=== Todays Toon ===
The AWU, in the wake of the shooting death of a security guard, has said that body armor would be bad for guards as they would attract people to shoot at them. Similarly, it may be argued that hard hats are bad for ALP pollies like Rudd and Kenneally (and Tanner, Gillard and Swan) because they would attract people to throw bricks at them.=== Bible Quote ===
“The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.”- Habakkuk 3:19=== Headlines ===
Reuters is stung by charges that it edited out knives and blood from pictures taken aboard an activist ship during a clash with Israeli commandos, casting Israel in a bad light — But news agency claims it wasn't at fault.Murder probe dropped after Vic police Commissioner Simone Overland's phone tap slip
VICTORIA Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland divulged secret intelligence from a phone tap, unwittingly triggering the collapse of a murder investigation because he wanted to avoid media scrutiny of his proposed attendance at a taxpayer-funded management course in France. Mr Overland passed on information picked up from a phone tap to a colleague, the then police media manager Stephen Linnell, in a bid to quash a potentially embarrassing rumour about his legitimate trip to Fontainebleau in France before it went public - and this triggered a series of subsequent indiscretions by others resulting in Operation Briars collapsing, The Australian can reveal. Mr Overland's action in August 2007 as deputy commissioner initiated the series of related leaks that led to the secret phone tap being exposed to the target of Operation Briars, then sergeant Peter Lalor, within 48 hours. Mr Lalor, no longer a police officer, strenuously denies any wrongdoing and has not faced any charges.Polls Open in Primary Battles
Incumbents look to hang on to their seats as primary races in 11 states test voters amid a wave of anti-Washington sentiment
Second Rig May Be Leaking Oil
Spill unrelated to BP's Deepwater Horizon reportedly has been seeping into Gulf of Mexico since late April
Rudd's 'BP tax' plan a disaster
TAXPAYERS could be slugged with 40 per cent of the clean-up cost of environmental disaster.Footy stars easy prey for ID thieves
SOME of Australia's highest profile sporting stars are at risk from Facebook and Twitter fraud.
Woman saves dogs, forgets grandson
GRANDMOTHER racked with guilt after she escapes from burning home with just her pet dogs.
Poker players need pills for winning edge
PERFORMANCE-enhancing drugs and caffeine-loaded drinks all used in quest for jackpots.
'Forget Darwin - it's flat, boring and wet'
TOP End sees red after ex-tourism chief says best thing about trip to city is airconditioned ride home.
Gary's death was needless, widow says
GUARD Gary Allibon would still be alive if he had worn a bullet-proof vest, his grieving widow claims.
'Everyone knew this bang was ugly'
JACOB Moerland and Darren Smith were on their way home to base with their sniffer dog when they were caught in a bomb trap.
Fadi Ibrahim cleared over pills
WHEN police raided Fadi Ibrahim's mansion two days before Christmas last year they found steroids stashed in a kitchen cupboard, a bedroom and a wardrobe. But the pint-sized brother of Kings Cross nightclub boss John Ibrahim yesterday escaped conviction for possessing the unprescribed drugs because police couldn't prove they were his or that he knew they were in his house. Ibrahim pleaded not guilty in Hornsby Local Court to nine counts of possessing steroids without a prescription.
Stolen Descartes letter returned
A STOLEN letter written by 17th-century thinker Descartes and found in the United States was returned to France overnight, ending a detective tale featuring a Google search and a thieving Italian count. "I am, of course, a bit amazed at what a simple search at home from your home computer late at night can bring about," Erik-Jan Bos, a Dutch Descartes scholar who found the letter through the web, said before a handover ceremony. The letter written by French philosopher Rene Descartes in 1641 went missing more than 150 years ago, one of a vast collection of documents stolen by an Italian count, Guglielmo Libri. Count Libri, a math professor in France in the 19th century who was also in charge of inspecting archived papers, is believed to have stolen thousands of letters and documents, selling them to collectors and booksellers. Descartes' letter eventually wound up in a collection at Haverford College in the US state of Pennsylvania, and the school's administration was not aware of its theft generations earlier when Mr Bos informed them of it.
Early works by author Larsson uncovered
TWO early science fiction stories by the late crime novelist Stieg Larsson have been uncovered in Stockholm, the Swedish National Library said today. The best-selling author sent the short stories to the Swedish science fiction magazine Jules Verne when he was 17, hoping to have them published, but the magazine rejected them. The library received the stories, titled The Crystal Balls and The Flies, as part of a private donation of the magazine's archives in 2007, library spokesman Hakan Farje said. Larsson never had time to enjoy the success of his Millennium trilogy of crime novels, which have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. He died in 2004 of a heart attack at age 50, a year before the first novel in the series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, was published in his native Sweden.
Pardoned Malawi gay couple split up
MEN were released after international outcry over country's anti-gay laws, but now one of them says he's in love with a woman.
Police Step Up Search for Oregon Boy
No suspects, few leads in disappearance of 7-year-old Kyron Horman from his school 5 days ago, authorities say
Vast UFO Cover-Up a 'Cosmic Watergate,' Says Nuclear Physicist
After half a century of investigation, a former nuclear physicist -- who worked of fission and fusion rockets for companies like Westinghouse and Aerojet General Nucleonics -- is convinced that not only are UFOs real, the government has known about them since 1947. "Some UFOs are intelligently controlled extraterrestrial spacecraft," Stanton Friedman told AOL News, calling the vast cover-up of their existence "the biggest story of the millennium." Employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist for companies like General Electric, General Motors, Westinghouse and Aerojet General Nucleonics, he worked on highly classified programs involving nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets. In 1958, UFOs caught his attention, and Friedman has since lectured about this subject at more than 700 colleges and professional groups in all 50 states and around the world. "After 53 years of investigation, I'm convinced we're dealing here with a cosmic Watergate," he told AOL News. "That means a few people within major governments have known since at least 1947 that some UFOs are alien spacecraft."=== Comments ===
Obama losing working familiesBy Bill O'Reilly
Now, because I am a simple man, I eat at diners all the time. They don't confuse me. I get one fork, not five. And there is no fusion in my scrambled eggs.
The other day I was talking to the boss at a diner near me on Long Island which employs 70 people. The business has been successful for a long time, and this hard working legal immigrant is a great example of how good people can succeed in America.
Because he's a smart guy, he wants to refinance his mortgage on the diner to take advantage of the low interest rates. But no bank will lend him money, even though his credit is stellar.
Millions of small business owners all over America are in the same position. They see the fat cat banks getting bailed out by the Obama administration, but they can't get a loan at the market rate no matter how responsible they are. That has caused much of the core of the American work force, small business folks, to turn against President Obama.
Yes, the oil slick has hurt him, but it is the shaky economy that has put the president in a precarious position. It's more about performance, less about ideology.
Last Thursday, Laura Ingraham and I had a shoot-out over ideology and performance. Ms. Laura is a fervent conservative who believes the entire Obama administration is made up of nitwits. She wants heads to roll over the oil mess. She wants Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano fired, right now.
I said that wasn't fair. Ms. Napolitano has nothing to do with oil spill policy. She takes her orders from the White House. Firing her would be like firing the bat boy for the Baltimore Orioles. Give me a break.
But the anti-Obama forces want scorched earth. Anyone associated with the president is fair game.
Jack Lucas, who lives in Cincinnati, wrote this: Bill, you were wrong and Laura is right about giving Napolitano a pass. She's in charge of the Coast Guard. Don't be a pinhead.
Is the Coast Guard doing a bad job, Jack? Is it? I believe they are doing everything they can.
"Talking Points" believes President Obama is indeed losing the folks, but it's reality, not ideology that is driving his poll numbers south.
The USA is getting hurt because the nation is not built to be run from the top down. The oil spill is a great example. The powerful federal government is powerless to stop the chaos. Katrina demonstrated that as well.
So let's be honest and evaluate things as they really are. Janet Napolitano and most other agency bosses are bureaucrats; they take orders. The big guy is the president and the state of the union is on him, especially because he has centralized so much power.
Right now the folks are turning away from the Obama administration. That's a fair and accurate thing to say.
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Barack Obama = Jimmy Carter?
By Jon Kraushar
It’s rare that President Obama acknowledges a viewpoint other than his own. So it’s worth examining the significance of a statement he made last week in his speech about the economy at Carnegie Mellon University.
The president said, “But to be fair, a good deal of the other party's opposition to our agenda has also been rooted in their sincere and fundamental belief about the role of government.”
A sincere and fundamental belief about the role of government regarding the economy is exactly what differentiates President Obama from his critics. The president believes that government’s proper role is to intervene in and usurp control of America’s economy.
From that belief Obama has brought us the government takeovers of General Motors and Chrysler; government bailouts of Wall Street, banks, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; government stimulus spending on a massive scale; government federalization of health care, impending government tax increases on income, capital gains, dividends and small businesses; and government debt of officially more than $13-trillion -- a growing figure that the International Monetary Fund says will surpass the nation’s gross domestic product in 2012.
At various times, the spending and debt involved in all of this government intrusion has been called “unsustainable” by the heads of the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve, and the president’s own Director of the Office of Management and Budget. (more at the link)
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ALLITOLF
Tim Blair
The reverse flotilla is born:
Although most of the recent talk regarding flotillas has revolved around ships sailing toward Gaza, at least two plans have emerged for “reverse flotillas” – from Israel toward Turkey – to highlight what organizers have labeled the Turks’ “shameless hypocrisy” in their criticisms of the Jewish state.Says student union chairman Boaz Torporovsky:
The most ambitious of the two plans has been devised by members of Israel’s National Student Union, who this week announced their intention to set sail toward Turkey, in an effort to bring humanitarian aid to the “oppressed people of Turkish Kurdistan” and to members of the “Turkish Armenian minority.”
We need three things to pull this part off. Money, logistical support and balls – and we’ve got the last two things covered.Good on them. Despite her enthusiasm for Jewish travel, free-speech martyr and White House veteran Helen Thomas won’t be encouraging this voyage, having recently retired. Mark Steyn:
Helen Thomas was an unreadable and unread columnist, and the only time she generates so much traffic that it crashes the site is the announcement that her career’s self-destructed. That tells you a lot about American newspapering right there. Good thing two columnists didn’t say something dumb or the site could have been out for weeks.But what exactly did Helen say? America’s ABC was gentle:
In the opening of ABC’s “World News,” anchor Dianne Sawyer says Helen Thomas retired because of “age and outrage.” No mention of her anti-Semitic remark.(Via KP)
UPDATE. In other media news:
Boston Globe Tailors Print Edition For Three Remaining Subscribers
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HE’S LOST EBAY
Tim Blair
He’s lost gallery owners, he’s lost Singo, he’s lost Western Australia and Queensland, he’s lost unions, he’s lost the prestigious Blairpoll, he’s lost Peter Walsh, he’s lost a celebrity supporter, he’s lost the public, he’s lost Mick Harrison, and now Kevin Rudd has lost the Age‘s Shaun Carney. Why, reading between the lines, I think even Andrew Bolt may have run out of affection for the Prime Minister.
Hardcore Kevin Rudd fans needn’t despair, however. There are lots of Kevin 07 t-shirts available on eBay for those wishing to re-live the glory days. The optimistic may also buy Kevin 10 and Kevin 11 shirts.
Nobody seems have made any bids at all for these, however. Fashion changes quickly.
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THROWN UNDER THE BOAT
Tim Blair
Former Sea Shepherd boatist Peter Bethune is cast aside by his whaley mates:
Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune – on trial in Japan – has been expelled from Sea Shepherd, the conservation group he campaigned with, after he took a bow and arrows on to one of their vessels, it emerged today.Only a couple of months ago, Sea Shepherd “captain” Paul Watson said: “Pete Bethune’s a New Zealand hero, as far as I’m concerned.” A hero whose out-of-line armaments were approved by Watson, according to one of Bethune’s crew:
In a statement headlined “Remaining Aggressive and Nonviolent”, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Sea Shepherd, Chuck Swift said the bow and arrows revealed to be in possession of Captain Bethune on the Ady Gil were “absolutely not in line” with the organisation’s policies.
Ady Gil crew member Jason Stewart told TV3 that the presence of the bow and arrows had never been a secret, and he claimed Sea Shepherd head Paul Watson had given permission for them to be taken on the Ady Gil.It’ll be interesting to hear Bethune’s current opinion of Watson and Sea Shepherd. From a Japanese prison, most likely.
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COUNTRY SONG WAITING TO BE WRITTEN
Tim Blair
We’ve already got the title:
After the State Police got calls up and down Interstates 89 and 93 about his erratic driving, an Arizona man was found passed out on the side of Route 3A, police said. His only passenger was an open bottle of whiskey, according to police.Bernie Taupin could make something of that. Speaking of whom, lyricist Taupin’s old pal recently performed at an event in Florida: “Actually, Elton John had a great time at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding.” Who wouldn’t? Early Elton rocks.
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CAT PEOPLE
Tim Blair
Cats transmit mind-altering brain parasites:
The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, has been transmitted indirectly from cats to roughly half the people on the planet, and it has been shown to affect human personalities in different ways.That explains a lot. In happier creature news, the fat kookaburra has gone global. New pictures here.
Research has shown that women who are infected with the parasite tend to be warm, outgoing and attentive to others, while infected men tend to be less intelligent and probably a bit boring.
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WE GOT TO THINK
Tim Blair
Oil spill opponent Ashton Kutcher lashes out:
“If you could go back to the Republican National Convention and look the guys in the eyes that were saying, ‘DRILL, DRILL, DRILL,’ at the Republican National Convention, those guys, there you go … that’s what we got, like, we did it, we drilled drilled drilled,” said Kutcher …Kutcher is so concerned about oil consumption that he owns a tiny NaviStar CXT runabout.
“But at the end of the day the truth is, is like, we got to think about the world we live in,” says Kutcher. “I mean we have to be conscious. This is like not a right, it’s a privilege to be on this land and using its resources and we have to be smart about it.”
(Via Kron, who emails: “I remember seeing your link years ago about these, and was hoping someone would buy one.")
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Rudd sinks in the West
Andrew Bolt
Rudd’s visit to Western Australia isn’t going well, and Twiggy Forrest, who, unlike the easy target that’s Clive Palmer, is a Labor mate makes sure it’s rougher still:
Mining magnates Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart have addressed more than 2000 mining industry workers who rallied in a Perth park to protest against the federal government’s proposed resources tax.The ABC puts the number of workers at the protest a bit higher:
The rally, organised by the Association Of Mining and Exploration Companies, was timed to coincide with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s visit to the West Australian capital to sell the 40 per cent tax on mining company super profits.
At the protest meeting, Mr Forrest, the chief of Fortescue Metals Group, accused Mr Rudd of going communist in imposing the tax while communist China moved the other way.
From the back of a large flat bed truck, Ms Rinehart led the crowd in chants of “axe the tax”.
More than 3,000 people have gathered on Perth’s foreshore to protest against the Federal Government’s mining super profits tax.The Australian Financial Review reports (no link) that the Chinese state-owned subsidiary Chlco now looks like canning a $3 billion investment in a bauxite project in Aurukun, afte Rudd’s tax made it even less viable. That adds to the eight projects valued at $55 billion by the AFR that have been put on hold due to the tax.
The organiser of the rally, David Flanagan from Atlas Iron, says dozens of mining companies and their workers will be protesting as the Prime Minister arrives to address the Perth Press Club…
“This is not big mining that is down there today - AMEC represents 170 small mining companies that employ between five and 25 people each,” he said.
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Rudd: the verdicts
Andrew Bolt
I say Rudd is finished. Here are other views.
Paul Kelly:
The challenge for Rudd is to rebuild his government from the centre and rediscover the reliability that made his past success..Shaun Carney:
Brand Rudd is damaged but it is absurd to think Rudd is finished. He has, however, entered dangerous terrain and there is a touch of desperation about Labor falling on Abbott’s persona and rekindling Work Choices as its saviour. Labor’s bedrock belief from the day Abbott became leader that he cannot win an election has coincided with the steady collapse in Labor’s position. Rudd is right to target Abbott but he cannot afford to mismanage his last shot.
Kevin Rudd says he has a lot of hard work to do on the way to the election. But what if a majority of voters are no longer interested in hearing what he has to say? That is surely the nightmare prospect confronting the federal government.Peter Costello:
Kevin Rudd needs to get out from under his 40 per cent tax on the mining industry. He can’t just repeat slogans about how fair it is - he’s lost that argument. The polls show most Australians don’t agree with him. The Nielsen poll on Monday showed opposition to the tax at 49 per cent.UPDATE
What’s worse for Rudd is he has stirred up a huge constituency and motivated it to defeat him at the election. Before this, business would have been a lethargic supporter of the Coalition. But the mining industry is hardly lethargic now. It has a real interest in defeating this tax, as do investors, superannuants, contractors and just about anyone else who understands how important mining is to Australia’s trade and economic performance.
Jack the Insider:
Kevin Rudd really is in desperate strife and I’m not confident that he can make his way back. If his fortunes become further entwined with those of the NSW Labor Government, he is a dead PM walking.
Increasingly, Federal Labor must be looking at Rudd’s deputy, Julia Gillard and salivating over the prospect of a Gillard v Abbott showdown. But it’s either a little too early or far too late for that to happen now.
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Costello calls out Ridout
Andrew Bolt
Peter Costello rightly holds Heather Ridout to account for representing Labor to business, rather than the other way around:
Which brings us to the members of the Henry (tax) review. All, including (Treasury secretary Ken) Henry, have a public sector background except Heather Ridout, the chief executive of the Australian Industry Group. She was obviously appointed to give a business perspective.And do not forget Ridout’s role in backing Rudd’s wild stimulus spending, his Budget and his emissions trading scheme - a great green tax that would have hurt our international competitiveness very badly.
After the report’s publication she talked warmly of the new mining tax. It was, she said, “a move in the right direction”. She must be the only business representative to think so.
The mining industry is aghast. The government’s business adviser, Rod Eddington, says it should restart the whole process. The chairman of the Future Fund, David Murray, said the tax ‘’should be abandoned” in its present form. The Business Council of Australia has come out against it. The ANZ Bank has warned about sovereign risk. Which leaves Ridout isolated.
On this occasion, she has let Labor down. She should have made it clear inside the review and publicly that this was a bad idea and alerted the government to the damage of adopting it. Some have suggested that as a representative of manufacturing she would be unfazed that a draconian new tax falls harshly on mining. But as the sole business person on the review she owed it to the government to give a broader perspective. Her members would include many contractors to mining and many manufacturers who supply those contractors, who will be affected.
This sorry shemozzle was doomed by bad process but more importantly poor understanding of tax policy. It is plain Rudd and Wayne Swan had no idea what they were signing on to. The sooner they understand it the better.
Ridout will have to account to her members. Henry will not be on the ballot paper at the election. Rudd and Swan will be. The government has to fix this problem.
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How Overland’s sensitivity could now kill his career
Andrew Bolt
This could cost Chief Commissioner Simon Overland his job.
Three people lost their own jobs and were charged with criminal offences for passing on a leak that actually started with Overland, whose own indiscretion seems at first to have been kept unusually quiet:
VICTORIA Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland divulged secret intelligence from a phone tap, unwittingly triggering the collapse of a murder investigation because he wanted to avoid media scrutiny of his proposed attendance at a taxpayer-funded management course in France.More background here.
Mr Overland passed on information picked up from a phone tap to a colleague, the then police media manager Stephen Linnell, in a bid to quash a potentially embarrassing rumour about his legitimate trip to Fontainebleau in France before it went public - and this triggered a series of subsequent indiscretions by others resulting in Operation Briars collapsing, The Australian can reveal.
Mr Overland’s action in August 2007 as deputy commissioner initiated the series of related leaks that led to the secret phone tap being exposed to the target of Operation Briars, then sergeant Peter Lalor, within 48 hours.
(To minimise any risk of defamation, I won’t allow comments.)
Overland strongly denies he broke any law or was guilty of any wrongdoing. I’m afraid that in explaining himself on 3AW this morning, he actually confirmed enough to raise serious doubts about his judgment, his sensitivity and the process which spared him. Check the transcript:
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It’s over for Rudd
Andrew Bolt
KEVIN Rudd is finished. Few voters now want to hear him, and fewer still believe him.
They see through Rudd now and he can never recover. It’s over.
Labor itself admitted this hard truth on Monday, after the Nielsen survey showed the Rudd Government heading for a landslide defeat, with just 47 per cent support to the Coalition’s 53.
Rudd himself and half a dozen of his ministers all responded to this news with an identical and workshopped line - suggesting that however bad you thought Rudd, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott surely had to be worse.
Or as the Prime Minister put it: “If what we see in the polls today is reflected on election day, Mr Abbott would be the next Prime Minister of Australia ... I don’t believe Australian families are prepared to risk their future with Tony Abbott.”
This now is Labor’s central election pitch, a last-ditch attempt to tear down Abbott with anything they can think of.
He’s Catholic. He’s “phony Tony”. He’s the “mad monk”. He wears lycra. He hates women. He’ll take away your penalty rates.
That, I’m afraid, is all Labor has got left. It cannot sell Rudd, and must hope instead to destroy Abbott, which leaves the election to be decided essentially on how well Abbott can survive the battering.
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Meet a US lawmaker
Andrew Bolt
Democrat Congressman Hank Johnson is worried that expanding the US naval base at Guam might tip the island over. The expression on the face of Admiral Willard is priceless.
And, yes, he’s a warmist, too. Indeed, he may well have drunk something to fortify himself against the cold.
Now meet another lawmaker, this one the Democrat Speaker in the House of Representatives:
UPDATE
Johnson says he was joking, subtly:
As a result of the video going viral, the $174,000 a year (£114,000) Congressman, also the chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, was forced to issue a statement clarifying his remarks.Others say his hepatitis affects his cognition - in which case it might be better that a man with such responsibilities takes sick leave.
He said he was concerned that the influx of military personnel would overwhelm the island’s infrastructure and ecosystem.
“The subtle humour of this obviously metaphorical reference to a ship capsizing illustrated my concern about the impact of the planned military build-up on this small tropical island,” he said.
:
(Thanks to readers Spencer de Vere and Jeff of FNQ.)
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Prisons turn inmates into Muslims
Andrew Bolt
Why the easier treatment, and why the much higher numbers in jail?
Inmates are converting to Islam in order to gain perks and the protection of powerful Muslim gangs, (Britain’s) Chief Inspector of Prisons warns today.Muslims make up 3 per cent of Britain’s population, but 11 per cent of its prisoners.
Dame Anne Owers says that some convicted criminals are taking up the religion in jail to receive benefits only available to practising Muslims.
The number of Muslim prisoners has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s—from 2,513 in 1994, or 5 per cent of the population, to 9,795 in 2008, or 11 per cent…
All prisons offer a halal menu, which some inmates see as better than the usual choices. Muslims are excused from work and education while attending Friday prayers. Some converts, who are known as “convenience Muslims”, admitted that they had changed faith because they got more time out of the cells to go to Friday prayers.
(Thanks to many readers.)
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Walsh whacks Rudd
Andrew Bolt
It’s getting worse for him:
FORMER Hawke government minister Peter Walsh has accused Kevin Rudd of poor policy development in a blunt attack on his handling of plans for a new 40 per cent tax on mining profits.UPDATE
As the Prime Minister yesterday began a series of one-on-one meetings with industry leaders that could lead to a compromise on the tax, Mr Walsh urged Mr Rudd to follow the example of the Labor government in 1984, when it introduced the petroleum resources rent tax.
The PRRT, on which the new tax is modelled, was announced after extensive consultation with the resources industry that led to exemptions, cuts in proposed rates and lifting of the threshold at which the tax took effect.
“The government has given very careful consideration to the views of the industry and the states and, in so doing, has modified significantly its initial thinking on a number of aspects of the RRT,” Mr Walsh, then resources minister, and then treasurer Paul Keating said at the time…
Contrasting this with Mr Rudd’s approach of simply announcing his proposed resource super-profits tax then going to a public battle with miners, Mr Walsh told The Australian yesterday: “They should have followed the same pattern. But there’s an obstacle to that, and that obstacle is Kevin Rudd.”
This should scare taxpayers:
TAXPAYERS would be forced to contribute 40 per cent of the cost of a BP-style environmental disaster under the Rudd government’s plan to refund project losses as part of its proposed resource super-profits tax.But it doesn’t convince miners either. Their argument is that the 40 per cent rebate on losses is most likely to apply when there is a severe downturn - perhaps a collapse in Chinese demand - and the Government’s revenues will be then in such terrible strife that paying miners billions for their losses will not just be unwelcome but almost impossible, economically or politically.
During a teleconference briefing on the RSPT with about 40 institutional investors in Melbourne and Sydney last Friday, senior Treasury officials confirmed the government would guarantee 40 per cent of a company’s losses sustained through a major environmental incident.
UPDATE 2
The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies is running very punchy - and funny - ads praising Rudd’s tax in ways he’ll find devastating. Take this one.
(Thanks to reader GeoffB.)
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Hamas blocks the aid Israel was damned for checking
Andrew Bolt
Now Hamas has a blockade against the supplies the “peace activists” were trying to Gaza last week until stopped by Israel, which has since checked the cargo and is trying to pass it on:
Hamas continues to insist that the shipment not be brought in through the land crossings, and in the meantime the goods continue to pile up in the army’s warehouses… Last week the group kept out eight trucks carrying humanitarian supplies, which were attempting to enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing.It turns out the stuff wasn’t so urgently needed:
Major Or Elrom, of the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the (Palestinian) Territories, said there was nothing on board the flotilla’s ships that Gaza’s residents did not already have. “All of these goods have been previously conveyed there, and we hope we can do the same in this case,” she said. A Defense Ministry facility adjacent to the Tzrifin army base has been turned into a temporary warehouse over the past few days, containing beds, mattresses, couches, medical supplies, shoes, clothing, and medicine – some of which has reportedly expired.But the farce puts the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in a dilemma. She was quite eager to damn Israel for stopping the shipment, after all:
“International humanitarian law prohibits starvation of civilians as a method of warfare ... It is also prohibited to impose collective punishment on the civilian population, so it is (for those reasons) that I have consistently reported to member states that the blockade is illegal and must be lifted.”Is Pillay now going to damn Hamas for blocking the very same shipment?
She added that Israel’s attack Monday on the aid flotilla might also constitute a prosecutable offense. “Even if it is demonstrated that the blockade is legal under international law Israel’s current military operations against the flotilla must be analyzed from the perspective of its obligation to allow humanitarian aid to be brought into the Gaza strip,” she argued.
And as for her claims of starvation in Gaza;
There is no starvation in Gaza,” said Khalil Hamada, a senior official at Hamas’s ministry of justice.(Thanks to reader Marie.)
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Boat people pray Rudd will be at the gate
Andrew Bolt
A panel on ABC Melbourne 774 last year unanimously agreed that Kevin Rudd’s weakening of our border laws could not be blamed for the surge in arrivals since:
The ABC’s Jon Faine, The Monthly’s Sally Warhaft, and The Sydney Morning Herald’s David Marr agreed mere Afghans could never have known of Rudd’s changes.But the ABC’s Matt Brown confirmed on the 7.30 Report last night that Afghan boat people in Indonesia study very closely the reception they are likely to get here - and from whom:
Now that the Federal Government has suspended processing Afghan asylum claims for six months the focus is on Australia’s next election.And yet more evidence that Rudd’s changes are luring people to their deaths:
“When the Labor Party wins maybe, maybe they will accept more and more refugees,” said Sekander Ali."Maybe the Labor Party will win. They are accepting asylum seekers ... God willing they will win the election, because we pray for the Labor Party, for Kevin Rudd.”
In the meantime the smugglers have been forced to change their operations.In response to the crackdown in Kupang they have moved their launch sites further north, away from Australia, making the risky journey much longer. Mr Taqi’s boat made it only as far as the straits near Kupang before it broke down and three people disappeared on a makeshift raft.I would guess that many more people have died than the 159 I’ve been able to count.
“We know that illegally is not good, because I know lots of my friends have died in the sea,” he said.
UPDATE
The Parliamentary Library counts the boats let in by Kevin Rudd and says they set a record for a financial year - and seem sure to smash the calender record, too:
Rudd has set a record for the number of boat people, too:
(Thanks to readers Jicks and Greg of NE Vic.)
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Yet another
Andrew Bolt
Trying that dangerous need-to-be-rescued game again:
AUSTRALIAN authorities have rescued a boat of suspected asylum seekers off the West Australian coast. The boat, which held 35 passengers and two crew, is being taken to immigration facilities on Christmas Island.
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