=== Todays Toon ===
The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was a member of the British Royal Family, the third son of George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary, and thus uncle to Elizabeth II. He was appointed potential regent for his niece, when his brother (George VI) came to the throne in 1936, and was required to stay in the United Kingdom until she came of age in case her father died and she ascended the throne under age.
=== Bible Quote ===
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice,”- Psalm 95:6-7=== Headlines ===
East Coast Evacuation Looms If Monster Earl Gets Close
FEMA officials warn that Hurricane Earl may be heading to the Northeast, where it could force mass evacuations if the storm sweeps too close to the East Coast, after battering Caribbean islands with heavy rain and roof-ripping winds.Israelis Gunned Down in Ambush
Palestinian gunman kills four Israelis, including a pregnant woman, in West Bank before peace talks in D.C.
Iraq Not 'Mission Accomplished'
With political deadlock gripping Baghdad, the president will mark end to combat ops in Iraq with speech tonight
Official: Mexican Tourism Booming
Mexico may be racked by violence, but officials still say tourists are flocking to the country
Toxic, Vacant — You're Funding It
FoxNews.com investigation reveals how the Department of Veterans Affairs is spending millions to maintain hundreds of empty, aging buildings in disrepair
Breaking News
Theft victims buys own phoneA MAN who bought a mobile phone online, only to find it was the same one that was stolen from his car, tipped off California sheriff's deputies, who arrested a man they believe broke into dozens of vehicles.
Man falls six floors, lands on car
A MAN survived a six-floor plunge from a Manhattan apartment building overnight when his suspected suicide attempt was thwarted by a parked car, police and witnesses said.
Armed trio storm pub
THREE men armed with a gun, a machete and a knife robbed a Sydney pub and fled in a stolen vehicle.
Doctor stuck in chimney dies
A CALIFORNIA doctor who apparently tried to get into the home of the man she had been dating by sliding down the chimney died after getting stuck.
Airstrikes kill 30 militants
PAKISTANI jets overnight killed at least 30 militants and destroyed their refuges in a northwestern tribal area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said.
'Unresponsive' Zsa Zsa rushed to hospital
ACTRESS Zsa Zsa Gabor was en route to hospital today after her husband found her unresponsive.
Outrage over drowning puppies video
A VIDEO of a girl tossing half-a-dozen puppies into a river has sparked outrage online with chat forums and Facebook pages calling for her to be tracked down and punished.
Public called on to prevent child abuse
JUST one third of Australians would call police if a child told them they were being sexually abused, an alarming new study has found.
Chain smoking Greeks face tough ban
GREECE is set to impose a tough smoking ban starting tomorrow that will outlaw lighting up in all public indoor areas and prohibit most tobacco advertising.
Man accused of inserting needles into baby
BRAZILIAN police say a man has confessed he inserted two needles and a nail into a baby girl's body because her beauty bothered him
NSW/ACT
Woman injured in drive-by shootingA WOMAN suffered wounds to her head after shots were fired into a house in Sydney's west last night. Police appeal for information.
Game to call athletes' village home
WHAT was once an abattoir is now - thanks to the Olympics - a much sought-after Sydney suburb.
Inaction threat to orphaned wildlife
THIS orphaned wallaby joey is yet another victim of the shameful toll on Sydney's wildlife. But the Government won't fence them in.
Lane sobs as letter reveals lie
KELI Lane admitted to a social worker she was tired of keeping secrets. Murder trial latest
Places of worship bloom in west
SIN City appears to be turning to God as a wave of new churches, mosques and temples rises across Sydney's west.
Dishing the dirt on unclean suburbs
IS your local coffee shop's kitchen up to scratch? What about the floor in your neighbourhood takeaway's storeroom?
Milat won't speak of Belanglo
IVAN Milat denied he had anything to do with the latest human skeleton found in Belanglo Forest.
Asian students caught in sex trade
THE immigration department is investigating brothels that employ young Asian women in breach of their student visas.
A hobby that cost $4.2 million
GEORGE Hawa lists "financial markets" as a hobby but trying to turn it into a profession left him accused of a $4.2 million fraud.
Another crash, another $2.9 million
CHAOS reigned on the F3, after a truck carrying 1600 gas bottles slammed into a rock wall.
Queensland
Burn-off smoke blankets citySMOKE from burn-offs in Brisbane's outer suburbs is responsible for a thick, smelly haze that has blanketed the city this morning.
Councils want bigger cut from mines
COUNCILS are calling on the state to give them about $750 million in resources revenue over the next five years to help them cope with the mining boom.
Police in regions struggle to cope
POLICE stations outside Brisbane are struggling to fulfil their obligations to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week with as few as 15 officers on staff.
Doctor scarcity costs state $86m
QUEENSLAND Health spent more than $1.5 million a week on "fly-in, fly-out" doctors and other fill-in medical practitioners last financial year.
Grey nomads are bush gold
RESEARCH has proved grey nomads provide a massive boost to regional areas, adding millions to Queensland's rural economy and supporting volunteer programs.
'Hard for Katter to back Labor'
THE National Party tribalism that lingers in Kennedy will make it difficult for Independent Bob Katter to back a Labor government, says an old friend.
Clem7 loses $470 for each vehicle
EVERY vehicle through the controversial toll Clem7 tunnel in the past year has cost its owner, RiverCity Motorway, $470.
Lacey parents call for a 'fair go'
KEN Lacey admits his sons Dionne and Jade are no angels but he insists they are intrinsically "good boys" who don't deserve to spend up to 19 years in prison.
Parklife festival back in Brisbane
THE construction of the Gold Coast Light Rail project has robbed the city of the chance to host one of Australia's most popular music festivals.
Child dead in four-car crash
STUDENTS at Yugumbir State School in Regents Park are in shock today after one of their classmates died in four-car accident only minutes from school.
Victoria
Hoon clocked at 197km/hAN unlicensed hoon driver has had his car impounded after being picked up doing 197km/h in an 80km/h zone.
Anger over pokies plan on state land
A PLAN to build Victoria's first pokies-only venue on state-owned land has prompted locals to accuse the Government of a "cash grab".
Raindrops keep fallling on our heads
IT'S been the coldest and wettest winter in a decade and the bad weather's not over yet.
Coco died fighting for his clan
THE distraught owner of a dog fatally stabbed in its own kennel believes the animal's final act may have been to protect her.
An old dog mellows
CHARLIE Sutton used to raise the odd elbow. He's especially proud of the one Ron Barassi headbutted in the 1954 Grand Final.
Smoking ban burns parents
NEGLIGENT parents are being slapped with hefty fines for lighting up cigarettes in cars carrying children.
It's a real quiet time
MELBOURNE house prices remained steady at $511,000 in July, the latest property price figures show.
Knife robbery linked to car theft
POLICE say a man wanted over a Thornbury knife attack might help investigations into a car theft in which a man was stabbed.
Crook takes secrets to grave
SECRETS behind Australia's biggest unsolved heist will go to the grave with long suspected gang member Dennis "Greedy" Smith.
Former mayor Irvin Rockman dies
MELBOURNE has lost a former lord mayor after the death of Irvin Rockman.
Northern Territory
Detention centre protest endsACCUSED Indonesian people smugglers have ended a rooftop protest at a Darwin immigration detention centre.
South Australia
Daughter, 5, abducted by fatherPOLICE hold grave fears for the safety of a girl, 5, abducted by her father.
Critic joins gambling board
TALK radio diva Amanda Blair has been appointed to the Independent Gambling Authority despite being critical of a key program the body operates.
Chaos as cattle truck hits pole
A CATTLE truck crash caused chaos in Wayville.
Hear our fears, say Hills folks
THE Mount Barker community is pleading with the State Government to take on board feedback on the area's proposed development.
Motorists victims of dodgy cameras
RED light cameras are photographing thousands of motorists who are not breaking the law, but police argue the fines are all stopped before they are issued.
$6bn Hornets go on trial
AUSTRALIA'S new combat aircraft, the $6 billion Super Hornet fleet, is in SA to begin its first live weapons trials at the Woomera Test Range.
Lucky escape for Riverland pilot
A PILOT was embarrassed but uninjured when he crash-landed his light plane in the Riverland.
3000 votes cut from Boothby count
ALMOST 3000 votes cast in the knife-edge Adelaide seat of Boothby have been cut from the count in response to extraordinary vote tampering claims.
New Boys busted in Merc
ALERT police arrested and charged two men linked to the New Boys street gang with trafficking a controlled drug after a routine traffic stop in the city last night.
Western Australia
Second aircraft crashes at JandakotTWO people have had a narrow escape after a light aircraft nose dived at Jandakot Airport this morning - just a day after a helicopter crashed.
Indo demands $2.6b spill compo
INDONESIA has demanded $A2.69 billion in compensation from a Thai oil company for damages related to a spill off the northwestern coast of Australia last year.
Allergies causes asthma 'questioned'
THE long-held belief that allergies cause asthma in children has been questioned by new research in Western Australia.
Car thieves target western suburbs
POLICE are investigating if a gang of car thieves is targeting vehicles in Perth's affluent western suburbs.
Teen escapee recaptured in Perth
A 17-YEAR-OLD boy who escaped from a juvenile detention centre in Perth has been recaptured.
Winter saves best until last
WINTER officially finishes today, but tell that to the heavens which have opened up over the metropolitan area.
NW Gas plant a 'tourism threat'
BUILDING a gas plant on the Kimberley coast will severely damage the region's tourism brand, a Perth researcher says.
Man injured in machete fight
A MAN is in hospital with serious injuries after he was attacked with a large knife or machete during an argument with a group of men in Perth's south.
Asylum seeker boat intercepted
AN asylum seeker boat has been intercepted off Christmas Island.
Boat crash body recovered
POLICE divers have recovered the body of man missing after a weekend boating accident on Lake Kununurra.
Tasmania
Nothing new=== Journalists Corner ===
The President Addresses the Nation on Iraq!What is the future for our troops - our security - and Iraq's fledgling democracy? It's special fair & balanced coverage of the address!
===
After the Address
Don't miss an explosive hour of 'The O'Reilly Factor', followed by 'Hannity' and 'On the Record'.
===
On Fox News Insider
Robert Gibbs Previews Obama's SpeechShould English Be the Only Language on the Ballots This November?
Janice Dean: People Need to be Thinking of Evacuation Plans
=== Comments ===
Big Victory for Glenn BeckBY BILL O'REILLY
Hundreds of thousands of people attended the "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington on Saturday, where Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and others appealed for a return to Judeo-Christian values:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS HOST: We must be better than what we've allowed ourselves to become. We must get the poison of hatred out of us. No matter what anyone may say or do, no matter what anyone smears or lies or throws our way, or to any American's way, we must look to God and look to love.
SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: We will always come through. We will never give up, and we shall endure because we live by that moral strength that we call grace. Because though we've often skirted a precipice, a providential hand has always guided us to a better future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
As Beck advertised, the rally was mostly non-political and entirely peaceful. The vast crowd was respectful and honored itself by demonstrating love of country.
Again, this was a huge victory for Glenn Beck and Americans who believe that his message of honor and dignity is worthwhile.
But the forces opposed to Beck viciously attacked him. New York Times columnists Bob Herbert and Charles Blow implied Beck is a racist, shaming themselves in the process.
It is fine to disagree with Glenn Beck, but to attack him personally is disgraceful, and anyone who does that should be branded a hater. Are you hearing me Howard Dean?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN: I think Glenn Beck has got a few things the matter with him up here and up in the head there. So I just don't know what to make of it. What I see is these folks are kind of -- and I don't mean this in a mean kind of way -- but they're a little like lost souls in the sense that they really do -- they're at sea. The country's changed a lot. They don't -- they're in the middle of a horrible economic downturn, which has probably affected a lot of them personally. So they follow this guy, who is like Father Coughlin from the 1930s. He's a racist. He's a hatemonger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
That kind of stuff is simply unacceptable, and Dean should be ashamed of himself. Of course he isn't.
All fair-minded Americans should respect people with whom they disagree if the person is honest and sincere in the debate. Glenn Beck is certainly that.
But we live in a time where boundaries have been obliterated because the liberal media has lost control of the journalistic process, and now they are lashing out against those who have been overwhelming them, like talk radio, like the Fox News Channel.
Could one liberal in this country have generated hundreds of thousands of people to Washington? The answer is no.
The truth is that Glenn Beck urged Americans to come to a rally that encouraged spirituality and honesty, and was attacked for doing it.
===
PERFECT SHIRT
Tim Blair
The single greatest item in the history of clothing:
===SING ALONG
Tim Blair
Beautiful Motowny singing. Lyrics and video definitely NSFW, however. A safer (yet still beautiful) alternative tune may be found here.
===
GENERATION REVILED
Tim Blair
Marieke Hardy, an official government youth, continues to have problems with young people.
===
UNITED THEY SPEND
Tim Blair
It’s a carbon coalition:
The Greens have agreed to back the Gillard government in return for creation of a climate change committee with multi-party membership to get a price on carbon.Everyone’s a winner! Except, you know, people. And the economy.
Outside experts could also be appointed, Greens leader Bob Brown said today.
“The idea of this committee is to get the best scientific, economic, political advice,’’ said Senator Brown.
The committee is part of a package negotiated with Labor for Green support …
“We hope by this time next week there will be a Gillard government, because we believe we can work with a Gillard government,’’ said Senator Brown.
Senator Brown said Liberal leader Tony Abbott had told him the Opposition would immediately attack the deal.Good.
UPDATE. Look who’s meddling:
Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott met Lord Nicholas Stern and Professor Ross Garnaut yesterday on climate change and an emissions trading scheme – where they, and Wilkie, have views closer to Labor than the Coalition.How are those American cars going, Lord Nick?
UPDATE II. Our (potential) future leaders:
The citizens’ assembly is out:Julia Gillard appears to have dumped her election promise to deliver a citizens assembly to debate a carbon price under today’s formal deal with the Greens to support a Labor government.It’ll be replaced by an assembly of two:
When parliament is sitting, the prime minister will meet Greens leader Bob Brown and their lone lower house MP Adam Bandt each week to work on the legislative agenda.Maybe they’ll talk about the weather.
UPDATE III. By the way, the two-party vote is again being led by the Coalition.
UPDATE IV. Tony Abbott press announcement: “The quest for power is now the only principle that the Labor Party holds dear.” A difficult point to dispute.
UPDATE V. Stephen Spencer in Canberra:
Bob Brown discovering the real new paridigm - reporters now asking him tough questions and not just accepting everything he says … Bob Brown getting VERY snippy with reporters “You are so entitled to your negativity” he tells those nasty journos.
===
Telco’s warn independents: Labor’s broadband plan is worse
Andrew Bolt
Seven telcos, including AAPT, have advice for the independent MPs now weighing the promises of the two big parties, especially their broadband plans.
Gentlemen, something like the Coalition’s $6.2 billion package to deliver a mix of satellite, wireless and fibre technologies is a safer bet than Labor’s $43 billion one to deliver fibre:
We believe that a well-informed Independent member of parliament might wisely favour an NBNv3 public/private model on a mix of technologies, with deliverables within a term, over a more costly and more risky 8+ year NBN 2.0 rollout.UPDATE
More:
An alliance of telcos has lobbed a last-minute grenade into talks around who will form the next government by proposing a new broadband plan that appears more aligned with the Coalition’s policy than Labor’s national broadband network.(Thanks to reader Stephen.)
The Alliance for Affordable Broadband - comprising telcos including Allegro Networks, PIPE Networks, BigAir, Vocus Communications, AAPT, Polyfone and EFTEL - proposes government-subsidised fibre backhaul but recommends connecting the country with a fourth-generation (4G) national wireless broadband network.
Whereas Labor’s government-funded plan will connect 93 per cent of homes with fibre-optic cables, the alternative plan, similar to the Coalition’s, will connect homes via a new wireless broadband network. The 4G network would connect 98 per cent of Australians and offer speeds of up to 100Mbps…
(The alliance) believes that a 4G wireless network could be built for $3 billion with a large part of this delivered by private investment as opposed to public funds.
===
Submit or die
Andrew Bolt
Italy prostrates inself to Libya for its contracts:
ITALIANS reacted angrily after Muammar Gaddafi lectured 200 actresses and models on the superiority of Islam, a day after saying that all Europeans should become Muslim.No sooner asked, than a clue to the answer is given:
The Libyan leader recruited the women through a modelling agency to join him and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at a photographic exhibition in Rome that traced historical links between the two countries.
Telling them that Islam was the ‘’ultimate religion’’, Colonel Gaddafi insisted that ‘’if you want to believe in a single faith, then it must be that of Muhammad’’…
On Sunday night, during an encounter with 500 young women hired by the same agency, Colonel Gaddafi handed out copies of the Koran and told the women that Europe should convert to Islam.
MPs said Mr Berlusconi’s increasingly close relationship with the Libyan leader was a source of embarrassment.
‘’If I went to Tripoli to demand that Libyans convert to Christianity, what are the odds that I would return in one piece?’’ said Rocco Buttiglione, the president of a centre-right Catholic party, the UDC.
Bruni-Sarkozy, the wife of France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, made a public statement in support of an Iranian woman who has been sentenced to be stoned to death.She and other French personalities signed a petition calling for Tehran to release 43-year-old mother-of-two Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, whom an Iranian court has convicted of adultery and complicity in her husband’s murder…
Bruni-Sarkozy’s intervention ... caused the biggest stir in Tehran, with the conservative Iranian press lashing out at the 41-year-old supermodel-turned-singer’s formerly colourful private life.
“Reviewing Carla Bruni’s record clearly shows why this immoral woman has supported an Iranian woman who has committed adultery, has contributed to the murdering of her husband and has been sentenced to death,” Kayhan newspaper wrote.
“In fact, she herself deserves death,” the paper added, labelling the French first lady an “Italian prostitute”.
===
The Greens deal with Labor: ban all sceptics
Andrew Bolt
The Greens have just announced they’ve signed a deal with Labor.
In exchange for its support for a Labor Government, the Greens have been offered a government committee of politicians and experts to reach a “consensus” on putting a price on carbon - code for a tax on electricity.
Now watch how “consensus” is reached, the Greens/Labor way. Greens Senator Christine Milne, whose proposal this was, says that “the idea is to to invite everybody [representatives of all political parties] on it” but explains there is one “proviso”: all the experts and politicians must be “committed to a carbon price”. All sceptics are to be excluded, as are any warmists who believe a “price on carbon” would be ineffectual or a pain not worth the gain:
The committee’s “consensus” building, based on excluding all opponents, “is about ending this all-or-nothing” debate, claims Milne, sublimely blind to the irony.
UPDATE
Does this mean that Labor has junked its first election promise - and before even been sworn in? Does this new committee replace Julia Gillard’s 150-strong “Citizen’s Assembly”? And note the nature of this apparent change: has an assembly of 150 uncommitted citizens been replaced by this Greens’ committee of 150 committed members of the elite?
If so, this must surely set a record for the fastest broken promise in our election history.
UPDATE 2
The Greens sold their vote cheaply - as you must when you’ve decided to sell out to just one of the two bidders anyway. Almost all they got was talk, not action:UPDATE 3
The Greens-ALP deal includes a climate change committee to consider a price on carbon, immediate reform to political donations, a full parliamentary debate on Afghanistan, a leaders debate commission and agreement on a private members’ bill to debate above-the-line voting.
When parliament is sitting, the prime minister will meet Greens leader Bob Brown and their lone lower house MP Adam Bandt each week, and fornightly when not sitting....
The deal does not include a cabinet position for a Green… And there is no agreement from Labor to set a carbon price,…
And when asked if the committee meant Julia Gillard’s much-derided citizens assembly on climate had been scrapped, Senator Brown said: “That’s a question for the Prime Minister.”
The agreement also did not include a conscience vote on same-sex marriage because the parties could not agree.
Milne’s full explanation:
===
Another boat, as Afghans break out of detention
Andrew Bolt
Yet another boat has been intercepted today - the sixth since the election.We have more than 4100 boat people now in detention, and some are getting very restless:
POLICE are searching a group of Afghan asylum-seekers who broke out of Darwin detention centre to stage a protest (above) as they fear they may be carrying weapons…
Reports have put the number of detainees who breached the perimeter fence at 92 and police have cordoned off part of the Stuart Highway and are negotiating with the group.
One of the men, Hussein Ali, said he was protesting to raise awareness of his people’s plight.
===
The rise of the irresponsible
Andrew Bolt
ANDREW Wilkie’s wish list is all you need to see how dangerous is this “new paradigm” of democracy.
Wilkie is one of the four independents who - thanks to this draw between the two main parties - will decide whether Labor or the Liberals form government.
These men promise us an improved democracy. Kumbayah is in the air, and Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday hummed the independents’ tune.
“I want to ... deliver lasting and durable improvements to our democracy,” she declared, promising something she’d never raised during the election for voters to approve.
But that was when most thought this election would again be decided by the more than 80 per cent of voters who choose either the Coalition or Labor, with the preferences of the rest.
But nicer voters are now in charge, it seems. According to another exultant independent, Bob Katter, we voters apparently “decided that other people are going to have a say here”.
One clue is in the wish list that Wilkie, the Leftist Tasmanian independent, issued this week to tease Labor and the Coalition into bidding for his vote.
Wilkie is selling his vote - or maybe not, he teases - to the party most likely to help him achieve the 22 goals he’s set.
Of those 22, 18 are demands for more spending - on Tasmania, on all forms of pensions and even on bigger offices for the independents. Yes, honest.
Not one of Wilkie’s wishes is for more savings or higher productivity to pay for it all. In fact, two other demands are for the Government to choke tax-paying industries - to freeze a planned pulp mill and restrict pokies.
It’s all spend, no earn. It’s a little like the wish list of a teenager, asking for pocket money earned by Dad.
===
Importing the unemployed
Andrew Bolt
Weren’t skilled migrants the ones we brought in because we couldn’t afford to go without their skills?
Unemployment among skilled migrants and their families is 30 per cent higher than for the population as a whole, new research shows, but those who do have a job are more likely to be in a professional role.Something’s clearly not working with the skilled immigration intake - beside the workers themselves - given that this is the official government explanation of why we import so many of them:
A new Bureau of Statistics report ... suggests another major contributing factor to the higher unemployment rate among migrants was the difficulty faced by the spouses and children of skilled migrant workers in finding work once they joined their partners in Australia. This group - known as ‘’secondary applicants’’ - is made up largely of women, children and other dependent relatives.
Just 32 per cent of secondary applicants of working age were employed full-time compared with 68 per cent of so-called ‘’primary applicants’’
Australia’s GSM program is designed to attract young, highly skilled people, with a good level of English language ability and skills in particular occupations that are required in Australia.UPDATE
Professor Sinclair Davidson says the ABS report isn’t as definitive as the new report suggests, and concludes:
First many of the people described as being unemployed are less likely to have full-time employment anyway and given the logistics of migration the secondary applicant (usually the wife) is less likely to start work anyway because she would be managing the settling in period and ensuring that the children are happy at school etc. before going out to work.
===
Making Bert look better
Andrew Bolt
NOTHING about Bert and Patti Newton’s public flaying of their son Matthew on national television made sense.
Until, of course, Patti explained just why the famous showbiz couple were there on A Current Affair, telling a gawping audience of 1.7 million strangers about the private failings of their only son, the Underbelly star now cloistered in the Northside West Clinic.
It was her own idea to go on television, she volunteered, having already told us of her son’s bad temper as a child, his foul abuse of his mother as an adult, his hitting of girlfriends, his unspecified “mental health” problems and his notorious drug taking.
“Bert’s had a very long, good career, over 60 years,” she said.
“I feel very sad about the fact that he might be remembered for the fact that Matthew caused so much trouble and so much heartache for everybody.
In short: don’t blame Bert.
In an interview with many jarring moments, this was the worst.
Patti was stressed, of course. What mother would not be, with their son so shamed and reportedly on a suicide watch, having been whisked back from Europe and into a clinic after allegedly punching his fiancee, actress Rachael Taylor, in a Rome hotel?
So maybe she mis-spoke. But much of the rest of the interview confirmed to me that the Newton parents really did mean to cut themselves loose from the “ train wreck” that was their son - at least in the public’s mind.
Bert himself rarely spoke, but when he did he seemed angry with his son and particularly alarmed what his own audience might now think of him.
“People might have had the impression that whatever happened and whatever was done, we condoned it, and when a situation like this comes along, you don’t,” he protested.
“A lot of people don’t have the experience, but when it concerns your child you say ‘well, of course we love him and we support him’. I think I made an error in saying that, because I do love him and I do support him, but I don’t support or condone any of the things that have happened.”
And that was what this whole interview seemed to be about.
Blame Matthew, not Bert, the TV host you’ve loved for decades. Ol’ Moonface.
===
I may have said that then, but now it’s serious
Andrew Bolt
Now that the Labor Government needs every help to cling to power, Malcolm Fraser isn’t so keen any more to call it worse than Whitlam.
===
Modern journalism
Andrew Bolt
An ABC journalist is the only finalist in a competition she wins for reporting one side of the global warming debate. For such reporting she is awarded a $10,000 prize sponsored by Environment Minister Peter Garrett’s Department:
Sarah Clarke has delivered in-depth and compelling evidence on the extent of human-induced global warming - from the United Nations Copenhagen meeting to the peer-reviewed science.It’s beyond satire, and says everything about modern journalism - especially at the ABC.
If there is to be serious action taken on this world-wide crisis, then the public mind must be engaged by reporters such as Sarah Clarke…
On another front, she has given voice to authoritative representatives of the scientific community in the climate change debate. They have argued that the evidence of global warming is unquestionable and that there is absolutely no doubt of the link between human activity and climate change.
Through Ms Clarke’s reports, respected commentators such as CSIRO chief executive Dr Megan Clark, Bureau of Meteorology director Dr Greg Ayers, Universities Australia chair Professor Peter Coaldrake and US National Centre for Atmospheric Research senior scientist Dr Kevin Trenberth have all expressed their grave concerns over climate change.
But wait, it is true that Clarke did in March report on a paper written by some sceptics. Here’s the first two paragraphs of her report - and note the slur and immediate pooh-poohing:
The latest debate on climate science to emerge centres on a paper that suggests humans played no role in the recent warming trend and that El Nino activity is mostly to blame.Deniers?
But a group of climate scientists say that is false, misleading and that the data has been manipulated by climate deniers.
(Thanks to reader Keith.)
===
Why is it unacceptable only when done three times?
Andrew Bolt
Not a single player in the AFL would be unaware that drug-taking is illegal, so why are they given so many chances to wreck themselves?
HAWKS chief executive Stuart Fox has taken a swipe at the AFL’s drug policy, after Travis Tuck was banned for 12 weeks and fined $5000.And what message does it send that police will not act even on a third offence?:
Tuck, 22, was the first player to record a third strike under the AFL’s controversial drug code...
Under the AFL’s policy, the names of players who notch one or two strikes are kept confidential, although a club’s medical officer is informed after the second strike.
Fox said Hawthorn only became aware of the drug and depression issues surrounding Tuck after Friday’s incident, severely hampering their chances to help him… But AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said if it was not for the fact that the league’s policy meant Tuck was directed to counselling after his first strike, the situation might have turned out worse for the player.
The Hawks midfielder had confessed to using drugs when found unconscious by police in a car at midnight last Friday in Berwick.
Police will not charge Tuck.We will get more of what we condone. It’s symbolic, or perhaps not just symbolic, that Tuck was found unconscious the day after the showing of the Ben Cousins doumentary, which was claimed to be a warning against drug use but looked more like an advertisement for it.
“We don’t want to discourage people when they find themselves in need of some medical assistance ... from actually calling police and asking for help,” Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said.
===
RIP Barney
Andrew Bolt
A Good Dog.UPDATE
Jimmy Stewart had a dog just like our Barney, and missed him as badly as we do ours now.
(Thanks to reader spot the dog.)
UPDATE 2
Thank you to all the lovely readers who have offered their condolences below. It is much appreciated.
===
Coalition leads again
Andrew Bolt
Now the Coalition is back in front on the two=party preferred vote:
Australian Labor Party 5,462,593 50Rats. Wish this had been the case when Julia Gillard got to wriggle out of the questioning at the National Press Club today on why she deserved to govern, since she’s now behind on every measure. Wish I’d know it before writing my column tomorrow, too.
Liberal/National Coalition 5,463,368
Corangamite narrows again:
HENDERSON, Sarah Liberal 46,043
CHEESEMAN, Darren Australian Labor Party 46,785
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