=== Todays Toon ===
It took a brave (and bitter) kind of former politician to stand in front of the camera on 60 minutes, and tell the country to turn in a blank vote out of protest come election day. But that’s what happened. - by Matt Smith=== Bible Quote ===
“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.”- Psalm 116:1-2=== Headlines ===
Feds Target Iowa Egg Farms With History of Violations
FDA chief describes unsafe practices at the Iowa farms pinpointed as the source of a salmonella outbreak, saying there is no question that the farms, one of which is operated by Peter DeCoster (inset), 'were not operating with the standards of practice that we consider responsible.'Money Flows, Mud Flies in Florida Races
Voters to decide today whether longtime legislator Kendrick Meek or billionaire newcomer Jeff Greene will face Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio in Sunshine State's Senate race
Boehner to Obama: Fire Your Economic Team
House Minority Leader John Boehner comes out swinging at the president, demanding he give Tim Geithner, Larry Summers and the rest of his economic advisers the boot
NYC Imam: U.S. Has Blood on Its Hands
Video shows the controversial imam at the center of the debate over building a mosque near Ground Zero saying the U.S. has killed more innocents than Al Qaeda
Eggshells Look More Colorful Through the Eyes of Birds
Birds see a more colorful world than we do, especially when it comes to their eggs, a new study suggests.Breaking News
800,000 cut off by Pakistan floodsABOUT 800,000 people have been cut off by floods in Pakistan and are only reachable by air, the United Nations says, adding it needs at least 40 more helicopters to ferry lifesaving aid to increasingly desperate people.
US stocks drop on fall in home sales
US stocks closed lower after another disappointing report on housing renewed worries about the economy.
Vintage firearms stolen from house
VINTAGE firearms and jewellery have been stolen from a house on the NSW mid-north coast.
Six killed by crash debris on highway
SIX people were killed and 72 injured when debris from a major highway crash in Portugal landed on a neighbouring traffic lane, sparking a second massive pile-up.
US targets bin Laden son-in-law
THE US Treasury has imposed sanctions on the son-in-law of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, saying he was a potential chief financial officer of the terror network.
Suspect priest protected over bombings
TOP police, government and Catholic Church officials in Northern Ireland conspired to protect a priest suspected over 1972 bombings that killed nine people, an investigation revealed.
Seven children die in wall collapse
AT least seven children have been killed by a school wall collapse in torrential rains, police say.
Man shot in head notices five years later
A MAN living in Germany was shot in the back of his head, but it took him five years to realise it, police say.
Sceintists find star system with planets
EUROPEAN astronomers say they have discovered a star system containing at least five Neptune-like planets.
Moldova seizes uranium from 'traffickers'
MOLDOVA has seized almost two kilograms of the radioactive substance Uranium-238 from a suspected group of traffickers including former interior ministry officials, officials say.
NSW/ACT
NSW Labor headed for wipeoutNSW Labor is heading for massive defeat at next state election, latest poll shows.
Kiesha couple silent on payments
THE mother and stepfather of Kiesha Abrahams won't comment on a series of mystery payments.
Council fights ruling in car wars
CLOVER Moore has tried to ban cars from the CBD, spent millions on cycleways and now wants to block 15 car spaces in the city.
Hope fading on wet rabbit island
THESE rabbits are trapped and have no place left to go as rising water claims the ground they were grazing on, in northwest NSW.
Sydney's shooting spree continues
SYDNEY had witnessed at least one gun crime a day since Andrew Scipione urged the community to help get firearms off the streets.
Schools heaters promise shunted
KRISTINA Keneally found $500 million in a hurry for the Epping to Parramatta Rail link, but nothing to replace school heaters.
Assault delays Ibrahim hearing
DRAMA always seems to follow the Ibrahims and yesterday it happened to be Sam - older brother of nightclub owner John.
Richie's home at risk of bulldozer
HE grew up practising his bowling in his western Sydney backyard, but developers want to bulldoze Richie Benaud's family home.
No secret baby deal with Lane
FORMER Bulldogs captain Simon Gillies denied ever having "an arrangement" with Keli Lane.
Crash ferry had lost control
HOW did master of the Sydney Ferries vessel Marjorie Jackson lose control and hit the Betty Cuthbert that was tied up?
Queensland
ATM bashed with sledgehammerA MAN has used a sledgehammer to rob an automatic teller machine on the Gold Coast.
Pile-up chaos on motorway
A CAR crash on the Gateway Motorway is causing major traffic snarls this morning.
State tourism doing it tough
THE state's tourism boss warns the $9.1 billion industry faces another tough six months after arrivals from key markets fell by 10 per cent in the past year.
Doctor 'too busy' to see sick baby
THE young mother of a four-year-old girl who died in a remote Queensland hospital in July last year wept today as an inquest began into her daughter's death.
Vast area 'locked' to protect farms
MORE than 70,000sq km of Queensland could be subject to new legislation that would lock away areas from housing, mining and even forestry, according to business.
Katter 'made kill threat against MP'
BOB Katter, the maverick Queenslander poised to be a kingmaker, allegedly threatened to ''kill'' a former MP and branded the Liberals "slimy dogs''.
Caucus unease grows over Bligh
ANNA Bligh is steeling herself for a hostile reception from Labor MPs at the week caucus with growing unrest in the party's ranks about her leadership.
Federal cops deny Rush backflip
AUSTRALIA'S top cop has denied Federal Police backflipped by co-operating with lawyers for Scott Rush, who they helped send to death row for drug trafficking.
Escaped prisoner found at pub
A VICTORIAN man being extradited to Melbourne who escaped police near Brisbane Airport has been arrested while having a beer at the Manly Hotel.
Assurances sought over dive killer
QUEENSLAND'S attorney-general has written to authorities in Alabama to finalise co-operation in the possible US prosecution of honeymoon killer Gabe Watson.
Victoria
Troops in Afghan 'incident'The ADF has confirmed an incident involving Australian soldiers in Afghanistan overnight, saying next of kin have been notified.
Sisters hope for a miracle
SISTERLY love is guiding Kaitlyn and Courtney Meggs as they battle matching brain tumours.
Methane risk, two years on
RETIRED racing identity Eddie Laing and his wife still can't return to their house, almost two years after toxic gas leaks were found.
Carlton gulps way up beer list
AUSSIE classics Victoria Bitter and Carlton are still the nation's favourite beers, but their fancier designer friends are catching up.
British driving ace says sorry
FORMULA One driver Lewis Hamilton has apologised for his "hoon" antics in a letter to the magistrate who fined him.
Ethnic lines divide city
MIGRANTS settling in suburbs with good schools and other amenities may cause tensions with the established community.
Family flair to light catwalk
THE Barron family has style all sewn up, with daughter Bella making her modelling debut in her designer mum's catwalk show.
Evacuate order reversed
AN urgent council order for 10 Melbourne families to evacuate their homes has been overturned and described as an overreaction.
'My mother was loyal'
THE daughter of World War I hero Albert Jacka has spoken publicly of the pain caused by the break-up of her parents' marriage.
Man charged with murder
UPDATE 11:29PM: A MAN has been charged with murder following the discovery of a woman's body in Melbourne's southeast.
Northern Territory
Girlfriend 'attacked with hot stew'A MAN is on trial for allegedly pouring boiling stew over his girlfriend and barricading her in a house so she could not seek medical help.
South Australia
Ombudsman orders Chelsea sale haltTHE State Ombudsman has ordered Burnside Council to stop the sale of the Chelsea Cinema pending an independent review into it by him.
Cheeky coffee adverts clean up
A FARMERS Union Iced Coffee marketing campaign which increased sales by 9.5 per cent but attracted public complaints has won a swag of awards from the Australian Marketing Institute.
Less for coffers in online flutter
ONLINE gambling is diverting tax money from state coffers as punters abandon poker machines and splash their cash on the internet.
Speed cameras all pain, no gain
INTRODUCING lower speed tolerance on speed cameras has raised millions of extra dollars but had no measurable impact on the road toll.
Redundancy offer for all public servants
ROLLING targeted separation packages with no restrictions will be offered to state public servants when the Budget is finally delivered on September 16.
Storm over toxic Port River soil
MOUNDS of toxic soil, blamed for contaminating a primary school with cancer-causing dust two years ago, have eroded and some has washed into the Port River.
Counsellors axed from WCH
STAFF confronted by illness and tragedy at the Women's and Children's Hospital are about to lose the shoulder they have been crying on for the past 40 years.
More rain, less heat forecast for spring
FOLLOWING a cool and wet August, the weather bureau is now forecasting a cold and wet spring for Adelaide.
Adelaide Uni staff win 18pc pay rise
UNIVERSITY of Adelaide academics have won an 18 per cent pay rise over 4½ years under a new enterprise agreement which includes the capping of staff hours.
Crashes as hail causes havoc
MOTORISTS are being warned to take care tonight after slippery roads caused by rain and hail led to a spate of car crashes in the Adelaide Hills this afternoon.
Western Australia
Coroner questions police evidenceWA policeman involved in pursuit that ended in a death tells an inquiry it is possible officers occasionally exceed the permitted 140kmh limit.
'Councils wasting money on ads'
COUNCILLORS in WA's most populous local government areas say councils are wasting money on self-promoting advertising and duplicating services.
UWA employee stole $53,500
A FORMER University of Western Australia employee was today jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to stealing $53,500.
Teen sex accused moved to 'secure facility'
A SERIAL teenage sex offender, who slipped away from his carer and allegedly committed another sexual offence, has been moved to a secure facility.
Perth driller helps Chile mine rescue
A PERTH drilling consultant is helping to reach 33 trapped miners in Chile and tells of the hope and despair of the rescue.
Dutch crime reporter may skip trial
THE Dutch crime reporter arrested for trying to question a WA man he alleges is linked to a murder in Honduras cannot guarantee he will attend his trial.
Alcoa admits Wagerup dust breach
MINING giant Alcoa has admitted breaching its operating licence, when it allowed waste dust to blow across suburbs near its Wagerup refinery.
Girls' school chaplain on child porn charge
A CHAPLAIN at Perth College private school for girls has been charged with two counts of possessing child pornography.
Court bid on teenage sex fiend
A GOVERNMENT department will today apply for a teenage sex fiend to be returned to high security custody after he allegedly attacked a disabled woman.
Ken Wyatt ahead in Hasluck
LIBERAL candidate Ken Wyatt remains ahead of Labor incumbent Sharryn Jackson in the crucial Perth seat of Hasluck, extending his election-night lead in yesterday's counting.
Tasmania
Dog saves family from burning homeA FAMILY pet has been credited with saving his owners from their burning home.
I'm not out of the count, says Greens hope
THE Greens Denison candidate says he has not given up hope of winning the now crucial seat.
=== Journalists Corner ===
It's America's Election Headquarters!The most powerful primary election coverage is on Fox News Channel! Get minute-by-minute insight and the smartest analysis. As results come in, stay with your number one place for politics!
===
On Fox News Insider
Eggs Recalled - How to Protect YourselfOne Large Pie, a Small Soda, and an Extra Serving of Political Zingers
Should WikiLeaks Face Criminal Charges?
=== Comments ===
New Microbe Discovered Eating Gulf Oil SpillBy Randolph E. Schmid
WASHINGTON -- A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe is suddenly flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., reported Tuesday in the online journal Sciencexpress.
"Our findings, which provide the first data ever on microbial activity from a deepwater dispersed oil plume, suggest" a great potential for bacteria to help dispose of oil plumes in the deep-sea, Hazen said in a statement.
Environmentalists have raised concerns about the giant oil spill and the underwater plume of dispersed oil, particularly its potential effects on sea life. A report just last week described a 22-mile long underwater mist of tiny oil droplets. (more at the link)
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Will Abbas's Dithering Derail Any Hope for Change In the Middle East?
By Kenneth Bandler
The tenth anniversary of the second Palestinian intifada will fall just two days after Israel’s ten-month moratorium on settlement construction expires in September. Will the anniversary pass without incident, or will the Palestinians use the occasion for mass protests and violence?
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s announcement that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will come to Washington on September 1 to relaunch direct talks on September 2 offers a ray of hope that new clashes will be forestalled. However, any optimism is mitigated by the tortuous path to gain Palestinian acquiescence.
Before last week's announcement, President Obama, European Union Foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton, and other world leaders had pleaded with Abbas for weeks to resume direct talks with Israel. On a daily basis there were reports that he was about to agree, but no confirmation from Ramallah. It was a replay of the Palestinian leader’s behavior earlier this year, when he delayed as long as he could before giving the go ahead to the four months of indirect, or proximity talks, mediated by George Mitchell.
It’s extraordinary that one person, who heads an entity that is not yet a state, can wield so much authority. Yet, that has long been the sorry tale of Palestinian leaders, who, despite worldwide support for a two-state solution, continue to project profound reluctance to turn the Palestinian Authority into a Palestinian state as part of a permanent peace agreement with Israel.
Abbas’s incessant indecision could be by design, but his stance may well reflect lingering insecurity with the presidential role he was thrusted into after Arafat’s death six years ago. (More at the link)
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COUNTDOWN
Tim Blair
Today may see some conclusive results in the battle for federal power. Then again, it may not. Keep an eye on things in comments.
UPDATE. A broad view of the election, from Germaine Greer:
Julia Gillard is a childless 48-year-old unmarried atheist redhead who lives in sin with her hairdresser. She is also the first woman to become prime minister of Australia. Just in case you thought that might mean a new era had dawned, be assured that it is probably just about over. Not that Gillard had radical intentions, or radical policies, or any policies. Her slogan was “moving forward” – to nowhere in particular. The election, which took place this weekend, was hers to lose and she has all but lost it.It probably took her less time to research and write that than it took me to cut and paste it.
The opposition had fallen in a heap after the Liberal Party “spilt” its ablest and most charismatic politician, Malcolm Turnbull, for insisting that the party recognise climate change. Into the breach to lead the Liberal-National coalition stepped the Mad Monk, Tony Abbott, ears akimbo, wide mouth agape, who refuses to believe that anything needs to be done about climate change.
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FOXTEL WOULD ALSO HELP
Tim Blair
Bedding pigs made easy – an Australian guide. Listen up, ladies: basically all you need are biscuits, a pitch fork and some comfy straw. And maybe a reversible floor conveyor and two hydraulically-operated vertical spinners.
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RED AND LOTS OF GREEN
Tim Blair
American watermelons can grow to 135 pounds. Big deal. In Australia, our watermelons sometimes reach 150 pounds and beyond. Also, they talk:
Local watermelons may not be as trustworthy as the US variety, however. Having established a power deal with Labor federally, they now allegedly seek a similar arrangement at state level – but with the Liberals:
Greens voters would be shocked to hear their party is open to a ‘’cosy little side deal’’ to back a Liberal government if there is a hung parliament after November’s state election, according to Premier John Brumby.It also smacks of money. Your problem, Labor.
In a concerted government attack on the Greens that signalled a bruising election battle with Labor over key marginal seats, the Premier also said the Greens’ demand for the transport portfolio if they won the balance of power ‘’smacks of arrogance’’.
UPDATE. Compared to NSW, Labor in in Victoria has no problems at all.
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KURSE OF KEVNI
Tim Blair
Kevin Rudd should campaign more often:
All but one of the seven seats Kevin Rudd visited in the final days of the election campaign were lost by Labor …Depends on how you look at it. Rudd seemed happy beyond measure on Saturday night, when Julia Gillard’s government was falling to pieces around her.
Mr Rudd visited the seats of Bonner, Flynn, Herbert, Brisbane and Moreton.Some bags of gas, plus several balloons
He also made surprise appearances in the electorate of Melbourne and the Sydney seat of Bennelong.
“It’s the curse of Kevin,” said one Labor insider. “He was not the campaign asset that he claimed to be.”
UPDATE. Rudd is now chatting with at least one independent. This should work out well.
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DRIVING THE ECONOMY
Tim Blair
A big country needs a big engine. (Once you’ve hit that link, click on the photograph to experience full industrial power.)
(Via Charles G.)
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GILLARD OR DEATH
Tim Blair
Things continue to swing:
The coalition’s chances of forming a minority government have taken a dramatic change for the better following counting of votes in two key seats late today …In their usual calm way, Laborites deal with a frightening prospect:
The coalition is in the box seat with 72 seats so far, to Labor’s 71.
This hung parliament is killing me! I swear if Tony Abbott gets in, I’m on the first plane outta here.And another:
Oh my god my husband just told me that he voted for Tony Abbott. Will it b hard being a single mother?
Still, it could be worse. At least these two haven’t joined the …
… “Mass suicide if Tony Abbott becomes PM” Facebook group
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FLANNERY AVENGED
Tim Blair
Tim Flannery’s terrible vision is at last made real. Sydney has run out of water. Turn any tap in my house – nothing. Nothing but the final, shattering truth of global warming. We didn’t listen!
Of course, it could be something to do with the burst main up on Moore Park Road.
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China now with more cars than roads
Andrew Bolt
A 60-mile traffic jam near the Chinese capital could last until mid-September, officials say.And in June, a 50km jam on Shaanxi highway stayed jammed for a month:
China’s car sales are now 13.6 million a year.
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Another Digger dead, and a strategy needed
Andrew Bolt
For a war, our losses are still small in number - but we need to know much more about how this one is to be won:
ANOTHER Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, the third to die in just four days… The 28-year-old, who was married with a young family, was on his second tour of Afghanistan.What disturbs me is not the aim of the mission but its conduct - especially under the wavering leadership of Barack Obama:
The soldier’s death takes to 21 the total number of Australian troops killed in action in Afghanistan since 2001, with 149 wounded.
A senior US general has warned President Barack Obama’s deadline to begin pulling troops out of Afghanistan is encouraging the Taliban.UPDATE
US General James Conway, head of the US Marine Corps, said the deadline was “giving our enemy sustenance"…
“In some ways we think right now it’s probably giving our enemy sustenance. We think that he may be saying to himself, in fact we’ve intercepted communications that say, ‘Hey, we only have to hold out for so long,’” Gen Conway told a Pentagon news conference.
The full quote is even more damning of the president, suggesting his July 2011 deadline for a pullout was driven more by politics than strategy:
In terms of the July ‘11 issue, you know, I think if you - if you follow it closely, and of course we all do, we know the president was talking to several audiences at the same time when he made his comments on July 2011. In some ways, we think right now it’s probably giving our enemy sustenance. We think that he may be saying to himself - in fact we’ve intercepted communications that say, ‘Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for so long.And while the generals originally agreed to Obama’s July 2011 deadline - perhaps to secure the extra troops in the meantime that came with it - Conway for one is now sounding like a man who dismisses it:
“Though I certainly believe some American unit somewhere in Afghanistan will turn over responsibilities to Afghan security forces in 2011, I do not think they will be Marines,” he told reporters in his opening remarks at a Pentagon news conference.
Noting that Helmand and Kandahar are considered the “birthplace” of the Taliban, Conway said, “I honestly think it will be a few years before conditions on the ground are such that turnover will be possible for us.”
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The Greens are Labor’s One Nation
Andrew Bolt
MAULED Labor must belatedly do to the Greens what John Howard did to One Nation.
For too long it’s treated the Greens as its more moral self, indulging what it should fight.
In 1983, Labor prime minister Bob Hawke gave the Greens their landmark win by promising to save Tasmania’s Franklin River from a useful dam.
Four years later, Labor environment minister Graham Richardson gave the Greens another huge win, saving forests in Queensland and Tasmania.
And in 1990, Mr “Whatever it Takes” did it again, snatching an election win by locking up Tasmanian forests in exchange for Greens preferences.
By now the Greens were a power, with leader Bob Brown hailed as a forest Gandhi about whom no Labor leader dared say a mean word.
But always Labor figured the Greens votes would come back to it anyway. Why take on this new moral force and look grubby?
But now the Greens are strong enough to alarm even Labor.
In this election they claimed the seat of Melbourne, held by Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner, who wisely decided to bail out first. They ran another Labor frontbencher, Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, frighteningly close in the normally safe seat of Grayndler.
They also took their first big union donation - $325,000 from the Electrical Trades Union. And now they hold the balance of power in the Senate, with probably nine members. Two of the new seats were taken from Labor.
What’s more, fear of the Greens stampeded Labor into its worst mistake. Eager to seem holier than thou on global warming, Labor foolishly overpromised, vowing to bring in an emissions trading scheme we could not afford and which had to be dropped.
No miscalculation did more to destroy Labor’s credibility. And what hurt Labor fed the Greens.
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How the independents threaten your power of choice
Andrew Bolt
THE three independent MPs who’ll pick our next prime minister may not just sell out their own voters.
Bob Katter, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott threaten to sell out every other voter, too.
You see, Oakeshott with his bizarre talk of a new “consensus” politics plans to rob you of even more control over your politicians.
And Windsor, falsely claiming this stalemate proves voters “couldn’t make a decision”, may now want to impose on the rest of the country exactly the anti-voter “reforms” he helped inflict on NSW, to its misfortune.
Folks, this is a dangerous moment in our politics, if you think voters should have more say, not less.
For a start, if Katter, Windsor and Oakeshott, all former Nationals, listened to the voters who put them into Parliament, there is no way they could make Julia Gillard Prime Minister.
Each comes from a deeply conservative electorate, as the Senate vote in each seat clearly shows.
In Windsor’s New England, the Liberal/Nationals’ Senate vote is 42.9 per cent, well ahead of Labor’s 29.5. The seat is so conservative that the Shooters and Fishers Party almost tied with the Greens.
In Oakeshott’s seat of Lyne, the Liberal/Nationals’ vote is even stronger, 45.9 per cent to Labor’s 30.5 per cent.
As for the Queensland seat of Kennedy, held by the erratic Bob Katter, all you need know is the Greens on 6.2 per cent were outpolled by the Fishing and Lifestyle Party, whose motto is “working hard to keep the Greens out of the Senate in Queensland”.
What’s more, the Liberal National Party got a Senate vote of 40.8 per cent, way ahead of Labor’s 27.2 per cent.
Conclusion: if Katter joins the Greens MP to give Labor the majority it needs to form government, he’ll need the Greens to declare him an endangered species, too. His electorate will go him.
So why would these independents even dream of backing Labor? Why would they rob their own voters of their right to have their vote respected?
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The curse of Kevin
Andrew Bolt
About that fantasy that knifing Rudd was a mistake:
All but one of the seven seats Kevin Rudd visited in the final days of the election campaign were lost by Labor...Mr Rudd visited the seats of Bonner, Flynn, Herbert, Brisbane and Moreton. He also made surprise appearances in the electorate of Melbourne and the Sydney seat of Bennelong…UPDATE
The only Labor victory on Mr Rudd’s tour appears to be Moreton, where Graham Perrett is holding on by 1288 votes, after a 5 per cent swing against him....
“It’s the curse of Kevin,” said one Labor insider. “He was not the campaign asset that he claimed to be.”
Tim Blair, in noting the same story, observes:
Rudd seemed happy beyond measure on Saturday night, when Julia Gillard’s government was falling to pieces around her.The footage sure shows an oddly ecstatic reaction:
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Abbott ascendant
Andrew Bolt
Janet Albrechtsen:
TONY Abbott is “unelectable”. He will “reduce the party to a reactionary rump”. “No one thinks Abbott can win in 2010; he would be doing well if he held the line.” The Liberals’ choice represents the “spirit of kamikaze fundamentalism”. The Liberal Party has chosen “the least electable” candidate. The Liberal Party will likely face “a lengthy period in the wilderness of opposition”....UPDATE
The Opposition Leader has confounded them all. Even if the Coalition fails to form a minority government, this election is about the rise and rise of an eminently electable Abbott, and the demise of brand Labor.
When the facts change, it’s sometimes wise to change your opinions, too:
Laura Tingle in The Australian Financial Review, December 2, 2009:
VETERAN pollster Rod Cameron says simply of Tony Abbott that he is “unelectable”. ”This is a description I reserve for a very small group of politicians,” he adds.
Cameron tells Paul Kelly in The Australian on March 3:
I STAND by my earlier view that Tony Abbott is unelectable, but the government is doing everything possible to prove me wrong.
Tingle in the AFR, April 23:
ANOP pollster Rod Cameron thinks that “until a month ago, even two weeks ago, Kevin Rudd was in serious trouble, not because of Tony Abbott but as a result of his own work”.
Lenore Taylor in The Sydney Morning Herald, June 12:
CAMERON believes that with almost any other leader the Liberals would now be almost assured of victory.
The Australian, July 22:
VETERAN pollster Rod Cameron of ANOP Research Services believes that “the hard heads” in the Coalition recognise Mr Abbott is deeply vulnerable with women voters.
Tingle in the AFR, July 30:
THE pollster for ANOP Research Services, Rod Cameron, agrees with the assessment that Gillard won the leaders’ debate but Abbott may have got more out of it since the expectations for his performance were so low.
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You’re more of the future than our newspapers
Andrew Bolt
You’re the kind of pioneer i-Reader - and i-Writer - we’re thinking of:
NEWSPAPERS as we know them will be irrelevant within 12 years, according to futurist Ross Dawson, who said journalism would be largely ‘crowdsourced’.(Thanks to reader Pira.)
Mr Dawson, who will address a Newspaper Publishers’ Association forum on the future of the industry on Thursday, predicted within 10 years, mobile reading devices that would allow people to consume news on the run would be our “primary news interfaces’’.
But he said the price to consumers of such devices, the forerunner of which was Apple’s iPad, would fall from $629 - the minimum cost of an iPad today - to less than $10, and they would often be given away…
“More sophisticated news readers will be foldable, or rollable, gesture-controlled and fully interactive,’’ he said.
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Abbott wins big, the British way
Andrew Bolt
Reader Josh:
Why does Australia have to be one of the only countries using a preferential voting system, as based purely on primary votes we wouldn’t be in this mess. Parliament would look like this: ALP 66 seats,LNP 81 seats, Independents 3 seats.Terry McCrann says the Greens are wrong to claim the election result is a vote for “change politics” - or proof of a Greenslide:
The preferential voting system is the ultimate electoral free kick. You can vote for the Greens - or the Sex Party or the No-sex Party or whomever - for whatever reason; and know that your vote will still count on a later preference.
This is very different to the situation in first-past-the-post systems. There, if you vote for a minor party, you really have to want to make a statement, knowing that your vote will not only disappear but could actually help elect the very person and party you don’t want.
Look at the situation here. Would the Greens have got half as many votes as they did, if the second or later preference wasn’t going to flow on - back? - to the Labor Party? And therefore elect Abbott with a thumping majority?
There’s an added, more subtle factor. You can vote Green - or one of the other loonies - and not fear you’ll actually end up with their policies being implemented.
Yet despite this freest of free kicks, 82 per cent of supposedly ‘disillusioned’ voters still gave their first preferences to the two major parties; they actually wanted to vote for a real government.
And the Greens got just 3.6 per cent more votes in the Lower House than they did last time. Sure that’s an extra 500,000. But still just one-in-14 opting to take the free kick via the Greens.
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d’Alpuget writes herself off
Andrew Bolt
I suspect Blanche d’Alpuget has written her own memorial, all right, except it honours her permanently as a national hate-figure:LONG-TIME friends of Hazel Hawke say it is “disrespectful” of Blanche d’Alpuget to pass judgment on Bob Hawke’’s first marriage.
In a five-page interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, three of Hazel’s friends—Wendy McCarthy, who is a former ABC board member; public health expert Sue Spence and the founder of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, Patricia Edgar—say the only blessing is that the former first lady is now too far into Alzheimer’s disease to know how she is portrayed in d’Alpuget’s biography of Mr Hawke and in a recent telemovie.
Dr Edgar, who has known Hazel since 1983, also cites a recent interview with The Weekend Australian Magazine, in which d’Alpuget said: “I know that when I’m dead and when Bob’s dead, what people will remember was that this was a very great love."…
“Even if Bob is a passive partner in all of this, it is still despicable. For Blanche to . . . say that what people are going to remember is their love story is . . . utterly disrespectful.”
Dr Edgar said ... “he (Bob) dropped her like a hot potato when she was no longer of any use to him (but) she didn’t whinge.
“Of course, she was humiliated. It was extremely humiliating to have to agree they had not been living together as man and wife, to fast-track the divorce as Bob requested she do.”
Dr Edgar says it was Hazel who found the house on the harbour where Bob and Blanche now live “and she was looking forward to them spending the rest of their lives together” but moved out to make way for Blanche…
The magazine approached d’Alpuget for an interview. She attended with her lawyer.
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The independents: threatening death and demanding peace
Andrew Bolt
Your Government’s future in his hands:
BOB Katter, the maverick Queenslander poised to become an election kingmaker, faces claims he threatened to kill a fellow MP.I suspect Lindsay might be too easy to scare. But still…
In a bizarre twist to the election deadlock, the independent MP allegedly made the threat against Liberal Peter Lindsay at Townsville airport in May.
Mr Lindsay reported the threat to Australian Federal Police. Three AFP officers escorted Mr Lindsay after he and Mr Katter arrived in Brisbane on a Qantas flight.
Mr Katter - who was last night locked in talks with the two other independent MPs on whether to back Labor or the Coalition - laughed off the allegations…
When asked if he threatened to “kill” Mr Lindsay, he said: “That is absolute rubbish. The Federal Police never spoke with me, that is how serious it was taken.”
I wonder how this fits in with fellow independent Rob Oakeshott’s request that any new government be less confrontational, and stop “pretending to be fighting to the death over ideology”.
Perhaps the third rural independent, Tony Windsor, put it best:
There’s a general consensus between the three of us that we want to try and work together as much as possible.. (But) the three minds are tuned into different aerials.
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Euthanasia required
Andrew Bolt
Newspoll confirms the NSW Government is just waiting to be put out of its misery:
The NSW Labor government’s primary support remains stuck at an all-time low of 25 per cent, according to the poll, which was conducted exclusively for The Australian last month and this month. No government in any state has ever performed worse on this measure.Does this explain anything?:
The two-party-preferred measure is also unchanged, showing the Coalition retaining its 61 per cent to 39 per cent lead—the largest two-party-preferred split ever in NSW, and the equal-largest across Australia.
Two of the four most recent NSW party bosses, Mark Arbib and Karl Bitar, are now key strategic players at national level, with Senator Arbib the convener of the national Right. Mr Bitar is in charge of the federal machine.
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