Headlines Saturday 30th August

Beyond the Palin
Andrew Bolt
John McCain may have made a mistake:

Republican John McCain introduced first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate Friday, a stunning selection of a fellow maverick designed to get an edge in the increasingly competitive White House race.

It seems McCain has banked everything on going after the women who loved Hillary Clinton. The problem is that the best strong woman he could find from among the Republicans is someone from a distant who-cares state who has been in politics for even less time than Barack Obama, the man McCain is trying to ping as a dangerous neophyte, and the Left is going after her on this very point already - The selection is an inspired choice against Obama. Even before considering her competence, Democrats are forced to concede she is female and represents all that was denied the Democrats by Hilary being impossible. She represents the conservative minority and in attacking her, Democrats risk exposing themselves to the very charges of which they complain. She allows a reasonable voice in support of conservative values, family, progressive environmental exploitation and pro wealth building and aspirational.
Then there is the fact that she is a conservative, not a closet figure, and is capable of speaking towards conservative values. She is like a pretty, young Richard Nixon. - ed.
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Not every check on a terrorists’ relative checks out
Andrew Bolt
Haneef had to be investigated, and the fact that he’s cleared is not of itself a sign of incompetence:

THE Australian Federal Police has formally abandoned its $8 million investigation of Mohamed Haneef, more than 12 months after the Indian doctor was arrested at Brisbane airport over alleged terror offences. - not a sign of incompetence of the AFP, but certainly of the ALP - ed.
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He completes us
Andrew Bolt

Jon Stewart on Barack Obama.
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Animals die for green power
Andrew Bolt
Where are the protesting greens?

“Beware: exploding lungs” is not a sign one would expect to see at a wind farm. But a new study suggests this is the main reason bats die in large numbers around wind turbines.
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Alarmists gas on
Andrew Bolt
When the alarmists act like they really mean what they say, I’ll take them more seriously:

More than 1,700 delegates at two conferences on global warming being held in Kenya and Ghana have largely failed to carbon-offset their travel to the meetings, The Telegraph has learned.
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CLUES EXAMINED
Tim Blair
ABC radio phoned early yesterday seeking Costello comment
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OBOUNCER
Tim Blair
Formerly bounceless, Emperor Obama now receives a substantial convention boost:

Obama’s lead is two points greater lead than held by John Kerry after DemCon ‘04, although his bounce is short of the historical bounce average.
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HE DOES NOT EASILY EXULT, DESPAIR OR ANGER
Tim Blair
“I noticed that worshipful NYT article on Obama,” emails Matt Haws, “and thought it read like Dos Equis beer commercials that air here in the States.” Indeed, there are eerie parallels:
The police often question him, just because they find him interesting. His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man’s entire body. His blood smells like cologne. In every country in the world there is a sandwich named after him. He once punched a magician; that’s right, you heard me. If he were to mail a letter without postage, it would still get there.

When it is raining, it is because he is thinking about something sad. Even the things his parrot says are insightful. If there were an “interesting” gland, his would be larger than most men’s entire lower intestines. His shirts never wrinkle. He is left-handed. And right-handed. He once knew he dialed the wrong number, even though the person on the other end wouldn’t admit it. You can see his charisma from space. If a monument was built in his honor, Mt. Rushmore would close due to poor attendance. The moon is only full when it has his permission. He has never lost a costume contest, and he has never dressed in costume.

He is the Most Popular Man in the World.
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PLUS, THEY’LL THROW IN A FREE SET OF STEAK KNIVES
Tim Blair
There’s got to be a catch:
Columnists for Fairfax newspapers say management will have to sack them too if fellow contributor Mike Carlton is not reinstated.
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STRIKING MIKE SPIKED
Tim Blair
Further Fairfax fun:
Radio broadcaster and Sydney Morning Herald columnist Mike Carlton has been sacked for refusing to write his weekly column during a strike.

Carlton, a member of the journalists’ union, the MEAA, took the stand on the grounds that filing the column amounted to crossing a picket line.
Carlton, like several Saturday SMH columnists, files from home. It’ll be interesting to discover tomorrow if any e-scabs crossed this virtual picket.
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FROM BRITNEY TO BARACK
Tim Blair
Front page of today’s New York Post:

Impressively, the mighty Obamacropolis was “built by the same cheesy set team that put together Britney Spears’ last tour.”
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UNEMPLOYED CITIZEN TO FIX CARACAS
Tim Blair
Booted out of London, Red Ken heads to Hugotown:
Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, has found a new role as an adviser to the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his political allies. During a surprise visit to Caracas, Livingstone said yesterday that he would act as a consultant on the capital’s policing, transport and other municipal issues.
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TEMPLE SHAKEN
Tim Blair
Democrats who believe Barack Obama is too inexperienced to be President:

• Bill Clinton
• Hillary Clinton
• Joe Biden
• Barack Obama
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NO JUSTICE, NO PAPERS
Tim Blair
The darlings at Fairfax are out on strike until Monday. They’re having a little rally in Sydney tomorrow morning, in case you’re wondering about an apparent increase in the city’s homeless population. Sing along, comrades!
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ROBOBAMA
Tim Blair
What Obama really needs right now, as he prepares for his ascension, is a great big New York Times piece on how superhuman he is:
Even before he entered public life, he began honing not only his political skills, but also his mental and emotional ones. He developed a self-discipline so complete, friends and aides say, that he has established dominion over not only what he does but also how he feels.

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Molotov cocktail leaves man with only minor cuts
A molotov cocktail left a man covered in petrol, glass and fuel after it crashed through the window of his home in Sydney’s south west.

The 67-year-old was watching television in bed when the petrol bomb was hurled into his window.

The fuel failed to ignite and the elderly man escaped the attack with minor cuts to his arm and finger.

The victim could not give an explanation as to why he was targeted.
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How to rape guide found in Brimble suspect's house
Instructions on using drugs to rape women have been found at the house of one of the men who had sex with cruise ship passenger Dianne Brimble.
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Costello predicted Rudd's action
Andrew Bolt
On the one hand we have Kevin Rudd, preparing for his seventh - eighth? - trip overseas in just nine months.

On the other we have Julia Gillard, producing the tough policies on education and truancy which allowed Rudd to finally say something of substance last week.

Which makes this prediction from Peter Costello last year seem right on the money:

I wouldn’t be surprised if it was his intention to spend a lot of time on the international stage whilst leaving Julia Gillard to manage domestic policy...