=== Todays Toon ===
James Callaghan arriving at the White House in 1977. President Jimmy Carter is at right.
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005), was a British Labour politician, who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Commonly known as Jim Callaghan (and nicknamed Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim, Lucky Jim or Big Jim), Callaghan is the only person to have served in all four of the Great Offices of State: Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary. - as a failure he was vastly overrated - ed=== Bible Quote ===
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”- Revelation 21: 2-4=== Headlines ===
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice is facing revived criticism of her job performance after skipping Monday's meeting on Israeli raid of aid flotilla and sending a deputy representative instead.Criminal Probe Into Spill
Attorney General Holder says federal authorities have opened criminal and civil investigations into Gulf oil spill
Israel: No Break in Blockade
Despite growing international condemnation after flotilla raid, Israel's Gaza blockade will continue due to fears that Hamas will ship weapons into area
Illegal Immigrant Crime Spree in Wash.
Washington state is facing a rash of illegal immigrant crimes including a murder and two rapes
Say hello to the iPed - it costs a fifth of the price of an iPad, runs on Google software and is every bit the knock-off its name suggests. Picture: Japan News NetworkSolar power the new insulation debacle
WARNING that shoddy work and poor safety standards are rife in subsidised solar power industry.
Disgraced MP David Campbell won't throw in the towel
THE most vigorous debate was bald men and Premier Kristina Keneally's attraction to them. Or lack of attraction, we never quite got the answer. If there was an uncomfortable moment during this, up on the backbenches in the vicinity of former transport minister David Campbell, it was well hidden. Mr Campbell sat next to former premier Nathan Rees and nodded along as the debate about his Premier's attraction to bald men continued.Why you need $100,000 to live in Sydney
RISE in cost of living means many Sydneysiders feel they need a six-figure salary to live comfortably.
Should 12-year-olds get to handle guns?
PUSH to lower paintballing age limit so primary school kids can shoot at each other.
Legal paintballing age on target to be dropped to 12
PRIMARY school kids will be allowed to shoot at each other in combat situations if the State Government approves a police push to change the rules of paintball.$130m to save Opera House from disaster
RESCUE package will keep building open but falls short of the $800m managers "need for vital repairs".
WA's worst eyesores
THESE are 10 of WA's most forsaken sites - development black holes in prime locations worth tens of millions of dollars - many of which have sat idle for decades.
Asylum seekers to move to Leonora this week
THE first transfer of immigration detainees from Christmas Island to Leonora in Western Australia is expected to occur later this week. Immigration Minister Chris Evans has confirmed the plan to shift detainees to the mainland as a temporary measure to counter capacity constraints on Christmas Island.Queensland Health pay goes to dead nurses in new bungle
THE bungled Queensland Health payroll system has paid two dead nurses. That is the latest admission in a series of blunders to hit the system, which has been plagued with problems since it was brought online in March.
Debt sinks disgraced ferry boss Geoff Smith
SACKED Sydney Ferries boss Geoff Smith has declared himself bankrupt - still owing taxpayers more than $100,000 he racked up illegally on his corporate credit card.
Gores split after 40 years of marriage
FORMER US vice president Al Gore and wife Tipper are separating after 40 years of marriage. The couple made the announcement in an email to friends, saying: “We are announcing today that after a great deal of thought and discussion, we have decided to separate." The Gores added that the decision was “mutually supportive” and made after “a process of long and careful consideration.”
=== Journalists Corner ===
This month, on June 19th, Aung San Suu Kyi will spend her 65th birthday under house arrest. Join us in our call for solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and let her know that she is not alone in her fight for freedom and democracy in Burma. Sign up to host an Arrest Yourself event in her honor now!Burma's military regime is truly mistaken in thinking that barbed wires can contain her and her popularity. If the ruling junta thinks that the upcoming sham elections will legitimize the military occupation of Burma, they are wrong! We must prove to the world that Aung San Suu Kyi is the true leader of Burma; nobody in Burma is as widely loved and admired, or as trusted by Burma's many ethnic minorities as she is.
At 65, Aung San Suu Kyi's spirit and determination still drum strong, as does her role as an icnoic freedom fighter and unifier of peace. Her continued detention is our greatest reminder that we cannot be complacent with this regime's crimes. We must stand in solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and call for her immediate and unconditional release. Through our unity and collective action, we will send one loud, clear message to Than Shwe and his cronies: We condemn your sham elections and your illegitimate regime! Show your solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and sign up for an Arrest Yourself event today.
20 years ago, Nelson Mandela walked free after 27 years of imprisonment. Now it's time for Aung San Suu Kyi to be free. Help us raise a million voices for the Lady of Burma on her 65th birthday. Pledge today to host an Arrest Yourself party in her honor.
With hope,
Nadi Hlaing
=== Comments ===
On foreign policy, Rudd doffs the dunce’s hatPiers Akerman
MANDARIN-speaking Kevin Rudd has lost the voters he once impressed with his self-proclaimed diplomatic skills.
Piers,- David, as you would be aware, because you know my name but I don’t know yours, I am a Christian of Jewish descent. I don’t share the Israeli religion, but their democracy would include me if I were to live there. My grandfather fought the Nazis in the Sudan, but I’m sure that wouldn’t qualify anyone in my family for special recognition. He had also fought the Turk at Gallipolli, but that isn’t something I expect would be held against us, either.
I am shocked that you have not written a blog regarding the “heroic acts by the Israeli armed forces” in slaughtering innocent people. I would not expect anyting less from someone with a track record like yours in relation to the long history of atrocities committed by the Israeli.
How can you condone the actions of the murderous Israelis. I cannot wait for the abuse to flow from you and your blinded followers.
Regards,
David.
David - I wholeheartedly support the Israelis’ action. It is particularly unfortunate that misguided imbeciles chose to ignore their warnings and attempt to break the blockade but as the so-called peace flotilla was named after the idiotic Rachel Corrie who unsuccessfully tried to deflect a bulldozer from exposing an illegal tunnel used to smuggle weapons to terrorists in Gaza, I am not surprised that they attempted to emulate her lunacy. Nor am I surprised that you would weigh in with some moronic advocay for such sucidal activity.
Piers Akerman
Why would you assume that arms dealing attempted on the guise of aid to be acceptable to Israel or the intended victims, Palestinians and Israelis? Remember, Hamas is responsible for killing many Palestinians too.
I applaud Israel for their professional action which limited the deadly intention of terrorists. - ed
Belittled GWB, possibly untruthfully but overall showed he wasn’t a man to be trusted, which meant Australia couldnt be trusted.Doc, while I’m not certain of worse foreign policy, there have been some shocking things done by the ALP since federation. Bob Hawke was spineless when dealing with the Chinese over Tiananmen Square. He admitted he was intimidated by the Premier when he, afterwards, had asked if Australia could help China by providing a home for dissidents. The reply being a question “How many million does Australia want?”
Refused to sell uranium to India, a fellow democracy.
Bypassed Japan to present his credentials to China and then dressed down the Chinese government to Chinese university students. Should have known Asians above all abhor loss of face. No Japanese visit for almost a year after elected.
Has subsequently taken Japan, our second most important market, to the International Court over whaling. The Whaling Commission is likely to OK limited whaling before the matter gets to court, hence a waste of good faith and friendship. Tries to use diplomatic courtesy by Japanese to say doesnt matter but is criticised by Japanese diplomacy for making this move. Tactless, but brought about by self interest and local political advantage per se.
Pushes SIEV onto Indonesia resulting in standoff for many weeks and embarrassment to Indonesian government. More embarrassment to both countries.
Belittled at Copenhagen by third world countries in most undiplomatic terms to the extent Rudd disappeared from local political scene for many weeks after Copenhagen and then put his ETS on ice for 3 years.
Refuses to increase troops in Afghanistan and to carry proportionate responsibilities after saying how serious an international problem this is. Typical Ruddism.
Chucks out an Israeli diplomat for unproven crime of using false Australian passports to take out a major terrorist, a reaction regarded as over the top in this range of problems. Israeli information required for australian troop activities in Afghanistan.
Question raised as to whether done to get middle eastern votes in next election.
Vilifies foreigners investing in this country as means of passing supertax, ? to slow busy states and favour NSW and Victoria businesses and votes for election.
The bottom line of this government, outside of personal interest, is bottomless; as Graham Richardson says: ‘ whatever it takes.’ We have a Foreign Minister who can’t read diplomatic language or translates for the mob, which is basically ‘look at what I do, not what I say; I’ll be polite, but cut your throat anyway.’
Anyone heard of a worse Australian international history of diplomacy over last 100years, let alone all done in 2 years? If so, let us know.
doc of nedlands
WW2 was abysmally prosecuted by the ALP federal government. Firstly, retrieving troops from the Middle East where they were gainfully employed and sacrificing many to shipping lines failures. Then storing many in Singapore which fell. Finally, some of the youngest were asked to hold New Guinea. Then when the US effort kicked in, Australia couldn’t lobby Washington for a fair shake of the sauce bottle for MacArthur from FDR. Then, when Australian POWs needed to be rescued .. nothing. After the war, production from the farms took years to ramp up and so rationing remained for years. Meanwhile those idiots tried to nationalize everything.
Shouldn’t forget Keating’s shaking in his boots over Indonesia .. claiming a special friendship which meant he wouldn’t criticize their abuses of power. Or when Keating again showed his special friendship with Asia by insulting Malaysia’s reigning elected bureaucrat.
Whitlam’s dealings with Iraq nearly had Australia indebted to Saddam Hussein. His betrayal of like minded journalists at Balibo was also spectacular, when it is taken into account that Whitlam had apparently given approval to Indonesia to invade.
Credit where it is due, Hawke and Keating had troops in Cambodia .. but that was way too late, as usual. Each and everyone of these ALP PM’s have shown themselves to be Diplomats of the order of Rudd. - ed
===
Obama Administration Abandons Israel to UN-feeding Frenzy
By Anne Bayefsky
With virtually unprecedented speed and only hours to go before the Lebanese presidency of the UN Security Council expired at midnight on May 31st the Council unanimously agreed on a Presidential Statement – with American approval. And in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) unanimously decided to invent new procedural rules and hold its first-ever “urgent debate”, with no objection from the United States.
The Obama administration had options. In the past, the United States has avoided efforts to railroad presidential statements or resolutions through the Security Council by allowing only so-called “press statements” made on behalf of just some of its members.
It also could have put its toe in the water and waited until 12:01 a.m. when the presidency would have been transferred to Mexico, thereby slowing the campaign for a middle-of-the-night UN grenade lobbed without time for informed consideration.
Or the administration might have pointed out that the Council could spend its time dealing with international peace and security items constantly delayed or ignored, like an Iranian bomb or the torpedoing of a South Korean naval ship by North Korea.
At the Human Rights Council, the United States could have objected to the invention of the new procedure. After all, it joined the HRC specifically with the promise to end the one-sided fixation of the UN system on Israel. The HRC has carefully-drafted rules allowing it to hold exceptional special sessions. It also has a carefully itemized regular agenda and its fourteenth such session began on May 31st.
Today, the HRC was in the midst of agenda item three, the permanent Israel-bashing agenda item being number seven. All these procedures were thrown out the window and the political lynch mob let loose without a peep from the Obama administration. (more at the link)
===
THROW THE BOOKCASE AT HIM
Tim Blair
Summary: “This thief rips a purse from this woman shoulder and then tries to get away on his motorcycle but little did he know she was friends with the entire village.” Justice ensues:
Via Michael Rittenhouse, who writes: “My favorite character is the guy who keeps introducing the bookcase.”
===
PERMANENT CHILDREN
Tim Blair
Ronald Bailey discovers what ten-year-olds and leftists have in common:
Do kids outgrow socialism? A fascinating new study, “Fairness and the Development of Inequality Acceptance,” published last week in the journal Science by researchers at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration sheds some light on individual moral development. It turns out that as people move from childhood through adolescence to young adulthood they become increasingly meritocratic, that is, they come to believe that people deserve unequal rewards based on their individual achievements.Actually, socialists believe much the same thing. Except it isn’t based on achievement.
===
MAXIMUM McKEW
Tim Blair
From Monday’s Q & A, the precise moment of laser Rage Glare:
Maxine’s friendly glower followed this exchange:
Maxine McKew: “I have yet to see a burqa in Bennelong.”
Cory Bernardi: “You should be there more often.”
===
VIOLENCE FOR PEACE
Tim Blair
Peaceful and polite as ever, pro-Palestinians have their say on recent maritime issues. Iowahawk decodes how such people become known as “peace activists” in the first place:
news math: (Nazi - competence) x (PR savvy + hipster wardrobe) = Palestinian peace activistExactly correct. Eager for further headlines, another peace ship is on the way:
Israel’s Army Radio reported that the MV Rachel Corrie, a converted merchant ship, would reach Gazan waters by Wednesday.As Mr Bingley emails: “What could possibly go wrong aboard the Rachel Corrie?”
A Marine lieutenant who was not named told Army Radio that he expected an easy takeover of the ship.
===
TIPPER POINT
Tim Blair
The Morning Show‘s Anne Sanders on the Gore separation:
No global warming happening in that house any more.It’s houses, Anne. Plural. Things are cooling all over the place:
The latest institutional retreat from uncritical support of the AGW hypothesis is one that will chill warmists to the core: the Royal Society has announced it is to review its public statements on climate change. The Society now believes that its previous communications did not properly distinguish between what was widely agreed on climate science and what is not fully understood. It has appointed a panel to review its statements, assisted by two critical sub-groups, including a number of Fellows who have doubts about the received view on the risks of increasing CO2 levels.(Via the Wizard of Woz)
UPDATE. The Gore split is Bush’s fault. Plus, your tweet of the day.
(Via KP)
===
BIN LADEN AIRWAYS
Tim Blair
A small PR problem for British Airways. Perhaps it was due to an email error, common in the UK.
===
HOLLYWOOD TO THE RESCUE
Tim Blair
Now that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has graduated from minor bird-botherer to full-scale petrochemical party, the Obama administration finally takes steps:
Struggling to convey command of the worsening Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Obama administration is taking steps to distance itself from BP and is dispatching Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to the Gulf Coast to meet with federal and state prosecutors …Obama’s anonymous-yet-transparent government is calling on the big guns:
“We’ve been increasingly frustrated with BP on matters of transparency,” an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Monday.
James Cameron met with EPA officials and other feds Tuesday to brainstorm about ways to stop the Gulf oil leak. The “Titanic” director joined scientists and other experts because he’s an expert on underwater filming and remote vehicle technology.Send in the Na’vi. Meanwhile, a consensus is formed:
JOE KLEIN, TIME MAGAZINE: This is more Bush’s second Katrina than Obama’s first.It’s settled, then. But, as Charles Krauthammer asks: Why were we drilling in 5,000 feet of water in the first place?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: I agree …
Many reasons, but this one goes unmentioned: Environmental chic has driven us out there. As production from the shallower Gulf of Mexico wells declines, we go deep (1,000 feet and more) and ultra deep (5,000 feet and more), in part because environmentalists have succeeded in rendering the Pacific and nearly all the Atlantic coast off-limits to oil production. (President Obama’s tentative, selective opening of some Atlantic and offshore Alaska sites is now dead.) And of course, in the safest of all places, on land, we’ve had a 30-year ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.(Via Nicole)
So we go deep, ultra deep—to such a technological frontier that no precedent exists for the April 20 blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.
UPDATE. This is getting serious:
TV star Pamela Anderson has reportedly backed a petition to impose sanctions on BP after the Mexican oil spill.
===
If we relied on wind power, Australia would have shut down
Andrew Bolt
The great green energy scam is exposed. The above chart shows the total electricity produced from May 13 to May 20 by all Australia’s windfarms, on which we’ve spent billions.Terry McCrann:
Could any rational person—indeed, even gutless half-rational politician—build our energy supply on the total unreliability of so-called wind power.(No link to McCrann’s column.)
This is what our total wind `power’ industry across southeastern Australia—NSW, Victoria and South Australia—delivered in one week in May. To all intents and effective purposes: ZERO power…
When the wind don’t blow the power don’t flow. Further, often the wind don’t blow at the same time, right across southeastern Australia… Further wind can go from very high power deliverability to very little in very short time spans.
So you don’t only need installed back-up power almost equivalent to the wind industry, to pick up the slack when it comes, but you need to keep it running, rendering utterly pointless having the wind power anyway.
Despite all the starry-eyed and empty-headed gazing at the power of the sun, wind is the only `practical’ alternative `renewable’ energy `source’ anytime soon.
Almost all our politicians are committed to 20 per cent alternative/renewable energy by 2020. It means a commitment to blackouts and brownouts—quite apart from unnecessarily higher power charges.
===
Best party
Andrew Bolt
The surprise winner of Reykjavik’s council election sounds like a party I could vote for, too:
Promising a polar bear for the Reykjavik zoo, free towels at all swimming pools, a Disneyland theme park at the airport and a drug-free parliament by 2020, the newly formed Besti Flokkurinn ("The Best Party") took the political establishment by surprise when it became the biggest party in Sunday’s municipal elections in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, securing six out of 15 seats in the new city council.Great campaign video, too.
The Best Party in Reykjavik was established just half a year ago by a core group of comedians, actors and musicians....
According to the EUobserver, The new party ran their campaign under the slogan “Whatever Works”....
(Thanks to reader Alan RM Jones.)
===
My worst critics convince me on which side I must stand
Andrew Bolt
Sometimes it takes your enemies to reassure you that you’re on the right side. From some of the many comments to my column today that we’ve deleted for being personally abusive or threatening:
Fuck you jewish bastard !!!!!!!! oh how i wish tht Hitler should have blasted ALL of you !!!!Yes, people who say they support you can also be rude and savage. But anyone writing on this topic in particular knows from which side comes the most bestial comments. This in many ways is a battle between civilisation and barbarism, and we are all called upon to choose on which side of the line to stand.by Osama Bin LadenAndrew Bolt should watch his backby peace activistthe worst article ive ever read. THIS IS BULLSHIT, i cant believe the herald sun published this shit…by someone normal of melbourneGo live in Israe-hell Bolt you dirty Zionist lackey.You wouldn’t have a job if you didn’t cowtow to these filthy Jews.Most of my mates reckon you’re an CIA operative anyway and Israel is probably where you belong.by JK of LaborMaybe Adolph was onto something afterall.by Ted Thorne
===
al-Jazeera women go on hair
Andrew Bolt
Tell me again how hijabs and burkas aren’t signs of oppression and subjugation:
Five female presenters have resigned from the Arabic news channel al-Jazeera after being accused of not dressing modestly enough.(Thanks to many readers.)
The women complained about harassment from a senior editor, whom they accused of making ‘’offensive remarks’’ about their appearance.
The presenters - some of the best-known faces in the Middle East - quit after the channel refused to back them… The women caught up in the clash are Joumana Nammour, Lina Zahr al-Din, Jullinar Mousa, all from Lebanon, Luna al-Shibl, from Syria, and Nawfar Afli, from Tunisia.
The three countries are relatively liberal and the presenters appeared with heavy make-up and their hair uncovered - in contrast to some of Al-Jazeera’s other female presenters.
===
How happy I am to not feel as I did when young
Andrew Bolt
Great news for a 50-year-old:
A large Gallup poll has found that by almost any measure, people get happier as they get older, and researchers are not sure why…I suspect there are three factors in particular behind this rise in happiness after 50. First, as you get older, you get more expert in knowing how to make yourself happier. Second, you are increasingly less responsible for the happiness of others - meaning your children. You also become hardened enough to care less about what others think of you. Or maybe that last bit best applies to professional opionists.
The telephone survey, carried out in 2008, covered more than 340,000 people nationwide, ages 18 to 85… The results, published online May 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were good news for old people, and for those who are getting old. On the global measure, people start out at age 18 feeling pretty good about themselves, and then, apparently, life begins to throw curve balls. They feel worse and worse until they hit 50. At that point, there is a sharp reversal, and people keep getting happier as they age. By the time they are 85, they are even more satisfied with themselves than they were at 18.
In measuring immediate well-being — yesterday’s emotional state — the researchers found that stress declines from age 22 onward, reaching its lowest point at 85. Worry stays fairly steady until 50, then sharply drops off. Anger decreases steadily from 18 on, and sadness rises to a peak at 50, declines to 73, then rises slightly again to 85. Enjoyment and happiness have similar curves: they both decrease gradually until we hit 50, rise steadily for the next 25 years, and then decline very slightly at the end, but they never again reach the low point of our early 50s.
===
MCG snubbed
Andrew Bolt
Britain’s SportsPro magazine has dissed the ‘G:
MELBOURNE’S iconic MCG has been left lingering on a list of the world’s best sports venues - snubbed in favour of little-known stadiums in Taiwan and South Africa.It’s odd the MCG is rated just 15, and by a British sports magazine, when it should rate very high on the first four of the criteria:
In a move that’s sure to fire up debate among global sports fans, the ‘G was ranked just 15th in the international survey.
Melbourne’s home of footy and cricket - which was recently billed as key to Australia’s hopes of hosting a FIFA World Cup - was outclassed by venues including Veltins Arena, Germany, and Meydan Racecourse, Dubai…
The UK study did, however, rank Melbourne’s venue ahead of New York’s Yankee Stadium and the traditional home of cricket, Lord’s in London. Sydney’s ANZ stadium, which was ranked 24th, was the only other Australian venue to make the list. First place went to the World Games Stadium in Taiwan.
The list of the world’s 30 most important sporting venues was compiled by Britain’s SportsPro magazine, which claims to have judged the stadiums on a criteria of ‘’legacy, location, history, size, versatility, grandeur and technology’’.
But grandeur? I’ve said before the MCG lacks beauty, as do so many of Melbourne’s landmarks - and those of most of our other capitals.
World’s Most Important Sports Venues (according to SportsPro magazine)
===
The greatest liar in the Lodge
Andrew Bolt
I CAN’T recall when I first knew I could never trust Kevin Rudd to tell the truth.
Was it when he claimed he and his widowed mum were thrown out of their home by a heartless landlord?
Was it when he said he had a memory blank about his night at Scores?
Perhaps it was when he said during the ABC’s cricket coverage he remembered as a 17-year-old standing at the Gabba to watch Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson tear into the English.
He remembered the crowd chanting “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Thommo don’t get you, then Lillee must”, but even more clearly he remembered 42-year-old Colin Cowdrey bravely walking on to the field and shaking the hand of Thomson.
But “Ashes to ashes” was never a chant, and Cowdrey didn’t play in Brisbane, joining the tour in Perth.
Maybe I’m wrong to seize on such small stuff, or mean to object that he said “sorry” to a “stolen generations” no one can find. Another lie.
But it’s clear the public is also belatedly catching on. In fact, Rudd’s credibility is now shot to pieces.
He was fatally damaged already, having falsely claimed global warming was “the great moral and economic challenge of our time”, only to drop his emissions trading scheme when it got too hard.
But last week finished him off, and even left him exposed to what in normal times is a crime in politics - misleading Parliament. Rudd was accused, credibly, by former NSW premier Morris Iemma and treasurer Michael Costa of having lied when he told Iemma before the last federal election to postpone his plans to sell the state’s electricity assets until Rudd won office, when they’d then join to “f---” the unions. After the election, Rudd welched on that deal.
But more terrible for his reputation have been the deceits to justify his effective embezzlement of $38 million of taxpayers’ money to pay for political advertising for his troubled “super profits” tax on miners.
In how many ways has Rudd again shown his word to be worthless?
===
How Hamas fooled the West
Andrew Bolt
NOTHING more to be said. Israeli soldiers kill at least nine peace activists trying to ship aid to a starving people.
Or as the front page of The Age screamed: “Israel kills boat protesters.”
End of story. There are immediate riots and protests against this appalling brutality in London, Paris, New York, Istanbul, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and throughout the Middle East.
The United Nations whacks Israel and calls for an emergency meeting of the Security Council. And from Moscow to Washington, Israel stands utterly friendless. Dangerously alone.
What a coup for those pledged to the destruction of that tiny Jewish country. How discredited and invitingly defenceless Israel now seems. Someone couldn’t have scripted this any better.
Well, almost no better, because even the journalists most sympathetic to the activists on the six ships intercepted on Monday by Israel couldn’t help but refer, albeit grudgingly, to a couple of untidy details too obvious to ignore.
ABC radio host Jon Faine, for instance, described these poor victims of Zionist aggression as “humanitarian activists with a few knives”.
Er, with knives? Humanitarians?
And a strident report in The Age, Australia’s most Left-wing metropolitan daily, conceded that video of the Israeli soldiers being lowered on to the ships from helicopters did show that some of the “hundreds of politicians and protesters” on board did offer “signs of resistance”.
Here are some of those “signs of the resistance” that this Age reporter tactfully failed to detail.
You see the Israeli commandos, at first brandishing just paint-ball guns, being grabbed by mobs as they landed, dragged to the ground, and beaten brutally with metal pipes and clubs.
On another clip, apparently shot by protesters, you see a soldier stabbed in the back, and then in the front.
Another soldier is shown being beaten and thrown over the side.
Photographs show two Israeli soldiers, one of them shot, being carried off with serious wounds.
This isn’t what you’d normally expect from “peace protesters” or “humanitarian activists”, even those armed merely “with a few knives”.
So these clues suggest the Western media - and many foolish politicians - have just fallen for a brilliant propaganda coup by the kind of Islamists who threaten us, too.
===
The latest scam: “free” solar power
Andrew Bolt
That’s your money, folks:
SUBSIDISED solar power risks becoming a new insulation-type debacle, with industry leaders claiming shoddy work and poor safety standards are rife.(Thanks to reader CA.)
Top companies have warned that:
• Shonky operators are flooding the solar power industry on the back of government subsidies.
• Dangerous non-tempered glass and inferior imported panels are being used to cut costs.
• There is evidence of installations in Queensland so poor that panels could fall off the roof…
Solar Shop Australia managing director Adrian Ferraretto said some operators were offering 1.5kW installations “free”, allowing government subsidies to cover the full cost.
“When things are for free, every man and his dog gets accreditation and starts installing,” he said.
“We do not want a repeat of the ceiling insulation situation.”
UPDATE
More waste:
A $200,000 basketball stadium built at Black Rock Primary School under the federal stimulus program does not comply with building regulations and is unsafe for anything but storage.===
The victim industry demands only half the picture
Andrew Bolt
A cowardly evasion:
POLICE should ask victims of assault about their ethnic origins to determine whether the attacks were racially motivated, the Race Discrimination Commissioner says.“Incorrect stereotypes” are ones which correctly link some ethnic groups here to much higher levels of crime and other signs of dysfunction. “Correct stereotypes”, however, are ones which portray ethnic minorities as the eternal victims of this Anglo society.
The use of racial profiling is highly controversial, the commissioner, Graeme Innes, said yesterday, but was necessary to address the growing belief that Australia was unsafe for international students and that racism was prevalent.
Mr Innes said profiling carried out by territory and state police should exclude gathering information on the perpetrators of crime…
‘’Racial profiling perpetrators, however, is little more than a guess, which often reinforces incorrect stereotypes.’’
Let me show how it works. Say, as has often occurred, a Pacific Islander beats up an Indian. The Race Commissioner would have police record the ethnicity of the victim, not the attacker, so that all we can tell from the records is that another Indian has been attacked by an Australian.
===
Cutting children off from their cultural roots
Andrew Bolt
Kenneth Wiltshire:
UNDER the new national schools curriculum students studying English as a Second Language will apparently study more literature than those studying Essential English.How tragically different this agenda is from that of the past, as judged by The Victorian Readers - the literature-soaked readers which were the stable of English teaching in Victoria for decades. Other states had similar textbooks until the 1950s, introducing all children to the great writers of their civilisation, from the ancient Greeks to modern Australians.
The bulk of our students will encounter only a smattering of literature texts in something described as “functional English”, while the true enjoyment of reading literature will be the preserve of just an elite few. This is hardly in line with true educational principles or Australia’s egalitarian foundations.
It simply reveals how Barry McGaw, chairman of the curriculum developers, and his misguided team have botched such an important exercise. Every other civilised nation in the world ensures its future generations have the opportunity to study and appreciate the nation’s key prose, poetry and drama. Literature as taught through text is the central feature of a nation’s culture and enlightenment, as well as its knowledge and awareness…
The so-called national schools curriculum is shaping up as another Rudd-Gillard policy bungle and waste of public money, morphing into a broken election promise.
===
O’Brien claims a third
Andrew Bolt
The 7.30 Report’s Kerry O’Brien is on a hot streak at the moment. Last night he made Treasurer Wayne Swan seem a goose.
That said, Swan had to defend the absolutely indefensible - the embezzlement of public money to make political advertising.
Watch at the link. Horrible, horrible.
UPDATE
Michael Stutchbury says the Government’s taxpayer-funded ads - justified because they counter falsehoods - seem to be spreading falsehoods themselves.
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