News Items and comments

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Why didn't authorities know or act? Or did action clash with an election timetable?

Woman, 27, dies weighing only 11kg

A 27-YEAR-OLD woman weighed just 11kg when she died in the Brighton home she shared with her parents.

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Queensland has an ALP government .. Lest we forget.

'Slow' war heroes told: You can't march

SOLDIERS who fought for their country in World War II are banned from marching in Townsville on Anzac Day because they might slow down the parade.

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Why is Gillard speaking and not Bligh?

Thugs attack face of Aussie floods

THE boy who lost his brother and mother in the devastating floods in Queensland, has been bashed by a mob of teenage boys.

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Every child matters

End to silence on deaths in DOCS

THE death of every DOCS child will be made public with the state's new Community Services Minister signalling an end to secrecy.

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People died for that money .. Right?

How police found $2.8m hidden in walls

WHEN police first searched the home of John Ibrahim's sister Maha Sayour, they found a vacuum-sealed bag containing $50 notes under a suitcase on top of a wardrobe.

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Villawood detention centre is across the street from that school.

Pupils evacuated after fire

MORE than 500 students have been evacuated from the Chester Hill North Public School and nine primary school students are being treated for smoke inhalation after a fire started in a school block.

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Good on you.

If it doesn't save lives I'll rip it out

ANY of the state's 172 speed cameras found not to improve road safety will be "ripped out", Premier Barry O'Farrell vowed yesterday.

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If it isn't gambling or drugs then the community will be very frightened.

Quiet family man was 'executed'

TO his neighbours, Gemahl Maika led a simple, honest life.

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I hope people don't think I am talking code when I say I like to go to Chatswood and shop for the best fruit in Sydney, and the most expensive. It is the fruit shop on the ground floor of Westfields, opposite Michel's bakery.

Sin city? Try sin suburb

THE Sydney council at the centre of explosive ICAC revelations last month about the behaviour of one of its officers who turned a blind eye to prohibited sex premises has 17 illegal brothels operating...

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They got everything but talent or good hearts.

Frontbench role for controversial Burton

CONTROVERSIAL drink-driving MP Cherie Burton will be included in Labor's depleted shadow cabinet today, with little-known upper house MP Penny Sharpe becoming transport spokeswoman.

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I don't like smoke but I like some poor sods that do.

Coalition on smoke packages

THE Coalition is refusing to endorse plain cigarette packaging unveiled by Health Minister Nicola Roxon today, saying it will examine the details of proposed legislation before deciding whether to sup...

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SA is the last ALP state. Queensland will fall in a year and Tassie is hybrid. This must cost Oz a lot

SA has 20 per cent of nation's new workers

ONE in five new workers hired in Australia in the past month was employed in SA, the latest employment figures show.

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City folk don't need guns.

Scores dead in Brazil school shooting

A MAN has opened fire at a school in Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 12 students and injuring 17 others before turning the gun on himself, TV GloboNews reported.

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If he cared about ALP or Australia he would resign immediately.

Rudd's run for Labor revival

KEVIN Rudd has hit the comeback trail as Labor MPs line up to cash in on the former PM's renewed popularity with a whirlwind tour of key seats across the country.

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Does anybody know who Neal is?

Wife, former mistress clash

FIERY ex-federal MP Belinda Neal has been served with a apprehended violence order after she allegedly harassed her husband's former mistress.

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The ALP have handled this badly. Sex abuse victims need to be taken seriously, not have their claims used as a political wedge.

Defence cadets turn on girl who blew whistle on alleged webcam sex broadcast

www.news.com.au

AN 18-year-old female Defence cadet who claimed a sexual encounter with another student was broadcast to other cadets says she is now the target of a slur campaign.

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I look forward to Bolt's prog and the new One. I don't watch sport ..

Channel Ten confirms new Sunday morning show hosted by Andrew Bolt

www.news.com.au

CHANNEL Ten has confirmed that Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt will host a new show on the network.

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I don't like war. If Obama had been a better leader, this would not be happening.

I Guess Rebels In Libya Wanted a Revolution, They Just Didn't Know They Would Have to Die for It

www.foxnews.com

The rebels in Libya rebels are now complaining that NATO isn't doing enough to stop Col. Muammar Qaddafi! I guess they expected us to topple Qaddafi and hand the country over to them.

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This should open celebrity doors.

Obama's Close Friend Arrested During Prostitution Sting in Hawaii

www.foxnews.com

President Obama's close friend Robert Richard Titcomb was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute.

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Young has been compromised by the ALP and should go.

Khoshaba's coy response to questions

fairfield-advance.whereilive.com.au

LABOR councillor Anwar Khoshaba has refused to reveal why he recommitted a public motion regarding a junket to the US after media had been sent out of the room.

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She is gracious and assertive

Le concedes but tells Lalich to keep promises

fairfield-advance.whereilive.com.au

CABRAMATTA Liberal candidate Dai Le has conceded defeat to Labor's Nick Lalich after last week's election but has voiced concerns about his "shaky" election promises in what was now a marginal seat.

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Or the caveman was murdered and hidden in a female 's grave.

Gay caveman 'outed' by the way he was buried

www.news.com.au

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have found what may be the world's first gay caveman.

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See the future today

Real Retinas Grown in Lab Hold Eye Transplant Promise

www.foxnews.com

Lab-grown human organs may seem like futuristic technology, but in a lab in Kobe, Japan, researchers are growing new retinas in a dish.

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David Daniel Ball recommends a link.

Mine in Mojave Desert May Hold Key to Beating China in the Race for Raw Materials

www.foxnews.com

Molycorp has begun mining again in California after a decade of inactivity, extracting valuable and concentrated ore that holds 15 rare earth elements, minerals used in everything from cell phones to U.S. missile systems.

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you need to change to grow

Fox News Announces New TV, Digital Projects With Glenn Beck

www.foxnews.com

Fox News Announces New TV, Digital Projects With Glenn Beck

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Obama got elected

ACORN Pleads Guilty to Voter Registration Fraud in Nevada

www.foxnews.com

The defunct political advocacy group ACORN has pleaded guilty to one count of an election law violation in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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half a millenia since her death ..

Historians to dig up remains of Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo to solve Mona Lisa riddle

www.news.com.au

ART historians are resorting to grave-digging in a bid to solve the mystery behind the world's most famous painting.

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He doesn't appeal to me.

Gaddafi appeals to Obama

LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi is appealing to President Barack Obama to halt NATO operations.

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THE GREAT DAY HAS COME

Tim Blair – Friday, April 08, 11 (05:36 am)

“We have formed a super-organism,” announces Tim Flannery.

“There will be no ‘outside’, there is no ‘other’. We will form a global community with a common set of shared beliefs …

“We will be a regulating intelligence for the planet.”

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452 DAYS UNTIL LABOR’S FRIENDLESS ZOMBIE TAX

Tim Blair – Thursday, April 07, 11 (11:47 pm)

The ABC’s account of Greg Combet’s Port Kembla visit on Wednesday gave no hint of any unpleasantness. It’s a different story in the hometown Illawarra Mercury:

Steelworkers worried about the impact of a carbon tax gave Climate Change Minister Greg Combet afiery reception when he visited Port Kembla yesterday …

He had not been speaking long before the first interjections came, and many more questions followed from workers wanting information on the carbon price system.

“Can you tell us right now what the figure’s going to be?” steelworks operator Claudio Morales asked. “How can you say you support [us] when you haven’t got a figure?”

Others feared their jobs might be at risk, or were angry the Government changed its position after the election.

Also angry at the carbon tax is NSW Greens campaign leader David Shoebridge, who blames the tax for his party’s lame performance in last month’s state election:

Shoebridge [said] the federal party’s deal with Labor over a carbon tax was the most significant factor in suppressing the Green vote.

Feared by workers; damaging to Greens. Greg Hunt’s description is almost too kind.

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MANGO SCORCHIO

Tim Blair – Thursday, April 07, 11 (01:03 pm)

Nearly 80 per cent of India’s mango crop has been ruined by climate change. Which is odd, considering how heat-dependent is this remarkable fruit:

For pollination and the mango fruit to mature, a temperature of 300-360 degree Celsius is ideal.

Forget Mumbai. Grow them on Mercury.

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NEEDS AN H

Tim Blair – Thursday, April 07, 11 (12:54 pm)

This event is just one consonant away from describing all climate change conferences:

Kofi Annan will deliver the keynote speech at the 3rd World Conference on Climate Change and Wine …

The event will be held on 13-14 April in Marbella, Spain, which takes over from Barcelona, host of the congress’s previous editions of 2006 and 2008 where the keynote speaker was Vice President Al Gore.

No threepeat for Al, who historically has difficulties converting two terms into a third.

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HAMAS FOR GAIA

Tim Blair – Thursday, April 07, 11 (11:27 am)

Greens leader Bob Brown has tried to define anti-Israel Greenism as an isolated NSW problem, but it’s broader than that:

Two Greens senators have publicly supported calls for Australian sanctions against Israel over the Middle East conflict, putting them at odds with party policy and their leader Bob Brown.

West Australian senator Scott Ludlam last year demanded an arms embargo on Israel, which he described as “a rogue state”, while South Australian colleague Sarah Hanson-Young addressed a rally where protesters called on Australia to sever ties with the Jewish state …



The photograph of Senator Hanson-Young at an Adelaide rally in 2009 shows her surrounded by placards demanding Australia “Cut ties with apartheid Israel”.

Further from Greg Sheridan.

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Flannery flips

Andrew Bolt – Friday, April 08, 11 (07:02 am)

Tim Flannery in December outlines his new faith:

I think that within this century the concept of the strong Gaia will actually become physically manifest. I do think that the Gaia of the Ancient Greeks, where they believed the earth was effectively one whole and perfect living creature, that doesn’t exist yet, but it will exist in future....

We’ll never be able to control the earth, there’s no doubt about it. We can’t control its systems. But we can nudge them and we can foresee danger. Once that occurs, then the Gaia of the Ancient Greeks really will exist. This planet, this Gaia, will have acquired a brain and a nervous system. That will make it act as a living animal, as a living organism, at some sort of level.

Flannery now announces success:

We have formed a super-organism,… There will be no ‘outside’, there is no ‘other’. We will form a global community with a common set of shared beliefs … We will be a regulating intelligence for the planet.

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Candidates needed to trump Trump

Andrew Bolt – Friday, April 08, 11 (06:44 am)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Not reassuring, and the Republicans had better soon present some great candidates before this turns into a circus:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appears to be the early front-runner in the largely unformed race for the Republican nomination for president, but real estate magnate Donald Trump may be a surprise contender, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Among Republican primary voters, Mr. Romney captured the support of 21% in a broad, nine-candidate field. Mr. Trump was tied for second with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with 17%

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Goon but not forgotten

Andrew Bolt – Friday, April 08, 11 (06:36 am)

Why didn’t anyone tell me? ABC Radio National is replaying the Goon Show every Friday at 5.30am.

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Choking on Greenpeace deceit

Andrew Bolt – Friday, April 08, 11 (06:32 am)

Once again, Greenpeace tries to terrify children with scientifically illiiterate climate catastrophism. The real danger today is not to our planet but to our reason.

(Thanks to reader Stanley Parks,)

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Baillieu retains apartheid justice

Andrew Bolt – Friday, April 08, 11 (06:16 am)

Baillieu dodges his duty. Apartheid justice is an offense against our common humanity - and a betrayal of conservative principles:

SPECIALIST courts for disadvantaged and indigenous Victorians - established by Labor - will be kept by the Baillieu government, after a report found two of the courts were helping reduce reoffending rates.

Attorney-General Robert Clark has confirmed that the courts, one of which was called ‘’apartheid justice’’ when the government was in opposition, will remain. ‘’In fact, we are looking to identify successful elements of the Neighbourhood Justice Centre and the other specialist court lists, which can be taken up and implemented more widely,’’ Mr Clark said.

The decision, which includes keeping the Drug Court and the Koori Court, was welcomed by the legal community and the opposition.

I accept that the auditor-general finds evidence that two of the courts are reducing recidivism rates, but there is also much contrary evidence that our new race-based courts actually entrench division and do not work as well as their proponents claim, leaving Aborigines in particular more defenceless against crime.

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Numerous Billions Needed

Andrew Bolt – Friday, April 08, 11 (05:05 am)

It’s remarkable how fast the costs of the Gillard Government’s $36 billion national broadband network are already blowing out:

FRESH fears have emerged that the peak funding of the National Broadband Network could balloon beyond $44 billion, as construction companies urged the government to pare back the reach of its ambitious fibre footprint so it can meet its budget.

The warnings follow a tumultuous week inside NBN Co headquarters in which a number of senior staff have resigned after a multi-billion-dollar construction contract was placed on indefinite hold.

Yesterday it was revealed that NBN Co’s manager of cost and resource estimates, Nick Sotiriou, exited the network builder following the shock resignation of the company’s network construction head Patrick Flannigan earlier this week....

An executive of a firm pitching for the building said costs could be significantly lowered if existing fibre networks - such as Telstra’s and Optus’s cable networks for pay-TV and broadband - could be used in the NBN roll-out, or otherwise allowed to compete with the NBN.

“NBN Co could lower its costs if it just dispensed with the government’s stubborn ideology to roll fibre to 93 per cent of homes,” the executive said…

The Australian yesterday revealed that construction firms bidding for NBN contracts had warned that unless more risk was transferred to the government business, the capital works bill could surge beyond the $20bn mark. It is believed that NBN Co had hoped to spend only about $12bn on the contract.

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The benefits of a guilty verdict

Andrew Bolt – Friday, April 08, 11 (04:23 am)

Dylan Bird, of the Institute of Postcolonial Studies in Melbourne, says it will help his argument if I am found guilty of racial discrimination:

Should Bolt be found guilty, it may well be that a precedent is set for acknowledging a more fluid and dynamic conception of Aboriginality than that which is currently propagated by the mainstream media and other dominant institutions. At the very least, it would demand a higher standard of reportage from journalists, ensuring basic respect is upheld in their forays into the political issues of the day. To that end, the columnist’s conviction would be a small price to pay.

I had better not respond to Bird’s article at least until the judge delivers a verdict. I’m sorry, but I must also ban your comments, too.

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Garnaut colleague: what’s the gain for this pain?

Andrew Bolt – Thursday, April 07, 11 (08:55 pm)

Distracted by my court case last week, I missed this significant change in the intellectual climate:

MARK COLVIN: A leading environmental economist says he’s seriously concerned about Ross Garnaut’s assumption that a carbon tax would help the environment.

Professor Jeff Bennett is from the Crawford School at the Australian National University. That’s the same school of economics that Professor Garnaut led for almost a decade.

Jeff Bennett says carbon taxes, or a cap and trade scheme, are unlikely to generate any real benefit to the community.

He told PM’s Bronwyn Herbert that we should adapt to a world with more greenhouse gases.

JEFF BENNETT: It may well be that human beings are exacerbating climate change on the planet. My concern is what we should be doing about that. We have evidence that the imposition of a tax, or the construction of a cap and trade permit scheme would impose considerable costs on the Australian community, indeed the world community and what I’m interested in is whether or not the imposition of those taxes would in fact generate any real benefit to the community....

My concern is with the mitigation strategy, which is fundamental to both the Government and the Coalition’s policies, is that the benefits that we will see from the mitigation strategy are very, very limited, given the extent of the costs that we have to bear as a society to achieve those benefits.... The point here is that we should be very, very aware of conducting an economic analysis that weighs up the costs of proposed actions, against the benefits. ..

You see, the policies that we put in place will not avoid global climate change. There may be some impact but my point here is that even the world’s best climate scientists will agree that the sort of impact we will make by imposing these taxes or the cap and trades schemes is minimal. ...

Well my serious concern is that even if the whole world agreed to conform with the sort of international protocols that are being negotiated at Kyoto, then at Cancun and Copenhagen, all of those levels, even if there was complete consensus across the world would result in very, very little by way of climate change impacts.

This is the very argumentn I’ve tried to raise in asking repeatedly this simple question that not a single global warming activist dares answer: by how much will Julia Gillard’s planned cuts to our emissions lower the world’s temperature? What’s the gain for all this pain?

Answer? Virtually zero.

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What is it with the Left and violence?

Andrew Bolt – Thursday, April 07, 11 (02:44 pm)

My critics clearly want me to stopped from speaking, and in arguing this claim to hold to superior moral values.

Take singer Broderick Smith:

Smith, sporting a Noel Watson beard and hefty doses of self deprecation, led his charges through new tunes and classics from fourth solo disc Tracks and the new double album Live At Last…

Smith bemoaned replacement of the bright socialist future of the Whitlam years with a desire for real estate…

He revealed his day started with a viewing of Chiltern raised scribe Barrie Cassidy’s ABC Sabbath show The Insiders with major cameo by Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt.

”I have $30,000 in the bank if anyone out there is a professional assassin and can kill Andrew Bolt, or is that Andrew Dolt,?” the singer proffered.

(Thanks to Bernie Slattery.)