Sunday, October 31, 2010

Headlines Sunday 31st October 2010

=== Todays Toon ===
Sir Charles Hotham, KCB, RN (14 January 1806 – 31 December 1855) was Lieutenant-governor and, later, Governor of Victoria, Australia from 22 June 1854 to 10 November 1855.
=== Bible Quote ===
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”- Ephesians 2:8-9
=== Headlines ===
ARREST: Yemeni Woman and Mother Caught in Mail Bomb Plot
Security forces reportedly arrest a Yemeni woman and her mother for alleged involvement in sending explosive packages on cargo planes to the U.S.

3 DAYS TO DECIDE: Last Ditch Dem Effort
Obama arrives in Chicago to unite Democrats in a 'Move America Forward' rally — marking the third time the former president has campaigned in his hometown for Democratic candidates

Illegal Immigrants Headed to Ariz. Polls?
The Justice Dept. is sending election observers to the border state amid fears of election fraud if illegal immigrants vote in midterms

Politics Is Central at Stewart 'Sanity' Rally
Despite promises a D.C. rally would remain non-political, thousands at the event — hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert — got a liberal earful as Democratic and Obama support groups spread their message

Woman arrested over cargo plane plot
YEMENI security forces have arrested a woman suspected of posting two US-bound parcel bombs.

Bomb 'could have brought down plane'
SUSPECT package from Yemen found in Britain aboard a US-bound cargo plane could have exploded and brought a plane down.

Thousands drawn to TV comedians' rally
POPULAR hosts of satirical cable TV news shows offering an appeal for moderation and civility in polarised times.

American teenager crowned Miss World
KENTUCKY blonde said month spent touring China with other 114 Miss World hopefuls had made a "big impact" on her life.

Eighty Taliban killed in failed attack
INSURGENTS have been killed in a failed attack on a NATO combat outpost near the border with Pakistan.

Weekend at Marie's
NSW Governor Marie Bashir doesn't go in for lavish dinners but her understudy loves to entertain.

Liberals draw up 100-day plan
STRATEGISTS are secretly drawing up a "100-day" action plan for a new Coalition state government.

Snatcher grabs the GG's bag
A PETTY thief, trying to steal a handbag, couldn't have picked a worse target: the Head of State

Hundreds of brides are left in the lurch
THE plans of hundreds of brides-to-be are in chaos after a bridal-gown store closed its doors.

Former high-flyer Brad is uncooped
FIVE years in jail may have sealed Brad Cooper's reputation as a shonky businessman, but it's done wonders for his waistline.

Boy, 16 stabbed to death
THE devastated mother of a teenage boy, stabbed to death in a suburban western Sydney street, says her "beautiful" son had the "brightest blue eyes ".

Warn kids of danger in kitchen
BURNS specialists want Junior MasterChef to warn young viewers about the dangers of cooking.

Shoppers conned by 'fine print'
AUSTRALIAN retailers are misleading customers, using fine print to refuse refunds on products.

NSW to review of sentencing
SUSPENDED sentences could be scrapped because of concerns serious offenders are escaping jail.

Nuttall 'knows Labor secrets'
LABOR colleagues of jailed former minister Gordon Nuttall should be afraid of his intimate knowledge of the party and its secrets, his daughter says.

Helicopter rescue team grounded
IT'S the Queensland helicopter rescue team without a chopper.

Millions paid to ex-employees
THE Queensland Health payroll debacle has sunk to a new low as taxpayers fork out "wages" to people who do not even work for the organisation.

Storm victim sues bank manager
A TOWNSVILLE bank manager is the first individual to be pursued through the courts over the Storm Financial debacle.

Mums click with gaming
BUSY mums are overtaking teenage boys as the new gamers.

Bart, punters all set for Cup
LEGENDARY trainer Bart Cummings will climb off his sick bed to attend Tuesday's Melbourne Cup after So You Think burst back into race favouritism.

One sale, two agents' commissions
HOMEOWNERS caught in the middle as rival real estate agents squabble over who should be paid commissions on property sale.

Olympic star's drink drive charge
OLYMPIC gold medallist Ashley Callus has been charged with drink driving after being pulled over by police on the Gold Coast last Monday.

Welcome home for Diggers
THERE were cheers and tears as 120 Brisbane-based Diggers returned to the loving arms of their families after their eight-month tour of Afghanistan.

Waiting for a disaster
THIS week in Your Street we visit Scarlet St, Mordiallioc, where residents are concerned about crashing planes. Have your say.

We've let down commuters: Brumby
LESS than four weeks out from the state election, Premier John Brumby admits his record on public transport is not good enough.

Now I'm ship-shape
IF life knocks you down, you could always build a ship to help you navigate the rough waters.

Drink drivers' loophole
HUNDREDS of motorists who tested positive for drink driving may never stand before a court because of an alleged administrative error.

Greens candidate's 'dirty work'
THE Greens candidate for Melbourne in the state election is working for a company that mines "dirty" brown coal.

Carey axes his firm
A COMPANY set up by AFL Hall of Fame champion Wayne Carey has gone into administration with debts of more than $100,000.

Google lawsuit in court
COLOURFUL Melbourne identity Michael Trkulja's David-and-Goliath litigation against Google has begun in the Supreme Court.

Driver crashes into home and flees
POLICE are on the hunt for a driver who ploughed through the brick wall of a house overnight.

Stormy weather pummels Victoria
POLICE are warning motorists to take care on Victorian roads as wild weather wreaks havoc across the state.

Flash flooding danger for Victoria
VICTORIA State Emergency Service has ramped up its operations as torrential rain put a dampener on sporting events.

German man missing in Kakadu Park
NORTHERN Territory Police are concerned for the welfare of a 63-year-old German national who has been missing in the Kakadu National Park since yesterday.

Tats all, folks - legend inks in his retirement
THE legendary Rob Kelvin will get up from the Channel 9 news desk for the last time on December 31 to step into retirement.

KG scores ashes win
HE never played for the Ashes at Adelaide Oval, but Ken "KG" Cunningham has come up with a good alternative - scattering his ashes there.

Parks opened for development
THE State Government has given the green light to undertake development in national parks without approval under an overhaul of planning laws.

Rising attacks on health workers
HEALTH workers, including doctors and nurses are being assaulted or threatened up to 120 times a week in our public hospitals.

Paddle pool fencing confusion
PARENTS face a four-year jail term or $15,000 fine for failing to fence inflatable child paddling pools this summer.

Traders' push to rent driveways
TRADERS in the city's East End are so desperate for carparks that they are calling on local residents to rent out their driveways.

'Equality' push for sex workers
PROSTITUTES will be able to legally walk the streets soliciting business under a controversial proposal to decriminalise the South Australian sex industry.

Pair arrested for drug possession
TWO men have been arrested after the car they were in was found to be full of drugs, including 206 ecstasy tablets.

Thousands party with pride
ABOUT 70,000 of people turned out for the 21st Pride WA Parade in Northbridge last night.

Friendly nurses warned off flirting
NURSES in WA have been issued new guidelines banning flirtatious behaviour with patients.

Beach suburbs the star performers
SIXTEEN thousand homes are sitting idle on WA's property market but the lure of surf and sand means beachside suburbs have bucked the trend.

Talking toilets cost taxpayers $18m
LAVISH public loos costing $250,000 each and installed by councils across WA have cost taxpayers a total of $18 million.

Robots replace staff at Fiona Stanley hospital
ROBOTS, instead of human staff, would provide some essential services at WA's new Fiona Stanley Hospital under a plan that unions warn could cost hundreds of jobs.

Jess dripping with jewellery
WHEN it rains, it pours which is good news for Perth girl Jessica Marais, who has been showered in diamonds and pearls.

Early fire alert as 35C looms
SEVERE fire warnings across huge tracts of WA are expected this week as the mercury soars to 35C.

Police hit by drug analysis backlog
POLICE consider employing their own chemists and scientists to analyse drug samples from clandestine laboratories.

WA to house US space defence base
WA will become a key player in the battle for space supremacy, hosting a multimillion-dollar US defence base to spy on foreign satellites and watch dangerous space junk

Nothing new
=== Comments ===
Why Labor’s NBN will bite back
Piers Akerman
GAUGING by the cost of the Tasmanian roll-out and household connection to the Not Bloody Needed glass fibre broadband network, the $43 billion currently allocated will explode like a burst watermelon as it gathers pace. - They don’t know how much it will cost, but when built, it will still cost .. and be obsolete. It is a plan to pork barrel money. Gillard is approving this not because it is worthwhile .. she wants to pay off ALP mates. - ed.
===
Labor Minister accused
Andrew Bolt
How long before this story breaks wide open?
POLITICAL instability has struck Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s ministry over allegations about the personal behaviour of a Cabinet minister.

In the first sign of trouble for the minority Labor government, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal an MP has approached Ms Gillard’s office to raise concerns about a minister’s behaviour.

Senior party figures are concerned by the allegations, fearing they could derail the Government’s one-seat majority.

But the minister’s supporters argue the allegations of poor conduct are part of a concerted campaign to undermine him.

Ms Gillard’s office is treating the allegations as manoeuvring about future leadership positions - a dangerous sign for the fledgling government.
For the moment, though, we’re all being careful:
The minister himself has strongly denied any wrongdoing and has said the allegations are untrue.

“I have a categorical denial for you,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

“If you name me, I will sue.”
But the word is spreading fast:
Canberra is awash with speculation about the minister’s conduct. His behaviour is being discussed openly by Labor MPs, fellow ministers and the backbench.

More than a dozen MPs, ministers and senior party figures have spoken to The Sunday Telegraph about the allegations.
(Thanks to several readers.)

UPDATE

The allegation involves purely personal behavior of no consequence at all to public policy even if the allegation were true, which is denied. And it’s alleged behavior which, if true, is of the kind which has been indulged in by dozens of other MPs and hundreds of journalists.
===
Victorians now pay the price for Labor’s dam madness
Andrew Bolt
A dam on the Mitchell, producing three times the water, would have cost just $1.4 billion. But now the price of Labor’s green crusade starts to be felt:
THE true costs of Australia’s largest desalination plant are becoming clearer, with Melburnians said to be facing another doubling of water bills to pay for the Brumby government’s $5.7 billion plant.

Consumers, who have already been slugged with a doubling of bills from 2009 to 2013, face further hikes as Melbourne Water’s costs soar, an analysis of Auditor-General figures shows.

In the face of the government’s repeated refusals to reveal the bill increases for desalinated water, the opposition has analysed figures in the Auditor-General’s October finance report and found that Melbourne Water’s costs per kilolitre, or 1000 litres, could increase by up to 130 per cent.
But NSW taxpayers shouldn’t crow. Green policies are killing them, too:
HOUSEHOLDS will pay an extra $600 on their electricity bill over six years to cover the $2 billion cost of the failure of the state government’s overly generous solar power scheme.
But now that NSW has slashed the solar power subsidy, guess which state now runs the most expensive in the land, leaving taxpayers with the big bills? But will Victoria’s green-infused Opposition make an issue of it?

(Thanks to reader CA.)
===
It’s the Greens way - to live off what they so lightly condemn
Andrew Bolt
Next they’ll tell me he uses airplanes and lights his house with power from coal-fired power stations, too:
THE Greens candidate for Melbourne in the state election is working for a company that mines “dirty” brown coal.

Barrister Brian Walters is running for the key inner-city seat in the November 27 election while able to earn up to $7000 a day defending La Trobe Valley mining partner Downer EDI in a workplace death case.

And financial documents show Mr Walters has also bought into the Queensland resources boom by investing in industrial factories at Rockhampton.
(Thanks to readersmum of 5.)

UPDATE

Greens leader Bob Brown this morning defended Walters, saying a barrister had a duty to accept a brief even from someone with whom they disapproved.

Let’s leave aside the fact that a barrister can in fact pick and choose his cases, and look instead at Brown’s hypocrisy.

Here is a man who demands we refuse Singapore’s dollars - offered for a takeover of the Australian Securities Exchange - on the grounds that Singapore’s government threatens the human rights of its citizens, yet approves of a Greens candidate taking dollars from an industry it claims threatens all life on the planet.
===
Visit London and breed. They’ll pay and house you well
Andrew Bolt
Max Hastings on the British Government’s attempts to cut back on a welfare rort that puts welfare recipients with huge families in London houses that most taxpayers could never afford themselves:
Boris Johnson wants (Prime Minister) David Cameron’s job, and there is almost nothing London’s ­Mayor will not say or do to get it. On Thursday, he delighted Labour and enraged fellow- Conservative ministers by declaring on BBC Radio London: ‘We will not accept a kind of Kosovo-style social cleansing of London....’

This was Johnson’s response to the Government’s plans to cap housing benefit for every family in the land at £21,000 a year (or £400 a week)…

Even by understated official statistics, more than a third of today’s Londoners were born in another country, so Britain’s capital has become an international city or a foreign one, according to your point of view. Many of its lower-paid residents receive welfare payments including housing benefits…

Implausibly, Boris Johnson is making common cause with the Left-wing commentariat, who are spitting with rage about housing benefit…

In the case of housing benefit, the Toynbee-Johnson argument is that London is an extraordinarily expensive city, in which the poor must have assistance to live, unless we want to expel them..

Some of this is true. But the foes of reform ignore a critical truth: like all things, housing benefit must stop somewhere. The numbers have gone crazy. Some families are costing the taxpayer not £20,000 a year, but £30,000, £40,000, even in one supreme case £104,000 a year.

Any working citizen willing to pay even £20,000 to rent a property — which is not a deductible expense — would need to be a higher-rate taxpayer and commit almost £40,000 of his income to do so.

Do Boris Johnson and Polly Toynbee want us to house those who cannot afford their own accommodation at a cost which no middle manager or police superintendent or even junior banker could afford?
The examples are astonishing and explain much about third-world immigration to Britain, welfarism and a growing resentment of those who feel they are being taken advantage of:
(Thanks to reader Shane. For those with poor eyesight, the graphic is more easily read at the link.)
===
The Green House brawl
Andrew Bolt
Just how environmentally friendly is that green-rated house really?
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and its founders have been named as defendants in a class action lawsuit filed in federal court. Filed on behalf of mechanical systems designer Henry Gifford, owner of Gifford Fuel Saving, ....the suit argues that USGBC is fraudulently misleading consumers and fraudulently misrepresenting energy performance of buildings certified under its LEED rating systems, and that LEED is harming the environment by leading consumers away from using proven energy-saving strategies…

To support this allegation Gifford relies heavily on his critique of a 2008 study from New Buildings Institute (NBI) and USGBC that is, to date, the most comprehensive look at the actual energy performance of buildings certified under LEED… While the NBI study makes the case that LEED buildings are, on average, 25–30 percent more efficient than the national average, Gifford published his own analysis in 2008 concluding that LEED buildings are, on average, 29 percent less efficient....

Asked why he is motivated to go to court, Gifford says, “I’m afraid that in a few years somebody really evil will publicize the fact that green buildings don’t save energy and argue that the only solution [to resource constraints] is more guns to shoot at the people who have oil underneath their sand.”
Oh.

(Thanks to reader D.)
===
Where the Greens recruit
Andrew Bolt
James Patterson explains why universities are churning out whole regiments of Greens voters:
Data from the 2007 Australian Election Study, collected by the Australian National University, showed voters with higher education qualifications were much likelier than the general population to identify with the Greens.

In the overall population, the study found just 5.8 per cent of voters identified with the Greens. But among those with a bachelor’s degree, that rose to 11.1 per cent, and 12.9 per cent among those with postgraduate qualifications…

Among the general population, about one-third of respondents identified with the broad Right, while 27.7 per cent identified with the broad Left. Yet significantly more people with university-level education self-identified as left-wing, including 42.4 per cent of people with a bachelor’s degree and 44.6 per cent of postgraduate qualification holders.

So, what explains the higher levels of support for the Greens? It should not necessarily follow that more education equates to more left-wing views. After all, what does a bachelor of engineering, science or commerce teach students about gay marriage or refugees?…

It is no coincidence the institutions that churn out these graduates are dominated by left-wing academics…

In 2008 the Senate inquired into the issue and, despite the overwhelming majority of individual submissions reporting instances of academic bias, the Labor-Greens majority on the committee dismissed the idea bias was a problem in Australian universities.

The Liberal minority report, however, argued the evidence presented at the hearings by students and representative organisations suggested it was a problem. Students complained they were treated as pariahs if they expressed centre-right views and felt excluded and vilified because of their politics.

Studies in the US make it clear that academe is almost exclusively dominated by the Left. One, published by The New York Times in 2004, showed registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans in humanities departments seven to one.

As an undergraduate student at the University of Melbourne during the past five years, I’ve witnessed and been subject to multiple instances of academic bias…

An introductory politics subject, Contemporary Ideologies and Movements, devoted one week to liberalism and conservatism. For the following 11 weeks, it examined different variants of socialism and green ideology as well as feminist and lesbian political movements.

Worse, the required reading on liberalism was not John Stuart Mill or Friedrich Hayek but an expose on the social lives of Young Liberals published in The Monthly magazine.
I’d also add that those who depend on the government for their income would be more inclined to think a bigger government a good thing.
===
When a university runs a cattle station….
Andrew Bolt

What Charles Darwin University sold to prospective students:
Charles Darwin University campuses and study centres are spread throughout the Northern Territory from the tropical Top End to the deserts of Central Australia… Students who undertake study at the Northern Territory Rural College, Katherine, have access to Mataranka Station, a working cattle station providing hands-on experience in rural studies.
“Hands on”? A “working” cattle station?

The latest news:
The Northern Territory Ombudsman says Charles Darwin University has not explained how 800 cattle starved to death on its teaching and commercial cattle station.

The Ombudsman Carolyn Richards has released her report into the deaths that happened between September last year and May this year at Mataranka Station.

The report has criticised the university and government departments for taking six months to properly respond to reports about the animal neglect.
(Thanks to reader Steve.)
===
Their local Christian minister may be boring, but safer
Andrew Bolt

Patronising a sweet native custom may have sweet natives taking the mickey out of you.

And now it’s become an international incident:
The Maldives Police Service have arrested two men involved in the infamous ‘wedding’ ceremony at Vilu Reef Resort and Spa, in which the ‘celebrant’ and up to 15 complicit members of staff degrade and humiliate a Swiss couple in Dhivehi…

Maldives Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed issued a state apology to the couple, who have not been identified but are believed to be from Switzerland.
(Thanks to readers Paul and David.)
===
Roy shouldn’t be there, yet has graced Parliament
Andrew Bolt
I think a 20-year-old has seen and learned too little to be a federal Member of Parliament. I think a 20-year-old is too callow and unformed to already commit himself to one side of politics for the rest of his career. And I also think Wyatt Roy gave a fine maiden speech and has a great career ahead of him:
I am immensely proud of the fact that I am a young person elected to this Parliament. I am immensely proud of the fact that it was the Liberal National Party and the Liberal Party federally that has recognised that our Parliament works more effectively and better government is delivered when we bring a diverse background of people to this place.

Mr Speaker

I am humbled and proud of the fact that here on the Coalition benches I am joined by the Member for Hasluck – Ken Wyatt.

I am proud to have found my political home in the Liberal National Party, the side of politics that is the home for not only the Member for Hasluck, the Member for Solomon and me, in this Parliament, but also the side of politics which provided the first federal woman MP, Dame Enid Lyons; the first woman to administer a Department, Dame Annabelle Rankin; and her successor representing Queensland in the Senate, the first Indigenous parliamentarian, Neville Bonner.

I am proud to come from the Party which appointed the first Aboriginal Affairs Minister and the first Federal Minister for the Environment.

And of course the first female ever elected to the Parliament of Queensland, also came from this side of politics. That was Irene Longman, and I am privileged to represent the seat named in her honour.

These firsts represent real and practical outcomes that we have achieved based on the merit of the individual – not an unfair quota system.

It is the Liberal side of politics that believes that liberalism is the path to greater fairness, but enforced equality never liberates.
One thing more. I also think Roy has a confidence that must come from a loving family:
Two minutes into her son’s speech, Mrs Roy was wiping away tears. Wyatt’s dad Henry and his younger sister Dayna could not keep the smiles off their faces…

Mr Roy spoke of the challenges on his road to the election and the lessons of life his father Henry had helped him to learn.

“My upbringing influenced the political path I have taken . . . I see my own personal story as a Liberal story, a story of opportunity and enterprise,” Mr Roy said.

“My father has taught me the importance of service, of compassion, of responsibility and of quiet but steadfast pride in our country.”

As Mr Roy’s father left the chamber he told The Australian through tears: “That’s my boy he is. I’m so proud.”

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points: Bad news continues for the Democrats - 10/29/10

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Headlines Saturday 30th October 2010

=== Todays Toon ===
Q and A - Question and Attack.
John Howard says Q&A shoe attack 'all in a night's work' - ZEG
It may all be coincidence. But then the extreme left ABC would have that kind of coincidence, wouldn't it? That the tweet was shown is evidence alone of a fall in standards on the ABC. Also the issue with the Hicks interview that was recorded for the show supposed to be live. Mr Howard was live, while the fake set ups were entirely of the left's dementia - ed
=== Bible Quote ===
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”- Romans 12:1
=== Headlines ===
Bomb Materials Confirmed in Shipment From Yemen to Chicago
Obama confirms a 'credible terrorist threat,' capping a tense daylong drama, in which federal authorities ground UPS planes at two airports and escort a passenger jet to N.Y. based on fears of a mail-bomb plot by Al Qaeda targeting Jewish places of worship.

Poll: Obama Hits New Low, Frustrations High
Just days before the election, voter frustration with the government spikes as Obama's job approval hits a record low, signaling trouble for incumbent majority Dems, a Fox News poll finds

NASA Covering Up The 100-Year Starship?
Did NASA official spill the space beans about a new propulsion technology that will carry Earthling colonists to Mars and beyond — but with no hope of return?

DOD: Marine Marathon Could Be Target
Pentagon officials worry the person responsible for at least three military-related shootings around Washington, D.C. — and possibly a fourth this morning at Marine Corps Museum — could target Sunday's Marine Corps Marathon

Obama confirms explosives found on plane
PRESIDENT Barack Obama confirmed today that suspicious packages found aboard cargo planes in Dubai and central England contained explosive materials.

Airport bomb scare sparks terror alert
TWO suspicious packages intercepted on cargo planes in transit to the United States were addressed to religious institutions in Chicago.

Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano erupts
INDONESIA'S Mount Merapi volcano has erupted violently, spreading panic and raining ash more than 12 kilometres away, witnesses say.

Launch of space shuttle Discovery delayed
NASA puts back launch by at least 24 hours because of a leak in space shuttle's pressurisation system.

Bodies seen near Antarctic chopper wreck
SEARCHERS spot three bodies near wreckage of a helicopter which crashed in Antarctica leaving four Frenchmen missing

Jail sentence for drunken officer
AS a police officer, Glen Campbell had a duty to arrest drink drivers, not become one. He was jailed for 17 months for drink-driving.

$750,000 payout for water slip
A HEAVILY pregnant woman slipped on water at Woolworths up to 20 minutes after another customer reported the spillage.

Dr Harry makes Zoe's dream come true
SHE'S only four years old but little Zoe dreams of becoming a vet. So, if there was one person she wanted to meet, it was Dr Harry Cooper.

Life jacket laws for boating kids
THE Harbour City has a love affair with water and new laws will help guarantee it's also a long one. Kids must wear life jackets.

Pennies earned for life after jail
EVER the opportunist, jailed conman Brad Cooper has spent his final few months in prison earning $50 a week scrubbing corridors.

Please, just call us, Matthew
MATTHEW Appleby's distraught father James publicly appealed for his son to contact someone.

Rhoades in a hole lot of trouble
HE'S got the name to make government focus on basics. But Keith Rhoades' figures aren't promising.

Medich's fall from grace complete
RON Medich's Point Piper mansion is a world away from his cell in Silverwater Jail. Take an inside look via video inside his former home.

Tender moment, then off to prison
THE second-in-command of the Notorious bikies was granted a loving moment with his baby girl.

Pubs to pay for a safe trip home
DRINKERS at Sydney's troublespot venues could soon get free or discounted taxi rides home.

Halloween - treat or trick?
FROM pumpkin-carving competitions to trick or treating, Queenslanders are becoming hooked on Halloween despite having no idea what it means.

MP slams sordid shirt slogan
OUTRAGE over a T-shirt depicting a woman bound in bondage gear with the slogan ''relax it's just sex'' has sparked a demand they be removed from sale.

Govt blamed for water price hikes
WATER is the top cost-of-living concern among southeast Queensland residents, most of whom put the blame for skyrocketing prices on the State Government.

Burgo brings back the mo
EIGHTEEN-years after Wheel of Fortune host John Burgess shaved his famous moustache off for charity, he will grow it back for the same reason.

Mansion glut on millionaire isle
WANT a luxury mansion with waterfront views on the Gold Coast's exclusive Sovereign Islands? Well, more than a quarter of the plush properties there are for sale.

Qld looks abroad in skills crisis
A LOOMING skills crisis will force Queensland to look to overseas migration to supply thousands of skilled workers.

Super falls short of retiree dream
QUEENSLANDERS want to travel in retirement but only one in three have saved enough to receive a weekly superannuation payout of $100.

Barrister in on Morcombe case
AN elite barrister will be hired to dissect Queensland's most evil minds in a bid to unlock the mystery surrounding Daniel Morcombe's disappearance.

Courier-Mail writer wins News award
THE Courier-Mail and Qweekend's Trent Dalton has taken out the Feature Journalist of the Year award at the prestigious News Awards.

Man caught after car chase drama
THE man pursued by police in a dramatic car chase which started on the Gold Coast has been caught south of Brisbane.

New suburb to push city limits
MELBOURNE'S biggest and newest suburb, expected to house 55,000, will aim to be a "self-contained" town, Mr Madden says.

Cab gripes soar as drivers squeezed
COMPLAINTS against drivers have soared in the past year and the fact they get paid as little as $7 an hour may have something to do with it.

Victoria racing towards wet weather
RACEGOERS have been warned that they risk hypothermia as cold conditions are forecast for the Derby, Cup and Oaks Day.

Rider dies after slamming into car
A 54-YEAR-OLD motorcyclist was killed after a collision with a car in Walsh Road, Warrnambool last evening.

Plan to axe Melbourne tram stops
A PLAN to close a quarter of Melbourne's tram stops has been revealed in confidential documents to the Federal Government.

McEvoy riding for his life
KERRIN McEvoy's recovery from a fall that could easily have killed him and return to the saddle has been a sporting miracle.

Hot seats will decide election
LABOR is facing a growing threat that unhappy Victorian voters will decide it is "time for change".

Boxer knocks out party mum
FORMER Olympic boxer Stephen Sutherland has been found guilty of punching a woman at a 16th birthday party.

Shoppers rush in for Stella
SHOPPERS stormed racks for first bite at famous British designer Stella McCartney's new cut-price collection.

Police email scandal sacking
VICTORIA Police has sacked one of three officers who joked about the electrocution death of an Indian train passenger.

Nothing new

Why your profile picture says it all
FOR some, it barely warrants a thought. Others put consideration into their choices and many change regularly.

Schools set to dumb down history
THE Vietnam War and women's influence down the years will be cut significantly from the national curriculum to reduce the amount students have to learn in history lessons.

Push for injecting rooms
DOCTORS are calling for state governments, including South Australia's, to create safe drug-use spaces.

Golden age of drag racing
HERE'S a BMW that's pure gold. Well, almost.

Good and the bad of development
APPROVAL for Port Augusta housing below the future sea level caused by climate change has raised the ire of the Civic Trust in its annual Awards and Brickbats.

Ride of Kerrin's life
STREAKY Bay's favourite son, Kerrin McEvoy, four months ago broke a vertebra in a horror race fall which could well have claimed his life.

Advertiser, AdelaideNow win awards
THE Advertiser and AdelaideNow received two of the top honours at last night's prestigious News Awards.

Annesley: We're a small school now
THE woman charged with turning around troubled Annesley College has told teachers, parents and students that they must accept it is now a small school.

Man killed on Kangaroo Island
A MAN has been killed in a three-vehicle crash on the Playford Highway near Kingscote on Kangaroo Island.

Police dog finds building intruder
A POLICE dog helped snare a man who was allegedly illegally inside a Green Fields business this morning.

Mystery man linked to Dianella shooting
POLICE are hunting another man in relation to last Saturday's Dianella shooting that left Rebels bikie nominee Mario Perrin dead.

Man gets life for de facto murder
A 30-year-old man has been jailed for life for the stabbing murder of his de facto during a drunken argument in a remote West Australian town.

Cable Beach croc moves on
THE crocodile which has been stalking Broome's Cable Beach has not been seen in the past 24 hours, wildlife officers say, in a sign the tourist spot may be reopened.

Police seek help on bizarre assault
POLICE are seeking public help to solve an assault on a woman and a good samaritan who came to her aid in Victoria Park last Thursday.

Bilbies released in extinction zone
DOZENS of bilbies have been released into Tone-Perup Nature Reserve, near Manjimup, to re-establish the species which had become locally extinct.

Perth house prices slump in September
THE time is ripe for those looking for opportunities in the property market as house prices in Perth slump 4.3 per cent in the September quarter.

Machete used in home invasion
POLICE are hunting a couple who broke into an Ocean Reef home and attacked a man with a machete early today.

Man, 23, charged over theft spree
POLICE have charged a 23-year-old Midvale man over a string of thefts from properties throughout the metropolitan area and southern WA.

Boat numbers outstrip Howard peak
THE number of asylum-seekers arriving in Australian waters this year is set to outstrip the highest number under the Howard government.

Nothing new
=== Journalists Corner ===
DEVELOPING STORY: Suspicious Packages Found in U.S. & U.K.
Authorities discover suspicious packages in multiple cities across the United States and England, leading the U.S. to investigate if this a possible dry run for a terror plot.
===
Ballot Battle: We're Broke, Who's Booted?
Spiraling debt, no jobs, taxes and health care woes. America wants solutions ... NOW. So, what will it take to get us back on track?
===
Sunday: Special LIVE Programming
On the verge of these historic elections, we're live with a special day of programming!
===
Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly Preview Election Day
With Capitol Hill control & America's political agenda at stake, Bret Baier & Megyn Kelly break down every critical race!
On Fox News Insider
Did Clinton Ask Meek to Forfeit Florida Race?
WATCH: Marco Rubio Reacts to Meek Rumor
READ: Greta Van Susteren Previews Sunday's Special 'On the Record'
=== Comments ===
Gillard’s pygmy sell-out
Piers Akerman
THE Gillard Labor Government is stuck in electioneering mode like a dicky DVD.

It meets every opportunity to address the future with a return to the past.

The solemn promises it made in the August election campaign have been broken or shelved because they were undeliverable. Now, the failed pink batts insulation scheme, solar rebate program, the wasteful BER project and the disastrous Not Bloody Needed broadband rollout will dog Labor all the way to the next election.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s response to her government’s multitude of failures is defiance.

She has branded the Opposition’s views as “economic Hansonism’’, a dog whistle if there ever was one, but when Opposition Leader Tony Abbott denounced her language as “shrill and aggressive’’ he was set upon by a coven of feminazis outraged at implied sexism in his language.

They apparently had nothing to say about her belittling of Pauline Hanson.

Senator Stephen Conroy handed the Opposition a bonus with attempts to bully Australians into the NBN.

His refusal to provide any coherent guideline to the eventual cost to taxpayers of his monopolistic enterprise is a sound reason to distrust his every word about it.

And Gillard has been forced to reassess the wisdom of supporting the independence it initially claimed for the Murray Darling Basin Authority in the face of a predictable backlash from farmers and communities along the river system.

Strikingly, Labor is now acknowledging those who live on or near the Murray may know more about the river than any number of Greens and Labor activists living in Newtown or inner Melbourne.

Like the monstrous mining tax problem which Gillard assured the nation she had solved, the Murray Darling issue is no closer to resolution than the national health reform package signed by her predecessor Kevin Rudd, which still fails to encompass Western Australia.

When Gillard came to office she claimed she had reached a deal with East Timor for an offshore processing centre that would resolve the boat people issue and stop the flow of boats.

The East Timor solution was dead on delivery, as Rudd told his staff at the time. He didn’t support it then and is only paying lip service to the notion now. It is not going to fly. Ever.

Since Gillard’s laughable proposal, the RAN has delivered taken an all-time record number of illegal people smuggler boats have been delivered to Christmas Island, with a record number of illegal entrants going ashore.

This week Gillard spoke to the Australian Industry Group, self-interested, self-important business personalities which, under the leadership of Heather Ridout has become an ALP appendix.

Gillard gave the guests a rousing stump speech, claiming to be committed to economic reform.

One can only assume the guests were too polite to walk out, but anyone familiar with Gillard’s record would be excused for having done so.

Since entering Parliament in 1998, Gillard added her vote to entrenched Labor opposition against reforming legislation. She opposed legislation to reduce the lowest marginal tax rate from 17 per cent to 15 per cent and increase the top two personal income tax thresholds.

She opposed an increase in the income threshold for the Medicare Levy, and she opposed the introduction of the 30 per cent Private Health Insurance rebate and the abolition of the 15 per cent superannuation surcharge.

She was opposed to the GST.

Those employers politely applauding her remarks on Tuesday should have been aware she opposed legislation to ban secondary boycotts and to ban compulsory union fees.

She opposed proposals to toughen welfare to work requirements, and to give protection to the right of Australia’s 1.9 million independent contractors to remain self-employed.

This self-proclaimed reformer worked with the historically corrupt MUA to block waterfront reforms which have seen productivity levels escalate beyond what she, and the trade union movement she represented, claimed possible.

Gillard opposed every single Coalition Budget measure that turned Hawke-Keating Labor government deficits into surpluses and left the Rudd government with a bomb-proofed economy that enabled Australia to ride out the global financial crisis.

Her speech was fiction. Just like the undertaking she before the election that her government would not introduce a carbon tax - now rejected to placate Labor’s great big Green rump and the duplicitous duo of independents, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.

Gillard has a credibility problem. She has broken all her big pre-election promises and wants to reinvent herself as a reformer.

Labor is in office but the Greens are in power is the slogan Abbott coined last month.

Gillard is now enslaved to the unrepresentative Adam Bandt, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott in the Lower House.

She is handcuffed to these pygmies whether it be on the Murray Darling, the NBN, or the introduction of a carbon tax.

Pandering to independents and Greens has cost her all credibility and trashed her claim to be a reformer. - She offers nothing worthwhile to the position of PM. Andrew Bolt waxed lyrical about her in 2007, and her large number of ministries, but they all failed. I am reminded of my local state member Joe Tripodi whom I turned to for help in ‘07. I needed him to speak on my behalf, and I didn’t direct him how. My major issue being that the dead school boy Hamidur Rahman’s parents were blamed by the coroner for his accidental death, and my testimony was potentially exsculpatory, but had been apparently prevented from being seen by the coroner during their investigation through government corruption. He has done nothing for his constituent, but send a threat seconded by Della Bosca.

All it would take is for the coroner to look into the matter .. and he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. But he may be gone before it happens, but all those who are corrupt standing him up .. they will still be there until the issue is raised and addressed. I think it is a mistake to say Gillard is in control. She only ‘does what she can,’ might be how some express it, but the reality is she doesn’t even do that. She is torn by indecision. She is unused to power. She says she will turn back the boats and she knows how, but she doesn’t. She says she won’t put a price on Carbon. She knows why she shouldn’t but she will anyways. All she can do is nod permission at those who establish pork barrels for the corrupt club of mates. They don’t care about trashing Australia or the ALP.
Gillard is not in control, but that is no reason to vote Greens. Vote for the conservatives (Libs, Nats, LNP). They have an agenda which will prosper Australia. But also a vote for the conservatives is a vote that will benefit ALP supporters too. The ALP has lost all sense of direction everywhere. The conservatives will listen to ALP voters too, and work in everyone’s best interests. A vote for conservatives is a vote for a better Australia for everyone. They can cut spending and spend of sensible projects we need. Australia has wealth to share, but nobody has the kind of wealth the ALP are tossing away into their pork barrels. I thought things looked bad before the last election .. already things look much worse. A vote for the ALP was not a vote to move forward. Neither was a vote for the Greens. The only way to progress is to vote for the conservatives (Lib, Nat, LNP). Nothing points to virtues of an NBN. It is the largest pork barrel in Australian history. It will not pay for what is inferred as a promise (cabling to all house and units). It would not deliver the efficiencies it claims. It would not be as effective as a much cheaper alternative posited by the conservatives. The only supporters are vested interests .. which should tell you something.
The reason why the secrecy is in place is because it is widely known that it is a dog. If finished, it will not be an opera house, it will be obsolete. - ed

===
The 2010 Election Campaigns Are This Year's Top Reality Show
By Joe Peyronnin
I don't know about you, but I have nightmares about Rand Paul, Sharron Angle and Jerry Brown as a result of the onslaught of political ads on television these past few weeks. And, with less than a week to go, there literally isn't enough time in the day on some television stations to meet the demand for political advertising.

The din of democracy must have the Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves! TV Ad Week, a trade publication, estimates that $2 billion dollars will be spent on political ads that air on local television stations throughout the country. And, in many cases, they have generated a great deal of buzz among possible voters.

The 2010 midterm elections appear to be this year's break out hit "Reality Show."

Elections will be held for 37 Senate and 37 gubernatorial seats, and the entire House of Representatives, 435 seats. No one seems immune from the reach of political advertising this year. This is especially good news for TV stations that were clobbered by the economic downturn and are now making out like bandits. Especially since TV Ad Week estimates another $1 billion will be spent on so-called "issue" advertisements.

No doubt reflecting the polarization of the country, many campaign commercials have taken on a more negative tone this election year. In fact, there is a consistency in messaging across the country for candidates from each party. "ObamaCare is socialized medicine,” a Republican claim, while many Democrats say that their opponents want to "privatize Social Security."

What is most alarming it the trend toward personal attacks. For instance, one ad attacked Rand Paul for "worshipping the god Aqua Buddha," while another questioned how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid earned his wealth. There is no such thing as "you went too far" in political advertising.

Of course, political advertising has gone viral, and it is paying off big time for Internet companies. Whether on TV or on You Tube, candidates want a message that breaks through the political noise and connects with voters. The results can be a bit outrageous.

For instance, West Virginia's Democratic candidate for the Senate, Joe Manchin, fired a bullet through "Obama's Cap-and-Trade Bill."

Nevada's Republican candidate for the Senate, Sharron Angle, has an ad that shows evil looking young men when complaining about Senator Harry Reid's position on immigration.

Pennsylvania's Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak, holding a bag of dog poop, compares cleaning up after his dog to cleaning up his opponent's economic mess.

Polls indicate that most Americans say they are against negative ads. In fact, a recent Rasmussen poll shows that 58% of those surveyed said they would “vote for the other candidate” because of a negative poll. But political consultants know that negative ads do work. And these ads can be a decisive blow in a close race. One pundit quipped, “Every dollar spent on a positive ad is wasted!”

Come Wednesday the intensity, the insanity, of political advertising will go into hibernation. Viagra and Tums will return to prominence, a welcome relief. But, with the explosion of media outlets across all platforms, and the increasingly enormous amounts of money pouring into political campaigns, get ready for the 2012 elections!

Joe Peyronnin is a former CBS News Vice President and television executive.
===
Grow Up, Already! Calling Women Bad Names Doesn't Help Anyone
By Penny Young Nance
It’s difficult not to crow about 2010 being The Year of the Conservative Woman. Never before have so many fiscal and socially conservative women candidates covered the nation’s ballots. It is a heady time for traditional women.

These women are fighters too. Nikki Haley, Sharron Angle, Carly Fiorina and Christine O’Donnell are apparently threats to the liberal and progressive establishment, especially to the liberal women. It’s like a bad memory from middle school where mean girls rule the school and lash out when ever they feel threatened. But this time, it plays out on a national stage on network television.

Derogatory language against women running for office is nothing new. Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton and especially Sarah Palin all went through it. But the rhetoric has been particularly foul and demeaning during this election cycle. They are no longer content to criticize clothes and perceived IQ. They have moved on to character assassination and good old fashioned expletives.

In her cringe-worthy inducing tirade against Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle, The View co-host Joy Behar lambasted Angle as a “b*tch” who would be “going to h*ll” because she had ran an ad against illegal immigration. Killing Joy with kindness, Angle was the better woman when she sent Joy flowers thanking her for her help in boosting fundraising at the last minute. Of course, Ms. Behar went back on air to conduct rant number two against Angle upon receiving the bouquet.

And California GOP candidate Meg Whitman stayed classy when her opponent called her a “wh*re” while Senate Republican nominee Christine O’Donnell has had to deal with complete and utter humiliation when this week the trashy website Gawker ran an anonymous, unverifiable post about a one-night with her years ago. What word will they possibly come up with next to demean these women after already calling them a “b*tch” and “wh*re”? I’d rather not put it in print.

Where are the so-called women’s groups defending these women? The National Organization of Women actually endorsed Meg Whitman’s opponent after the wh*re comment and only after some teeth-pulling by the media did they come out against the Gawker attack on Christine O’Donnell (originally NOW spokespeople said twice they were “passing” on the story).

Perhaps more importantly, where in the world are the ABC executives denouncing Joy Behar’s unprofessional and misogynic rant against Sharron Angle? Might as well put them in the same category as NPR for their firing Juan Williams. ABCs silence is a disgusting show of intolerance towards conservative women.

Joy Behar needs to be fired, immediately. Are ABC executives hiding under their desks, afraid of her wrath? Get over it and do the right thing.

Conservative women, like Sarah Palin and all the others after her running for office these midterm elections, have played it straight and have not resorted to derogatory name-calling and high-school mean girl antics. Voters will no doubt remember these moms, and grandmas, who endured hate-filled sewage coming from the mouths of liberal pundits, candidates and so-called comedians.

This is certainly the Year of the Woman -- the conservative, principled woman who has shown her incredible inner strength when up against the most vitriol of attacks never before seen on a national political scale. It’s a real pity that much of it came from other women. Is it sexism when women hate on other women or is it just good old fashioned jealously? Grow up girls!

Penny Nance is CEO of Concerned Women for America.
===
MIDTERM MAYHEM
Tim Blair
It’s all happening in Chicago. And later in DC – details to follow
===
Hockey isn’t just taking hits
Andrew Bolt
I’m no fan of populist bank-bashing, but I think Joe Hockey is being accused of more than he’s actually done - and probably isn’t having the worst of it in this exchange, repaying a cheap shot with a bazooka:
THE shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, is stepping up his campaign against the big banks, attacking the huge salaries paid to chief executives and promising private member’s legislation to implement tougher competition rules.

Mr Hockey brushed off a personal attack by the ANZ chief executive, Mike Smith, pointing out that Mr Smith earned $50,000 a day while the mortgagees the Coalition was worried about earned $50,000 a year.

Mr Smith had accused Mr Hockey of ‘’hijacking’’ the Coalition’s economic credentials with his ‘’out-there proposals’’, comparing him with the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez.
===
Rove says Palin lacks “gravitas”
Andrew Bolt

I’m not sure Sarah Palin has spent the past two years well to prepare herself to be a credible presidential nominee, and Karl Rove is downright dismissive:
SARAH Palin has been rebuffed as a candidate for president at a senior level of the Republican Party.

Former White House strategist Karl Rove has said she lacks “gravitas”.

The former Republican vice-presidential candidate confirmed yesterday that she would challenge President Barack Obama in 2012 “if there’s nobody else to do it"… Over the past month she has campaigned for Republican candidates backed by the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement, from which she draws much encouragement for a White House bid.

Mr Rove cast doubt on Ms Palin’s suitability, singling out the former Alaskan governor’s appearance in a reality TV show filmed in her home state.

“I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of ‘that helps me see you in the Oval Office’,” Mr Rove told The Daily Telegraph of London.

He pointed to an ad for her new show in which she says: “I’d rather be doing this than (be) in some stuffy old political office.”
Maybe her inclinations are telling her something. - another Bolt broadside on a good conservative - ed
===
The packages aren’t of Talmuds, but…
Andrew Bolt
I doubt the reaction is about nothing, but it’s an odd-sounding plot:
BARACK Obama has announced stepped up security at US airports after the discovery of two packages containing explosive material.

The discovery of the suspicious packages on cargo planes in transit for the United States sparked an international security alert.

The President confirmed today that the packages—found in Dubai and East Midlands in Britain—had originated in Yemen and were bound for Jewish synagogues in Chicago.
More:
One of the packages was found aboard a cargo plane in Dubai, the other in England. Preliminary tests indicated the packages contained the powerful industrial explosive PETN, the same chemical used in the Christmas attack, U.S. officials said. The tests had not been confirmed.

In the U.S., cargo planes were searched up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and an Emirates Airlines passenger jet was escorted down the coast to New York by American fighter jets.

No explosives were found aboard those planes, though the investigation was continuing on at least two.
UPDATE
One suspicious package, found in the United Kingdom, contained a “manipulated” toner cartridge and had white powder on it as well as wires and a circuit board, a law enforcement source said.

“The size and shape of the printed circuit board are typical to a handset cell-phone-type device,” said Olivier Clerc, the head of application engineering for a wireless phone parts manufacturer, who provided an analysis of the circuit board shown in a photograph obtained by CNN.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points: President Obama And The Upcoming Election - 10/28/10

Special Report with Bret Baier: "Political Grapevine" - 10/28/10

Headlines Friday 29th October 2010

=== Todays Toon ===

===Bible Quote ===
“For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.”- 1 Peter 1:24-25
=== Headlines ===
PC REVOLUTION: Google OS Aims to Kill Off Your Hard Drive
Google moves to make Windows and Macintosh obsolete with its new operating system Chrome OS, which enables users to access, operate, and edit all their files on the Internet.

Is Health Care Law Doomed After Election?
5 DAYS TO DECIDE: Republicans are touting the backlash against Obama's signature legislation, but Dems warn an election victory wouldn't mean a mandate to repeal

Ah, Now It All Makes Sense...
The Right might want to be a bit more forgiving of the Left as a new study reveals the existence of a 'liberal gene' — proving it really is in their blood

NYPD Issues Terror Memo After D.C. Plot
NYPD says in a memo that public transportation is a 'highly attractive' target for terrorists after feds arrest a Virginia man who thought he was aiding an Al Qaeda attack in Washington, D.C. area

Mariah Carey confirms pregnancy
MARIAH Carey confirmed the worst-kept secret in Hollywood in an interview airing overnight, revealing, "Yes, we are pregnant - this is true".

ASEAN leaders tackle regional issues
SOUTH-EAST Asian leaders are tackling issues buffeting the region, including currency tensions, territorial disputes and Burma's flawed election plans, at a summit in Vietnam's capital.

McDonald's fined for obese employee
A BRAZILIAN court has ordered McDonald's to pay a former franchise manager $US17,500 ($18,000) because he gained 29kg while working there 12 years.

Global warming 'due to humans'
GLOBAL warming exists and is unquestionably due to human activity, the French Academy of Science has said in a report written by 120 scientists from France and abroad.

Militants publicly execute teen girls
SOMALIA'S al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab group has publicly executed two teenage girls in the central town of Beledweyne on charges of spying, witnesses say

Smoky Dawson's widow dies at 104
DOT Dawson, one of the first women broadcasters to work for the ABC during World War II, has died at her Sydney nursing home.

New deal pushes childcare up $9
THE price of childcare for children under two will need to increase to pay for new rules requiring centres to hire more staff, report says.

The great Sydney ibis drought
THE end of the drought might provide Sydney with another benefit besides cheaper food - the exodus of the city's most hated bird.

New trial granted for mercy killer
SHIRLEY Justins, the woman who killed her partner of 18 years with a euthanasia drug, had her manslaughter conviction quashed.

Police go bush for Matthew
THE search for a missing teenager whom police gave up for dead was resumed after several reported sightings of the boy.

Greens back law for Labor
A GREENS MP has done a deal with Premier Kristina Keneally to pass political donations laws.

Patchy effort or repaired pothole?
READERS have inundated us with pothole problems, asking that we pursue local authorities.

Giant monsters in the water
GIANT sharks are stalking Sydney beaches, hunting whales and large schools of bait fish.

Westfield Sydney brings opening bargains
SHOPPERS have been going crazy today after Westfield opened its next flagship shopping centre in Sydney.

All-clear for abortion drug
TWO Queensland public hospitals are about to begin prescribing the abortion drug RU486 for the first time as doctors renew calls for terminations to be decriminalised.

Two seriously hurt in car crash
TWO people have been flown to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a car smashed into a power pole near Gatton, west of Brisbane.

Election puts murder trial in limbo
MID-TERM elections in the US will offer a potential lifeline to ''Honeymoon Killer'' Gabe Watson if Alabama's new attorney-general opposes his murder trial.

Retail fury at 5-day long weekend
QUEENSLAND will get a once-in-a-generation five-day long weekend early next year. - but retailers are not happy.

Backflip over paper ticket move
A PLAN to phase out the popular paper tickets on southeast Queensland's public transport network has been scrapped by the State Government.

Daniel family want crim's evidence
A CRIMINAL jailed for abducting and sexually assaulting a young boy is the "person of interest" the Morcombe family most wants to give evidence.

Affordable housing boost
AT least $5000 could be slashed from the cost of building a new one-bedroom unit under council plans to speed up development and boost affordable housing.

Fire crews put out salon fire
FIRE crews rushed to New farm hairdresser Aquae Sulis after a dryer caught fire about 6pm.

Journalist's work up for AFI gong
A DEBUT screenplay about a young man's chance encounter with God has bagged Courier-Mail QWeekend writer Trent Dalton an AFI nomination.

Soldiers return from Afghanistan
EIGHTY Australian soldiers have reunited with family and friends as they returned from an eight-month stint in Afghanistan.

Airborne car lands on bed
A MAN'S life was saved by a late night after a car crashed into his house and landed on his bed early this morning.

Hunt for knife-wielding carjacker
A KNIFE was used in a car jacking in Collingwood last night, which saw the victim hit in the head, held and robbed.

Thanks Mummy, you're a lifesaver
FOR Traralgon mother Dee-Anne Mohi, repeatedly rushing back into a burning building to save her sons wasn't brave - it was simply instinct.

Triple treat as students start exams
ALMOST 50,000 VCE students cleared a major hurdle when they completed the first of their written exams, English.

Metro a hub of underground activity
MELBOURNE'S City Square is set to make way for a massive underground railway station that will transform Swanston St.

Save energy, save cash
HOUSEHOLDS will get price discounts on energy-efficient appliances that could cut power bills by up to $500 a year.

Spray before fatal shots on Tyler
POLICE sprayed Tyler Cassidy with capsicum foam before he ran into a skate park where he was shot dead, a court has heard.

Drunken thugs staying at home
POLICE say they have won the opening battle, but the war is not over on alcohol-fuelled thuggery in our city.

Nothing new

I'm not out of Cup yet
DON'T write me off for the Melbourne Cup just yet. I'm still a chance to be there. I've had a couple of ordinary days due to the bloody Melbourne weather, that's all.

Who are these men anyway?
THE race for the position of Lord Mayor of Adelaide has stepped up between Ralph Clarke and Francis Wong - but it appears city centre people don't know who they are.

Mt Barker gridlock traffic fear
DOUBLING the size of Mount Barker will lead to traffic gridlock in the eastern suburbs from the tollgate to the CBD, a public meeting at Parliament House was told yesterday.

Getting a kick out of exercise
THE moves have been tamed and the music altered but these children, some as young as four, are the latest to embrace Latin dance craze Zumba.

Pink man's brush with fame
THERE is a great divide in Ginger Wikilyiri's painting, Kunumata, which goes on show at the Art Gallery of South Australia today.

Grille marks Muriel's fight for rights
AN OTHERWISE unremarkable ironwork grille commemorates one of the most significant moments in the women's suffrage movement.

Sex industry won't give up
SOUTH Australia's sex industry will keep fighting until prostitution is decriminalised, they say.

Hajib ruling must be made
AN Islamic woman has fled Question Time in tears after a botched publicity stunt sparked a row over whether Muslim headwear was forbidden in Parliament.

Clipsal 500 must appeal to all
THE Clipsal 500 must continue to create new attractions to maintain and increase its success, the event's new boss Mark Warren says.

I cannot forgive him at the moment
THE grieving husband of a road crash victim has accepted an apology from the driver responsible but admits he can't yet move on from the tragedy

Wildlife officers can't get shot of croc
WILDLIFE officers have tried to shoot a crocodile that keeps returning to Broome's Cable Beach after failing to scare it away or capture it.

Pilot cops broken bottle in face
A YOUNG pilot was lucky to escape without serious eye damage after he was struck with a broken bottle in an unprovoked attack in Leederville.

Man, 21, charged over head-kicking
A 21-YEAR-OLD East Victoria Park man has been charged with assault over a vicious attack in the carpark of the Burswood Dome in the early hours of Sunday, October 17.

Two hurt in bottle attacks
TWO men were injured overnight when they were hit over the head with bottles in separate incidents in Mandurah and Leederville.

Motorcyclist killed in collision
A MOTORCYCLIST has died in hospital after a crash in Forrestfield yesterday afternoon.

Nothing new
=== Journalists Corner ===
Commander in Chief Turned Comedian!
'The Factor' analyzes President Obama's 'Daily Show' performance.

Plus earlier today, Karl Rove weighed in on the president's appearance, saying he had a "self-pitying" tone:
===
This Week on 'Special Report'
Tonight, it's the final midterm strategy from Tim Kaine. Then Friday, Michael Steele takes the floor.
===
Fox News Channel's Election Night Coverage!
During these midterms, only Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and the most powerful political team have fair and balanced coverage! Plus, insight from Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Greta Van Susteren.
On Fox News Insider
Best and Worst Campaigners of the 2010 Election Season
Polls Show Women Voters Have Shifted to GOP
Video: Tim McGraw Gives Gwyneth Paltrow Advice on Performing Live
Michelle Malkin on Obama's Serious Side on the 'Daily Show'
=== Comments ===
Why NPR and PBS Do Not Deserve Our Money
BY BILL O'REILLY

A few months ago, far-left bomb-thrower Bill Moyers gave up his weekly news analysis program on PBS, an exposition that often enraged conservatives because it was so one-sided. Moyers was the biggest name on PBS for almost 40 years, and there were few right-wing voices there to counter him.

One of the reasons the Democratic Party is in so much trouble this year is the massive federal spending. Since Nancy Pelosi became speaker of the House in 2007, almost $5 trillion has been added to the national debt.

And what do we have to show for that? Well, Mrs. Pelosi does ride home to San Francisco in a taxpayer-funded private jet. That's one thing.

This year the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will receive $420 million taxpayer dollars, almost a half-billion in federal funding. Some of that money will go to NPR, the committed left-wing radio network that recently fired Juan Williams.

"Talking Points" has analyzed both NPR and PBS to see how their analysts break down. Of the 18 names we looked at, 17 are liberal-leaning individuals. One, David Brooks, is a moderate. There are no conservative analysts on NPR or PBS.

So is that fair?

Forty percent of Americans describe themselves as conservative; just 20 percent as liberal. Yet we have almost a half-billion taxpayer dollars flowing into a liberal media outfit. Come on.

With cable TV and satellite radio nearly everywhere, there is no need for government-funded media, especially if the presentation is blatantly unfair. Cable TV needs product. If the PBS programs are strong, privately owned networks will buy them.

NPR is another story. It's in big trouble. Some of their affiliates are revolting after the brutal treatment Juan Williams received. But the NPR brass is actually saying the controversy is good because their fundraising is up.

Maybe that means radical-left guy George Soros is giving them even more than the $1.8 million he recently dropped on NPR. Maybe Soros will pony up another million or two. After all, NPR is in his far-left wheelhouse, is it not?

"Talking Points" actually wants NPR to get private funding because public funds should be denied. We understand legislation to defund Public Broadcasting will be introduced shortly.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is also thinking about pulling state funds from Public Broadcasting. Other states should consider that as well.

This is not a vendetta against Public Broadcasting. I look forward to competing with them in the marketplace. This is a call for sanity. The wasteful and unnecessary federal spending has to stop.
===
STUDYING AL
Tim Blair
A quick column, written on the road. Well, in a hotel room.
===
What’s the green spin this time?
Andrew Bolt
Last year it was an environmental scandal, and our fault, that Murray cod were dying in their thousands. The answer was to take yet more water off farmers:
HIGHER temperatures and a lack of constant water flow in the Murray River are killing scores of “priceless” Murray cod…

Liberal MHR for Farrer Sussan Ley said the problem illustrated the intensity of the drought and “there’s no greater environmental vandalism than a mass fish kill”....

A spokeswoman for Senator Wong said the Government was well aware of the critical situation in the Murray-Darling Basin. “We have committed $3.1 billion to purchase water to put back into the basin’s stressed rivers and wetlands,” she said.
This year, colder and wetter, Murray cod are again dying, yet the news has raised barely a ripple in the big-city newspapers. The problem this time: too much run-off from leaf-littered forests from which foresters have been evicted:
THE plight of the Wakool River system has made national television and landholder Tim Betts hopes the issue won’t “just blow over like it normally does”.

Mr Betts featured on Tuesday night’s ABC News program in a report about the third and most recent fish kill in the Wakool.

He predicts that every fish in almost 300 kilometres of Wakool River has died since “black” flood water from the Perricoota and Koondrook forests flowed in.

Mr Betts estimated 100s of 1000s of fish have been killed in this latest fish kill. This black water contained accumulated leaf litter, which reduced the river’s oxygen levels to the point that the fish could not survive.
Reader Trevor:
I have just returned from a couple of days meeting displaced timber industry workers at Cohuna, Koondrook and Barham. The Murray River is running a banker at Koondrook (the highest it has been since 1996) and the forests of Gunbower Island, Campbells Island and Koondrook - Pericoota forest are in flood.

This unfortunate event, for the Victorian and NSW governments that is, has occcured just after both Governments have changed the status of most of the river red gum forests in the Goulburn-Murray and Riverina to National Park.

This has reduced the size of the timber industry in these areas by 80% although many towns have seen a complete closure, eg, Deniliquin, Mathoura, Darlington Point and Merbien. Major processors at Barham have also closed…

The NSW Natural Resources Commission handed down its findings in January. Water was the number one concern, as the NRC’s recommendations were based on the fact that climate change would cause “significant loss of winter rainfall with small increases in summer. Possibly outside historical variation” in the Riverina and the Murray Valley. How inconvenient that the region has had, since mid-February, consistent rainfall and repeated flooding of the rivers and forests that the NRC warned were “unlikely to flood again in our lifetime"…

It seems nobody truly cares about the environment when it matters. WIth the Murray running at the top of its banks, the Hume Weir 99.1% full (as of last night) and Burrinjuck and Blowering dams full and a major flood on Billabong Creek - don’t you reckon someone at the MDBA might have thought it was a good idea to let an “environmental flow” go down the Wakool?
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Just give in, Europe told
Andrew Bolt
Blaming the reaction, not the action:
Demands that Muslim groups do more to assimilate in Europe are worsening ethnic tensions and aggravating the problems they are meant to solve, a top human rights official said on Thursday in a veiled warning to Germany and the Netherlands…

“The diverse groups of Muslims are now blamed by politicians in some countries for not ‘assimilating’.

“However ... anti-Muslim bigotry has in fact become a major obstacle to respectful relationships,” Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg wrote.
And again with that chicken-or-egg stuff:
“The Islamophobic atmosphere has probably been a factor enabling extremists in some cases to recruit young and embittered individuals who lack a sense of belonging,” he added.
So the presence of Muslim terrorists and extremists is blamed on “Islamophobic” Europeans rather than the other way around. Which explains, I guess, why these extremists and terrorists are found only in Europe and not in, say, non-European Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kenya…

Somehow I think Hammarberg was never going to let the locals win this debate. Still, it’s one way to end a conflict - by forcing the unilateral surrender of one side. But what if they refuse to agree?

(Thanks to reader Watty.)

UPDATE

A different version of the same deceitful syndrome, this time from Age cartoonist Michael Leunig, a favorite of Iranian fascists:
There is no possible way - no possible honest way - to make the claim Leunig does here, even if we counted the Iraqis killed by terrorists as victims of “counter-terrorism” instead. Leunig’s propoganda is about as honest and sophisticated as a cartoon from Der Sturmer, and as attractive to much the same demographic.

(Thanks to reader John.)
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The great Aussie Halloween
Andrew Bolt
Apologies for having missed this story of a significant cultural shift:
THE idea that a group of adults will take a day to protest Halloween not being a public holiday in Australia might suggest they have too much spare time as it is…

In all, 17 members of the newly-formed Halloween Institute kicked off a protest march yesterday that stretched from Sydney’s Martin Place to Parliament House…

The practice is fast gaining traction in Australia, to the point Woolworths has this year begun selling orange pumpkins, Aldi is selling cheap costumes, while some retailers are said to be considering stocking the Julia Gillard fright wig.
My own kids are raring for Sunday.
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Headline of the day
Andrew Bolt
Woman picks up own head after horror horse-riding accident
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The Greens are eating Labor alive
Andrew Bolt
YOU’D think Victorian Labor would have twigged that the Greens are eating it alive.

You’d also think Labor would have figured if it doesn’t fight the Greens as the Liberals once fought One Nation it could be destroyed.

But no. Too timid to resist, too awed to protest, Labor has meekly handed the Greens a third of its voters—and possibly a share of the government at next month’s election.

Newspoll yesterday confirmed Victorian Labor’s fatal drift.

Just 35 per cent of voters said they’d vote Labor this time, and 19 per cent said they’d choose the Greens.

Amazing. For every two Labor voters there is now one Green. Almost all those Greens voters belong on the Left side of politics that Labor once had almost to itself.

At this rate it could be just 20 years - even as few as 10 - before the Greens take over from Labor as the main party of the Left, warns Newspoll’s chief executive, Martin O’Shannessy: “If the trend we’ve observed in the last two election cycles continues at the pace it continues, that is highly likely and it will happen first in Victoria.”

Already the Greens have forced Labor in Tasmania into a coalition Government, even though Premier David Bartlett admitted before the election “a backroom deal with the Greens is a deal with the devil” and to join them in government would be “to sell my soul”.

Hmm. Wonder what price he got?

Now even Prime Minister Julia Gillard needs the vote of the lone Green in the House of Representatives to stay in office, and the votes of Greens senators to get anything past the Opposition.

Worse, she’s in such a policy vacuum that she’s surrendered much of her leadership to the Greens. Most notoriously, she’s promised to consider their tax on carbon dioxide emissions, which she ruled out before we all voted.

So there have been lots of warnings that Labor has for too long indulged what it should have fought.

Yet see Victorian Premier John Brumby suddenly panic as the polls confirm he not only needs Greens preferences to win the election, but may even need Greens MPs’ votes as well.

The Greens could win up to four inner urban seats - Melbourne, Brunswick, Richmond and Northcote - if the Liberals’ leader, Ted Baillieu, gives in to his worst instincts and gives them his party’s preferences.

Yet even now, Labor lacks the guts to fight the Greens tooth and organic nail.
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The Wilders warning
Andrew Bolt

ON May 3 this year, Prof Hans Jansen went to an Amsterdam dinner party and got into an argument.

Its echoes have now destroyed an attempt to silence Europe’s leading critic of Muslim immigration. But it’s also warned all free societies of the danger in giving any citizen the right to shut up another.

Jansen is a distinguished Arabist and was listed as a defence witness in the trial of the politician Geert Wilders, head of Holland’s third-biggest party.

Wilders is famous for making Fitna, a film in which quotations from the Koran are interspersed with footage of atrocities they allegedly inspired.

He’s also likened the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf and equated Islam with fascism. For this he was damned as a racist, yet his popularity among voters steadily rose, in part because what seems extreme speech here struck many Dutch as a frank explanation for the growing tensions in trying to integrate a million Muslim immigrants.

Holland has already had one film director and Islam critic, Theo van Gogh, murdered by a Muslim extremist.

Two-thirds of the growing number of attacks on gays in liberal Holland are now suspected of being by Muslims.

In 2008, 10 Muslims dragged a gay model off the stage at a fashion show and broke his nose. Last year the organiser of Amsterdam’s gay pride parade was bashed.

It’s such concerns that Wilders has raised through his Party for Freedom, now part of the ruling coalition.

In doing so, he’s had to live under heavy police guard for years, the target of death threats and plots. And now he’s been hauled before an Amsterdam court on charges of racial vilification, for which he faces two years’ jail.

You may wonder why the mere expression of an opinion should be a crime, to be rebutted not with argument but state power.

Indeed, in June 2008, prosecutors refused a request by Muslim activists to bring charges against Wilders, but an appeals court led by judge Tom Schalken overruled them, and ordered Wilders tried for “sowing hatred”.

That trial predictably turned into such a farce that even the public prosecutors this month told the judges Wilders was not guilty. He’d spoken out not against Muslims, but against the threat to Dutch society from a growing assertiveness of Islamic ideology.

Even then the judges insisted their show trial continue.

But then Jansen wrote at last on a blog about his dinner party, held by a pro-Palestinian activist who’d asked him to drop in to “talk a bit about Islam, and yes, also about the Wilders trial” at which Jansen was to appear three days’ later to explain to a sceptical court that “the things Geert Wilders claimed to be in the Koran, were actually in the Koran”.
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Making Joe the issue won’t help the Liberals
Andrew Bolt
Whether you blame Hockey for going too far or Malcolm Turnbull and others for putting in the knife, the fact is that Liberals are managing to make themselves the issue:
SENIOR Liberals have warned that Tony Abbott must put an end to the white-anting of Joe Hockey after the head of the ANZ Bank upbraided the shadow treasurer as a bank-bashing populist who was eroding the Coalition’s economic credibility.
And a confrontation that invites this kind of response from ANZ chief executive Mike Smith is not a good look:
Peter Costello was a very good treasurer, people like Malcolm Turnbull understand this stuff and are very creditable… ‘But the Liberals’ economic credentials have been hijacked by out-there proposals. Mr Hockey seems to be on some kind of personal vendetta. It would appear he has been taking economics lessons from Hugo Chavez.
Mind you, the proposals that Hockey actually released this week do not seem so drastic as to deserve this monstering. And given the size of ANZ’s profits, I rather think the public would lean to Hockey’s side of the debate:
This week Mr Hockey released a nine-point plan to put pressure on the banks as they unveiled record annual profits. Mr Hockey went after the ANZ yesterday when it announced a $4.5 billion profit, a 53 per cent increase.
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Even the Greens may soon outpoll Labor in NSW
Andrew Bolt
Not only the worst, but note how the Greens’ support threatens even to overtake Labor’s:
THE Keneally government is officially the most unpopular Labor government there has ever been in Australia.

Labor’s primary support in NSW has sunk to a disastrous 23 per cent of voters, according to the latest Newspoll…

The only lower figure recorded by Newspoll was the National Party government of Mike Ahern in Queensland, which recorded 22 per cent support in 1989 in the aftermath of the Fitzgerald inquiry into police corruption.

The NSW Coalition has double Labor’s support at 46 per cent, while the Greens are performing strongly on 17 per cent.
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Why doesn’t the ABC next run a recruiting drive for al Qaeda?
Andrew Bolt
Now ABC Online uses taxpayers’ money to publish the rantings of a spokesman for an Islamist group which is so radical that it is banned or restricted in several countries and brands our soldiers as ”terrorists”.

Has the ABC lost its mind? It even fails to identify just what Hizb ut Tahrir is and stands for, describing it only in the most flattering terms: as the world’s “largest global Islamic political party”.

(Thanks to reader Stanley.)