=== Todays Toon ===
John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC (25 September 1860 – 29 February 1908), known as Viscount Aithrie before 1873 and as The 7th Earl of Hopetoun between 1873 and 1902, was the first Governor-General of Australia.
=== Bible Quote ===
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”- 1 Timothy 2:1-2=== Headlines ===
Cantor: Democrats Don't Get It If They Keep Pelosi Around
The expected No. 2 Republican in the House, Rep. Eric Cantor, says that Democrats 'didn't get the message' from last week's elections if they re-elect Nancy Pelosi as Democratic Party leader next year.Tea Partier Supports Obama's Afghan Plan?
GOP Sen.-elect Rand Paul of Kentucky says he likely will not get in the way of the president's decision to reduce troops in Afghanistan
Deadline Looms for 9/11 Health Settlement
Thousands of workers suing New York City over exposure to World Trade Center dust must decide by Monday whether they will join a settlement that would pay as much as $815 million
Disguise Raises Airline Security Concern
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the case of an airline passenger wearing an elaborate mask during a flight from Hong Kong to Canada raises questions about a new tactic that terrorists could use
Hillary Clinton gets down to business
THE US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will get down to business at high level joint ministerial talks today.
Dollar lower, above parity on US jobs
THE dollar opened lower today but remained above parity with the US currency, after a rally in the greenback following positive US job figures.
Missing millionaire's body found in woods
A BODY discovered in dense woodland in Windsor Great Park was positively identified today as missing millionaire Joanna Brown.
Chilean miner runs in New York Marathon
A CHILEAN miner who jogged kilometres underground while waiting to be rescued joined some of the world's best marathoners today.
Qantas A380s undergoing more tests
MORE Qantas A380 jet engines are out of service and undergoing further tests, the airline says.
Ex-police shunned for cheap recruits
FORMER police officers expecting to rejoin the Police Force have been shunned for cheaper new recruits.
Died trying to aid mum
AT THREE years old, Callum Beaumont was a typical farm kid keen to help his parents on the family property.
Train has near miss to cleaners
A CITYRAIL train almost ran down a team of contract cleaners sparking a widespread investigation into RailCorp's safety procedures.
Trapped by hull of a ferry
A SPEEDBOAT collided with a ferry on Parramatta River yesterday, trapping four people when it became wedged under the hull.
Man fights for life after falling on head
A MAN is fighting for his life after being pushed from a 30cm high landing during an argument with a friend.
Clover's plans for a greener Sydney
IF YOU thought Clover Moore's bike lanes were controversial, wait for her next project: Sydney's power and water supply.
Sydney family photos return via Facebook
ONE man, a Facebook page and 8000 people helped a Sydney woman get her baby photos back that were lost three years ago.
Motorcyclist killed in hit and run
A MOTORCYCLIST is dead after a hit and run accident in Sydney's inner city.
Woman survives Sydney cliff fall
A WOMAN has survived falling off a cliff at Sydney's eastern beaches and was rescued by helicopter this morning.
Invader 'worse than cane toad'
BORDER officials fighting a new war - this time against a diminutive amphibian they say is a bigger threat than the cane toad.
Orphan koala critical after shooting
IT is not clear yet whether a koala joey blasted out of a tree with a shotgun on the Sunshine Coast hinterland will survive after it was found next to its dead mother.
Dumping threat to our sewers
BUSINESSES are illegally flushing oils and chemicals down city sewers and causing blockages that resulted in sewage bubbling into a suburban Brisbane street.
Water bill to double in seven years
WATER bills will nearly double in southeast Queensland in the next seven years and state government charges are mostly to blame, according to a new report.
Man assaulted in Fortitude Valley
A 21-YEAR-OLD Goodna man was assaulted in Fortitude Valley following an altercation with two men. The man sustained a wound to his cheek from an unknown implement.
Motorcyclist dead after falling
A MOTORCYCLIST has died after coming off his bike at Noosaville this evening. It is believed the 23-year-old man came off his bike on Walter Hay Drive near Eenie Creek.
LNP drives debate on learners
QUEENSLANDERS can now have their say on how the state's learner driver training program can be improved.
Towns braced for severe storm
A SEVERE thunderstorm warning has been issued for the Maranoa and Warrego districts, with Dalby, Roma, Charleville and Goondiwindi most at risk.
Aussies die in Cuban air disaster
A BRISBANE woman and her friend were among the 68 killed in Cuba's worst plane crash in 20 years.
Man dead in Mt Buller Rd crash
A MAN is dead and a woman is in hospital following a car crash in Victoria's high country.
Fourteen arrested after brawl
POLICE have arrested 14 people after an alleged brawl in Sydenham that left three people in hospital.
Outdoor smoko risks a $110 fine
FRANKSTON will put in place Victoria's harshest smoking restrictions today.
Killer's porn stash
ONE of Victoria's worst prison pests has been caught with pornography in his maximum security cell.
Gardening a growth industry
VICTORIANS are splashing out on their gardens, making the most of relaxed water restrictions.
Stamp it out now
A HUGE campaign highlighting crippling housing costs and demanding political intervention will stalk Victoria's political leaders this week.
Mums' parenting fibs to peers
SLEEP is the number one topic mums lie to each other about, and whoppers are also regularly told about nits, sickness and yelling.
Ambulance chaos in report
CHAOS at the heart of Victoria's ambulance service has been revealed in confidential documents.
Coalition to send patients bush
VICTORIANS could be taken across the state for surgery in country hospitals under a Coalition plan to slash hospital waiting lists.
Police hunt brazen bash group
POLICE are hunting a group of youths who attacked a teen and left him with life-threatening injuries yesterday.
Nothing new
Two men stabbed, third charged
A MAN has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, following the stabbing or two men at Taperoo.
Gun used in motel robbery
STAFF at a city motel were threatened by two men armed with a gun late last night.
New suburb concepts put into practice
THE $130 million redevelopment of Woodville West's Housing Trust enclave is one step closer now that the State Government has called for tenders.
Internet crooks offering illegal animals
EXOTIC pets are being "sold" online, but authorities fear it's an illegal scam that animal lovers should keep their paws off.
Record turnout for Amy's ride
CYCLISTS young and old made an oath to road safety yesterday as they participated in the annual Amy's Ride event.
Uni robots team up to tackle foes
FLINDERS University students are making intelligent robots that work together to round up enemy forces and defuse bombs.
'Woeful' funding hurting children
SPENDING on family support services is just one-fifth of the national average, so children are being "rescued, not helped", the State Guardian for Children says.
Libs say Italian trip cost $170,000
MIKE Rann is under pressure to reveal the cost of flying officials to the Fiera del Lavente in Italy, which the Opposition estimates as $170,000.
Cop the biggest bloody idiot
AN off-duty police officer among almost 100 people caught driving while drunk or on drugs in a weekend blitz has lost his licence and his car has been seized..
Parkland cafe proposal on the table
RESTAURANTS and cafes should be allowed in the Adelaide parklands to attract more people to the underused space, the Property Council says.
Teenage girls die in fatal SW crash
TWO teenagers have died in a car crash near Dwellingup, south of Perth.
Bouncers in brawl outside Paramount
POLICE are investigating a brawl that involved up to 10 bouncers outside Paramount nightclub early this morning.
Abalone season opens with dramatic rescue
WA's recreational abalone fishing season opened this morning with a dramatic helicopter rescue of a suspected heart attack victim at Ocean Reef Marina.
Nothing new
=== Comments ===
Not just useless, but racist, tooAndrew Bolt
Faltering and under pressure from even her own side to deliver vision and leadership, Prime Minister Julia Gillard can only think of the most empty symbolism:
AUSTRALIANS will within the next three years vote in a referendum on whether to recognise indigenous people in the Constitution. The plan to recognise indigenous Australians in the Constitution was announced today by Julia Gillard.This is, of course, pure racism. Tragically, it will actually cause more division and resentment than it purports to heal. Nor will it improve the life of a single Aborigine, other than, perhaps, two or three involved in constitutional law and UN delegations.
But as long as Gillard seems to have vision, who cares, right?
UPDATE
”The first peoples of our nation have a unique and special place in our nation,” Ms Gillard told a media conference in Melbourne today.Could Gillard now define the nation’s “last peoples” and explain what lesser rights they have a consequence?
===
When your own side says it, it suddenly makes sense
Andrew Bolt
When Liberal leader Cory Bernardi said it, it was of course a disgrace, him being a Right-winger and all.
The Sydney Morning Herald hinted at dark forces:
THE shadow parliamentary secretary assisting Tony Abbott, Cory Bernardi, has called for Islamic women to be banned from wearing the burqa in a pointer to the growing assertiveness of the party’s conservative wing.Rudd and an ABC host suggested he was racist:
Writing on his blog yesterday, he argued his case on law and order grounds and the basis of respect for women. ‘’The burqa is no longer simply the symbol of female repression and Islamic culture, it is now emerging as a disguise of bandits and n’er do wells,’’ he wrote.
KEVIN Rudd accused the opposition of cynical politics over Liberal senator Cory Bernardi’s call for a ban on wearing the burka in public... Asked by the ABC’s Jon Faine if the Coalition was playing the race card, Mr Rudd said: “I’ll let your listeners draw that conclusion.”And while half the ABC Q&A audience applauded Bernardi for citing security and communication concerns about the burqa, the panel - especially Maxine McKew - was far from sympathetic:
But what a difference it makes when a heroine of the Left makes almost exactly the same points to another ABC audience:
QUESTION: As an Australian born Muslim that wears a head scarf, I’d like to know your opinions on those that claim that the hijab and burka is un-Australian, and more importantly, your opinion on a woman’s right to dress as in how she pleases.No outrage at all followed her answer. A polite and respectful silence is about the most savage criticism she’s faced.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I am aware of the difference between a headscarf and a burka and a hijab, and I think that there is a difference. I think that a headscarf is a very appropriate manifestation of a woman’s choice, so long as it is her choice, which is a premise of my answer. But I think we have to face the reality that in a society where there is a legitimate threat of terrorism, not being able to see one’s face, not being able to have some sense of communication in that way, is for many societies a challenge. So I understand the dilemma and I think it is a legitimate dilemma.
I know, for example, in Pakistan many of the men who are conducting suicide bombing missions arrive covered in a burka. And if you are a Pakistani police officer respectful of the women of your culture and that’s being abused and misused by the suicide terrorists, that causes a real dilemma.
So if you are looking at other countries that are understandably nervous about extremist activity, like France and other European countries, I think it’s a close question. I think it’s a hard question. If we were able to wheel the clock back several decades where we were not facing these security threats from packages put on airplanes or like what we saw in Mumbai and the rest, I’m not sure people would be so concerned about it. So that’s my answer.
So the question to Bernardi’s critics. Is Clinton playing the “race card”, too? Is she a grim sign of the rise of the conservative wing of the Democrats? Is she, too, about to get a fearsome lecture from Maxine McKew on tolerance?
Heavens, Clinton was not even booed by the Melbourne University students when she said she wasn’t in favor of same-sex marriage. Listen to the audience in the clip - not even a groan of disapproval as Clinton confessed:
QUESTION: ... Madam Secretary, what is your view on same-sex marriage?Now contrast that response to the booing and heckling Tony Abbott got from a Q&A audience when Tony Abbott said he didn’t favor same-sex marriage either:
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I have been a strong supporter of ending discrimination, and particularly focusing on hate crimes and workplace bias and the like. And in our country, the issue of same-sex marriage, which is a—is a matter left to each state, each state sets the rules—is proceeding on a state-by-state basis. I think that is the best way for it to proceed.
I have not supported same-sex marriage. I have supported civil partnerships and contractual relationships.
So much depends not on what was said, but whether a leader of your own tribe said it.
===
Fed by our useful idiots
Andrew Bolt
That they mean well is surely no excuse for such lethal stupidity by professional handwringers and the radical chic:
The radical cleric accused of inspiring the cargo bomb plot has been backed by a prominent British campaign group which has financial support from leading charities.If such fools cannot recognise a threat to mere humans, maybe they’ll finally draw a line in the sand with this:
Cageprisoners, a self-styled human rights organisation, has a long association with Anwar al-Awlaki, who was last week accused of being one of the figures behind the terrorist plot to blow up cargo planes which saw a powerful device defused at East Midlands Airport.
The Islamic preacher, based in Yemen, was invited to address two Cageprisoners’ fundraising dinners via video link, one last year and one in 2008.
The group has now told its backers that it no longer supports the cleric and that it “disagreed” with him over “the killing of civilians”.
But an examination of the Cageprisoners website last week suggested that its support for the cleric was as strong as ever.
Cageprisoners was set up to lobby on behalf of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay and those monitored under control orders in the UK.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that it is being funded by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, a Quaker-run fund set up by the chocolate-maker and philanthropist a century ago, and The Roddick Foundation, a charity set up by the family of Anita Roddick, the Body Shop founder, after her death three years ago.
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust is giving Cageprisoners £170,000 in donations over three years - with the latest payment due this month - and The Roddick Foundation another £25,000.
AL-QAEDA operatives in Iraq tried to unleash deadly terror in the skies by deploying a pair of dogs on a US-bound plane, it has emerged.(Thanks to readers Grad Wizard and Grid.)
The plot failed because the bombs were so badly stitched inside the dogs that they died, according to a report in the respected French daily newspaper Le Figaro.
===
Why should we fear our own city?
Andrew Bolt
The coarsening of our culture has its consequences, and cries for more police only confirms something deep inside has broken:
ONE in two Melburnians don’t feel safe in their street at night, according to a city-wide crime survey that failed the Brumby government on law and order just three weeks from the state election.UPDATE
More than 6500 Victorians responded to the survey that also found 89 per cent of people do not feel safe on public transport at night.
We count some of the injured from the usual weekend mayhem:
POLICE have arrested 14 people after an alleged brawl in Sydenham that left three people in hospital. It is believed that a road rage incident sparked the brawl, which spilled onto the street in front of a block of units in Sydenham Rd around 2pm yesterday.And:
POLICE are hunting a group of youths who attacked a teen and left him with life-threatening injuries in Melbourne’s east early yesterday morning. The 17-year-old is in the Alfred Hospital in a critical condition after an altercation with another male on the Princes Highway in Pakenham.And:
He was with several family members and friends on the way home from a fast food restaurant when the attack took place. They were walking along Cunningham Crescent near Sikes Court, close to Pakenham Secondary College, when they were confronted by a large group of 10 to 20 youths.
THE victim of a terrifying ordeal in which he was attacked with a stun gun in a city car park early yesterday, has pleaded with his attacker to come forward, with police saying they are alarmed by the incident.And:
‘’Reza’’, 26, was sleeping in his car in the Wilson car park in Flinders Lane about 4am after a night at a nearby nightclub, when his attacker opened the rear door and demanded money.
Despite handing over cash, the man stunned the IT consultant about five times by placing the stun gun to his chest and arm and punched him repeatedly in the head.
A 33-year-old man was at the Brunswick Street venue in Fitzroy when a man allegedly bumped into him about 12.40pm (AEDT), sparking a verbal dispute.And:
The 33-year-old was allegedly glassed in the forehead with a beer glass before he was attacked by up to five other men, who punched him in the face and head, police said.
A Melbourne man has been stabbed in the stomach as he was walking home from his shift at an inner-city pub.===
The 31-year-old was walking in a laneway near Grosvenor Street in Prahran when he was approached by two men who demanded money.
Is the country’s defence stronger now he’s a girl?
Andrew Bolt
Exactly why must you and I pay for his operation?
DEFENCE force chiefs have agreed to pay for the sex change operation of a soldier who wants to return to her old job training Diggers in extreme sports after her surgery.===
Army Captain Matthew Clinch, who served twice in East Timor, will become Bridget Clinch after gender reassignment-realignment surgery, funded by taxpayers.
Yet more Leftist violence
Andrew Bolt
What is it with the Left and violence?
PROTESTS against a train carrying nuclear waste from France to Germany erupted in violence today as police wielding batons charged activists trying to halt the cargo’s progress.===
Around 1000 activists attacked police on the tracks near Dannenberg, the final destination for the train before the waste is loaded onto trucks, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
Sending the Kiwi beggars home
Andrew Bolt
Is our open border with New Zealand all that smart?
AUSTRALIAN charities are paying to fly homeless Kiwis back to New Zealand in a bid to stop the growing problem of begging on Melbourne’s streets. Twelve New Zealanders have been flown home with the help of Travellers Aid in the past three months at a cost of almost $3900.UPDATE
New Zealanders are also helping to fill our jails:
Check the place of birth of our prisoners against the numbers here, and you’ll find that while 0.13% of all Australians are prisoners, the proportion in jail for ... New Zealanders is 0.20% (and almost certainly higher for Maori, who compromise more than half New Zealand’s prison population).(UPDATE: reader Erasmus points out that my own calculations - dividing prisoner numbers by census data on place of birth - is contradicted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ own calculations, which show an imprisonment rate among the Australian-born of 203.3 per 100,000, and among the New Zealand-born of 187.5.)
The Department of Immigration explains the (no) rules:
The 1973 Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement has allowed Australian and New Zealand citizens to enter each other’s country to visit, live and work, without the need to apply for authority to enter the other country.... (New Zealanders) continue to need only a valid New Zealand passport to travel to Australia and in most cases, do not need to seek a visa before travelling.===
Greens don’t need costings when the vibe is so good
Andrew Bolt
If it feels good, the price is irrelevant to a Green:
THE Greens have refused to submit all their policies for costings, saying they would consider it on a “case-by-case” basis...UPDATE
As the Greens officially launched their Victorian election campaign yesterday, they said some of their policies “lend themselves” to costings while, for others, the party was “happy with the numbers they have put around them"…
Federal Greens leader Bob Brown said it was up to his Victorian colleagues whether the party’s “optimistic and responsible” policies would be costed by Treasury.
The Age actually detects a split:
THE Greens appear to be divided over how to cost their Victorian election promises, with state candidates refusing to have all policies independently analysed, while federal leader Bob Brown is in favour of full scrutiny…===
Asked yesterday if the Victorian Greens should have their policies costed independently or by Treasury, Senator Brown, in Melbourne to launch the party’s official campaign, said: ‘’The backroom Labor bean-counting machine is no point for relying on, but the Greens are quite happy for our policies to come under the same scrutiny as everybody else’s.’’
We’re all African Americans now
Andrew Bolt
In 1965, 24 per cent of black children in the United States were born to single mothers, and sociologist Daniel Patrick Moynihan issued his famous report, warning of the terrible collapse of the African-American family unit:
There is no one Negro community. There is no one Negro problem. There is no one solution. Nonetheless, at the center of the tangle of pathology is the weakness of the family structure. Once or twice removed, it will be found to be the principal source of most of the aberrant, inadequate, or anti-social behavior that did not establish, but now serves to perpetuate the cycle of poverty and deprivation.Fast forward to now:
Seventy-two percent of black babies are born to unmarried mothers today, according to government statistics. This number is inseparable from the work of Carroll, an obstetrician who has dedicated her 40-year career to helping black women.James Joyner:
“The girls don’t think they have to get married. I tell them children deserve a mama and a daddy. They really do,” Carroll says…
As the issue of black unwed parenthood inches into public discourse, Carroll is among the few speaking boldly about it. And as a black woman who has brought thousands of babies into the world, who has sacrificed income to serve Houston’s poor, Carroll is among the few whom black women will actually listen to. “A mama can’t give it all. And neither can a daddy, not by themselves,” Carroll says. “Part of the reason is because you can only give that which you have. A mother cannot give all that a man can give. A truly involved father figure offers more fullness to a child’s life.”
Statistics show just what that fullness means. Children of unmarried mothers of any race are more likely to perform poorly in school, go to prison, use drugs, be poor as adults, and have their own children out of wedlock.
The black community’s 72 percent rate eclipses that of most other groups: 17 percent of Asians, 29 percent of whites, 53 percent of Hispanics and 66 percent of Native Americans were born to unwed mothers in 2008, the most recent year for which government figures are available. The rate for the overall U.S. population was 41 percent.
This issue entered the public consciousness in 1965, when a now famous government report by future senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan described a “tangle of pathology” among blacks that fed a 24 percent black “illegitimacy” rate. The white rate then was 4 percent.
I’m not sure what’s shocking: That the rate for blacks has tripled in my lifetime or that whites have now surpassed the level of pathology Moynihan described.And in Australia:
Nearly 500,000 single parent families now make up one in five Australian families with children under the age of 15.(Via Instapundit.)
===
No ifs, no buts, no excuses
Andrew Bolt
Write it down. Hold her to account. Let there be consequences if this, too, turns out to be another broken promise:
Prime Minister Julia Gillard insists the budget will still return to surplus by 2013 even if the Australian dollar stays strong…
”The budget will be back in the black, back in surplus in 2012-13 ... as promised,” she told the Nine Network on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment