Headlines Monday 5th April 2010

=== Todays Toon ===

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. Although the position of "Prime Minister" had no recognition in law or official use at the time, Walpole is nevertheless acknowledged as having held the office de facto because of his influence within the Cabinet.

=== Bible Quote ===

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace”- Ephesians 1:7

=== Headlines ===

Scott Brown, who won election to the Senate vowing to defeat health care reform and became a national sensation, is taking on a new role on the campaign trail.

Obama Bending to China?
Prominent Democratic senator suggests Obama administration is letting China slide on possible currency manipulation in exchange for help on Iran sanctions

Riders 'Vulnerable' to Attack
In light of Moscow subway terror attack, Sen. Lieberman warns more needs to be done to protect U.S. buses, trains

Faces of the Tea Party
The Tea Party coalition is a mixed group of diverse activists who share a common battle cry

Dozens Killed as 3 Explosions Rock Baghdad
Suicide attackers detonated three car bombs near embassies in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 38 people and wounding more than 200 in back-to-back bombings. Authorities said they foiled two other attacks aimed at diplomatic targets.

Fossil Find May Be 'Missing Link' in Human Evolution
Scientists hope discovery of child skeleton will help them to work out what our ancestors looked like and to determine key dates in their evolution from ape-man to man-ape.

The iPad is as magical as Steve Jobs promised, and it's still the leader of the pack writes Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson / AFP

Rudd faces struggle in key states
KEVIN Rudd and Tony Abbott will have to fight hard for votes in their home states, polls show.

War veteran calls triple-0 from hospital
WAR veteran calls triple-0 from his hospital bed because he couldn't get help from nursing staff.

Coal ship runs aground on Barrier Reef
A CHINESE coal carrier is leaking oil and in danger of breaking apart on the Great Barrier Reef.

Child experts want ban on porn mags
DISTURBED by "teen sex" trend experts call for a ban on soft porn magazines in newsagents.

Claims Michael Jackson killed himself
MICHAEL Jackson's doctor will tell a court the singer gave himself a fatal anaesthetic dose.

A daily ritual goes up in smoke
LEICHHARDT's famed cafe culture is under threat when the proudly Italian area's council bans restaurant patrons from smoking at outdoor tables next year.

Too costly to install a light that saves lives
JESSICA, 3, was killed at traffic lights with her mum and despite an inquest revealing more time is needed to cross safely, the RTA says it's too expensive to change.

=== Comments ===

Diverting attention from the big issues
Piers Akerman
LAST year, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced his bold vision for a “big Australia”. Over the Easter break he took a revisionist step backward and named Tony Burke as our first Population Minister. - I would add that it is possible for Australia to house many times its current population .. the cost being that infrastructure has to be developed including dams. Dams are flood mitigating. I like the idea of aquifers, but not at the cost of building more dams. It is technically feasible to flood inland Australia and make Australia a vastly larger breadbasket, but I think greenies just want to remove people from the planet instead. - ed.
===
IT’S WHAT DOES EVERY DICTATOR DO
Tim Blair
Possibly starved of attention since warming replaced globalisation as the left’s Great Fear, anti-globo No Logo bozo Naomi Klein* lashes out:

Obama has done things like Hitler did. Let me be very careful here. The National Socialists rounded people up and held them without trial, signed legislation that gave torture impunity, and spied on their citizens, just as Obama has. It isn’t a question of what has been done that Hitler did. It’s what does every dictator do, on the left or the right, that is being done here and now.

(Via Michael C. Moynihan)

*CORRECTION. Wrong Naomi; it’s Al Gore’s ex-advisor Wolf, not Ms Klein. Apologies.
===
BREAKING NEWS
Tim Blair
It’s on again:

The Nenana Ice Classic is an Alaskan lottery which has been run each year since 1917. In January the townspeople mount a tripod out on the frozen Tanana River which runs through the town. The tripod is secured firmly to the ice and a rope run from the tripod to a clock mechanism on the shore. When the ice breaks up, usually in late April or early May, the tripod gives way, and trips the clock.

The earliest ever ice break up was recorded at 3.27 PM, 20 April, 1940. The latest ever break-up was recorded at 11.41 AM, 20 May, 1964 … Historically, the ice has broken most often between about 29 April and 8 May. Last year, the ice broke when many alarmists were distracted by their annual May Day celebrations.

Click to place your ice bet.
===
BLOCKHEADS
Tim Blair
It’s kindergarten time for Australia’s sheltered media collective:

The ABC is encouraging staff in Sydney to exercise their creative talents by using Lego in the staff cafeteria …

The ABC’s NSW director, Mike McClusky, has sent a memo to all staff, asking them to see the future of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in the form of Lego’s colourful plastic building blocks.

ABC inmates are outraged:

“What’s next? Finger-painting and plasticine?” asked one senior broadcaster.

Relax, oldtimer. Your job is safe. It isn’t a test.

(Via Oro)
===
STEAMS OF OBAMA
Tim Blair
Obama makes him cry with admiration. Obama causes a thrill to travel up his leg. And now MSNBC’s leading Obama obsessive detects superheated gases in the president’s pants:

“Look at the steam in the man’s stride!” exclaimed Chris Matthews.

He has a steam. He has a vision.
===
STATE MOCKED
Tim Blair
Former F1 driver Alan Jones once fled Victoria because they’d “made it illegal to smile”. More than twenty years later, current driver Mark Webber finds that things haven’t changed all that much. At least his fans have a sense of humour:

Mark Webber’s entourage has taken another swipe at Victoria – this time on the international Grand Prix circuit.

A fortnight after the Australian Formula One ace branded his home country a “nanny state”, his fans have appeared in custom-made T-shirts at the Malaysian GP.
Webber’s father, Alan, and partner, Ann Neal, happily posed with at least six fans wearing “Victoria The Nanny State!” shirts.

Good on them.
===
Tiger cheated with his (race) card
Andrew Bolt
Big surprise:

TIGER Woods lied about falling victim to a violent race-hate attack as a child, one of his teachers claims.

Woods, who returns to golf at the US Masters this week, has told various interviewers over the past two decades that bullies once tied him to a tree and used spray paint to scrawl the word “nigger” over his body.

But retired teacher Maureen Decker, 69, insists the disgraced golf star concocted the tale.