Canadian court ruled fat people have the right to two seats on a plane for the price of one

I'll subsidise fatties when pigs fly | Opinion | News.com.au

I'll subsidise fatties when pigs fly

By John Rolfe

The Daily Telegraph

November 29, 2008 04:36am

WHY should I have to pay for my excess luggage when fatties don't have to?

Last week a Canadian court ruled fat people have the right to two seats on a plane for the price of one.

Sorry, they're not "fat people". They are, according to one airline, "customers of size".

And today we publish the results of a travel website survey that shows a majority of Australians disagree with the ruling. Most think fatties should have to buy that second seat.

I say we must go further.

All plane passengers should be weighed at check-in, otherwise the obesity crisis will inevitably lead to over-burdened flights falling from the sky.

Checking into a Sydney-London flight in 2005 I was forced to fork over $320 for having 8kg more in my bags than the "limit".

As the Qantas staff member processed the payment I looked at the line behind me. Fattie. Fattie. Bill Bryson. Fattie.

My cash was covering those cows in the queue. Why is it that bags are the only things airlines weigh?

Political correctness.

I weighed 70kg (and still do). Add 8kg excess luggage plus the 20kg allowed. That's a total of 98kg.

Some people on that flight weighed 130kg. Add 20kg of luggage and they're more than 50 per cent heavier than me and mine.

Yet I paid more.

Airlines need to introduce the same system for passengers as the horse-racing industry has for jockeys.

Get on the scales with your saddle bags. If you can't make the weight you're off - or you'll have to buy the seat beside you.

And the other side, come to think of it - it's completely unfair for people like me to be deep-fried peanut-butter sandwiched to the wall for 14 hours.

Before I get strung up outside a KFC, I should make it clear that I don't really believe in weigh-ins and check-ins.

Because while some people are unnecessarily heavy, others are just bigger than me. Where would it end? Skin-fold tests?

That said, when will we stop making excuses for people who are too fat? It's bad for them and it costs the community a bomb in related healthcare costs.

Access Economics recently estimated the fat epidemic bill at $58 billion.

Reality must bite, so to speak, some time soon.

Interestingly, the travel.com.au survey of attitudes towards obese travellers found NSW to be most tolerant.

There are two explanations for this.

The first is that people have a finite amount of displeasure to direct at others, and that our State Labor Government has sopped up pretty much all of it up like a piece of bread in dripping.

The second explanation is the stones-in-glasshouses argument: We have more fat people than other states. About 600,000 more, according to census figures. There are so many fat people in NSW that only a minority want "customers of size" to have to pay for that second seat.

Now that's food for thought.

Kevin Rudd sick of flying overseas

Prime minister Kevin Rudd sick of flying overseas | National News | News.com.au

HE'S spent one in five days criss-crossing the globe but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he would gladly tear up his passport.

"I would happily not get on a plane again in my life," the jet-lagged PM declared yesterday.

But in just 12 days, Mr Rudd will again dust off his passport and board his RAAF 737 for a 16-hour return flight to Bali.

Earlier this year, Mr Rudd was "lasso-ed" into co-chairing the December 10 Bali Democracy Forum by a very enthusiastic Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Mr Rudd will spend more time flying to Bali than he will actually spend on the ground. A maximum of six hours in the tourist haven, then it's wheels-up, his office confirmed.

The Bali trip will take Mr Rudd's global travel to more than 70 days since he was elected a year ago, and he has at least one more overseas visit to make - Thailand for the ASEAN summit - before clocking off for Christmas.

No wonder he was sounding croaky and looking a tad weary yesterday.

FUTURE space travelers may be drinking their own urine

Shuttle astronaut invents zero-gravity cup | NEWS.com.au

FUTURE space travelers may be drinking their own urine, thanks to the International Space Station's new water recycler, but they can now do so with a touch of class.

Endeavour astronaut Don Pettit, a self-described tinkerer who served as the space station's flight engineer in 2003, invented a zero-gravity cup that wicks liquids along the sides of a piece of folded plastic, eliminating the need for a straw.

Because liquids typically form spherical blobs in weightlessness, astronauts drink from sealed pouches using straws. Mr Pettit, a huge coffee fan, didn't like sipping his java, and created the cup from a sheet of transparent plastic used in overhead projectors by folding it into the shape of an airplane wing and taping it in place.

"The way this works is the cross-section of this cup looks like an airplane wing. The narrow angle here will wick the coffee up," Mr Pettit explained in a video radioed to NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston and broadcast on NASA TV.

"We can sip most of the fluid out of these cups and we no longer have to drink our beverages sucking through a straw in a pouch," Mr Pettit said.

This week, Mr Petit made another cup for crewmate Stephen Bowen and proposed a toast to the Thanksgiving holiday, space exploration and "just because we're in space and we can."

One of the Shuttle's main mission was to install a $US250 million ($382 million) water recycling system enables the Space Station crew to recycle urine and other wastewater into drinking water.

The astronauts were scheduled to share a Thanksgiving meal of dehydrated turkey with their space station hosts before closing the hatches between the two ships in preparation for Endeavour's departure the next day.

The shuttle, which delivered a water-purification system to the station among other gear, is due back at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this weekend after a 16-day mission.

insurance

German court rules big boobs are not a medical problem | Breaking News | News.com.au

German court rules big boobs are not a medical problem

By staff writers

NEWS.com.au

November 28, 2008 12:04pm


A COURT has ruled that insurance companies do not need to cover the cost of breast reduction surgery.
The court ruled ruled that having a large bust is not a medical problem and as such insurers will only have to pay to correct breasts which are deformed.

The case was brought by a 38-year-old woman who suffered orthopaedic and physical problems due to the weight of her boobs, bild.com reports.

She had been advised by doctors to have breast reduction surgery.

But her insurance company didn’t see it as a necessity and therefore refused to cover the costs of the operation.

It claimed she was suffering from back problems because she was overweight.

The court agreed with the insurance company and the woman lost her case.

Two and a half years ago, the same court rejected the case of a woman who thought her breasts were too small.

She wanted her medical insurance to cover a breast enlargement operation and claimed that she was physically harassed for her small boobs. The court declared then that small breasts are not an illness.

PonderIt: "I don't drink tea, I'm a Mormon"

Mormonism and Indonesia

Building Bridges to Harmony through Understanding - Dr. Alwi Shihab

Average CEO of top 100 company got a $3.4m golden handshake

Fat cat bosses paid top dollar to walk | Business | News.com.au

IT'S enough to make honest shareholders sick. The average CEO of a top 100 Australian company received just over $3.4 million as a termination payment when they left their firm, according to research company RiskMetrics.

And in just two of the 33 cases studied did the company seek shareholder approval for the massive payouts, despite the Corporations Act technically requiring approval for termination payments above a threshold of seven times total remuneration.

One of them, OZ Minerals, paid $8.35 million to departing CEO Owen Hegarty despite shareholders rejecting a payment of $10.67 million at an AGM in July.

Of the 33 CEOs included in the sample, only five received no termination payments, despite 12 of them retiring.

More than two-thirds of the CEOs (23) received payments of more than $1 million.

Director of RiskMetrics Australia Dean Paatsch said the research showed how urgently the Corporations Act needed to be reformed so that shareholders were given the power to limit excessive termination payments, especially as shareholders rarely if ever derive any benefit from the payments.

"At the moment shareholders are effectively powerless to prevent huge payments to departing CEOs because the existing provisions of the Corporations Act are riddled with loopholes that any decent lawyer can get through," Mr Paatsch said.

The largest termination payment included in the sample was the $16.8 million paid to former Santos CEO John Ellice-Flint. The bulk of this was due to the Santos board allowing 2.313 million unvested options to vest on Mr Ellice-Flint's departure (and the calculation of the payments assumes the options were exercised on the date his termination benefits were announced).

Australia and permanent residency

German doctor with disabled son granted residency by immigration minister | National News | News.com.au

German doctor with disabled son granted residency by immigration minister

November 26, 2008 02:24pm


A DECISION to deny a German doctor and his family permanent residency because his son had Down syndrome has been overturned by the immigration minister.

Bernhard Moeller, a specialist physician, moved his family to Horsham, in Victoria's west, two years ago to help fill a doctor shortage.

But the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) yesterday upheld the immigration department's decision to deny Dr Moeller's permanent visa application because his 13-year-old son has Down syndrome and was deemed a potential drain on the health system.

Dr Moeller's case generated public outrage, putting pressure on immigration minister Chris Evans to intervene in the case.

Senator Evans said he received Dr Moeller's application for ministerial intervention this morning and approved it several hours later.

"It was clear to me that Dr Moeller and his family are making a very valuable contribution to their local community," Senator Evans told the Senate.

"Dr Moeller is providing a much needed service in the area, the family have integrated very well and they have substantial community support."

Their continued presence in Australia will be beneficial to our society, he said.

"I'm pleased they have chosen to call Australia home," he said.

Senator Evans expressed his regret at the stress the family had been subjected to throughout their application process.

ICC

Opinio Juris

Why the Creation of the ICC Does Not Support Goldsmith and Posner’s Thesis

by Kevin Jon Heller

In the Wall Street Journal editorial Ken mentions below, Goldsmith and Posner argue — in defense of their thesis that Europeans ignore international law if it is not in their interest to obey it — that “when nations led by Europe created the International Criminal Court (ICC), they purported to limit the Security Council’s power to delay or halt ICC trials, also in disregard of the U.N. Charter, which states that Charter obligations trump the requirements of any other treaty.” That argument misunderstands both the ICC and the UN Charter. Goldsmith and Posner seem to be referring to Article 103 of the Charter, which provides that “[i]n the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other international agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail.” As numerous scholars have pointed out, however, the ICC is not a “Member of the United Nations”; it is an independent international organization with a legal personality that is distinct from the legal personality of the Member States that created it. The Security Council thus has no authority to interfere with the ICC beyond the authority specifically given to it by Article 16 of the Rome Statute — in which case the Security Council’s limited ability to “delay or halt ICC trials” is in no way “in disregard of” Article 103…

Defining “Public Morals” Under the WTO

Opinio Juris » Blog Archive » Sex, Religion and Chewing Gum: Defining “Public Morals” Under the WTO

Sex, Religion and Chewing Gum: Defining “Public Morals” Under the WTO

by Roger Alford

Article XX(a) of the GATT allows countries to violate WTO rules if doing so is “necessary to protect public morals.” The “public morals” exception is notoriously elusive, with only one WTO case—the US-Gambling Services case—clarifying the scope of the exception. So in a real sense we don’t really know when “public morals” can or cannot be invoked. According to the Panel report in that case, “the term ‘public morals’ denotes standards of right and wrong conduct maintained by or on behalf of a community or nation.” (Para. 6.465). Okay that really clears things up.

So if one cannot discern public morals based on WTO case law, how about analyzing what countries are actually doing. By good fortune, one of my students just finished working as an account manager at UPS and he informed me that the UPS website provides a handy service that identifies all “restricted or prohibited commodities” in every country in the world. From my perspective this list gives international trade scholars a pretty good sense of what type of products are prohibited in particular countries based on factors such as public morals.

Of course there are some political restrictions, such as a dozen Islamic countries that prohibit the importation of any Israeli products. And there are plenty of products one would expect to be restricted, such as alcohol, drugs, tobacco, weapons, etc. But beyond these categories there also were numerous other prohibited items that took me by surprise. Here is a sample of the kind of products that apparently offend public morals in different parts of the world:

Afghanistan: Any art, books, pictures, statues, and CDs prohibited by Islamic law.

Canada: Paintball and air-soft guns

China: All publications, promotion materials, printed matter and others that threaten the state security, social and political stability

Colombia: Toys of war

Denmark: “Red Bull” energy drink

Egypt: Satanic items

India: Maps depicting incorrect Indian boundaries

Indonesia: Chinese publications

Japan: Christmas ornaments

Kenya: Wildlife trophies

Libya: Any item sensitive to the Moslem culture or the Middle East situation

Malaysia: Any clothing reproducing verses from the Koran

Nepal: All beef products; Information gathering devices such as radios, televisions, telephones and cassette players

Nigeria: Basic hygienic products including soap, toothpaste, and detergent

Pakistan: Ham and pork

Saudi Arabia: Gambling devices, pornography, Bibles, human or animal toy action figures that resemble idols.

Singapore: Chewing gum

Taiwan: Chinese origin goods

Tanzania: Salman Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses”

Tunisia: Condoms

UAE: Religious books

Vietnam: Bikini swimsuit calendars

I’m not sure there’s a discernible pattern from the UPS list of restricted or prohibited commodities. But if one can find it, it offers perhaps the best definition of de facto “public morals” currently available.

beauty concept

Looking at the ugly truth about beauty | Opinion | News.com.au

From Cleopatra to Aphrodite, the Mona Lisa to Marilyn Monroe, Angelina Jolie to Jennifer Hawkins, Audrey Hepburn to Sophia Loren, Barbie to Lara Croft, certain women have been upheld as yardsticks of beauty across a range of mediums. Depending on the era, they've been worshipped, painted, photographed, had odes composed to them, filled pages of gossip columns, been filmed, followed, flattered and sometimes emulated. Adored as secular deities or criticised as making life difficult for "ordinary" women who do not possess their classical good looks, we continue to celebrate and revere those who possess beauty and envy the gilded path they tread.

What's considered beautiful changes over time, from the lusciousness of Rubens' goddesses in his Judgment of Paris or the Graces in Bottecelli's Primavera (easy to gaze upon through Google), to Twiggy's petiteness or the statuesque proportions of Lucy Lawless's Xena, for all that we seem to favour one kind of woman, we embrace many - to some they're beautiful, to others not so much.

Just as images of Charlie's Angels were adorning bedroom walls, Barbara Streisand and her funny face reminded us that the brain (and how you use it) is actually the most beautiful of organs.

Likewise, when we're saturated with pictures and stories of Paris Hilton or the Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty shows that beauty, especially that which comes from within, not only endures but comes in all sorts of guises.

As a culture, we worship what beauty represents - possibilities, virtue, and a loveliness that is linked in some inexplicable way to the divine. Looking upon it gives us pleasure, even amidst the pain of jealousy and reminders of a lost or wasted youth. We yearn for beauty in our lives, in all sorts of ways and, if it's embodied in an individual, we consider them fortunate.

While the satisfaction that beauty unaccompanied by more lasting qualities brings might be ephemeral, it hasn't stopped marketers and some physicians persuading us that it's a physical attribute we can all, with the right amount of cash, products and/or debt, possess.

Contingent on money, the beauty industry creates another divide: the rich sip at the fountain of youth and beauty while those without the wherewithal age disgracefully. "Signs of visible ageing" will soon be more than a catchcry from an advertising campaign to seduce insecure folk into buying products, it will be a marker of class, financial status and thereby socially and ideologically divisive.

We've even turned the search for beauty into entertainment in the form of shows such as Extreme Makeover and Search for a Supermodel. Raised on diets of fairytales, we want beauty, when bestowed magically or unexpectedly, to be more than physically transformative; we want it to be life-changing. Hence we enjoy witnessing those who were once deemed "ugly" pass as attractive and get to mingle with the beautiful people for a while.

But as Derek Zoolander, the himbo model with a heart wondered, "I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good-looking". In our superficial culture where the pursuit of beauty is a personal life-goal for some, we sometimes lose sight of that.

Yet, as the poet Horace wrote, "nothing's beautiful from every point of view". The same goes for ugly - the two can even co-exist in the same form. But sometimes you have to look beyond the exterior to find out.

Dr Karen Brooks is an associate professor of media studies at Southern Cross University.

human faces

'Beauty machine' software designed to improve your looks | NEWS.com.au

WANT to optimise your looks without radically altering them? An Israeli team of computer scientists may have the answer.

They have developed a computer software model based on the innate preferences that studies show we have for human faces.

"This technology could become a product where for example there's a web service where people upload their photographs and have them enhanced or beautified by our software," said Professor Dani Lischinksi of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Studies show that eye shape and distance, nose length, and lip curve, can increase the probability that we will find one face more attractive than another.

"We were able to fit a mathematical model to this set of data that we've gathered, namely the images that we showed to people and their responses in terms of the beauty scores that they chose to give to each image," said Prof Lischinksi.

The team then applied the model to modify images so as to make them appear more attractive. They are now exploring a variety of potential commercial applications for the software, Prof Lischinski said.
Subtle shifts

The results can be striking. The photographed face of one conventionally pretty woman processed by what some media dubbed "the beauty machine" became clearly more beautiful.

Crucially, the software did not attempt to correct the very slight crookedness in her nose, so she was unmistakably the same person but subtly enhanced.

The aim is not a world "where everybody looks the same or everybody looks like a Hollywood star or a supermodel," Prof Lischinksi said.

"What our program tries to do is to improve the perceived attractiveness of the face but in a manner that tries to change as little as possible."

The Israeli scientists say they are well aware of the adage that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"I think obviously the original faces have more. They represent the true character of that face and when we modify the image some of that character might go away. This is one possible criticism," Prof Lischinksi said.
Picture glitches

So far, the model simply presents the optimised version of a face which could be used as a photograph.

The software also demands high-quality photographs taken head-on. Blurred images or tilted chins defeat it.

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa loses her enigmatic smile and appears horribly distorted, her lips like those of a cartoon witch.

And some people did not prefer the "improved" looks of movie stars, for example.

"I think a lot of it has to do with familiarity," Prof Lischinski said.

But if the face is anonymous, the modified version is strongly preferred, the team's trials have shown.

A random trial among Jerusalem women was inconclusive.

One woman said she would not use the program "because then you see yourself in the perfect light and no one is perfect... It's impossible and it's unethical and it will just make you upset."

Activists spoof Americans

New York Times spoof announces end of war | NEWS.com.au

NEW Yorkers were left a little confused overnight as more than a million copies of a fake newspaper were handed out by a team of pranksters rallied through the web.

"Iraq War Ends" read the headline of a fake "special edition" of The New York Times, dated July 4, 2009, which was handed out to commuters as they rushed for work.

"Court Indicts Bush On High Treason Charge" and "Public Universities To Be Free" read some of the other spoof headlines, next to an admission by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the US Government had known Iraq did not have access to weapons of mass destruction.

As many as 1.2 million copies of the 14-page newspaper were handed out, along with an online spoof of the Times' website at www.nytimes-se.com.

Gawker identified the pranksters behind the stunt as The Yes Men, a liberal group famous for practical jokes.
Related stories



According to the blog, The Yes Men organised the lightning operation by rallying a group of volunteers through secret emails and text messages.

An email reprinted on Gawker gave detailed instructions on where to collect copies of the fake newspaper and encouraged volunteers to spread the word by email.

"TONIGHT – and especially, TOMORROW MORNING (WEDNESDAY) – a year of work involving dozens of collaborators comes to a head," the email read.

Volunteers were reminded that they "did not know" who was behind the prank, and that the organisers wanted to remain secret.

"We want to maintain maximum mystery around this, for as long as possible – at least for a couple of days," the message said.

However Gawker reported that the email was sent from an account linked to The Yes Men and that the volunteers were collected from a website run by the group.

At first glance, the parody, which uses the Times' Gothic-style font on the nameplate, could easily be mistaken for the real thing.

A Times spokeswoman said: "This is obviously a fake issue... We are in the process of finding out more about it.''

One of the newspaper's own online commentators had a wittier retort:

"Sorry, folks, the paper isn't free. And the Iraq war isn't over, at least not yet."


The New York Times spoof website – http://www.nytimes-se.com/
Gawker expose – http://gawker.com/5084164/fake-new-york-times-decl...
The Yes Men on Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yes_Men

Internet filter and activism

Web spies monitor activists online for police, attorney-general - report | NEWS.com.au

Web spies monitor activists online for police, attorney-general - report

November 26, 2008 08:45am


Have your say! Comments are open on this article - add yours

* Police hired company to spy on activists online - reports
* Anti-war campaigners, environmental activists targeted
* Clean feed: Greens could block plans for internet filter

A PRIVATE intelligence company has been engaged by police to secretly monitor internet and email use by activist and protest groups, a report says.

The company was hired to monitor and report on the internet activities of anti-war campaigners, animal rights activists, environmental campaigners, and other protest groups, Fairfax Media reported.

It was hired by Victorian Police, the Australian Federal Police and the federal Attorney-General's department.

The Melbourne-based firm has for the past five years monitored websites, online chat rooms, social networking sites, email lists and bulletin boards, the report said.

It has gathered intelligence on planned protests and other activities, and many of those on the watch list have broken no laws, the report said.
Related stories

* Technology: Love it? Hate it? Tell us in this survey

It also prepared threat assessments and intelligence reports for government agencies that included material from media reports, speeches, academic journals and publicly available company data, but no private correspondence was monitored.

The company was not named at the request of its management for fear extremists may target the firm.

The news comes a month after Victorian police were found to have targeted community and activist groups in a long-running covert operation.

Australian dollar to hit all-time low of US47c, bank says | Business | News.com.au

Australian dollar to hit all-time low of US47c, bank says


November 25, 2008 11:16am

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THE Australian dollar will hit an all-time low of US47c by the middle of next year, a major French bank says.

OECD and Australia unemployment rate

Jobless rate headed toward six per cent | National Breaking News | News.com.au

THE unemployment rate could reach six per cent by 2010 as Australia feels the heat from a lengthy recession in the world's leading economies, the OECD says.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also believes house prices will fall, while businesses are expected to scale back "ambitious" capital investment projects as economic growth sinks below 2.0 per cent in 2009.

And it also warned in its latest Economic Outlook, released today, that an even more pessimistic scenario could not be ruled out.

"An external environment that is less favourable than expected, combined with a further decline in the terms of trade, would pose significant risks," it said.

This would be the case if the global financial crisis continues longer than the OECD anticipates and brings about a greater weakening in the Chinese economy.

The Paris-based institution is forecasting four quarters of negative growth from the September quarter 2008 for the combined 30 OECD countries, led down by the US and the Euro area, and to a lesser extent Japan

glitch

Money missing after Commonwealth Bank transaction glitch | NEWS.com.au

COMMONWEALTH Bank has identified a way to resolve a glitch that left customers missing thousands of dollars from their accounts today.

Up to 200,000 customers were affected by the error, with many waking up this morning to find their accounts overdrawn or missing large sums of money.

In an "emergency update" news item posted to the NetBank website at 2pm (AEDT), the company said it would resolve the error overnight.

"We have a current issue affecting the balance on a number of customers accounts where transactions were performed on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th of November," it said.

"We have identified a fix to this problem which will be resolved overnight."

work choices

Work Choices - the end 'is near' | Business | News.com.au

THE Federal Opposition will not stand in the way of the Federal Government's new workplace laws that spell the end of Work Choices, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has said.

"The coalition accepts Work Choices is dead. The Australian people have spoken,'' Mr Turnbull said.

Today Acting Prime Minister and Industrial Relations Minister Julia Gillard introduced the Fair Work Bill, which will strengthen unfair dismissal protection and give more power to unions.

The government is "tantalisingly" close to consigning the Howard government's divisive Work Choices laws to history, she said.

Speaking to Parliament, Ms Gillard said Work Choices, which changed unfair dismissal laws and pushed individual Australian Workplace Agreements or AWAs, had torn apart the core Australian value of mateship and 'a fair go.'

"The philosophy that underpinned Work Choices said, essentially: make your own way in the world; without the comfort of mateship; without the protections afforded by a compassionate society; against the odds deliberately stacked against you," said Ms Gillard.
"No safety net. No rights at work. No co-operation in the workplace to take the nation forward.''

The new laws fulfil Labor's election promise to scrap WorkChoices, and by voting Labour in the last election Australians had stayed true to the idea of a fair go, Ms Gillard said.

Business has criticised the laws as giving too much power to unions, who will are guaranteed a seat at the bargaining table, and call it a 'throwback' to union power under Labor's Keating Government.

However, unions say the Fair Work Bill restores the balance of power, which had shifted too far in favour of employers.

Ms Gillard said the legislation balanced the interests of employers and employees.

The Fair Work Bill 2008 includes:

•a 'safety net' of ten minimum conditions that can't be stripped away, including the right for both parents to take up to a year of unpaid leave each.

•bargaining in good faith between workers and employers

•small business employees again protected from unfair dismissal, but 'one strike' rule for sackings.

• award wages will not apply to workers earning more than $100,000 year

The ten 'safety net' conditions include rules around leave, hours of weekly work, public holidays, notice and redundancy pay.

It will overturn existing laws, introduced by the Howard Government, which forbid employees working for a company with fewer than 100 employees from claiming unfair dismissal.

A 'wage umpire', Fair Work Australia, will oversee the new worker's rights and review minimum pay each year.

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission, the Workplace Authority, the Workplace Ombudsman and the Fair Pay Commission will be scrapped.

Fair Work Australia can also order employers to comply with wage awards for low-income sectors like child care, and force employers to comply with good faith bargaining requirements.

The Bill includes a right to enterprise bargaining, but doesn't specify union or non-union agreements. Instead, an agreement is approved when a majority of employees give the OK.

"This new framework is premised on good faith bargaining and recognises that most workplaces already bargain in good faith without any intervention,'' Ms Gillard said.

"However, where this does not happen, the Bill empowers Fair Work Australia to make an order to ensure compliance with good faith bargaining requirements.''

Comments on this story
anti union of brisbane Posted at 9:09pm today

Bad day for australian workers & more to the point, Bad day for self employed & contractors. this is just compulsory unionism & anyone say this is not the case is living in dysney land. All unionism should be banned.

Barry Redman of Nambucca Heads Posted at 9:06pm today

Where do some of these readers come from. Most of the rights they claim they negotiated for themselves were won by the union movement earlier in the 20th Century. There are both good and bad unions and employers. The union movement is no longer as powerful as it used to be but it is still important in providing a safety net of pay and conditions which we still call an award. Comparing Australia with the USA in terms of the impact of unions in the present financial meltdown is farcical. The greed of some CEO's in bleeding their corporations dry by lining their own pockets while their corporate empires were collapsing around them is a sad reflection on the ability of these highly paid CEO's. Sadly shareholders were being fed the standard language of the need to take risks to make greater wealth for the stakeholders. The demise of work choices ( which was no choice ) is a good reflection on our society and the fact we live in a community not in some corporate head office does hold out hope for a fairer and more just Australia. Barry of Nambucca Heads

Warren of Sydney Posted at 9:04pm today

hahaha you have to love the screaming and ranting of the howard huggers... GET OVER IT. It's all over! YAY!

sally of North Sydney Posted at 9:00pm today

Keep up the good work Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard. You help the average person in Australia. We are far better off now then everbefore. Mr Howards was a liar. We love you Mr Rudd

Commonwealth Bank system glitch doubles customer transactions

Commonwealth Bank system glitch doubles customer transactions | NEWS.com.au

A GLITCH in Commonwealth Bank systems has left an unknown number of customers wondering where their money has gone.

The bank has apologised after double the amount of money was deducted from some accounts following bill payments and withdrawals yesterday, the Herald-Sun reported.

It is thought that internet banking customers have been most affected, although there have been reports of ATM transactions going wrong.


Commonwealth spokesman Bryan Fitzgerald has admitted the company has "no idea" how many customers have been affected, but that everything possible was being done to rectify the situation.
Related Coverage

"We’re trying to get to the bottom of this as quickly as we can," Mr Fitzgerald told 3AW radio.

"Our customers are our main priority and we apologise to them for this glitch."

Mr Fitzgerald advised customers who performed a transaction online or at an ATM yesterday to check their accounts.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Brad Pitt plays bald old man in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | NEWS.com.au Entertainment

HE'S Hollywood's hottest heartthrob. Yes, this is Brad Pitt.

The actor, who with Angelina Jolie forms Tinseltown's most glamourest couple, has been turned into a wrinkled and balding man in his upcoming drama movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The film, which also stars Cate Blanchett, is from F. Scott Fitzgerald's story about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards.


"I really didn’t want to do it. I’ve had my foray into romance and it didn’t go well for me," he said.

"The script was beautiful but I didn’t think I was right for it."

The film opens in Australia on Boxing Day

AFP: Sex party set to heat up Australian politics

Sex party set to heat up Australian politics

SYDNEY (AFP) — Australia is about to get a new entry into national politics -- a party devoted to sex.

The brains behind the Australian Sex Party, which will be launched in Melbourne on Thursday, believe that politics has become too stuffy and conservative Down Under.

Describing itself as "serious about sex" the party sees itself as a political response to the sexual needs of Australians in the face of moral campaigners and prudish politicians.

Party convenor Fiona Patten, who is head of the national adult retail and entertainment lobby group the Eros Association, said the trigger had been the government's decision to place a mandatory filter on the Internet.

Under the plan, designed to shield children from online porn and violence, Internet service providers will have to filter out pornography and other material deemed inappropriate in their feeds to houses and schools.

Users wanting access to uncensored material would have to opt out of the service, the government said when it announced the plan in January.

Patten was scathing of the move, which she said would damage the porn industry, arguing that material that was deemed acceptable 20 years ago would now be banned.

"This filter actually blacklists any adult site so it means that material which is absolutely legal for an adult to buy in a newsagency in Australia, they will be prohibited from viewing it online," Patten told AFP on Monday.

To counter what she termed the conservative, Christian politicians behind such legislation in Australia, Patten said the industry had determined: "If we can't beat them, join them."

"We want to be in there putting the position which I think is probably (that held by) the majority of Australians, that, yes, by all means protect children, but do not in that way reduce the Internet to a G-rated Internet," she said.

G-rated films in Australia are approved for all audiences.

Commenting on a recent case where a company was forced to remove billboard ads for a medication promising "longer lasting sex" because of a large number of complaints, she said an "absolute fear of the word sex" had developed.

"And it's just crazy," Patten said. "Sex is as natural to us as food. It's a necessary part of our lives."

And politics, she might add.

Australian Sex Party Live Blog | Daily Telegraph Your Say Blog

Fiona Patten
Monday, November 17, 2008 at 12:14pm


The Australian Sex Party convenor Fiona Patten is live online Tuesday at 9am to discuss the party’s formation to fight censorship and Internet filtering. Send questions below.
---
By Fiona Patten

In 1999 John Howard’s Communications Minister, Richard Alston, banned phone sex in Australia on the premium rate, 1900 network. They also banned Australian adult web sites from setting up and being hosted in Australia. A few years later Howard was successful in further restricting what could be shown in an X rated film. All of these actions were precipitated by Howard as means to secure Senator Harradine’s balance of power vote in the Senate for the sale of Telstra and the passing of the GST.

Ten years on and Kevin Rudd’s Communications Minister, Steven Conroy, wants to take censorship of the internet much further by forced filtering of internet Service Providers a la China and Iran. And it’s no coincidence that Family First now hold a balance of power position in the Senate. Fred Nile presides over a similar position in the NSW.

R Rated computer games are banned in Australia because one religious South Australian Attorney General has vetoed all the other state attorneys.

This has to stop. Australia is not a nation of wowsers and prudes. Attitudes to sex and censorship in the community are more relaxed than ever before. Just not in the parliaments. And the parliamentary systems that allow religious individuals to hold the rest of the nation to ransom on moral issues must be reformed before we all look like Indonesia or Iraq.

Enter the Australian Sex Party.

comments on the Australian Sex Party

Reader's Comments: Sex Party 'in with a real chance' - The Daily Telegraph

I don't think it's the right message. Imagine teaching politics to a group of year 6 students and having to explain the couple of seats represented by a pro-porn party. Hmmmm I don't think so. That said, I'd still vote for them just for the internet filter ban because that's a rediculous attack on our freedom. In fact it terrofies me - so it must be a terrorist attack.

Posted by: Ben of Sydney 12:43pm today
Comment 51 of 52
The policy of sex education is a great idea but the Sex Party also wants to reduce censorship as well. So what if 4 million people access internet porn? The fact that so many people do it doesn't mean it is right, it just means 4 million people are wrong! We are already a sex obsessed society so we don't need a special political party to advocate even more sexual freedom. We need to be less sexually obsessed not more.

Posted by: Norman Pain of Ermington 12:42pm today
Comment 50 of 52

The Australian Sex Party : a new political party launched today at Sexpo

The Australian Sex Party pledges to beat internet filter | The Daily Telegraph

"WE are serious about sex" is the slogan of a new political party to be launched this week.

With four million Australians accessing pornography, The Australian Sex Party, says it has a real chance of winning seats in state and federal parliaments.

Poll, below right: Would you vote for The Australian Sex Party?

Its platforms include a national sex education curriculum, reducing censorship, abolishing the government's proposed internet filter and supporting gay marriage.

Party convenor Fiona Patten says the internet filter will put the Australian sex industry out of business in five years.

Live Blog: Chat to Australian Sex Party convenor Fiona Patten

"It's (the filter) a real step backwards to where we've come. In fact it's far more censorial then we probably were 30 years ago," she told ABC Radio.

"Material that would be classified X-rated ... is considered illegal content and that is material that is currently available ... in newsagents."

"You will not be able to opt out of that block."

The new party would advocate a national sex education curriculum, something other countries were developing, Ms Patten said.

"There's so much concern about the sexualisation of children, children being exposed to material. I would have thought our first action would be education."

The party will be launched at the Melbourne Sexpo.

plan to ban parliamentary prayer

New calls to ditch parliamentary prayer

MPs should stop beseeching God and start promising to work with honour and integrity at the opening of Federal Parliament, according to two legal academics.

Adding fuel to calls for Parliament to ditch its daily prayers, law lecturers Steven Tudor from La Trobe University and Gonzalo Villalta Puig from England's University of Hull, have proposed an alternative oath for the start of each sitting.

Their suggestion would allow MPs to choose to "pray or reflect" during a minute's silence.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Harry Jenkins, recently called for a public debate on the reading of the Lord's Prayer and parliamentary prayer at the opening of Parliament.

Dr Tudor said a law that forced government departments or state schools to begin their days with prayers would be overturned by the High Court for breaching the constitution.

But Parliament's prayers were part of a standing order and outside Commonwealth law.

"If Parliament cannot impose prayers on anyone else in Australia, it should not impose them upon its own members," Dr Tudor said.

Dr Tudor said while the issue was one of symbolism, it raised important questions about the separation of state and religion and religious freedom in Australia.

He said MPs who followed non-Christian religions or no religion were included in the `we' who "beseech Almighty God" at the beginning of each parliamentary working day.

"Because the Parliament is the premier institution of Australian democracy the way it treats or deals with religious questions sets the tone for the way Australia as a whole would address that issue," he said.

"It's a symbol but it's a very important one."

Dr Tudor said the proposed new opening, which would be followed by a minute's silence, was a first draft aimed at sparking wider debate.

"All stand. We, the members of this House, humbly recognise the solemn responsibility placed upon us by the sovereign people of Australia to work together for the peace, order and good government of this Commonwealth, and we resolve to perform our duty with honour and integrity," the opening would read.

"I now ask all members to remain standing and, in silence, to pray or reflect on our responsibilities to the people of Australia."

Dr Tudor and Dr Villalta Puig also supported an acknowledgement of the traditional indigenous owners of the land.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has defended the use of prayers in Parliament as a longstanding tradition that should remain.

But Dr Tudor said lethargy and MPs' conservative approach to procedure was to blame for the outdated practice.

He said a parliamentary discussion paper open to public contributions was the first step to change.

Dr Tudor said he believed many Australians would be surprised to know of the daily prayers, just as he had been five years ago when he happened to be listening to Parliament on the radio.

"I didn't quite believe it when I heard it... it was because of my surprise I first started investigating this" he said.

centerlink fraud

Some Victorian Muslim leaders condoning domestic abuse: report

SOME Muslim religious leaders in Victoria are condoning rape within marriage, domestic violence, polygamy, welfare fraud and exploitation of women, according to an explosive report on the training of imams.

- Rape and violence condoned within marriage: report
- Study says Islamic law applied to benefit men
- Mufti of Australia denies claims

Women seeking divorces have also been told by imams that they must leave "with only the clothes on their back" and not seek support or a share of property because they can get welfare payments.

And the report says some imams knowingly perform polygamous marriages, also knowing that the second wife, a de facto under Australian law, can claim Centrelink payments.

The report is based on a study commissioned and funded by the former Howard government and conducted by the Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria.

It was presented yesterday at a National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies conference at Melbourne University.

It is the result of extensive community consultation, interviews with police, lawyers, court workers and academics, and meetings with and questions to the Victorian Board of Imams.

The board's role is to provide an Islamic view and religious guidance to the community and represent it to the media. The report claims that the 24-man board ignored or did not directly answer many of the questions.

It says women, community and legal workers and police involved in the consultation were particularly concerned about domestic violence, and suggested that imams aimed to preserve the family at the cost of women. Continued...

Australian Sex Party

Australian Sex Party blasted over its views towards woman | The Daily Telegraph

THE nation's newest political party has come under fire even before its official launch today.
The Australian Sex Party supports the exploitation and degradation of women through pornography and prostitution, Christian groups say.

Poll: Would you vote for the Australian Sex Party?

Debate: Is this party degrading?

Stimulating the economy: Badt times lead to naughty times

Survey: He may not be sexy, but tell us how you rate Kevin Rudd

The Australian Christian Lobby wants all other political parties to preference the party last on how-to-vote cards to prevent it taking seats in state and federal parliaments

"Pauline Hanson was rightly put last on how-to-vote cards because of her inappropriate views on race," lobby director Jim Wallace said.

"The Australian Sex Party should be treated in the same way for its inappropriate views about women."

The party is launching itself at the national Sexpo event in Melbourne today.

Our original story on the Australian Sex Party this week sparked massive reader debate and gave rise to a blog with convenor Fiona Patten (pictured above right).

The party's platform includes opposition to the national internet filter, supporting gay marriage and adoption of a national sex education curriculum.

Party convenor Ms Patten says the party acknowledges the importance and scope of sexual issues in the lives of Australians.

"I doubt we can be all things to all people," she told ABC Television.

Sexuality and gender were important issues not being dealt with properly, she said.

The Australian Sex Party says more people will flock to adult shops, even as an economic downturn forces them to cut back on discretionary spending.

"Some adult shops are saying business has never been better," party convenor Fiona Patten said.

"Some retailers are saying when people start to worry about their finances, and they're worrying about the economy, they go and buy a vibrator or an adult film.

"While they're cutting out going to dinner and going to the movies, they're popping into an adult shop.

"We're a cheap luxury that can make you feel good."

Australian political news, views, commentary and analysis

OneStopPolitics: Australian political news, views, commentary and analysis

GM's labor costs average $73.26 per hour

Washington Times - Cost gap vs. Japan issue in auto labor

Officials at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler said yesterday that reducing labor costs to the level paid by Toyota and Honda will be the top priority.

Industry analysts say that survival of the three U.S. companies is at stake. The three automakers based near Detroit generally pay about 30 percent more per hour in wage, pension and health care costs than Japanese automakers.

And nowhere is it more critical than at Ford Motor Co., which lost $12.7 billion last year and has mortgaged its assets to fund a turnaround plan that includes thousands of job cuts to shrink itself to match lower demand for its products.

Ford, according to its annual report, paid $70.51 per hour in wages and benefits to its hourly workers last year. The company, as well as Chrysler Group and General Motors Corp., will seek to reduce costs to about $48 per hour, about the average hourly cost incurred by Toyota, Honda and Nissan Motor Co., company officials have said.

The costs then would be comparable to Asian automakers, which pay similar wages but have far lower pension and health care costs and make thousands of dollars more per vehicle than the three Detroit automakers.

"We know there are competitive gaps," GM spokesman Dan Flores said yesterday. "We benchmark Toyota in a variety of areas of the business."

GM and the UAW have worked together to cut health care costs and reduce the company's hourly work force by more than 34,000 in the past year through buyout and early retirement offers.

"However, more change is required to structure GM for sustained profitability and growth," Mr. Flores said.

GM's annual report says its labor costs average $73.26 per hour, while Chrysler's costs average $75.86.

Negotiations are set to begin officially in July, but the UAW already is talking to the Big Three.

UAW spokesman Roger Kerson would not comment yesterday, but union President Ron Gettelfinger said in March that it made major health care concessions in 2005 to Ford and GM that saved the companies billions, and implied that the union wasn't willing to give more. The UAW has completed an evaluation of Chrysler's finances but won't say whether it will give Chrysler the same deal.

"We addressed health care in '05. You don't get two bites of the apple, do you?" he said in March.

Many industry analysts say the automakers, especially Ford, must be on par with Toyota and Honda to survive. This year's contract, they say, must be "transformational" in reducing pension and health care costs.

Chrysler's parent company, DaimlerChrysler AG, recently announced that it would sell a controlling stake in the company to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, and analysts have said Cerberus is likely to demand deeper concessions from the union than Daimler would have. Cerberus has said it will leave the negotiations to Chrysler officials.

Combined, the U.S.-based carmakers have more than $100 billion in long-term retiree health care costs that analysts say must be reduced.

"They're all in the same boat for this," said Aaron Bragman, a research analyst for Global Insight, an economic research and consulting company. "They all need to see the same kinds of benefits and structural changes in order to survive. The big challenge is going to be whether or not the rank-and-file in the UAW can be convinced."

Kevin Tynan of Argus Research, a New York equity research company, said Ford's situation is so bad that even a compromise to $60 per hour wouldn't help.

"If they're saying $70 versus $50, $60 doesn't help anybody. Essentially Ford loses," Mr. Tynan said. "That's just to be competitive on labor. Now we're talking about technology and innovation and marketing and design, all that other stuff on the product side that you still have to execute on."

GM is weighed down by heavy "legacy costs" for pensions and health care, while Toyota has no pension plan, and its health care costs per vehicle are barely a tenth of GM's

Against Toyota, GM Needs to Mind the Gap

Auto racing isn't about just the car and the driver. If you've got to haul around a ton of stuff and the other guy doesn't, it's hard to be competitive.

For years now, we've heard General Motors complain that it's being lapped in the United States by Toyota because it's got five retirees in the back seat for every two people actively building its vehicles, while Toyota's U.S. operations are virtually retiree-free. GM is weighed down by heavy "legacy costs" for pensions and health care, while Toyota has no pension plan, and its health care costs per vehicle are barely a tenth of GM's.


GM's Mark LaNeve says the automaker is trying to close the pricing gap it has with Toyota.
GM's Mark LaNeve says the automaker is trying to close the pricing gap it has with Toyota. (By Paul Sancya -- Associated Press)
About This Column

Sloan's Newsweek column appears in The Washington Post on Tuesdays. He focuses on corporate issues that include how deals are structured and excesses by corporations.

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But it's not quite that simple, race fans. GM has another serious performance drag that has nothing to do with legacies. It has to do with price. Because GM vehicles aren't as attractive to buyers as comparable Toyotas, you can generally buy them cheaper.

GM and Ford are closer to bankruptcy

BBC NEWS | Business | Triple whammy hits US carmakers

By Theo Leggett
Business reporter, BBC World Service

GM headquarters in Detroit
Strategic mistakes have been made at GM's Detroit headquarters

The city of Detroit in the US state of Michigan is famous for two things - the car industry and Motown Records.

Yet the music label which launched the careers of Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder left the motor city long ago.

Now the car industry is facing a thoroughly bleak future unless the Federal government comes to the rescue.

Of the "Big Three" American carmakers, General Motors is looking the most vulnerable.

Until recently the world's number one car manufacturer, it is moving ever closer to bankruptcy.

Last week it unveiled losses of $4.2bn in the third quarter, and admitted that without new investment it could run out of cash early next year.

Endemic problem

Its great rival Ford is also suffering.

It too is losing money rapidly - bleeding away close to a billion dollars every month. And Chrysler's future is shrouded in doubt, after the apparent collapse of merger talks with General Motors.

So why are the Detroit giants in trouble?

Part of the problem undoubtedly lies with the economic slowdown. When times are tough, people tend to rein in their spending, especially on "big ticket", expensive items like cars.

Hummer
Large vehicles such as the Hummer have fallen out of favour

So perhaps it's no surprise that sales have been falling dramatically.

General Motors sold 45% fewer cars in October than they did during the same period last year, while Ford and Chrysler have both seen their sales fall by more than a third.

Traditionally, manufacturers respond by cutting prices, or offering cheap credit to their customers to shift unsold cars. But discounts erode profits, while the credit crunch means funding for car loans is ever harder to come by.

Costly care

But the Michigan malaise is about far more than a mere short-term economic downturn.

The big three have also been undone by a combination of factors: a hangover from their glory days, strategic mistakes and sheer bad luck.

First, the hangover.

All three manufacturers are paying a heavy price for past success. As well as paying the salaries of existing workers, they're also responsible for the pensions and healthcare costs of hundreds of thousands of former employees.

Last year, GM brokered a deal with the United Auto Workers union that will take about $50bn of these legacy costs off its books. But that won't take effect until 2010 - which may be too late.

This is a burden which the American firms' rivals, such as the Japanese carmakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda, don't have.

The burden makes the US manufacturers' cars more expensive and that is one reason why the big three have been losing market share to their Asian rivals.

Strategic mistakes

But the carmakers can also blame themselves for their troubles. Many analysts believe that over the past two decades, the big three have made serious strategic mistakes.

Toyota Prius
People are turning to greener and more fuel efficient vehicles

During the 1980s and1990s, Asian carmakers began to make serious inroads into the North American market.

They did so by offering products which were generally smaller, more efficient and more sophisticated than the gas-guzzlers traditionally favoured by American consumers.

Critics say the US manufacturers were slow to react and when they did, it was by producing bigger, heavy cars, such as pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles.

Initially it was a very profitable approach. These machines were immensely popular in the late 1990s.

Green revolution

But a few years later, as sales of "green" cars such as the Toyota Prius took off, the strategy attracted a great deal of criticism - something acknowledged by GM's chairman Bob Lutz in a 2005 blog.

"It seems that ever since we announced we were bringing out our next generation of full-size trucks and utilities, people seem to think it's unwise", he wrote.

"I'll admit that on the surface it may seem incongruous to introduce vehicles like this, given today's fuel prices. But, I have to tell you, these products still make a lot of sense."

Yet in mid 2008, when fuel prices rocketed and Americans found themselves paying $4 a gallon for gasoline, GM's policy looked anything but sensible. The market for SUVs collapsed, as buyers turned in droves to more fuel-efficient options.

Of course bad luck has played a role as well.

The American carmakers were in the throes of restructuring when the downturn hit; a couple of years later the damage might not have been so great.

The carmakers could also point out that the oil price spike happened with astonishing speed, just when the credit crunch was starting to take its toll.

But it is arguable that much of the blame for the current crisis should be placed squarely on the shoulders of decision makers in Detroit.

US economic woes deepen

US economic woes deepen | Business Breaking News | News.com.au

November 20, 2008 08:07am

A GLUM economic outlook worsened overnight as data on US housing starts and consumer prices pointed to more weakness and deflation risks, while the Federal Reserve acknowledged the potential for a long recession.

The Labor Department reported US consumer prices fell 1.0 per cent in October, the steepest decline since the department began publishing the consumer price index (CPI) data in February 1947.

Separately, the Commerce Department said housing starts dropped 4.5 per cent to an annualised rate of 791,000 units, the lowest level since it began the report in January 1959.

Together, the reports point to an even weaker-than-expected economic picture that could take a hefty bite out of US economic activity in the fourth quarter and beyond.

"With economic growth and inflation pedaling backwards, deflation talk is deafening,'' said Jennifer Lee at BMO Capital Markets. "Tighten your seatbelts as fourth-quarter growth is going to be ugly.''

The Federal Reserve meanwhile sharply cut its outlook for the US economy for 2009, highlighting the potential for recession over the next year while leaving the door open for more rate cuts.
The latest forecast left a wide range of possibilities, suggesting the economy could grow as much as 1.1 per cent or contract by 0.2 per cent next year.

Most private forecasts are calling for a downturn in the world's biggest economy at least through mid-2009, and the International Monetary Fund is predicting a 0.7 per cent contraction for the year.

The consumer price report was dragged down by a massive 14 per cent drop in gasoline and declines in other energy costs, but prices fell in almost every other category, including apparel and lodging, with only food prices still rising.

Analysts said the report showed consumers are retrenching, forcing big declines in almost every category of spending.

"This report clearly reflects the crunch in discretionary consumers' spending, which is likely to persist for the foreseeable future,'' said Ian Shepherdson at High Frequency Economics.

Although lower prices sometimes provide welcom relief, analysts say deflation could be a further blow to a troubled economy.

"The drop in prices across the board is great news for people with money,'' said Peter Cohan, analyst and consultant with Peter Cohan & Associates.

"But the reason for the drop in prices is very ominous for the future of the economy. That's because companies have overproduced and they now have excess supply gathering dust on their shelves and showrooms.''

Mr Cohan added that the weak consumer spending and lower prices will exacerbate the weak economy.

In housing, the report was troubling since many analysts say the overall economy cannot recover until that sector stabilises. Significantly, the report showed permits to build new homes, an indicator of future activity, dropped 12.0 per cent to a pace of 708,000, the lowest level since that data was first published in January 1960, and were down 40.1 per cent from October 2007.

"Today's report suggests that housing activity will continue to decline for some time,'' said Gary Bigg at Bank of America.

"With a variety of headwinds facing the housing industry - financial market turmoil, rising unemployment and tight credit among them - a recovery in construction activity is not expected until mid-2009 at the earliest.''

The Fed said a slow recovery was expected to produce a growth rate of 2.3 to 3.2 per cent in 2010.

The forecasts were published along with the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on October 28-29, at which members agreed unanimously to slash the base lending rate a half-point to 1.0 per cent.

"Participants noted that the financial turmoil had increasingly become an international phenomenon, leading to a marked deterioration in global growth prospects,'' the minutes said.

Even with the federal funds rate at a record low of 1.0 per cent, some Fed members indicated the central bank could trim rates even more to help revive a moribund economy.

Some Fed members "suggested that additional policy easing could well be appropriate at future meetings,'' the minutes showed.

"In any event, the committee agreed that it would take whatever steps were necessary to support the recovery of the economy.''

Australia opens nationally on November 26

Sydney stops for Australia premiere with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman | NEWS.com.au Entertainment

FANS waited for hours in the rain and traffic was brought to a standstill in central Sydney as Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman walked the red carpet for the world premiere of Australia.

George Street in Sydney's CBD was closed as 3000 invited guests strolled the carpet for the premiere of one of the most anticipated local films ever.


She joined co-stars on the carpet including Hugh Jackman, Bryan Brown, David Wenham, 13-year-old Brandon Walters, Jack Thompson, director Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin.

They were supported by family and friends, including Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness and Kidman's sister Antonia, her parents, and her husband, country singer Keith Urban.

Urban said the reception by the public was great.

"Gosh, they've shut the street down, it's pretty amazing," Urban said, adding Kidman was "anxious" to get back to their new baby Sunday Rose in the US.

Urban said he was "very proud" and loved watching her on screen.

While Kidman said filming kissing scenes with Jackman made it "good to go to work", Urban said he wasn't fazed by their love scenes.

"She's a professional, you've got to let that all be professional," he laughed.

"Hugh's a good mate, so it's all good."

The entire cast and crew of the production were also invited to attend, as well as a mix of local personalities, including Olympians Ian Thorpe and Dawn Fraser, model Sarah Murdoch, designer Collette Dinnigan and musicians, among them The Veronicas and John Butler.

Tight security surrounded the event, including bomb squad dogs and a large contingent of bodyguards.

The stars of the movie had waited until last night to see the finished film.

Jackman said it was his greatest role, while Kidman, who worked with Luhrmann on Moulin Rouge!, said it was the film she had always dreamed of making.

"I love working with Baz. Creatively, he is my soulmate," Kidman said at a press call earlier yesterday.

Walters, who plays half-caste Aboriginal orphan, stuck close to Jackman on the red carpet, and declared he was his favourite movie star.

Walters said he wasn't quite used to the attention but was "excited" and looking forward to making more movies.

The $130 million epic has the hopes of the nation's film and tourism industries riding on it.

Kidman said she hoped all of Australia would celebrate its release.

"This is a celebration for me and hopefully for this country," Kidman said.

"It's not meant to be the second coming. But it is meant to be: let's have fun and enjoy it."

Luhrmann said he had created the film for young and old, but it was now up to the audience to decide its fate.

"Not everyone is going to love it," he said.

"All you can do is do your best and invite everyone to the party. It's time to get your party frock on."

Australia follows the story of Lady Sarah Ashley, played by Nicole Kidman, who inherits a remote cattle station called Faraway Downs in the mid-1930s, before World War II.

When cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn drover, played by Jackman, to drive thousands of cattle across the country, only to face the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces.

Australia opens nationally on November 26.

What the world's critics are saying about Australia

indonesia in Cannington

Bad parents to lose welfare control under Rudd Government plan | National News | News.com.au

BAD parents will lose control of welfare payments under a radical plan to extend restrictions beyond indigenous communities to dysfunctional white families.

Welfare controls could be introduced across the country next year after the Rudd Government revealed it would adopt a national model from a choice of three systems currently under trial, The Australian reports.

Trials of the latest option will begin on Monday in Western Australia, where parents whose children are considered at risk - in white and black families - will have 70 per cent of their welfare payments controlled.

The federal Government has signed off on a plan with the West Australian Government that allows child protection authorities to begin the quarantining of welfare payments almost immediately.

Family and Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin said that by the middle of next year the Rudd Government would determine which of three welfare-control models was the most successful.

The three options include the new trial in Western Australia, the Cape York trial where a Family Relations Commission has the authority to haul welfare recipients before a hearing to decide how best tomanage their affairs, and the controversial mandatory 50 per cent quarantining system blanketing the Northern Territory.

"In the Northern Territory, we've said by this time next year we hope to have developed a compulsory income management arrangement that will not require the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, so we're commencing work on that right now," Ms Macklin said.

"The trial in Cape York is a four-year trial but we hope by this time next year to have some evidence about the nature of that arrangement and we also expect that given we will have the introduction of these arrangements in Western Australia ... by this time next year we have some good evidence of how that's proceeding," she said.

The West Australian trial of the income-management measure will start in the Kununurra community in the Kimberley region and the Cannington district of Perth, covering a number of suburbs and 200,000 people.

Cannington is a predominantly low-income area with a large migrant population, including a high percentage of British, Indonesian, Italian, Malaysian and New Zealand-born families.

wage in Australia

Take $21 and raise you $1400 | Business Sense | News.com.au

THE country's lowest paid workers will take home an extra $21 a week but it may be small comfort when they see how much Kevin Rudd has awarded his top public servants - a whopping $1400 a week.

The pay umpire has granted minimum wage earners an extra $21.66 per week, $5 less than unions were asking for.

On the same day the rise was announced, it was revealed that the Prime Minister had signed off on a 18.9 per cent pay rise for the secretaries of all 19 government departments, taking the packages for the highest paid public servants from $410,890 to $488,557.

Just months ago, Mr Rudd urged politicians to show restraint on their own pay levels as an example to the community to keep inflation pressure down.

"We need to be able to face the Australian community in the eye and say that we in the privileged position of this place are doing one small bit when it comes to exercising some wage restraint on our part," he said in February.
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Once more people do not do a little research and blindly respond to sensationalised headlines. The pay rise received by senior public servants is to cover 3 years and also completel...

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The Colonel of Toorak Barracks

Australian Fair Pay Commission (AFPC) head Ian Harper announced the rise for minimum wage earners today, saying the rise, when combined with relevant tax and social security changes, would provide low income households with real increases in disposable income from October 1.

"It is a decision that takes into account the state of the national economy and the circumstances of low paid Australians,'' he said.

Prof Harper said the commission was aware of the financial pressures on low income households.

"Movements in consumer prices, in particular, have put many low income households under considerable financial stress,'' he said.

He said the commission had sought to rebalance the factors in the economy such as inflation, employment conditions and factors putting pressure on low-paid workers.

The ACTU had argued for a $26 per week rise, which would have lifted the minimum wage to $548.12 per week, while employer groups said a $13.30 rise was more reasonable.

Last year's rise was $10.26 a week.

Wage divide

Professor Richard Mulgan of the Crawford School of Economics and Government said the wage rates in the private sector were much higher, but there was also a greater degree of pressure and responsibility.

However, he said it may be difficult for the Government to justify the generous wage increases for senior public servants when it was calling for others to show wage restraint.

"This is the difficultly with relativities in this area. It's a question of who you compare yourself with," he said on ABC radio.

"If you compare yourself with a private sector manager then you're not earning a great deal."

"On the other hand, if you're comparing yourself with the people you're working alongside and other public sector workers at a time when you're trying to talk a little bit about wage restraint ... it's not particularly helpful."

The Federal Government had declined to nominate a figure but said the AFPC should balance the potential impact of minimum wage increases on inflation, employment and the financial needs of low-paid workers.

The commission believed the pay rise would have only a minor impact on those factors.

But Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said the wage rise would put a $1.35 billion impost on labour costs.

"A number of small businesses are going to have to find additional money and that could mean they will defer spending or defer investment,'' ACCI spokesman Scott Barklamb said.

He said the wage rise was "economically a risky one'', and businesses that would be impacted included retail, hospitality and small manufacturing.

AUSTRALIA

Baz Luhrmann's movie Australia is a winner, say first reviews | NEWS.com.au Entertainment

HE SET himself an enormous challenge, but Baz Luhrmann has pulled off an incredible film in Australia.

Shoehorning two complete films into one package, Australia sees Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley, a privileged aristocrat drawn to the outback to sell her late husband's failing cattle station.

But she's soon drawn to the landscape, a little Aboriginal boy called Nullah, played startlingly by newcomer Brandon Walters, and a taciturn drover (Hugh Jackman) who reluctantly helps her save her property.

How I got off my Facebook | Opinion | News.com.au

How I got off my Facebook

By Patrick Begley

Herald Sun

November 17, 2008 08:20am

* Text size
o +
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* Print
* Email
* Share
o Add to MySpace
o Add to Digg
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o Add to Kwoff
o What are these?

AFTER a year and a half, I am free. No more posting, poking, searching and stalking. I have quit. Gone cold turkey. My Facebook days are over.

How do I feel? Fine.

Better than fine. I expected at least a withdrawal pang or two.

After all, the world's largest networking site is known for its addictive properties.

How else could it have attracted more than 110 million users in less than four years?

Users craving their daily fix have made the company worth $8 billion.

The phenomenon has spawned a book, and West Wing writer Aaron Sorkin is set to be scripting a film.

In other words, it's big.

So big that for a while not having a Facebook was hard to contemplate.

But in three weeks I have not once missed the posing, the voyeurism or the pointless "networking" all synonymous with the "Book".

A University of Georgia study examined how narcissists behave the same way online as they do in real life.

humanoid

Video - news.com.au

Doing fraud to get house in Australia

First home buyers forward dating contract to get extra grant money | NEWS.com.au

INQUIRY rates on new and established homes jumped 80 per cent in the week after the new grant was announced.

HOUSE sales in some areas of country Victoria have leapt 300 per cent on the back of first-home buyers in rural areas being eligible for state and federal grants totalling $29,000 on new homes.

MORE than 1300 wrongly claimed first-home grants, worth almost $11 million, have been detected since the scheme began in 2000.

RORTERS have been fined $411,000 in the past year alone and ineligible applicants forced to pay back $3.7 million in the same period.

AMONG frauds detected by the State Revenue Office inspectors were greedy investors and owners of multiple properties.

ALMOST 300,000 Victorians have received $2.9 billion in first-home grants since 2000.

The new grants, coupled with low interest rates and falling prices, are luring potential first-home buyers.

But the influx of new money has sparked fears prices could spiral out of reach of ordinary Australians.

While industry figures remain cautious, early data shows sales rose in October on the back of the grant boost.

Australian Finance Group, which controls about 10 per cent of the national mortgage market, said a surge in first-home buyers saw Victorian mortgage sales soar by 25.1 per cent in October.

With house sales drying up as the global financial crisis hit home, developers had slowed building new homes.

Nick Collishaw, head of Mirvac, said some of its projects had been put on hold for three to six months. But a fortnight ago it sold 36 homes, mostly to first-home buyers, compared with 15 the week before.

The grant increase has sparked a sales boom in regional Victoria.

Villawood boss Rory Costelloe said sales at the company's Bendigo estates had skyrocketed 300 per cent.

white australian policy in TV

'TV soaps have White Australia policy' | NEWS.com.au Entertainment

TV PRODUCERS have been accused of operating a "White Australia" policy when it comes to casting actors for top-rated soap operas.

Neighbours and Home and Away have been branded racist for consistently failing to feature families from ethnic minorities.

Now academics and politicians fear that international viewers could get the "wrong impression" about Australia.

University of Queensland Aboriginal studies lecturer Sam Watson said the dramas were operating an "exclusive white family club" that didn't reflect Australia's true demographic.

"The producers and directors of these shows are very sadly harking back to the White Australia policy of the '40s and '50s," he said. "Instead of embracing the rich diversities of our country, they are shunning it."

In contrast, British soaps such as EastEnders and Coronation Street, and New Zealand's Shortland Street have been successfully casting actors from ethnic minorities for years.

It's a huge concern for actors' union the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, which will discuss the problems at a conference in Sydney next month.

The union's national director of actors' equity, Simon Whipp, said he had been campaigning on the issue for 20 years and still little improvement had been made.

"Our members are missing out on roles for no other reason than the fact that they are not white," he said.

The White Australia policy began in 1901 to restrict non-white immigration to the country.

While it was scrapped in 1973, viewers of Neighbours and Home and Away might be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

In Neighbours, white Ramsay Street residents Susan and Karl Kennedy regularly laugh over the fence with their equally white neighbours Steve and Miranda Parker - even though the soap is set in the culturally diverse city of Melbourne.

In Home and Away, the residents of Summer Bay, just north of multi-cultural Sydney, are also white Australians, with the exception of Jai Fernandez - an Asian character who lost his parents in the Boxing Day tsunami.

The discrimination has not gone unnoticed in Britain either, where Neighbours was recently dubbed "too white" by black and Asian viewers.

Aboriginal MP Marion Scrymgour, who is Arts Minister for the Northern Territory, said people in indigenous communities needed greater representation on television.

"It's important that young Aboriginal people are able to see there are opportunities for interesting and rewarding employment," she said.

George Bush and Kevin Rudd

Bush's prickly welcome for Rudd | World News | News.com.au

Bush's prickly welcome for Rudd

By Sandra O'Malley


THE leaking of a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and US President George W Bush seems to have taken the gloss off their once-chummy relationship.

As he joined other world leaders for dinner at the White House today, the Prime Minister received a rather perfunctory greeting from the US President during what was their first meeting since a controversy erupted in Australia over the alleged diplomatic breach.

Leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) nations met for a working dinner which heralded the start of the summit aimed at tackling the global financial crisis.

Tomorrow, they will meet at the National Building Museum to thrash out the beginnings of a strategy to stem a threatened global recession.

Mr Rudd is pushing for coordinated action by each nation to boost growth and employment, helping support the economy.

As leaders arrived tonight, they were individually welcomed by the outgoing president.
Related Coverage


France and America have had their differences but Mr Bush had a wide grin and a slap on the back for French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mr Bush warmly embraced the Italian and Brazilian leaders and even Russian President Dmitry Medvedev got a smile and a long handshake.

By comparison, a beaming Mr Rudd received what, at best, could be described as a business-like greeting.

Mr Bush remained impassive as he briefly shook Mr Rudd's hand, barely looking the Prime Minister in the eye before turning to the cameras and television crews.

And, as they entered the White House, it was Mr Rudd who tried to add some warmth to the moment, patting the US leader on the back.

The encounter was a far cry from the friendly and jovial press conference the pair gave in the prestigious East Room of the White House in March on Mr Rudd's first visit to the US as Prime Minister.

But while the body language looked bad, the long-term impact remains debatable.

Mr Bush will hand over the keys to the White House in January, giving Mr Rudd a clean slate with new leader Barack Obama.

Late tonight, Mr Rudd's office noted he was the only G20 leader to be given the privilege of holding his press conference in the same venue as the summit.

The dinner was the first contact between the leaders since the alleged leaking last month of a telephone conversation between the pair to discuss the financial turmoil.

The controversy centres around a claim in The Australian newspaper on October 25 that Mr Bush asked Mr Rudd: "What's the G20?", an allegation since denied by both Canberra and Washington.

But if the President was miffed, the Prime Minister knew he had at least one strong ally in the room.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised Mr Rudd for the leading role he had played in trying to promote solutions to deal with the global financial turmoil.

Mr Rudd and Mr Brown are both strong proponents of a fiscal stimulus strategy to try to put the brakes on the economic slowdown sweeping the world.

"The challenge we face is: one, the stabilisation of the financial system now; two, proper regulations for the future operations of financial markets; and three, most critically, to the greatest extent possible, coordinated fiscal and monetary policy action to support growth and jobs in the critical year which lies ahead," Mr Rudd told reporters.

"This is not just a question of high policy debate.

"This is of direct relevance to households right across the world."

During a jam-packed day, Mr Rudd held a series of bilateral meetings with political and economic leaders, including World Bank president Robert Zoellick, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

Mr Rudd also spoke to defeated Republican presidential nominee John McCain by telephone.

Bob Geldof and hypocrisy

Bob Geldof charged $100k to speak in Melbourne at Diversity@Work awards | NEWS.com.au Entertainment

Bob Geldof charged $100k to speak in Melbourne at Diversity@Work awards

By Michael Warner November 15, 2008 12:59am

A bit rich ... anti-poverty campaigner Sir Bob Geldof charged $100,000 to come to Melbourne and give a speech about world suffering.

ANTI-poverty campaigner Sir Bob Geldof charged $100,000 to come to Melbourne and give a speech about world suffering.

Geldof, 54, spoke about the tragedy of Third World poverty and the failure of governments to combat the crisis, at a Crown casino function on Thursday night.

But the Herald Sun can reveal the outspoken human rights activist charged about $100,000 for his trouble - a speaker's fee that included the cost of luxury hotel rooms and first-class airfares. Fellow activist and World Vision CEO the Rev Tim Costello spoke for free.

An event insider said the Geldof payments included the costs of a minder.

"It was an inspiring speech. But when you think he got paid $100,000 to talk about poverty, it seems like a bit of a contradiction," the insider said.
Related Coverage

"That's $100,000 that could have made a difference to poverty right there. Everyone in the audience would have walked away in awe. If only they knew the full story."

The payment is believed to have been funded by event sponsors including the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Geldof's speech was the highlight of the eighth annual Diversity@Work business awards at Crown Palladium.

Diversity@Work is a private company providing workplace consulting and training.

Its CEO, Mark Heaysman, last night refused to say how much was spent to lure Geldof, who was awarded an honorary knighthood in 1986 for his Live Aid campaign.

"The aim of the Diversity@Work awards is to bring the very important issue of providing better opportunities for people with disabilities and those from diverse backgrounds to the public spotlight," Mr Heaysman said.

"It is important to have high-profile supporters of the awards, to help spread this important message. It is a great shame if this issue is overshadowed."

Geldof appears on various websites spruiking the international speakers' circuit.

Mr Costello confirmed yesterday he was not paid, saying: "I know nothing of any fees."

Soft drinks make you fat

Big Sugar sounds like Big Tobacco | Opinion | News.com.au

Big Sugar sounds like Big Tobacco

By David Gillespie

The Courier-Mail

November 12, 2008 08:30am



IS IT just me or is Big Sugar starting to sound a lot like Big Tobacco? It's all sugar coated spin from big business.

Recently Coca-Cola wheeled out its version of a wholesome mum and a new website (www.makeeverydropmatter.com.au) to "bust" the myths surrounding Coke.

Putting aside the choice of Kerry Armstrong as a prime example of Australian mumhood, the core messages were:

• "Caffeine is not addictive";

• "The link between metabolic syndrome (obesity, heart disease, diabetes) and Coke is not proven"; and

• "Coca-Cola does not target its advertising at children".

As a former litigator on behalf of Big Tobacco, the spin gave me pause to reminisce. Not since those days have we been able to wallow in the spectacle of giant corporations spending large amounts of money convincing us that black is indeed just a somewhat less bright shade of white.

Any reader old enough to remember when the only thing that made a telephone portable was installing it in a car, will surely remember these gems from a forgotten age:
Related Coverage

• "Nicotine is not addictive";

• "The link between lung cancer and smoking is not proven"; and

• "The tobacco industry does not target children with its advertising".

I'm sure all of us are open-minded enough to take Coca-Cola at its word on caffeine. Everybody knows we queue for hours to buy coffee just because we like the taste of hot, bitter water.

Equally, I'm sure we're prepared to acknowledge that any child who happens to find a Coca-Cola ad appealing is some sort of aberrant juvenile misfit. Ads full of jiggling teenagers superimposed on a soundtrack of top 20 songs are clearly targeted at the over-50s.

But, small-minded though I probably am, I can't swallow the line that a food whose only constituent (besides water) is sugar is entirely good for you.

Dr Rebecca Reeves, over at the Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness would no doubt take issue with my ill-informed ignorance. The nutrition expert wants a "randomised controlled trial that actually proves consuming softdrinks causes metabolic syndrome" before she signs on to the idea sugar makes you fat.

I'm sure the fact that the BIHW was established and funded by Coca-Cola has nothing to do with her perspectives.

Well, good news Dr Reeves, your friends over at PepsiCo have just paid for such a study to be done. The June 28 issue of New Scientist reports Peter Havel at the University of California persuaded 33 overweight and obese people to try a 10-week diet which was either 25 per cent fructose or 25 per cent glucose.

Fructose and glucose are the two building blocks of sugar. Previous work had observed sugar was very bad news. This experiment was about figuring out which bit was doing the damage in humans.

Those on the fructose diet ended up with more (1.5kg) tummy fat, higher fatty triglycerides (which leads to heart disease) and 20 per cent higher insulin resistance (which leads to Type II diabetes). None of this happened to the group on glucose.

Perhaps the result wasn't quite what PepsiCo was expecting because it clearly had to scratch around in the bottom of the marketing spin barrel to come up with this response:

"This is a very interesting and important study, but it does not reflect a real-world situation nor is it applicable to PepsiCo since pure fructose is not an ingredient in any of our food and beverage products".

Bravo!

A clear contender for this year's "every cloud has a silver lining" public relations award. Pity our digestive systems don't see things the same way as the folks at PepsiCo.

In a separate study, Havel's team looked at whether you needed to be eating "pure fructose" or merely something which contained it (like sugar). They compared the immediate effects of consuming meals containing equal quantities of sugar, pure fructose or pure glucose. Blood triglyceride levels were all elevated to a similar level 24 hours after consuming fructose and sugar, but not glucose. So it doesn't seem to matter whether you package fructose up as sugar or eat it uncut.

I don't see Dr Havel getting a gig at the BIHW anytime soon.

Laws give mistresses "spousal maintenance"

'Spousal maintenance' for mistresses | National News | News.com.au

* Laws give mistresses new rights
* May be entitled to "spousal maintenance"
* Even after the affair ends

PHILANDERING husbands could soon be forced by the courts to keep paying for their mistresses after an affair ends.

That is just one outcome set to arise from laws on broken de facto relationships that will take effect early next year, The Courier-Mail reports.

Under the Family Law Act reforms, de facto partners together for two years will get the same rights as married couples to seek "spousal maintenance" claims.

Maintenance, as distinct from child support, may be ordered when the other party is "unable to support herself or himself adequately" following separation.

But legal experts warn the amended Act - passed in the Senate on Monday - opens the definition of a de facto couple to wide interpretation.

It prescribes a de facto relationship as an opposite-sex or same-sex couple "living together on a genuine domestic basis".

Yet it also stipulates that a de facto alliance can exist even if one of the partners is legally married to somebody else or in another de facto relationship.

a rights to die at home

Hannah Jones, 13, wins fight to be released from hospital and die at home | World News | News.com.au

* Terminally ill girl wanted to go home to die
* Hospital tried to stop her leaving
* She says she'd wants to be with family

A TERMINALLY-ILL 13-year-old girl has won the right to die at home after persuading a hospital not to pursue a High Court case that would have forced her to undergo a risky heart transplant.

Hannah Jones says she would prefer to spend her remaining days in the care of her family rather than risk dying in hospital.

She was fed-up with being cooped up in hospital wards for much of the past eight years since being diagnosed with leukaemia and crippling cardiomyopathy that she declared enough was enough.

"They explained everything to me but I just didn't want to go through any more operations," Hannah said. "I'd had enough of hospitals and wanted to come home."

Parents Andrew and Kirsty, an intensive care nurse, said they were disgusted by the initial decision to pursue the case.

"Hannah had been through enough already and to have the added stress of a possible court hearing or being forcibly taken into hospital is disgraceful," Mr Jones said.

Obama's first visit to Oval Office

President-elect Barack Obama visits Oval Office | US Presidential Election | News.com.au

* Obama meets Bush at White House
* His first post-election visit
* Talks on major economic foreign issues

LESS than one week after his historic victory, US President-elect Barack Obama visited the White House today to learn first hand from President George W. Bush about the challenges that await him.

The outgoing president and first lady Laura Bush greeted Obama and his wife Michelle with smiles and handshakes as they stepped from their limousine to begin a tour of what will be their new home after Obama is sworn in on January 20.

The two men were headed to the Oval Office where they were expected to discuss the global financial crisis, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other challenges the Republican president will bequeath to his Democratic successor.

It was their first face-to-face encounter - a visit steeped in symbolism - following Obama's resounding victory over Republican John McCain in Tuesday's election, which will make him America's first black chief executive.

Obama, 47, had repeatedly attacked Bush's "failed policies" on the campaign trail and once said he had a lot to answer for after eight years in office. The Illinois senator swept to power campaigning on a theme of change - specifically, change from the unpopular president's approach to economics and foreign affairs.

insane teacher

Female teacher accused of having sex with student - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A female teacher has appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with having sex with a 15-year-old student.

It is alleged 25-year-old Nazira Rafei had a sexual relationship with a boy at a school in Melbourne's north.

She is charged with five sex offences involving a child under the age of 16.

It is also alleged she threatened the 15-year-old boy in an attempt to make him conceal their relationship.

Her lawyer has indicated to the court she would plead not guilty to all charges.

monk brawls

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Monks brawl at Jerusalem shrine

Scenes of chaos as the church brawl breaks out

Israeli police have had to restore order at one of Christianity's holiest sites after a mass brawl broke out between monks in Jerusalem's Old City.

Fighting erupted between Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Christ's crucifixion.

Two monks from each side were detained as dozens of worshippers traded kicks and punches at the shrine, said police.

Trouble flared as Armenians prepared to mark the annual Feast of the Cross.

Tapestries toppled

Shocked pilgrims looked on as decorations and tapestries were toppled during Sunday's clash.

Dressed in the vestments of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian denominations, rival monks threw punches and anything they could lay their hands on.

The Greeks blamed the Armenians for not recognising their rights inside the holy site, while the Armenians said the Greeks had violated one of their traditional ceremonies.

Israeli policemen scuffle with an Armenian altar boy during a fight at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on 9 November2008
Clashes between Christian sects in the ancient church are not uncommon

An Armenian clergyman said the Greek clergy had tried to place one of their monks inside the Edicule, an ancient structure which is said to encase the tomb of Jesus.

"What is happening here is a violation of status quo. The Greeks have tried so many times to put their monk inside the tomb but they don't have the right to when the Armenians are celebrating the feast," he said.

The Armenians had been preparing to commemorate the 4th Century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus.

A Greek clergyman said: "We protested peacefully, we stood here in the middle and we claimed that we shall not leave the procession finished unless they leave our guardian be inside. This didn't happen and in that moment the police interfered."

Six Christian sects share control of the ancient church and the BBC's Wyre Davies in Jerusalem says confrontations between them are not uncommon, but rarely descend into violence.

Reader's Comments: Knives, chainsaw threats to Centrelink staff | News.com.au

It should be legislated that if you threaten or use violence on anyone at Centrelink that they AUTOMATICALLY CUT your benefits and you will never receive them again, EVER. I am sick of working my backside off for bludgers to sit on the dole and even worse, giving $5000 for each child they bring into the world, just to become more dole bludgers as their parents don't have a work ethic. The $5000 should ONLY be for people who are employed. Why not take these people and make them clean up our communities ie: Clean graffitti off buildings, mow parks, clean up rubbish etc. And don't get me started with the number of immigrants that are allowed into the country (roughly 180,000 a year) and then after 2 years they are allowed to claim benefits. I have had immigrants tell me that they are going to "retire" as they have been here for two years and can now kick back on welfare benefits for the rest of their lives! At TAX PAYERS EXPENSE. Fantastic job our Governments have done with that one too!

Posted by: JA of Sydney 3:17pm September 15, 2008
Comment 191 of 266

centrelink

Knives, chainsaw threats to Centrelink staff

By Steve Lewis

September 15, 2008 12:01am
Article from: The Courier-Mail
AUSTRALIA'S most dangerous workplace is emerging as Centrelink, with staff on the welfare frontline subject to serious abuse and death threats.

Public servants were being threatened with baseball bats, knives and even a chainsaw, a new report has shown.

* Read full story

The Truth of Life - I'm sure you received multiple notices from Centrelink advising you to contact to make arrangements to repay the debt before it was referred onto debt collection...and if they threatened you with thugs breaking into your house to take your stuff..well, if that was unlawful, its a matter for the police.

Posted by: eutraphalia of melbourne 3:27pm today
Comment 266 of 266
@ The Truth of Life (Comment 264) - Did you not realise that you were still receiving a payment from Centrelink, or did you just happily accept the extra $400 or so per fortnight without thinking to actually telephone someone to enquire about it? Your case sounds a bit like wilful or blind ignorance to me. Don't you think that if a company or a bank accidentally put money into your account, that they would ask for it to be returned, or would you expect to keep that, even though you were not entitled to it??

Posted by: Jim of Brisbane 10:29am November 05, 2008
Comment 265 of 266
I was receiving Centrelink abstudy payments and went to the Centrelink office to advise them I was no longer studying and to place me on new start allowance. This visit is recorded on the Centrelink computer system. Centrelink did not do their part and a year later sent me a 12 thousand dollar bill for receiving payments I was not entitled too. I think somewhere along the line they forgot that 12 months ago I was the one who told them I wasn't entitled to the payments. It didn't stop them from getting some thugs to ring me up and threaten to come to my house and take my property to recoup costs. I wonder why people get angry at their incompetencies???

Posted by: The Truth of Life Experiences 6:00pm October 28, 2008
Comment 264 of 266
Hey Kate, if you are being 'harrassed' to pay back money, it's because you were not entitled to it in the first place!

Posted by: Ho hum of Melbourne 3:38pm October 28, 2008
Comment 263 of 266
Centrelink are disgusting in how they treat lots of people. After going through losing my husband and being on centrelink for a short period of time, they have since harrassed, played games and humiliated me in my current employment. It's like someone is p****ssed off in Centrelink because I now make more than some pathetic gov worker, they will do anything to get there money back. Lucky I can afford a lawyer unlike some poor buggers who totally rely on such a scum government department.

Posted by: Kate of Adelaide 6:12pm October 25, 2008
Comment 262 of 266
I've been biting my tongue but I can't let this pass without comment. Several years back I went through a terrible period where I lost my business, home, family, assets and possessions as a result of crime and severe health problems. I found myself homeless, destitute and near death but my problems didn't really start till I fell into the clutches of Centerlink. The treatment I received at the hands of this vicious organization was quite indescribable and very nearly finished me off, so I while I do not condone violence or aggressive behavior I can well understand how people can be pushed to the breaking point and beyond. In my view Centerlink officers have a responsibility not unlike that of doctors inasmuch as their often callous and unthinking actions can have dire - even fatal - consequences. Nobody should ever have to experience what I went through and those labeling Centerlink clients scum and bludger are ignorant in the extreme.

Posted by: skudge 3:09pm September 18, 2008
Comment 261 of 266

depressed teacher in Australia

Terrano of Cairns Posted at 4:39pm September 04, 2008

I have been teaching for 13 years and you know what? I hate it - I hate the abuse from parents and their little s###$, I hate the garbage that EQ makes me teach, I hate the fact I have no disciplinary control over the students I teach, I hate the crap facilities I have to work with, I hate the extra-curricular work I have to do and, one more thing, I hate all you whingers out there who have never tried teaching yet seem to be experts on everything about it. Sod off the lot of you. I'm changing jobs!!!

Drink Cold if you want to make a big decision

Why do women always feel colder than men? - Times Online

Feel warm, be warmer

Feel warm and you'll be more generous and trusting, or so a recent study by researchers at Yale University suggests. They gave volunteers a hot cup of coffee or a cold drink and asked them to rate how trustworthy a person looked. Those holding the hot drink rated people as more trusting.

This shows that psychological warmth and physical warmth have close connections in our brain, says John Bargh, a professor of psychology, who conducted the study. “It seems that the same part of the brain, the insular, which is the size of a walnut right in the middle of the brain, handles both sensations of physical temperature and trust in someone else,” he says.

Professor Bargh adds that giving a person a hot cup of coffee is a way of gaining their trust. “What if someone gives me a cup of coffee when I'm buying a car? Maybe it's best to have a cold drink when making a big decision.”

In addition to this study, researchers in Canada found recently that mood can influence how hot or cold we feel. The study revealed that people who are lonely or socially excluded are more aware of the cold. So if you're looking to warm up this year, get social, get active, and get enough sleep.

How to keep warm

Clothing Ditch the big woolly jumper in favour of multiple thin layers. Remember, the more skin on show, the colder you'll feel. Keep warm at night by wearing pyjamas and bed socks.

Food Eating regular meals makes a big difference if you're trying to keep warm, but be sure to include carbohydrates. Amanda Ursell, the Times nutritionist, suggests dishing up stews and casseroles with meat, vegetables and potatoes. Soup is a great winter warmer: try bean and vegetable, lentil and tomato or pea and ham. Porridge makes a cheap, warming breakfast.

Thermostat 21C-24C is the optimum setting for central heating.

Alcohol and caffeine Avoid drinking too much of either if you're trying to stay warm. Both increase blood flow to the skin, and while you will feel warmer, your body is losing heat.

Visualise hot places According to research at the University of Portsmouth, imagining a hot place can make you feel warm.Move around Even if it's just to make a hot drink, keeping mobile is essential to maintaining body heat. A quick jig will not only warm you up but will also release endorphins, those feel-good chemicals in the brain.

Warm homes Insulation and double-glazing are key. Most over-sixties will be eligible for the winter fuel payment.

For more information, visit thepensionservice.gov.uk/winterfuel or warmfront.co.uk

Racialist

How to make my child feel like a black sheep | Jamie Whyte - Times Online

How to make my child feel like a black sheep
Jamie Whyte

I am white, my wife is black and our daughter, unsurprisingly, is brown. I think she is lucky. Her skin is almost golden and her hair falls in beautiful black ringlets that, thanks to my Celtic ancestors, reveal copper undertones when caught by the sun.

But according to Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, my daughter may be in grave peril. In a recent speech he claimed that, as a person of mixed race, she is at risk of “identity stripping”. She may “grow up marooned between two communities”.

Like many others in the race industry, Mr Phillips is a racialist. He thinks that your race is the most important fact about you. It is so important that it determines your identity and your community. If you are mixed race, you will have neither.

Mr Phillips is mistaken. Despite her brown skin, my daughter is no harder to identify than her white father or her black mother. She is a no more vague, nebulous or otherwise indefinite creature than any other human being.

Nor is she marooned between two communities. For I do not live in the white community and my wife does not live in the black community. As far as I know, there are no such communities. Despite our different colours, all three members of the Whyte family live in the same community, a nice bourgeois suburb.

My daughter knows she is brown but, at the age of 3, she does not believe it to be the most important thing about her. If anything, she is currently obsessed with her sex. She points to the characters of her illustrated books and declares: “I’m that one.” She often identifies herself with a blonde princess, but never with a dark-haired prince.

Alas, this state of blissful racial naivety will not be allowed to persist. She will hear people like Mr Phillips talking about “racial identity”, as if this absurd notion signified something real and important. One day someone will assure her that there is nothing wrong with being mixed-race, thereby suggesting to her for the first time that perhaps there might be.

I do not worry about my brown daughter suffering racist discrimination. That is rare in our community. I am more worried that she fall for the idea that her skin is her identity, and believe herself the victim of fantastical injuries such as identity-stripping. Then her “racial identity”, or lack of one, really will become a problem for her.

The interests of do-gooding organisations are always at odds with their goals. Succeed and you put yourself out of business. With racism in rapid retreat and mixed-race children on the rise, there is one great contribution the Commission for Racial Equality could make to its official cause. Stop existing.

Bali Bomber have been executed

Bali bombers Mukhlas, Amrozi, and Imam Samudra shot dead by firing squad | Asia-Pacific | News.com.au

* Shot just after midnight local time
* Confirmed dead, family with bodies
* Timeline: Bombings to executions

THREE Bali bombers have been executed on an Indonesian island for their lead roles in the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

The family of Mukhlas and his younger brother Amrozi said the bombers had been executed along with Imam Samudra just after midnight local time (4am AEDT) on Nusakambangan Island, in Central Java, where they had been jailed.

“Our family has received news of the execution ... May our brothers, God willing, be invited by green birds to heaven now,” Mohammad Chozin, a brother of Mukhlas and Amrozi, said in their home village of Tenggulun.

“We're now handling the preparations to bring the bodies back, which may take two hours,” he said outside an Islamic boarding school in the east Java village, as supporters shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater).

Indonesia's Attorney General's Office later confirmed the executions had taken place.


“At 12.15am, the convicts ... were executed by shooting and followed up with an autopsy,” spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan said.

“They have been stated as dead. At this moment the bodies are being washed by the family.”

Attorney General Hendarman Supanji will hold a press conference in Jakarta at 11am local time (3pm AEDT).

Multimedia Package Timeline: From the bombings to the executions
Related story Tears: Relief for survivors at Bali executions
The bombers were simultaneously shot through the heart by crack Indonesian troops assembled to carry out the task.

They were executed in an orchard some 6km from their prison on Nusakambangan Island, Indonesia's TV One reported.

A source at the prison said they shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they were escorted out of their isolation cells by paramilitary police shortly before their executions.

Australians expressed relief that the men were finally dead, six years after they brought carnage to Bali by sending suicide bombers to attack the Sari Club and nearby Paddy's Bar on October 12, 2002.

“... we've waited a very long time for this and this is our justice,” Sydney woman Maria Kotronakis, who lost two sisters and two cousins, told CNN, struggling at times to speak.

“Finally the moment has come ... we are over the moon.”

Survivor Peter Hughes, of Perth, who suffered horrific burns in the bombings, said the three militants had paid the highest price for mass murder, but their executions did not bring him any joy.

“These guys went to set about mass murder and paid the highest penalty,” he told CNN.

“It doesn't feel good but they did do the crime and they've paid for it.”

The bombers' bodies will soon be flown by helicopter to their home villages for burial within 24 hours, in accordance with Muslim custom.

In Tenggulun, sobbing mourners are converging on the home of Amrozi and Mukhlas' mother.

Hardline cleric Abu Bakar Bashir – the co-founder of Jemaah Islamiah, the group blamed for the Bali bombings – praised the bombers as “holy warriors” during a visit to the village on Saturday.

Security forces are on high alert across the mainly Muslim country, after the bombers urged supporters to carry out revenge attacks if their executions went ahead.

Australian authorities have advised Australians to reconsider the need to travel to Indonesia.

The 2002 Bali attacks were the bloodiest in a sustained period of al-Qaeda-inspired jihadist violence in the world's most populous Muslim country.

With AFP

Teacher and F-word

Union backs teacher over F-word note | Victoria | News.com.au

Union backs teacher over F-word note

By staff writers

Herald Sun

September 02, 2008 10:58am


* Teacher sends boy home with note spelling out f**k you
* Child ordered to write the note to his parents
* Parents make formal complaint

A TEACHER who forced a young student to write an apology letter using the F word has the backing of her union.

The Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union accused the little boy's parents of overreacting, the Herald Sun reported.

Bendigo prep student Maguire Pinner, 6, was put in time out and ordered to write a letter home to his parents explaining how and why he swore in the playground.

He was made to explicitly write the profanity “f*** you”, which was then repeated by the teacher in her comments to the parents.

Victoria Teachers' Union president Mary Bluett defended the teacher and said it was parents who did not like to believe their child had done anything wrong.

“All parents think well of their own children,” Ms Bluett said on 3AW radio this morning.
I think the problem here is with this timeout policy its not always the teachers seeing or hearing and then issuing timeout the kids can tell on a child and then the teacher issues ...

(Read More)
Jo of Bendigo

She said the teacher had done nothing wrong and said the punishment was part of the learning behaviour.

“Many schools where students break the rules as part of the learning process have to write down exactly what they have done,” she said.

“Writing it down and 'fessing up to their parents is part of the learning process to change that behaviour, you would think that the parents would actually welcome that.”

“If the child was using that word I don’t think there is too much wrong getting them to write to their parents and tell them.”

Maguire's dad Kirk wants the White Hills Primary School teacher to be counselled, saying the school had failed to properly respond.

"What teacher in their right mind could think it is acceptable to have a five-year-old write and correctly spell the F-word?"

Mr Pinner said the punishment had left his boy traumatised and suffering nightmares.

He has made an official complaint to Education Minister Bronwyn Pike and the Education Department.

The school also backed its teaacher.

"We encourage our students to reflect on their behaviour and learn from their mistakes, and this has proven to be a very effective system overall," said school principal Peter Davey.

"In this particular case, we acknowledge that the student repeating these words in writing was not the most appropriate course of action. We have since reviewed our response to dealing with isolated situations where a student uses bad language."

But child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg called the punishment the equivalent of putting a child in psychological stocks.

"It's madness," he said.

BBC + phone prank

BBC to make on-air apology for phone prank | World Breaking News | News.com.au

THE BBC will issue on-air apologies on Radio 2 on Saturday for the "offensive" prank phone call made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand that provoked thousands of complaints and a storm of protest.
During his Radio 2 show on October 18, Brand and Ross left crude messages on the answerphone of 78-year-old actor Andrew Sachs during a radio show.

The presenters were joking that Brand had slept with Georgina Baillie, the 23-year-old granddaughter of Sachs who played Spanish waiter Manuel in cult comedy sitcom Fawlty Towers.

Media coverage of the ensuing row led to more than 30,000 complaints to the BBC and demands the two be sacked.

Brand and Lesley Douglas, the head of Radio 2, resigned while Ross, one of the corporation's highest paid stars, was suspended for 12 weeks without pay.

The BBC Trust, the body which oversees the broadcaster, ordered the corporation to broadcast an apology for serious breaches of editorial standards.

The BBC said this would be done on Radio 2 at 10.03am and 9.03pm, the times when shows hosted by Brand and Russell were usually broadcast.

Toorak

House prices fall in top suburbs | NEWS.com.au

MANY of the nation's most prestigious suburbs appear to be facing house price slumps amid the credit crunch as their cheaper outer-suburban counterparts begin to emerge from years of price declines, The Australian reports.

House values in Sydney's inner and eastern suburbs fell 8 per cent in the six months to September as the credit crunch hit top income earners, according to data compiled by Australian Property Monitors.

But at the same time, house values in Sydney's western suburbs - long derided as the worst performers of the nation - fell just 2 per cent as new-home buyers sought better value in those long-depressed regions.

House prices fall in top suburbs | NEWS.com.au

According to APM, house prices in Perth's inner city and coastal western suburbs fell 7 per cent in the six months to September while house prices in the city's cheaper southeastern suburbs fell just 2 per cent. In Melbourne, inner-city house values fell 3 per cent in the period, while house prices in Melbourne's outer west rose 2 per cent.

While based on a relatively small sample size of 14 sales, houses in Melbourne's blue-chip Toorak slumped 24 per cent in the six months to September. Median house prices in the outer-western suburb of Melton grew 6 per cent to $207,000 in the same period.

Blue chip dip
                          Median price (six months to September)      Change
Melbourne
Toorak              $1.7 million                                                        -24%
Melton               $207,000                                                            +6%
Sydney
Bondi Beach   $1.14 million                                                      - 12%
Parramatta       $384,000                                                             -9%
Perth
City Beach-      $665,000*                                                            -7%
Armadale          $271,000                                                             -8%
* Region

contaminated milk

Aussie milk contaminated, says China | Business | News.com.au

* Bacteria found in Australian milk
* Pauls, Ausnutria brands fail quality tests
* Companies were never told

CHINA says two shipments of Australian milk, including Pauls brand, failed quality tests put in place after a contaminated milk scandal

Four children died in China and 53,000 people got sick after drinking milk powder laced with melamine, which is used to cheat nutrition tests and is also used to make plastic furniture.

Melamine has since been found in other dairy products, eggs and animal feed, prompting recalls of Chinese-made products around the world.

Many worried Chinese parents have switched to foreign-made formula, which the Chinese government has begun screening.

China says 9 tonnes of 'Ausnutria' milk powder made by Australian dairy company Tatura Industries and 14 tonnes of Pauls brand milk, owned by Paramlat Australia, tested positive for a bacteria.

Parmalat Australia, the maker of Pauls milk, said Chinese officials have not told them about any problems with its products. The first they heard of it was in media reports.

Lolo Soetoro : Obama's step father

LOLO SOETORO :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Obama Family Tree

'A piece of tiger meat'

September 9, 2007
BY SCOTT FORNEK Political Editor
Lolo Soetoro's first name meant "crazy" in Hawaiian.

"But the meaning didn't suit the man, for Lolo possessed the good manners and easy grace of his people," Barack Obama wrote of his Indonesian stepfather in Dreams From My Father.

Obama wrote that Soetoro's "tennis game was good, his smile uncommonly even, and his temperament imperturbable."

But Obama's mother's second husband did have his exotic side, which he shared with the young Obama during the years they lived in Indonesia.

"With Lolo, I learned how to eat small green chili peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy)," Obama wrote. "LIke many Indonesians, Lolo followed a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths. He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate: One day soon, he promised, he would bring home a piece of tiger meat for us to share."

Soetoro worked for the Indonesian government and later a U.S. oil company before he and Obama's mother divorced in the late 1970s. Soetoro died of a liver ailment in 1987 at age 51.

Palin thought Africa was a country

Palin thought Africa was a country - aides | US Presidential Election | News.com.au

Palin thought Africa was a country - aides

By Robert Lusetich

The Australian

November 07, 2008 10:22am


JOHN McCain's aides have unceremoniously tipped the bucket on Sarah Palin, portraying her and her family as Alaskan "hillbillies" and revealing she thought Africa was a country.
Recriminations are inevitable after an electoral failure this grand, but even so, Senator McCain's senior staff - looking to deflect blame - went for the jugular, telling journalists in off-the-record briefings that Ms Palin, whom they had already characterised as a rogue diva, spent more than the reported $US150,000 ($216,000) on clothes, shoes and jewellery for herself and her family.

Ms Palin had been told by McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace to buy three suits and hire a stylist for her debut at the Republican convention at an expected cost of about $US20,000.

Instead, the self-described blue-collar "hockey mom" went on a profligate shopping spree at exclusive department stores, including bills of $US75,062 at Neiman Marcus and $US49,425 at Saks Fifth Avenue, The Australian reports.

"Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," was how a McCain aide characterised the spending spree to Newsweek magazine.
Related Coverage
More shopping was later done and paid for on the personal credit cards of Ms Palin's campaign staff, who have now sought reimbursement, touching off more controversy as it's believed some of the items have been lost. The Republican Party's auditors will investigate, according to a McCain aide.

Ms Palin's spending reportedly also included up to $US40,000 in new clothes for her husband, Todd Palin, the fisherman and oil-field worker who is Alaska's self-styled "First Dude".

Fox News reporter Carl Cameron disclosed yesterday that McCain insiders told him during the campaign that Ms Palin could not name any of the three countries that form the North American Free Trade Agreement - the US, Mexico and Canada - and did not know that Africa was a continent and not a country.

Cameron said he was told he could only report it after the election by his source.

The merciless attack on Ms Palin - who aides said was also given to frequent "temper tantrums" -- comes in retaliation for what Senator McCain's staff considered a treasonous act by Ms Palin's team in the final weeks of the campaign.

McCain aides believe Ms Palin decided to look after her own political image - she has her eyes set on the 2012 presidential campaign -- by leaking to the media that she had been "mishandled" by McCain's campaign - particularly Ms Wallace and chief strategist Steve Schmidt - in the disastrous interview she did with newsreader Katie Couric. The media in turn lapped up the story of a campaign unravelling, distracting Senator McCain's campaign.

Meanwhile, Seth Meyers, the head writer for Saturday Night Live, said he anticipated Ms Palin would not stray far from the national conversation. For comedians, he said, "she is a gift that will keep on giving".

Obama in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post - Weekender

Obama’s Jakarta Trail

The U.S. presidential campaign is well underway, and Indonesia has a horse in the race. Illinois Senator Barack Obama, a Democrat, lived in Jakarta for about four years as a child. Trish Anderton visited his old neighborhood to explore how that might shape his outlook as a politician.

The power of a teacher

I have to go to Jl. Haji Ramli in Central Jakarta three times before I begin to pick up Barack Obama's trail. I wander the narrow street's many twists and turns, asking everybody if they know someone who's lived in the neighborhood for a long time. Usually this works like a charm, but here I get a lot of blank looks.

"Things have changed a lot," one man tells me. "Most of the older people have died. New people have moved in."

It's frustrating work, and the weather doesn't help. Apparently Menteng Dalam in April has only two modes: hot as a blast oven or raining like crazy.

Then I find Bu Is, and I am saved.

Israella Darmawan is every inch a teacher, from her shiny cap of black hair to her sensible shoes. In an office at the Fransiskus Assisi School, she shows me an old register with an entry for Barry Soetoro, as Barack Obama was know then. Bu Is taught Obama in the first grade. She admits she doesn't remember all her students well, but Barry ... well, he stood out.

"He really was different from the others. He was tall and heavy, black skin, curly hair."

Obama struggled with Indonesian, she says, but he was clearly a bright kid, especially at math. He had natural leadership qualities, she adds; other kids followed him around during playtime. "Barack ran somewhere, they went. He ran somewhere else, they followed."

Israella gives me the number of an old classmate of Obama's, Yunaldi Askiar. I call, but he says he can't see me for the next couple of days; he has family obligations. I'm dying inside because I'm already behind deadline, but I can't bring myself to twist his arm.

The next day, Israella and I are walking down the street when she spots Yunaldi's house. "Wait," she says with a little smile. "I'm his teacher. He has to come out." She stands at the front gate and calls his name. It's been 40 years since Yunaldi was in the first grade, but he comes out. Such is the power of Bu Is.

One long adventure

Barack Obama was born to a white American mother and a black Kenyan father. The couple split up when he was two years old. Then his mother fell in love with an Indonesian named Lolo Soetoro. She married him and moved with Obama to Jakarta in 1967.

Obama wasn't shielded in an expat bubble. He played with Indonesian kids and went to Indonesian schools. But his mother's marriage failed, and Obama moved to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. He grew up to become a community organizer and eventually a Democratic senator and presidential hopeful.

In his memoir, Dreams from My Father, Obama describes his Indonesian interlude as "one long adventure, the bounty of a young boy's life". But he also recalls being troubled by the poverty around him: "the empty look on the faces of farmers the year the rains never came," and the desperation of the disabled beggars who came to the family's door.

"The world was violent, I was learning, unpredictable and often cruel," he writes. That may be the best lesson for an American president to learn. On the other hand, it may be the worst.

Old Iron-Skull

Yunaldi was telling the truth; he did have family obligations. He's hanging out with his brothers, just like he did when he was a kid. They all remember Obama. Soon I'm sitting on the floor with them, listening to stories of childhood adventures.

Jl. Haji Ramli really has changed. Back then it was just a dirt road. The neighborhood kids played soccer and staged swordfights with bamboo in the middle of the street. They also staged fistfights, pitting boys of similar size against each other. Johnny Askiar's voice is still filled with wonder as he recalls the feeling of hitting Obama's skull.

"Barry's head was really hard," he says. "My hand would hurt when I hit it. It was like iron, that head."

A useful quality in a president, perhaps?

The Askiars speak about Obama with what feels like genuine fondness, but as kids they weren't above taking advantage of his status as an outsider. "Sometimes we'd say, 'Barry, do you want a chocolate?’ And we'd give him a chocolate. The next day we'd give him a chocolate again. The third time we'd give him terasi (fermented shrimp paste) wrapped up like chocolate," remembers Harmon Askiar.

Obama didn't get mad, they say. He would laugh it off.

Johnny and his brother Harmon pose for a picture outside with Bu Is. Then Johnny walks me down to Obama's old house. It's hidden behind a black gate, but he says it looks pretty much like it used to. After that he takes me on his motorbike to a little muddy pond where they used to swim. But the pond isn't there anymore; it's been filled in to build housing.

"The water was yellow, it was river water. It was clean, there weren't chemicals in it," says Johnny. Still, they had to hide their swimming trips from their mothers, who thought the water was unhealthy.

We stand for a moment longer, looking at someone's driveway and a cat sleeping under an SUV. I imagine little kids jumping out of now-disappeared trees into the now-disappeared water. It's something I've seen before in Jakarta: proof that change isn't always progress. That's another good lesson for a politician.

A 3-D view of the news

Other than John McCain, who was a prisoner in Vietnam during the war, Obama is the only U.S. presidential candidate for 2008 who has lived abroad – which is a pretty sad statement on American politics, if you ask me.

How might his time in Jakarta shape him as a politician? Even though he was young, Ruth van Reken, who studies international childhoods, says he would still emerge from the experience with a broader outlook.

"He has a 3-D view of the news," says van Reken on the phone from the U.S. She argues kids who live abroad feel a connection with that country for the rest of their lives.

"His life was shaped in that world. and he knew it intuitively even if he didn't know it mentally," she says. "The mental part comes later, you look back and say ‘yeah, I saw that’."

Conversely, living abroad gives you insights into your own country. Obama describes drawing on his Indonesian experience as a community organizer in Chicago. Contemplating the breakdown of social order in that city's notorious public housing projects, he remembered the indigent hawkers at Indonesian marketplaces: they were poor, he wrote in his memoir, but "there remained in their lives a discernible order, a tapestry of trading routes and middlemen … the habits of a generation played out every day beneath the bargaining and the noise and the swirling dust."

Why had the residents of housing projects lost this sense of connection, he wondered, and how could it be restored?

Sometimes you have to go around the world to see what's in front of your face.

Does that make Obama the best candidate? Of course not. There's no simple equation to translate childhood experience into presidential performance. And living abroad is a complicated and sometimes disturbing experience. Obama clearly stuck out in his old neighborhood; he was teased because he was different, and that sense of being an outsider can have lasting impacts.

Still, I'm drawn to the idea of an American president who can wear a sarong with style, and who feels nostalgic when he hears the call to prayer. And wouldn't it be fun if the White House started serving rendang and gado-gado at state dinners?

Will voters in the U.S. find that idea appetizing, and can Obama turn his Jakarta experience into a Washington advantage? Americans and Indonesians – especially a generous handful in Menteng Dalam -- will be watching closely to find out.

Lolo Soetoro : Obama's step father

LOLO SOETORO :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Obama Family Tree

'A piece of tiger meat'

September 9, 2007
BY SCOTT FORNEK Political Editor
Lolo Soetoro's first name meant "crazy" in Hawaiian.

"But the meaning didn't suit the man, for Lolo possessed the good manners and easy grace of his people," Barack Obama wrote of his Indonesian stepfather in Dreams From My Father.

Obama wrote that Soetoro's "tennis game was good, his smile uncommonly even, and his temperament imperturbable."

But Obama's mother's second husband did have his exotic side, which he shared with the young Obama during the years they lived in Indonesia.

"With Lolo, I learned how to eat small green chili peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy)," Obama wrote. "LIke many Indonesians, Lolo followed a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths. He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate: One day soon, he promised, he would bring home a piece of tiger meat for us to share."

Soetoro worked for the Indonesian government and later a U.S. oil company before he and Obama's mother divorced in the late 1970s. Soetoro died of a liver ailment in 1987 at age 51.

Nice Tanned Obama

PM praises 'beautiful, tanned' Obama | World Breaking News | News.com.au

PM praises 'beautiful, tanned' Obama


November 07, 2008 03:45am
Italian PM praises Obama 'suntan'
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has praised the youth, good looks and "suntan" of U.S....

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today praised US election victor Barack Obama as young, beautiful and "tanned" and said the world saw him as a messiah.

"He is young, he is beautiful and he is tanned,'' Mr Berlusconi said in Moscow's Kremlin, when asked how President-elect Obama might get along with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.

"I think that there is going to be good co-operation,'' Mr Berlusconi said.

Mr Berlusconi warned that Senator Obama, the United States' first black president, would have to deal with inflated expectations from a world that had portrayed him "almost as a messiah''.

"There are a lot of expectations that he should not disappoint,'' Mr Berlusconi said.

Mr Berlusconi, who was in Moscow for economic talks, assured Senator Obama that bilateral ties between Italy and the United States would "continue to grow and strengthen'' under the new administration.

The Real Me

"The Real Me"

Foolish heart looks like we're here again
Same old game of plastic smile
Don't let anybody in
Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break
How much will they take before I'm empty
Do I let it show, does anybody know?

[Chorus:]
But you see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me
Painted on, life is behind a mask
Self-inflicted circus clown
I'm tired of the song and dance
Living a charade, always on parade
What a mess I've made of my existence
But you love me even now
And still I see somehow
But you see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me
Wonderful, beautiful is what you see
When you look at me
You're turning the tattered fabric of my life into
A perfect tapestry
I just wanna be me
But you see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause you see the real me
And you love me just as I am
Wonderful, beautiful is what you see
When you look at me

protect kids

ProtectKids.com - Making the Internet Safer for Children and Families

abortion issues

MySpace.com Blogs - Help after abortion - Tiffany MySpace Blog

Here are some sites to help those who have had an abortion.

http://www.abort73.com/HTML/IV-B-post_abortion.html

http://www.afterabortion.org/healing/index.htm

http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/articles/hopehealing.htm

http://www.safehavenministries.com


These are just a few of the many resources out there for those seeking healing, forgiveness and restoration after an abortion.

For those of you who have had one, know that you are loved by God very much and that there is forgiveness!! :)

You are also loved very much by me!! :)

craig cross

Feminist Law Professors

When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak. - Audre Lorde

America

Eyes of the world on America as voters choose between Barack Obama and John McCain | US Presidential Election | News.com.au

Kellogg, Corn flake and vegetarian

Porn Flakes - John Harvey Kellogg, Sylvester Graham

Porn Flakes
Kellogg, Graham and the Crusade for Moral Fiber

"All kinds of stimulating and heating substances; high-seasoned food; rich dishes; the free use of flesh; and even the excess of aliment; all, more or less -- and some to a very great degree -- increase the concupiscent excitability and sensibility of the genital organs..." -- Sylvester Graham


"A remedy [for masturbation] which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision...The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind...In females, the author has found the application of pure carbolic acid to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement. " -- Dr. John Harvey Kellogg

by Carrie McLaren

As a rule, there's often more to folk wisdom than bad science, and so it is with myths about masturbation and other aspects of sexuality. In America, a peculiar flowering of these myths took place in the 19th century. Though the predictable culprits -- Victorian prudery, evangelical Christianity, entrepreneuriallism -- are part of the picture, what's less known is the the myths' century-old relationship with whole-grain foodstuffs. Thanks to certain influential health advocates, sex and diet were inexorably linked, and, for both, healthy meant bland.

The souvenirs of these efforts with us today are only ironic footnotes on the graves of two crusaders: Sylvester Graham, immortalized not for his sexual and nutritional reform but for the sugared brown crackers used in pie crust. And John Harvey Kellogg, a flaked-food believer eclipsed by his brother's breakfast cereal dynasty.

A free thinker, Sylvester Graham (1794-1851) lashed out against white bread, feather beds, pork, tobacco, salt, condiments, tight corsets, nocturnal emissions, heavy clothing, and hot mince pie. His specialties, though, were masturbation and poor eating habits. Graham was by no means the first to decry the debilitating effects of masturbation; Judeo-Christian tradition has long considered it an evil, a barrier to the natural function of sexuality -- reproduction. But Graham's approach was different, focussing on health rather than morality.

Sylvester Graham: grain lover

Before 1700, medical references to the harmful effects of masturbation were scarce. In the eighteenth century, two works--Ononia: Or the Heinous Sin of Self-Pollution, and all its Frightful Consequences... (by an anonymous author) and Samual Tissot's Treatise on the Diseases Produced by Onanism--introduced concepts that Graham adopted and help popularize (for example, Tissot's idea that loss of semen under any condition made one sick). Graham's Lecture to Young Men (1834) was the first of its kind and launched a whole genre of medical tracts on masturbation, known then as "self abuse" or "self pollution."

Graham knew his audience. With his solid grasp of rhetorical devices, he made claims no one could disprove--or rather, would disprove. Though people often disagreed on the particular causes of masturbation, most believed the symptoms were easy to recognize--victims were usually shy, suspicious, languid, unconcerned with hygiene, jaundiced. Graham used this to his advantage; in fact, he found most any health problem could be tied to masturbation. Only first-hand experience (yuk yuk) could disprove his claims and Graham came prepared to beat down any challengers with flamboyant, over-the-top gore. According to Graham, a masturbator grows up "with a body full of disease, and with a mind in ruins, the loathsome habit still tyrannizing over him, with the inexorable imperiousness of a fiend of darkness."

The cause of acne in incriminating teens is revealed, and the result: "ulcerous sores, in some cases, break out upon the head, breast, back and thighs; and these sometimes enlarge into permanent fistulas, of a cancerous character, and continue, perhaps for years, to discharge great quantities of foetid, loathsome pus; and not unfrequently terminate in death."

After 1834, Graham stopped lecturing about sexuality and started focussing his attention on nutrition. The frank talk had become too heated, too divisive. Graham considered his move into dietary reform a natural, evolutionary step: the proper diet moderated sexual desire.

From his early days, Graham believed both kinds of hunger -- sexual and nutritional -- threatened good health. Here, he was influenced by homeopath William Metcalfe. Metcalfe, an English clergyman, was the first public advocate of vegetarianism in American and a strong believer in the future of asparagus seed as a coffee substitute. But while Metcalfe argued vegetarianism on moral grounds, Graham was more concerned with the carnal passions meat-eating provoked. Reflecting the prevailing view of his day, Graham considered the stomach the major organ of the body, so anything that inflamed it was compared to lust. The medical profession was evil, according to Graham, and, besides, there was no need for it since: "Disease is never the legitimate result of the normal operation of any of our organs." All irritations or excitements such as hunger or sexual desire exhausted the body and increased the chance of disease and death. Fortunately, this made the cure for virtually ever human sickness simple--sexual moderation (no more than 12 times a year for married couples), exercise (to help prevent nocturnal emissions) and the proper diet (to facilitate free peristaltic action of the bowels, among other benefits).

Barack Obama

BBC NEWS | Americas | US Elections 2008 | Obama wins historic US election

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has been elected the first black president of the United States.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight... change has come to America," the president-elect told a jubilant crowd at a park in Chicago.

His rival John McCain accepted defeat, saying "I deeply admire and commend" Mr Obama. He called on his supporters to lend the next president their goodwill.

The BBC's Justin Webb said the result would have a profound impact on the US.

"On every level America will be changed by this result... [it] will never be the same," he said.

McCain: 'We must work together'

Mr Obama appeared with his family, and his running mate Joe Biden, before a crowd of tens of thousands in Grant Park, Chicago.

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer," he said.

He said he had received an "extraordinarily gracious" call from Mr McCain.

He praised the former Vietnam prisoner of war as a "brave and selfless leader".

"He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine," the victor said.

He had warm words for his family, announcing to his daughters: "Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."


Congratulations... You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life
President George W Bush

But he added: "Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep... But America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there."

From red to blue

Mr Obama captured the key battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio, before breaking through the winning threshold of 270 electoral college votes at 0400 GMT, when projections showed he had also taken California and a slew of other states.


Then came the news that he had also seized Florida, Virginia and Colorado - all of which voted Republican in 2004 - turning swathes of the map from red to blue.

Several other key swing states are hanging in the balance.

In Indiana and North Carolina, with most of the vote counted, there was less than 0.5% between the two candidates.

However, the popular vote remains close. At 0600 GMT it stood at 51.3% for the Democratic Senator from Illinois, against 47.4% for Arizona Senator McCain.

The main developments include:

* Mr Obama is projected to have seized Ohio, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, Florida, Colorado and Nevada - all Republican wins in 2004.
* He is also projected to have won: Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Delaware, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island, California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon.
* Mr McCain is projected to have won: Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, North Dakota, Wyoming, Georgia, Louisiana, West Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota.
* Turnout was reported to be extremely high - in some places "unprecedented".
* The Democrats made gains in the Senate race, seizing seats from the Republicans in Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Colorado. They also increased their majority of the House of Representatives.
* Exit polls suggest the economy was the major deciding factor for six out of 10 voters.
* Nine out of 10 said the candidates' race was not important to their vote, the Associated Press reported. Almost as many said age did not matter.


LOSSES AND GAINS
Key states
Projected gains for Obama in former Republican states of Ohio, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Nevada
Senate seats
Virginia: Democrat Mark Warner replaces retiring Republican John Warner
New Hampshire: Democrat Jeanne Shaheen unseats Republican John Sununu
North Carolina: Democrat Kay Hagan replaces Republican Elizabeth Dole
New Mexico: Democrat Tom Udall replaces retiring Republican Pete Domenici

Democrats tighten Senate grip
Several states reported very high turnout. It was predicted 130 million Americans, or more, would vote - more than for any election since 1960.

Many people said they felt they had voted in a historic election - and for many African-Americans the moment was especially poignant.

John Lewis, an activist in the civil rights era who was left beaten on an Alabama bridge 40 years ago, told Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church: "This is a great night. It is an unbelievable night. It is a night of thanksgiving."

Besides winning the presidency, the Democrats tightened their grip on Congress.

The entire US House of Representatives and a third of US Senate seats were up for grabs.

Democrats won several Senate seats from the Republicans, but seemed unlikely to to gain the nine extra they wanted to reach the 60-seat "super-majority", that could prevent Republicans blocking legislation.

America votes in historic election

BBC NEWS | Americas | US Elections 2008 | Turnout key to election outcome

EC 2004

Electoral College 2004 Allocation

Electoral College

BBC NEWS | Americas | US Elections 2008 | Q&A: The US Electoral College

An American president is not chosen directly by the people. Instead, an Electoral College is used. In a close election, the importance of the College grows.

How does the Electoral College work?

Each state has a number of electors in the Electoral College equal to the total of its US senators (always two) and its representatives, which are determined by the size of the state's population. Technically, Americans vote for the electors not the candidate.

California, the most populous state, has 55 electoral votes. A few small states and the District of Columbia have only three.

There are 538 electors in the College. In all but two states, Maine and Nebraska, the College works on a winner-takes-all basis. The winner of the popular vote in a state gets all the Electoral College votes in that state.

To become president, a candidate needs 270 Electoral College votes. The winning candidate does not need to win the national popular vote.

Why was the system chosen?

When the United States was founded, a national campaign was almost impossible given the communications; states were jealous of their rights; political parties were suspect and the popular vote somewhat feared.

The framers of the Constitution in 1787 rejected both the election of the president by Congress - because of the separation of powers - and election by direct popular vote, on the grounds that people would vote for their local candidate and the big states would dominate.

Another factor was that Southern states favoured the College system. Slaves had no votes but counted as three-fifths of a person for computing the size of a state's population.

The original idea was that only the great and the good in each state would make up the electors in the Electoral College. Over the years the College has been changed to better reflect the popular will.

Isn't it unfair that the winning candidate might get fewer popular votes?

This is seen as a major drawback of the system. In 2000 Al Gore won 48.38% of votes nationwide compared to George Bush's 47.87%. Ralph Nader took 2.74%. Yet Mr Bush won because he got 271 Electoral College votes compared to 266 for Mr Gore. The winning votes came from Florida whose 25 College seats all went to Mr Bush despite the difference between the two in the state's popular vote being only 537.

A similar thing happened in 1888 when Benjamin Harrison won in the College despite having fewer popular votes than Grover Cleveland.

Another drawback is that in many states the result is a foregone conclusion and there is thus little incentive for the individual to vote. It is also a disincentive for candidates to campaign there.

So what are the advantages?

The Electoral College system is respected for its historical roots and because it does usually reflect the popular vote. It also gives greater weight to smaller states - one of the checks and balances the US Constitution values.

For example, the largest state, California, has 12.03% of the US population but its 55 Electoral College votes represent only 10.22% of the College total. Wyoming, a sparsely populated state, has 0.18% of the US population but its three seats in the Electoral College give it 0.56% of the College votes.

The College system also means that a candidate needs to get a spread of votes from across the country.

What happens if no candidate gets a majority of Electoral College votes?

The decision is taken by the House of Representatives, because its seats are in proportion to the population and therefore reflects the popular will better than the Senate. Each state delegation, however, has only one vote, which means that the majority party in each delegation controls the vote. An absolute majority of states is required for election.

The vice-president is chosen by the Senate, with senators having an individual vote.

Are the electors in the College bound to vote for their candidates?

In some states they have a free vote but in practice they vote for the candidates they are pledged to. In other states they are required to do so. From time to time, individuals or small groups, called "faithless" electors, vote for another candidate but this has happened only rarely and no result has been changed by it. In 2000 an elector from the District of Columbia abstained.

If the result is extremely close, a "faithless" elector could cause real trouble. The issue would probably have to be decided by the courts.

The electors are chosen by the parties before the election, often in a vote at a convention. The electors then meet in state capitals after the election (this year on Monday, 13 December) to cast their votes. The results are formally declared to the Senate on 6 January. The new president is inaugurated on 20 January.

Student accuses astronomer Ardon Hyland of stalking

Student accuses astronomer Ardon Hyland of stalking | The Australian

Student and Teacher

Student accuses astronomer Ardon Hyland of stalking | Queensland | News.com.au

A FEMALE student has accused one of Australia's foremost astronomers of stalking her, telling a court he went through her checkout when she worked at a supermarket and asked her to fill out a student survey.

Professor Ardon Robin Hyland pleaded not guilty to stalking Rebecca Julia Smith when he appeared in a magistrates court in Townsville yesterday.

Ms Smith, 20, said Prof Hyland sent "weird" emails to her in 2006, and continually contrived to get in her checkout line at Coles so he could talk to her, the Townsville Bulletin reports.

There have been no claims of sexual approaches, suggestions or behaviour in the allegations.

Ms Smith told the court Prof Hyland would go through her checkout up to three times a week.

She said he would stand in lines four and five deep "although other checkouts were free" and stare at her.

Palin's Winking

That photo of Sarah Palin winking | News.com.au Stars'n'Snipes Blog

Obama's Bracelet

Mom Supports Obama's Bracelet Mention, Tracy Jopek "Ecstatic" About Democrat's Use Of Her Son's Name At Debate - CBS News

Jopek acknowledged e-mailing the Obama campaign in February asking that the presidential candidate not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she said Obama's mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, said a soldier's mother gave him a bracelet.

"I've got a bracelet, too, from Sergeant - from the mother of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek, given to me in Green Bay," Obama said during the debate. "She asked me, 'Can you please make sure another mother is not going through what I'm going through?' No U.S. soldier ever dies in vain because they're carrying out the missions of their commander in chief. And we honor all the service that they've provided."

Jopek says Obama's comment rightfully suggested there's more than one viewpoint on the war.

She wouldn't directly say whether she wanted Obama to refrain from mentioning the bracelet again, but said she hopes the issue will just go away.

"I think these bracelets should be looked upon as an honor that both candidates wear them to respect the troops," Jopek said. "My request to both of them is that they honor the troops by lifting the conversation to the issues, and that they continue to live up to the standards our military deserves."

Obama vs McCain

Voting starts in US election | World Breaking News | News.com.au

Hatted People and Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup fashions | News.com.au

australia economy

Reserve Bank tipped to cut interest rates by 50 basis points | NEWS.com.au

* RBA tipped to cut rates today
* Predicted to come down 0.5pc
* Another cut possible before Christmas

HOMEOWNERS are in for a boost today when the Reserve Bank is tipped to slash official interest rates. And lower rates are not the only good news.

Petrol is also expected drop by as much as 10c a litre in coming weeks.

But the good news on interest rates is a sign the economy is faltering.

Markets have factored in a likely cut of 50 basis points - or half a percentage point - a third straight cut this year.

However, with international bank-to-bank lending costs still fluctuating, there is no certainty banks will pass on the full benefits immediately.

If passed on in full, a half percentage point cut would take around $80 off the monthly mortgage repayments of the average home loan of $250,000 over 25 years.

Fungus the future fuel

Fungus could be the future of fuel | World Breaking News | News.com.au

Fungus could be the future of fuel

By Richard Ingham in Paris

Agence France-Presse

November 04, 2008 08:28pm

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A REDDISH microbe found on the inside of a tree at a secret location in the rainforests of northern Patagonia could unlock the biofuel of the future, say scientists.
Its potential is so startling that the discoverers have coined the term "myco-diesel" - a derivation of the word for fungus - to describe the bouquet of hydrocarbons that it breathes.

"This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances," said Gary Strobel, a professor of biology at Montana State University.

"The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel that anything we use at the moment."

The study appears today in a peer-reviewed British journal, Microbiology.

Prof Strobel, a 70-year-old veteran of the world's rainforests, said that he came across Gliocladium roseum thanks to "two cases of serendipity".

The first was in the late 1990s, when his team, working in Honduras, came across a previously unidentified fungus ca
Related Coverage

* Engine revs up to drive changeMercury, 18 Jun 2008
* Oil will grow on treesCourier Mail, 10 Aug 2008

lled Muscodor albus.

By sheer accident, they found that M. albus releases a powerful volatile - meaning gassy - antibiotic.

Intrigued by this, the team tested M. Albus on the ulmo tree, the fibres of which are a known habitat for fungi, in the hope that this would show up a new fungus.

"Quite unexpectedly, G. roseum grew in the presence of these gases when almost all other fungi were killed. It was also making volatile antibiotics," said Prof Strobel.

"Then, when we examined the gas composition of G. roseum, we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives.

"The results were totally unexpected and very exciting, and almost every hair on my arms stood on end."

Prof Strobel's team put the G. roseum through its paces in the lab, growing it on an oatmeal-based jelly and on cellulose.

Extractor fans drew off the gases exuded by the fungus, and analysis showed that many of them were hydrocarbons, including at least eight compounds that are the most abundant ingredients in diesel.

Biofuels have been promoted as good alternatives to oil, which is sourced from politically volatile regions and is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect.

Plants store carbon from the atmosphere as a result of photosynthesis when they grow, and they release the carbon, as carbon dioxide (CO2), when they are burned.

Oil, though, comprises carbon that is stored underground. When it is burned the CO2 adds to the atmosphere.

One of the downsides of biofuels has been their impact on the world food market, because the present generation of fuels is derived from food crops that are grown on farmland.

Another avenue of exploration is in cheap, plentiful non-food fibrous plants and cellulose materials, such as switchgrass, wood chips and straw.

But these novel sources, hampered by costs and technical complications, are struggling to reach commercial scale.

"G. roseum can make myco-diesel directly from cellulose, the main compound found in plants and paper," said Prof Strobel.

"This means that if the fungus was used to make fuel a step in the production process could be skipped."

Instead of using farmland to grow biofuels, G. roseum could be grown in factories, like baker's yeast, and its gases siphoned off to be liquefied into fuel, he suggested.

Another alternative, he said, would be to strip out the enzyme-making genes from the fungus and use this to break down the cellulose to make the biodiesel.

Prof Strobel said Montana State University had filed patents for the fungus, proceeds of which would be shared with local people.

Asked where the fungus had been found, he said the location had to be protected.

Viewed wins the Melbourne Cup at Flemmington Race Horse

Here's how they finished.

1. Viewed
2. Bauer
3. C'est La Guerre
4. Master O'Reilly
5. Profound Beauty
6. Moatize
7. Mad Rush
8. Nom du Jeu
9. Zipping
10. Newport
11. Ice Chariot
12. Guyno
13. Littorio
14. Varevees
15. Boundless
16. Red Lord
17. Prize Lady
18. Septimus
19. Barbaricus
20. Alessandro Volta
21. Honolulu (last)
Gallopin failed to finish

Melbourne Cup 2008

Viewed wins thrilling Melbourne Cup for Bart Cummings | National News | News.com.au

Viewed wins thrilling Melbourne Cup for Bart Cummings

By staff writers and wires

NEWS.com.au

November 04, 2008 03:22pm

Viewed wins Melbourne Cup
VIEWED has won this year's Melbourne Cup ahead of Bauer in a photo finish. C'est La Guerre ran third.

It was the 12th win for legendary trainer Bart Cummings but Viewed, with Blake Shinn on board, was almost run down by Bauer.

Accepting the trophy for the win Cummings said he had a habit of winning the race that stops a nation - and it was a good habit to have.

"It's great to see the Aussies succeed, not only in racing but also in cricket," he said, referring to the large number of international horses in this year's race.

Cummings said he thought the race had ended in a dead heat but Viewed won by the smallest of margins.

The win was the first Melbourne Cup win for Shinn who said it was an unbelievable feeling.

"It's one of the greatest moments in sport to be able to ride a Melbourne Cup winner,' he said.

Owner Dato Tan Nim Chan thanked Cummings' staff, who he has had a long association with, as he collected his fourth Cup trophy.


Master O'Reilly finished fourth and Profound Beauty was fifth. The winner paid $41 on the NSW TAB, with $6.90 and $8.10 for placegetters Bauer and C'est La Guerre respectively.

For those in sweeps Honolulu finished last but there could be protests from those who picked Gallopin which failed to make the 3200m distance.

Celebrities on parade

Australian sporting identities rubbed shoulders with international stars and local celebrities in the prestigious Melbourne Cup Birdcage enclosure.

Class had come back to the Melbourne Cup with classic race dresses and eye catching "hatinators" the winners in the fashion stakes, Jennifer Hawkins said.

"Everyone is going for a more classic look and hemlines are down, but it's being done in a sexy way," said Myer face Hawkins.

The former Miss Universe went full-on feminine with a floaty pink Nicola Finetti dress and headpiece laden with more than $150,000 worth of pearls.

"I wanted to be a bit girly today," she said

Lleyton Hewitt lined up to place a bet in the exclusive Emirates marquee while musical ensemble the Ten Tenors serenaded well-heeled guests nearby.

British chef Ainsley Harriott lounged on a white settee and former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist and wife Mel chatted to Emirates guests.

Elsewhere, Brighton resident Kirsty MacGillivray took out today's Myer Fashions on the Field contest, wearing a knee-length black dress and matching tailored jacket with a black and white floral fascinator.

Cheeky host Carson Kressley opened the event, which will culminate in the fashion final on Oaks Day.

"I just came from the mounting yard and it was amazing," he drawled to the crowd.

Judge Candace Bushnell, the creator of Sex and the City, heaped praise on the 10 finalists and the style of race-goers.

"I love it, I absolutely love it, the fashions are incredible and everywhere you turn there is another amazingly dressed woman," she said.

Betting big

NSW punters have outstripped their Victorian mates, wagering $51.2 million on the Melbourne Cup at Tabcorp outlets, compared with $36.5 million in Victoria, the cup's home state.

Tabcorp spokesman Nicholas Tzaferis said the figures for both states, totalling $87.7 million, were up on last year.

"But we had equine influenza last year so it's a difficult year to compare," Mr Tzaferis said.

Today's Tabcorp betting figures for the cup against 2006 figures were up for Victoria, but down for NSW.

Mr Tzaferis said it was usual for more to be bet in NSW than Victoria, despite the cup's home being Melbourne.

"Yeah absolutely, it's a national event and everyone bets on it nationally."

The West Australian TAB took bets totalling $14.3 million on the race - up more than 20 per cent on last year's turnover.

Queenslanders were expected to bet more than $23 million they wagered on last year's race.

- with AAP

catholic

Tests for would-be priests to bar gays | The Australian

Richard Owen, Rome | November 01, 2008

CANDIDATES for the Catholic priesthood should undergo psychological tests to screen out heterosexuals unable to control their sexual urges and men with strong homosexual tendencies, the Vatican says in a document released yesterday.

In the document -- the second in three years to deal with the effects of a sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the church since it first emerged six years ago -- the Vatican says the early detection of "sometimes pathological" psychological defects of men before they become priests would help avoid tragic experiences.

Seminary rectors and other officials should use outside experts if they cannot handle the screening themselves, it says.

"The church ... has a duty of discerning a vocation and the suitability of candidates for the priestly ministry," says the document from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education.

"The priestly ministry ... requires certain abilities as well as moral and theological virtues, which are supported by a human and psychic -- and particularly affective -- equilibrium, so as to allow the subject to be adequately predisposed for giving of himself in the celibate life."

Vatican officials said the tests would not be obligatory but decided on a case-by-case basis when seminary rectors wanted to be sure a man was qualified for the priesthood.

The testing by a psychologist or psychotherapist should aim to detect "grave immaturity" and imbalances in the candidates' personalities, the document says.

"Such areas of immaturity would include strong affective dependencies; notable lack of freedom in relations; excessive rigidity of character; lack of loyalty; uncertain sexual identity; deep-seated homosexual tendencies, etc. If this should be the case, the path of formation will have to be interrupted," it says.

The Vatican says it is "not enough to be sure that (a candidate) is capable of abstaining from sexual activity". Seminary rectors also need to "evaluate his sexual orientation".

At a news conference, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, head of the Vatican department that prepared the document, was asked why a man with deep-seated homosexual tendencies could not become a priest, while one with deep-seated heterosexual tendencies could.

Cardinal Grocholewski said homosexuality was "a deviation, an irregularity and a wound" that did not allow priests to carry out their mission properly.

The sexual abuse scandal, first uncovered in the US in 2002, spread throughout the world and mostly involved abuse of teenage boys by priests.

Gay groups have accused the church of using homosexuals as scapegoats for the abuse scandals.

The Vatican document says men with strong homosexual tendencies should not be admitted to the priesthood but it also makes references to the control of heterosexual urges.

Men should be barred from entering the priesthood if psychological testing makes it "evident that the candidate has difficulty living chastity in celibacy: that is, if celibacy for him is lived as a burden so heavy that it compromises his affective and relational equilibrium".

Rectors cannot force candidates to undergo psychological testing, but the main purpose of the document seems to be to encourage its use to avoid future scandals.

The Times