Thursday, May 16, 2013

Thu May 16th Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Anna Chan and Colin Wong. Born on the same day, across the years. On this day in 1943, one particularly daring mission was launched called Operation Chastise, aka Dam Busters. Also, in 1960, the first working laser was made, fully 6 years before Star Trek Phasers were shown. A lot to live up to. But you were born to do it.
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PLATING RATED

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 16, 2013 (8:42pm)

Politifact, the fact-checking website launched in Australia by former Fairfaxer Peter Fray, fearlessly investigates Liberal claims that “federal government public servants are purchasing gold-plated coffee machines”. The site’s conclusion, following nearly 600 words of forensic analysis: 
We think there should be some form of modifier, a marker, when referring to gold-plating to ensure everyone knows it is not real gold. 

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LABOR’S CHOICE

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 16, 2013 (5:21am)

Australia is deep in debt, led by a government that promised a surplus, lied about proposed taxes,lost control of our borders and gives our money to an ever-expanding propaganda arm. As treasurer Wayne Swan puts it: 
This is the Australia that Labor governments choose. 
Australians usually choose governments, but that order is evidently reversed under Swan’s rule. Despite the nation’s latest deficit, Wayne is giving loads more of your money to the ABC so that it can replicate leftist US programming: 
The ABC will design news and current affairs shows for young people as part of a range of ideas made possible by $90 million of new government money.
ABC managing director Mark Scott said he would ask a team of journalists and digital and entertainment experts to find creative ways to deliver news to children and teenagers.
Mr Scott cited the popular US satirical programs The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report as examples of shows that melded news and entertainment in a package that appealed to younger audiences …
‘‘We want to be relevant to all Australians, not just older Australians,’’ Mr Scott said. ‘‘Younger audiences are interested in news ... but they don’t particularly want it formatted and delivered in a way that it would’ve once been delivered to their parents.’’ 
If the ABC genuinely wants to be “relevant to all Australians”, it might look at categories besides age. It’s hand-out time for luvvies: 
Online website the The Conversation has also received a boost in funding of $2 million over the next four years. 
Back to Swan, who yesterday addressed the National Press Club: 
I was thinking about this issue a lot over the last couple of days because I was thinking what if when I was here last time, I had said oh well, these are the numbers in the budget paper but we don’t think we will necessarily get there. We think they could be derailed by something that might just come, a killer satellite might come along or it won’t happen. 
A killer satellite, you say? Watch the sky. Keep looking.

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DOOM MOOVED

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 16, 2013 (4:43am)

Climate wailer John Connor believes I’ve misrepresented his religion over last week’s announcement that we’d hit atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of 400 parts per million: 
Classic Straw Man - Tele’s Blair pretends ppl made 400ppm a mark of dooooom - predictable, reckless 
My apologies, John. The mark of doom is in fact 350 parts per million. Further dooming developments from Marc (of doom) Morano.

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MAJORITY DECIDES

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 16, 2013 (4:39am)

The Daily Telegraph‘s Joe Hildebrand – soon to become a father, by the way; congratulations to beautiful Tara – arrives in Canberra for Tuesday’s budget announcement, accompanied by his patient driver:

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Joe is an impressively calm and non-screamy passenger. As for me, I wasn’t actually meant to be in Canberra at all – until this Monday call from the editor’s secretary:
Caroline: “Bad news. You’re going to Canberra for the budget tomorrow.”
Tim: ”What? Who do I blame for this?”
Caroline: “I’m sorry. It was pretty much a decision by everybody.”
I work with cruel people. 

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CHOCKED AND LOADED

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 16, 2013 (3:06am)

US Vice President Joe Biden endorses chocolate bullets – presumably fired by a Magnum: 
If we had guns that shot chocolate, not only would our country be safer, it would be happier. 
Tell it to your Secret Service agents, Joe. Jim Treacher sets Biden straight on the subject of confectionary ammunition.

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CANBERRA COMPLAINS

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 16, 2013 (2:20am)

Mari P. reviews Monday’s column: 
I came across your article in the rag you call a newspaper and noted your views on Canberra. I realised pretty quickly that you obviously do not appreciate the fact that most people in Canberra, with the exception of the Federal politicians chose to settle in this lovely city and that it’s anything but a f..... dump. Obviously you prefer to live in a smog-filled environment and spend up to two hours a day commuting to and from work … 
As it happens, I’m able to walk to work in about 10 minutes.

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ONE MAKES SENSE

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 16, 2013 (2:18am)

Chris Berg discusses matters with Margo Kingston.

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MAJOR MAJOR PLANNING

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 16, 2013 (2:13am)

Wanna write a novel? Best to plan it first, as Joseph Heller did with Catch-22.

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Abbott announces big cuts - including all Labor’s

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:50pm)

Tony Abbott tonight announced enough savings to start to look serious. In an amazing switch, that includes reserving “the right” to adopt all Labor’s savings announced yesterday as an “emergency” measure - which seems to include the baby bonus.
He said:
- he’d continue the carbon compensation package, even after scrapping the carbon tax
- will delay by two years the ramp up of compulsory superannuation (a saving for business).
- he will discontinue additional income support payments for benefit recipients
Abbott says his announced savings so far amount to $5 billion a year (but only on the Budget as it was before Labor’s proposed savings).
But then he says he “reserves the right” to adopt all Labor’s announced savings as a temporary measure to “meet the Budget emergency”.  (That means scrapping the baby bonus.)
He says he will also not implement any of Labor’s spending announcements “unless specified”. He will keep the the NDIS, however.  Unfortunately, he will keep his parental leave scheme.
Says he will have a committee of audit to look into the books (presumably as the Newman Government did, using Peter Costello, giving him an excuse for bigger cuts).
Abbott’s speech here.
From the speech:
A Coalition government will keep the current income tax thresholds and the current pension and benefit fortnightly rates while scrapping the carbon tax…
We will have a once-in-a-generation commission of audit so that government is only as big as it needs to be to do what people can’t do for themselves…
We will start work within 12 months on Melbourne’s East West Link, Sydney’s WestConnex, Brisbane’s Gateway Motorway upgrade, Adelaide’s South Road, and Tasmania’s Midland Highway, as well as key roads in Perth and parts of the Bruce Highway…
The Coalition has already announced that we will rescind the increase to the humanitarian migration intake ...
We’ve announced that we’ll reduce by at least 12,000, through natural attrition, the size of the Commonwealth public sector ...
We’ve also announced that we’d scrap Labor’s green loans scheme for projects that the banks won’t touch.
Tonight, I confirm that we won’t continue the twice a year supplementary allowance to people on benefits because it’s supposed to be funded from the mining tax and the mining tax isn’t raising any revenue.
As well, we won’t continue the low income superannuation contribution because that’s also funded from the tax that isn’t raising any revenue.
I announce that we will delay by two years the ramp up in compulsory superannuation because this money comes largely from business – not from government – and our economy needs encouragement as mining investment starts to wane and new sources of growth are needed.
These measures alone will produce nearly $5 billion a year in savings which is more than enough for tax cuts without a carbon tax.
Abbott’s big surprise:

Many of the measures in this budget are objectionable, the attacks on Medicare; the abolition of the baby bonus which the government had promised never to touch; robbing Peter to pay Paul on education ; and forcing more businesses to do the tax paperwork monthly, not just quarterly.
But thanks to Labor’s poor management over five years, there is now a budget emergency. Hence the Coalition may decide not to oppose any of them; doesn’t commit to reverse any of them; and reserves the option to implement all of them, in government, as short-term measures to deal with the budget emergency Labor has created.
Far from cutting to the bone, we reserve the right to implement all of Labor’s cuts, if needed, because it will take time to undo all the damage this government has done.
By keeping, if needed, all Labor’s budget cuts – and – by not implementing any of their budget spending measures unless specified, we will achieve the first duty of every government: namely, to preserve the nation’s finances.
Labor will attack, of course, not least on the super announcement. Conservatives will moan about the parental leave scheme, the failure to scrap the useless $3.2 billion “direct action” plan to cut emissions and the weak cuts to the public service. But Abbott has this now tied up and posted.
UPDATE
Having together blown all our money, the thieves fall out:
GREENS Leader Christine Milne has savaged Labor’s Budget and labelled Wayne Swan an “austerity freak”, in her official Budget reply before the Senate.
Senator Milne said the Gillard government’s Budget, handed down on Tuesday night, failed to “present a coherent vision of where the country needs to be in 10 years’ time or how we face the challenges posed by an increasing global population in a rapidly warming world”.
“It is a finance plan without a broad vision beset by confusion and contradictions that makes this Budget fail,” she said.

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Are the satellites lying about poor, drowning Kiribati?

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:35pm)

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The Global Mail wails about the vanishing islands of Kiribati:

The waves are slowly seeping over Kiribati, which is at the frontline of the climate-change-induced rise in sea levels striking low-lying nations all over the world. Formerly part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands — a British protectorate until the mid 1970s — Kiribati is lower, frailer and more defenceless. It may be the first nation to enter an end game against climate change.
Kiribati’s leaders now face wrenching questions: How many of its 100,000 people will need to leave? Where will they go? How will it feed those remaining? And, as its islands become uninhabitable, can Kiribati remain a nation at all?
Which makes this time-lapse satellite photography of one of the islands curious. And this one. What vanishing islands? 
(Thanks to reader The Evil Right. UPDATE: The post has been changed to make clear there are several islands.)
UPDATE
Sinking ... or growing?
Climate scientists have expressed surprise at findings that many low-lying Pacific islands are growing, not sinking.
Islands in Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia are among those which have grown, largely due to coral debris, land reclamation and sediment.
The findings, published in the magazine New Scientist, were gathered by comparing changes to 27 Pacific islands over the last 20 to 60 years using historical aerial photos and satellite images.
Auckland University’s Associate Professor Paul Kench, a member of the team of scientists, says the results challenge the view that Pacific islands are sinking due to rising sea levels associated with climate change.
“Eighty per cent of the islands we’ve looked at have either remained about the same or, in fact, gotten larger,” he said.
“Some of those islands have gotten dramatically larger, by 20 or 30 per cent.
“We’ve now got evidence the physical foundations of these islands will still be there in 100 years.”
Check the link again - is Tarawa island actually increasing?
Shouldn’t the Global Mail say so? 

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Say no to this dangerous referendum, the friend of shonks

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:18pm)

Constitutional law expert Professor Greg Craven - who will be on our 2GB show tonight - says the Gillard Government’s referendum to recognise local government in the Constitution is great news for shonks:
Take the most obvious example. As we all know, a council occasionally goes astray by a few million dollars, an inexplicable brothel permit and a close friendship between the town planner and the charming assistant of a colourful racing identity.
What to do? Simple. The responsible state government suspends the council and temporarily employs a pack of financial dobermans to fix the mess…
But what happens when the Wollomboon Council is a solemnly recognised constitutional entity? Mayor Simony will speed off to the High Court, claiming the state has no authority over his postage stamp principality…
We are told by the responsible minister, Anthony Albanese, with only the faintest rictus betraying his inner hilarity, that the referendum is necessary to put to bed doubts raised by the High Court over the funding by Canberra of certain council programs.
In the profound words of Spartacus, please.
There is no decision of the court stopping these programs…
On the commonwealth side, it is all about power. If it can channel money and programs through hundreds of puny councils, it can ignore those pesky states with their complicating parliaments and voters. They mean you.

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Thomson becomes the independent he wasn’t

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:15pm)

Why was Craig Thomson routinely called an “Independent MP” when it’s only now that he decides he’ll quit Labor?
SUSPENDED Labor MP Craig Thomson will contest his NSW seat at the next election as an independent.
The Dobell MP is expected to quit the Labor party today.
”I can’t in all good conscience contest this election as a Labor party candidate,” Mr Thomson told ABC radio today.
UPDATE
Here we go again:

FEDERAL police will assess claims by Craig Thomson that he was allegedly offered a deal by Labor officials that involved a redundancy payout if he lost the ALP pre-selection for his NSW central coast electorate…
Mr Thomson said that he was offered a deal by the NSW Labor party to be beaten in a pre-selection contest in order to qualify for a $100,000 redundancy payout…

In the letter (Shadow Attorney General) Senator Brandis says if Mr Thomson is telling the truth about the alleged deal, those responsible may have breached two Commonwealth laws.
‘’It would appear those persons conspired or attempted to conspire with the intention of causing a loss to the Commonwealth, contrary to section 135.4 of the Criminal Code Act 1995,’’ the letter states.
It also appeared that they ‘’offered to confer a benefit with the intention of influencing candidature of Mr Thomson, contrary to section 326(2) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918...”
The Opposition this morning attempted to suspend proceedings in the Parliament in order to compel Mr Thomson to divulge who in the Labor Party allegedly attempted to make the deal with him.
The motion was negated with 67 yes votes to 72 nos.
But Government Leader of the House Anthony Albanese said claims raised by Mr Thomson were ‘’not at all’’ a serious matter…
The ALP’s NSW branch general secretary Sam Dastyari denies the claims.

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Labor MP goes to Fairfax when she could have gone home

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (12:17pm)

The Opposition lied - or was badly mistaken - about why it denied a “pair” to Labor MP Michelle Rowland to let her leave Parliament tonight to attend her sick daughter.

Mr Pyne, the manager of opposition business, claimed on Thursday morning that opposition chief whip Warren Entsch ‘’was not aware [Ms Rowland] had a sick infant until this morning when he read it in The Daily Telegraph’’.
‘’If we knew that Michelle Rowland had a sick child on Monday morning Warren Entsch would have said to her, ‘you should go home today’,’’ Mr Pyne told journalists.
But Ms Rowland showed Fairfax Media a letter that proved Mr Entsch knew about her daughter’s illness when he rejected her application.
In the letter dated Wednesday, May 15, Mr Entsch wrote to Labor’s whip Chris Hayes: ‘’I am writing to you in relation to your request to provide a ‘pair’ for Ms Michelle Rowland, Member for Greenway due to her child being unwell . . .  The Opposition will not provide a ‘pair’ for the Member for Greenway on this occasion.’’
The Opposition is now in fast reverese:
Mr Entsch said that ‘’if Ms Rowland’s child is sick, then she should leave the parliament immediately and a pair will be granted’’.
But here’s the odd thing.  Rowland’s baby, being cared for by her husband, has been sick for a few days. She now has permission to leave Parliament this instant.
Yet this morning she was in the Fairfax studios - not her home - to record an interview about how mean the Opposition was to stop her from being where she still had not gone.
Naturally, Labor is exploiting this for all it’s worth:
Labor ministers rounded on the Coalition over the issue during media interviews on Thursday morning.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek told ABC radio the Coalition’s refusal to grant Ms Rowland leave was the ‘’best example ever that they don’t care about modern families’’.
Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury told Sky News that Mr Abbott wanted people to believe he was committed to policies that support women, but that was not the reality.
The Coalition was wrong and sneaky. That is not to say Labor is any better.
UPDATE
Reader Bigpeteoz:

Michelle Rowland tells us that the opposition are heartless because it has blocked her from returning home to her sick child. Her husband has time off from work to look after the sick child, it should be in good hands.
The child became sick on Mother’s Day, Sunday the 12th May, with a fever and vomiting. She did attend parliament on Tuesday. Why the fuss now, except maybe it is a misandrist ploy to paint Abbott as a misogynist, using a woman and sick child as bait in a feeble attempt to yet again smear.
UPDATE
The ABC’s The World Today makes this the top item of its political coverage. Naturally.
And again, Rowland is still there, giving interviews. Why hasn’t she gone home to her sick child? 

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Goldman Sachs: “sceptical” of Swan’s Budget boasts

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (11:02am)

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs just doesn’t believe the Gillard Government’s excuses for the deficit this year or its promise of a surplus in three years:

Financial markets could well feel skeptical that the government will meet its new target surplus in 2016-17 based purely on the record of the past 6 years.
As we highlighted in our Economics Analyst publication on Friday, May 10, the government has blamed the latest forecast error on weak nominal GDP and a high exchange rate for the revenue short fall. However, neither explanation is reasonable in the context of what was already known at the time of the MYEFO. The $A/$US was assumed to average 1.02 and the TWI 75 cents. This compares with A$/$US currently at 0.99 and the TWI of 76 cents. Moreover, the Treasury’s estimate for the terms of trade look to be close to what has transpired in commodity prices over the past 6 months.

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How the “stolen generations” myth kills

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (9:50am)

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THE “stolen generations” myth has made us leave Aboriginal children to be bashed, raped and killed. In fact, it’s hurt more children than were ever proved stolen just for being Aboriginal.
I’ve often been told mine is a “racist” position, but perhaps the deniers will at least listen to Adam Giles.
Giles rejects being racially typecast as the “first indigenous Chief Minister” of the Northern Territory, but his heritage does license him to say what desperately needs saying.
He says he’s astonished only one Aboriginal child in the NT has been adopted in the past decade.
“You mean to tell me when we’ve got all these alleged cases of chronic child sexual abuse, children running around on petrol, going on the streets at night sexualising themselves in some circumstances, and there’s only one permanent adoption, for fear of Stolen Generation? That is not standing up for kids.”
That, he says, must change.
The worst about Giles’ comments is that they’re called “controversial” by the media.
“Controversial?” Taking a raped child to safety and giving them a loving home is controversial? Shouldn’t it be controversial to leave them?
Apparently no, which is why the “stolen generations” theory is deadly.
The “stolen generations” were best defined by Professor Robert Manne: Children of “mixed-descent” rescued “not from harm ... but from their Aboriginality” by authorities who wished “to help keep White Australia pure”. 

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Labor cuts everything except funds for its propaganda

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (9:34am)

Utterly shameless. Despite being so broke that it’s slashed the baby bonus and foreign aid, Labor still pinches taxpayers’ money for its propaganda:

An extra $74 million will be channelled into federal government advertising campaigns despite the budget’s bleak finances.
The budget papers confirm the new spending includes $21 million to promote the Gonski school reforms, $10 million to spruik the government’s jobs plan and $10 million to advertise health services such as Medicare.
Another $8 million will be spent promoting childcare assistance and the government has earmarked an extra $5 million for the existing national broadband network campaign.
And there’s the bribes for the ABC and SBS, sure to guarantee further kind coverage of Labor and its causes.
The thieves.

(Thanks to reader Hmmm.) 

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Gillard plots even as she cries

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (9:17am)

For all her tears, shown on prime-time, Julia Gillard is using the disabled as her last, desperate weapon against Tony Abbott.
Mark Kenny suspects even this last grubby bid will fail:

Trap. Wedge. Trick. Ploy. All these words have been used to describe Wayne Swan’s latest federal budget…
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Julia Gillard and her Treasurer had unsuccessfully applied a pincer movement on Abbott over a proposed extension of the Medicare levy to pay for DisabilityCare… He had, of course, confounded the government ... when he backed the NDIS levy…
All was not lost, though. By definition, the 0.5-percentage-point increase to the Medicare levy would not pay for the whole scheme, a fact Abbott repeatedly pointed out…
That opened the opportunity for a second wedge in the form of painful cuts to existing spending to guarantee the remainder of NDIS funding… Many in Labor believe that for Abbott, cutting the baby bonus and family payments will prove to be a bridge too far. Indeed, they’re banking on it…
Abbott believes the government is again manouevring for a more damaging claim ...  being the charge that he is not a ‘’fair dinkum’’ backer of the new disability program.
In other words, if Abbott blocks the budget measures to close off the baby-bonus and trim family tax benefits, he will be putting the very financial viability of the $14.5 billion DisabilityCare in jeopardy.
Abbott won’t be trapped:

TONY Abbott will tonight leave open the prospect of supporting the Labor spending cuts and tax increases that pay for DisabilityCare in a budget reply speech aimed at sidestepping Wayne Swan’s fiscal booby trap.
Gillard’s tears yesterday elevated disability care as an issue, with Labor hoping to contrast Gillard’s passion with Abbott’s alleged hard-heartedness.
Of course, it would be mean to even suggest those tears weren’t genuine. Strangely, though, even ABC host Jon Faine this morning estimated that a third of his (largely Left-leaning audience) were sceptical.
Surely Labor wouldn’t be that cynical, that craven.
UPDATE
Barrie Cassidy, a former Labor media adviser and friend of Tim Mathieson, attacks Jon Faine on ABC radio today for even mentioning that listeners are suspicious of Gillard’s tears.   

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Labor pays off the ABC, which looks Left for inspiration

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:49am)

Labor’s Budget filled the war-chests of the state’s Left-wing media outlets - not just to keep them friendly in the election, but alive afterwards, when Labor will need friends:

The ABC will pick up an close to $100m in extra funding with $59.4m to go to news and current affairs and $30m for online content distribution, over three years. Meanwhile, SBS has received an additional $30m over five years…
Online website the The Conversation has also received a boost in funding of $2 million over the next four years.
Spreading the state media’s reach into-online publication is a direct attack on Fairfax, which needs the exact same audience to pay for its own product if it is to survive.
Why is Labor starving Fairfax like this? I suspect it’s because they fear it will fall to Gina Rinehart, so can be cut loose already.
Behold, then, the rise of the state media in Australia - the propaganda arm of the Big Government on which it relies. The friend of the Left whose support ensures that Big Government thrives.
This is the Left funding a permanent opposition to taxpayers, using the taxpayers’ own cash.
UPDATE
Tim Blair notes that ABC managing director Mark Scott, who feigned ignorance of the overwhelmingly Leftist bias of his presenters, now says he’s taking inspiration from Left-wing programs in the US:

ABC managing director Mark Scott said he would ask a team of journalists and digital and entertainment experts to find creative ways to deliver news to children and teenagers.
Mr Scott cited the popular US satirical programs The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report as examples of shows that melded news and entertainment in a package that appealed to younger audiences …
Actually, the most popular current affairs show on cable in the US - and by a mile - is not The Daily Show but Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor. From the ratings last week (which I have cut and pasted):
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O’Reilly has more than double Stewart’s audience and nearly triple Colbert’s. Even O’Reilly’s repeat outrates The Daily Show, screening in the same timeslot:

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So why did Scott not cite Bill O’Reilly as the model? Other than the fact that his is a conservative show, I mean, and Scott’s preferences are of the Left:
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Scott says he wants to deliver news to teenagers. Why not just news to all Australians? Is “teenagers” just a smokescreen for saying “Left”?
The people at “The Daily Show” ridicule the idea of people looking to their show as a primary news source.
“A lot of them are probably high,” Stewart cracked. “I’m not sure, coming off of robots fighting and into our show, what we’re dealing with out there.”
Jon Stewart does not make Scott’s mistake of considering himself a news reporter:

I’m a comedian first. My comedy is informed by an ideological background. There’s no question about that. But that’s not [my] primary motivating force. I’m not an activist. I’m a comedian.
Journalism lecturer Tony Rogers:
I think [Jon Stewart’s] show is brilliant, an example of satire at its best, but does it do an adequate job of bringing people up to speed on the news? Absolutely not. In any case, it’s not meant to. Stewart would be the first to admit that.
But it worries me that young people in particular (the show’s audience skews fairly young) will use “The Daily Show” as a substitute for real news. That would be a tragedy, because it’s been my experience that most young people are woefully ignorant of current events (various polls have confirmed this.) One example: I recently asked a class of about 15 students why the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. No one knew.

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Taxing conservatives

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:42am)

Big Brother government, the goon squad of the Left, sure roughed up conservative groups in the US:
In February 2010, the Champaign Tea Party in Illinois received approval of its tax-exempt status from the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] in 90 days, no questions asked.
That was the month before the Internal Revenue Service started singling out Tea Party groups for special treatment. There wouldn’t be another Tea Party application approved for 27 months.
In that time, the IRS approved perhaps dozens of applications from similar liberal and progressive groups, a USA TODAY review of IRS data shows.
As applications from conservative groups sat in limbo, groups with liberal-sounding names had their applications approved in as little as nine months. With names including words like “Progress” or “Progressive,” the liberal groups applied for the same tax status and were engaged in the same kinds of activities as the conservative groups.
(Via Instapundit.) 

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Abbott vows to be honest, but that will demand courage

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:21am)

Niki Savva sums up Tony Abbott’s approach to government after September 14:

Abbott has a new mantra: no excuses, no surprises. It is a suitable credo for government, as is Hockey’s pledge to end the age of entitlement. Abbott has to reconcile the two.
Abbott’s approach is right. But it will mean gaining a mandate, however vague, before the election for what he’ll do afterwards.
The fear is that caution will stop him from asking for permission to do what he knows must be done. Then, to maintain his “no excuses, no surprises” promise, he will indeed not do what’s needed.
That will hurt his ability to knock the economy into shape by 2016 - and it’s the economy on which the longevity of his government relies.
I’m less convinced by this argument:
The baby bonus Costello introduced was a flawed measure rescued by a clever line: one for mum, one for dad and one for the country… Abbott would be smart to use money saved from the baby bonus to help pay for his paid parental leave scheme.
Yes, the baby bonus represents the entitlement culture which must change. But at least it is money back in the hands of taxpayers. More importantly, diverting the baby bonus to a parental leave scheme means diverting money from stay-at-home mothers to working mothers, which effectively discriminates against the best kind of child-raising and the less affluent mothers. 

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How did $7 billion go walkies in three weeks?

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:10am)

WE MISSED the most obvious thing about the Budget. The single figure that exposed the Gillard Government as incompetent, deceitful or both.  

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Kennett on losers, Savva on disbelievers

Andrew Bolt May 16 2013 (7:07am)

Jeff Kennett, a successful Victorian premier and Hawthorn football club president:

WHAT do the Gillard Government and the Melbourne Football Club have in common? They both have developed a losing culture.
Niki Savva says the spectators have given up:

Afterwards the budget reaction was summed up by one backbench realist thus: “Even if we gave them gold bars they would still say it was fool’s gold. They don’t believe us.”

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That evil misogynist! Credits: Bridget Abbotthttps://twitter.com/bridgetabbott/status/335002292908609536
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Wyatt Roy
#Budget Reply2013 summary
Tonight we spoke about two objectives of our Real Solutions Plan: first, to take pressure off households; and second, to strengthen our economy so that, over time, there’s more to go around for everyone.

Taking Pressure off Families:

The Coalition will abolish the carbon tax and provide immediate and substantial relief to electricity and gas prices.

Families and pensioners will also benefit by fully retaining the income tax cuts and fortnightly pension and benefit increases associated with the carbon tax. This will allow households to plan their futures with confidence.

This commitment is fully funded – and will be offset by equivalent reductions in government spending. 

Responding to Labor’s Budget Emergency:

With the Budget detailing even more deficits in coming years and the debt ceiling of
$300 billion about to be breached, Australia is facing a Budget Emergency.

Australia cannot keep running up record debt and deficits.

This is the fundamental difference between the Coalition and Labor: We believe that governments, like families and businesses, have to live within their means.

While many of the announcements made in Labor’s Budget are objectionable, the Coalition does reserve the right to implement Labor’s cuts, if needed, as part of our pathway back to surplus.

We will make further announcements about spending and savings after the release of the pre-election economic and fiscal outlook.

A Strong, Prosperous Economy:

The decisions we announced tonight are about building a strong, prosperous economy.

A stronger economy is the key to almost everything we wish for as a nation: it means more jobs, higher wages, greater government revenue, better services and, ultimately, stronger and more cohesive communities. 

The Coalition stands ready to end the chaos of Labor and provide the strong, stable and accountable government that our country needs.

We offer the Australian people a clear choice between Labor’s chaos and budget mismanagement and the Coalition’s readiness to provide our country with the Plan, experience and policies that Australia needs. See our plan here:http://bit.ly/ZjyTjR
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IFNM Daily Music Video - May 15, 2013
I Remember You – Doris Day

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/i-remember-you-doris-day/
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"Because our country is more important than any of us in this parliament...
It’s not about us. It’s about you, the Australian people." Thomas Dang
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Mi piacciono le persone innamorate.
Le persone innamorate sono coraggiose, corrono molto, prendono il treno all'ultimo secondo, mentre la porta si sta per chiudere.
Si rialzano dopo essersi sbucciate le ginocchia e il cuore.
Le persone innamorate prendono aerei per raggiungere le loro metà. Rischiano, piangono, alzano le mani al cielo, sorridono e poi piangono di nuovo. Ma non stanno mai ferme. Non si lamentano, piuttosto agiscono.
Mi piacciono. Se tutti fossero cosi ci sarebbero più mani intrecciate e meno cuori spezzati.

( Rosanna Ceniccola)
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Father in heaven,I thank You for Your resurrection power at work in my life. Today, I give You my broken dreams, disappointments, failures and setbacks, and I trust that You will breathe Your life into me. I trust that You have a good plan for my future, and You are leading me into total victory in Jesus’ name. Amen. 
Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
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Just stack tomatoes, some mozzarella cheese, basil and asparagus and drizzle with some balsamic vinaigrette.
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I met a fairy today who granted me one wish.

"I want to live forever" I said.

"Sorry" said the fairy, "I'm not allowed to grant wishes like that, try something else.”

"Fine" I said, "My wish is to live until Julia Gillard is re-elected as Prime Minister".

"You're a shifty little bastard, aren’t you?" said the fairy.
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The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts and figures and instructions for dancing
But I
I love it when you read to me
And you
You can read me anything
The book of love has music in it
In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb
But I
I love it when you sing to me
And you
You can sing me anything

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4 her
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Did you know none of the employees involved in the IRS scandal were disciplined. In fact, one was promoted.

Demand Congress investigates the IRS: https://secure.teapartypatriots.org/m/tpp/irs_petition?src=FAC1165
If you have been harassed or intimidated by the IRS we need to hear from you. Tell us your story athttp://www.teapartypatriots.org/shareyourstory/
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Roma Downey as Monica the angel on Touched by an Angel....quotes from the show.
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Original ‘The Quiet Man’ short story turns 80

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/original-the-quiet-man-short-story-turns-80/

Did you know that the John Ford film was based on a short story written by a Kerryman? Now the original manuscript of the story is on display in Listowel.
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Jason Smith for Missouri’s 8th Congressional District

Jason has worked tirelessly to build on the foundation of his humble beginnings and is a responsible and respected leader in the Show Me State. In Washington DC, Jason will maintain that innate sense of his community and will bring his commonsense conservatism to the halls of Congress. Jason recognizes that government is the problem, not the solution. He will protect our 2ndAmendment rights and work to promote a culture of life. We must all work together to send Mr. Smith to Washington on June 4th. 

– Sarah Palin
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“My question isn't about who's going to resign. My question is who's going to jail over this scandal.” -House Speaker John Boehner on the IRS targeting conservative groups
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"The Gang" are reunited once more in the series 7 finale, 'The Name of the Doctor'. Geronimo!

Check out the Next Time trailer here on YouTube:http://bit.ly/13e3eP1
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PLEASE LIKE AND SHARE!!!

Nakba? What about the Jewish Nakba? 

850,000 Jews from Arab lands brutally murdered or expelled, after confiscating all their lands and wealth. What about their rights?

This graphic does not even address the 400,000 odd Jews that were expelled from the Arab world in the four decades PRIOR to Israel's independence.

That's 1.25 million Jews and their 8 million odd descendants that have been deprived of their human rights by the Arab countries!

Shameful!
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Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.
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In this video excerpt, see how Jesus wasn't afraid to associate with sinners, how His grace infected them with His holiness, healing and life, and how, as a new covenant believer, you don't have to be afraid of being contaminated by the world!
http://josephprince.com/
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Beloved, our God is a BIG God of abundance and inexhaustible supply. He is the Possessor of heaven and earth. He is El Shaddai—the Almighty, all-sufficient and all-nourishing one! 

And in Christ, the abundance of God’s wisdom, favor, ability, strength and creativity that you need for a successful family, career and ministry, are yours to experience and enjoy. 

What is your lack today? Do you need a job? Do you need more time? Or do you just feel overwhelmed by the demands of family and work?

Instead of seeing the lack, start seeing a BIG God providing for you out of His abundance, a job you’ll love, wisdom to manage your time or His shalom-peace at work and at home. Come boldly to Him today for all your needs and see His supply swallow up every lack that you have!
http://josephprince.com/
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Friend,
Can you spare a few minutes today to defend your constitutional right to religious freedom - specifically when it comes to protecting life? 
I am asking you this because Patriot Voices is teaming with several other organizations by asking our members to stand up for our religious freedom today, May 15. 
Here's what you need to do (I promise it will take a few minutes):
Will you call your Member of Congress right now at 202-224-3121 and ask him or her to enact legislation to protect religious freedom? Specifically ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 940, the Health Care Conscience Rights Act.
I also ask that after you make this one phone call, please take a minute to post this alert on your Facebook page:
Help protect our constitutional right to religious freedom by calling your Member of Congress right now at 202-224-3121.  Tell them to co-sponsor H.R. 940, the Health Care Conscience Rights Act.
It is critical we stand up together on this matter.  Why?  I know we are facing so many other critical issues right now - the aftermath of the tragic terror attack in Boston; the unanswered questions surrounding the attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya; our economic challenges - but protecting our religious freedom is at the foundation of what makes this country great. 
Congress isn't doing enough to protect conscience rights, because they aren't hearing from us enough that this issue matters.  That's why calling today will help put this issue front and center for them. 
Today people of faith are being forced to act against their beliefs. Nurses, medical students, and other health care workers should not be threatened by the government, or entities receiving federal funds, when it comes to matters related to abortion or other services to which they may be conscientious objectors.
Think about the nurse or doctor who must help with an abortion or face losing his job. 
This legislation should be easy to pass - how can Congress vote against such a basic constitutional right?   But Congress needs to hear from you before it will take any action!
Can I count on you take a few minutes to make sure your Member of Congress hears from  you today?  Call the Capitol switchboard now at 202-224-3121, and ask for your representative by name.  If you aren't sure who your Member of Congress is, please CLICK HERE and enter your zip code in the upper right hand corner.   
As Americans of faith, we deserve the right to live our faith not just in church on Sunday, but in our everyday life. This was the intention of our Founding Fathers.  It is the birthright of every American.  
Thank you,
Rick Santorum signature 
Rick Santorum  
Donate Today button

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Photo credit: www.jensensutta.com
Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for May 15th. Enjoy!

From the Blog

A brief history of slimy Dem snoops and dumpster divers

It’s always the “low-level” peon’s fault, isn’t it?

Steny Hoyer can’t keep his scandals straight

Keeping straight all the scandals, cover-ups, obfuscations and excuses for massive DOJ document seizures that are occurring during the watch of the administration that replaced the Bush era with unprecedented levels of transparency and rule of law does tend to be confusing...

Law school still plans to honor scandal-plagued Obama IRS official Lois Lerner

Screw up, move up, repeat...

More From the Right Side of the Web

Monica Crowley: The ideology of control
The Washington Free Beacon: IRS Scandal: Latest in string of accusations

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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It's "you're," dear. Bet you wish you could take back that tweet, huh?

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May 16: Teachers' Day in Malaysia
Shield nickel

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