Westpac has ruled out raising interest rates before the Reserve Bank meeting next month, putting pressure on rivals to also commit to a freeze on mortgage pricing.

A surprise decision by the central bank to keep cash rates on hold has proved a setback for the big four, which had been looking to push through additional rate rises on mortgages to recoup higher funding costs.

The Australian dollar plunged nearly 1¢ to US95.74¢ after the Reserve opted to keep rates unchanged, the biggest fall in six weeks as investors lowered their expectations of future interest rate rises.

Picture by Gus

The Sun's influence on modern-day global warming may have been overestimated, a study suggests.

Scientists found unexpected patterns in solar output in the years 2004-2007, which challenge existing models.

However, they caution that three years of data are not enough to draw firm conclusions about long-term trends.

Writing in the journal Nature, they say it may become necessary to revise the way that solar influences are dealt with in computer models of the climate.

"Technology has made virtually anything possible," says Neill Denny, editor-in-chief of the publishing industry magazine The Bookseller. "If you look at it conceptually – there's a five-link chain between the person who writes and the person who reads. You've got Author-Agent- Publisher-Retailer-Reader. Theoretically, the three middle bits could all now vanish and the author could write online directly to the reader."

picture by Gus

I have been having a running dialog with one Dr. Elias Akleh. My last post in response to one of his can be read by clicking on the following... ZIONISM vs JUDAISM ... AND THE DEMONIZATION OF THE JEWS

I did some searching on the Net and found three excellent videos that deal with the question of zionism and Judaism.... THERE DEFINITELY IS A DIFFERENCE!

I invite Dr. Akleh, as well as all of my readers to view these videos and come to your own conclusions.

The Federal Opposition has accused Prime Minister Julia Gillard of playing dangerous political games over the war in Afghanistan.

Ms Gillard's office invited Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to accompany her on her weekend trip to visit Australian troops in Afghanistan as a show of bipartisan support for the war effort.

The invitation came after a week in which the Opposition called for more men and materiel, including tanks, to be sent to bolster Australia's troops in the strife-torn country.

The Liberal Party has said - predictably - that Australia should send more troops to Afghanistan. The party should learn more from past mistakes.

The Australian commitment is already much greater for our size than that of most NATO countries. As each month passes, Afghanistan reminds me more and more of past failures in which we have supported the US militarily.

The first was Vietnam. It was not an obligation under ANZUS. It was specifically stated that ANZUS did not apply. The bare bones of the ANZUS commitment is limited geographically and is also limited to a commitment to consult. It is not a commitment to defend. It is a markedly different treaty to NATO.

NASHVILLE — Happy-hour beers were going for $5 at Past Perfect, a cavernous bar just off this city’s strip of honky-tonks and tourist shops when Adam Ringenberg walked in with a loaded 9-millimeter pistol in the front pocket of his gray slacks.

From Chris Floyd

President Barack Obama is losing his strong right arm. Dark days lie ahead, in which the president will lose traction with Congress, needlessly offend key constituencies, lose control of his legislative agenda. Why? His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is quitting the White House, maybe to try and become mayor of Chicago, certainly to cash in and make a bundle on Wall Street.

The NSW Nationals have accepted $16,500 from tobacco companies this year, exposing the Coalition to more criticism from the Labor Party, which refuses to take tobacco company donations.

According to the Nationals' latest donations and expenditure disclosure lodged with the Election Funding Authority, British American Tobacco donated $13,200 to the party in April, while Philip Morris donated $3300 in March.

from Crikey .....

Barns: the legality of sending Afghanis home

Greg Barns writes:

Sometimes it's the little things in the big stories that catch your eye.

It's official - we hate them: more than ever.

The primary vote splintered on August 21 to reveal two politicians deeply disliked by the country. In terms of the proportion of the Australian electorate each major party leader convinced to vote for them, we're at historic lows.

As former ACT pollie, Michael Moore, calculates, Tony Abbott, with a primary vote of 38.4%, ranks 39 out of 50, measuring the two-leader vote from the last 25 federal polls. The proposition that Tony Abbott has run 'the best campaign as opposition leader never to win government' is so ludicrous it is outrageous.

Let's not beat about the bush: putting a price on carbon means asking people to pay more for electricity and other carbon-intensive activities. So how much are we willing to pay?

Tony Abbott thinks the answer is nothing. The opposition imagines it has discovered the political equivalent of Mortein: just one spray about ''a great big new tax on everything'' will knock any policy proposal dead.

I suspect most Australians want to have their climate cake and eat it, too; we want action to curb climate change, but we don't want to pay for it.