=== Todays Toon ===
The insane left strike again with shoe throwing on Iraq. - ed.=== Bible Quote ===
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”- Hebrews 4:12=== Headlines ===
Virginia Man Arrested for Allegedly Plotting Attacks in Capitol
A 34-year-old man has been taken into custody for allegedly trying to help Al Qaeda plan multiple bombings around the Washington, D.C., area — including the Arlington Cemetery Metrorail station.Dems Taking Big Piece of Campaign Cash Pie
New analysis shows that Democrats and party-allied groups have raised and spent nearly $200M more than their GOP counterparts, despite complaints that Republicans have the advantage
Judge Rumbles With Conn. Over WWE Garb
A federal judge orders Connecticut's top election official to allow voters to wear World Wrestling Entertainment clothing to the polls, saying wearing company's garb doesn't apply to state election laws
Race to the Red Planet Heats Up
As U.S. prepares plan for manned space mission to Mars, the challenge will include beating Russia, China and India to be the first to reach the Red Planet
Apple delays white iPhone again
APPLE fans are going to have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on a white iPhone 4.
Cummings in hospital, may miss Cup
LEGENDARY horse trainer Bart Cummings has reportedly been readmitted to hospital just five days out from the running of the 150th Melbourne Cup.
Indonesia quake toll over 300
HELICOPTERS with emergency supplies finally landed on the remote Indonesian islands slammed by a tsunami that killed more than 300 people, while elsewhere in the archipelago the toll from a volcanic eruption rose to 30, including the mountain's spiritual caretaker.
Plane evacuated after clipping jet's wings
TWO jets were damaged and one was evacuated today after they hit each other on the tarmac at Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport.
Obama meets with gay rights groups
US President Barack Obama stopped by meeting yesterday between gay rights groups and administration officials at the White House to express his support for repealing the military’s "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Premier's volt from the blue
PREMIER Kristina Keneally has caved in to The Daily Telegraph's campaign on power prices.
Home swallowed in fierce blaze
FIREFIGHTERS battled an "enormous wall of flames" when a home was swallowed up in a fierce seven-metre high blaze.
Zoe's death was not in vain
NSW Labor gave in-principle support to recommendations in the report into laws surrounding criminal deaths of unborn children.
Police fire shots after 'ramming'
A POLICE officer fired two shots at a car which had allegedly rammed his police vehicle and was about to run him down.
Councillors too busy at the pub
THE lure of state ministers flying in to a conference wasn't enough to entice more than half of the 500 councillors to attend a meeting.
We're on an express to nowhere
THE Western Express project will remain nothing more than a pipe dream if Labor loses the election.
Medich 'organised McGurk murder'
WHAT Ron Medich now knows was long-time associate Lucky Gattellari had turned informant.
A battle cry for basic services
TWO dozen NSW councils have declared they are "nuclear free". But how many are pothole-free?
Kids too fat for class chairs
CHILDREN have grown too big for their school chairs, a survey of 750 schools reveals, with desk and chair sizes "inappropriate".
Artworks will melt your heart
THE annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition features work by artists from 11 countries.
Little Cody battles through
CODY Flatley is part of an elite club - babies born at 23 weeks gestation who have survived against all the odds and expectations of the doctors.
Brisbane house prices drop again
BRISBANE'S median house price has dropped again, with its decline over the September quarter second only to Darwin.
Footy star hijacked garbo truck
A FORMER footy star who led police on a wild chase after hijacking a garbage truck, has failed in a bid to get his driving licence back.
What's happening to our sea food?
THE Government has confirmed Australia is a net importer of sea food for the first time as the Federal Opposition warns of a looming "Battle for the Coral Sea".
Ablett's $3m Gold Coast mansion
GOLD Coast Suns superstar Gary Ablett has bought the ultimate bachelor pad to start his life on the Glitter Strip.
Fraudster cashed in on pay farce
A BRISBANE hospital worker has pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming $23,000 in emergency cash payments from Queensland Health during the pay crisis.
Surfer squeezed through porthole
LAWYER Rob Marino was left with two choices - die or make an effort to survive the tsunami terror that struck he and his eight mates from the Gold Coast.
Nuttall faces 35 years in jail
FORMER Queensland Labor minister Gordon Nuttall faces the longest jail term for official corruption in Australian history.
Coast boasts a rebranding
THE battle of the beaches is over as the Sunshine Coast prepares to ditch its long time rivalry with the Gold Coast with its own unique tourism brand.
Woman charged over ambo fire
A 23-YEAR-old woman has been charged over two allegedly related fires, which destroyed the Cleveland ambulance station and three ambulances.
Bart back in hospital
LEGENDARY horse trainer Bart Cummings has been readmitted to hospital just six days out from the running of the Melbourne Cup.
Victoria has too many fat kids
THE Gillard Government is being urged to step up the fight against childhood obesity, after it rejected calls for a junk food tax.
Suspect firms for barrel murder
POLICE have a strong suspect in the murder of Lucia Amenta as they continue to search overseas for a key piece of evidence.
Melbourne getting safer, says Brumby
THE war on crime has a long way to go, Premier John Brumby admits, but he says the State Government is turning the problem around.
Your time starts now
FORGET muck-up pranks, it's back to business for VCE students today as more than 40,00 they sit their first written exam.
Wombats ready for the close-up
A COUPLE of cheeky wombats, orphaned when their mums were killed by cars, made a beeline for this camera.
Angry locals bury river plan
ANGRY Mildura locals have staged a Mafia-style mock execution of the Murray- Darling Basin Plan, burying it in a concrete-filled boot.
Man flashes terrified woman
A FLASHER waited at Ripponlea railway station for 15 minutes before exposing himself to a woman who was walking nearby.
Dupas demonstrated murder - inmate
THE man accused of killing Mersina Halvagis told a fellow inmate he left no evidence at the scene, court hears.
School bans kids hanging out in groups
A PRIMARY school principal has banned groups of more than three students in a radical attempt to stop bullying.
Nothing new
Floodwaters cause Murray havoc
DROUGHT-BREAKING floodwaters from Victoria are wreaking havoc along the River Murray.
Desal funding watered down
THE Federal Government is clawing back $212 million of a federal "grant" for the desalination plant.
Crossbow robbery in busy night
A CROSSBOW-wielding man robbed a service station in Elizabeth Park on Wednesday night.
Old Adelaide Gaol's new look
A $400,000 upgrade of old Adelaide Gaol has been unveiled.
Passenger warning as crim cruises in taxi
A STOLEN taxi is cruising the streets of Adelaide and police have warned people not to get into the vehicle.
Man dragged from water at Largs Bay
A MAN has been pulled unconcious from the water after jumping off the end of Largs Bay jetty.
Mystery letters cloud conman's sentencing
TWO mysterious letters have forced a magistrate to consider disqualifying himself from sentencing a confessed conman.
Driver in court over thoroughbred death
A MAN has faced court accused of running down and killing a thoroughbred race horse while heavily intoxicated.
Houseboat goes up in flames
A HOUSEBOAT was destroyed when it caught fire and drifted for one kilometre from Hindmarsh Island early this morning.
Youths rob woman aboard bus
A GROUP of youths assaulted and robbed a young woman of her handbag as she travelled on a bus at Ferryden Park early this morning.
Show me the injuries, Taser man told
TASER abuse victim ordered to get medical records and a lawyer if he wants access to damning footage of him being Tasered 11 times by public officers.
Union slams hospital plans
PATIENTS at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital won't be affected by plans to privatise certain services, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has vowed.
Afghani admits murdering flatmate
A MAN who murdered his former flatmate in a Victoria Park townhouse today pleaded guilty to the gruesome crime.
Lacrosse star tells of hit-run horror
A TEENAGE WA lacrosse star has told how her car rolled twice after another driver ploughed into it during a terrifying hit and run.
Barnett attacks 'strange' Gillard
WA PREMIER defends his government's record on energy investment after what he described as "strange'' and "wild'' comments by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Limited booze at two Skyworks spots
SKYWORKS revellers will be able to consume alcohol at two designated "drinking zones'' during the Australia Day celebration - at Kings Park and Perth Esplanade.
Spratt demands second Taser footage
TASER victim gives the Police Commissioner and Attorney General a deadline to produce footage of a second Taser attack and a copy of his criminal record.
Headbutter gets seven months jail
A MADORA Bay man who viciously headbutted another man at the Ravenswood Hotel near Pinjarra, 87km south of Perth, has been jailed for seven months.
Grandmother gets 26-year murder sentence
HOBART grandmother Susan Blyth Neill-Fraser has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for murdering her de facto Bob Chappell.
Detention centre where teen died may close
THE Tasmanian government will consider closing a youth detention centre where a teenage inmate died this week.
Man pleads guilty to shooting at cop
A MAN has pleaded guilty to shooting at a police officer in Hobart's north.
Teen inmate's death linked to car crash
DEAD teen's illness after accident ignored before his death at detention centre, says mum.
=== Journalists Corner ===
New Video Shows Lead-Up to Protester Being TackledNew video has emerged of the moments leading up to a MoveOn.org protester being stomped on before a Kentucky Senate debate. So, could there be another side to the story of the tackle seen around the country?
===
New England Turning From Blue to Red?
With New England dominated by Democrats, can the GOP come ahead at the polls and take back the region? Bret breaks it down.
===
Violence at the KY Senate Debate!
A political stomping across Kentucky, literally! We take a look at the rally that nearly turned riot!
===
Ballot Battle: We're Broke, Who's Booted?
Spiraling debt, no jobs, taxes and health care woes. America wants solutions ... NOW! So, what will it take to get us back on track? Neil gets answers.
On Fox News Insider
Is Harry Reid Trying to Steal the Nevada Election?Obama's Segregation Politics?
Look Who's Dressed Like Gretchen...
VIDEO: Denise Richards Returns to Acting
=== Comments ===
One Week Before a Very Important ElectionBY BILL O'REILLY
All the polling indicates Republicans will do very well next Tuesday, as millions of Americans are angry about the economy and the general direction of the country.
A new Gallup poll says that 63 percent of Republicans say they are enthusiastic to vote. Just 37 percent of Democrats say they are jazzed to go to the polls. That's huge because a low turnout among Democrats will doom the party this time around.
On Tuesday, there was some new polling. According to Quinnipiac, John Kasich is now six points ahead of Ted Strickland in the Ohio governor's race. In the Ohio Senate race, Republican Rob Portman is leading Democrat Lee Fischer by 17 points. So Mr. Portman is a lock.
In West Virginia, it's close. According to a new Fox News poll, Republican John Raese leads Democrat Joe Manchin by just two points in the Senate race there.
In Connecticut, it's not so close. Democrat Dick Blumenthal is well ahead of Republican Linda McMahon.
In Illinois, the race for Barack Obama's old Senate seat has Republican Mark Kirk ahead of Alexi Giannoulias by two points according to the Fox poll.
In California, Sen. Barbara Boxer leads Carly Fiorina by four points, and Jerry Brown is running well ahead of his challenger, Republican Meg Whitman.
In Kentucky, Rand Paul seems to be pulling away from Democrat Jack Conway in that Senate contest.
Perhaps the most intense race in the country is in Nevada between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and challenger Sharron Angle, who leads Reid by four points according to Rasmussen.
That is driving the far left nuts. On Tuesday, Joy Behar said this about a criminal illegal alien ad Ms. Angle released:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": This is a moron on top of being evil. I would like to see her do this ad in the south Bronx. Come here (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Come to New York and do it.
SHERRI SHEPHERD, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": And we're praying for you. We are praying for you.
ELISABETH HASSELBECK, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Even Joy is praying for you.
BEHAR: I 'm not praying for her.
SHEPHERD: I 'm praying for everybody.
BEHAR: She is going to hell, this (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
That kind of rhetoric, of course, helps Sharron Angle.
"Talking Points" is an independent voter, but I do believe the country is on the wrong track. President Obama has made a calculated gamble with massive spending, and it has not translated into more jobs. Americans understand that simple equation.
They also understand that under the Democratic leadership, the nation has added an amazing $5 trillion in debt. Obviously that has to stop, and the folks know it.
===
A Stark Choice Between European Model Or the American Way
By Amb. John Bolton
Dramatic developments in Europe in the past few weeks have graphically demonstrated the importance of America’s upcoming November 2 elections. Coming midway through President Obama’s term, there is little doubt these elections constitute a referendum on his philosophy, policies and performance.
Any U.S. citizens who doubt the significance of their impending votes need only contemplate Europe to see the consequences of further pursuing the Obama agenda.
Riots in the streets recently greeted French President Sarkozy’s proposal to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62. Although starting with the trade unionists, university students soon joined, in “worker-student” demonstrations reminiscent of late 1960’s Europe.
Just four years ago, France’s students rioted because they dreaded “précarité,” or insecurity concerning their employment prospects. They wanted guaranteed lifetime jobs, preferably in the public sector, rather than the indignity and “précarité” of pursue their own careers.
This past May, violent demonstrations in Greece reflected virulent opposition to cutbacks in welfare and other national subsidies, required because Greece’s profligate government spending, in violation of European Union (“E.U.”) fiscal rules, threatened the viability of the common European currency. Although fears for the Euro’s future have receded, the E.U.’s fundamental structural problems remain unresolved, so the risks of future instability remain still provoke sporadic outbursts of rioting in Athens.
Now, although France’s Senate approved changing the retirement age, the stability of Sarkozy’s government remains very much in question. Ironically, he came to office pledging far more sweeping, market-oriented changes in France’s economy. If he retreats on even minimal reforms like the retirement-age question, however, his entire presidency may end in failure.
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister David Cameron’s new government has just announced stringent budget cuts to reverse decades of massive deficit spending. These reductions are equivalent to or steeper than Margaret Thatcher’s when she took office in 1979, and will cause sweeping revisions in the excessive expectations many Britons have from their government. Nearly 500,000 public sector employees will be eliminated, and the pension-eligibility age will rise from 65 to 66. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said dramatically to the House of Commons, “Today is the day when Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the bills of a decade of debt.”
British public opinion is still developing, but Cameron and his government openly campaigned for these policies in the last election. Disturbingly for Americans, his budget includes deep reductions in Britain’s defense budget, cuts so severe that many worry about London’s ability to sustain its leading role in NATO, and its long-standing place as Washington’s principal military ally.
In fact, the typical reaction of U.S. defense experts has been “it could have been worse,” which is cold comfort, especially with the conflict against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan reaching a potentially dispositive point.
These striking developments in Europe emphasize both how hard it is to withstand the endless expansion of the state’s role in civil society, and how hard it is to roll back even failed and financially debilitating statist policies. Public expectations become entrenched, citizens become dependent and attached to their benefits, which come to be seen as “entitlements,” and the steps necessary to redress the balance can be painful.
With considerable justification, therefore, American voters now see the impending November 2 elections as enormously consequential for their future. The individual races effectively embody a stark choice: whether to begin the daunting task of turning the United States back toward its founding principles, or whether to descend further into the status of European social democracies like France and Greece.
President Obama’s nationalization of two of America’s largest automobile manufacturers, his massive European-style health-care reform, and his extravagant Federal spending increases, had little or nothing to do with recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. Although justified on that basis, Obama’s agenda was in fact an ideologically-driven, highly opportunistic strategy to fundamentally change the structure and direction of American society. With substantial majorities in Congress, his objectives seemed easily within reach.
But unfortunately for Obama and the commentators who worship him, America never stopped being a center-right nation.
The public increasingly believes that Obama’s stimulus spending has not stimulated; his increased tax, government spending and regulation burdens are substantially impeding our hopes of recovery; and his unprecedented extension of the federal government’s economic role is utterly unjustifiable.
Obama’s response is visibly schizophrenic, promising more of the same if he avoids electoral disaster next week, while simultaneously implying he has “learned his lesson,” and will be less radical going forward.
How the United States votes on November 2 is thus an important test, but in themselves these midterm elections alone cannot be dispositive. The real test will come when Obama seeks re-election in 2012. Then too, events in Europe may well highlight the choices and widely divergent options Americans will face.
John R. Bolton, a former ambassador to the U.N., is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a Fox News contributor. He is the author of "Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad" (Simon & Schuster, 2007).
===
Wilkie trusted with our secret business
Andrew Bolt
Should Julia Gillard really trust Andrew Wilkie on the Joint Parliamentary Committee for Intelligence and Security, now reviewing the workings of Australia’s intelligence community:
The work of the committee was thrown suddenly into the spotlight yesterday, following reports Julia Gillard had nominated to its ranks former intelligence analyst and Iraq war whistleblower Andrew Wilkie, now one of three independent MPs backing the government.But wait a minute. Isn’t this the same man who once revealed intelligence he should not?
After leaving the army he worked for US defence giant Raytheon before moving to the secretive Office of National Assessment.(Thanks to reader John.)
He broke onto the national stage in 2003 when he resigned and spoke out against the Howard government on the Iraq war....
Former intelligence officers can’t stand him. They say that when he went public on the Iraq War it was on the basis of intelligence that was shared with 23 other intelligence officers on a “your eyes only” basis. They say the other 23 came to precisely the opposite conclusion to Wilkie.
===
It’s unItalian
Andrew Bolt
It seems such an attack on the Italian identity:Women who wear miniskirts or show too much cleavage will face fines of up to 500 euros (£440) under new rules to be introduced by an Italian town.(Thanks to reader 3point142.)
In a move sharply at odds with a country which produced the likes of Monica Bellucci and Sophia Loren, the town of Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples, intends to prohibit women from wearing provocative clothing.
===
A test that would have a Williams sacked all over again
Andrew Bolt
Yet another alleged terrorist plot revealed, but please check that you haven’t jumped to conclusions.
Federal law enforcement authorities are investigating a nascent plot to carry out a series of terrorist bombings at stations in the Washington Metro system, according to intelligence and law enforcement sources.A: Sweden
The investigation is focused on a naturalized U.S. citizen, originally from…
B: New Zealand
C: Pakistan
.... who became the target of an undercover sting operation, the sources said. An administration official said the man drew the attention of law enforcement officials by seeking to obtain unspecified materials…A: Bob Smith
The man…
B: Anders Andersson
C: Farooque Ahmed
... is believed to have conceived of the plot and planned to carry it out on his own....A. The Lutherans
Federal officials stressed that the public was never in danger. They said that, as part of the sting, Ahmed was asked to conduct video surveillance; he later turned that material over to federal agents whom he believed to be connected to...
B: The Dalai Lama
C: al-Qaeda.
If you jumped to the stereotypical conclusion and answered C, C and C, you are just the kind of prejudiced person that America’s NPR finds utterly unacceptable:
National Public Radio dismissed newsman Juan Williams for an on-air discussion he conducted with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly in which Williams confessed discomfort when observing fellow airline passengers dressed in Muslim garb.===
She’s outta here
Andrew Bolt
Barack Obama is trying to step Democrat losses in next week’s mid-term elections that could cost him control of Congress. So in this moment of crisis for his presidency, Hillary Clinton announces what she’ll be doing in these last days to win Obama more support:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton departed Washington on Wednesday for a two-week Asia trip meant to shore up US ties with its Pacific neighbors.===
Gillard opens the gates with her bungling
Andrew Bolt
Greg Sheridan on Julia Gillard’s disastrous bungling of boat people policy - and of her dud promise of a detention centre in East Timor:
On the day before he was dumped as prime minister, Rudd told Julia Gillard the idea was a dud. It wouldn’t work… This also leads to the inescapable conclusion that Rudd (as Foreign Minister) has declined to lead the negotiations over the East Timor centre, instead leaving that task to the wholly inexperienced Chris Bowen…Coalition Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says the boat arrivals seem to have picked up since Labor’s election win:
Gillard is emerging as a strangely weak and ineffective Prime Minister in foreign policy…
With nearly 6000 illegal immigrants arriving by boat so far this year, and with the government having no strategy to stop the boats, Australia stands in a precarious position. We seem just about to embark on the disastrous European policy, which is now tearing Europe apart, of accepting a large, illegal Muslim immigration. This is not essentially a refugee question but rather, as in Europe’s case, a question of a determined illegal immigration..
Gillard… went to the election saying the East Timor centre would be a regional initiative that would help stop the boats. Yet no effective action has been taken on the Timor centre, while new centres are being commissioned on the Australian mainland, the boat arrivals have accelerated and the government can point to absolutely zero regional support for the East Timor centre and cannot or will not even outline which nations it will apply to.
In August, 324 people arrived on boats. So far this month 726 people have arrived on 14 boats.===
Greens may soon rule with Labor in Victoria
Andrew Bolt
Labor in Victoria is being eaten out by its One Nation - the Greens:
ONE in five Victorian voters is intending to back the Greens at next month’s state election, leaving Labor at risk of losing its majority.The poll suggests that one in five Victorians are voting for a party whose policy is to immediately close the source of a quarter of Victoria’s power - and the cheapest of it. They are voting for a party of the gesture, with no thought of the consequences. This represents the infantilising of politics. And after the election, the most infantile of the parties may well hold the balance of power, particularly if the Liberals preference them.
Just days before the formal start of the campaign for the November 27 election, the latest Newspoll figures suggest an extremely tight result in keeping with this year’s federal election and Tasmanian and South Australian polls. Primary support for the Brumby government has dropped to 35 per cent; the Coalition’s primary vote has jumped four points to 40 per cent; and, most significantly, the Greens vote has surged to a record 19 per cent.
The polling, conducted exclusively for The Australian last month and this, shows that if an election were held today, Labor would narrowly retain power, with a two-party-preferred split of 52-48 in its favour.
For Labor the threat is acute. It has the vote of just one in three Victorians, and needs the Greens to hold onto government. For every two votes for Labor, the Greens have one. It is critical for Labor to destroy the Greens, yet it does not dare. Much of the media is also unwilling to explain the consequences of Greens policies or expose the deceits, ignorance, prejudices and superstitions on which they are based. The result is that the Greens remain protected by an armor of moral righteousness, and Labor is quietly and meekly surrendering an army of its voters to its’ ranks.
Some Labor figures belatedly understand the challenge - to the party’s power, at least, if not to our future:
LABOR elder statesman John Faulkner has warned his parliamentary colleagues in the party’s Left they must confront the growth of the Greens and convince voters of why Labor deserves their support…But the Victorian Liberals? Becalmed under the Leftist leadership of Ted Baillieu,they flirt with what they should oppose:
He told a meeting of Labor’s Left-faction MPs this week that existing evidence indicated the Greens were growing as an electoral force. It was “silly” to overlook this and Labor needed to put its case “strongly to the electorate”.
TED Baillieu is facing an open revolt by senior Liberals for refusing to rule out a preference deal with the Greens at next month’s state election. Just 30 days from the poll, a growing chorus of Liberals has warned Mr Baillieu not to trust the Greens.Liberal Senator Helen Kroger makes a public appeal to Baillieu:
Former PM John Howard said the Greens’ radical agenda was “far worse” than the Labor Party..
Many Liberals are still seething at a preference deal that helped Greens candidate Adam Bandt win Melbourne at the August federal election. They fear similar deals at the state election could hand the Greens up to six seats in the Lower House.
The reality is that the Greens need Liberal preferences to win any seats.UPDATE
I hope that the state Liberal leadership, in its considerations, will ask what service to Victoria’s future would be done by delivering seats to the Greens with Liberal preferences…
Victorians, and particularly Liberals, don’t want a preference deal with the Greens that entrenches a radical agenda. The future of Victoria depends on the party leadership taking into account the views of many grassroots Liberals.
Paul Austin perfectly describes Labor’s rabbit-in-the-spotlight approach:
Brumby and state Labor are arguing that the Greens have some ‘’wacky’’ policies (to use Deputy Premier Rob Hulls’s description) and pose such a threat to good governance and policy in Victoria that the Liberals should in effect strike a preferences deal with Labor to lock the Greens out of the state’s lower house.===
Trouble is, Labor is not prepared to do what it is demanding the Liberals do, and rule out preferencing the Greens. Nor will Brumby rule out striking a Gillard-style alliance with the Greens after the election in the event of a hung state parliament.
Talidumb
Andrew Bolt
It’s a mistake to think terrorists are smart. After all, how dumb do you have to be to think slaughtering civilians brings about a better world?
To be sure, some terrorists are steely and skilled—people like Mohamed Atta, the careful and well-trained head of the 9/11 hijackers. Their leaders and recruiters can be lethally subtle and manipulative, but the quiet truth is that many of the deluded foot soldiers are foolish and untrained, perhaps even untrainable…(Via Instapundit.)
Nowhere is the gap between sinister stereotype and ridiculous reality more apparent than in Afghanistan, where it’s fair to say that the Taliban employ the world’s worst suicide bombers: one in two manages to kill only himself. And this success rate hasn’t improved at all in the five years they’ve been using suicide bombers, despite the experience of hundreds of attacks—or attempted attacks. In Afghanistan, as in many cultures, a manly embrace is a time-honored tradition for warriors before they go off to face death. Thus, many suicide bombers never even make it out of their training camp or safe house, as the pressure from these group hugs triggers the explosives in suicide vests. According to several sources at the United Nations, as many as six would-be suicide bombers died last July after one such embrace in Paktika.
===
Good speech
Andrew Bolt
A very good maiden speech this week from Josh Frydenberg, the new member for Kooyong. It’s inspiring that Australia has been a land in which his family could prosper, having fled countries where they were marked for death. I like the call for nuclear power, too. Read on.
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