Headlines Tuesday 9th March 2010

=== Todays Toon ===

April 15, 1882, Harper's Weekly.
This cartoon by Thomas Nast shows Rutherford B. Hayes vetoing the bill from congress prohibiting Chinese immigration. This shows the American government still valued diplomatic relations with China. This was due mostly to trade and commerce. It also shows how fragile the relationship between China and the U.S. was. The image also contains vases from other countries but the one from China is pictured in the front, receiving all the attention. In fact, it is receiving fine attention as the President looks over it with a magnifying glass.

Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American politician, lawyer, military leader and the 19th President of the United States (1877–1881). Hayes was elected President by one electoral vote after the highly disputed election of 1876. Losing the popular vote to his opponent, Samuel Tilden, Hayes was the only president whose election was decided by a congressional commission.
During his otherwise uneventful presidency, he ordered federal troops to suppress The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and he ended the Reconstruction.

=== Bible Quote ===

“[The God of All Comfort] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

=== Headlines ===

Sean Penn tells HBO that journalists who call his close buddy Hugo Chavez a dictator should be behind bars — after saying people who question the actor's work in Haiti should 'die screaming of rectal cancer.'

ACORN Workers Charged With Felony Voter Fraud
2 Wis. employees accused of submitting multiple applications for single voters — including each other — to meet ACORN quotas for 2008 presidential election

Obama Taunt: GOP Had 10 Years
President launches last-ditch push to pass health bill, taunting GOP with, 'You had 10 years. What happened?'

Textbook Battle Brews in Texas
Changes to the Lone Star State's school curriculum could have a direct impact on what millions of kids are learning

American-Born Al Qaeda Suspect Nabbed in Pakistan
An American member of Al Qaeda was picked up in a raid in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, Pakistani officials said Monday, but reversed earlier assertions that the detained man was the terror network's U.S.-born spokesman.


Families of Martin Bryant's victims outraged as potential powerbrokers in this month's Tasmanian election promise to give convicted prisoners the right to vote

Couple win right to sterilise girl
THE parents of a profoundly disabled 11-year-old get Family Court backing for hysterectomy.

I can still see my beautiful Gurshan
MOTHER says dead boy still appears to her as she describes deep and terrible heartbreak.

Schools call police on cyber bullies
PARENTS told to take control as schools get bogged down "cleaning up online carnage".

Clarke quits cricket tour to help Lara
VICE-captain leaves New Zealand for personal reasons on same day fiancee Lara her breaks silence.

Dire warning of railway catastrophe
TENS of thousands of commuters are at risk of derailments caused by dangerous lines, says rail operator.

Sydney's Muslims hit a dead end
SYDNEY'S Islamic community is so desperate for burial plots it's applying to councils to build Muslim-only cemeteries in both rural and residential areas.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon calls for calm as 500 Christians slaughtered in Nigeria
UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Washington led calls for restraint today after the slaughter of more than 500 Christians in Nigeria, as survivors told how the killers chopped down their victims. Funerals took place for victims of the three-hour orgy of violence on Sunday in three Christian villages close to the northern city of Jos, blamed on members of the mainly Muslim Fulani ethnic group.

Poll shows Labor, Rann support collapse

PREMIER Mike Rann's popularity has plummeted along with Labor's primary vote, according to a new poll in today's The Australian newspaper. It shows the Liberals have drawn level with Labor less than two weeks before the State Election.

Former Rugby player Joe Reaiche accuses Scientologists of abuse
THE Church of Scientology has been hit by a fresh wave of allegations, likely to give added weight to calls for a Senate inquiry. Several Australians have spoken out for the first time about their experiences with the church, accusing it of forced abortions, holding slave labor camps and exploiting child workers. Former rugby league player Joe Reaiche told ABC's Four Corners program that he was coerced into spending $400,000 on spiritual books and being paid just $20 a week as an employee.

=== Journalists Corner ===

The Ultimate Insider - Karl Rove's tell-all book!
From the Bush presidency to Washington power plays and how decisions really got made behind-the-scenes!

Another Jobs Bill?
What's behind the Dems' latest legislation and will their spending spree actually get Americans back to work? Neil gets answers.
===
The Oscar Goes To...
Bernie Goldberg on Hollywood's biggest night and how America's favorite actors behaved!
===
The Health Care Push
As the rush for reform increases, who's on board & who's holding back? Greta gets details.


In honor of Women's History Month and the anniversary of the UN Declaration of the unlawful detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the University of Pennsylvania Women's Center, Penn Activists Coming Together (PACT), and the US Campaign for Burma invite you to a film screening of Douye, Our Rights.

Douye, Our Rights, produced by former Amnesty International director Jack Healy, is a documentary film about Aung San Suu Kyi and the freedom struggle in Burma. Following the film screening, the Philadelphia Chapter of the US Campaign for Burma will lead a discussion on Aung San Suu Kyi and how this silenced herstory is a modern-day social justice lesson that incorporates Ghandian principles of non-violent resistance.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010
7:00 pm
Women's Center, University of Pennsylvania
3643 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA (Get directions)

Join us for this important event and learn about how you can get involved in the freedom and democracy movement in Burma and how to raise awareness about the imprisoned Burmese freedom leader.

For more information, please contact Shaina Adams-El Guabli, Program and Outreach Coordinator at the Penn Women's Center, at ashaina@upenn.edu or (215) 898-8611. To subscribe to the Philadelphia Chapter of the US Campaign for Burma mailing list, please contact Susan Zingale-Baird at szbaird@msn.com.

==== Comments ===

Giving Up Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
By Bill O'Reilly
Both Fox News and The Washington Post are reporting that the Obama administration is seriously considering returning 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to the military.

As you may know, Attorney General Eric Holder wants to try Mohammed in civilian court here in New York City. Most Americans oppose that for a variety of reasons, and now it looks like President Obama may overrule Holder.

But why? Is it just about public opinion?

"The Factor" believes there is some deal-making going on behind the scenes. The Obama people want Republicans to cooperate with closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay. The deal could be the president will let the military try the terrorists being held there if the GOP helps on Gitmo. As always, we could be wrong.

"Talking Points" believes Gitmo is a useful tool in fighting terrorism, but prisons are prisons, so these thugs could be held in military facilities pretty much anywhere.

Also, we do not believe Guantanamo Bay causes people to sign up for the jihad. Are you telling me once Gitmo is closed, Al Qaeda's membership will dry up? Give me a break.

The greater good here is for captured overseas terrorists to be handled by the military because it is far easier, far less expensive and protects national security.

Every time you put a terrorist on trial in a civilian court, the enemy learns secrets about our anti-terror strategy. Every time. That is the crux of the matter.

Politically speaking, we can look at this two ways. On the positive side, it shows that President Obama could reverse a bad policy. That's a good thing. On the negative side, Holder's civilian trial vision was so misguided, it is almost frightening.

Apparently Holder thinks America is on trial here, that our anti-terror strategies need to be justified to the world. That is a dangerous point of view that will get Americans killed in the future.

President Obama's chief obligation as commander in chief is to protect us. If that means using harsh measures to defeat the bad guys, so be it. And the president understands that. There is no harsher measure than to fire hell-fire missiles into towns where terrorists may be living, and Mr. Obama does that almost every week.

So spare us the phony "we've got to protect the rights of terrorists argument." This is a war. We need to win the war. You do that by imposing pain on the enemy.
===
Muslims kick own goal in PR stunt
Piers Akerman
Attempts by Australian Muslims to build bridges to the wider community through Saturday’s open day at the Lakemba mosque exploded as dramatically as an Islamist suicide terrorist. - I welcome Islamic peoples to Australia, and Australian law. I was appalled at the division which held Aborigines having a different legal code and note it has largely failed, despite those willing to call it a success at any cost. There are times when our legislators gets it wrong. Like when Fairfield Mayor Nick Lalich exposed private citizens to extortion because they had land he wanted.
When such things happen we must act as a community to maintain the community standard.
Community standard is something that is often not portrayed correctly. It is not as 2GB’s Oldfield seems to want to portray it, an enshrinement of rules designed to enforce cultural imperialism. Instead community standards are what allow the community to interact safely with each other. I would not accept subjecting myself to sharia law. Nor will I accept subjecting myself to corruption ala Lalich. It is ok if he wants to stone my sister, but not ok if he actually stones my sister. There is a difference and a line which one provides I won’t cross, and another I will. - ed.
===
GTFT
Tim Blair
Frustrated by the Bulleen Boomers’ poor ball-gathering during Saturday’s WNBL grand final, coach Tom Maher decided his team needed a reminder of basketball basics.

Instead of messing around, he told them they should just go in and “get the f***ing thing.”

Audiences watching the live ABC broadcast might have been a little surprised at Maher’s language – or maybe not; for all I know, women’s basketball pulls an even tougher crowd than does the NRL – but it’s still excellent advice. In fact, the advantages of just going in and “getting the f***ing thing”, or GTFT, may be seen in a whole range of circumstances.
===
ACTIONS MISCONSTRUED
Tim Blair
They were taken out of context:

Attorneys for Muzzammil S. “Mo” Hassan Friday said the media and public have misconstrued Hassan’s actions in the beheading of his estranged wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan.

Larrikin predicted something like this. As, er, the head of his family, Mo Hassan remains concerned for his children:

The two attorneys also said they will begin court action to try to get Hassan’s two children returned from Pakistan, where they were taken by Aasiya Zubair Hassan’s relatives.

Hassan fears the children “will be radicalized” in Pakistan, Bogulski said.

Can’t have that. Just imagine what they might do.

(Via Mark Steyn)
===
NETHER WORLD
Tim Blair
ABC science guy Robyn Williams condemns “a persistent few in the blogosphere” and “extreme” online anti-warmenists for dousing climate change panic:

Another reason we hear the voices of the extreme the loudest is that the new media allow many citizens to occupy their own nether world where they need never come across an opinion that conflicts with their own.

As opposed to the ABC, where three-quarters of a billion dollars in taxpayer funds every year is largely spent reinforcing its audience’s views – yet they’re still spooked by a “persistent few” lowly bloggers in our little “nether world”. Interesting.
===
POLITICAL SEISMOGRAPH JUMPING
Tim Blair
• Tony Abbott throws billions at pregnant workers, many of whom are presently covered by parental leave plans. He’ll fund the scheme by shaking down firms that already pay more than $5 million in taxes. Not clever.

• Dumped Labor MP Belinda Neal won’t go quietly. Let’s hope she runs as an independent, just for the fun of it.

• South Australian Premier Mike Rann, facing an election later this month, plunges in the polls. Kevin Rudd has lately suffered a much gentler, though still noteworthy, decline.

• Stretchy conservative councillor Hajnal Ban denies romance prior to aiming at a federal role. Also in Queensland: Premier Anna Bligh may retain water restrictions despite overflowing dams.

• The cost of Melbourne mayor Robert Doyle’s 2009 trip to Copenhagen and London, where he “discussed climate change and homelessness with mayors from around the world”? $50,000.

• And Greens want to give prisoners the vote, which is great news for the prison-familiar professional protester demographic.
===
COALTURAL IMPERIALISM
Tim Blair
Power for us, but not for them:

The United States and Britain are threatening to withhold support for a $3.75 billion World Bank loan for a coal-fired plant in South Africa, expanding the battleground in the global debate over who should pay for clean energy.

The opposition by the bank’s two largest members has raised eyebrows among those who note that the two advanced economies are allowing development of coal-powered plants in their own countries even as they raise concerns about those in poorer countries.

And even poorer regions. That coal-fired plant is planned for Limpopo. Still, if it helps Prius owners to sleep …

(Via Benny Peiser)
===
OPEN TO CLOSING
Tim Blair
Sydney’s Lakemba mosque, home of controversial cat meat cleric Sheik Hilaly, held an open day on Saturday. Support for sharia law was expressed. Brilliant timing – the open day coincided with marches for International Women’s Day:

This year’s local theme is Fair Go for Women, in Australia and Around the World, and the plight of women in Burma and the murder of hundreds of women in Jaurez, Mexico, were highlighted ...

Closer to home, the issues of Australian women’s pay, maternity leave, women in prison and abortion were also raised.

Another subject was either ignored by marchers or omitted from that report.

UPDATE. Nicholas Kristof: “Societies that repress women tend to be prone to violence.” (Via Chris)
===
INSTANT LEGENDS
Tim Blair
Ten News yesterday mentioned “the legendary Kodak Theatre” during an Oscars preview. Not bad for a building that is less than ten years old. For actual Hollywood legends, you have to go back a little further, as Mark Steyn wrote even before the legendary theatre opened:

With hindsight, the Seventies were the golden age of Oscar shows. It was fun when Marlon Brando had his award picked up by Sachem Littlefeather, Apache Indian and President of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee, protesting about the treatment of Indians by Hollywood. It was even better when she turned out to be Maria Cruz, struggling actress and Miss American Vampire of 1970. It was touching, in 1977, when Debby Boone sang `You Light Up My Life’ backed by a chorus of 11 children from the John Tracy Clinic for the Deaf interpreting the lyric in sign language. It was even more poignant when it subsequently emerged that they were just regular Equity kids pretending to be deaf and that the signing was complete gibberish. Ah, happy days.

The happiness continues, after a fashion. LA’s Roger Simon:

... every year at this time, major arteries are shut off (making the already mind-bending traffic even more hellacious), the area becomes riddled with satellite trucks and temporary grandstands, and the usually quiet hills are filled with Oscar parties. Replete with bad, loud and often off-key rock and roll, echoing through the canyons — Bono doesn’t play for these things — these parties are anything but glamorous. Often an expensive-looking home is rented out to whoever (porn producers, racketeers, real estate developers) for a day or two of non-stop festivities, resulting in narrow winding streets littered with beer bottles, pizza boxes and, no surprise, condom wrappers.

This year’s awards – Jules Crittenden has more – are now over. Commence the festivities! A barbeque might be appropriate:

Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker is stunned to discover that one of her relatives was accused of witchcraft during the Salem trials and narrowly avoided being burnt at the steak as she traces her family roots.

The Daily Mail has since corrected its little steak mistake. They win the Oscar for spellcheck.

(Via Andrew R.)
===
Give Rudd credit: his mess is too big for even him to explain away
Andrew Bolt
Gerard Henderson nails two myths. First, Tony Abbott does indeed deserve to be known as People Skllls, but not because he has none. Checked the polls?

Second, it’s not Kevin Rudd’s blather that’s the problem:

It is fashionable among some to blame the Rudd government’s difficulties on the Prime Minister’s communications ability, or lack thereof. This is somewhat unfair to both Rudd and Abbott. Not even such fine communicators as Margaret Thatcher or Bill Clinton could have explained the home insulation policy - for the simple reason it was an easily rorted dud.

Few would doubt Barack Obama’s ability to get across a message. Yet he has had no more success convincing Americans of the need for a cap-and-trade approach to carbon emissions than Rudd has had in Australia.
===
And in the red corner, not a conservative
Andrew Bolt
Picky, picky, I know - but ABC publicity cannot simply brand a columnist as of the “Left”, even when it’s advertising a clash with a columnist who’s freely branded “conservative”:

NEXT ON Q&A: THE BATTLE OF THE COLUMNISTS

Monday 15 March at 9.30pm AEST on ABC1

Next week’s Q&A is shaping up to be the battle of the columnists, with conservative columnist Miranda Devine and anything-but-conservative Catherine Deveny joining host Tony Jones on the panel.

And would it really kill Q&A to just once have three conservatives lining up against two of the Left? Are we really so exotic than so few can be found? So dangerous that more cannot be tolerated? So mighty that more would be too unfair?

Also on the panel will be:

Waleed Aly, politics lecturer;

Bill Shorten, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services; and

Peter Dutton, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing.
===
McCarthyists win: Plimer muzzled and Prince Philip thwarted
Andrew Bolt
Clive Hamilton, a professor with endless gigs on taxpayer-funded podiums, yet again screams that he and his fellow warmists are being bullied into silence:

The accusation of McCarthyism has been thrown around for years, usually in situations where there is no real parallel with Senator Joe McCarthy’s1950s witch-hunt aimed at uncovering Communists. Now Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe has called for climate scientists associated with the IPCC to be investigated for criminal violations the spectre of McCarthy has chillingly returned… The accusation of criminality against leading climate scientists takes the denialist campaign of harassment and intimidation to new heights, beyond that of cyber-bullying, character assassination and black operations.

Hamilton’s paranoia is laughable, and his double standards risible given the frankly creepy letters he writes to my children and those of other sceptics.

McCarthyism? If Hamilton wants an example of the most common form of it today, he should read this astonishing exchange of emails between the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and Professor Ian Plimer, the sceptic and author of Heaven and Earth:

On 23/12/2009, at 5:10 AM, Matthew Taylor wrote:

Dear Professor Plimer

I am writing on behalf of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, President of the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), to invite you to give the 2010 RSA President’s Lecture.

For over 250 years the RSA has been a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress. Our approach is multi-disciplinary and politically independent and combines cutting edge research and policy development with practical action.

We encourage public discourse and critical debate by providing platforms for leading experts to share new ideas on contemporary issues. The annual President’s Lecture is a key event in our prestigious programme of public events.

With recognition of your expertise in the geological and technological sciences, His Royal Highness has requested that we invite you to talk about the issues raised in your book ‘Heaven and Earth - Global Warming: The Missing Science’. His Royal Highness will chair the proceedings.

The date for the President’s Lecture has been confirmed with Buckingham Palace as Wednesday 5 May 2010, starting at 6pm. I do hope this will fit in with your existing diary commitments.

The event will take place in the RSA’s historic Great Room Auditorium, which seats 200. The audience will be made up of RSA Fellow members and other informed and influential guests including key representatives from the media, government, policy-makers, NGOs, business and academe…

Yours sincerely

Matthew Taylor

Chief Executive

From: Ian Plimer...

Sent: Wednesday, 23 December 2009 00:22

Dear Mr Taylor,

Thank you for the kind invitation which I accept.

Kind regards,

Ian Plimer

From: Matthew Taylor…

Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:54:18 +0000...

Dear Professor Plimer

I am afraid I am writing to you with some disappointing news regarding the Prince Philip Annual Lecture on 5 May.

As you well know, the debate around climate change has recently become highly politically charged, both globally and especially in your home country. Equally, as I am sure you are aware, members of the Royal Family need to be scrupulous in avoiding any appearance of advocating or supporting a particular political stance. The RSA’s charitable status also requires us to maintain absolute political independence in our programme of events and research events.

After discussion with Buckingham Palace, it is therefore with great regret that we must withdraw your invitation to give this year’s Prince Philip Lecture. The Duke of Edinburgh is personally disappointed as he read your book with great interest and was looking forward to hearing you speak, but I know that you will recognise that the now highly controversial debate surrounding this issue would make it inevitable that he was seen to be taking a particular position…

With sincere apologies,

Yours sincerely

Matthew Taylor
Chief Executive

Of course, not everyone at the Palace is quite so sensitive about “taking a particular position” in this “now highly controversial debate”:

Capitalism and consumerism have brought the world to the brink of economic and environmental collapse, the Prince of Wales has warned in a grandstand speech which set out his concerns for the future of the planet.

The heir to the throne told an audience of industrialists and environmentalists at St James’s Palace last night that he had calculated that we have just 96 months left to save the world.

And in a searing indictment on capitalist society, Charles said we can no longer afford consumerism and that the “age of convenience” was over…

Delivering the annual Richard Dimbleby lecture, Charles said that without “coherent financial incentives and disincentives” we have just 96 months to avert “irretrievable climate and ecosystem collapse, and all that goes with it.”

Is Prince Charles the new Joe McCarthy of Britain?
===
No, Howard did not rip billions from hospitals
Andrew Bolt

Professor Sinclair Davidson:

(O)n Insiders Chris Uhlmann suggested that the Howard government had cut hospital spending. Joe Hockey denied that allegation saying that the States had increased spending over and above the Commonwealth spend, leaving Uhlmann mumbling something about spending share.

Today Paul Sheehan has this comment.

The big lie, repeated again and again, is that the Howard government stripped a billion dollars out of the health system. This claim cannot withstand scrutiny. Any government minister who repeats this mantra is lying.

Them’s fighting words.

But then Davidson checked, and found the mantra is indeed a lie…
===
Robyn “100 metres” Williams demands more truth
Andrew Bolt
ABC science presenter Robyn Williams in 2007:

Andrew Bolt: I’m telling you, there’s a lot of fear out there. So what I do is, when I see an outlandish claim being made...so Tim Flannery suggesting rising seas this next century eight stories high, Professor Mike Archer, dean of engineering at the University of NSW…

Robyn Williams: Dean of science.

Andrew Bolt: Dean of science...suggesting rising seas this next century of up to 100 metres, or Al Gore six metres. When I see things like that I know these are false. You mentioned the IPCC report; that suggests, at worst on best scenarios, 59 centimetres.

Robyn Williams: Well, whether you take the surge or whether you take the actual average rise are different things.

Andrew Bolt: I ask you, Robyn, 100 metres in the next century...do you really think that?

Robyn Williams: It is possible, yes.

ABC science presenter Robyn Williams in 2010:

The issue has been bombarded with misinformation… And after Climategate - too much mea culpa. It’s time for (scientists) to get their skates on. To be aggressive in the cause of truth.

(Thanks to reader Jay Santos.)
===
US attacks Rudd for being too weak to fight
Andrew Bolt
Kevin Rudd ticks off yet another ally by letting domestic politics again get in the way of good policy:

AUSTRALIA’S restrictions on the deployment of its troops in Afghanistan have sparked a serious rift between military leaders in Washington and Canberra, and are likely to be a key issue during the the US President Barack Obama’s visit later this month.

The coalition’s military commander in Afghanistan, US General Stanley McChrystal, has ‘’warned that the Rudd governments’ refusal to allow Australian troops to take the fight to the Taliban was impairing the US-led war effort’”.

General McChrystal delivered the warning in a private phone call late last year to the Australian Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has blocked moves to send Australian-trained Afghan soldiers, and their Australian mentors, to the NATO offensive in Marja in Helmand province.

Senior military sources said General McChrystal had used ‘’blunt language’’, complaining that Canberra was making his job ‘’incredibly difficult’’. The sources said there was potential for ‘’permanent damage’’ to the US perception of Australia’s military commitment.
===
Bolt persists in mislabeling Abbott as homophobic
Andrew Bolt
Tony Abbott tries to explain what he said homosexuality made him feel “threatened”:

LEIGH SALES: On the 60 Minutes program last night Liz Hayes asked you how you felt about homosexuality and you said you’d probably feel a bit threatened, as so many people do. What did you mean?

TONY ABBOTT: Well, it was a spontaneous answer, but the truth is I try to take people as I find them. I’ve always tried to be that way and I hope as I get older I become better at it.

LEIGH SALES: But, I just - I didn’t understand when I was watching the program what the word “threatened” meant, though. Were you making a joke that you feel threatened that men hit onto you, or that you feel that traditional families are threatened? What was “threatened” referring to?

TONY ABBOTT: Well, there is no doubt that it challenges, if you like, orthodox notions of the right order of things, but as I also said on the program, it happens, it’s a fact of life and we have to treat people as we find them.

Only very slightly better. - remember that Bolt is a former ALP speech writer and he still likes 'em. -ed.
===
Discrimination police get yet more power
Andrew Bolt
More power for the already aggressive Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission?

NEW powers for Victoria’s human rights watchdog will allow it to launch its own investigations, even though it has not received complaints about discrimination.

Major changes to its powers, in legislation to be introduced in Parliament today, follow criticism the watchdog has been reactive to complaints but has not been preventing persistent discrimination in workplaces or industry.

In fact, these thought police have already found back ways to launch their own investigations, and their methods then suggest precisely why Victorians should worry:

(The Equal Opportunity Commission) hired May Helou, head of the Islamic Council of Victoria’s women’s support group. Her job, the EOC said, was to ensure “Arabic and Muslim communities are aware of their rights under anti-discrimination laws” and give “support to people wishing to make a complaint”.

The hounds had been set loose… In March 2002, Helou told Muslim converts at the ICV headquarters of a seminar on jihad to be run by Catch the Fire and asked them to go.

Said one later, she didn’t want the meeting to be held “without any Muslims present”. So when (pastors) Nalliah and Scot got up to speak at their seminar about jihad, they had in front of them 250 born-again Christians - and three people they did not know were Muslims.

And back at the EOC, Helou waited for the three to call with their complaint....

The pastors were at long last tried at VCAT before Justice Michael Higgins… and some curious things soon became clear.

First, even one of the converts had to admit that Scot, who’d been born in Pakistan and got degrees there in theology and applied mathematics, actually understood the Koran far better than did the people complaining he’d misquoted it.

Second, as I wrote at the time, many of the complaints accused Scot of no more than quoting the Koran accurately…

The verdict was also odd. The pastors were found guilty of vilifying Muslims even though the judge identified only one thing Scot had said that was factually wrong: he’d given the wrong birthrate for Muslims here. And, the judge, added, he’d failed to quote a verse that showed Allah was merciful.

Higgins said the real problem with the seminar was that it was not “balanced”...
===
From the White House playbook: how to intimidate a congressman
Andrew Bolt

New York Democrat congressman Eric Massa, forced to quit, gives a free character assessment of Barack Obama’s chbief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel:

Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil’s spawn… He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive…

I am showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me.
===
Christian, soldiers march all over greens at Oscars
Andrew Bolt
Roger Simon sees hope:

The 2010 Academy Awards may not have marked the end of “liberal Hollywood” as we know it, but they certainly put a solid dent in it. With the pro-military “The Hurt Locker” winning over the enviro-pabulum of “Avatar” and Sandra Bullock garnering the Best Actress Oscar for a Christian movie, the times are a-changin’ at least somewhat, maybe even a lot.

(Via Instapundit.)

UPDATE

Christopher Goodwin:

If there’s anything Hollywood appreciates less, or fears more, than the inexorable rise of Sarah Palin, it’s the success of the movie The Blind Side… To the head-scratching consternation of West Coast movie execs, God-fearing “red state” Americans in their millions have been storming cinemas to see it. The film cost just $35m, has taken nearly $250m since the end of November and is a shock smash hit.

Based on a true story, The Blind Side stars Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wealthy supermom who saves a homeless black teenager from a life of almost certain crime and crack, turning him into a star American-football player. She does it with the ramrod power of her Christian faith, taking him into her prayerful family. There, she stuffs him with copious amounts of fast food — her husband, Sean, played by the country singer Tim McGraw, owns a number of Taco Bell franchises — and outsize servings of the American Dream. And just as Julia Roberts sported a push-up bra for added sexual frisson in Erin Brockovich, Bullock’s bum-hugging pencil skirts and hunky husband hint that prayer may not be the only reason she gets on her knees.
===
The things that bring you undone
Andrew Bolt
Everything was going so well for that smoothie Mike Rann, until some outraged husband clocked him with a rolled up newspaper:

PREMIER Mike Rann’s popularity has plummeted along with Labor’s primary vote, according to today’s Newspoll. It shows the Liberals have drawn level with Labor less than two weeks before the State Election.

The poll, published in The Australian, shows the parties in a dead heat, locked on 50 per cent each for the two party preferred vote…

Mr Rann’s satisfaction level is in freefall, dropping to 45 per cent. His dissatisfaction level has jumped 10 points to 48 per cent, his equal worst rating on that measure.
===
This time we’ll be spared the outcry over nasty Australians
Andrew Bolt
Another alleged attack in Melbourne involving a foreign student:

A TAXI driver has faced an out of sessions court hearing over a sexual assault on a 40-year-old woman late last year.

The hearing was told the accused, an international student on a temporary visa, allegedly attacked his passenger while she slept.

When the victims were “international students” and their alleged attackers Australian, it was fine to leap to conclusions about the dangers faced by foreigners in this country.

But now that case after case have the roles reversed, is it fine to leap to conclusions about the dangers faced from foreigners in this country?

Answer? I’m disabling comments on this thread.