from Crikey .....

Meet Bob Katter, aka B Joyce ... and Andrew Robb, aka J Hockey

Glenn Dyer writes:

The Israeli cabinet has approved a controversial bill that would require all non-Jews taking Israeli citizenship to swear loyalty to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state".

The law, which has angered Israel's Arab minority, still has to be passed by the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

A similar measure was rejected by the cabinet in May 2009.

If approved, the new law will affect a small number of non-Jews who seek Israeli citizenship.

Correspondents say it will mainly apply to Palestinians married to Israelis who seek citizenship on the basis of family re-unification, foreign workers, and a few other special cases.

Abbott accuses Gillard of leaking the fact that she had invited him to join her to visit Afghanistan a week earlier, but that he had declined.

"I regard it as an act of low bastardry given what Gillard knew based on the conversation I'd had with her personally," Abbott charged.

Even by the robust standards of Australian political biffo, this is a startling insult.

The worst part for Abbott was that he couldn't defend himself. Politicians' visits to Afghanistan are secret till they're over. That's why he was left blathering about jet lag.

from getup .....

It's hard to believe this is happening in Australia. On Tuesday a young couple from Cairns will go on criminal trial for attempting to have an abortion.

Teagan was just 19 years old when she was charged under archaic 111 year old laws that classify abortion as a criminal 'offence against morality'. If found guilty, she faces up to 7 years imprisonment.

How can this happen in Australia? Because in Queensland, and in other states, abortion is still illegal in the criminal code. And despite the fact that 90% of Australians believe early-term abortions should be legal, an extreme minority has our politicians scared into inaction.

In a recent Rolling Stone magazine interview, you spoke of this administrations commitment to civil rights while simultaneously insulting the intelligence of those who are concerned with civil liberties. It is this administrations actual record on civil liberties, a record that is in fact worse than the preceding one, that is both clearly inexcusable and dangerously irresponsible.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday summoned the Australian High Commissioner over the racist email scandal involving top Victorian police officers joking about an Indian train passenger's electrocution.

In a shocking incident, top Australian police officers were caught in a racist e-mail scandal joking about the electrocution of an Indian train passenger and suggesting that it could be "a way to fix the Indian student problem" in Melbourne.

China is now the largest importer of Middle Eastern oil and the largest exporter to the region, replacing the United States. Trade relations are growing fast, doubling in the past five years.

The implications for world order are significant, as is the quiet rise of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes much of Asia but has banned the U.S.-potentially "a new energy cartel involving both producers and consumers," observes economist Stephen King, author of Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity.

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.