagine what might happen if one of these deeply concerned famous types was put in charge of something serious.
Thanks to Peter Garrett, formerly of Midnight Oil, we now know.
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CHILE COIN CARNAGE
Tim Blair
A South American currency crisis:
The general manager of the Chilean mint has been sacked after thousands of coins were issued with the name of the country spelt wrongly.He almost got away with it:
The 50-peso coins - worth about 6p - were issued in 2008, but no-one noticed the mistake until late last year, the BBC reported.These things happen from time to time. Just ask the King of Spain.
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STAY THE COURSE
Tim Blair
Labor would still win an election if one were held today and Kevin Rudd retains a 28-point lead as preferred PM over Tony Abbott, but other post-Turnbull trends are positive:
Labor’s primary vote has dropped below 40 per cent for the first time since 2006 and the Coalition has managed to hold its primary vote at 40 per cent for a month for the first time since the 2007 election loss.A few more pro-Labor speeches from Turnbull would be useful. Finally, he’s helping his party.
On the weekend after the Rudd government reintroduced its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by putting a market price on carbon, public support for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme dropped to a new low after the fiasco of the UN’s Copenhagen climate conference in December and Coalition opposition to an ETS.
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WE HAVE BEEN TALKING A LOT ABOUT WARMING
Tim Blair
How did everyone come to believe in global warming in the first place? Possibly via something like this:
Among remaining believers, Professor Peter Liss – he’s the guy standing in for Phil Jones at the University of East Anglia’s Cleaner Required Unit – has an unusual take on things:
“If you’re on the climate sceptics side, you have to have really good evidence for your case because if you’re wrong then the consequences for all of us and all our children and whoever comes after is hugely influenced. I don’t see that evidence, I see lots of assertion but it’s not backed up. It’s very dangerous and like playing Russian roulette with the planet.”Difficult to see how Russian roulette would be dangerous for the planet, unless the planet grows fingers. It’s not really the planet’s game. In The New Statesman, Mark Lynas rants:
The scientists at the centre of the so-called Climategate scandal have for years been the targets of an orchestrated smear campaign. That is why they resisted Freedom of Information requests and bent the rules by refusing to share data: because they knew that any data shared would be picked apart and used to undermine public confidence in their work, as has indeed now happened.Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with data? If some of the IPCC data had been “picked apart” prior to publication, that organisation might still retain some microns of credibility. But let’s all be insane anyway, just for the fun of it:
Going green will not be optional in Cambridge, Mass., if the Cambridge Climate Congress has its way. It will be mandatory.(Via Missred)
There will be congestion pricing to reduce car travel. Curbside parking will be eliminated. There will be a carbon tax “of some kind,” not to mention taxes on plastic and paper bags. And the Massachusetts city, home of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will advocate vegetarianism and veganism, complete with “Meatless or Vegan Mondays.”
Those are just some of the proposals put forth by the Congress, which was created in May 2009 to respond to the “climate emergency” plaguing Cambridge.
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RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, LITTLE ONES
Tim Blair
Following his success at insulating Australian homes, Peter Garrett begins his next project:
Australia will conduct the world’s first continent-wide environmental discovery survey, following Environment Minister Peter Garrett’s launch of a $10 million scientific program near Coffs Harbour.Their future is secure, now that the Mr Chinnery of Australian politics is involved. Garrett attended the launch rather than discuss certain safety issues with the Queensland Electrical Safety Office, Master Electricians, AFIA, NECA, CFMEU and CEPU:
The program, which will take three years to complete, aims to identify hundreds of native species and will be used to help set national targets to halt the extinction of plants and animals.
Instead, he [flew] to Coffs Harbour, 540km north of Sydney, before embarking on a four-hour round-trip drive to launch a biodiversity research “bush blitz” project …How very biodiverse of him. Meanwhile, in Canberra, Aluminium Foil Insulation Association vice-president Michel Bostrom puzzled over how an apparently benign substance became deadly during Garrett’s last great escapade:
“In 54 years since the first roll of foil was sold in Australia … there has not been, to my knowledge, a single case of electrocution installing foil – until now,” he said.Four words: Environment Minister Peter Garrett. You’d think he’d be interested himself in discovering more about this, but no:
Mr Garrett said today there was no need for him to attend the meeting, which he instigated, because department officials would report back to him about electrical contractors’ concerns.With respect, you twitch-dancing, shame-dodging parliamentary hobbyist, these are not the “normal course of events”. Unless you think that the deaths of four men working on a program run by your department is “normal”.
“I don’t go to technical experts’ meetings in the normal course of events – my officials go to those meetings,” he said …
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THAT OLD PHD EXCUSE AGAIN
Tim Blair
Nina Funnell, under 30 and childless, meets a disapproving Prime Minister:
I was at a function where Kevin Rudd was giving the keynote address. He talked about the ‘’crisis’’ of Australia’s ageing population … Arguments were made about superannuation and the strain on healthcare. But there was a deeper message: young people (women in particular) are failing in their civic duty to reproduce …Readers are invited to offer their own retorts.
After Rudd came off stage … one of my friends introduced me, dropping in that I am completing a PhD. At this, Rudd rolled his eyes and in a terse voice lacking any sense of irony remarked that is the “excuse” that “all” young women are using nowadays to avoid starting families. Since then I’ve come up with numerous one-line retorts, but in the moment I just froze in shock.
UPDATE. Go to comments. Iowahawk is there.
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JOE WINS IRAQ
Tim Blair
When things go wrong for the Obama administration, it’s all George Bush’s fault. But when things go right …
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RULED BRITANNIA
Tim Blair
In Britain, rules are rules:
A girl fighting for her life after a car she was travelling in plunged into an ice-cold river was not rescued for almost two hours because health and safety rules prevented police from entering the water.Instead, her rescue had to wait until a specialist diving team arrived. From the next county. This took 97 minutes. The girl, only five years old, has since died.
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The way Bligh’s going, she’ll invite Osama instead
Andrew Bolt
Queensland’s in the hands of people who are never quite able to put a name to a face:
Last week:
Mr Palmer and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh on the weekend announced what they said was an agreement for China Power International Development to buy $US60 billion ($68.8bn) worth of coal over the next 20 years from the Galilee Basin in central Queensland.... Mr Palmer then issued a statement in which he said a mistake had been made and the agreement his company, Resourcehouse, had reached was with China Power International Holding, a Chinese government-owned enterprise based in Beijing.This week:
PREMIER Anna Bligh has been left red-faced after misspelling Barack Obama’s name in an official invitation to the White House.(Thanks to reader John.)
The letter, believed to be initially written by one of her advisers last week, was geared to attract the US President to the Sunshine State while visiting Australia in March.
Unfortunately, the adviser left an extra `r’ in Barack...
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Death of the wind farms
Andrew Bolt
Wind farms are dying in the United States as the taxpayer handouts dry out:
Some say that Ka Le is haunted—and it is. But it’s haunted not by Hawaii’s legendary night marchers. The mysterious sounds are “Na leo o Kamaoa"-- the disembodied voices of 37 skeletal wind turbines abandoned to rust on the hundred-acre site of the former Kamaoa Wind Farm…(Thanks to half a dozen readers.)
The ghosts of Kamaoa are not alone in warning us. Five other abandoned wind sites dot the Hawaiian Isles—but it is in California where the impact of past mandates and subsidies is felt most strongly. Thousands of abandoned wind turbines littered the landscape of wind energy’s California “big three” locations—Altamont Pass, Tehachapin (above), and San Gorgonio—considered among the world’s best wind sites…
California’s wind farms—then comprising about 80% of the world’s wind generation capacity—ceased to generate much more quickly than Kamaoa. In the best wind spots on earth, over 14,000 turbines were simply abandoned. Spinning, post-industrial junk which generates nothing but bird kills...
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Dr Who battles the evil Thatcher
Andrew Bolt
How on earth could this plot by desperate BBC revolutionaries have possibly failed?
Left-wing script writers infiltrated Doctor Who to give it anti-Thatcher plot lines in the late 1980s in a failed attempt “to overthrow the Government” Sylvester McCoy has claimed.(Thanks to readers Ann and Steve.)
McCoy (above), who played the seventh doctor from 1987 to 1989, and Andrew Cartmel, the script editor at the time, both admitted the conspiracy, saying that it “seemed the right thing to do"…
Meanwhile the show’s popularity went into freefall and it was taken off air in 1989.
McCoy, now 66, who took over as the Doctor three months after Thatcher’s third election victory in 1987, said they brought politics into the show “deliberately” but “very quietly"…
“Our feeling was that Margaret Thatcher was far more terrifying than any monster the Doctor had encountered,” he told the Sunday Times.
Cartmel said it was almost a job requirement to detest Thatcher. When asked by John Nathan-Turner, the producer, what he hoped to achieve in being the show’s script editor, he recalled: “My exact words were: I’d like to overthrow the government...”
One three-part programme, The Happiness Patrol, featured a transparent caricature of Thatcher. Sheila Hancock played Helen A, a big-haired despotic ruler of a human colony on the planet Terra Alpha, whose subjects – called “drones” – worked in factories. The Doctor calls on the drones to down their tools and revolt, an obvious reference to industrial disputes like the miners’ strike…
Cartmel lamented that such satire never reached its intended audience. “...sadly, nobody really noticed or cared.”
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IPCC’s latest great source: a newsletter than doesn’t even back its scare
Andrew Bolt
The Air Vent discovers another supposedly impeccable, peer-reviewed source for the IPCC’s alarmist claims in its 2007 report. The claim in question:
Climate variability affects many segments of this growing economic sector [Tourism]. For example, wildfires in Colorado (2002) and British Columbia (2003) caused tens of millions of dollars in tourism losses by reducing visitation and destroying infrastructure (Associated Press, 2002; Butler, 2002; BC Stats, 2003).The Air Vent:
That’s two newspaper articles and one tourism statistics newsletter. I can’t find the first two articles, one is an old AP story and the other was in a newspaper that folded last year.That doesn’t sound very scientific. And, in fact, the one source able to be checked - and the only one dealing with the impact of fires in British Columbia - shows no evidence for the IPCC claim. Here is the relevant passage from BC Stats, 2003: Tourism Sector Monitor – November 2003, British Columbia Ministry of Management Services, Victoria, 11 pp. [Accessed 09.02.07: :]http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/pubs/tour/tsm0311.pdf]:
Tourism is a seasonal phenomenon. The wildfires unfortunately burned mostly during July, August and September, the three months of the year when most room revenues are typically generated. More precisely, establishments generated 38% of their annual room revenues in these three months between 1995 and 2001. Moreover, the forest fires were at their peak in August, alsoThe Air Vent rightly concludes:
the peak month for tourism. Despite this bad timing, the peak of the 2003 season does not appear to be lower than the peak of previous years.
Once again, I am not saying that their claim is wrong. I am only underlining that their sources don’t match their claims. This shows that the IPCC already had a point of view, and they simply wanted a source to back up their claims. They found this BC Stats, probably didn’t read it because they figured it must show that fires reduce tourism, and cited it as the source of their claim. The IPCC makes a conclusion, then looks for evidence that supports their claims, and cite it. Sometimes they even cite evidence that doesn’t support their claims. Since no one read it for 2 years, they almost got away with it. This isn’t how a reputable scientific organization works.Read the whole post at the first link.
(Thanks to reader John.)
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Time to ditch Wong and Garrett
Andrew Bolt
Gerard Henderson says two ministers are now hurting Kevin Rudd:
The ETS is a lost cause. In which case, Rudd would be well advised to cut Labor’s losses now and junk the legislation. A post-ETS political environment would make it possible for the Prime Minister to reshuffle his ministry and move the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, and the Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, into different positions.===
Rudd is primarily responsible for his government’s inability to explain its climate change policies. However, the formal dumping of the ETS could be used as a rationalisation to explain a reshuffle.
Wong was a star performer in the 2007 election campaign and rarely missed making the required political point. It’s just that, in her climate-change role, Wong sounds like an automaton who is unwilling to answer questions. Garrett appears to have become a victim of the PS syndrome - he is so committed to Planet Saving, he has not focused on the administration of Labor’s environment program.
Jihadism: are we winning yet?
Andrew Bolt
More Muslims convicted for plotting jihad in Australia:
FIVE Sydney men convicted over a plot to commit violent jihad on Australian soil have received maximum sentences ranging from 23 years to 28 years, with a judge describing their crimes as the ”most serious criminality of its kind...”.It seems to me, nevertheless, that the heat has lowered in the jihadist movement here. I hope I’m right. But once again it’s another reminder that it is wise to temper Muslim immigration into Australia until we know that jihadism is indeed on the retreat.
The men, who last October were found guilty of the conspiracy which involved stockpiling explosive chemicals and firearms, smiled when Justice Anthony Whealy handed down their sentences.
UPDATE
This, though, is a sign I might be fooling myself:
Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, formerly Australia’s most senior cleric—and still the imam of Australia’s largest mosque—said the five convicted terror plotters had “no connection to acts of terror whatsoever”.Lovely. Turning convicted terrorists into martyrs to Australia’s evil system is precisely the kind of lethally dangerous rabble-rousing I thought we were now over.
“I can confirm 100 per cent and I have known these young men for a quarter of a century and I know their thinking and their families, they have no connection to acts of terror whatsoever, and that the system seems to have allowed itself to play the role of God, thinking that they can see through into a person’s true intentions,” he said.
And the rabble is indeed being roused:
“That’s a very big sentence,” a supporter of one of the men sentenced said… ”It’s not fair to him, our community or our religion.”
Not fair to “our religion”? Uh oh.
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Abbott is back in the game for now
Andrew Bolt
Tony Abbott might have hoped for a little better after the Government’s home insulation fiasco. Still, it’s just enough to keep up the dominant narrative now of Kevin Rudd’s decline:
KEVIN Rudd’s personal voter appeal is at its lowest since he became Labor leader more than three years ago as support for Labor’s emissions trading scheme slumps and the ALP’s primary support sits at its lowest since Kim Beazley was opposition leader.Fluctuations of a single percentage point are almost meaningless, given the margin of error. But there’s enough in this to conclude that Abbott has at least made the Coalition competitive, and not least by running against Rudd’s mad (and deceitfully named) Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme:
Labor’s primary vote has dropped below 40 per cent for the first time since 2006 and the Coalition has managed to hold its primary vote at 40 per cent for a month for the first time since the 2007 election loss.....
After a two-week parliamentary sitting dominated by climate change issues and the bungling of the Labor government’s ceiling insulation scheme, which has cost four lives and sparked at least 86 house fires, dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister has risen to a new high of 40 per cent… (M)eanwhile satisfaction has stalled on 50 per cent, his lowest as Prime Minister.
According to the latest Newspoll survey, conducted last weekend exclusively for The Australian, Labor’s primary vote was 39 per cent—the first time it has been below 40 per cent since Mr Rudd became ALP leader in 2006—and the Coalition’s primary vote was 40 per cent.
Based on preference flows at the last election, Labor still holds an election-winning lead on Greens preferences of 53 per cent to the Coalition’s 47 per cent -- almost exactly the position of the ALP and Coalition in November 2007 when John Howard lost the election and his seat.
In September last year, support for the CPRS was at 67 per cent but last weekend dropped to 57 per cent and those against the CPRS rose from 22 per cent in September 2009 to 34 per cent.Dennis Shanahan:
But the real worry for the Labor Party—remembering at all times that the ALP is hot favourite to win the next election and still in the same position on two-party preferred terms as it was at the last election—is in the trends.
They are running against the Prime Minister, Labor and the government’s emissions trading scheme. What’s more, these are not just a consequence of “Abbott’s honeymoon” as a new leader; they began a long time ago and were masked by Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership and Coalition divisions.
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Excuse excused
Andrew Bolt
Another sexism scandal from that unrepentent troglodyte Tony Abbott. This time he says “all” women use the “excuse” of getting a PhD to avoid having babies.
Cue outrage! Bring on the mass mockery. Stick a microphone under the noses of the outraged spokeswomen of bristling feminism.
But wait! Sorry, my mistake. It was just the other guy, so I guess that kind of kills the story.
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Worse than Whitlam
Andrew Bolt
At least Whitlam had bureaucrats trying to save us from him, says Terry McCrann:
THE Rudd Government is careening out of control. It has lost all policy coherence beyond seemingly one central idea - throwing (your) money around.
Two things make it worse. The government is back to ‘picking winners.’ Whether by throwing darts at a hypothetical dartboard. Or on the basis of who manages to catch a ministerial ear in a plush snow hideaway or even the prime ministerial ear in a lush tropical hideaway.
Secondly, and what makes the reality of a prime minister and a government that are already worse than the benchmark in Australia - Gough Whitlam and the Whitlam government - so much more disturbing, is the utter compromising of an incompetent bureaucracy.
At least in the Whitlam period, Treasury was a bastion of tough independent advice. Both detailing reality and warning the government of the consequences of its crazier irresponsibilities. Today the Treasury of Ken Henry excels in telling the government what it wants to hear; Henry seems to relish a role as an ex officio member of the cabinet.
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Uniformly fond of a drink
Andrew Bolt
The worry is that it’s not just the army’s culture that’s the problem, but the country’s:
THE second-in-command of Australia’s armed forces has admitted that the army has an alcohol problem and demanded that officers tackle a culture of heavy drinking.
Lieutenant-General Ken Gillespie said in an email to commanders that he was tired of hearing about soldiers killing and injuring themselves and others through drunken behaviour, according to the army’s internal newspaper… The Soldiers Army newspaper said General Gillespie’s anger was heightened when police dealt with 12 incidents involving drunk army personnel over one weekend - seven drink-driving offences and five drunk and disorderly cases.
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