Promoting New Music Saturn Day 31st May

To Fly Together
by SELES

Every night, someone flies together.
I play this Blues for them.
Thanks for Listen

Anto
===

The Break Down Song
by jkane and amateurpro

Alex (amateurpro) asked some of us to try some vocals over his beautiful track, which I used the title to write lyrics to. After the first listen, I knew I had to try my own version. His music has that effect on vocalists - structure, grace and hypnosis!
I am always apologizing for my weak production skills and this will be no exception. Try the 'aac' file first.
Special thanks to 'Steph' from Washington D.C. who kindly let me use her captivating photograph for the artwork.

Headlines Saturday 31st May

Rudd’s ACCC report discredited
Andrew Bolt
Professor Sinclair Davidson has checked the one report Kevin Rudd relies on to justify the FuelWatch scheme that four of his departments agree is a turkey.

His findings? That the ACCC forgot to allow for the effect on Perth prices of the entry of Coles into petrol retailing - which entirely explains the fall in prices
===
Good God. Even Tracee notices
Andrew Bolt
Tracee Hutchison was orgasmic on election night:

I felt my body jolt upright with exultant anticipation and gushing love of country…

But Tracee Hutchison today has lost that glow:

But six months into Kevin Rudd’s first term as Prime Minister the shiny veneer of those symbolic gestures looks increasingly like it’s lacking an undercoat.

Hmm. When even Tracee notices Rudd is more spin than substance you can be sure the man has a serious image problem.
===
Hailing on Garnaut’s alarmist parade
Andrew Bolt
Kevin Rudd’s climate change advisor seems dangerously gullible to global warming scares, no matter how absurd
===
Rudd blinks on petrol
Andrew Bolt
Only the start of many such retreats from his reckless promise to slash emissions by 60 per cent:

KEVIN Rudd has left the way open for petrol to be excluded from the looming greenhouse gas emissions trading regime, sparking warnings that power prices could rise and that Australia’s climate change response could be compromised....

In February, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told an Australian Industry Group function a trading scheme would have “maximal coverage of greenhouse gasses and sectors, to the extent that this practical”.

If Rudd is this nervous already about the Liberals’ plan to cut petrol by just 5 cents a litre, imagine how he’ll freak when the public realises his promised emissions trading scheme will raise not just the price of petrol, but of power, gas, air travel, trains…
===
Fat chance
Andrew Bolt
I drop off the kids to school several times a week, and can see for myself that the notion many kids are fat is ludicrous:

AUSTRALIA’S childhood obesity epidemic has been “exaggerated” and government-led national prevention efforts may be misdirected, with childhood obesity only increasing in lower-income families.

Controversial new research into childhood obesity rates has called into question whether the millions of dollars allocated by the federal Government for obesity prevention programs should be targeted to the highest-risk groups, rather than focused at the general population.

But why ruin a great chance to spin yourself as a health crusader?

Last night, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said obesity was “a significant challenge in health and a cause of several major chronic diseases - and will remain a priority for the Rudd Government”.

But she said the same about the non-existent rise in binge drinking, didn’t she?
===
Obama’s church preaches racism again
Andrew Bolt
Barack Obama’s church sure throws up some crazy race-baiters. This time it’s the Rev. Michael Pfleger in the pulpit, mocking Hillary Clinton’s tears at feeling the Democratic nomination slipping away:

“I really don’t believe it was a put-on. I always thought she felt ‘This is mine. I’m Bill’s wife. I’m white. And this is mine. I just got to get up and step into the plate,’” he said. “And then out of nowhere came, ‘Hey, I’m Barack Obama.’ And she said, ‘Oh damn, where did you come from? I’m white. I’m entitled. There’s a black man stealing my show.’”

Pfleger then proceeded to pretend to cry in a dramatization that included a handkerchief.

“She wasn’t the only one crying. There was a whole lot of white people crying,” he said.

Nice company Obama kept.
===
Osama near total defeat. Good, no?
Andrew Bolt
News the Left will welcome, right?
===
Sarandon’s slip showing
Andrew Bolt
Sarandon reveals a contempt for her own country and an ignorance about the rest of the world:

SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie “Bernard and Doris,” is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada.
===
Never mind the snow, the model’s hot
Andrew Bolt
Real world:

Melbourne could be headed for its coldest winter in a decade with warm days expected to cool this year... The outlook for snow season is also promising.
===
Rudd misled Parliament on FuelWatch
Andrew Bolt
Kevin Rudd has knowingly misled Parliament to defend his discredited FuelWatch scheme.
===
NSW smoking bans hurting clubs
Club claims that smoking bans are hurting their bottom line are finally being acknowledged by the New South Wales Government.
===
Case could prove second miracle needed for Australia's first saint
The Vatican has launched a judiciary inquiry into one of the miracles claimed to be from the hands of the late Australian nun, Sister Mary MacKillop.
===
Thousands stranded by State Transit buses
Up to 100,000 commuters are being left stranded by State Transit buses that simply do not turn up.
===
Lorenzo's Oil inspiration dies
The man who was the inspiration for the movie Lorenzo's Oil has died at the age of 30.

Liberal Messages Saturday 31st May

Jobs for the boys, flying blind, and the butler: Week 1, Senate Estimates
The first week of Senate Budget Estimates has confirmed that Labor is a Government without direction, avoiding scrutiny and wasting tax payer funds at an alarming rate.

Rudd's commitment to open government just another political con job!
Government's hypocrisy exposed - Kevin Rudd’s and Wayne Swan’s speeches and media on the subject of the whistleblowers, transparency, taking advice, and independent public service.

Time for more than just talk on trade
Mr Crean is following the lead of the Prime Minister and seems to prefer spin to getting down to the detail on trade.

Disability Ministers, it's time
Despite a commitment to fast-track negotiations for a new CSTDA the Rudd Government has fallen at the first hurdle, failing to reach an agreement after seven months in government.

ACCC FuelWatch figures prove nothing, says Hartsuyker
The material released by the ACCC is just another smoke-screen by the Rudd Government to cover up the fact that it is perpetrating a fraud on Australian motorists.

Rudd Government warns itself of FuelWatch threat
The RIS clearly states that independent service stations are at a competitive disadvantage.

Minister's selective probity exposed after broadband meeting with Labor bidder
Senator Conroy uses his 'preferential probity' tactics to avoid discussions with other potential bidders and responding to concerns about the Rudd Government's shambolic NBN tender process.

Cluster munitions outcomes include necessary amendments
The Federal Opposition endorses the outcomes of the Dublin Diplomatic Convention on Cluster Munitions that have seen cluster bombs that cause indiscriminate harm to civilians banned.

Citizenship test no deterrent to those wanting to become Australian Citizens
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has confirmed that around 15,500 people have booked an appointment to sit a citizenship test over the next two months.

Queensland Liberal Party Elections
Statement

Ludwig's got no answers
The Minister attempted to sidestep an abundant number of questions, often appearing out of his depth.

Labor backflips on yet another tax
Barely a fortnight after the release of its high-taxing Budget, Labor has been forced to fix another tax blunder – this time on the increase in the passenger movement charge.

Faulkner admits green paper is political partisan
No consultation or compensation for solar industry
Government reduces agency transparency - "Less is more"
Coalition statement on the further detention of Aung San Suu Kyi
Albanese's pork barrelling on airport noise insulation
Larger premium increase for Medibank Private
Nelson interview with Mike Carlton and Sandy Aloisi (Radio 2UE)
Another Bowen bungle - The Assistant Treasurer misleads on petrol prices

Promoting New Music Freya's Day 30th May

Scheme
by dirigent and RedthruNthru

Lyrics and lead vocals: RedthuNthru
All the rest: Dirigent

Thanks Donna for your inspiring voice and the great lyrics!!
===

Tail Wagging
by MIR and Heightened

I met this nice little doggy, and he wagged his tail at me so happily and sweetly, that I couldn't help playing with him for a while
My huge grateful thanks to a good friend and terrific artist who's constantly been supporting me and my music, and always been making some awesome of his own, known as Heightened

Music: Heghtened
Lead synths, flavouring and spicing: MIR

We do hope you'll enjoy this, and wag your tails at us
===

I am you
by brnPetra

New song by me I try to sing and play..
This song came to me when I was singing something else..
but maybe there is something the same too..
Thanks Ridd for the inspiration.

Petra

Not Evil Just Wrong

Watching hot air explode
Andrew Bolt
Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer made a superb documentary, Mine Your Own Business, showing how eco-hypocrites were hurting the poor people they were claiming to help.

Now they have a new documentary on global warming, Not Evil Just Wrong, which sounds as brave and interesting. The trailer:

Headlines Friday 30th May

Real question being asked about Rudd's leadership
It's been a horror week for the PM and it's set to get a whole lot worse, according to Alan Jones.
===
Gore dared
Andrew Bolt
I’d drive a long way, and bugger the emissions, to see this:

Czech President Vaclav Klaus said Tuesday he is ready to debate Al Gore about global warming, as he presented the English version of his latest book that argues environmentalism poses a threat to basic human freedoms. “I many times tried to talk to have a public exchange of views with him, and he’s not too much willing to make such a conversation,” Klaus said. “So I’m ready to do it.”

Klaus was speaking a the National Press Building in Washington to present his new book, Blue Planet in Green Shackles - What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?, before meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney Wednesday.

“My answer is it is our freedom and, I might add, and our prosperity,” he said…

Klaus, an economist, said he opposed the “climate alarmism” perpetuated by environmentalism trying to impose their ideals, comparing it to the decades of communist rule he experienced growing up in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia.

“Like their (communist) predecessors, they will be certain that they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom to make their idea reality,” he said.
===
Speaking of demons
Andrew Bolt
What a nasty crack Labor’s Belinda Neal made against the Liberals’ heavily pregnant Sophie Mirabella in Parliament:
Evil thoughts will turn your child into a demon.
===
Marxism means murder
Andrew Bolt
Mass-murder is embedded in the Marxist ideology. Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, authors of the suberb Mao, discuss communism and death with Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of two works on Stalin
===
Not so hollow laughs
Andrew Bolt
Most unusual for the ABC, and most promising:

THE team responsible for the hit 90s TV satire Frontline is set to start work on a new political comedy for the ABC.

The public broadcaster today announced it has commissioned a new six-part political drama called The Hollowmen, which will start production in the next few weeks.

Filmed in Melbourne and Canberra, the show is based around a think tank set up by the prime minister to look at long-term policy vision.
===
Binge drinkers undeterred
Andrew Bolt
Two steps forward, two steps back:

SALES of alcopops plummeted by almost 40 per cent in the fortnight after last month’s lightning tax hike on the drinks but any health gains have been offset by a 20 per cent jump in stronger, straight spirit sales…

(T)he Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia ... said the switch had effectively increased the amount of standard drinks consumed by a quarter.
===
Myth claims more victims
Andrew Bolt
More evidence of the “stolen generations” myth ruining young lives:

A ONE-YEAR-OLD Aboriginal girl was shunted between 16 different homes under state care in WA, depriving her of any chance to bond. A four-year-old racked up 17 different homes and was still in temporary care.

In a damning indictment of the state’s ‘stolen generation” mantra child protection system, the Carpenter Government yesterday admitted that almost a third of the 501 Aboriginal babies and toddlers in state care had been moved at least four times in their short lives, and often much more frequently.

Opposition child protection spokeswoman Robyn McSweeney, who uncovered the situation, said children were “passed like parcels” from one home to the next with potentially devastating impacts on their development…

Child Protection Minister Sue Ellery agreed it was unacceptable and said a review was under way… The minister admitted the desire for culturally sensitive foster homes could be a factor, leading to children being placed in unworkable situations to maintain cultural links. She signalled that more indigenous children might have to be fostered to non-Aboriginal families.
===
Dress down those teachers
Andrew Bolt
Victorian Principals Association president Fred Ackerman protests against a dress code for state school teachers:

Why should we prescribe such a rigid standard across Victoria when it’s only a small number of teachers wearing things like singlets and thongs?

Why? Precisely because there are indeed teachers, as Ackerman admits, who turn up to class wearing singlets and thongs.
===
Did only Rudd think this turkey would fly?
Andrew Bolt
A complete disaster for Kevin Rudd, caught out spinning once too often:

THE RUDD Government has been humiliated over revelations that it ignored warnings from its own public service experts in four key departments that a National FuelWatch Scheme could increase petrol prices rather than reduce them.
===
Girl now covered
Andrew Bolt
If there is nothing shameful about the pictures, why not tell police who she is?

THE police investigation into Bill Henson’s photography has stalled because the artist has refused to reveal the identity of the 13-year-old girl he photographed naked for his exhibition at Paddington.
===
Mercedes Corby wins defamation case against Channel 7
A NSW Supreme Court jury has found Mercedes Corby was defamed by the Seven Network in a series of interviews with her former best friend. LIVENEWS.com.au court reporter Emily Smith has been following the case.
===
Massive security procedure as accused terrorist enters hospital
A terror suspect in one of the country's biggest trials is fuming after being given just 20 minutes to visit his dying mother in hospital - despite sparking a full scale security operation.
===
Possible leads in filmed Canberra shopping centre bashing
ACT police say they may be able to identify the people involved in a bashing incident filmed on a video and posted on a video-sharing website.
===
The essence of spin
Andrew Bolt
Gee, that alcopops tax slug really fixed binge drinking, right?
===
Rudd’s ministers gas on
Andrew Bolt
Emissions cuts are things other people make
===
Attention deficit lies in the parents
Andrew Bolt
I cannot believe that putting toddlers on speed is sane
===
Henson goes from zero to hero
Andrew Bolt
Age critic Robert Nelson on Bill Henson’s pictures in 2005, before the public got involved and the heat went on
===
Rudd fuels fire
Andrew Bolt
Kevin Rudd is at war with senior bureaucrats, and reacts in a way that’s just likely to make the war worse
===
Gore, not just soap but opera
Andrew Bolt
The plot is absurdly unlikely. The villains are cartoonish. The good people die. A noble hero rises in the West. Melodrama everywhere. Yes, I can see why the world’s most famous opera house this this is a story that should be set to music
===
Man charged for abusing infant girl in the Thursday Islands
A man has appeared in court charged with sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl on an island in the Thursday Island group.
===
Scientists may have discovered Stonehenge’s secret
Researchers in England have traced the roots of Stonehenge and have concluded it was an ancient burial site for a royal family.

Promoting New Music Thor's Day 29th May

Doc Brown's Cakewalk: Kansas City Rag (1899)
by georgeptingley

Here's another one from prolific Kansas composer Charles L. Johnson. Cakewalk, march, symphony, and operetta all seem to come together here.

"The number." said Johnson, "was named after an old, eccentric colored fellow who wore a swallowtail coat, carried a cane, and wore a plug hat. He would cakewalk on the street for a nickel or dime."

George Peter Tingley plays Doc Brown's Cakewalk by Charles L. Johnson.
===

Concrete Heat
by MahogonyDiva

There is nothing like a woman with confidence...

Headlines Thursday 29th May

Fanning flames with a hoax
Piers Akerman
THE death of 12-year-old Palestinian boy Mohammed al-Durra by “gunfire from the direction of the Israeli” forces, as reported by French TV reporter Charles Enderlin, was huge world news eight years ago.

But it now seems that what we saw was not what actually happened. The dramatic footage of the youngster crouched beside his father as “Israeli” bullets whizzed by him, the scenes of his death and his father’s wounding were ghastly but compelling viewing.

Locally, it was reported by The Daily Telegraph, The Australian, The Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald, the latter stating unequivocally that “Rami (sic) Al-dura, 12 (was) killed by Israel fire while cradled in his father’s arms”.

Invocations of the young al-Durra’s death became a regular ritual on Palestinian television, songs encouraging children to join him in martyrdom were written, streets were named after him, mothers were exhorted to encourage their infants to be like him, his image was even used on stamps.

The murderers of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl used the clip when they posted footage of their nauseating crime on the internet.

The al-Durra imagery truly became, in the words of one Canadian journalist, “the farce that launched a thousand suicide bombers”.

Doubts arose about the footage shot by a Palestinian cameraman for the network France 2 when it was revealed the same person had been responsible for faking other news footage.
===
Did only Rudd think this turkey would fly?
Andrew Bolt
A complete disaster for Kevin Rudd, caught out spinning once too often:

THE RUDD Government has been humiliated over revelations that it ignored warnings from its own public service experts in four key departments that a National FuelWatch Scheme could increase petrol prices rather than reduce them.
===
Hope raped
Andrew Bolt
This is not a problem with a happy ending in our lifetimes:

MORE than 90 per cent of people in Arnhem Land do not understand basic legal concepts, with many Aborigines under the impression that white society is “lawless”, a report has found. This has resulted in wrongful imprisonment and “massive confusion”, with some communities still unaware that rape is considered illegal...
===
Dear boss: just damn the torpedoes
Andrew Bolt
If he forgets diplomacy and lets rip, these Boyer lectures will be uncommonly good -to date, Rupert has been most kind to Rudd. No reason to believe that will change. - ed.
===
The sorry danger
Andrew Bolt
National Sorry Day was held once more this week. Reader John says the great CS Lewis warned against just this kind of thing in his The Grand Miracle:

DANGERS OF NATIONAL REPENTANCE

... men fail so often to repent their real sins that the occasional repentance of an imaginary sin might appear almost desirable. But what actually happens (I have watched it happening) to the youthful national penitent is a little more complicated than that. England is not a natural agent, but a civil society. When we speak of England’s actions we mean the actions of the British government. The young man who is called upon to repent of England’s foreign policy is really being called upon to repent the acts of his neighbor; for a foreign secretary or a cabinet minister is certainly a neighbor. And repentance presupposes condemnation. The first and fatal charm of national repentance is, therefore, the encouragement it gives us to turn from the bitter task of repenting our own sins to the congenial one of bewailing - but, first, of denouncing - the conduct of others. If it were clear to the young that this is what he is doing, no doubt he would remember the law of charity.

Unfortunately the very terms in which national repentance is recommended to him conceal its true nature. By a dangerous figure of speech, he calls the government not “they” but “we.” And since, as penitents, we are not encouraged to be charitable to our own sins, nor to give ourselves the benefit of any doubt, a government which is called “we” is ipso facto placed beyond the sphere of charity or even of justice. You can say anything you please about it. You can indulge in the popular vice of detraction without restraint, and yet feel all the time that you are practicing contrition. A group of such young penitents will say, “Let us repent our national sins”; what they mean is, “Let us attribute to our neighbor (even our Christian neighbor) in the cabinet, whenever we disagree with him, every abominable motive that Satan can suggest to our fancy.”

===
Creaking under Castro’s feet
Andrew Bolt
Closer, although still no Cuban cigar:

It has been 100 days since Fidel Castro relinquished power and his brother, Raul, took over as president of Cuba… But commander-in-chief Raul, now 76, has surprised many of his people with the introduction of economic reforms that promise to boost agricultural output and bring an end to complaints over food shortages.
===
Rudd on the rocks after just six months
Alan Jones
Kevin Rudd, more than the government is in real political trouble over petrol, and in particular, FuelWatch. And it's trouble of his own making.

It's now clear that Kevin Rudd was warned about this by no fewer than four economic departments. About the possibility of price hikes arising from FuelWatch.

Amongst the warnings in departmental language were, "the increased financial cost it would impose on service stations, especially small independent operators".

The Prime Minister's own department told Cabinet, "Econometric modelling indicates that a small overall price increase can't be ruled out".

Treasury warned, "The proposed scheme will result in ongoing increased operating costs of around 4,000 dollars per annum to affected small businesses".

The Finance Department advised, "Introduction of a price commitment rule may result in higher average petrol prices over time, as the option may lead to the creation of a de facto price floor."

The Finance Department said the FuelWatch proposal would add 20.7 million dollars to business costs in the first year with "the impact likely to fall disproportionately on independent retailers".

The Department of Resources and Energy expressed concern, "The scheme will reduce competition and market flexibility, increase compliance costs and has more potential to increase prices".

The Government's own Department of Resources and Energy said of FuelWatch, "It has the capacity to increase petrol price coordination amongst retailers".

Now, was Mr Rudd determined to kill off the remaining small business in petrol retailing? Because he ignored all that advice.

Rudd duds voters on petrol prices

A major feature of Rudd Labor's 2007 election campaign was an attack on the coalitions credibility as economic managers over cost of living pressures that so-called working families were under, notably high petrol and grocery prices, with the expectation that if elected things would improve under Labor. But since the election petrol prices have skyrocketed, and now Rudd is claiming that he cannot control them -the very thing he criticised John Howard for not doing- and his Treasurer has the audacity to claim that the tax cuts in the budget address the issue. Well they would be the tax cuts that Peter Costello funded wouldn't they. So in effect Labor has done nothing to bring petrol prices down.

Promoting New Music Woden's Day 28th May

Turquoise House (duet)
by Dylan, Bass2x, TurquoiseRose and wal4u

I've heard the news today Oh Boy...and it sounded so dark grey and blood red...

So i started to play this funny tune, Wally joined me on his mando, Olivia grabbed the mic too and James muted his horn...

This song is a Jim White song, a fabulous songwriter/performer/movie maker/irony master from Athens, Georgia...i enjoyed his work since his first album ("Wrong Eyed Jesus"), and "Turquoise House" is from his latest, "Transnormal Skiperoo"....It's Country Music from Outter space, actually...

http://www.jimwhite.net/

Credits goes (acoustic/live thing, as usual) :

Vocals and Backing vocals : TurquoiseRose
Mandolin : Turquoise Wal4u
Muted trumpa : Turquoise Bass2x
Ukulele, acoustic guitars, acoustic bass, percs, drums and vocals : Turquoise Dyl

Olivia, Wal, James...my deepest thanks for your time and input...unvaluable...
===

Moving On
by sideburnsbob and anders007

'Moving On' is a secret project that I've been working on for about 3-4 weeks and had it's beginnings in a request from a friend of mine for a hip-hop track.
I wrote the track and, once I'd finished the basic version, realised I wanted to write with it. So I wrote my first 16 bar verse ever and 'Moving On' was born but I knew that something was missing that my mind was requesting. A ripping guitar line.

I sent the bare track, with no indication that it was to be a full-blown rap song, to the incredibly talented Anders007 and told him to have a ball with it.

The combination blew me away. I call it Blues-Hop.

I present to you 'Moving On' a song about how powerful music is and how important it is as a source of upliftment for humanity.

Dj Otzi - Kanguru dance

Headlines Wednesday 28th May

Our generation deserves more, Mr Rudd
Pensioners are feeling betrayed by the Prime Minister, according the Alan Jones, as this eloquent listener's letter shows.
===
Lessons of Iraq
Andrew Bolt
Historian Victor Davis Hanson on Iraq:

Q: Some people have said Iraq is the worst blunder in the history of American foreign policy. What do you say when you hear that statement?

A: Two things come to mind: One, people must not know things that we’ve done in the past.... Whether it’s the Civil War, or the First World War, or the Second World War, or the status of American armed forces in August of 1950, we’ve made so many more blunders and we reacted so much more slowly to correct them than anything we have seen in Iraq…
===
Britain regrets what Rudd can yet stop
Andrew Bolt
Some warnings to Kevin Rudd, already under fire over petrol prices, and with his carbon tradings price-hikes yet to come.
===
I don’t pay prime ministers to shine shoes
Andrew Bolt
Trying too hard - it was never a problem for Mr Howard, but then he had a wife, not a business partner, and he wasn't so vain as to require all that Rudd desires. - ed.
===
Nelson pumped
Andrew Bolt
IT’S the rule. If an idea comes from Brendan Nelson, it stinks.

And when that same stinking idea turns out to embarrass the Rudd Government, expose its spinning and cripple its plan for a new greenhouse tax, well . . . let’s move right along.
===
Prejudices stripped bare
Andrew Bolt
THERE must be excellent reasons to let an artist strip and photograph a 13-year-old girl so rich men can hang pictures of her bared breasts over their beds.

There must be - for why have so many seemingly cultured people been so hot to defend Bill Henson?

But here is the odd thing. In their stampede to justify Henson’s right to make sexually charged pictures of naked children they’ve given us none.

In fact, ever since police last week knocked on the door of the Sydney gallery that was about to show the acclaimed Melbourne photographer’s latest works, I’ve read only excuses for excuses from Hansen’s apologists.

It’s as if the tribe of opening night habitues feel they should stick up for these pictures of budding bare-breasted 13-year-olds without quite knowing why. Their brains can’t justify what mere habit insists they must, and in this collision of reason with prejudice they’ve bruised themselves badly.
===
If it’s good enough for Caravaggio…
Andrew Bolt
The arts world is agreed: if Caravaggio did it, then it’s OK for Bill Henson to do it, too.
===
Throwing petrol on Rudd’s fire
Andrew Bolt
So much for Kevin Rudd’s Fuel Watch when it’s achieved these results in the one state where it’s been tried:

THE Federal Government’s much-vaunted FuelWatch scheme has proved a fizzer, with petrol more expensive in Perth than Melbourne or Sydney.
===
My mother was no criminal
Andrew Bolt
A habit I despise, and particulary objected to as a smoked-out child, trying to hold my breath:

SMOKING in cars carrying children could be banned by the end of the year under a plan being considered by the (Victorian) Government…
===
Money in search of an idea
Andrew Bolt
What does this work out to per good, practical, original and implemented idea:

THE Federal Government has spent nearly $2 million on April’s 2020 Summit and the bills are still coming.
===
Lowitja stolen yet again
Andrew Bolt
Lowitja O’Donoghue just can’t resist the temptation:

I am from a Stolen Generation...

It’s not true, of course. As she confessed to me in 2001, when I confronted her with the evidence that she’d in fact been abandoned by her parents to the care of missionaries
===
Blowing in the wind
Andrew Bolt
The United Nations’ carbon trading scheme turns out to be billions of dollars for no result - to the surprise of no one
===
Sloppy work, in a boom
Andrew Bolt
I sense the zephyrs of change, blowing in from the north:

The Queensland budget is a week away, but the state Treasurer has already broken what is expected to be the worst news…

When Andrew Fraser delivers his first budget next Tuesday, a predicted $269 million surplus will have turned into a $995 million deficit.
===
'Camden decision was racist': People of Greenacre speak out
People on the streets of Greenacre, home of the Malek Fahd Islamic School, have told LIVENEWS.com.au they believe the decision not to allow the construction of another Islamic school in Camden was influenced by racism.
===
Liberal backbencher booted over FuelWatch furore
The petrol controversy has fuelled the tempers of members of parliament with an Opposition backbencher being booted from the chamber during question time.
===
D'Arcy saga drags on despite appeal dismissal
The Olympic future of Nick D'Arcy remains in limbo, despite a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for sport.
===
ICAC finds Beth Morgan acted corruptly
A newly-released ICAC report has found former Wollongong city council planner Beth Morgan is guilty of "serious corruption”, over the $100 million Quattro development.

Bill Henson talks

Leo Schofield interviews Bill Henson, the artist who took the nude photographs of the 13-year-old girl.

Headlines Tuesday 27th May

Rudd can’t ease living costs
Piers Akerman
IT is now blindingly apparent, if it were not earlier, that the Rudd Government doesn’t have a clue about how to address its principal campaign theme of easing cost-of-living pressures on ordinary working families.
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Of course they’re mad
Andrew Bolt
The use by terrrorists of a former mental hospital patient with the mental age of 10 has MI5 spooked
===
Move to where the work is
Andrew Bolt
Andrew Hagan being both an academic and an Aboriginal may get a hearing at last for this solution
===
A blight at the Oprah
Andrew Bolt
Stars risk plenty when they play at politics
===
A word in your Shell-like
Andrew Bolt
Home truths from Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Shell
===
Ferguson torches Fuel Watch
Andrew Bolt
Martin Ferguson pours petrol on Kevin Rudd’s fire
===
Let them fight
Andrew Bolt
What many peace activists and journalists of the “save-our-sons” sort seem to forget is that soldiers tend to like to fight - especially when the cause is just
===
Government out of ideas
Andrew Bolt
Did Labor have a single policy of its own when it was elected?
===
Heaven for eco-totalitarians
Andrew Bolt
Think of the bureaucracy and the policing it will take to administer
===
The artist is a toad, too
Andrew Bolt
Now that would indeed be a brave artist
===
Utterly discredited vs merely embarrassing
Andrew Bolt
Age writer Michelle Grattan somehow detects a big difference.

Promoting New Music Tuesday 27th May

Harlem Rag (1897)
by georgeptingley

"Father of St. Louis Ragtime." Tom Turpin was the first black ragtime composer to be published - his Harlem Rag came out two full years before Scott Joplin's celebrated Maple Leaf Rag.

Tom was a big man at six-foot three, 350 pounds with a bad leg. It is said that he would jack up his piano on stilts so he could play standing up in the St. Louis speakeasies. He was also a bouncer. Picture him getting halfway through a ragtime piece and having to throw out a couple of drunks, then coming back to finish up.

It is also said that Tom Turpin would not fancy up performances of his rags. Respectfully, I have added no notes or flourishes beyond the printed page, and, of course, have kept a very moderate tempo.

George Peter Tingley plays the Harlem Rag (1897)
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Counterbalanced
by o0o and amateurpro

Music and lyrics by Amateurpro
Vocals and melodyline by o0o

I thought the instrumental version is a real beauty on its own...And I was not planned on adding anything untill I red the text amateurpro stated at his original upload..

I thought those where great lyrics and I started to find a way to sing 'm on his own tune...

Enjoy...

Thanks amateurpro for delivering beautiful babies!!
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Someone To Watch Over Me ( Gershwin )
by JodyG and eagle_1

I have always loved Arend's Vocal work. He took this piano rendition of Someone To Watch over Me I played months ago and added the Magic it needed. Great job Arend you never stop amazing me.
Peace
JodyG
===

Fade To Black
by etgilles and EvilFactman

A creative attempt at toying with Evil's Fade To Black.

Original lyric and loop structure EvilFactman

New version, A Cappella loops and vocal etgilles

Yves Behar: Creating objects that tell stories

http://www.ted.com Designer Yves Behar digs up his creative roots to discuss some of the iconic objects he's created (the Leaf lamp, the Jawbone headset). Then he turns to the witty, surprising, elegant objects he's working on now -- including the "$100 laptop."

Promoting New Music Moon Day 26th May

Once Again...Again
by PaulFPage

As a teenager back in the Stone Age, I had the marvelous experience of small local college and a wonderfully resonant concert hall virtually at my disposal whenever I felt like using it. I would often sneak in in the late aftenoon or early on a Saturday or Sunday morning to play the concert grand that occupied the bare stage and empty hall. The audience was only the vacant seats and echoing spaces all around me. Later, as an adult, I was to play several concerts there. I still remember, though, the feeling I had while improvising the sounds in my head to that empty space and listening to the walls speak back to me, informing me of my next move at the keyboard. ... "Once More...Again" recalls that time. I've "fiddled" with the digital ambiance here to try to replicate that echo-y sound I heard so many years ago. I hope you will enjoy my nostalgic meandering.
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La Vague
by Lafayette

The Wave...
A tribute to the sailors.

"Bon vent !"

- LaFayette
===

Falling Slowly
by etgilles

The Acoustic Sessions.
Live.
Glen Hansard.

Some Research on Blogging

...AND IT'S GOOD FOR YOU TOO: SOME RESEARCH ON BLOGGING

Jessica Wapner in Scientific American:

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.

Flaherty, who studies conditions such as hypergraphia (an uncontrollable urge to write) and writer’s block, also looks to disease models to explain the drive behind this mode of communication. For example, people with mania often talk too much. “We believe something in the brain’s limbic system is boosting their desire to communicate,” Flaherty explains. Located mainly in the midbrain, the limbic system controls our drives, whether they are related to food, sex, appetite, or problem solving. “You know that drives are involved [in blogging] because a lot of people do it compulsively,” Flaherty notes. Also, blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art.

===
While it is insightful into the minds of some, I think there is a substantial number of bloggers who are inspired by the inability of mainstream press to present a fair and balanced report. I think there is a learning curve related to presentation, and I think there is a learning curve related to writing a substantial body of work.
I have written some three million words online because I have many things to say. Were I merely self medicating, those three million might solely comprise the phrase "I am a fish." Lister told me so. Cat says, "More fish!"

Headlines Monday 26th May

Too many cars on Jupiter
Andrew Bolt

Jupiter is getting hot enough to fry a giant egg - or, rather, to produce great red spots
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How could she resist?
Andrew Bolt
There are several reasons to conclude that Logan has a dangerous lack of self-awareness
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Russia conquered by English
Andrew Bolt
The headlines aren’t quite right:

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Talking of people invading Russia, and other places:

Germans fretted about being unloved in Europe yesterday after their most popular band of the last decade got zero points from 40 of 42 countries in the Eurovision Song Contest and they ended up sharing last place.

“Why doesn’t anyone like us?” asked Bild am Sonntag newspaper...

Gee, and the ladies even sang in English, too:

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Big Oil isn’t
Andrew Bolt
By Big Oil, the Left means companies such as ExxonMobil and BP - and it means bad. But check the graph on the link below: that Big Oil is actually small oil, leaving the West vulnerable
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Gassing on about gases
Andrew Bolt
An international conference is announced
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Not such a big drop; not really global warming
Andrew Bolt


AAP reports:

VICTORIA has suffered a 40 per cent plunge in autumn rainfall since 1950 and climate change is a key factor, a new report has found.

Really?
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Voters don’t get to sack Labor leaders
Andrew Bolt
Another Labor leader quits and lets his party renew
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Rudd taxed
Andrew Bolt
When Liberal leader Brendan Nelson suggested a cut in petrol taxes, Labor said he was reckless and the Canberra press gallery said he was a joke.

But when Labor says it might cut petrol taxes.... where’s the criticism?
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Sorry teachers
Andrew Bolt
The Queensland Teachers Union is very sorry about something it can’t actually recall having done:
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Yabber, yabber, yabber
Andrew Bolt
To go with that spin, spin, spin:

THE Rudd Government has been slammed for running the country by committee, unveiling in the past seven days three inquiries, releasing two discussion papers and announcing the memberships of two high-powered bodies.
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Speak up, David
Andrew Bolt
The Australian notices that David Marr, only too keen to espy and decry the censorious hand of John Howard, is curiously silent about Kevin Rudd’s denunciation of some recent art - now seized by police - as “revolting”.
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Debate crushed. Howard’s haters silent
Andrew Bolt
Pictures seized from an art gallery. A painting banned from an exhibition. Dissenters sidelined at summits. Government critics demoted at a university. Debates rigged. Students indoctrinated in Labor spin. Universities publishing government propaganda.
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Luckily he wasn’t a … thug
Andrew Bolt
A law-abiding man gets the mercy you’d expect, given certain other factors as well
===
Rudd promised what he couldn't deliver on petrol
The biggest problem with petrol is not the price itself, but the slipperiness of the Prime Minister in admitting what he can and cannot do to fix them, argues Alan Jones.

Robert Ballard: Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds

http://www.ted.com Ocean explorer Robert Ballard takes us on a mindbending trip to hidden worlds underwater, where he and other researchers are finding unexpected life, resources, even new mountains. He makes a case for serious exploration and mapping. Google Ocean, anyone?

Alisa Miller: Why we know less than ever about the world

http://www.ted.com Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International, talks about why -- though we want to know more about the world than ever -- the US media is actually showing less. Eye-opening stats and graphs.

NSW Lib Updates

Meagher Must Take Action To Head Off Nurses Strike
Health Minister Reba Meagher must start listening to nurses across NSW to ensure the hospital system is not burdened with a nurse’s strike, Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner said today.
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Even Your Mates Think OH&S Reform Is Too Slow, Della
Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca and Morris Iemma should be ashamed their reform of occupational health and safety is so slow, even their Federal counterparts are now speaking out, Shadow Industrial Relations Minister Mike Gallacher said today.
===
Vandalism Epidemic Claims Children's Court – Time For Iemma To Act
Metro Mirage – Another Iemma And Watkins Transport Bungle
Historic Homes Gone In A Tick

Headlines Sunday 25th May

Our Chinese gooseberry
Piers Akerman
MANDARIN-SPEAKING Prime Minister Kevin “Ku Lewen” Rudd turned up on Chinese television last week expressing the nation’s sorrow at the losses suffered during the recent devastating earthquake.
This gesture was followed by a doubling of Australia’s disaster relief contribution from $1 million to $2 million, courtesy of Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith.

It also came with the addition of $1 million from the West Australian state Government and a pledge of support from WA billionaire Andrew “Twiggy’’ Forrest, who farewelled the first shipment of iron ore from his Fortescue mine to China last weekend.

The disaster relief contribution comes on top of the Australian Government’s official aid to China channelled through AusAID which, in 2006-07, was running in excess of $34 million but which, with other regional programs and through other departments, took the total overseas development aid to around an estimated $46 million.

Mr Rudd, whose son-in-law is Chinese, possibly has family considerations to think of but it is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile Australia’s aid budget to China, even though it is of obvious strategic importance to our economy.

As China is a significant donor to a number of dubious nations, is Australian aid merely being “churned’’ or used to plug gaps, enabling the Chinese to distribute their largesse in Africa, the Pacific, North Korea and even to the Burmese junta and reap the political and economic benefits flowing from such generosity?
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How not to argue against censorship
Andrew Bolt
Michelle Grattan trots out the hoariest of objections to censorship:

IT’S rather ironic that Kevin Rudd should be declaiming in the furore surrounding the Bill Henson exhibition while Rudd’s nephew, Van Thanh Rudd, is caught up in a controversy involving claims of “censorship” of another variety.

What? It’s ironic that Rudd is against the stripping and photographing of 13-year-old girls when he’s (apparently) not against the censorship of political art?
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Yet another Rudd inquiry, but more punitive
Andrew Bolt
Never has so much bluster and so much money been spent on a political witchhunt that delivered so very little. And now Labor hopes to once more flog that dead horse:

LABOR is set to relaunch investigations into the AWB wheat-for-weapons scandal.

If Kevin Rudd actually had more to offer than spin he’d consider this stunt a monumental waste of time and money. But with Alexander Downer said to be keen on returning to front-bench duties, can Rudd resist the temptation to try to fit him up?
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So young to change her sex
Andrew Bolt
I can’t help but wonder if this is a “cure” to a problem with more obvious causes
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Tunnel vision
Andrew Bolt
As if Melbourne isn’t already choking on its traffic:

DIVISIONS within the Victorian Labor Party over Sir Rod Eddington’s east-west tunnel proposals have put pressure on the State Government to delay its response…
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Australians heading north for cut-price nip 'n' tuck surgery
Thousands of Australians are heading overseas for cheaper cosmetic surgery holidays, with the strong dollar, budget flights and bargain surgery fuelling the boom.
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Harry Potter star murdered in London
A teenage actor the upcoming Harry Potter movie has been murdered in London.
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Taxes on petrol could be eased
There are calls for an end to the double-tax on petrol.
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Aboriginal affairs: Brough labels Rudd un-Australian
Abduction attempt: 11-year-old girl escapes stalker
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Army confirms rebel leader is dead
THE head of Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels, Manuel Marulanda, alias Sureshot, is dead, the country's army announced today.
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Protests over China's 'shoddy' schools
ABOUT two dozen parents of children killed in China's earthquake staged a rare protest today demanding justice over shoddy school construction they blamed for the deaths of their children.

The parents, many of them clutching framed photos of their dead offspring, held the demonstration on a highway leading out of the quake-devastated town of Mianzhu, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

"We are complaining about the shoddy quality of school buildings and we need justice from the government," Yang Fuyong, 38, said.

Yang's daughter Guiyun, who was in sixth grade, was one of 129 students that he said perished in the collapse of the primary school in the nearby town of Wufu.

Promoting New Music Sun Day 25th May

Resistance is Futile
by Justin_Case

This track is dedicated to my friend, Dave (ShadowofNine). I'm not the only one who appreciates all the kind support and excellent music you share with us at iCompositions. You are a real gem in this community--a diamond among diamonds. Thanks Dave.

But apprarently shadowofdeath was captured some months ago while serving on a deep space mission and has became ShadowofNine, composer-in-residence for the massive Borg collective.

Check out Shadow's fantastic tunes:

You will be assimilated. Strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile. We wish to improve ourselves. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ours.

Borgmusik. Electronic. Synthetic. Cybernetic. Modular. No real instruments. No human touch. Only feelings of hypnotic loyalty where once existed the dream of individuality and uniqueness. The drone of collective service has replaced every trace of free-will and volition. A slavery which is total and complete.

We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.
===

Your Brain's Ears on Music
by sonic_magpie, Mystified and particledots

Your Brain's Ears on Music

(from particledots)

The notes for this song were taken (literally) from Mystified's improvisation called 'Wandering'. I took individual notes and reimprovised them electronically and then enhanced certain parts with synths, atmospheres and frippertronics

This reminds me of the German band Cluster

Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat

http://www.ted.com In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.

Bolt Missives

Adams’ mushrooms
Andrew Bolt
ABC host Phillip Adams is a lion of the Left. But to whom exactly does he appeal? Judge by the answers he got when he asked his fans for ideas to take with him to Kevin Rudd’s ideas summit - click on the link and you get to read some of the suggestions Adams elicits from his audience. Fine audience you got there, Phil - ed.
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Nelson right, critics wrong
Andrew Bolt
The Canberra press pack was united in declaring Brendan Nelson an idiot for proposing a 5 cents a litre cut in petrol excise. Even conservative commentators such as Janet Albrechtsen and Gerard Henderson joined the lynch party.

Just a week later, the group think crumbles. - Andrew deftly sidesteps his own criticism of Dr Nelson. Or is that merely reporting what others think?- ed.

Clinton Buys Into Obama Assassination Porn

Clinton under fire over killing remark
HILLARY Clinton has triggered a firestorm by bringing up the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy to justify her decision to prolong her White House campaign.

Senator Clinton quickly appeared on camera today to say she had not meant to be offensive.

The campaign team for her Democratic rival Barack Obama had complained that such comments had no place in the 2008 election campaign.

The former first lady originally told a newspaper board in South Dakota she could not understand calls for her to quit the race, arguing that history showed that some past nominating contests had gone on into June.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary, somewhere in the middle of June, right?" Senator Clinton said in an interview with the Argus Leader newspaper editorial board.

"We all remember, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California, I don't understand it," she said.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton condemned the remarks.
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The assassination Porn of Obama which featured earlier in the campaign has come back. Hilary didn't say Obama this time, but he is her opponent. Why do so many of Obama's friends want him dead?

Searching for Youkali

More Teresa Stratas on September Songs

Performing "Youkali Tango"
see comment for SM's information regarding the production.
===
I was asked by the team of Rebecca Williams and Steven Mayoff if I might comment on their collaborative piece, Searching for Youkali. It is a real privilege to be asked, and so I am researching what I might about the subject. I came across Teresa's gorgeous take on the original (Music Kurt Weil, Lyrics Roger Fernay).

A Teacher Passed Away

3 April 2007 - VALE IAN LEAKE

The Executive would like to thank our members for their kind donations at last Sunday night's gathering to benefit the family of Mr Ian Leake.

It is with regret that the Executive informs all its members of the passing of Mr Ian Leake on Monday evening 02 April 2007.

Ian's contribution to the development of children within our community was extensive through Bonnet Bay Baseball Club and through Bonnet Bay Soccer Club and as a respected teacher at Jannali High School.

Our deepest sympathy goes to Debbie, Briony and Austin

From Bonnet Bay FC
I worked with Ian for some six months in 1994. He was inspirational. Having found a talented year 10 girl who had a magic voice, he got her to perform for the first time in her life. Her class mates were in awe of her. It was a school where people struggled to find anything good to say about another.
My first day was marked by the kidnapping of a year 10 girl who had rejected the advances of an older boy. The boy got together with his mates, and bundled her into the boot of a car on the way to school. She had a mobile phone, and she telephoned for help from the boot. The next year, the Minister for Education (ALP Aquilina) banned the use of mobile phones at school.
The Principal had gone loco, arbitrarily supporting students who saw him before their rival. The Principal had tried hard to get Ian sent to another school. I fell on my sword, and left the school instead. I never saw him again. I recently heard the news. My sympathy to his family. It will be a substantial loss to them.

Liberal Messages

Nelson interview with Sabra Lane (AM Programme) - Price of petrol
The fact is that whatever the prive of petrol at the bowser, if you cut the excise by five cents a litre it will be five cents cheaper whatever the price at the bowser.

Rudd says he's done 'as much as he can' on prices
Yesterday, Mr Rudd said: "...we have done as much as we physically can to provide additional help to the family budget. Recognising that the cost of everything is still going through the roof..."

Labor must not water down ABCC powers
Gillard must not cave into pressure from unions which have recently launched a campaign to abolish the ABCC.

Coalition congratulates film, television and radio school
Opening of the new Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in Sydney’s Moore Park Entertainment Precinct was an important step forward for Australia's film industry and built on the achievements of the Howard Government in the arts.

Mr Rudd plays a very clever and tricky game of politics
Rudd claims he can do no more to help families cope with rising fuel costs, and is distancing the Government from the issue.

More Government fumbles on the first home saver account
The government announced changes to the First Home Saver Account in its May 13 Budget.

Will the infrast. funds fall victim to Rudd’s clever & tricky political game?
The $41 billion of funds that will be set aside for 'infrastructure projects’ are nothing more than slush funds for the Labor Party's next election campaign.

Crean confusion continues on trade
Trade Minister Simon Crean has dismissed the significant impact of European Union protectionist policies on Australian farmers, businesses and investors.

Don't give up on Australian families, Kevin
No government has all the answers. But Mr Rudd has admitted that Labor has none.

Productivity Commission submission to the Garnaut Review
The Productivity Commission has today warned that the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) would "most likely lead to higher electricity prices."

Slashing funding to the Bureau is false economy
It is understood that the Bureau of Meteorology will shortly be turning off staff in the severe weather monitoring service... The Rudd Labor Govt's first budget not only cut funding to the Bureau of Met it also imposed an extra 2% efficiency div.

In her heart Gillard still loves private school hit-list
Julia Gillard gave her strongest indication yet that funding to independent and catholic schools was in for a big shake-up.

Rushed timetable puts energy supply at risk
Nelson Doorstop - Melbourne
Minchin Doorstop - Zaetta slur...
Reality bites
Extra broadband tender welcome, now Senator just fix this 'dog of a process'
Albanese turns 116 Regional Partnerships projects into zombies
Labor's unfunded and uncosted budget leaves farmers in limbo
Green corps is no more

Nelson on Labor's 2008 budget

the Hon. Dr. Brendan Nelson, leader of the federal opposition, talks to Sky News about Labor's budget

Headlines Saturday 24th May

Malcolm Turnbull, National Press Club 21/5/08 - part 1


Malcolm Turnbull, National Press Club 21/5/08 - part 2


Malcolm Turnbull, National Press Club 21/5/08 - part 3

===
Bastard barrista
Andrew Bolt
A 21st Century headline:

Olsens coffee ‘spiked’ with full fat milk
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Artists rage: let us undress 13-year-olds
Andrew Bolt
Many Australians would agree:

THE art world has denounced a ”dark day in Australian culture” after police seized up to 21 photographs of naked child models and said they would lay charges over an exhibition by the renowned artist Bill Henson.

But the difference here, of course, is that the “art world” thinks the darkness in our culture isn’t the stripping and photographing of 13-year-old girls, but the seizing of the soft-porn shots by police.
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A spell of water bans
Andrew Bolt
But of course. I mean, isn’t this the department that also opposes dams because of New Age religious reasons?
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Once were workers
Andrew Bolt
John Lyons stays for a week at the urban Aboriginal ghetto of La Perouse and discovers the biggest problem is not white racism, but an Aboriginal culture of family breakdown
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In theory, Margaret is for. In fact, she’s ignorant
Andrew Bolt
ABC film critic Margaret Pomeranz is outraged that NSW police have seized pictures from an art gallery of a naked 13-year-old girl in sexually suggestive poses
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Court’s dignity down the toilet
Andrew Bolt
We rely on our children’s courts to awe, scare or at least inspire delinquent children into behaving well. So this might indicate that they don’t quite have that clout any more
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A name we should know
Andrew Bolt
WE learned this week of the release from jail of two men—only one of whom I can name.
He is Glenn Wheatley of South Yarra, the former showbiz manager who was this week freed after serving a sentence for tax evasion.
No court has suppressed the publication of Wheatley’s name, picture, date of release or even address, so he got the hounding you’d suspect of such a criminal.
Four TV helicopters followed the cars that took him from Beechworth jail to the gates of his home. Some 30 journalists picketed his house. And a neighbour even wandered by to heckle, declaring: ``A common criminal. You all know very well that’s all he is.’’
The other criminal released suffered none of that, thanks to a County Court order banning us from publishing anything that identifies him or his whereabouts the way we may identify Wheatley and his. Yet the reason he is spared Wheatley’s hounding is not that he’s less deserving of such treatment, but more.
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The critic now makes excuses
Andrew Bolt
February 13:

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has told parliament the former Coalition government did nothing to relieve upward pressure on food and petrol prices…

“In the period of the previous government, which had more than 11 years to act on both these matters, they did nothing and nothing,’’ Mr Rudd said.

May 22:

PETROL prices have been forecast to soon hit $1.70 a litre, putting further pressure on the Federal Government to act…

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the Government had done “as much as we physically can” to help.
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A licence to boss
Andrew Bolt
George Will:

WHAT Friedrich Hayek called the “fatal conceit” - the idea that government can know the future’s possibilities and can and should control the future’s unfolding - is the Left’s agenda. The Left exists to enlarge the state’s supervision of life, narrowing individual choices in the name of collective goods. Hence the Left’s hostility to markets. And to automobiles: people going wherever they want whenever they want.
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Hear that silence? It’s victory
Andrew Bolt
Former Kim Beazley chief of staff and DFAT boss Michael Costello:

HOW do you know when things are going well for the US and its coalition allies in Iraq? When you see virtually nothing about it on your television screen or in the papers.
===
Banned for stupidity
Andrew Bolt
That he’s Rudd’s nephew is neither here nor there. More surprising is just how dated is his political outlook, which was astonishingly crude even at the time. I mean, which superpower is now most likely to be killing Buddhist monks?

Hint: it’s not Ronald McDonald’s.
===
You voted for higher energy prices, so applaud
Andrew Bolt
What’s the fuss? This is exactly what a carbon tax would do to petrol prices, and that’s good, isn’t it?

MOTORISTS face more financial pain at the bowser in the weeks ahead after world oil prices set records yesterday, topping $US135 a barrel.

Falling Down - Scarlett Johansson

The music is ok. The song is ok. The lyrics work. All in all, it is very nice.

Promoting New Music Saturn Day 24th May

Desire
by vegetal and BlendWellMusic

BlendWellMusic: Lyrics and Voice.

Vegetal: Music and Production.
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4 YEARS ON IC
by RiGee

I salute you IC BUDdies.
===

Easy Gets Offed
by EvilFactman and ciheins

Easyesteemer gets killed by Vader. Chris was nice enough to play the school secretary doing the announcements. This contains violence and may not be appropriate for some listeners. Vader says "That's the sound of dreams dying". One of her favorite sayings. - a must for fans of miss piggy - ed.
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the end?
by that80sboy and Illuminator

took an old tune of mine and added richs moving prose....added some more keyboards and sound effects too...a scene of a not too distant future maybe?? only loops are sound effects and drums.

Joshua Klein: The amazing intelligence of crows

http://www.ted.com Hacker and writer Joshua Klein is fascinated by crows. (Notice the gleam of intelligence in their little black eyes?) After a long amateur study of corvid behavior, he's come up with an elegant machine that may form a new bond between animal and human.

Promoting New Music Freya's Day 23rd May

Dill Pickles Rag (1906)
by georgeptingley

Amazingly prolific Kansas composer Charles L. Johnson published this very popular rag in 1906. Johnson, who was musically active from 1899 to his death in 1950, is perhaps best known for his sentimental ballad SWEET AND LOW. Stylistically, his music leans more toward Tin Pan Alley versus Joplin's folk-classical approach.

George Peter Tingley plays Charles L. Johnson: Dill Pickles Rag (1906)
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Dead Woman (by Pablo Neruda)
by Lafayette and ddball

David D Ball has posted a poem by Pablo Neruda : "The Dead Woman - La Muerte". His diction is perfect.
See "Lyrics for details.
I've thought I could adapt music over his spoken words.
I play all instruments.
You can listen there the result...

Thx David

DDBall's page :

- LaFayette