David Daniel Ball was tagged in Zeg Editorial Cartoonist's album.
not Osama insurance plan.
Pouring oil on to fire
Miranda Devine – Sunday, May 01, 11 (08:27 pm)
You would think that the lefty meddlers who style themselves as the saviours of refugees would realise they have done enough damage to the people they claim to be helping, even if they don’t care about the country.
Miranda, you are brilliant and even handed. I denounce what you calmly observes about ALP policy, but your reach is extended to show the hypocrisy of Gillard et al. Hicks disgusts me. I am ashamed I contributed to his legal defense when I gave to amnesty international. I no longer give to Amnesty, although I wish them well in Burma, Cambodia et al.
I feel cheated because the mainstream press have (apparently) supported the ALP’s unstated position. When I try to express how I feel about the abysmal politics I need to resort to explanation about things that many people are not aware of. It is cold and heartless to subject desperate people to piracy and possible death on empty promise of freedom and prosperity. I like migrants and want Australia to have more migrants. I feel the best way of achieving my hope for a bigger Australia is encapsulated in tough but fair policies like those the Liberals have applied. The people who arrive by boat are desperate and not at their best when they get here. And then there are those poor people who can spend decades in refugee camps.
Sun 01 May 11 (08:58pm)
Oh the vicious left, especially that Robert Manne, yadda, yadda yadda....I thought we covered this already ?
So the Rudd government thought of treating asylum seekers in a more humanistic fashion. Hardly a surprise since the opposition of John Howard’s handling of the issue came from the broad community, not just the left.
So the border protection policy was a big mistake. Is that really such a big crime ? People stuff up, businesses make the wrong choices and even governments get some things wrong. It happens, tough luck.
But what the rest of the article implies is that Julia Gillard is the bad boogie women here. Lets make her the fall girl and push hard to rid us of this ridicules Labor government.
This media push has gained momentum in the last twelve months, fuelled by Tony Abbott’s “against anything that they propose” parliamentary behaviour.
Somewhere something has gone terribly wrong In Australian politics for the last few years.
Lindsay Tanner, in his new book, is really getting to the bottom of this. He says :
“I happily plead guilty to starting with a sense of anger, and particularly an anger at the way politicians were being constantly attacked for spin and being robotic,” Mr Tanner told The Australian this week."And what I wanted to do was say ‘why do you think this is happening?’. (I believed) politicians were responding to the way they were being treated in the media."He argues there are two key rules now governing the practice of Australian politics - “look like you’re doing something” and “don’t offend anyone who matters"."Australian politics is like a Hollywood blockbuster - all special effects and no plot,”
The big problem is that Julia and her ministers listen to the right wing commentators far too much and act to stem the tide against them. Now this the the real crime of modern Australian politics. Instead of making good decisions and sticking to them they listen to Allan Jones and his supporters. What frightens me is how much power the media has gained and how much they dictate Australian political behaviour.
Personally I believe that Julia Gillard, like most politicians that represent us, is doing her job in the interest of the nation and deeply cares for this country and its future.
But the unsteadiness of this Government, coupled with the constant media attacks, has opinion stacked against her. It would not surprise me if we go to the polls before Christmas this year to elect a Liberal government.
But not for the right reasons.
The reason for Julia’s downfall will be the constant media slur against her, and sadly, the party’s willingness to react to it. What also is totally wrong with Labor is that parties that chop and change policies, topple leaders and have internal power struggles are usually in opposition, not Government.
Mon 02 May 11 (12:41am)
Mon 02 May 11 (09:35pm)
You are right about the media and now “realtime” events. Everybody being part of the loop means that we are all participating in the media now. The information and consequently disinformation is at a peak, I think politicians are part of the problem though, they like celebrities use it as much as they are victims of it. Politics is just another form of ‘reality television’ where the actors come cheap and the production is as interactive as you can get (you’d hope there is a limit).
But unlike you I think she actually has a substantial part of the media on her side (I’m not a Labor voter, true) and she has tried to control it far more than Abbott. That won’t stop them sticking the boot in if it suits the moment and they think the polling is no longer just benign. Abbott playing the game right for the moment, small target politics...almost bland.
Tue 03 May 11 (08:47am)
Rainer, I have worked with these people who are suffering under this horrendous policy. I have also worked with people who were affected by Mr Howard’s Pacific Solution. The Pacific Solution was a good, effective policy which was fair. It allowed an increase in migration, better outcomes for all involved, even boat people, who were given a pathway to have their status resolved. Other refugees had greater hope their journey would come to an end. It was more secure from the possibility of terrorist manipulation.
People are dying for Gillard’s rhetoric which was unchallenged by the media in the years following SIEV X. However, all the problems the Howard administration had with Gillard’s rhetoric then is borne out now. Yet Gillard persists with this policy that is killing people and leaving thousands in limbo and exposing security concerns.
And yet you don’t care. What is important to you is that Gillard wins the next election without reference to her policy failure here.
I was a caller in to a 2GB event when Howard debated Rudd. I said then that Rudd was winning the beauty contest while Mr Howard won the substantial debate. I will not accept that happening again. The substantial debate is part of the beauty contest and Gillard should not win without defending her policy.
HATE FEST
Tim Blair – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (09:32 am)
Imre Salusinszky celebrates the entirely merit-based and non-political appearance of David Hicks at the Sydney Writers’ Festival:
One could quibble with Hicks’s punctuation here and elsewhere, but that would be nitpicking. Whatever momentary loss of clarity is occasioned by Hicks’s use of free-form writing is more than compensated by the immediacy with which the evil and conspiring nature of the Jews is portrayed.
Still, at least Hicks can probably work out simple initials, which means he’s doing better than another writers’ festival favourite.
HELP THE CHILDREN
Tim Blair – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (02:28 am)
Melbourne’s Age offers comfort advice:
Parents can comfort children who are disturbed by the killing of Osama bin Laden by answering their questions honestly, psychology experts say.
Child’s question: “Mummy, what should I do if I meet someone who has slaughtered thousands of innocent people in the name of a perverted theocracy?”
Honest mother’s answer: “If I’ve raised you right, you will kill him. Goodnight, sweetie.”
(Via Andrew V.)
UPDATE. It’s all frowns at the ABC.
427 DAYS UNTIL LABOR’S SHRINKING JULIA TAX
Tim Blair – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (02:06 am)
The plunge continues:
Voters are overwhelmingly against Julia Gillard’s carbon tax after a sharp fall in support in the past two months among the young, families, women and even Labor supporters …
The latest Newspoll survey, taken exclusively for The Australian last weekend, shows that voters are not only against the carbon tax on a ratio of two-to-one, but that opposition to the plan is far more intense than the support for it. Of the 60 per cent opposed to the carbon tax, 39 per cent are “strongly against”, but of the 30 per cent for the plan only 12 per cent are “strongly in favour”.
Even foreign types are beginning to notice:
In Australia the carbon tax tabled by the Labor government is struggling to gain acceptance. Every week sees another industrial pressure group come out against the bill.
Labor is headed north.
DEPENDS WHOSE SIDE YOU’RE ON
Tim Blair – Tuesday, May 03, 11 (12:25 pm)
(Today’s newspaper posters in Melbourne, captured by Ultimo Mole)
If true, there must be a new chief commissioner
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (07:03 am)
This inquiry could force a change of leadership of the Victoria Police, and the withdrawal of the unexplained resignation of assistant commissioner Sir Ken Jones:
Association secretary Greg Davies yesterday said that if the Victorian Ombudsman were able to prove the former government successfully pressured Chief Commissioner Simon Overland to release incomplete statistics ahead of the state election it would amount to ‘’unprecedented corruption at the highest levels of both the police force and government’’.
Ombudsman George Brouwer is investigating the interaction between the former government and senior police figures ahead of the release of the crime statistics on October 28 last year, a month before a state election in which law and order was a big issue.
Mr Brouwer is also examining the accuracy of those statistics after it emerged in February that crucial data was not released. This meant the public had been given a misleading and incomplete snapshot of assaults in Melbourne’s central business district, which had been a high-profile matter over the previous 12 months.
This is the bit that should worry Overland:
Deputy Commissioner Ken Jones and other senior police figures, including media director Nicole McKechnie, were concerned that the police force could be viewed as acting in a partisan way if Mr Overland agreed to the request from the government so close to an election.
The Age understands Mr Overland believed releasing the statistics in October was in the public interest given the level of publicity over assaults in the city.
Baillieu blinks
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (06:56 am)
All the evidence so far suggests the Baillieu Government is timid. And if it cannot make tough decisions in its first Budget, there’s little hope there will be tougher ones in Budgets closer to the election:
A NEAR-DOUBLING of net debt and limited spending cuts will force the Baillieu government to overhaul its economic strategy after its first budget.
The first state to hand down a budget this year has failed to deal with the challenges of rising debt and the two-speed national economy. Treasurer Kim Wells said yesterday the government had opted to avoid deep cuts to restore the budget bottom line because he feared job losses would be too great and tax rises too steep.
Mr Wells conceded this meant the government would be sent back to the drawing board, although the government funded nearly all of its $5.2 billion in recurrent election promises.
Net debt in Victoria is set to jump from just under $12bn this financial year to more than $23bn by the end of the budget cycle.
While the Coalition delivered most of its election promises, it opted for cuts of just $2.2bn over five years, despite the sharp rise in the debt position.
Terry McCrann says the Budget is dangerously reliant on a growth in already record revenue, especially from stamp duty:
Unarmed, and not hiding behind a woman
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (06:49 am)
The story changes:
OSAMA Bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot dead by Navy SEAL commandos, even though the White House maintains they were prepared to take him alive.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Bin Laden resisted arrest but did not outline what resistance he offered. He said Bin Laden’s unarmed wife was in a room with him and rushed a commando, but she as well was unarmed.
She was shot in the leg and survived.
So the mission really was to kill, not capture, bin Laden ... which was probably wise. And bin Laden did not hide behind a woman.
I think it would have been better to say all this at the start. This way looks sneaky, even apologetic
- Osama could not be allowed to live as to do so would have allowed him to say anything, vis lie, to achieve division. Eg, he could have said Obama was illegitimate as President and he had proof. Or that the Democrats had cooperated or played into the hands of Al Qaeda etc etc. - ed
Rudd: we’re building mosques in Afghanistan
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (06:23 am)
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd:
Similarly in Afghanistan where we’re building schools, we’re building health clinics, roads, mosquesto support local community development and economic vibrancy as well ...
Very odd. I really don’t think that’s the most appropriate use for our aid dollars. For a start, I suspect Afghanistan would be healthier with fewer mosques, not more. Second, since when was it our foreign policy goal to promote Islam?
UPDATE
I thought Rudd must have misspoken, but from the Department of Defence website:
The task force is there to conduct repairs and maintenance on the villager’s mosque.
Indeed, from Rudd’s press conference in Washington yesterday:
We even opened our first Australian government-funded mosque in the Tora Valley...
(Thanks to reader Sol Spots.)
Flannery 100 per cent wrong about that 60 per cent
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (06:02 am)
Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery:
You know, 60 per cent of people consistently now, for a number of years, have wanted something done about climate change. That’s why the government is acting.
In fact:
...the latest Newspoll survey reveals 60 per cent of voters are opposed to the government’s plan to put a price on carbon next year and only 30 per cent remain in favour.
WikiLeaks nearly saved bin Laden
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (12:07 am)
The Atlantic Wire explains just how close WikiLeaks came to tipping off Al Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden that the US was onto his courier.
(Thanks to reader Giorgio and others.)
Good for a scare while it lasted
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (12:06 am)
2007:
Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett yesterday visited drought-ravaged North Pine Dam, north of Brisbane, to promote a new Australian Conservation Foundation online campaign whoonearthcares.com.
“I actually have little races with myself, thinking ‘Oh no, I’m not washing my hair. I only need to have a two-minute shower’,” Blanchett revealed.
Blanchett and Australian Conservation Foundation director Don Henry visited the dam – presently at just 16 per cent of capacity – to see the effects of the drought and to share her passionate views about climate change.
2011:
THE dam at greatest risk of failure during the January floods was not Somerset or Wivenhoe, but North Pine Dam, north of Brisbane, according to the State Government’s dam safety expert…
Operators were forced to wade through water to operate the sluice gates and electrical switchgear came within 55cm of being submerged as a volume of water almost equal to its own capacity passed through the already full dam in a matter of hours.
(Thanks to reader Matthew.)
Hamilton demands more militancy against the rest of us
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (12:05 am)
I’ve worried before that Professor Clive Hamilton, the former Greens candidate, has within him a totalitarian instinct.
Now come more classic signs of a man so convinced of the rightness of his cause that it justifies the use of force - or at least the deliberate breaking of democratically agreed laws:
The difficulty and importance of the global warming campaign is many times greater than every other environmental struggle. Controlling carbon pollution requires a wholesale industrial restructuring…
In the face of the failure of mainstream environmentalism to achieve significant progress on the biggest issue it will ever face, we need a new environmental radicalism....
A wave of environmental radicalism, of uncivil disobedience, will have succeeded when the conservative press begin praising Bob Brown and Christine Milne as voices of reason and moderation, as indeed they are....
Sometimes coaxing the public to your point of view reaches an immovable barrier. Sometimes people must be jolted out of their complacency by militancy, even if that means a period of rancour, turmoil and danger…
So let me leave you with a final thought. The historic responsibility of environmentalism cannot be overstated. Beyond women’s suffrage, beyond civil rights, its mission is nothing less than saving humanity as a whole. Today’s environment movement is no place for the faint-hearted.
Some people wonder why the great revolutions, launched by people convinced of their moral superiority, usually end in tyranny and cruelty. It’s because the “good” who seize power feel licensed to crush the “evil”.
(Thanks to reader Craig.)
ABC writers agree: killing bin Laden was useless, bad and sad
Andrew Bolt – Wednesday, May 04, 11 (12:01 am)
There seems to be a party line at the ABC’s online site on the killing of Osama bin Laden, The Drum, but it’s not a party-party-party one:
Amin Saikal:
Bin Laden’s death may well be welcome news to the US and its allies, and many others around the world, but it cannot be expected to make the world any less insecure and volatile than it is at present.
The US vigilantes may have killed bin Laden, but they haven’t helped to make the world a more peaceful or secure place. In fact, peace is about the only thing that has never been tried.
There should be no mindless ranting and chest beating about Bin Laden’s death but soul searching about how easily lofty and fundamentally important principles of humanity and fairness are cast aside when there is a vote in it or when primal vengeance is given its head by our leaders.
And now some snitch, some stool-pigeon from the back streets of Abbotabad in Pakistan, has taken the CIA’s forty pieces of silver.
(Thanks to reader Colin.)
Picking sides
Andrew Bolt – Tuesday, May 03, 11 (08:23 pm)
(Thanks to reader Michael.)
Canada cools on warming - and on a Labor-style ETS
Andrew Bolt – Tuesday, May 03, 11 (08:09 pm)
April 13, and Michael Ignatieff, the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, sells his plan for an emissions trading scheme:
“What’s good about this country is all Canadians, whether you’re easterners or westerners want to face the challenge of climate change.
On the other hand, Conservative leader Stephen Harper goes a bit sceptic, offering only a pie-in-the-sky carbon-capture scheme:
On the domestic front, Harper defended Canada’s Arctic claims, while appearing to show little interest in climate change.
Election day yesterday, and Canadians tell Ignatieff exactly how keen they are on tackling climate change:
With 99 per cent of polls reporting, the Conservatives won 167 seats, followed by the NDP with 102, Liberals with 34 and the Bloc Québécois with four and the Green Party with one.
(Thanks to readers Frank, Steve and others.)
Tell me Pakistan didn’t know where bin Laden was
Andrew Bolt – Tuesday, May 03, 11 (03:14 pm)
This is the Google Earth satellite picture of the garrison town of Abbottabad.
The middle circle marks Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad. To the north east, just 1km away, is the Pakistan Military Academy. To the south west, is the regimental depot of the Army’s Frontier Force and its Baloch Regiment (larger circle).
UPDATE
Peter Oborne in Abbottabad:
General David Petraeus (in charge of the US forces in Afghanistan) visited Abbottabad as recently as last November, when bin Laden was reportedly already present – an event in itself that would have made a major security search inevitable. That is why so many are coming to believe the theory that Pakistan’s army was complicit in hiding bin Laden.
That said, Oborne says a rival theory is that bin Laden was lured to Abbottabad and betrayed.
UPDATE
Professor Sinclair Davidson rightly asks whether Defence Minister Stephen Smith is up to the job by this wild performance on the ABC’s 7.30 yesterday, denying the undeniable:
CHRIS UHLMANN: Now, Pakistan must’ve known and known for years where Osama bin Laden was?
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, that’s an assertion. I don’t know what evidence you have to base that on.
CHRIS UHLMANN: He was in a high security compound, 100 kilometres from the capital, eight times larger than anything around it, six metre-high walls.
STEPHEN SMITH: It doesn’t follow from that that Pakistan or the Pakistan state or the Pakistan Government was knowingly harbouring. I think the most important element of today’s events so far as Pakistan is concerned is that President Obama has made it clear that Pakistan assisted and that when he rang President Zardari to effectively thank him, they both welcomed the outcome. So, that’s a good sign.
CHRIS UHLMANN: But the US didn’t tell Pakistan ahead of this.
STEPHEN SMITH: Well you don’t know that.
CHRIS UHLMANN: It’s been said – it’s been stated, I thought, that they told no-one until after the operation had been carried out.
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, there’s no doubt that the matter was very closely held. That’s the first point. It’s also clear to me from President Obama’s comments that he was pleased with Pakistan’s assistance. Now what the nature, extent of that was, I’m not pretending that we have access to that at this stage. But, I regard that today, in terms of Pakistan making a significant contribution, as a good development.
Watching the execution
Andrew Bolt – Tuesday, May 03, 11 (02:42 pm)
It really is like in the movies.
UPDATE
Which means he may well have watched this:
A US official says Osama bin Laden was shot above his left eye and the bullet blew away part of his skull… Photos of bin Laden’s injuries were transmitted to Washington as proof that the mission was a success.
And you might soon be shown the pictures, too, because Lieberman is right:
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman said:“It may be necessary to release the pictures - as gruesome as they undoubtedly will be, because he’s been shot in the head - to quell any doubts that this somehow is a ruse that the American government has carried out,”.
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