DISTRICT recreational hunters have defended a bill that will give shooters entry into the state’s national parks should the controversial legislation be passed by lawmakers this week.

A Shooters Party bill before the NSW parliament would permit the hunting of native and non-native animals including kangaroos and 28 species of birds like galahs, cockatoos and swans in most of the state’s 780 national parks and reserves.

Mt Trafalgar, Kimberleys. Picture by Gus.

An environmental group says an oil spill in the Timor Sea off the West Australian coast is worse than it feared.

The World Wide Fund for Nature has completed a three day boat trip of the area and says the spill is having a significant impact on marine life.

The West Atlas oil rig operated by PTTEP Australasia has been leaking oil for nine weeks.

A team of engineers will make a fourth attempt to plug the leak today.

Tony Blair had to be rescued by bodyguards as he visited a West Bank mosque yesterday when a Palestinian man approached him shouting: 'You are a terrorist!'

The security breach occurred as the former prime minister was visiting an ancient mosque during an official trip to the city of Hebron.

The protester, a local man carrying a bag who was praying when Mr Blair and his entourage entered, was backed into a corner by guards who tried to shut him up.

Anti-fascist protesters are now gathering outside BBC Television Centre in London ahead of his arrival later today, amid fears of clashes with BNP supporters.

Mr Griffin claimed the BBC was 'institutionally biased' towards him but praised the corporation for allowing him to appear: 'Thank you, Auntie.'

He also said the BNP had enjoyed its 'best ever single day' with telephone donations on Tuesday after he compared Britain's military generals to Nazi war criminals.

The party's website attracted 77,000 unique visitors, second only to the day he was elected to the European Parliament in June. 

'I thank the political class and their allies for being so stupid.

An email is doing the rounds at the moment...

Here is part of it:

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from the Guardian

...

Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, has launched a blistering attack on Britain's banks, describing the £1tn government support given to them as "breathtaking".

In an outspoken speech last night, in which he made his clearest call yet for the banks to be broken up, King warned that the British people will be paying for the cost of the financial crisis for a generation.

from Crikey .....

Tax Office won't prosecute Australia's worst tax cheat

Tax consultant and former ATO audit manager Chris Seage writes:

The winners of a quiz organised by Somali Islamists have been given weapons and ammunition as prizes.

Prizes included AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades and an anti-tank mine.

The quiz ran during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in the port city of Kismayo, and included questions about the Koran and Somali geography.

A representative for the al-Shabab militant group said the quiz aimed to stop young men from wasting their time and focus on defending their territory.

With US and NATO commanders on the battlefield of Afghanistan calling for more troops, how best to defeat the Taliban is being hotly debated by Washington's policy-makers and their media pundits.

Yet, nowhere are the types of questions posed by Arundhati Roy (the acclaimed Indian novelist and social activist) on a recent visit to Pakistan to be heard in the mainstream US discourse. Clarifying the purpose of her trip during an address at the Karachi Press Club, she stated, "I'm here to understand what you mean when you say Taliban...Do you mean a militant? Do you mean an ideology? Exactly what is it that is being fought?"

President Obama promised to usher in a new era of government transparency when he was sworn into office nine months ago.

On January 21, Obama signed an executive order instructing all federal agencies and departments to "adopt a presumption in favour" of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and promised to make the federal government more transparent.

Of the Greek rubber chicken...

From the SMH, Anthony Ackroyd
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"Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew." These are the words of Guillaume Apollinaire, a French writer well-credentialled as an artist who lived at the edge.
...
To put it bluntly, a rubber sword won't cut through the bullshit, and that is one of the most vital functions of comedy.
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keels of contention...

Our heroes who are inspiration to most of our democratic ideals, often are not democratic. Just who cares? They have attributes of folly that succeed in slaying the dragons.... In a democracy, there would have been an endless array of general meetings on why the dragons would have to be protected — or cut to pieces in times of famine...

The British oil trader Trafigura has offered to pay out in a historic damages claim from 31,000 Africans injured by the dumping of toxic waste in one of the worst pollution disasters in recent history, the Guardian can reveal.

The compensation deal for the victims of toxic oil waste dumping in west Africa - likely to be confirmed imminently - means the full extent of attempts to cover up what really happened can be spelled out for the first time.