=== Todays Toon ===
Australia, the land of Minority Rule!Condolences Australia, your democracy means b*gger all! Why do I say this? simply because I have always and I believe most of us agree that it is generally understood that the basic principal of democracy is that the MAJORITY DECISION RULES. Well in our case of late, this is clearly not the case. - ZEG - There is a danger that the ALP supporters will swing back to endorse the ALP again. The case needs to be made afresh to support the Libs. - ed.
=== Bible Quote ===
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”- Philippians 4:4=== Headlines ===
Boehner Says He Would Vote for a Middle-Class Tax Cut
House Republican leader says he would vote to pass middle-class tax cuts without an extension for high-income earners, but only if that's the way to get an extension of Bush-era tax reductions through Congress.Tea Partiers Rally Ahead of Midterms
In remembrance of the sense of national unity on 9/11, and in an effort to cast an eye on what they say is government run amok, Tea Party activists hold rallies in three cities Sunday
Igor Gains Steam, Now a Cat. 4 Storm
Hurricane Igor rapidly strengthens into a dangerous Category 4 storm as it churns in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center
Christians Stabbed, Beaten in Indonesia
Assailants stab a Christian worshipper in the stomach and pound a minister in the head with a wooden plank who were on their way to morning prayers outside Indonesia's capital
Breaking News
Unis puzzled at PM's 'education' ditchTHE universities sector is puzzled by Julia Gillard's decision to drop the word education from her new-look Cabinet.
Prince William 'to marry before Games'
PRINCE William is reportedly set to marry girlfriend Kate Middleton just before the London Olympic Games.
Car shunt man's body pulled from river
THE body of a man who died after the car he and a woman were travelling in was knocked into a river has been retrieved.
Parents threaten sit-in over classroom
PARENTS in a small town are planning a "peaceful sit-in" to stop the trucks towing away one of their demountable classrooms.
Death toll revised down in gas line blast
OFFICIALS today revised the death toll from the explosion of a ruptured natural gas line and subsequent fires down to four.
Dollar opens higher at US92.96c
THE dollar has opened higher.
Man shot in neck during break-in attempt
A MAN has been shot in the neck while attempting to break into a house in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton.
Search for missing fisherman continues
EMERGENCY services personnel will continue to search for a man lost overboard from a fishing trawler.
Teen indecently assaulted at train station
POLICE are appealing for any witnesses after a young girl was indecently assaulted at Flinders Street Station yesterday.
Taxi driver assaulted by four young ladies
FOUR females charged with dragging a driver from his taxi, crashing it into a shop and then reversing the vehicle into him.
NSW/ACT
Women charged over taxi driver assaultFOUR women have been charged with dragging a driver from his taxi, crashing it into a shop and then reversing the vehicle into him.
Why did our miracle child Jayden die?
AFTER five cycles of IVF, baby Jayden was a "miracle child" to his parents before he died.
Medicare rebate for sick web gamers
EXPERTS want computer addicts to be able to claim treatment on Medicare.
Falling with style at age 10
AT THE age of 10, Charlotte Bennett-Hill has taken the plunge to be our youngest female skydiver.
Capturing the joy of a dying day
IT TOOK less than a second to capture, but 15 years to plan.
Web of outrage on mobile speed cameras
ANGRY road users have declared war on mobile speed cameras and their operators.
Radical plan to get CBD moving
SYDNEY'S CBD will be transformed with light rail, 40km/h speed limits under a plan to be unveiled today.
Cycleways push bike riders' buttons
LORD Mayor Clover Moore's grand vision of a Sydney cycling utopia has hit an embarrassing dead end.
Mourning fallen comrade Bill Crews
THEY mourned - and celebrated - the life of Constable Bill Crews. Send tributes
Dark mystery of a missing Australian
A SYDNEY man who vanished from a Canadian hospital over a month ago is still missing.
Queensland
Woman 'tried to kill ex with car'A WOMAN will face court at Ipswich after allegedly trying to kill her former partner with her car.
Car lights on, driver's lights out
DRIVER arrested after police find a car with its lights on and engine running, but driver fast asleep.
Cars cause more crashes than bikes
THE view that cyclists are risk-takers who disregard traffic rules and cause crashes has been dashed by new research which shows motorists are more dangerous.
Lord Mayor seeks more power
CAMPBELL Newman has held talks with the State Government to obtain total power over Brisbane City Council, including the ability to command all staff.
Lawyer burns, smokes holy books
A BRISBANE lawyer and atheist posts video on YouTube showing him burning pages from both the Koran and the Bible then smoking them.
Health workers threaten to strike
QUEENSLAND Health is facing more strikes after 10,000 public hospital professionals ignited a wage campaign yesterday.
Drink driver surge as eight die
THE arrest of more than 100 drink-drivers in just two days has capped off one of the worst weeks on Queensland roads this year.
Brisbane gridlocked at weekends
BRISBANE's major roads are becoming as congested on weekends as they are on weekdays as traffic volumes soar on our traditional days off.
Big bill for Beattie's old office
TAXPAYERS face paying a massive rental bill on a plush Los Angeles office once used by Peter Beattie and which now lies abandoned.
Man charged after bungled burglaries
A 26-YEAR-OLD Rockhampton man has been charged after allegedly entering two Park Avenue homes and confronting a child yesterday morning.
Victoria
Teen assaulted at Flinders StA 13-year-old girl was indecently assaulted and stalked at Flinders St Station last night.
Little guy with big future
BABY steps were the order of the day as Melbourne Zoo's newest attraction made his public debut yesterday.
Dad delivers baby in bogged car
WHEN the heavens open and the waters break, there's bound to be a flood of things happening in one big rush.
Saddle up for a fun show
WITH just five days to go until the Royal Melbourne Show, the best of the country has galloped into town.
Flood watch remains
ECHUCA residents will remain on flood watch today despite flood waters across the state dropping at the weekend.
Myki penalties kick in
THREE strikes and you're out - that's the way myki chiefs will decide on commuters unfamiliar with the new ticketing system.
Get out of this House
SOME of Victoria's most petulant politicians have been thrown out of Parliament's Lower House almost 20 times in the past six years.
We must be nation's entry point
MELBOURNE airport should be turned into the country's number one entry point complete with a modern rail link, Victorian business leaders say.
War in the suburbs
NUISANCE neighbours are making Victorians' lives hell, with more than 17,000 calls for help by residents last year.
Idiots spotted on back of train
POLICE are hunting two idiots seen riding the back of a train in behaviour described by Metro as deplorable.
Northern Territory
Climber dies in Northern Territory fallA 58-year-old man was killed in a rock climbing incident in the Northern Territory yesterday
South Australia
Buckle up for a busload of cashA STATE Government spend of $114.5 million will reinvigorate school bus services across South Australia over the next four years.
Our second-class kindies
PRESCHOOLS on public school sites are "significantly" under-resourced compared with stand-alone counterparts, principals warn.
30 died waiting for public housing
THIRTY South Australians have died this year after being on Housing SA's public housing waiting list for up to six years.
Woman's murder terrifies town
THE neighbour of a woman bashed to death in her Adelaide Hills home believes she called the police for help 16 hours before her body was found.
Pokies pushed to the limit
THE state's hotel industry will be "wiped out" if playing limits imposed on pokies significantly affect revenue, the Australian Hotels Association warns.
Cost of living to rocket by $600
HOUSEHOLDERS will have to find up to $600 more to meet soaring energy and water bills next year.
Housing Trust tenants' debt rises $6m
THE amount of money Housing Trust tenants owe the State Government has blown out to almost $20 million - a 40 per cent jump in just two years.
Western Australia
Cops seize two cars off one dumb driverPOLICE have impounded two vehicles from one man overnight after catching him drink-driving without a licence in both vehicles.
WA Lotto player shares in $24m Superdraw
ONE lucky West Australian shared in last night's monster $24 million Lotto jackpot - taking home a cool $1.74m in prize winnings.
'CCC's role in suicide must be examined'
SHADOW attorney-general John Quigley has called for a public inquiry into whether a Corruption and Crime Commission investigation ``drove an innocent man to suicide''.
WA Police arrest 240 in blitz on drunk louts
LICE arrested another 110 people in Perth and Northbridge last niight - on top of the 130 locked up the night before - as part of Operation Blitz.
Tasmania
Nothing new=== Comments ===
President Boo HooBy Liz Peek
Finally, we know what President Obama’s initials stand for! He’s the Boo –HooO president! OK, that’s a little cheesy, but seriously, have we ever had a whinier leader of the free world? Most recently, and quite ungrammatically (it was not scripted into the First Teleprompter), he whined that his opponents “talk about me like a dog”. This doesn’t even make much sense, but is consistent with the woe-is-me tone of this president, who has complained about attacks from the right and the left, and couched nearly every major address with an extreme whine about taking over the White House during tough times. Just for the record, he did want the presidency, right?
All this self-pitying no doubt feeds on sinking poll ratings, and the frustration the president now feels with the American people. They just refuse to applaud his many dazzling accomplishments, and most especially remain stubbornly hostile to Obamacare. What is wrong with these people?
Here’s why Americans have fallen out of love with President Obama: they feel snookered. He has not delivered his promised good faith effort to heal a wounded country. He has not brought transparency to government and he has ignored the priorities of the people. Most important, he has not been truthful with Americans, and they know it.
Most recently he has hit the stump, slipping into campaign mode with the ease of someone putting on worn slippers. He has visited cities hard-hit by the recession, and promised to turn around the economy. With the excitement of a life-long celibate discovering sex, he is focused on job creation – just in time for the elections. He’s all for infrastructure investment and lower taxes on the middle class and developing clean industries. But he is not – repeat NOT –in favor of helping out the “special interests.”
One wonders, who are those “special interests”? Obama never really identifies those blackguards, but he does give clues. In Ohio, Obama chastised those who, over the past decade, “cut regulations for special interests,” and in the same speech derides Representative John Boehner for wanting to “cut more rules for corporations”. It’s pretty clear that it is American corporations who are so undeserving of his assistance.
Further proof: Obama says his proposals “will encourage large corporations to get off the sidelines and start putting their profits to work in places like Cleveland and Toledo and Dayton.” See? Big, bad companies are to blame for our sky-high unemployment – not the poor management, blizzard of legislation, record deficits and consequent anxiety inspired by this White House. Obama wants corporations to “live up to their responsibilities to treat consumers fairly and play by the same rules as everyone else.” What rules? The rules governing Congress? Heaven help us!
When Obama told Business Week in February that he’s a “fierce advocate for a thriving, dynamic free market” he means what, exactly? That he’s really, really behind any company that has fewer than maybe 100 workers, and is thus classified as a “small business?” That can’t be right, because he knows full well that his proposed elimination of tax cuts on top earners squarely socks small companies. A study from the American Enterprise Institute, using IRS data, shows that 48% of the “net income of sole proprietorships, partnerships and S corporations reported on tax returns went to households with incomes about $200,000 in 2007”. So, clearly allowing the top tax rate to rise will harm just those companies he is so quick to embrace.
President Obama seems to be a very confused individual. He says “We were handed a $1.3 trillion deficit when we walked through the door”, but actually the deficit in 2008 was only $455 billion. That figure included the first stimulus package of $300 billion. The deficit in 2007 was $163 billion. He says that Bush “cut taxes, especially for millionaires and billionaires”, but in fact Bush removed 5 million low-income families from the tax roles. The bottom tax rate was 15%; Bush reduced that to 10%. The child tax credit was raised from $600 to $1,000.
Another reality check for Mr. Obama: when he says “I believe government should be lean; government should be efficient” – that’s a worthy goal best reached by starting at the top. Hiring dozens of White House czars that are presumably overseeing turf well trod by regulators does not lead to efficiency. (Did you know the president just appointed an Asian Carp czar—you couldn’t make this stuff up!) Writing legislation like the financial overhaul bill that leaves nearly every tough decision to future studies and rule-makers is not efficient. A budget deficit of $1.6 trillion is not lean.
The truth is that these are hard times. We are in a dreadful recession because public policy encouraged heavy lending to non-credit worthy borrowers in order to fulfill a wrong-headed goal of broadening home ownership. This stupidity was compounded by a reckless use of leverage by those on Wall Street who bundled and bought mortgage securities in ways that made them prone to failure. President Obama is right; there are villains aplenty in the narrative of the past few years, and victims galore. He is wrong, though, to channel his community organizer inner self and turn the country against the business community. Small or large, it is companies that will end our unemployment crisis – not the federal government.
Liz Peek is a financial columnist who writes for The Fiscal Times. She is a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion. For more visit LizPeek.com.
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CENTRE MOVES RIGHT
Tim Blair
A very strange thing happened in Australian last month. A conservative party with a conservative leader ran a conservative campaign – and not only improved its support, but finished with more seats and 700,000 more primary votes than its centre-left rival.
This should be instructive to allegedly conservative parties in the US and UK, and also to state oppositions in Australia, which have become convinced in recent years that the only way to be competitive is by appealing to soft-headed hug-and-cuddle types who are assumed to represent the political centre.
Not so, apparently.
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DELETION JOHNSON
Tim Blair
Little Green Footballs is becoming littler by the day.
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NON-GUN LAWS
Tim Blair
Bicycles kind of look like motorbikes, yet aren’t required to be registered. It might be a different story with things that look like guns:
Any item that looks like a gun will have to be licensed under several changes to the Weapons Act being considered by the Queensland State Government.Via MM, who emails: “I feel safer already.”
Even guns made out of materials as unlikely as soap or plastic may have to be kept under lock and key if they could “reasonably be taken to be a weapon”.
The draft act says an imitation is a “reasonable copy” of a weapon that is not capable of causing death or injury.
“If it looks like a gun and feels like a gun, it will have to be licensed,” said a government source.
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