=== Todays Toon ===
COMMENCE THE ENDLESS SPEAKINGTim Blair
Rob Oakeshott – the seventeen-minute man – seriously craves more speaking time:
==== Bible Quote ===
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”- James 3:13=== Headlines ===
Intel Confirms HDTV Code Crack Is Real
Much to the chagrin of the entertainment industry, the encryption code that protects most high-powered definition video content has officially been cracked, Intel spokesman confirms — but don't expect illegal hardware to flood the market soon.Rise of Freedom: Artists Remember 9/11
Forty-eight floors above 'Ground Zero,' a small group of artists is painting the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site as a way to honor those who died during the Sept. 11 terror attacks
White House: It's Not Called Global Warming
Administration wants public to start using the term 'global climate disruption' in place of 'global warming — fearing the latter term oversimplifies the problem and makes it sound less dangerous than it really is
Pelosi Wants Vote on 'Obama Tax Cuts'
Trying to signal a change from the Bush-era tax cuts, House Speaker Pelosi says she's for the 'extension of the Obama middle-income tax cuts'
Breaking News
Powerful storm kills one in NYONE person died when a massive storm slammed New York City, prompting tornado warnings for parts of New York and New Jersey.
Family escapes deliberate house fire
AN Adelaide family has escaped unhurt from a house fire police say was started by an arsonist.
White House denies Obama 'hell' remark
THE White House is denying that first lady Michelle Obama ever described her life there as "hell".
US jails ex-soldier for massacre lie
FORMER Guatemalan soldier sentenced to prison for concealing his role in a bloody 1982 massacre when he applied for US citizenship.
Uni student accused of assaulting women
A UNI student partly financed by the Libyan Government has appeared in court accused of indecently assaulting seven women in Melbourne.
UK condemns 'sham' elections in Burma
PLANNED elections in Burma are a "sham" designed to keep the current regime in power, says British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Tuvalu PM re-elected, seeks to form govt
TUVALU Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia was among 10 sitting MPs re-elected in polls for the Pacific nation's 15-seat parliament.
Jackson concert promoter dismisses suit
A LAWYER for the entertainment company sued by Michael Jackson's mother has challenged the lawsuit.
Surf lifesavers start patrol in Queensland
QUEENSLAND'S red and yellow army will be back on the beaches from this weekend, as surf lifesavers kick off the new patrol season.
Police find over $1.8m of meth in car
POLICE made one of the largest meth busts the in the Austin, Texas area, when they found 19kg of the drug in a man's car.
NSW/ACT
Visa issue hits Gibson attack caseAN American accused of assaulting state Labor MP Paul Gibson may have charges against him dropped because of visa problems.
Teen surfer knew of shark risk
THE father of a teenager who fought off a shark during a surf at dusk knew they were at risk, and they shouldn't have been there.
Puzzle over fire that killed boy
DETECTIVES are still trying to determine the cause of a house fire on Bathurst's outskirts that claimed the life of Billy Kovacs, aged 4.
Asylum bids clog up courts
NSW'S courts will be clogged up by people smuggler trials after the Government told NSW to take 80 of the accused into its jails.
Locusts are on the move
IT might look like a patch of brown dirt but on closer inspection you will find three million hatched locusts just 8mm long each.
Sick man too big for front door
A MAN was winched from his home as he lay on a ladder because he was too large for paramedics to take him out the front door.
Oprah wants a dinky-di time
OPRAH Winfrey says she'd like to bunk down in a "real Aussie's house" during her trip Down Under.
Man arrested over child porn
POLICE have arrested and charged a 49-year old man on child pornography offences.
Queensland
Gateway change `waste of money'A DECISION to change to the name of the old Gateway Motorway to Southern Cross Way has been labelled a 'waste of time and money'.
Two stable after truck rollover
A TRUCK rollover at Campaspe, near Charters Towers, has left two men in hospital.
Behave on Nth Straddie, students told
POLICE are gearing up to defend the of beaches North Stradbroke Island as the school holidays approach.
Legal team helps student beat fine
THE son of a former Townsville mayor has spent an estimated $2000 to defend a minor traffic charge which carries a fine of $500.
Third of adults in court in one day
JUST under one third of the adult population of Palm Island has appeared in court for infringements against the Government's Alcohol Management Plan.
Cowboys demand 'please explain'
THE North Queensland Cowboys have joined embarrassed captain Johnathan Thurston in apologising for his early-morning antics in Brisbane.
Man stabbed nine times on street
A MAN is fighting for his life after being stabbed nine times during a fight outside a Gold Coast hotel.
Woman killed as car hits tree
A WOMAN has been killed when her car ran off the road and into a tree before dawn.
Man killed in hit and run
A MAN has been killed in an alleged hit and run just before midnight in a regional Queensland town.
Psycho killer's warning ignored
A MENTALLY ill prisoner who said he would, and did, kill a stranger on his release, got ''virtually no treatment'' whilst in prison'', a court has found.
Victoria
Lapthorne parents back in CroatiaTHE parents of Britt Lapthorne claim an investigation into their daughter's death has been "shovelled away in a drawer''.
Cop crackdown nets drugs, knives
TWO people were arrested for drug offences and two knives were seized in a police crackdown in Melbourne's south last night.
Labor's stamp duty backflip
THE State Government has done an about-face on the abolition of stamp duty and Herald Sun readers aren't happy about it.
Six more sex charges
A STUDENT partly financed by the Libyan Government has appeared in court accused of indecently assaulting seven women.
Brumby's big dump and run
HUGE bonuses for bureaucrats and a $50 million Grand Prix blowout were contained in hundreds of reports dumped in Parliament yesterday.
Dark side of life exposed
FORMER Det Sen-Sgt Charlie Bezzina was one of Victoria's most successful and longest-serving homicide squad detectives.
Pup dumped in bag at station
A DOG dumped in a sealed garbage bag was saved from suffocation by a sudden movement that caught someone's attention.
Book claims Chaouk cop bomb threat
BLOG WITH BEZZINA, 11am: SOME members of the Chaouk crime family allegedly threatened to blow up the St Kilda Rd police complex.
Huge locust swarm on its way
THE locust plague feared to be Victoria's worst in 75 years has officially begun.
My life is a hollow hell
Cindy Gambino tells of endless torment over the loss of her three darlings.
Northern Territory
Council workers want to carry firearmsCOUNCIL workers in the Northern Territory want guns to fend off crocs during the wet season.
Sailor's death under investigation
DEFENCE has named a 28-year-old sailor found dead aboard a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat docked in Darwin.
South Australia
Young family flees burning homeTWO young children and their family were forced to flee their burning home after an arson attack that caused $200,000 damage.
Acne a cause for depression
TEENAGERS with severe acne are just as likely to feel depressed because of the condition itself, research suggests, than the medication they take to treat it.
Make whooping cough vaccines free
DOCTORS have called for free whooping cough vaccinations for adults in close contact with children following the tragic death of a baby with the disease.
Thousands farewell Powderfinger
IT'S the end of an era for Powderfinger's golden rule, with the band performing its first of two sold-out farewell shows at Memorial Drive tonight.
Rapist was 'angry at his mum'
MATTHEW Wayne Carroll was angry with his mother. He vented that rage by ambushing, beating and raping an innocent woman.
Government's hitman picks his targets
TREASURER Kevin Foley promised a horror Budget - but it is probably more akin to a "shock and awe" document, writes Greg Kelton.
Foley slashes public sector
THOUSANDS of public servants will lose their jobs, while fees and charges will rise as Treasurer Kevin Foley slashes more than $2 billion in spending.
Ask Treasurer Kevin Foley
HERE'S your chance to quiz state Treasurer Kevin Foley live in the AdelaideNow studio.
Moran withdraws from mayoral race
OUTSPOKEN Adelaide City councillor Anne Moran has pulled out of the race to become lord mayor.
Western Australia
Radio king Declan Kelly moved asideLONG-SERVING radio boss Declan Kelly has been moved aside from his position as general manager of 6PR and 96fm.
Police hunt accused child molester
POLICE have released a composite image of a man they believe responsible for the indecent assault of a 10-year-old girl in bushland in Wellard last Saturday.
Vinnies appeal needs volunteers
THE St Vincent de Paul Society urgently needs volunteers for the annual Street Appeal on Friday to raise vital funds for the community.
Woman knifed, fights off three attackers
A WOMAN escaped with only minor injuries after she fought off three attackers during an attempted bag-snatch in Midland last week.
Marlborough fights 'lying' charge
FORMER West Australian Labor cabinet minister Norm Marlborough has begun an appeal against his conviction for giving false evidence to the state's corruption watchdog.
Sea levels prompt radical coastal change
COASTAL homes will have to be built 150m from the sea under new planning laws to deal with rising sea levels threatening WA.
Come clean on Palmer affair: McGowan
COLIN Barnett has been urged to come clean on allegations mining projects and political donations were discussed at a meeting with mining magnate Clive Palmer.
Coles boss blasts WA shop hours
THE chief of Coles has lashed out at WA’s retail trading hours, saying it gave an unfair advantage to IGA stores.
Lotterywest delivers record $235m
LOTTERYWEST has contributed $235 million to support hospitals, sports, the arts, as well as community and charitable organisations in WA.
Canning River crippled by low rainfall
RECORD low rainfall has crippled the Canning River system, forcing authorities to dam the flow of water through winter and spring for the first time.
Tasmania
Nothing new=== Journalists Corner ===
Sen. John McCain Talks Tax CutsWhat's the bottom line on tax cuts? Find out what lawmakers are really saying on the Hill and how the latest debate could cost you even more.
===
Who's Going After the "Golden Arches?"
A new ad accuses McDonald's of causing heart attacks ... but, is it fair? The 'Culture Warriors' take a bite out of the controversy!
===
Not-So-Grand Old Party?
Have the Tea Party wins put Capitol Hill hopes out of reach for Republicans? Newt Gingrich has answers and insight.
===
On Fox News Insider:
TOP 5: Janice Dean on Hurricane PreparednessVIDEO: "Draw Mohammed Day" Cartoonist Hiding in Fear
Karl Rove: "My Job is Not to Be a Cheerleader for Every Republican"
Bristol Palin Trots, err, Talks About "Dancing with the Stars"
=== Comments ===
FEAR ITSELFTim Blair
Back in April, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris proposed and then withdrew the idea of an “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day”. As Norris said at the time: “I said that I wanted to counter fear and then I got afraid.” She’s since become a lot more afraid, as the Seattle Weekly reports:
You may have noticed that Molly Norris’ comic is not in the paper this week. That’s because there is no more Molly.This is remarkable.
The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully. But on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI, she is, as they put it, “going ghost”: moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity. She will no longer be publishing cartoons in our paper or in City Arts magazine, where she has been a regular contributor. She is, in effect, being put into a witness-protection program—except, as she notes, without the government picking up the tab. It’s all because of the appalling fatwa issued against her this summer, following her infamous ”Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” cartoon.
(Via Jim Treacher)
UPDATE. The New York Times:
A cartoonist in Seattle who promoted an “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” last spring is now in hiding after her life was threatened by Islamic extremists …UPDATE II. “No respect for you, nor for the likes of you”:
In July, Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical Yemeni-American cleric who is accused of ties to Al Qaeda, said in a document published on the Internet that Ms. Norris “should be taken as a prime target of assassination,” according to the NEFA Foundation, a private group that monitors extremist Web sites, which translated the document.
Mr. Awlaki stated that Ms. Norris and other unnamed people in the United States and Europe “are expressing their hatred of the Messenger of Islam through ridicule.” In a controversial step, the Obama administration this year authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to kill Mr. Awlaki, who is in hiding.
UPDATE III. Further from the BBC.
===
Tea Party vs. Republican Establishment
BY BILL O'REILLY
Once again, Tuesday night the Tea Party flexed its muscles, as Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Carl Paladino in New York both came from far behind to win their respective races. Ms. O'Donnell is running for the Senate; Mr. Paladino for governor.
Immediately after those victories, the left-wing media began viciously attacking both people, pulling up old tape of Ms. O'Donnell talking about sex and defining Mr. Paladino as a nut. The liberal press also put forth that neither could win in the general election. That's what passes for reporting these days.
But there is no question that some Tea Party-supported candidates are causing angst among some establishment Republicans. Karl Rove, for example, is not a big fan of Ms. O'Donnell's:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROVE, FORMER SENIOR BUSH ADVISER: There is just a lot of nutty things that she has been saying that just simply don't add up to.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST, "HANNITY": Sounds like you don't support her, but I will tell you, I think…
ROVE: I'm for the Republican, but I got to tell you, we were looking at eight to nine seats in the Senate. We're now looking at seven to eight in my opinion. This is not a race we're going to be able to win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL, DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: He's one of the so-called experts whose credibility was hurt last night because he was here in Delaware meeting with a lot of the Tea Party folks, asking them not to get behind me. And their response was, you're asking us to put party power over principles. You obviously don't understand what's going on in the country this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
"Talking Points" is not going to get in the middle of the Rove-O'Donnell brawl. That would not be prudent.
But both have a point. Ms. O'Donnell is absolutely correct in saying that many Republican voters are fed up with the establishment. They want new people to represent them. But Mr. Rove is also right when he says it is likely Ms. O'Donnell will not win in Delaware, a liberal state.
There is a huge difference between primaries and general elections, and independents will play a very big role this year.
One of the problems with being a newcomer in national politics is that you have to learn fast. We asked Ms. O'Donnell to appear with us, but her campaign was afraid to put her on here. That's unfortunate but understandable. This is a tough forum, and Ms. O'Donnell's handlers do not want her to make any mistakes.
But there are less than two months before the general election, so Ms. O'Donnell and other Tea Party candidates are going to have to get schooled and fast.
The truth is there are not enough Tea Party people to put any candidate into office. As we said, independents will make the call.
So Karl Rove is his usual astute self when he warns that just because you're an outsider doesn't mean you're going to get a seat at the table.
This year Republicans have a chance to take the menu away from the Democrats, but they have to win almost everywhere in order to do that. (more at the link)
===
Money Is Not What Schools Need
By John Stossel
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently claimed:
"Districts around the country have literally been cutting for five, six, seven years in a row. And, many of them, you know, are through, you know, fat, through flesh and into bone ... ."Really? They cut spending five to seven consecutive years?
Give me a break!
Andrew Coulson, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, writes that out of 14,000 school districts in the United States, just seven have cut their budgets seven years in a row. How about five years in a row? Just 87. That's a fraction of 1 percent in each case.
Duncan may be pandering to his constituency, or he may actually be fooled by how school districts (and other government agencies) talk about budget cuts. When normal people hear about a budget cut, we assume the amount of money to be spent is less than the previous year's allocation. But that's not what bureaucrats mean.
"They are not comparing current year spending to the previous year's spending," Coulson writes. "What they're doing is comparing the approved current year budget to the budget that they initially dreamed about having."
So if a district got more money than last year but less than it asked for, the administrators consider it a cut. "Back in the real world, a K-12 public education costs four times as much as it did in 1970, adjusting for inflation: $150,000 versus the $38,000 it cost four decades ago (in constant 2009 dollars)," Coulson says.
Taxpayers need to understand this sort thing just to protect themselves from greedy government officials and teachers unions.
It was on the basis of this fear and ignorance that President Obama got Congress to pass a "stimulus" bill this summer that included $10 billion for school districts. The money is needed desperately to save teachers from layoffs, the bill's advocates said. We must do it for the children!
When you look at the facts, the scam is clear.
"Over the past 40 years," Coulson writes, "public school employment has risen 10 times faster than enrollment. There are 9 percent more students today, but nearly twice as many public school employees."
But isn't it just common sense that schools would be better if they had more money? As a wise man said, it's not what we don't know that gets us into trouble; it's what we know that isn't so.
Consider the American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland, Calif. It was once a failing school, but now it's one of the best in California. Ben Chavis turned it around without any additional money. His book, "Crazy Like a Fox," tells how.
He and Coulson will be guests on my FBN show this evening.
Chavis' experience exposes the school establishment's lies for what they are. Nearly all of Chavis' students are considered economically disadvantaged (98 percent qualify for free lunches), yet they have the fourth-highest test scores of any school in the state.
"In Oakland this year, on the AP (advanced placement) exam, we had 100 percent of all the blacks and Mexicans in the city of Oakland who passed AP calculus," Chavis said. "There are four high schools, and we're the only ones who had anyone pass AP calc[ulus]."
Yet Chavis accomplishes this without the "certified" teachers so revered by the educational establishment. His classes are as big as, and sometimes bigger than, public school classes, but only a quarter of his teachers are certified by the state.
Money, he insists, is not the answer. "My buildings are shacks compared to their schools, but my schools are clean, and we'll kick all their asses."
He scoffs at the establishment's solutions to the education problem, such as teacher evaluations.
"I don't do no teacher evaluations. All I do is go into a class, and if the kids ain't working, your ass is fired. (Most principals) sit for hours and say, 'Is he meeting this goal, is he meeting' -- I just go to class, and if the kids are not working ..."
It's time we threw out the "experts" and exposed the schools to real competition by people with common sense.
John Stossel is host of "Stossel" on the Fox Business Network. The show airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. and midnight ET. It re-airs Fridays at 10 p.m., Saturdays at 9 p.m. and 12 midnight, and Sundays at 10 p.m. (all times eastern). He's also the author of "Give Me a Break" and of "Myth, Lies, and Downright Stupidity."
To find out more about John Stossel, visit his site at johnstossel.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2010 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
===
Being As Brave As God
By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
There are all kinds of bravery. There is physical bravery which allows firefighters to run into burning buildings when everyone else is running out, or empowers young soldiers to put themselves in harm’s way even when they can avoid doing so.
There is moral bravery -- the kind that people find within themselves when they must speak truth to power, or otherwise stand up for that in which they believe even when it will be unpopular. Sacred bravery fuels our ability to both seek and grant forgiveness.
As Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, approaches, I ask myself and others whether or not we are brave enough to be forgiving. Are we willing to take chances on ourselves and on the people in our lives?
Are we willing to be as brave as God? That is a central theme of Yom Kippur.
Seeking and granting forgiveness will make us feel vulnerable, at least it will if we are serious about what we are doing, and making ourselves vulnerable takes real courage. Yom Kippur reminds that we have what it takes, and that if we take the chance, on ourselves, on those to whom we grant forgiveness and those from whom we must seek it; and feel that vulnerability, we can find greater fulfillment and peace than we often imagine is possible.
According to Leviticus 16:30 atonement will be made, and we will be purified, on Yom Kippur. The verse has no qualification or limitations. It reassures us that no transgression is so big that it cannot be redressed, at least as far as God is concerned. In fact, the fundamental promise of Yom Kippur is that we will be fine -- fully forgiven for anything we have done wrong in the past year. The day will do its job, the Bible promises. But will we do ours?
The prophet Isaiah teaches that God forgives people because God longs to forgive them, and therefore all transgressions against God will be forgiven. By whatever name we call God, and even if we don’t believe in God, The Day of Atonement invites us to ask ourselves if we actually long to forgive those who have transgressed against us? Are we willing to be as brave as God when it comes to forgiveness?
There may be no limits to that which can be forgiven, but there are certainly limits as to who can forgive any given thing. The issue, when it comes to both seeking and granting forgiveness, is our relationship to the person or act that needs to be forgiven, not the severity of the act, which some people might deem unforgivable had it happened to them.
We are free to forgive anything, but we can only forgive that which has been done to us. We cannot demand that others forgive what has been done to them, and we cannot forgive people for the hurt they have caused others. Those are decisions which each of us has to make for ourselves.
Sacred bravery is about forgiving others, and about doing so because we want to -- because to do so will help us be who we most want to be. But sacred bravery, when we really feel it, also empowers us to go one step further.
Sacred bravery is not only about granting forgiveness, but also about finding the courage to seek it. It’s about trusting that nothing is truly unforgivable as long as we are willing to work it out with the ones we have wronged. It may take time, even a great deal of time, but all can be forgiven. That is the promise of Yom Kippur.
So this year, I am working on being brave and encouraging others to follow suit. However and wherever one spends the holiday, we should all take the time to think about at least one person from whom we have not sought forgiveness but really must. We should be asking ourselves not whether it will work, but what one concrete step -- even a small one -- we can take to move in that direction.
We also should consider how we can forgive one person who still needs forgiveness from us. And if that is too much to ask of ourselves, at least think about what it is that keeps us from forgiving and how we might move beyond that barrier.
The day will do its job; the real question is whether or not we will do ours.
Brad Hirschfield is the author of "You Don’t Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism," and the President of Clal-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
===
At the U.N. Obama Promotes Human Wrongs Against Israel Instead of Human Rights
By Anne Bayefsky
Wednesday in Geneva during the current session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, the Obama administration became a willing participant in the U.N.’s imposition of an apartheid-style ban on representatives of the state of Israel. Despite the promises made by the administration that by joining the Council the United States would not become part of the problem, U.S. Ambassador to the Council Eileen Donahoe chose to attend and fully participate in a meeting that deliberately excluded anyone representing the Jewish state.
Israel is the only U.N. state not permitted to be a full member of any of the U.N.’s five regional groups. Throughout the Human Rights Council sessions, these groups hold key planning meetings in which countries negotiate and share important information behind closed doors. Even the Palestinian Authority, though not a state, is permitted into the Asian regional group. Israelis are allowed into the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) in some parts of the U.N. But WEOG members have chosen to exclude them totally in all of their meetings associated with the Human Rights Council. Rather than refusing to participate until such outrageous discrimination comes to an end, Obama administration representatives walked through the door slammed in the face of Israelis and made themselves comfortable.
While Israelis are left standing in the hall during the Council’s regional group meetings, this week for the first time Libya took its seat as a full-fledged Council member. Other full voting members of the U.N.’s lead human rights body include such model citizens as Saudi Arabia, China, Cuba, Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
Joining the Human Rights Council was one of President Obama’s first foreign policy decisions. He knew then – what is still true today – that the Council has adopted more resolutions and decisions condemning the state of Israel than all other 191 U.N. members combined. He knew that the permanent formal agenda of the Council includes one item to condemn Israel and one for the rest of the world.
But rather than refusing to lend legitimacy to a body with a deeply entrenched bias, the president chose to join and direct U.S. taxpayer dollars its way, claiming that he would be the Council’s great reformer.
On Monday, writing in The New York Times, Ambassador Donahoe repeated the claim that U.S. engagement filled “a vacuum of leadership” and alleged that “the council is engaged in a serious self-reflection exercise for the purpose of improving its work and functioning with respect to its core mandate of protecting human rights.”
On the very same day as Donahoe’s op-ed appeared, the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) put the president in his place on any notion of reform. The OIC holds the balance of power at the Council, because the Council majority is composed of members from the African and Asian regional groups, and OIC countries form the majority in both the African and Asian groups.
Speaking Monday on behalf of the OIC, Pakistan declared: “the OIC…has always stressed that this is…not a ‘reform’ exercise. It is our considered view that this intergovernmental process…should not reopen the lnstitution-building package [the June 2007 agreement which governs Council operations and adopted the agenda singling out Israel]…The Council is mandated to [do] nothing more but to fine-tune where required.”
The Obama administration’s push to characterize its involvement with the Council as a success is a serious misstatement of the facts on many levels. For example, Donahoe claimed in The Times that “In June the United States co-led a cross-regional effort with 55 other nations to criticize the deplorable human rights situation in Iran…U.S. engagement at the Human Rights Council is working.”
That would be news to human rights victims in Iran. What actually occurred was that on June 15 the Norwegian Ambassador to the Council read a 171-second statement on Iran. She was interrupted 14 times, and the meeting was suspended in the middle of her statement for two hours. When the meeting resumed, Ambassador Bente Angell-Hansen felt compelled to omit the word “Iran” in several places from her original text and painfully read “We call on the *aforementioned government* to live up to the commitments it has undertaken…” Moreover, the Council has never adopted a single resolution on Iran, and behind closed doors it terminated a tentative examination of human rights in Iran on March 26, 2007.
American engagement with the Council is not simply an exercise in futility. The Council is a place where non-democracies have the run of the place, while Israel is forced to operate at a disadvantage. With its active participation in meetings that deliberately exclude only Israelis, the Obama administration is promoting human wrongs, not protecting human rights.
Anne Bayefsky is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust.
===
Obama's Mystifying Strategy
By Karl Rove
I don't often expect to find myself supportive of President Barack Obama. But I didn't think I'd be as mystified by his actions over the past few months as I have been.
Mr. Obama and his team won a well-deserved reputation during the 2008 campaign for message discipline and a keen appreciation for how Americans would receive his words and actions.
That's why it's so surprising that, in just 20 months, Mr. Obama has lost control of his presidency's narrative. He has done things that are inexplicable, creating the impression of a White House that is clueless, rudderless and arrogant.
For example, what was to be gained by the president attacking the largely unknown House minority leader, John Boehner, last week? Set aside the unfairness of the charges and focus only on the efficacy of the president lowering himself that way.
Karl Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, is the author of "Courage and Consequence" (Threshold Editions, 2010). (More at the link)
===
PESSIMIST TURNS OPTIMIST
Tim Blair
Tim Flannery’s view, 2009:
Tim Flannery, the well-known Australian environmentalist, was on CBC Radio the other day to issue more alarms about global warming. He was more pessimistic than ever. “It’s now or never,” he said. “We have about 20 years to address climate change or else our entire future is in jeopardy.”Tim Flannery’s view, 2010:
He says narrow horizons and short time frames are always misleading and what’s needed is a wider view that encompasses humanity over the millennia and the world over aeons.(Via Jack Lacton)
“In writing this book I’ve taken that long view, and, despite the challenges we now face, I feel optimistic - for ourselves, our children and our planet,” Prof Flannery writes in the foreword.
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