Headlines Saturday 3rd April 2010

=== Todays Toon ===

How Bill initiated the second intifada

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. At 46 he was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office. He became president at the end of the Cold War, and as he was born in the period after World War II, he is known as the first Baby Boomer president. His wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is currently the United States Secretary of State. She was previously a United States Senator from New York, and also candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. Both are graduates of Yale Law School.

=== Bible Quote ===

“[Jesus Again Predicts His Death] Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”- Matthew 20: 17-19

=== Headlines ===

From a "Jesus and Mary chain" with a difference to a giant bunny in the US, from passion in Haiti to a flying pig in Sydney, see how the world's Christians are marking Easter.

U.S. Army plans to spend tens of billions of dollars over the next year and a half to refurbish, move 2.8 million pieces of equipment in 88,000 containers out of Iraq.

Karzai Rant Draws Rebuke
White House calls Afghan president's condemnation of international community's role in election 'troubling'

Terrorized Mexicans Flee Drug Violence
Immigrant living in Texas with no job, electricity or water says it's still better than hometown

Doc: Vote Obama? Get Care Elsewhere
Fla. doctor who opposes health overhaul posts sign telling patients to go somewhere else if they voted for Obama

A man with a passing resemblance to gangland boss Jason Moran used the dead mobster's name to escape 15 traffic infringements, attempting to use the "Einfeld defence".

Detention centre at breaking point
ASYLUM seekers sleeping in classrooms as new boat pushes Christmas Island past capacity.

'Brutal knife attack' kept secret by police
OPPOSITION says people have a right to know after alleged attack on an Indian man was kept quiet.

Housing recovery to trigger rate rise
UNEXPECTED property recovery has fuelled speculation of more rate pain to come this year.

'Lucky losers' fight over $13m lotto win
THREE mates squabble over massive Lotto win leaving little to show of their good fortune.

Jesse James 'strayed weeks into marriage'
SANDRA Bullock's cheating husband got one of his alleged mistresses pregnant, report says.

One dead following hotel fight
ONE man is dead and police arrested a second after an alcohol-fuelled brawl with security guards in the carpark of Campbelltown's Club Hotel on Blaxland Road.

Atheists are 'believers who hate God'
ATHEISTS resent not ruling the world, says Anglican Archbishop

=== Journalists Corner ===

They are ordinary Americans who have led extraordinary lives!
Sarah Palin profiles these real Americans who have given back, given all and have never given up.
LIVE from Afghanistan!
Geraldo's getting answers on America's latest tactics and strategies in the war torn region!
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Facts, Fictions and Faith
The death of Christ. How much is historic? Tradition? Myth? Lauren Green explores man's greatest mystery!
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Guest: Sen. Harry Reid
His health care bill passed, but could it cost him his seat? Greta's LIVE from Las Vegas with the senator!

=== Comments ===

Protecting the Snyder Family
By Bill O'Reilly
In March 2006, 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was killed in Iraq. His family in Maryland was obviously devastated.

A week later, Matthew was buried, but that ceremony was interrupted by members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who traffic in expositions like this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH PROTESTERS: Semper Fi, Semper f-gs, coming home in body bags.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

These hateful fanatics believe that God is punishing America because the USA does not persecute gay people. Led by a loon named Fred Phelps, the church interrupts military funerals, telling grieving family members that God killed their sons and daughters. It doesn't get more vile than that.

Matthew's father, Albert Snyder, sued the church and won. A jury awarded the Snyder family almost $11 million because it found the church had intentionally tried to harm them. The judge in the case reduced the judgment to $5 million, but the church appealed.

Three federal judges in Virginia then overturned the verdict, saying the vicious protesters have a right to free speech. And then incredibly, the judges hurt the Snyders even more, awarding the Westboro cranks court costs, meaning the Snyder family has to pay more than $16,000 to their persecutors.

I said that is grossly unjust and I will pay the sanction.

Appearing on "Good Morning America" on Thursday, Mr. Snyder addressed the freedom of speech issue:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERT SNYDER, FATHER OF LANCE CPL. MATTHEW SNYDER: I find it insulting to all the other soldiers that have died. I find it insulting to the families. I find it insulting to the military and to the veterans. It's just — so many people have died in this country throughout our history to preserve such a precious right and to have a group of 80 people destroy it and mock it the way they are, it's a crime. It was just a nightmare. They positioned themselves about 30 feet from the main entrance of the church, and they held signs that said, "God hates you," "You are in hell," "Semper Fi f-gs."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

I also spoke on "GMA" reiterating that the federal judges are wrong and cruel to boot, and that we will assist the Snyder family as it takes its case to the Supreme Court.

And you can help, too. There's a Web site set up: MatthewSnyder.org. All donations will help the Snyders try to right this terrible wrong. It will cost them big money to take this to the Supreme Court.

As for the Westboro Baptist Church, it does have a right to spew its hateful rhetoric, but it doesn't have a right to be in your face. As I said, if President Obama were speaking at that funeral, you know damn well those people would have been a quarter of a mile away, not yards away.

The authorities in Westminster, Maryland, simply did not protect the Snyder family. This case demonstrates how out of whack we are in this country when it comes to dealing with evil. We simply don't know how to confront it, and the forces of darkness understand exactly how to use our system to do as much damage as they can.

We hope the Supreme Court will understand just how important the situation is to protect freedom, not limit it.
===
LADY SONIA McMAHON
Tim Blair
Lady Sonia McMahon, widow of widow of former prime minister Sir William McMahon, has died at 77. In 1971, Lady Sonia wore the finest dress ever seen at the White House.
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NANNY DUTY
Tim Blair
The Melbourne Age‘s Greg Baum:
Sometimes the state acts as a nanny because that is its duty. It is called governing.
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OPEN SOCIETY
Tim Blair
Belgium follows ABC newsreader Virginia Haussegger‘s advice and bans the burqa:

The face-covering veil is set to be banned within weeks in Belgium, making it the first country in Europe to make the wearing of Muslim clothing illegal …

“Wearing the burqa in public is not compatible with an open, liberal, tolerant society,” said MP Daniel Bacquelaine, from a French-speaking centre right party who proposed the bill.

It won’t ever happen here, unless someone wears a burqa made from plastic bags and bottles of water. The Belgian ban should please Osama bin Laden’s stripper-loving son:
‘Thank God my father doesn’t run the world,’ Omar grins.
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PRIVACY PREVAILS
Tim Blair
July 2009, England:

Prisoners on the run from Holleseley Bay prison cannot be identified because it would breach their rights to privacy, the Ministry of Justice has said. Civil servants have refused to name inmates who have fled prison …

April 2010, Australia:
Police and immigration officials are searching for a man who escaped immigration detention while on an excursion to the Melbourne Aquarium last week.

[A Department of Immigration and Citizenship] spokesman, who declined to be named, would not confirm details of the man’s nationality or the reason he had been detained, citing privacy reasons and said he could not give a description of the wanted man.
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CHI-TOWN STUMBLER
Tim Blair
Not content with imitating Jimmy Carter, now he’s replicating Gerald Ford:

The price of Obama’s book has also fallen lately, in sympathy with his approval ratings. And on the subject of falls:

When TV news anchor Melanie Lawson fell out of her chair during a live broadcast it seemed to be a perfect TV ‘blooper’ moment.

U.S. chat show hosts picked up on the incident and joked about the clip they called ‘Anchors Away’.

But they are no longer laughing after it was revealed Lawson suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a cane to walk.

Keith Olbermann, who hosts a daily show on the cable channel MSNBC, issued a personal apology to Lawson after realising his error.

Nice of him to apologise. Pity that so few viewers would have seen it.
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POWER DANCE
Tim Blair
Earth Hour had little impact in New England:

Usage declined about 650 MW from the start to the end of Earth Hour, but declined 700 MW over the same period the previous Saturday.

Alas, our good intentions didn’t seem to accomplish much.

Never mind, newbies. In old England, Earth Hour keeps rolling on:

Thousands of homes were still without power today and hundreds of drivers were trapped in snow overnight as Britain was once again battered by blizzards and gale-force winds.

The severe winter storms knocked down power lines and caused widespread transport havoc as around two million holidaymakers prepared to flee the country for the Easter weekend.

Maybe they’re headed to Canada, where joyous dancers defied Earth Hour and instead celebrated the wonder of 1750-watt outdoor illumination:
Those kids are being raised right.
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GERMANS LESS SCARED
Tim Blair
Four years ago, 62 per cent of Germans claimed to be personally afraid of climate change. That number is now down to just 42 per cent. In other positive German developments, John LeBlanc files his piece on the Great Mexican Mercedes Marathon (tragically, in Australia such an event exists only in the realm of fantasy). Click here for some driving footage and here for further background.
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But what will he actually do?
Andrew Bolt
Rudd could have simply cut immigration levels, or he could choose instead to do something purely symbolic:

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has appointed Tony Burke as the nation’s first population minister, amid growing concerns the number of Australians will rise to unsustainable levels.
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Yet another, like never before
Andrew Bolt
Kevin Rudd, by weakening our border laws, has unleashed a wave of people smuggling that’s bigger than any before. The 33rd boat of this year arrives:

There are yet more asylum seekers on their way to the island, with a boat carrying 79 passengers and four crew intercepted on Friday.
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Canada’s sponsored fascists request Holocaust
Andrew Bolt

Power Line on Canada’s soft fascists - and the harder fascists they cover for:

From Mark Steyn we learn that the the Palestine House in Toronto is hosting Abd al-Bari Atwan, editor of the London newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi. Atwan is, in Steyn’s words, “a celebrity eliminationist” who declared on TV that “if the Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight.”

Word of Atwan’s appearance sparked a demonstration by the Jewish Defense League. During the demonstration, Palestine House officials were caught on tape telling Jewish protesters “You need another Holocaust” and “We love jihad… We love killing dogs… your bitches with you.”

I’m not one of those who wants the government to prosecute hate speech. But I thought Canada, which launched proceedings against Steyn for “Ïslamphobic” utterances, had laws against this sort of thing.

It turns out that, far from prosecuting the Jew haters at the Palestine House, the Canadian government is subsidizing them.
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Obama needs care
Andrew Bolt
Seems Barack Obama still hasn’t had the health care he really needs:

President Obama’s overall job approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 44 percent, down five points from late March, just before the health bill’s passage in the House of Representatives. It’s down 24 points since his all-time high last April. Forty-one percent of those polled said they disapproved of the president’s performance.

Among the many cooling on the blank slate on which they’d scribbled their own hopes:

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch expressed disappointment in President Obama on Thursday for his treatment of Israel after it announced it would continue construction in East Jerusalem – the section of the holy city claimed by the Palestinians.

“I have been a supporter of President Obama and went to Florida for him, urged Jews all over the country to vote for him saying that he would be just as good as John McCain on the security of Israel. I don’t think it’s true anymore...”