Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Tue Jul 2nd Todays News

Happy birthday Thomas Cranmer (1489) and Vicente Fox (1942). Born on the same day, across the years. In 706, In China, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang interred the final bodies in the Qianling Mausoleum, which remained unopened until the 1960s. In 1890, The U.S. Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, the first United States government action to limit monopolies. In 1917, White residents of East St. Louis, Illinois, burned entire sections of the city and shot black inhabitants as they escaped the flames. In 1950, A mentally ill Buddhist monk set fire to the Golden Pavilion at Kinkaku-ji, destroying what is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan. In 1976, More than a year after the end of the Vietnam War, North and South Vietnam officially united under communist rule to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Your gift is buried in the present for the future. You don't seek to monopolise. Outraged at bigotry, you take action. You fix mistakes. And at the end, you unite. Thank you.
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Heiner report vindicates whistleblower - but it must be acted on

Piers Akerman – Tuesday, July 02, 2013 (5:57am)

Commissioner Tim Carmody, QC, has vindicated the principled stand of all those who fought for the Heiner Affair to be investigated.
In his report released Monday he found evidence suggesting the document shredding at the core of the Heiner Affair was illegal.
That’s what whistleblower Kevin Lindeberg and an impressive array of the most senior legal figures in the the nation have been saying for decades.
But they had to fight successive Queensland Labor governments, a reluctant media that was far too close to Labor, and inertia.
Carmody’s finding which, as The Courier Mail’s report now concedes “potentially puts everyone from former Queensland premier Wayne Goss to former treasurer David Hamill to former Attorney-General Dean Wells in the firing line” as well as former MP Anne Warner, who was the minister responsible for the portfolio at the time.
It also admits that the role of Goss’s then chief-of-staff, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, would also be closely examined in any trial.
It claims that the central thesis of Heiner was that the Goss Labor government covered up child abuse and was rejected by Carmody, who calls the accusation “scandalous, disingenuous and groundless”.
But Heiner was always about the shredding and the awful sexual abuse was always just an example of the criminality that was going unpunished because of the act of destruction of material which was known to be wanted as evidence.
Whistleblower Kevin Lindeberg has always argued that the documents from the 1989 inquiry headed by retired magistrate Noel Heiner into the old John Oxley Youth Detention Centre included material covering child abuse but he was also concerned about their relevance to trade union activities.
The documents were shredded after a Goss Cabinet decision in early 1990.
Carmody’s reportly finds that the act of handing the documents to the state archivist and putting them through the shredder on March 23, 1990, was possibly illegal because they may have been needed in a potential legal proceedings contemplated by former John Oxley manager, Peter Coyne.
The report is not as thorough as it should have been and doubts were raised about potential conflicts before Carmody sat.
He has recommended the Department of Public Prosecutions now deliberate but this seems to be another mistake.
The only way for full and proper resolution would appear to be through the appointment, by Act of Parliament, of a Special Prosecutor as was advised by a group of eminent judges in 2007, preceded by a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, by an Act of Parliament, and headed by 3 interstate judges because of 6 sitting judges being adversely caught up in the matter.
Further , the Office of the DPP is deeply embroiled in the matter from its earlier considerations in 1995, 1997 and 2003-2005. Indeed two former DPPs are adversely named in the Rofe Audit, and one is a current sitting judge.
The matter cannot be laid to rest with this report.
Queensland Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie has the opportunity to heal this long running sore.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman showed courage and integrity when he agreed to pursue the matter – he must ensure that it he stays the course to the end.

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CONTINENT LIBERATED

Tim Blair – Tuesday, July 02, 2013 (12:16pm)

The Weekly Standard reports: 
Yesterday in Cape Town, South Africa, President Obama talked about bringing energy and power to the continent of Africa. Today, President Obama is expected to reveal that part of his Africa energy plan involves a soccer ball that carries an electric generator inside. 
White House aide Mike Froman explains this pioneering energy advance: 
“Kids play soccer all day long. They take the thing, the ball home, and you can plug a lamp into it and they can read at night. Or they can plug a cell phone charger into it.” 
As Doug Powers notes: “The people in Froman’s hypothetical example are living in a remote, off-the-grid village with no electricity but apparently there’s a cell phone tower just up the road.”
(Via Simon G.)

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KEVNILOTTO

Tim Blair – Tuesday, July 02, 2013 (5:08am)

He’s from Queensland, and he needs your help! Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is in a dilly of a pickle over naming the nextelection date. What do readers think?
Thank you, we have already counted your vote.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Total Votes: 2,182
Return To PollCreate Your Own Poll 

Personally, I’m hoping for any day besides October 19. That’s when I’ll be attending an international cultural eventwith a former chairman of the Australia Council’s Literature Board.

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GLOBAL WARMING TO THE RESCUE

Tim Blair – Tuesday, July 02, 2013 (4:52am)

Unless we heat the planet, we’ll fall victim to bloodthirsty insect hordes: 
An aggressive ant species so vicious that in groups it can eat bird hatchlings alive may see its territory decline in the coming decades as climate change takes its toll on its habitats.
Pheidole megacephala, more popularly known as the big-headed ant, has been classified as one of the world’s 100 most invasive species, found in every continent except Antarctica. A recent model, however, predicts global warming will slow the ants’ march significantly by 2080. 
Phew. In a troubling climate development, however, global warming could persuade more English people to go outside:
A surge in global temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions could create a boost for parts of the British economy, a government report will suggest this week.
The National Adaptation programme, to be published tomorrow by Defra, the environment ministry, will suggest that farming, forestry and tourism will all benefit from warmer summers, while shipping will profit from the shorter sea routes caused by the melting of the ice caps.
It will even say that rising warmth might boost Britons’ health, encouraging them to spend more time outdoors, where exposure to sunshine would boost vitamin D levels. 
(Via the GWPF)

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WHEN JULIA RULED

Tim Blair – Tuesday, July 02, 2013 (4:49am)

Flashback to June 2010: 
Labor party polling shows Julia Gillard is “miles ahead” of Kevin Rudd as preferred leader.
Senior ALP figures said Mr Rudd’s rating amongst voters has plummeted as his deputy’s standing continues to soar.
The internal polling has been done across the key marginal seats that Labor will need to hold in the next federal election.
Sources within the party said things are looking “catastrophic” for the Prime Minister.
“Julia’s numbers continue to be miles ahead of Kevin’s,” a Labor source said.
“Voters are turning off Kevin in a very personal way, not just on the issues.” 
That was before we all turned into misogynists. Something else has changed over the past three years: 
Kevin Rudd is now the first prime minister to get a salary of more than $500,000 a year, as a scheduled 2.4 per cent pay rise for federal politicians comes into effect. 
Maybe now he can buy his own ties and stop borrowing them from Tony Abbott. Professor Timothy Besley from the London School of Economics defends high pay for politicians: 
“One consequence of not paying politicians in a serious way is that they drop out,” he said. 
Interesting theory. It doesn’t seem to be working.

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Husic represents us at our best, and a few gutless trolls mean nothing

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (1:01pm)

Are there racists in this country?
Yes.
Is the “social” media a cesspit of hate?
Oh, yes.
But does the disgusting flaming of Ed Husic’s Facebook site really define this country?

FEDERAL Labor MP Ed Husic has been attacked in social media for using a Koran when he was sworn in as parliamentary secretary by the Governor-General…
The Australian-born member for the western Sydney seat of Chifley, the son of Bosnian immigrants, in 2010 became the first Muslim elected to federal parliament and is the first to take on a ministry position…
Overnight, his Facebook page attracted posts from people angry he had used a Koran instead of a Bible to take his oath.
“You have created history of the worst order, to swear in on a Koran!! This is Australia with Australian Laws,” said one poster calling themselves Dinki Di Sheila.
“Swore to serve Australia using the same book terrorists do to serve Al-Qaeda ....Disgusting,” said another.
Husic’s response at a press conference this morning was dignified. He is right not to let the gutless few who dwell in the dark of the Internet define us all.
I would bet most Australians would see in Husic’s rise - like that of Ned Manoun - a classic Australian story of how this country gives a chance to all, and helps make a one out of many.
True, that story has been harder to tell over the past decade or two, but Husic is an affirmation of the best of us. His anonymous haters are of no account, and do not deserve the attention they are getting. There are too many such trolls on every chat site in the country. They do not deserve to intrude on adult conversation.
UPDATE
Nice response:
Mr Husic, who was yesterday sworn in as Australia’s first Muslim frontbencher, today brushed off the racial abuse saying it was a “natural part of democracy” that people would not always agree.
“There are people that are definitely extreme inside my faith and outside it and they will always seek ways to try and divide people,” Mr Husic said.
“But it is important to not jump because of harsh words in dark corners.”
UPDATE
This kind of smear-by-association is Gillard-style stuff, and Labor should be embarrassed that even under Rudd some MPs still stoop to using a few trolls to demonise Tony Abbott:
Earlier Tony Abbott appeared to not condemn the comments on Mr Husic’s page.
Asked about Mr Husic’s use of the Koran at an official swearing in ceremony at Government House Mr Abbott simply said: “I respect his choice”.
“I’m not familiar with it,” Mr Abbott said of the abuse. “But as I said, I respect his choice and I think the Australian people should as well.”
In a statement to News Limited a few hours later the Opposition Leader said: “Any abuse of Ed Husic is completely unacceptable”.
Labor MP Michelle Rowland took to Twitter to slam Mr Abbott for not making strong comments on the abuse.
“Abbott’s comments re Ed Husic are extremely weak. Why not condemn the racist abuse directed at him,” Ms Rowland, also a Western Sydney MP, posted.
Rowland should be ashamed of herself.
UPDATE
image
Racists aren’t going to have much joy in Husic’s seat of Chifley, given the Liberals’ choice of candidate:

Mr Abbott is spending a great deal of time campaigning with candidates such as Isabelle White, a 22-year-old NSW university student whose mother migrated from Thailand. 

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Greens just 90 per cent brainless

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (9:38am)

The Greens haven’t said where they’d find the money, how much power prices would soar. how many Australians would lose their jobs and what difference all this pain would actually make to the temperature.
All we get is the sound of ommmm:

The Greens have launched a pitch to increase Australia’s renewable energy target to 90 per cent by 2030 and tip an extra $20 billion into Australia’s clean energy finance corporation...
Greens leader Christine Milne said the minor party wanted to see all of Australia’s electricity come from renewable energy sources as soon as possible....
A study by the Australian Energy Market Operator released in April found ... moving to a 100 per cent renewable energy system would cost $219 billion to $338 billion and require wholesale electricity prices to double from current rates....
Senator Milne said the Greens proposed the extra money would come from borrowing – which would sit off the government’s budget – and would detail how to pay for the interest on the extra money in its yet to be released election policy costings.
Green is the color of inexperience and irresponsibility.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Rudd could hurt Abbott now, but help after the election

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (9:25am)

Terry McCrann says Kevin Rudd could help Tony Abbott dodge having to call a double-dissolution election:

Rudd was re-elected leader of the Labor party and so Prime Minister, for one reason and one reason only. To win the next election.
Or to at least limit the losses sufficiently, so that an Abbott government would not easily get its legislation through the Senate; and would be at risk of actually losing in a subsequent double dissolution election to kill the carbon tax.
Which by-the-by introduces another not exactly irrelevant and very interesting twist.
If Rudd goes straight to the ETS, the Emissions Trading Scheme, it would still really be a carbon tax. But there’d be less need for it to be immediately abolished. And Abbott might want to plead Rudd had already done that.
UPDATE
With the Budget already tipped to be $18 billion in the red, Rudd would bet the public isn’t going to care much if it turns out $25 billion instead - and especially not if he buys some peace:
The federal government is moving to combat its electoral weaknesses by cracking down on asylum seekers and examining changes to policies on ­climate change, welfare and higher education that, combined, could cost more than $7 billion.
With that kind of money, Rudd could buy a lot of votes. The Opposition should work hard to get commitments from Rudd on debt. 

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Five against one conservative, if you include ABC host Tony Jones

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (8:58am)

image
Reader Gab:

Sophie Mirabella on Q&A; did very well, especially when it was five lefties against one conservative. At one stage, three panellists were shouting at Mirabella when she was in the process of answering a question. The interruptions were constant. Tanya Plibersek was extremely catty, nasty and just plain rude towards Mirabella - and I’d still say that if Plibersek was a male. Perhaps Plibersek never got Rudd’s “be a little kinder and gentler with each other” memo.
Why are so many Leftists, who advertise themselves as more moral, actually more rude? Bertrand Russell:

Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power.
Does the ABC actually have a policy to make conservatives the minority of every panel discussion, or is it just an astonishing fluke?  Was Mirabella allowed to give a single uninterrupted answer? The heckling was ludicrous.
UPDATE
Readers protest.
Pip:
Sophie was unable to answer a single question without interruption. Plibersek interrupted sarcastically because she couldn’t stand the truth.All of them acted like a pack of wolves, and I just turned it off.Is that the best you’ve got ABC?
Alex J Golfer:
I find it hard to understand why conservatives bother to appear on the ABC. They know they will be outnumbered by leftists and radicals, hung out to dry by the moderator/interviewer, and generally humiliated by others, who refuse to let them finish their point. The already low ratings of our national broadcaster would drop even further if all interviews were only with those who fit within the ABC’s broad leftist guidelines. Wake up conservatives - you cannot get your message across on the ABC, so why bother.
Bonnie:
This episode was overwhelmingly biased and appeared set up to bully Sophie Mirabella who did well to hold her own. Very unbecoming tactics ABC.
Lin:
Plibersek typically resorted to personal abuse when she failed to adequately answer questions such as one about failed border policy during which she disagreed with Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s assessment of current boat arrivals as 100% economic migrants. Wouldn’t he be best placed to know? Mirabella was unable to finish any answers, often interrupted by Jones himself who I have noticed has a tendency to cut off conservatives, especially women, when they are talking sense. She demonstrated more grace under fire than I would…
UPDATE
Chris Kenny:

Anyone who argues the ABC doesn’t need a major shake-up must be kidding themselves after last night’s episode of Q&A. The weekly public affairs forum usually is skewed heavily towards left viewpoints – with ALP, Greens and progressive guests often outnumbering conservatives four to two - counting host Tony Jones as one of the progressives. But last night it went all out, with five on the left, unleashing their antagonism towards the sole conservative, Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella.
Apart from Jones, the other panelists repeatedly interrupted and interrogated Mirabella, challenging every point she tried to make, preventing her from finishing, and in the case of ALP minister, Tanya Plibersek, sneering and accusing her of faking concern for refugees. It was pretty ugly stuff. The other panelists were regular ABC guest and advertising executive, Todd Sampson, Labor advertising consultant, Neil Lawrence, and public relations consultant and close friend of Kevin Rudd, Sue Cato…
The Coalition will want to avoid an open conflict with the ABC this side of the election… But clearly the organisation has given up even pretending to provide balance in its programming and current affairs coverage. On the night of Rudd’s ascension, for instance, the 7.30 program sought insight from a former Labor pollster and a former Rudd spin doctor!
The ABC is required by law to provide pluralistic coverage for all Australians – and to provide political balance and fairness. Along with SBS these are the only media paid for by taxpayers and accountable to them, via government, in this way. It is why taxpayers demand better.  By failing to make any impact in this area – in fact by allowing it to get worse - ABC managing director Mark Scott has made himself an obvious target for an incoming Coalition government. But changes will have to be more dramatic than a mere change of leadership.
UPDATE
The ABC audience horse-laugh partly obscured Mirabella’s final retort to the jeering Tony Jones, who led the lynchmob, but it was a good one:
JONES: Does it help when Rupert Murdoch is on your side?
(ABC AUDIENCE: Jeers Mirabella.)
MIRABELLA: I’ll take that as a rhetorical question Probably not as much as the ABC does on their side. 

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Kevin Rudd ends the wars

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (8:46am)

Good move. Kevin Rudd ends Julia Gillard’s disastrous politics of division - or at least claims to:

Yesterday he said he wanted “a much more productive relationship between business and Labor and to end the days of so-called class warfare”…
On the rhetoric of gender wars, when Rudd was asked about promoting women, he turned defence and praise of Gillard into a criticism of her political judgment in reviving the misogyny attack on Abbott and raising abortion as a political issue.
“I actually don’t see things through the prism of gender,” he said.
“I never have and I never will.
“I actually pay a lot of tribute to those trailblazers in the past who opened the door, made it more possible and then made it entirely normal.”
But then the man who doesn’t “see things through the prism of gender” announced he was women-friendly by posing with the women in his new ministry:

image
All things to everyone. To everyone who judges by words, not actions, that is.
UPDATE
The real Kevin peeps through at the launch of the one of the new DisabilityCare trials:

Mr Rudd saved his biggest trick for Charlestown where he managed to redirect the flow of credit for the National Disability Insurance Scheme away from Julia Gillard and back to him.
While Gillard had done a lot of work, he assured us, the idea was born at his 2020 summit back in 2008.
Not that Rudd had much interest in the details, as he demonstrated at the launch:

KEVIN RUDD: And we’re launching now sites in how many locations across the country?
JENNY MACKLIN, DISABILITY REFORM MINISTER: Four launch sites.
KEVIN RUDD: Four launch sites covering about - how many people?
JENNY MACKLIN: 26,000.
KEVIN RUDD: 26,000 people. Through to a full rollout in 2019. There you go. It always pays to have the minister standing next to you.

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A bond for raping his daughter for 10 years

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (8:46am)

My God:

A YOUNG woman was rushed to hospital after collapsing in despair when her rapist father not only escaped jail but was let off with a good-behaviour bond.
Her father had pleaded guilty to repeatedly raping his daughter, now 19, since she was just nine years old.
NSW Acting Justice Minister Michael Gallacher has asked the DPP to investigate appealing this “shocking decision”. 

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At least Lundy knows where she sits in Rudd’s team

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (8:45am)

The new consultative, women-friendly Kevin Rudd strikes:
“Kate Lundy, who retained minor portfolios, had news she was being replaced by Don Farrell as Sports Minister confirmed in a media release from Kevin Rudd’s office on Monday morning.
Mind you, there may be good reason for the decision if not for the rudeness:

image
She was understood to be disappointed Mr Rudd did not convey the blow personally, instead leaving the job to Deputy PM Anthony Albanese.
[Jason] Clare, who as Home Affairs Minister is responsible for agencies combating people smuggling and fighting gun crime in Sydney’s west, was dumped from Cabinet.
A Labor source yesterday said Mr Rudd had made it known after the pair’s press conference to release the Crime Commission’s report he believed Mr Clare had “over egged the (drugs in sport) issue” for “his own personal ambition.”
And we know how much Rudd despises personal ambition.

UPDATE
One former Labor leader isn’t sure Rudd has changed:
Outgoing Labor stalwart Simon Crean has warned colleagues to hold Kevin Rudd to his word to ensure Labor does not again degenerate into a ‘’one-man show’’.
While he praised Mr Rudd for pledging to consult more, saying a leopard could change its spots, he said it was now up to ‘’the leopard pack’’ to make the necessary changes, too.

(Thanks to reader CA.)  

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The Human Rights Commission tramples over the rights of Myer. Sack it

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (8:06am)

The IPA’s Simon Breheny on the Human Rights Commission’s disgraceful campaign to single out Myer for public scapegoating - a virtual blackmailing to advance a cause dreamed up by on-line activists:
The Australian Human Rights Commission is in all out war with one of Australia’s largest retailers demonstrating that it is now completely out of control: 
MYER is refusing to retreat from a stoush with the Human Rights Commission, with chairman Paul McClintock criticising the nation’s top anti-discrimination officer for launching an online campaign to persuade the department store to introduce a 10 per cent quota of disabled workers.
Mr McClintock said yesterday he was “astonished” by the role of Disability Commissioner Graeme Innes, whose online petition on Change.org was spurred by Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes’s now infamous May 1 comment about the funding of the national DisabilityCare scheme.
At the time, Mr Brookes told an investment forum that the Medicare surcharge to fund the scheme would affect the retailer’s sales.
You can see the petition for yourself here.
McClintock has written about the extraordinary actions of the Commission in a stinging piece for the AFR:


I will admit that I was astonished. I have spent much of my career combining business and public sector governance, and I believed that public officials do not jump on bandwagons which have no substantive base, that they do not do so without first attempting to contact the individual and company involved, and certainly that they do not initiate or support petitions to punish a company or force it to accept programs with no basis in law or government policy.
Setting up a change.org petition against one company is a totally inappropriate role for the disability discrimination commissioner… This kind of ridiculous behaviour is exactly why the IPA has called for the abolition of the Australian Human Rights Commission. 
Myer accused the Human Rights Commission of double-dealing and vindictiveness - too often the failings of those so convinced of their moral superiority that they excuse themselves the very things they condemn in the evil “other”:
Myer chairman Paul McClintock has demanded the Attorney-General review the Australian Human Rights Commission’s conduct… Mr McClintock says that AHRC president Gillian Triggs reneged on a promise to make a public statement distancing itself from its disability commissioner’s criticism of Mr Brookes…
Mr McClintock said the Myer board asked for the statement because Mr Brookes was being “attacked for his personal morality and commitment to community”. “It wasn’t a criticism that Bernie was not a good retailer but that Bernie was not a good man, which is not true,” Mr McClintock told The Australian Financial Review.
Myer said Professor Triggs had given an undertaking that the commission would release a statement saying it did not support a social media campaign being run by disability commissioner Graeme Innes but was forced to back down because any statement from the commission requires unanimous support. Myer said that it had agreed to a draft press release suggested by Professor Triggs, only for the AHRC president to retreat.
However, Professor Triggs has fought back, denying Mr McClintock’s version of events. She said neither she nor the commission had ever agreed to a draft proposed by Myer.
One side isn’t telling the truth, and this suggests which:

Professor Triggs ... said she had been clear from the outset that any negotiated position would need to be agreed by the commission’s lawyers and the five other commissioners, who include Mr Innes and sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.
“We could have agreed on a very fruitful statement that we were working collaboratively, but they refused to accept either [draft] variation, including the one I gave to them around last weekend.
Myer said it did agree to that draft but Professor Triggs sought to alter it after securing the retailer’s agreement.
Triggs, the head of the Human Rights Commission, last night tried to defend her commission’s vendetta against Myer. She even admits it tried to stifle debate on a matter of great public interest:

EMMA ALBERICI:  Do you have any regrets at all about your reaction to Bernie Brookes’ comments, the chief executive of Myer, about the funding of the National Disability Insurance Scheme?
GILLIAN TRIGGS: Well we don’t regret it and the reason is that the remarks were inappropriate in the context. The disability community was very anxious… that a major business group like Myer could destabilise the debate in relation to funding. Of course the debate is important, it must be had, but in that context the disability community was very concerned that the remarks would jeopardise the future of that legislation.
The commission admits it singled out a retailer for expressing an opinion about the funding of a massive (and largely unfunded) new social welfare scheme the commission supported? This is disgraceful.
And where is the justice in the Human Rights Commission then seeking to force this employer - above any other - to adopt a wild and expensive hiring plan that has no basis in law?

TRIGGS: ...  I think the community started to use the social media. This was picked up by Commissioner Innes and we attempted to work with Myer to see how we could turn what was rather an unfortunate remark into something that would be more positive so that we might be able to work in engaging Myer and other members of the business community in a challenge to see if we could encourage employment of disabled people to 10 per cent, which is something that the Australian disability network has taken on…
EMMA ALBERICI: Well the Myer chairman clearly saw this as an attack on his company. The Institute of Public Affairs has said that Graeme Innes as a taxpayer-funded official was exercising a political - discretionary political campaign he was operating.
GILLIAN TRIGGS: Well, the Australian Human Rights Commission may not play a political role. Our job is to ensure that the law and the human rights laws are maintained. We do not get into these kinds of disputes. It’s not how we operate. But there will be differences of views as to how the advocacy role that Commissioner Innes plays is carried out. And we expect and welcome a robust debate about this and about what the role of the commission is. We welcome it.
The Human Rights Commission now welcomes debate? Yet the last time it heard one it singled out Myer for vilification and special punishment.
It is out of control. 

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October 12 election?

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (7:58am)

Samuel J at the Cat tips a late election:
The G20 is being held this year in St Petersburg from 5 to 6 September 2013. Rudd cannot, and will not, miss this – he is desperate to attend and have the other world leaders fawn over his every utterance.
His Government cannot be in caretaker mode either – that would limit his ability to prognosticate (under the Caretaker Conventions he would effectively be an observer if he chose to attend during a campaign). So the Parliament must be dissolved after his return from Russia.
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 provides that the election be held on a Saturday a minimum of 33 days after the issuing of writs for election…
If Rudd visited the Governor-General shortly after he returned to Australia from the G20 meeting, the earliest election date would be Saturday 12 October 2013. The other possible dates are: 19 and 26 October, and 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 November.
Since Rudd would not wish to wait too long, and would probably go for a short campaign, I expect the election will be held on 12 October.

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Was our new Immigration Minister wrong then or is he wrong now?

Andrew Bolt July 02 2013 (3:01am)

The new Immigration Minister is in charge of a policy he once thought too harsh, too expensive:
Tony Burke, opposition immigration spokesman, August 13, 2006: 
THESE are some of the most desperate people in the world; the last thing Australia should do is to simply dump them in Nauru.
Burke, March 15, 2007:


NAURU is a white elephant that is only there to save the pride of the prime minister. It’s a waste of money.
Guess what, new Immigration Minister Burke? Gemma Jones in Melbourne’s the Herald Sun yesterday:

THERE are 15,492 asylum-seekers in the community on bridging visas waiting for processing of their refugee claims and almost 12,500 people in detention in Australia and offshore.
What the new ministers think of Kevin Rudd. Burke, February 22 last year:

AND the stories that were around of the chaos, of the temperament, of the inability to have decisions made - they are not stories.
UPDATE
This is at least worth trying:
The federal government is exploring ways to send home asylum seekers deemed ‘’economic migrants’’ as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd toughens approval processes in an attempt to harden Labor’s credentials on boat arrivals…
Fairfax Media understands that Australia is speaking to Iran and the UNHCR about how failed asylum seekers can be returned to that country.
At present, the Iranian government refuses to take them back, although hopes have been raised by the recent election of a more moderate regime after the rule of the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…
Of the 12,936 people who arrived by boat in the past six months, 4271 - nearly one-third - claim to have come from Iran, according to the latest Immigration Department figures.

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Abbott backs off referendum. Sadly, Labor hasn’t

Andrew BoltJULY022013(6:15pm)

The Coalition should have been against this dangerous referendum from the start, but better late than Labor’s never: 

Federal parliament has passed laws, with strong bipartisan support, to allow the referendum to go ahead in conjunction with the forthcoming federal election…
But Coalition frontbencher Christopher Pyne said today he believed the referendum would be voted down, while Tony Abbott said he had “enormous reservations” about it.
The Opposition Leader said ...  Labor had ignored the advice of the committee which explored the issue, and had failed to properly consult state governments.
“This thing has been done badly and undemocratically,” Mr Abbott told reporters.
He said there was a case for ensuring federal funding to local government could continue without facing problems in the High Court…

“And I say to the Australian people, if you don’t understand it, don’t vote for it.”
Abbott scramble is undignified, and he’s still not arguing against the proposal on its actual (de)merits. But Labor is still pushing hard this proposal to give Canberra far more control over local councils than is healthy and democratic.
Vote no.

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Will Kevin Rudd be likewise asked to denounce this disgusting abuse?

Andrew BoltJULY022013(3:58pm)

Some crank carries a sexist sign at a rally against the carbon tax. Journalists and Labor turn on Tony Abbott.
A restaurateur creates a sexist menu for the private amusement of his son. Journalists and Labor turn on Tony Abbott.
A broadcaster at a private dinner makes a nasty crack (for which he apologises) about Julia Gillard’s father dying of shame. Journalists and Labor turn on Tony Abbott.
Anonymous trolls post abuse on the Facebook site of a Muslim Labor MP. Journalists and Labor demand a response from Tony Abbott.
The rank attempts to smear-by-association are offensive enough. Just as telling, though, is the hypocrisy of so many of the Left who hyperventilate over the insults of trolls when aimed at Labor, but cheer and book seats for even worse insults by prominent people when aimed at Abbott: 
STAND-UP comedian Josh Thomas has been criticised after making sexually explicit remarks about Tony Abbott’s mother.

The TV star courted controversy after he publicly tweeted to the Opposition Leader’s official account: ”Stop the boats? I would prefer it if you stopped YO MOMMA from comin’ round my place at night for sex. #Political”.

Thomas’ comments were yesterday broadcast to his more than 220,000 followers. 
Should Kevin Rudd apologise for creating this climate of hate?
Should Rudd, Gillard and Labor generally denounce and distance themselves from this small sample of the vitriol hurled at Abbott and his family - and not just from the usual anonymous Internet trolls, but from ABC guests, ABC guest presenters, former Fairfax columnists and assorted others of the Left, so sure of their superior morality that they feel licensed to be more cruel and vicious than anyone they denounce: 
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And then there’s the utterly vile abuse from Labor speechwriter Bob Ellis, who deserves to be sued again by Abbott as he was before.
The hypocrisy is as sickening as the hatred.
UPDATE
The hypocrisy of the Left…
The ABC says it is deciding whether to allow Piers Akerman to return as an Insiders’ panelist after he (correctly) noted Canberra press gallery journalists had some time ago discussed false rumors about the sexuality of Julia Gillard’s boyfriend.
But it is happy to keep employing as an on-screen book reviewer Marieke Hardy, who wrote one of the above tweets and published something far more evil: 
Marieke Hardy… is hired by the ABC’s First Tuesday Book Club as an expert in literary culture.

That alone tells us so much about the parallel decline of both our branch of that culture and the ABC itself. Here, for instance, is Hardy’s tweet on the Opposition Leader at his campaign launch:
“The most conservative instinct of all - the instinct to have a family’. Tony Abbott, I hope your cock drops off and falls down a plughole.
This now passes for sophisticated discourse among our fashionably educated barbarians. And so do these readers comments on her blog which Hardy to this day has refused to remove, despite being repeatedly reminded she should do so (the deletion of expletives is mine):
Lawrie said…
You mean you were within 5 metres of [then Opposition Leader Brendan] Nelson and you didn’t glass the c..t?
You dropped the ball Fits…
Margi said…
I agree with Lawrie. You should have “glassed the c..t” Nelson. You should have taken a piece of glass and torn his face to shreds, only leaving trails of bloody skin dripping from his ugly face and then you should have glassed his ass and balls so much, you castrate him so he could never procreate with his wife. Furthermore, glass the c..t wife and their children, while you’re at it, because they don’t deserve to procreate and have any children themselves, those blood-sucking Liberal c..ts!
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The hypocrisy. And with it the viciousness - endorsed by the political party which caters most to a tribalism which strips the “enemy” of their humanity: 
When Howard was PM, Lindsay McDougall, of the band Frenzal Rhomb, got musicians to contribute to Rock Against Howard, a CD that included tracks such as John Howard is a Filthy Slut and Gun Him Down.

H-Block 101 sung this advice on handling such politicians: 

F...ing c..., here’s a stunt.
Kick him ‘til he’s dead.
Now guess who endorsed this muck?
Answer: Labor’s national president and a former premier, Carmen Lawrence, sent McDougall a warm note, declaring “It’s time to put an end to (Howard’s) regime of fear.” Greens leader Bob Brown also blessed the project, telling these barbarians how “mean, nasty and repressive” Howard was instead.

Even Peter Garrett, now Education Minister, said the CD was a “good idea”

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This statuette, popularly known as the "ram in the thicket," shows a goat jumping up on a flowering plant or tree and is one of two found in the “great death pit” at Ur dating from about 2650-2550 BC, which also contains the remains of 68 women and 6 men who appear to have been sacrificed. See more photos of treasures of Mesopotamia:http://oak.ctx.ly/r/704v
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Supermoon rises over this road to nowhere in eastern South Dakota.

Photo by : Aaron J. Groen
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The human eye Vs. galaxies!
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I'm not a business person .. but raising the rent seems to be separate to kicking them ot if it is to be effective.
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.. ok .. but .. first .. Who are you? Why do you never call or write? Why are you never at home when the garbage needs to be taken up the street? How come you never answer the phone? How come I'm always the one to cook and clean?
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Back from Geneva and working on my book series Judit Polgar Teaches Chess. Volume 2 will cover also some match games and I am just revising my game I won against Karpov in our 1998 rapid match. What a funny mating net could appear...black’s last move was g6...
Qd7+ Bxd7 Rxd7# - ed
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High fog over The San Luis Reservoir by Moonlight— at San Luis Reservoir.
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The last time Kevin Rudd was Leader of the Labor Party, he promised no changes to superannuation.

‘Not one jot, not one tittle’ he said. He broke that promise immediately after the election, leading Labor’s charge with almost $9 billion of tax increases on superannuation. http://lbr.al/42py

If you agree Kevin Rudd must rule out further tax increases on superannuation, please click ‘SHARE’.
John Tran Don't forget also the new laws to acquire your super and savings If they stay dormant for 5 years, the government will take it under Labor... Repossession of private assets is what you face when communist take over your country, not Australia.. but then again.
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#kitchenwhiz filming downtime with @aliceinframes
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Barry Shaw 

"in a reasonable world, the Palestinians can live with blocks of Jewish townships already established. In a reasonable world, the Palestinians can live with prosperous Jewish industry that gives gainful employment to Palestinian workers and managers, and earns mutual respect between Jews and Arabs.
In a reasonable world, the Palestinians have much to benefit from Israeli ingenuity and cooperation.
Unfortunately Israel is not living in a reasonable world."
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4 her
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"Let's just watch this psychopath and how it's going to unfold" 

Things got fiery this morning when Prue MacSween let rip on Kevin Rudd's return to the top job. 

FULL VIDEO: http://j.mp/12fld7R
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Sadly not a joke. And I wonder when activists will move to legalise the porn too.
How long before activists try to legalise bestiality porn? I can imagine their arguments .. how does one know what is or isn't bestiality porn? Think Charlotte's Web, Bambi, Black Beauty .. isn't it natural to love animals? - ed===
The word hero is often misapplied .. but this troupe are .. and their sacrifice is badly felt, but not in vain. Others will step up. - ed
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Just heard that Chris Brown was accused of injuring two people while driving recklessly. He later issued a statement refuting the claims "these accusations are ridiculous......I don't hit people with a car".........
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Roma Downey
"Don't confuse your path with your destination. Just because it's stormy now doesn't mean you aren't headed for some sunshine."

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As of today, Labor’s carbon tax will increase to an average of $545 per household using Treasury’s own modelling. The carbon tax, which was set for the first year at $23, increased to $24.15 on 1 July. 

The Coalition will scrap the carbon tax as a first order of business if elected.

Register your opposition to Labor’s carbon tax going up here: http://www.liberal.org.au/nocarbontax/
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Larry Pickering
THERE’S A MUSLIM IN THE MINISTRY

Okay, so what! Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are... oops I’d better not be politically incorrect. Anyway there are enough of them (Muslims I mean, not terrorists) here now to warrant Parliamentary representation. No big deal.

Governor General, Quentin Bryce, welcomed Ed Husic to Office. “It is a great day for multiculturalism”, she proclaimed as he swore his Oath of Allegiance clutching the Koran.

Kevin Rudd brought to the GG’s residence today a Ministry overflowing with eleven females (obviously a counterweight to his recent slaying of Australia’s first female Prime Minister) led by Emily Lister and long-time faithful comrade of Julia, Jenny Macklin.

They go back a long way, as far back as the bonded sisterhood of the “Socialist Forum” where government payments for late-term abortions were promoted, (see Bernard Gaynor’s article today in www.pickeringpost.com ).

Jenny and Julia were a formidable item. They both drew up the manifesto that forbade Labor Party members membership to the Forum. Why would that be you say?

Well, the manifesto also called for the Forum’s radical Communist members to infiltrate the Labor Party to impose extreme Left policy. The Socialist Forum appears to have done well.

Anyway, poor ‘ol Jenny must have thought her Socialist Forum’s aims far outweighed her trusted comrade Julia’s friendship, because today she nestled lovingly into Rudd’s clutch of the sisterhood with barely a thought for Julia.

I guess all revolutions expect blood to be spilt by a few.

Anyway, Kev certainly covered a few bases today with a tilt at the women’s vote and the Islamic vote. He also made a sincere attempt at rapprochement with those in the ALP who hate him.

But back to this Koran thing. I’m agnostically atheistic and don’t care for any religion. I accept that some Aussies believe in the most incredulous stuff, but whether I like it or not, we are a Christian society.

After all, Parliament opens with prayers?

Yet, I wonder if the besieged Muslim Brotherhood Government of Egypt would allow the Koran to be replaced with the Bible in its swearing in ceremonies.

I guess I must be a racist because I find the Koran, used as it was today, to be a bit unsettling.

Well, in time we may need to accept cultural change. Could “ring the bells for four minutes” eventually become an echoing call to the House with “four minutes’ wailing”?
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Graphic Quotes: Gary Cooper

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/graphic-quotes-gary-cooper/

“Well, I have turned down quite a few scripts because I thought they were tinged with communistic ideas.” Gary Cooper, 23 October, 1947
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Caroline Glick
My friend, Latma's actress Ronit Avramov-Shapira and her family were stoned last night when they were driving through Samaria. She and her two year old daughter were injured -- lightly, thank G-d -- by broken glass. Her husband saw the rocks on the ground and had the presence of mind to warn her to protect their daughter just before Palestinian terrorists hurled a rock the size of a grapefruit through her window.
It was a murder attempt.
It wasn't reported.
After all, who cares about stone throwing?
If you don't feel like throwing up or breaking something upon reading this, there is something deeply wrong with you. If you don't feel like throwing up or breaking something upon reading this, then, welcome to the majority of the global elite. Pat yourself on the back. You are a true progressive.
Oh, and go to hell.
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Father in heaven,I thank You for the dreams and desires You’ve planted in my heart. I believe that You have good things in store for me this month of July, and so I look for Your favor upon my life. Use me today for Your glory as I keep my heart and mind stayed on You.Give me the strength to persevere even when things are hard. Give me Your peace and joy so that I can stand strong until I see those dreams and desires come to pass. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Today has been a day of cm, whereas yesterday was mm. I can stand without crutches now .. for up to 15 minutes .. so easy to take for granted simple freedoms .. - ed
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Photo credit: John W. Pope Civitas Institute
Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for July 1st. Enjoy!

From the Blog

Horrifying: Entire hot shot crew perishes in Arizona’s Yarnell Fire

The scale and deadliness of the Yarnell Fire in Arizona is beyond horrific...

Nancy Pelosi: If Republicans ever want to win the White House again they’ll support the immigration bill

Nancy Pelosi misspoke on purpose again yesterday morning...

Capital One sticks like glue to Alec Baldwin; Made quick distance from Rush Limbaugh

Capital One is still mum after Alec Baldwin’s Twitter rant during which he referred to a reporter as a “toxic little queen,” among some other choice words...

More From the Right Side of the Web

The Washington Examiner: Doctor: Have your abortion on a 'toilet'

Stop Common Core Link of the Day

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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Pretty articulate for a Monday morning.

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July 2: Feast day of Martinian and Processus (Roman Catholic Church)
Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto, Japan

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