=== Todays Toon ===
Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman GCMG, KCVO, PC (16 November 1874 – 24 June 1954) was a British Liberal politician and the fifth Governor-General of Australia.
=== Bible Quote ===
“I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”- Psalm 16:8=== Headlines ===
RISKY BUSINESS: No Safe Options in Dealing With Nuclear Iran
At some point, Israel and the United States will have to decide: Which is more dangerous — an Iran capable of launching a nuclear weapon? Or, an Iran out for revenge after a preemptive attack? Both scenarios are frightening, but the thought of military action is not far-fetched. FoxNews.com takes an in-depth look at the rock-and-a-hard-place realities of using force to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions.No Vacation From Religion Questions
As Obama and family get into vacation mode on Martha's Vineyard, questions about the president's religion — and why nearly 1-in-5 believe he's a Muslim — persist
Ariz. Fugitives Nabbed at Forest Campground
After nearly three weeks on the run, escaped state prison inmate John McCluskey and first-cousin fiancee, Casslyn Welch, are captured after forest ranger spots the couple and their stolen vehicle
Somali Terror Group Eyeing U.S.?
Muslim extremist group Al Shabab has recruited dozens of Americans, produced first known American suicide bomber, pledged allegiance to Usama bin Laden, and last month launched deadly bombing in Uganda — the big question: Will U.S. be next?
Breaking news
Mafia using footy show to contact prisonersMAFIA bosses are allegedly using an interactive TV soccer show to send secret messages to their jailed cohorts.
Taliban shoot 30 security guards dead
DAY-long clash with Taliban fighters in one of the most volatile regions of the war-ravaged country.
Labor holds narrow lead in final polls
LABOR is holding onto a narrow lead over the coalition in the final opinion polls of the federal election.
Libya bans Lockerbie bomber celebrations
LIBYAN authorities have banned celebrations for the first anniversary of the release of the Lockerbie bomber.
Crocodile spotted in the English Channel
BEACHES in northern France have been closed after a crocodile was spotted lurking in the English Channel.
Beckhams fire staff to safeguard cash
HORRIFIED accountant warns them that they were "pouring money down the drain".
US imam says extremism is global threat
IMAM who is leading plans for an Islamic centre near Ground Zero says that extremism poses a security threat.
Choppers needed to fly food in Pakistan
THE World Food Program says it urgently needs helicopters to get food to millions of flood victims.
Saudi judge weighs paralysis punishment
HOSPITALS asked if they could damage spinal cord of criminal convicted of paralysing of man in meat cleaver attack.
'Bonnie and Clyde' fugitives captured
ESCAPED prisoner John McCluskey and his fiancee Casslyn Welch arrested at campsite.
NSW/ACT
House fire toll doubles in NSWHOUSE fire deaths have almost doubled in NSW in a "horrendous" winter across the state, with a home catching fire every two hours.
Court to rule on UK death
A SYDNEY widow who is suing a UK hospital over her husband's death from cancer can have her case heard by a NSW court.
Partners must love our pets
LOVE me, love my dog. It's not just an attitude, it's a crucial rule of thumb for any single man hoping to find the perfect partner in NSW.
Telstra caught in race slur
A RACIAL slur allegedly uttered at a work function led to a Muslim man suing Telstra for vilification after he was called a terrorist.
Death driver banned for a decade
A YOUNG driver who stole a taxi before crashing it and killing this man will be banned from getting behind the wheel for 10 years.
Ain't no way to treat a lady
BRIGETTE Fell's outburst on a BA flight on her way home to Sydney, after undergoing a sex change, left two crew nursing wounds.
Sydney backwaters become desirable
WATERSIDE suburbs increasing in value faster than the rest of the city. House prices near the water increase by 5.4pc annually.
Queensland
Brisbane bike scheme slammedBRISBANE'S new Parisian-style bike hire scheme has hit a speedbump as transport workers claim relocating some CBD loading zones will impact local trade.
Aussie dream is expensive
CAIRNS is the most expensive area in which to build a new home in Queensland, costing up to $55,000 more than people building in Brisbane.
Gas threat to organic farms
ORGANIC farmers fear losing their Australian and US certification if coal seam gas exploration and production are allowed on or near their Dalby farm.
Firms rake in schools cash
MORE than $24m in management fees were pocketed by six construction firms under the federal Building the Education Revolution program in Queensland.
Too costly to save water
SEQ households will not get big discounts on their water bills despite the demise of the Traveston Dam because they do not use enough water.
Gadgets still plugging along
THE warranties may have expired decades ago but some kitchen equipment just keeps on keeping on.
Surgeon gets the knife
QUEENSLAND Health has controversially terminated the contract of a top surgeon operating on public hospital patients in Bundaberg without any explanation.
Rynders on Palm Island case
DEPUTY Police Commissioner Kathy Rynders is to decide the fate of six cops involved in botched investigations into the 2004 Palm Island death in custody.
Thieves pinch legend's prize bike
HEARTLESS thieves have stolen late motocross legend Andrew McFarlane's racing bike from a display at his brother's Capalaba shop.
Driving blitz in inner city
BRISBANE drivers have been warned. Police will be looking to catch drink and drug drivers this weekend around the city and Fortitude Valley.
Victoria
Secret life of JoffaThe real Joffa is a far cry from that "ratbag" Collingwood supporter in the flashy gold jacket giving it to the umpires from behind the goals
Expelled boy in new fight
THE family of a 13-year-old boy expelled from school after an ugly 100-person brawl has vowed to fight his ban.
Property bargains on the rise
A dramatic turnaround in the performances of various suburbs this year has uncovered fresh territory for bargain hunters.
Record number of dodgy toys seized
Consumer Affairs Victoria inspectors have confiscated more than 28,000 dangerous products from hundreds of wholesalers and retailers.
New technique minimises burns
BLACK Saturday victims are among those helping to develop new ways of treating facial burns.
Triple parma hits the menu
IT'S a meal that promises not to leave any diner asking for seconds, and has been labelled "a heart attack on a plate" by dietitians.
Victoria holds key in cliffhanger
VICTORIA will be crucial in a cliffhanger election that could deliver the nation a hung parliament.
Son wants dad's killer executed
THE stepbrother of a man jailed yesterday for killing their defenceless father, 73, believes he should be executed.
No free ride for Gillard in home state
EVEN if Julia Gillard wins, she will be at risk of looking very much like a loser.
Labor's punt on the big V
FOOTY-mad Victorians are being urged to back the "Big V" and punt a local into The Lodge, in a last-ditch parochial pitch by Labor.
Northern Territory
Ex-wife cuts loose over love triangleTHE Northern Territory's best-known barrister was allegedly attacked with a samurai sword by his former wife.
South Australia
Princess's common touchdown for partyCROWN Princess Mary of Denmark's entrance to Adelaide yesterday was anything but royal.
Hills rezoning a 'threat to life'
THE State Government's plan to lower the bushfire threat rating in Mt Barker could endanger life and property, according to the town's council.
Running on diesel hits hip pocket
MOTORISTS using diesel fuel should get used to paying more to fill their cars, the RAA advises.
Agape leaders strike back
THE Agape empire has struck back against its detractors, accusing one of conning the controversial group out of $730,000.
Beasts of deep and beauty combine
IT'S seafood as you've never seen it before.
Let's engineer a more exciting curriculum
A "CRITICAL" shortage of engineers has sparked calls for a more exciting maths and science curriculum.
Pithiest poets aim for the 'sci'
LONG beach walks can inspire the shortest of poems, says the winner of a national competition for "sci-ku".
School chief thrown out
THE assistant principal of Coober Pedy Area School has been suspended because of misconduct allegations by the school governing council.
New Boys drug raid
POLICE have arrested an alleged associate of the New Boys street gang over drugs they say equate to 1000 street deals.
Samaritans help nab alleged thief
A GROUP of good Samaritans have chased and caught a man who allegedly stole a purse from a 61-year-old woman in the city today.
Western Australia
Dutch journalists arrested in SubiacoA HIGH-profile Dutch TV crime reporter has been arrested after trying to hand a letter to an alleged murder suspect in Perth.
Police hunt knife bandits
POLICE hunting for two men who allegedly threatened and attacked a staff member with a knife, and set fire to an office.
ABC host in hot water over Abbott tweets
ABC radio morning presenter Geoff Hutchison lands himself in hot water over his comments on Twitter attacking Tony Abbott.
Sex attack blunder 'indefensible'
WA's child protection minister has apologised "profusely" to the family of a disabled woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a known teenage sex offender.
Gas leak forces port evacuation
EMERGENCY crews have been called to Fremantle Harbour following reports of a gas leak at Patricks wharf.
Fire compensation hope for Toodyay
TOODYAY fire victims could receive compensation within months after Premier Colin Barnett accepted the findings of a report blaming Western Power for the devastating blaze.
Police want to confiscate man's Monaro
POLICE will apply for the permanent seizure of a man's 2003 Holden Monaro after he was caught driving under suspension for the third time.
Teen, 17, killed in ute roll-over
A 17-YEAR-OLD youth has died after being flung from the back of a Toyota Landcruiser tray-top ute on a Ballidu farm, 220km north east of Perth
Tasmania
Princess keeps baby bump under wrapsA PREGNANT Princess Mary has made a rare public appearance in Hobart for lunch with her sisters.
No jail for attack on pregnant woman
A PREGNANT mother-of-three was bashed in her front yard by an angry parent, a Hobart court has heard.
=== Journalists Corner ===
Exclusive: Rod BlagojevichHis guilty verdict & could he be back in court? The former governor talks to Chris Wallace.
===
Tonight, It's a Special Hannity!
Protests, politics and the mainstream media's coverage of the New York mosque! From the major players backing the building, to the controversy surrounding construction on sacred ground. Sean breaks it all down in a special edition of 'Hannity'.
===
Are Colleges America's Biggest Rip-off?
Schools saving their stimulus funds? Why taxpayer money is not being used to hire teachers. Then, the fate of Fannie and Freddie - how their future impacts your wallet. Plus, education is key, but is college America's biggest rip-off?
===
On Fox News Insider
7 Years After: Reporting From IraqBrian Kilmeade Chats with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham
Will New Health Care Law Keep Country From Going Further Into Debt?
=== Comments ===
Turmoil Within the Democratic PartyBY BILL O'REILLY
On the breaking news front, there is good news and bad news for President Obama. The good news is that the last active combat brigade in Iraq has left that country as the USA continues to draw down our troops, certainly a positive thing.
On the negative front, unemployment claims were up 12,000 last week -- more bad news on the economic front. But both of these stories have been overshadowed by the continuing Ground Zero mosque controversy, which has galvanized the attention of the public. A new Time Magazine poll says 61 percent of Americans oppose the mosque; just 26 support it. Also, 70 percent of the public believe the mosque is an insult to the victims of 9/11. 70 percent! That's very bad news for President Obama, who has staked out territory in support of building the mosque.
Even far left bomb-thrower Howard Dean is showing up the president.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN: This isn't about the rights of Muslims to have a worship or Jews or
Christians or anybody else to have a place to worship or any place near
Ground Zero. This is something that we ought to be able to work out with
people of good faith. And we have to understand that it is a
real affront to people who lost their lives, including Muslims.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
Now, while the liberal press at first ignored the controversy, it is now all over the place. And the president cannot escape it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any regrets jumping into the Islamic Center? I'm
telling you it's working in Columbus. The coverage working in Columbus.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The answer is no regrets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
It took him awhile for him to get there. If you are keeping score, it is Senator Harry Reid and Howard Dean against the mosque, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the president okay with it. That is a civil war within the Democratic Party,no matter how they try to spin it.
It is true that healthy disagreement on issues can strengthen political movements. "Talking Points" respects independent thinking if it is sincere and well thought out. But to independent Americans who did support President Obama last time, there is a growing perception that not only is the president baffled by the economy but also that he lines up against most of the people on significant issues.
Even some hardcore Democrats believe that, and there is deep anxiety about the upcoming election in Democratic precincts.
So while the mosque-Ground Zero story isn't as important as the economy or our leaving Iraq, the political implications of it are enormous.
President Obama must be glad he's on vacation.
===
ELECTION 2010
Tim Blair
Your election action begins here from 5.00pm. This will be a long night, so stock up on appropriate democracy fluids.
===
VOTE FOR BEDTIME STORIES
Tim Blair
According to Peter van Onselen, Australia must elect Julia Gillard because Peter’s children are female, among other powerful reasons:
How ironic that the nation’s first female prime minister might be embarrassingly turfed out of office after just a couple of months in the job by a man who has caused more public policy controversy when it comes to women’s rights than any of his parliamentary contemporaries, and by a team he leads in which women are badly under-represented. That’s not something I’ll be proudly telling my two daughters about when they get older.So tell ‘em something else instead. How many parents tell their kids gender-equity election stories anyway? And why would anybody feel shame or pride when discussing long-past events they had nothing to do with? In other sisterhood developments:
The Nambour sister of former prime minister Kevin Rudd has pleaded with Sunshine Coast voters to give Labor’s younger candidates a go, saying anyone had to be better than an MP “sleeping” on the job.Some team.
Long-time nurse Loree Rudd also pleaded with voters not to punish “team Labor” over Mr Rudd’s axing by Julia Gillard.
UPDATE. Ruddstabber Karl Bitar pleads for loyalty:
Labor’s national secretary Karl Bitar yesterday sent an email to supporters asking for eleventh-hour donations and volunteers …This is yet another triumph for Bitar, who has run Labor’s campaign since day one.
“This election is going to be the closest in living memory,” he wrote.
UPDATE II. WorkChoices by Monday? Julia Gillard’s bizarre claim might be the 2010 equivalent of Malcolm Fraser’s 1983 statement about hiding money under your bed.
===
PREDICTION-O-RAMA 2010
Tim Blair
Most likely result: Labor by three to eight seats.
Entertaining result: Labor by five or fewer seats, leading to years of stabby factional chaos and massive defeat in 2013 (or sooner).
Most entertaining result: No winner by the close of counting Saturday night, eventual hung parliament, recounts in close seats, legal challenges, legislative gridlock, beautiful mayhem.
Highly possible result: Coalition by three or fewer seats.
Extremely possible result: Greens fall short of ten per cent and fail to win a lower house seat.
Most unlikely result: Coalition by five or more seats.
===
TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Tim Blair
Tasty numbers:
The latest Newspoll reveals a primary vote of 36.2% to Labor, 43.4% to Coalition, 13.9% to Greens and 6.5% to others.
Based on preferences at the 2007 election, this translates to Labor leading the Coalition by just 50.2 per cent to 49.8 per cent.
===
PEOPLE WERE TRYING TO EAT
Tim Blair
An incident at a popular Darwin restaurant. Patrons said to be unimpressed.
===
TWITTER JUST KEEPS ON GIVING
Tim Blair
SMH journalist Paul Tatnell cracks wise:
John Alexander told me yesterday he was having a game of tennis with some ‘’special people’’. Turned out it was Tony Abbott. Makes sense ...You know, if any Liberal candidates made a similar joke, Tatnell’s newspaper would crucify them. And then we have the ABC’s Geoff Hutchison, who unburdened himself of certain views on Monday night and as a consequence has been told that he can’t play with Twitter any more.
===
YOU PAY EITHER WAY
Tim Blair
What Julia Gillard said:
“There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.”What Julia Gillard meant:
“I don’t rule out the possibility of legislating a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, a market-based mechanism.”UPDATE. Labor MP Damian Hale says a tax will happen:
In a bid to secure Greens preferences, Mr Hale told ABC Local Radio this morning only one of the major parties is working towards a tax on carbon emissions.So now we know.
“Well, I really think that we need to make sure that getting a carbon tax in place is a priority of a government that’s re-elected on Saturday,” he said.
(Via reader Keith)
===
Two more Diggers dead
Andrew Bolt
Bad news:
THE war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of two more Australian soldiers, killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol with Afghan troops… Private Grant Kirby, 35, a father of two, and Private Tomas Dale, 21, were killed when an improvised explosive device was set off near an Australian Bushmaster vehicle.Our sympathies to the soldiers’ families and comrades.
They are the 19th and 20th Australian soldiers to die in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001, and the 8th and 9th to die this year.
===
Working for Julia, just for this Saturday
Andrew Bolt
Reader Ed reports:
At the Sunbury West polling booth in Victorian seat of Calwell construction workings are working on a BER building today, Saturday. First Saturday I have noticed them there since construction started months ago.UPDATE
The building is no where near finished so the Saturday overtime is not to meet a grand opening deadline.However the construction is in plain sight of voters walking in from the roadside and standing in line waiting to enter the polling booth room.
The cynic in me suspects that the ALP have arranged the polling day BER work in support of Gillard!
Reader Andrew:
I’m in Bruce, and went to vote at Rosewood Downs Primary School here in Dandy North- same thing was happening there as well!UPDATE 2
Local Liberal candidate Mike Kabos tells me he hasn’t noticed any work being done today at Rosewood Downs.
===
GetUp a SellOut
Andrew Bolt
Just another union front:
THE union movement has emerged as a key financial backer of the advocacy group GetUp!, with six unions pouring more than a million dollars into its election purse in the past three weeks alone.How does this fit with GetUp’s declaration:
GetUp! has splashed nearly $1.5 million on TV advertising since the campaign began, meaning the unions have effectively supplied two-thirds of its advertising budget.
The organisation’s director, Simon Sheikh, refused to name the six unions yesterday, saying they wanted their identities kept secret until after donor returns are filed with the Australian Electoral Commission.
GetUp is an independent, grass-roots community advocacy organisation… GetUp does not back any particular party… GetUp is a not-for-profit and receives no money from any political party or the government.No money from any politcal party, but plenty from one party’s chief donors.
UPDATE
Speaking of fronts, note how the NSW Greens - whose lead Senate candidate is the former Stalinist Lee Rhiannon - favors communists and militant socialists above most of the other 83 choices for its preferences:
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|The Greens are being taken over by the watermelons.
| |The Greens (AD1) |RHIANNON Lee |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|2 |The Greens (AD2) |McILROY Keith |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|3 |The Greens (AD3) |JEGATHEESWARAN Brami |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|4 |The Greens (AD4) |SWIFT Harriett |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|5 |The Greens (AD5) |MORRISSEY Simone |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|6 |The Greens (AD6) |KANAK Dominic Wy |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|7 |Independent (AB1) |ECKFORD Michael |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|8 |Independent (AB2) |STEVENS Criselee |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|9 |Independent (AE1) |KERNOT Cheryl |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|10 |Independent (AE2) |CANT Simon |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|11 |Secular Party Of Australia|BRYCE Ian |
| |(N1) | |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|12 |Secular Party Of Australia|WARREN Lyle Richard |
| |(N2) | |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|13 |Socialist Alliance (A1) |EVANS Rachel |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|14 |Socialist Alliance (A2) |ISKANDER Soubhi |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|15 |Communist (G1) |LAWLER Geoff |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
|16 |Communist (G2) |KELLAWAY Brenda Anne |
|---+--------------------------+-------------------------|
(Thanks to readers Gary and Max.)
===
Van Onselen: never mind she’s bad, she’s a woman
Andrew Bolt
Peter van Onselen has been surprisingly advertised as “conservative” commentator, but it’s a billing that sure doesn’t apply any more to the Bishop-stalker and eager new employee of the Leftist Sky News.
Today he smears Abbott as a sexist bigot and argues that all Labor’s disasters and sheer incompetence should not outweigh the symbolism of voting for a woman:
How ironic that the nation’s first female prime minister might be embarrassingly turfed out of office after just a couple of months in the job by a man who has caused more public policy controversy when it comes to women’s rights than any of his parliamentary contemporaries, and by a team he leads in which women are badly under-represented. That’s not something I’ll be proudly telling my two daughters about when they get older… For all of the present government’s incompetence, I just don’t believe it deserves to be a oncer.This fascination with seeming rather than achieving is a tell of the true Leftist. If Gillard - one of the “Gang of Four” that gave us the pink batts catastrophe, and the bungler directly behind the school building rip-offs, the free computers blow-out and the East Timor detention centre thought bubble - were a man, what would van Oscillate argue then?
As for van Onselen’s judgment, it is as suspect as his many predictions. But by striking the right attitudes at the right times, how van Onselen has prospered.
===
Back away very slowly
Andrew Bolt
What is this instinct of so many prophets from Biblical times to today to cry Repent! For the end of the world is nigh! Take Guy McPherson:
Unchecked, western civilization drives us to one of two outcomes, and perhaps both: (1) Destruction of the living planet on which we depend for our survival, and/or (2) Runaway greenhouse and therefore the near-term extinction of our species. Why would we want to sustain such a system? It is immoral and omnicidal. The industrial economy enslaves us, drives us insane, and kills us in myriad ways…And who is McPherson?
It’s time to stop playing by the rules of the destroyers. We need witnesses and warriors, and we need them now. It’s time to terminate western civilization before it terminates us.
Guy R. McPherson is Profesor Emeritus at the University of Arizona. Educated in the ecology and management of natural resources, his early scholarly efforts produced many publications of little lasting importance. In mid-career, he began to focus on development and creative application of ecological theory…(Thanks to reader Ian.)
In 2009 at the height of a productive career, McPherson left the university to prepare for collapse. He now lives in an off-grid, straw-bale house where he puts into practice his lifelong interest in sustainable living via organic gardening, raising small animals for eggs and milk, and working with members of his rural community.
===
World map of touristyness
Andrew Bolt
From the dazzling Information is Beautiful site, which also has a graphic on national number ones which doesn’t much flatter Australia.===
If she lies about this, what else is she lying about?
Andrew Bolt
Julia Gillard is both desperate and a liar:
If Mr Abbott is elected as prime minister he will bring Work Choices back.Not just false but impossible. If Abbott becomes prime minister and does not do what Gillard claims, will she apologise for lying to voters?
UPDATE
Gillard’s lies finally get too much even for the press pack:
IF PROOF were needed that Julia Gillard is getting rattled about the possibility she could be in opposition tomorrow, her last media conference before polling day provided it.Answer: yes. Labor will take an election win as all the justification it needs in these Hawker-Britton days. But those Australians who still value honesty and integrity will now know Gillard for what she is.
It was, it turned out, one of the shortest media conferences of the five-week campaign. The reason? The media turned nasty, accusing the PM of becoming so desperate she had deliberately ‘’verballed’’ her opponent, Tony Abbott…
He would, she recited, rip apart everything from the health system to the schools and apprenticeships and put an end to the national broadband network… Why, she said, he would introduce WorkChoices ‘’by Monday’’…
The travelling media crew decided to jack up.
‘’Prime Minister, what does it say about your level of confidence in your positive plan for the future that you’ve just outlined that you’ve spent the day wandering around verbalising Tony Abbott?’’ she was asked…
It got worse. Before long, a reporter demanded to know whether the claim that WorkChoices would be back on Monday was ‘’an outright lie’’.
UPDATE 2
Miranda Devine says it’s been an election contest between a gentlemen and no lady:
While Abbott targeted the Labor government’s failings with laser accuracy, he treated Gillard with kid gloves… As Barnaby Joyce put it in June: “Nobody wants to see you beat up on a chick – it’s a bad look.”
Throughout the campaign, Gillard was protected by a feminist praetorian guard of eagle-eyed offence-takers jumping on the vaguest hint of sexism. Thus, Abbott’s innocuous “no means no” was reinterpreted as a brute attacking rape victims.
The Coalition never exploited the target-rich “living in sin at The Lodge” issue when her de facto relationship with Tim Mathieson briefly became a topic of community debate.
In fact, four of Abbott’s best political assets, his photogenic wife and daughters, were fairly low-profile this campaign, compared to wives and children of previous elections. No Women’s Weekly covers for them. The feminine angle was monopolised by the Prime Minister.
Such delicate treatment cannot be said to have been afforded Abbott, who was pilloried throughout the campaign as a sexist, old-fashioned, untrustworthy, extremist, Catholic jock, in snide asides, low blows and a barrage of distasteful attack ads.
===
Lying about Labor’s $43 billion disaster - and its extra price tag
Andrew Bolt
The claim:
Ms Gillard clashed with Sydney radio personality Ray Hadley when questioned on whether it would cost between $2000 and $4000 to rewire his house to take full advantage of the NBN.The lie - or innocent mistake:
“You are simply not right to raise this fear of cost for people,” the Prime Minister said. “That is not right, that is not what has happened. It is simply not true.”The truth:
Ms Gillard said people did not pay a fee to have fibre rolled out to their home but if they wanted to use the fibre they would pay a service provider.
The National Electrical and Communications Association confirmed ... that once the NBN had installed fibre-optic cables, residents would still need to equip their homes with new cables and devices.The recalculated cost, using the most modest figure:
“Residents will need to consider what technology they wish to embrace when the NBN reaches their front gate, and it is very likely that many households will need to be retrofitted with new cables, wiring and outlets to access new services.”
Mr Tinslay said a standard retrofit could cost up to $3000.
The NBN, if built, will pass more than 10 million premises. If every premise spent an average of $500 on bandwidth distribution equipment, the extra cost to the nation beyond the $43bn price tag for the network would be $5bn.An option:
If you really want fast internet, give Telstra or iPrimus or Optus a call and you can get it. And it won’t cost you $4,300 up front.The conclusion:
Labor’s broadband will cost $5000 per home just to roll out - providing there are no blowouts. Consumers must then stump up another $3000 or so on rewiring to be able to use the broadband’s faster speeds. Their service provider will then change them premium rates.
This reeks of a white elephant, especially when many consumers will be opting for wireless technologies instead. And in the one roll out we’ve had so far of Gillard’s fibre optic broadband, in Tasmania:
Just 70 customers might have signed up to the National Broadband Network in Tasmania so far in total..UPDATE
$43 billion - such an unimaginably huge figure. For context, go here for go here for a visual comparison with other great spends of our time. It ranks somewhere between the net worth of Bill Gates and the 2003 predicted cost of the Iraq war.
===
Labor by a nose
Andrew Bolt
Newspoll says it’s about even:
According to a Newspoll survey, conducted exclusively for The Weekend Australian with 2500 voters from Tuesday to Thursday, Labor has 50.2 per cent support on a two-party-preferred basis to the Coalition’s 49.8 per cent.Nielsen says it’s Labor’s to lose:
Based on preference flows at the 2007 election, Labor has suffered a 2.5 percentage point swing away from it since the election and a 1.8 point swing against it since last weekend. Labor’s primary vote is 36.2 per cent, with the Coalition on 43.4 per cent and the Greens on 13.9 per cent.
Labor leads 52 per cent in the Age/Nielsen poll, down a point in a week, to the Coalition’s 48 per cent, in two party terms - a swing of about 1 per cent against the ALP since 2007.===
Let them eat grapes
Andrew Bolt
Can’t work:
New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to a nine-month high last week, yet another setback to the frail economic recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000...Won’t work:
The Obama family will begin their sixth holiday of the year today, an 11-day sojourn in Martha’s Vineyard, the island destination of the wealthy and well-connected American elite.
===
Bomber lives another year, as Libya gloats
Andrew Bolt
No surprise that Britain wanted no attention drawn to the anniversary:
LIBYAN authorities have banned celebrations for the first anniversary of the release of the Lockerbie bomber, following a warning from Britain.What’s tasteless, offensive and deeply insensitive is that Megrahi continues to live nine months beyond what his doctors promised, exposing the British as fools and weaklings.
The British Government said that any public display over the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi would be “tasteless, offensive and deeply insensitive"…
Al-Megrahi was welcomed home as a hero on Aug. 20 last year after the Scottish government decided to release him on compassionate grounds, saying that he was seriously ill with prostate cancer and probably only had three months to live.
A Libyan official says the country is happy to mute the party:
This year, Libya’s leadership is keeping quiet while they secretly enjoy their success. They do not need to trumpet about that anew.
===
Labor uses foreign workers to warn Aussie workers about the Liberals
Andrew Bolt
Reader Russell says Labor is exporting Aussie call-centre jobs to warn against Liberal employment policies:
My wife has just phoned me to advise that she received a phone call at home, screen on phone indicated it was from OVERSEAS, it was a recorded message, threatening that if she the person answering the call was a voter and was to vote for the LNP she would be guaranteeing the return of work choices.Can readers let us know if they’ve had or heard of such calls themselves?
Investigating this via the LNP in Sydney, yes it is happening and they are looking into it.
Incidentally, how desperate and dishonest is this great Labor scare? There are four reasons why it’s utter nonsense:
1. Tony Abbott has repeatedly promised he will not bring back Work Choices.Is this lie really all that Labor has got left?
2. Breaking a promise given so often and definitively would destroy him.
3. The Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate, and Abbott couldn’t bring in Work Choices even if he wanted to.
4. As a Howard Government Minister, Abbott was against Work Choices, warning his colleagues it went too far.
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As peaceful as a knife in the stomach
Andrew Bolt
The BBC has long seemed hostile to Israel. All the more surprising, then, that its new documentary on the storming of the Mavi Marmara should be so damning of the “peace activists” on board.
(Thanks to many readers.)
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Tony Abbott, as seen by his fellow firefighters
Andrew Bolt
Piers Akerman talks to the Davidson Brigade of the NSW Rural Fire Service about their most famous volunteer and former deputy captain.
Captain Brendan Malone:
If there is a job to be done, Tony is just as likely to be doing it, whether it is cleaning the toilets or anything else… I, personally, like him. He is just one of the boys, he just gets on and does it. He’s what I call a real person…Former captain Warren Cree:
There is that satisfaction of doing something that actually matters, contributing to the greater good. I know Tony draws a lot from that, too.
It’s a personal thing that he’s passionate about and hasn’t wanted to publicise. He’s actually in the service for all the right reasons. It’s not a political stunt. It’s not something he has put out for general knowledge. He values being just one of the blokes, like anyone else who walked in off the street…
[Abbott] only stood down as deputy at the annual general meeting in April and it was obvious that it was quite a sacrifice. That was understandable. He really likes it and the brigade does go out of its way to protect him…
Give me a crew of Tony Abbotts. He’s a damned hard worker.
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I’ll know it’s just a game when it lets us murder Spielberg
Andrew Bolt
We really do want to incite, inspire and train the enemy within, don’t we?
EVER wanted to know how it feels to ambush and kill a US soldier? Fancied yourself as a bit of a dab handler of Improvised Explosive Devices?Madness. Will Medal of Honor next release a game in which players can experience the thrill of cyber-murdering game designers? Of stalking MoH creator Steven Spielberg? Of pulping the skulls of MoH retailers?
You’re in luck - the latest instalment in the popular Medal of Honor video game franchise will let you play as a Taliban soldier plotting against the Coalition troops in Afghanistan.
For the uninitiated, Medal of Honor is one of several first-person shooting games giving users the chance to get behind the sights of a soldiers’ rifle and experience war first-hand… The game will be released in October, in one of Australia’s worst years for casualties in Afghanistan.
Morons.
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Which ABC host hates Abbott? I mean, which admits it?
Andrew Bolt
This will shock you, I’m sure, but an ABC radio host hates Tony Abbott. But which one? Let me narrow down a huge field:
ONE of the ABC’s talkback radio hosts has been ordered to pull down his Twitter account after making offensive tweets about Tony Abbott.Remind me again how many conservatives host a talkback show for tthis taxpayer-funded impartial broadcaster.
Geoff Hutchison, a former ABC Europe correspondent and 7.30 Report reporter, who now hosts the Mornings program on ABC 720 in Perth, made the tweets while watching the Opposition Leader on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night.
He quoted Mr Abbott as saying: “Gays are morally dubious, but big tobacco is all right by me.”
He then wrote: “Tony, why are you frightened of intercourse with Julia? Is it because we will be watching and measuring?”
He wrote: “I have gay Muslim friends, says Tony. But I don’t really like them.”
(Thanks to reader Andy.)
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