Headlines Friday 15th October 2010

=== Todays Toon ===

Where is Mohammed?

=== Bible Quote ===

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”- Romans 12:2

=== Headlines ===

New Pakistani Taliban Threat Feared in U.S. After Failed NYC Plot
Officials are concerned over recent intelligence indicating that the Pakistani Taliban — which orchestrated the failed Times Square bombing involving Faisal Shahzad — may have placed another operative inside the U.S., sources tell Fox News.

U.N. Climate Panel to Reform -- but No Change of Leadership
The U.N.'s top panel of climate scientists agreed on Thursday to change its practices in response to errors in a 2007 report -- but chairman Rajendra Pachauri dismissed suggestions he should step down. At an Oct. 11-14 meeting in Busan, South Korea, the 130-nation panel agreed to tighten fact-checking in reports that help guide the world's climate and energy policies and to set up a "task force" to decide on wider reforms by mid-2011. "Change and improvement are vital to the IPCC," Pachauri told a telephone news conference by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Suit Against Health Care Law to Proceed
Multi-state lawsuit against the health care law will go forward, after a federal judge in Florida rejects the Obama administration's request to dismiss the case

U.N.: World Not Ready For Alien Encounter
Earthlings are not prepared for contact from space, says director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs during a meeting on the peaceful use of outer space

Vet Removes Tattered Flag From Business
A military veteran in Florida is heading to court later this month to face criminal charges for removing a tattered American flag from a local real estate business

Breaking News

Funeral held for Dame Joan
A PRIVATE funeral service was held in the western Swiss lakeside town of Montreux overnight for legendary Australian opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland.

Top Gun sequel 'in the works'
NEARLY 25 years after Tom Cruise played iconic hero "Maverick" in the action film Top Gun, Paramount Pictures is reportedly in discussions to revive the 80's cult classic.

Report into insulation scheme due out today
AN auditor-general's report into the Federal Government's bungled $2.4 billion home insulation program will be released later today.

Two more charged with shooting murder
POLICE have charged two more people with the murder of a man shot in the head in Sydney's southwest on Tuesday night.

Black Saturday bravery recognised
BLACK Saturday heroes, who led about 200 people to safety in a car convoy out of fire devastated Marysville, are among eight police officers to receive Victoria Police's highest honour.

NSW/ACT

Woman 'sexually assaulted' elderly man
A WOMAN will face court over allegations she sexually assaulted an elderly man in a retirement home in inner Sydney.

Down to business for HSC students
THERE were 16,061 simultaneous sighs of relief yesterday after business studies students sat the state's first HSC exam.

Water protests take a strange twist
THE protests against the proposed Murray-Darling water cuts took a bizarre twist , with one angry farmer throwing a fake horse head.

Ten schoolgirls injured by truck
IT was meant to be just another excursion to the heart of the CBD. It ended in terror for the students of Meriden Anglican Girls' School.

Teen stab victim dies in hospital
A TEENAGER has died in hospital one week after being stabbed in the neck at Griffith, allegedly by his brother's girlfriend.

Experimental on-site soil clean up
CONTAMINATED soil at Sydney's Barangaroo redevelopment could be treated on site with developer Lend Lease applying to test it.

The Opposition goes alternative
THE state's alternative government has some alternative ideas for alleviating the power price crisis.

How cops claim McGurk plot unravelled
THE man allegedly enlisted to kill Michael McGurk was instructed to follow him to the ski fields.

Jailed man 'solicited witness murder'
A MAN currently in jail has been charged with nine counts of soliciting murder. He was taken to Blacktown Police Station.

Men remain critical after drug shed blaze
TWO men have suffered serious burns from a drug shed fire in Sydney's southwest overnight.

Queensland

Car crash deaths lift toll
TWO young men have died overnight as a result of car crashes in Queensland

Gold Coast agents rake it in
GOLD Coast real estate agents working in Robina and Broadbeach Waters made some of the highest commissions in Australia in the last financial year.

Double hammer attack on homeowner
DRIPPING with blood from a massive blow to the head, a 60-year-old man has tackled a bandit armed with two hammers who broke into his house and stole wine from his fridge.

Gutter act as work ute stolen
A STOLEN work utility has done a runner from police, reaching speeds in excess of 120km/h on suburban streets.

US tip-off led to cocaine bust
A TIP-OFF from America led to the biggest cocaine bust in Queensland's history at a sleepy marina north of Brisbane.

Students face toxic effects
A REPORT on formaldehyde levels at Manly State School warns the chemical can cause "strong irritation of the airways, eyes, skin and mucous membranes".

Flood advice muddies the waters
WATER authorities have been told to get their act together after Brisbane residents were haunted by the flood that never was.

Toxic school furniture fears widen
NEW furniture blamed for emitting elevated levels of a potentially toxic chemical in bayside classrooms could have been installed in other schools.

Daniel case: No DNA test defended
POLICE have defended a decision not to DNA-test clothing sourced by Bruce and Denise Morcombe with the help of persons of interest in the case.

High value in sea + tree change
THE leafy Sunshine Coast hinterland suburb of Buderim has enjoyed the highest value of property sales in Queensland in the past year.

Victoria

Three pedestrians hit in an hour
THREE pedestrians were hit by cars in little more than an hour on Melbourne's roads this morning.

Trapped teen rescued from car
A TEENAGER was trapped in his car for half an hour after it ploughed into power pole in Melbourne's northeast early this morning.

Police train blitz nets weapons
ELEVEN knives and meat cleavers were seized during a police blitz in Melbourne's outer southeast last night.

Forty years since bridge collapse
SERVICES will today mark the 40th anniversary of Australia's worst industrial disaster, the collapse of the West Gate Bridge.

CBD killer wants jail time cut
CHRISTOPHER Wayne Hudson should spend less time in jail as other murderers have been given lower sentences, his lawyer claims.

Indian anger at Bollywood movie
A NEW Bollywood blockbuster that portrays Melbourne as a racist and immoral city, has raised the ire of Indians living in Australia.

Kennett reveals shots shook him
FORMER premier Jeff Kennett says he was twice shot at and his house was vandalised during his reign.

Farquharson to learn his fate today
A DAD who murdered his three sons by driving them into a dam will find out today if he is to die in jail.

Suspect 'watched TV after hit-run'
A MAN has appeared in an out-of-sessions court hearing over a hit-run incident in which a man saw his wife die.

You can bet on style
BRITISH fashionistas Trinny and Susannah are betting on Melbourne ladies taking their advice for the Spring Racing Carnival.

Northern Territory

Drunk man takes shower in wrong house
A WOMAN at home alone was terrified when she heard someone taking a shower in her house. AFTER a few drinks, a refreshing shower can do a world of good. Just make sure it's your house.

Bow and arrow used in drive-by attack
AN ARCHER assassin took aim and fired at a pedestrian in a deadly drive-by shooting.

South Australia

First 'hoon' cars to be crushed
A TOYOTA Cressida doesn't sound like much of a hoon car, but nevertheless it will be the first vehicle crushed by the State Government today.

They hate me because I do the right thing
SUPPORT for Mike Rann, once the most popular Premier in the nation, has slumped so far that barely a third of the state's voters support him.

More crashes cause freeway chaos
TWO separate crashes are causing traffic problems on the South Eastern Freeway.

Winter over? Here's a blast from the past
HAIL, rain and a return to wintry weather can be expected in South Australia today.

Hills commuters hit by bus strike
ADELAIDE Metro says it expects no 800-series bus services will operate in the Adelaide Hills this morning because of a strike by drivers.

Historic school forced to close
ONE of Adelaide's most prestigious girls' schools has been forced to close at the end of the year and merge with another school because of declining enrolments.

Curtain falls on Union Hall
THE Development Assessment Commission sealed the fate of Union Hall late yesterday, but it was already a done deal at the University of Adelaide.

Saintly wait is over
THEY are the children who understand the significance of Mary MacKillop more than most.

Water report inflames farmers
BURNING copies of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority report is an "understandable" response from farmers to "very scary" water use cuts says Karlene Maywald.

Mt Barker bridge damage assessment
THE Mount Barker bridge over the South Eastern Freeway has been reduced to three lanes while the Transport Department assesses damage caused by a collision.

Western Australia

Threat to shut down community
A KIMBERLEY Aboriginal community has been threatened with closure in the wake of an exodus prompted by alcohol bans and a child sex scandal

Motorcyclist fights for life
A MOTORCYCLIST is fighting for his life in Royal Perth Hospital after a collision in Cooloongup.

Fire damages CBD sewing store
ARSON Squad detectives are investigating an overnight fire that damaged a sewing store in Perth's CBD.

Stocks rise for anglers
THERE was good and bad news for recreational anglers on a couple of vastly different fronts this week.

Brown slams Barnett over Kimberley land
GREENS leader Bob Brown has slammed West Australian Premier Colin Barnett's decision to compulsorily acquire land in the Kimberley for a gas hub.

Man, 21, on attempted murder charge
A CLOVERDALE man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing his brother in the chest, abdomen and back.

Libs fight Labor over live sheep ban
LIBERAL senators are trying to stamp out a growing movement among Labor MPs to end live animal exports, calling it misinformed and dangerous.

Blasphemy hearing postponed
EGYPTIAN authorities have postponed the court hearing of a West Australian tourist charged with insulting and denying the tenets of religion.

Outside talent urged to shake up politics
FORMER premier Geoff Gallop has proposed radical constitutional reform to allow future governments to appoint ministers from outside parliament.

Tasmania

Nothing new

=== Journalists Corner ===

Tonight: Factor Fireworks on "The View!"
O'Reilly: "Muslims killed us on 9/11!"
Why did the ladies lose it and walk off? Bill explains his explosive appearance!
===
Biden's BIG Push!
Governor Haley Barbour reacts to the VP's midterm stumping campaign.
===
Florida's Fight Against Obamacare
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum on the future of his fight against Obamacare.

On Fox News Insider:

Ben Stein Joins Beck for a Burrito, and Discusses How to Escape the Recession
Threat of Terror Plot Still Active Across Europe
Military Absentee Ballots in One State May Never Be Counted
Pelosi: A Toxic Asset?

=== Comments ===

Charged soldiers deserve support
Piers Akerman
THE lack of any official statement of support for the three Australian commandos charged with crimes by the independent Director of Military Prosecutions (DMP), Brigadier Lyn McDade, is an absolute disgrace. - Our troops deserve our full support and not to be used as pawns of the ALP trying to change policy without making a decision. It appears to me McDade may be picking and choosing her cases, something a prosecutor is not allowed to do, and so she is showing bias and should be removed from her prosecutorial duties.
The reason why this prosecution is underway is so the ALP can pull troops out of Afghanistan without making the decision which will be unpopular. They will claim they have to because they cannot guarantee their troops will be equipped for the campaign. The sad truth is almost all of those who have died have died serving the ALP in government. The ALP undersupply our troops abroad, in much the same way as Gillard argued to under pay our senior citizens.
One thing I find staggering is that there is a prima facie argument suggesting our foreign minister overstepped his bounds of office and nearly had the Timorise head of government assassinated. Yet the Brigadier doesn’t feel compelled to investigate that. - ed.
===
What Obama Could Learn About Leadership From Chile's President Pinera
By Martin Sieff
What a man is this President Sebastian Pinera of Chile! He believes in God and is not afraid to say so. He doesn't care about being ridiculed by the American Civil Liberties Union or its Chilean equivalent: He orders church bells to be rung to celebrate the amazing, truly miraculous rescue of 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months in his country's San Jose mine.

Pinera doesn't give endlessly long speeches that are packed with so many weightless, meaningless clichés that they rise out of sight and out of memory as soon as the worthless, empty words are uttered. When Sebastian Pinera simply says, “We are not the same Chile we were 69 days ago,” he brings tears to the eyes of millions of people far beyond the borders of his own admirable country.

In other words, Sebastian Pinera is not Barack Obama. Pinera is a real leader for the 21st century. He is a real man.

President Pinera did not sit back passively when the miners were trapped. He did not show his so-called, metrosexual, 21st century cool head and so-called “emotional balance” by showing no passion. He felt it and he showed it.

Pinera put his presidency on the line by committing himself publicly to make sure those miners were rescued come what may. How Rahm Emanuel must have laughed.

But did we get any leadership like that when BP (Yes – that’s BRITISH Petroleum, or maybe we should start calling them RUSSIAN Petroleum (RP) since they're investing so heavily in Siberia now) was choking the Gulf of Mexico with an unstoppable deep sea oil leak? The president of the United States you’ll recall, did nothing, absolutely nothing, for months except pout his mouth and grit his teeth – his usual substitute for any effective action on anything.

Obama didn't call in the best experts personally from around the world. He didn't put the vast resources of the United States government or assemble the unmatchable expertise of the U.S. oil industry, the best in the world, on the job. He just sat back passively and let RP -- sorry, BP – make things worse.

Barack Obama and his shameless acolytes like economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, The Washington Post's Richard Cohen and Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, have redefined democratic leadership as pious, whining, passive, dignified ineptitude. The only time Obama expresses any passion at all is when he’s whimpering about how all those big bad conservative talk show commentators are being so horrible to him.

The Chilean people in their democratically-expressed wisdom picked a brave and magnificent leader as their president. We got an empty suit who makes Jimmy Carter look like Rambo. Can we swap?

Martin Sieff is former Managing Editor, International Affairs, for United Press International. He is the author of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Middle East.”
===
I Am No Threat to Democracy
By Karl Rove
Last Thursday, in his speech at Bowie State University, President Obama accused the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of trying to "steal our democracy" by funding campaign activities with donations from foreign contributors. The chamber denied this charge immediately, insisting donations from foreign nationals were not used for political campaigns (that has been illegal since the 1907 Tillman Act). The White House produced no evidence to the contrary.

This weekend, the Democratic National Committee escalated its assault with a TV ad claiming that former GOP National chairman Ed Gillespie and I "even take in secret foreign money to influence our elections." The ad was referring to two groups for which Mr. Gillespie and I are informal advisers and fund-raisers: American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS. Neither accepts foreign contributions.

These smears were too much even for the New York Times, which noted on Saturday that "Democrats have offered no evidence that the chamber is using foreign money to influence the elections." Brooks Jackson of FactCheck.org wrote the next day that "accusing anybody of violating the law is a serious matter requiring serious evidence to back it up. So far Democrats have produced none." And when CBS anchor Bob Schieffer asked White House senior adviser David Axelrod for corroboration that the chamber was spending foreign money on American elections, Mr. Axelrod answered, "Well, do you have any evidence that it's not, Bob?" Mr. Schieffer incredulously responded, "Is that the best you can do?"

Karl Rove is a Fox News contributor and the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.

To continue reading his column in The Wall Street Journal, click here.
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PROGRAM IMPROVED
Tim Blair
O’Reilly’s point seems reasonable enough, and it had the benefit of reducing the on-screen idiot presence by two:

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FRIDAY OPEN THREAD
Tim Blair
Deep thinking from Adelaide writer Tim Dunlop:

If you are ever inclined to think that the Australian media leans left, ask yourself this: why has the Labor Party moved so far to the right?

It’s just that obvious! Wheels within wheels, my friends. In fact, a whole bunch of unrelated stuff probably disproves what Dunlop describes as the “myth” of “pervasive left-wing bias in the media”:

• If you are ever inclined to think that the Australian media leans left, ask yourself this: why are mobile phones getting bigger?

• If you are ever inclined to think that the Australian media leans left, ask yourself this: why are anti-lock brakes called “ABS”?

• If you are ever inclined to think that the Australian media leans left, ask yourself this: why are the labels on t-shirts so scratchy?

All open thread comments must commence with your own myth-busting “why?” formulation.
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CHIPS ON A STICK - PLUS BACON CRIME
Tim Blair
These impressive snacks were on sale last weekend at Bathurst. They represent the apex of modern stick-based dining. In other food news, a puzzling footpath bacon episode leads to this headline:

Officials Investigating Incident in South Carolina Where “Pig Chump” Spelled out in Meat

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CHARLES FINDS HIS LEVEL
Tim Blair
Charles “Insane” Johnson (the voice of the lunatic fringe left in America) finds his level, with a typically whiny piece about “hate-fuelled internet extremists” for the antisemitic, anti-American Guardian newspaper: The bloggers of hate.

Pamela Geller donned her chem-bio suit and waded into the mess in search of a point, coming up empty-handed. I’m glad she did it, so we don’t have to. (Hat tip: Charles.)
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VOLKSWAGEN RABBIT
Tim Blair
Using soy-based compounds to make car parts seemed like a fantastic idea. But nobody thought about the rabbits:

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Cameron shows Gillard how it’s done
Andrew Bolt
British Prime Minister David Cameron, unlike Julia Gillard, isn’t letting himself be cowed into inactivity by leading a minority government. First the big spending cuts, and now this:

The Government has announced that 192 public bodies will be abolished or merged as part of David Cameron’s ”bonfire of the quangos.”

It means of the 901 existing public bodies only 648 will remain, 118 will be merged, 380 will be retained, 171 retained but reformed substantially and 40 remain under consideration.

Reader Alan RM Jones:

Pass the torch, brother. We need a bonfire in Oz. Start nominations…
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Murdoch on anti-Semitism and weak Obama
Andrew Bolt
Rupert Murdoch warns of the rise of anti-Semitism, especially with increased Muslim immigration, and whacks a weak Barack Obama:

Tonight I’d like to speak about two things that worry me most.

First is the disturbing new home that anti-Semitism has found in polite society – especially in Europe.

Second is how violence and extremism are encouraged when the world sees Israel’s greatest ally distancing herself from the Jewish state.

When Americans think of anti-Semitism, we tend to think of the vulgar caricatures and attacks of the first part of the 20th century. Today it seems that the most virulent strains come from the left…

In Europe today, some of the most egregious attacks on Jewish people, Jewish symbols, and Jewish houses of worship have come from the Muslim population.

Unfortunately, far from making clear that such behavior will not be tolerated, too often the official response is what we’ve seen from the Swedish mayor – who suggested Jews and Israel were partly to blame themselves.

When Europe’s political leaders do not stand up to the thugs, they lend credence to the idea that Israel is the source of all the world’s problems – and they guarantee more ugliness.

If that is not anti-Semitism, I don’t know what is.

That brings me to my second point: the importance of good relations between Israel and the United States.

Some believe that if America wants to gain credibility in the Muslim world and advance the cause of peace, Washington needs to put some distance between itself and Israel.

My view is the opposite. Far from making peace more possible, we are making hostilities more certain…

When people see, for example, a Jewish prime minister treated badly by an American president, they see a more isolated Jewish state. That only encourages those who favor the gun over those who favor negotiation.

(Thanks to reader Michael.)
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Too whites don’t make one uni
Andrew Bolt
Queensland University prepares for some ethnic cleansing of the mind.

(Thanks to reader K.)

UPDATE

It’s a subject the university has explored before:

This discussion will be led by Indigenous and non-Indigenous academic staff in the School (Lyndon Murphy, Morgan Brigg and Barbara Sullivan) and will begin by addressing the following questions: Are Australian universities essentially white institutions, involved in a defence of white privilege? Does whiteness pose a significant obstacle to the participation and equality of Indigenous people at university? Do curricula and teaching practices need to be decolonised?

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Labor paid up to $330,000 for every part-time job it created
Andrew Bolt
The Audit Office’s report into the Labor Government’s disastrous free insulation scheme - meant to save us from recession - finds it created as few as 6000 short-term jobs at an astonishing cost of $330,000 each:

A REPORT into the federal government’s bungled home insulation program ... estimates the initial cost of cleaning up the problems the program created will total $424 million.

The home insulation program was designed to create jobs and improve energy efficiency in 2.7 million homes around Australia…

The axed stimulus scheme was linked to four deaths and a score of house fires… Under the program, some 1.1 million roofs were insulated at a cost of $1.45 billion, but many were found to be deficient.

Of the the 13,808 roofs inspected up to March, at least 29 per cent were found to have some level of deficiency, ranging from minor quality issues to serious safety concerns..

An estimated 6,000 to 10,000 jobs were created by the program, but they were shorter lived than intended because of the program’s early closure.

And as a result of the shonky installations, the energy efficiency gains expected from the program are “likely to be less than anticipated”.

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But the children are dead
Andrew Bolt
I am concerned that the court martial of three Australian soldiers over the deaths of five Afghan children seems in part to be a fact-finding mission. Surely the facts should be established before charges are laid when the mere process of a court martial will have a profound effect on morale - both of our soldiers and their enemies.

That said, the whipped-up hysteria over the charges and the vilification of the prosecutor smacks to me of mob justice, delivered by a lynch party. And five children are dead, in part due, it is alleged, to the disobeying of an order.

So I go along more with this sober analysis of the issues at stake - although I take strong exception to our being signatory to the International Criminal Court, and the argument that we should prosecute our own before the ICC does. In this way are investigations forced on us that will never been forced on true war criminals of nastier regimes. What’s more, I have little faith in the impartiality, efficiency or deterrent effect of the justice meted by international fora.
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Why is Flannery still taken seriously?
Andrew Bolt
Reader Brook remembers yet another false alarm from Alarmist of the Year Tim Flannery, interviewed on the ABC in 2005 by a typically credulous Maxine McKew:

MAXINE McKEW: In a way I’m going to ask you to rain on people’s parade, because in fact, your concern really is that, long term, our weather patterns are changing in quite profound ways. What is it that leads you to this conclusion?

TIM FLANNERY: Well, I’m afraid that the science around climate change is firming up fairly quickly, and what we’ve seen is three major phenomena that are depriving Australia of its rainfall. One of them is just simply the shifting weather patterns as the planet warms up, so the tropics are expanding southwards and the winter rainfall zone is sort of dropping off the southern edge of the continent. The second one is disturbances in the ozone layer, and that is causing wind speeds around Antarctica to increase and, again, drawing that winter rainfall to the south. But the third and really the most worrying of them is this semi-permanent el Nino-like condition that’s occurring as the Pacific Ocean warms up, and we’re seeing much longer el Ninos than we’ve seen before and often now back-to-back el Ninos with very little of the la Nina cycle, the flood cycle, in between. So between those three factors, which have been evident really since about 1976, we’ve seen some quite considerable and look to be permanent rainfall drops across much of southern and eastern Australia.

MAXINE McKEW: Does that mean eastern Australia is particularly badly affected?

TIM FLANNERY: It certainly is. Eastern Australia’s the area where el Nino reigns supreme, of course, and it was the land of drought and flooding rain. But since 1998 particularly, we’ve seen just drought, drought, drought, and particularly regions like Sydney and the Warragamba catchment - if you look at the Warragamba catchment figures, since ‘98, the water has been in virtual freefall, and they’ve got about two years of supply left, but something will need to change in order to see the catchment start accumulating water again.

Water levels in the Warragamba reservoir today, five years later: 57.2 per cent of capacity.

MAXINE McKEW: Well, I’m not asking you to be alarmist, but in fact, what would you say is a plausible worst-case scenario that you and, say, other scientists in the Wentworth Group have come to agree on?

TIM FLANNERY: Well, the worst-case scenario for Sydney is that the climate that’s existed for the last seven years continues for another two years. In that case, Sydney will be facing extreme difficulties with water, and of course, large cities are the most vulnerable of all structures to water deficit because you’ve got 4 million people there who need water just for everyday survival, and in the case of Sydney, there’s very few back-up reserves. Sydney’s ground water supplies are only about 13 gigalitres, which is about 10 days’ worth of supply. So there are not many options for Sydney and, of course, without water you can’t make power, you can’t wash, you can’t clean your food, you can’t have industry. So there are some quite severe problems if the current trend continues. I really do hope that that doesn’t happen, but as I say, something will have to change in order for Sydney to get out of that predicted future.

Sydney’s water supplies today: 58.3 per cent of capacity.

UPDATE

LIberal MP Dennis Jensen is right:

A Royal Commission into the science of Climate Change is the only way forward for Australia’s green debate, says Dr Dennis Jensen.

“Nothing less than a Royal Commission will force balanced submissions from all parties and allow an honest public debate, free of emotion, based on the evidence.”

===
Five reasons not to trust this jihad against our farmers
Andrew Bolt
ENOUGH. It’s one thing that this green madness is driving your power and water bills through the roof.

But now it threatens to destroy not just your household budget, but entire towns in our richest farming land.

Mildura, Robinvale, Coleambally, Leeton, Deniliquin and Moree - all now face devastation.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has been warned in a survey it commissioned of big lenders to rural business that these specific towns and more will struggle to survive the cut in irrigation water the authority now demands to “save” the Murray and the rivers that feed it.

Yet the MDBA is pushing on, proposing a cut in farmers’ water entitlements of between 27 and 37 per cent - on top of the deep cuts it’s already made for “the environment”.

In some areas, farmers will lose as much as half their irrigation water and will have to close their gates.

Wait and see what that does to the price of your fruit, vegetables and rice. Heavens, even the green faithful will scream at the price of tofu, made of soy beans grown in the same irrigated fields now being robbed of water.

If only we could trust the MDBA’S claim that this huge sacrifice would at least fix a true environmental catastrophe.

But there are five reasons to suspect that this is a largely pointless political gesture, and the small good it would do will be outweighed by huge social pain.

First, almost everyone along the rivers has noticed that claims of their imminent doom seem grossly exaggerated.

For a start, the drought has broken, and the Murray is flowing so strongly that its mouth has burst open again - something it rarely did even before irrigation farmers moved in.

Second, more care seems to have been lavished by the MDBA on considering the “needs” of the rivers than on the needs of the people depending on them.

It’s telling that MDBA chairman Mike Taylor has already conceded that the proposals he released just days ago would cost vastly more jobs than the mere 800 his report ludicrously claimed. Try 23,000, says the furious NSW Irrigators Council.

Third, the people of the Murray-Darling Basin have seen similar green scares before, and learned to consider them as dodgy as Greenpeace.
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The Latham of journalism
Andrew Bolt
NOTHING personal, since I’m one of the few former colleagues of Bruce Guthrie not be trashed in his new book. So, no, this is not a get-square with my former editor-in-chief for what he’s written about me.

But I have to wonder why he’s now being touted by the ABC and The Age as a guru of journalistic ethics when almost every chapter of his Man Bites Murdoch strikes me as unethical.

How many confidences has this man betrayed? How many private conversations with his former News Ltd colleagues has he reported?

Bruce Guthrie has had a starry career as a journalist, becoming editor of both of Melbourne’s daily newspapers.

The one flaw is that he was also forced out as editor from both The Age and Herald Sun. A pattern there, perhaps.

His sacking from this paper was ugly. I thought he lacked the common touch and news flair we needed, but Guthrie persuaded a court this year his dismissal was unfair and worth $581,000 in damages. Lucky him.

But now comes his book of his time at News Ltd that reads to me like the work of an angry man who feels half a mill is barely enough revenge for a slight.

That anger seems to have tempted Guthrie to one of journalism’s sins.

On page after page I read Guthrie revealing things told to him in circumstances that implied that what was said was not for publication..
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An apology to India?
Andrew Bolt
No terrorism, no collapsed buildings, no plague - maybe the organisers of the Delhi Commonwealth Games, as well as India itself, deserve an apology for all the pre-Games predictions of catastrophe. They struck me as both xenophobic and patronising at the time, and more so now.
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It’s not hate speech if the Left says it later
Andrew Bolt
WHAT’S the difference between hate speech and brave speech?

Sometimes the difference is not what is said, but who says it. And how much later.

This week, the leader of the Dutch Greens, Femke Halsema, called on her fellow Leftists to be more daring when criticising Islam.

She said the Left too often accepted the pressure that radical Muslims put on other Muslims in Holland.

In particular, they failed to stand up for women and gays the way they would if the bullying was done not by other Muslims but by Christians.

“Many Salafist, orthodox views have broad support within the Dutch Islamic community,” she noted.

“These views are forcefully imposed from above and have great consequences for the freedom of women and homosexualsin particular ...

“I am convinced that there are thousands of Muslim women in the Netherlands who - due to proscriptions enforced by Islamic authority and complied with faithfully by fathers, uncles and sons - have too little freedom of movement.”

Hijabs in schools, for instance, should be banned.

But the Left was mute, too often seeing such debates in black or white terms: “There are two flavours: you are either a multiculturalist or an Islam hater.”

The issue isn’t whether Halsema is right or wrong. It’s that she’s not now treated as a freak or criminal for voicing this opinion.

You see, her argument is much the same as that made by Pim Fortuyn, a gay sociology professor and leader of a popular Dutch “Right-wing” party who was first demonised by the Left and then assassinated in 2002 by an environmentalist for criticising Islam.
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Gillard goes to water
Andrew Bolt
The furious reaction has panicked Julia Gillard into holding an inquiry into an inquiry:

LABOR has recoiled from an angry public backlash about plans to cut water use in the Murray-Darling Basin.

The federal government has responded by appointing NSW rural independent Tony Windsor to head an inquiry into its human consequences.

After days of the government insisting the process should be dealt with by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Regional Development Minister Simon Crean said yesterday Mr Windsor and his parliamentary committee on the regions would consult widely to give people a say.

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Why did the Bureau remove the rain?
Andrew Bolt
Tom Quirk wonders why the Bureau of Meteorology has adjusted the rainfall records for our foodbowl:

In the last two years some 900 mm of rainfall have been removed from the rainfall record of the Murray-Darling Basin. This startling discovery was made by comparing the annual Murray-Darling Basin rainfall reported on the Bureau of Meteorology website in August 2008 and the same report found yesterday.

What the BOM’s records show now for an area we’re told has had its rains cut by global warming:
The difference between the 2008 figures and the latest ones, showing the adjustments tended to produce a statistical decline in rainfall:
Odd.

Meanwhile, warming alarmists in Britain will have their work cut out:

Winter will come early to Britain next week as snow is forecast for the north while the south will shiver in frosty sub-zero nights…

The Weather Outlook, which has an accurate seasonal forecasting record, warned the UK is now being gripped by a bitter series of winters comparable with the harsh 1939-42 winters which made conditions so horrendous during the Second World War.

Last winter was the coldest for 31 years, with an average UK-wide temperature of just 34F (1.5C).

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Another Gillard reform flounders
Andrew Bolt
One of Julia Gillard’s much-touted achievements as Education Minister turns out to need a lot more work:

THE proposed national school curriculum will be overhauled after complaints that it made maths and science too difficult and under-emphasised recent Australian history.

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Kennett shot at
Andrew Bolt
What? And we only hear about this now?

FORMER premier Jeff Kennett says he was twice shot at and his house was vandalised during his reign…

Mr Kennett said shots twice came “very close” to him. One time he said he heard the “zing” of a bullet as he walked a Melbourne street during the time of furore over the decision to hold the grand prix at Albert Park.

“I heard one of them (the bullets) and, given my army training, I knew what it was,” Mr Kennett told 3AW. “I was scared, absolutely scared.”

I know of only two other assassination attempts on an Australian politician - the killing of a South Australian candidate in 1921 and the wounding of Labor leader Arthur Calwell in 1965. Both shootings were by people who were mentally disturbed. (Oops. See update below.)

But this one? The hatred whipped up against Jeff Kennett by the Left, and sections of the media, was intense and irresponsible.

But The Age is having trouble believing Kennett’s claims.

UPDATE

Readers below remind me of the murder in 1994 of NSW politician John Newman.