=== Todays Toon ===
In A new way to pay the National Debt (1786), James Gillray caricatured Queen Charlotte and George III awash with treasury funds to cover royal debts, with Pitt handing them another moneybag.
William Pitt, the Younger (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 (although at this period the term Prime Minister was not used). He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806. He was also Chancellor of the Exchequer throughout his premiership. He is known as "William Pitt the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt the Elder, who previously served as Prime Minister of Great Britain. In 1766 he gained the title of The Hon. William Pitt when his father was created an Earl. In 1782, he became The Right Hon. William Pitt when he joined the government of Lord Shelburne as Chancellor of the Exchequer and was appointed a member of the Privy Council.=== Bible Quote ===
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”- 1 Corinthians 15:20-22=== Headlines ===
Group that helps Republicans get elected to the Senate wants GOP Gov. Charlie Crist to drop out of Florida Senate primary race and not run as an independent.Fort Hood Info Demanded
Senators subpoena White House on shooting probe, say administration's stonewalling left them no other options
Ex-FBI Agent Dead in Iran?
Ex-agent missing 3 years is likely dead, according to American fugitive who claims to be last to see him alive
Gunman Opens Fire at Tenn. Hospital
One woman is dead, two others injured after man starts shooting outside Knoxville hospital before killing himself
Carl Williams said his ex-wife Roberta kept him from going mad and when his killer came, he would fight to the death.Williams killed by a trusted mate
A CAN of worms of corruption will be exposed even after Williams bashed by a mate, says lawyer.
Woman, 83, 'sexually assaulted at home'
MAN, 24, accused of grievous bodily harm and attempted murder after alleged sex attack.
Ash crisis now worse than 9/11 - airlines
QANTAS losing $1.5 million a day while the industry says the crisis has eclipsed the 9/11 attacks.
Fevola loses dream home to addiction
FOOTBALLER'S attempt at fresh start crumbles as finances fail and his wife and children leave.
Gunman stunt backfires for game launch
PUBGOERS scream, dive under tables after threatened by "man with bandaged hands".
Schoolchildren to get first ethics classes
A TRIAL of secular ethics classes for students who do not want to attend scripture lessons will begin today.
Commuters enter malfunction MyZone
THOUSANDS of Sydney train commuters were ushered through faulty gates as the MyZone system failed its first peak-hour test yesterday. How did you go with it?
Girls accused of 'Clockwork Orange' killing
TWO drunken teenage girls took part in a savage Clockwork Orange killing of a gay man, court hears.
Cocaine fever is gripping Sydney
SYDNEY is the cocaine capital of Australia with use - and arrests - for the drug soaring. The state's top crime statistician warned yesterday that the rise in arrests for cocaine was not due to increased law enforcement but rather a result of the growing desire for the expensive powder.
Prisoner caught corroding cell bars at Lotus Glen jail
A CONVICTED murderer in Australia spent months corroding the bars on his high security cell at Lotus Glen prison in Queensland by using a conductor built from material found at the prison.
=== Journalists Corner ===
"You Don't Know Jack!"His life inspired the highly anticipated film. Now, Dr. Jack Kevorkian on Pacino's portrayal!
===
Fightin' Words?!
Stewart slams Fox ... AGAIN! Now, Bernie Goldberg fires back at the funnyman!
===
Going Green ... At What Cost?
Author Chris Horner tells Sean why he says Obama's policies will bankrupt America!
=== Comments ===
Tea Party Getting Under Skin of Liberal EstablishmentBy Bill O'Reilly
According to a recent Rasmussen poll, 24 percent of Americans now identify with the Tea Party movement. That's up eight points in just one month.
What is driving the Tea Party is fear that President Obama is changing traditional America, that the USA is becoming France, if you want to oversimplify it.
Last week, tens of thousands of people turned out to rally against high government spending and high taxation. That is a message easy to understand, and the protests have gotten Mr. Obama's attention. He addressed them Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: In all, we've passed 25 different tax cuts last year. So I've been a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes, taxes. You would think they would be saying thank you. That's what you'd think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well, the president's tax vision is incomplete. There's no question taxes will have to rise in America or the country is going to go bankrupt. So we have to wait and see how that will play out in 2011 after the Bush tax cuts expire.
For now, the liberal media and the left-wing establishment in general greatly fear the Tea Party movement. And so, led by NBC News, the media is trying to brand the Tea Party people as racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY O'DONNELL, NBC NEWS: There aren't a lot of African-American men at these events.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
O'DONNELL: Have you ever felt uncomfortable?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No. These are my people. Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now, the NBC News reporter Kelly O'Donnell's question was legitimate. But coming on the heels of NBC's unrelenting racial attacks on the Tea Party, the question also illuminates the left-wing media strategy.
By the way, with 95 percent of African-Americans voting for Barack Obama, you would not expect them to sign up in great numbers for the Tea Party, would you?
Going forward, the Tea Party movement will face some challenges. Will it become a legitimate third party, or will it stay as an anti-Obama protest group? Or will it expand its passion into other areas?
There is no Tea Party leader. Sarah Palin comes closest, but she doesn't want the designation. So it will be interesting to see just how the Tea Party evolves.
But for now, these folks are scaring liberal America big time.
===
Last in Class: Critics Give U.N. Climate Researchers an 'F'
By Gene J. Koprowski
A group of 40 auditors from across the globe have released a shocking report card that flunks the U.N.'s landmark climate-change research report.
It may be time for the United Nations' climate-studies scientists to go back to school.A group of 40 auditors -- including scientists and public policy experts from across the globe -- have released a shocking report card on the U.N.'s landmark climate-change research report.
And they gave 21 of the report's 44 chapters a grade of "F."
The team, recruited by the climate-change skeptics behind the website NoConsensus.org, found that 5,600 of the 18,500 sources in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Nobel Prize-winning 2007 report were not peer reviewed.
"We've been told this report is the gold standard," said Canadian global-warming skeptic Donna Laframboise, who runs the NoConsensus.org site and who organized the online effort to examine the U.N.'s references in the report, commonly known as the AR4.
===
The Left's Vendetta Against John McCain
By Boris Epshteyn
Why have liberals decided that Senator McCain is no longer deserving of their respect?
Liberals from far and wide have attacked Senator John McCain this year whenever he has dared to criticize the Obama administration. It would behoove all of us, Democrats and Republican, to take a breath, stop and give real consideration to the views of an American with over 50 years of military and public service on everything from health care to jobs to the prevention of a nuclear Iran. However, Democrats, and those in the media who support them, have chosen to dismiss Senator McCain’s views and to continue the personal attacks that were used against Senator McCain throughout the 2008 presidential campaign.
Does McCain disagree with Democrats on health care? They scream: “He’s not the same McCain as in 2000!!!” Does McCain mention that the current administration has no concise plan to deal with a nuclear Iran? Democrats cry: “McCain is a sore loser!” Does the Arizona senator put forth the logical viewpoint that the president’s time would be better spent trying to provide Americans with jobs rather than polishing his global image at the recent nuclear security summit? Lefty-journalist Mike Barnicle, formerly of The Boston Globe and someone who could learn a thing or two about integrity from John McCain, says the following in response:
“The ultimate sadness is that, here, in the 21st century, running for re-election, he shows more fear of J.D. Hayworth than he showed toward his captors in North Vietnam.”It appears that some on the left have a vendetta against Senator McCain and are rooting for him to lose the Republican primary in Arizona against J.D. Hayworth.
Liberals, wrongly, believed that John McCain was somehow one of them because he ran and lost against George W. Bush in 2000. They seem to believe that McCain changed during and after his 2008 presidential run compared to the 2000 McCain version. That misguided belief is as far from reality as the Democrats’ conviction that a majority of Americans support the health care overhaul. John McCain has always been a conservative, he has run in election after election campaigning to put an end to pork barrel spending and promising to cut taxes. His sponsorship of McCain – Feingold campaign finance overhaul made him as much of a liberal as Ted Kennedy’s sponsorship of No Child Left Behind made him a conservative. McCain ran against George W. Bush in 2000 in the Republican primary because he believed he would make a good Republican president, not because he wanted to be a more liberal president.
===
Rudd’s population policy in tatters
Piers Akerman
THE Rudd government’s population policy is in tatters two weeks after its launch. Devised to divert attention from the disastrously lethal pink batts insulation scheme, the rorted school building program and the nonsensical health policy, the population strategy has raised more questions than it has answered. - I have no problem with Australia having 420 million people, not merely 42 million. I object to mismanagement of growth that sees a collapse of accustomed conditions and service through incompetence and corruption.
Australia has the resources to support the world’s population in great comfort. But it still takes planning of the type the ALP are singularly incapable of, and the Greens are opposed to. The ALP seem to take delight in diverting any gains made in government by the conservatives towards pork barrels .. and they seem to have popular support for that with media acting as cheerleaders. Take as an example NSW, where Greiner had set the state up for great things when he got rolled by the Greens and ALP and (so called) independents. Electricity was set to be sold for some $60 billion, possible $120 billion, and the economic vandals decided they would hold onto it .. probably so as to claim the bottom line didn’t show the great wealth Greiner had left.
Now the state will have to shell out $8 billion to just keep afloat. $128 billion in 1995 terms could go a long way to fund significant reform and infrastructure .. but that is lost to ALP corruption. - ed.
Ken Goodall replied- Ken and Bob, my policies are neither green nor leftist, but that doesn’t mean I hate people and the environment. I like people and I like migrants and I have no problem with welcoming more to Australia .. but I recognize that we also need to invest in sustainable development to move forward. Even were Australia to make a mistake and stop migration then we still need to develop what we have. Some of the arguments against development are stupid. To say we don’t want migrants because our land is not sufficiently developed is to ignore the fact that it is insufficiently developed regardless.
DDB:
“I have no problem with Australia having 420 million people, not merely 42 million....Australia has the resources to support the world’s population in great comfort...”
What did you say you stand for?
What are you trying to be elected to?
Bob M replied
I have a real problem with Australia having any more population than we’ve already got. Not only is Australia an extremely dry continent, but the soil here is among the poorest in the world and generally unsuited to food production. In fact, the latest available Food Production Index (see http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/agr_foo_pro_ind-agriculture-food-production-index) shows Australia ranked at a lowly 173 out of 182 countries. It also shows that we no longer produce as much food as we consume.
The pollies can rave on about schools, roads, houses and other infrastructure as much as they want, but they’re ignoring the problem of water and food production shortages.
Australia will need to make unique sacrifices to develop our land to the fullest, but there are vast rewards too if we do it sensibly. A person who believes in green ideals or the left wing belief in the need for compassion to rule the bureaucratic machine will recognize the fairness of my points, as will those who hold a conservative view recognizing that prosperity solves most problems. - ed.
Ken Goodall replied- Ken, there is nothing wrong with what I’ve written and I stand by it.
DD Ball: Even after re-reading your comment I still find it quite incoherent but I suspect you are endeavouring to answer my first question - “What do you stand for?”
From what you say I must ask you if you would prefer to see 20 or 30 Hong Kongs or N.Y. Citys dotted around our landscape or do you advocate greater decentralisation where we would have only 30 or 40 more Sydneys or Melbournes together with, say 80 or 90 more Perths or Newcastles?
We could have either of these wonderful scenarios and still have a much smaller total population than that which you “would like to see”.
When advising of your preferred population distribution would you also please answer my other question:-
“What is it that you are trying to be elected to?”
I was not answering your questions, but you may find answers to your questions in what I wrote. I was not answering the questions because your assumptions are things which I disagree with, and to argue over the larger issue when you fail to comprehend the basics leads into a semantic argument which achieves nothing but aggravation.
--- ---
I am a Liberal party person, but only as a supporter, not as a person who represents Liberal party views. I will be running for the legislative council (known as the senate) for NSW as an independent with a conservative agenda. My sole issue is Justice for Hamidur Rahman, a school boy who died from what I believe to have been school neglect and whose death has erroniously been blamed on the parents by an accidental ruling of the coroner after an apparent cover up. I am not running as a Liberal party person because I want to focus on a smaller issue than what a party like that can focus on. There has been significant political interference in reporting on the issue by ALP ministers, including former Education Minister Della Bosca and My local state member Tripodi. I believe some of my problems are a result of the actions of someone from within the NSW Premiers office.
--- ---
I think that answers your questions. But let me go further. NSW, and Australia requires development which will never be achieved while the ALP, from government, siphons public money for pork barrels. I note both the Snowy mountain scheme and the Opera house were enormous white elephants that would have remained incomplete until a Liberal state government (Askin) and a federal Liberal government finished them off.
While Australia has sufficient resources to fund a substantial population, that is not the case in its undeveloped state. - ed.
===
CYCLE OF VIOLENCE
Tim Blair
An exercise bike ends the life of Underbelly overbelly Carl Williams, leading to this complaint about prison conditions:
“It’s supposed to be maximum security,” one friend said.The concept may require further explanation.
UPDATE. A prisoner has been charged with the exercide of Williams.
UPDATE II. Does the Herald Sun deserve credit for Williams’s shortened sentence? If so, well done.
===
REGIME CHANGE
Tim Blair
Appearing on Chris Matthews’s MSNBC program, Time columnist Joe Klein identifies state enemies:
“I looked up the definition of sedition which is conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of the state. And a lot of these statements, especially the ones coming from people like Glenn Beck and to a certain extent Sarah Palin, rub right up close to being seditious.”Has Joe forgotten that dissent is the greatest form of patriotism? Fellow Matthews guest, New York magazine writer John Heilemann, joined in the shaming:
“Joe’s right and I’ll name another person, I’ll name Rush Limbaugh who uses this phrase constantly and talks about the Obama administration as a regime.”He called it a regime? My, my. That’s gotta be rubbing right up close to being seditious, also. Matthews himself is utterly opposed to any use of the r-word:
“I’ve never seen language like this in the American press … the use of the word ‘regime’ in American political parlance is unacceptable … I never heard the word ‘regime’ before, have you?”Oh, maybe only once or twice:
In fact, a search of the Nexis database for “Bush regime” yields 6,769 examples from January 20, 2001 to the present.UPDATE. The current regime is a great deal fonder of golf than was the previous regime.
UPDATE II. Further on double standards.
===
TROLLS UNLEASHED
Tim Blair
James Delingpole reports:
The Warmists have thought up a brilliant counter to our wicked plan to fill the world with lies and carbon emissions. They’re going to, get this, lurk at the bottom of our blogs and make snarky remarks and post links to RealClimate proving that we’re completely wrong. Hurrah! Thus, through the mighty power of the blogosphere will the world be saved.Read on. Apparently the warmies are “trying to create an online army of online volunteers … We need you to politely explain in the comments section why global warming is actually happening and why it’s not a big conspiracy.”
===
That’s your billions that just went on bribing Premiers
Andrew Bolt
When Premiers have to be bribed to accept a new funding model, can it be any good?:
Rudd added $1.54 billion in extra health spending for the states yesterday over seven hours of meetings and narrowed the differences with them on a range of matters.Add that to the rest, and we’’ve got debt for a decade:
His latest offer means Mr Rudd has pledged more than $19bn in financial incentives to the states to win their backing for his plan to reform the national health service.Who the hell is paying for all this? And how? Is it budgeted for?
State of play:
Last night federal officials expected NSW would yield on the GST by today, leaving WA and Victoria. The officials hoped to be able to win over WA and so isolate Victoria.UPDATE
MTR is reporting that NSW Premier Kristina Keneally has folded on handing the GST to Kevin Rudd, in return for yet unspecified financial guarantees. That leaves Victoria and WA. And a bigger deficit.
UPDATE 2
Another dumb idea, another backtrack:
THE Federal Government will hold a plebiscite - a national opinion poll - to win a mandate for its changes to hospital funding if the states reject his proposals today.Why spend tens of millions on a poll when professional pollsters give you the results for nothing?
Mr Rudd originally warned he would call a referendum to ask for constitutional powers over hospital funding. But Government sources yesterday told The Daily Telegraph the Prime Minister would instead call a plebiscite, which would not be legally binding but would be an expression of public opinion.
Almost two-thirds of voters want the states to sign up to Kevin Rudd’s health plan, the latest Herald/Nielsen poll shows.(Thanks to reader Alan RM Jones.)
UPDATE 3
The deal - without a price tag given yet:
NSW has agreed to allow the commonwealth to retain 30 per cent of its GST to fund hospitals, placing Kevin Rudd on the cusp of securing a deal to reform the nation’s health system…
A senior NSW government source said NSW was now happy with the “pooled funding” arrangement under which the commonwealth will contribute 60 per cent of the cost of hospitals (including the money from the GST clawback) while the states will contribute the remaining 40 per cent.
Ms Keneally has also won an agreement overnight for more upfront money from the commonwealth.
While the money will not be identified as required to fund the transition from area health services to local hospital networks - which is what Ms Keneally was seeking - the NSW Premier is satisfied the same outcome can be achieved.
===
Fake sites used for fake conclusions by fakes
Andrew Bolt
Since my alleged twitter sites are all fakes run by my critics, we can perhaps conclude that my tweeting opponents are on average quite stupid.
===
Omm my God
Andrew Bolt
Professor Clive Hamilton, the former Greens candidate and Gaia worshipper, gets an attack of apocalyptis:
The argument over whether we should aim for 36 million people by the middle of the century is conducted as if the world in 2050 were going to be a richer version of what we have now. This is the grand delusion of the climate change debate…
In truth, Australians in 2050 will be living in a nation transformed by a changing climate, with widespread doubt over whether we will make it to the end of the century in a land that is recognisably Australian.
===
That M word
Andrew Bolt
Don’t jump to conclusions:
WESTS TIGERS prop Bryce Gibbs has avoided action over alleged religious taunts directed at Canterbury rival Ben Hannant, but NRL chief David Gallop has warned that the incident is a reminder of the limits of what can be said on the field.
Gibbs allegedly called Hannant a ‘’f---ing M....”
===
Does the ETS apply to volcanos?
Andrew Bolt
More gas than Rudd’s emissions scheme will cut:
Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano is emitting between 150,000 and 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per day, a figure placing it in the same emissions league as a small-to-medium European economy, experts said on Monday.This one volcano is emitting each day up to a third of what all Australia does:
Australia emits over 400 million tonnes of CO2 each year...UPDATE
There are offsets, however, and enough to gladden a green heart:
The grounding of 63,000 flights over the past four days has saved 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, more than the annual emissions of many developing countries… On a normal day, the 28,000 flights in European airspace emit about 560,000 tonnes of CO2, or a third of the world’s aviation emissions.(Thanks to reader and air traffic controller A.)
===
Not our way of raising children
Andrew Bolt
More signs of cultures colliding:
CHILDREN are being removed from refugee families and placed in foster care because their parents are not adopting Australian child-rearing practices fast enough, community workers have told the Herald.(Thanks to reader Mark.)
A 25-year-old mother from Sudan had seven of her children removed within two years of arriving in Sydney because she was deemed to be neglectful…
The NSW Chief Justice, Jim Spigelman, last week drew attention to the challenges courts face in dealing with the sexist cultural traditions of some immigrant groups, especially in relation to violence against women…
Eileen Pittaway, director of the UNSW Centre for Refugee Research, said there was widespread fear in refugee communities across Australia.
‘’Enough children have been taken away so they are all scared,’’ she said. In particular, families from Sudan, Somalia and Sierra Leone were under scrutiny.
===
Held tight
Andrew Bolt
It’s only some seatbelt ad.
(Thanks to reader Jeannie.)
No comments:
Post a Comment