Vindictive Gay activists

An Earl has been banned from holding weddings at his 600-year-old castle after refusing to allow a gay marriage.
The Earl of Devon, Hugh Courtenay, has had the licence to hold civil ceremonies at Powderham Castle near Exeter revoked by Devon County Council.
It is thought to be the first case of its kind in the country [...]

Faked footage inspires suicide bombers

See some of the footage at website The Second Draft.
Locally, it was reported by The Daily Telegraph, The Australian, The Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald, the latter stating unequivocally that “Rami (sic) Al-dura, 12 (was) killed by Israel fire while cradled in his father’s arms”.
Invocations of the young al-Durra’s death became a regular [...]

Careful what you wish for…

Departmental secretary Terry Moran said in a statement the AFP probe into “the unauthorised disclosure of cabinet material” would commence immediately. He said he would launch a departmental review into arrangements for access and distribution of cabinet papers.
Mr Rudd said he was “absolutely confident” the leak did not come from cabinet, leaving only the bureaucracy [...]

Cultural sensitivity for all

I have been an atheist for my entire life, but generally I do not feel the need to try to convince others that my understanding of the universe is definitively correct(which of course it is ). My default position is always that every individual is entitled to believe what they please [...]

I just love this sort of stuff…

It is the first time a spacecraft has successfully landed at one of the planet’s polar regions. The last attempt in 1999 failed, adding to Mars’s reputation as the Bermuda Triangle of the solar system. Half of all robotic probes sent to explore the Red Planet have failed or vanished, sometimes without a trace. Only [...]

Ding dong the witch is dead!!!!!

REVILED child killer Valmae Beck has died at age 64, alone in Townsville Hospital, before police could interview her over unsolved crimes.
No next of kin were with Beck when she was declared dead at 6.15pm, more than three weeks after she was admitted to hospital suffering shortness of breath.
Beck, who changed her name to Fay [...]

Petrol argy bargy ends Labor honeymoon with the Australian people

A DEEP split has emerged within the Rudd Government over petrol, with Resources Minister Martin Ferguson warning its planned Fuel Watch price monitoring system will fail working families, crush small businesses and tarnish Kevin Rudd’s economic reform credentials.
In a letter to senior colleagues obtained by The Australian yesterday, Mr Ferguson attacked the Fuel Watch scheme [...]

Tax on tax

The GST is imposed on the total price of petrol, including the 38.1c in government excise, leading to accusations that it is a “tax on a tax”.
Critics also point to the fact the Government’s take rises in line with spiralling fuel prices.
This means that a sustained 50c-per-litre rise in petrol prices over six months delivers [...]

Child abuse 2

THE art world has denounced a “dark day in Australian culture” after police seized up to 21 photographs of naked child models and said they would lay charges over an exhibition by the renowned artist Bill Henson.
While the Prime Minister described the works as “revolting” and devoid of artistic merit, the art community and former [...]

child abuse 1

A FAMILY court judge has allowed a 12-year-old girl to start a taxpayer-funded sex change procedure – in the face of objections from the child’s own father.
The girl, who cannot be named, has begun court-approved hormone treatment in the first step towards a total gender switch.
Orders by the Family Court of Victoria also permit the [...]

Melbourne’s ambulance service won’t reinstate him…

A PARAMEDIC cleared of sexually assaulting a drug-affected patient is shattered that Melbourne’s ambulance service won’t reinstate him.
Simon Howe, 32, was found not guilty of digital rape and indecent assault by the County Court this week and now wants his job back.
But the Metropolitan Ambulance Service yesterday claimed he was sacked for breaching his employment [...]

Decisive Tory victory in Crewe by-election

A jubilant Mr Cameron claimed Labour had paid the price for it’s ‘anti-toff’ campaign and said he would now start building a ‘broad coalition’ ready for power.
But the premier appeared defiant, insisting the humiliating defeat which saw the Tories clock up a majority of almost 8,000 was not his fault but due to the economy.
While [...]

Taking responsibility

The frisson that surrounds Gordon Ramsay is rather strange in my book, he does seem rather too keen to use “fuck” or “fucking” as a universal conjunctive for my tastes, but he does have the right sort of ideas when it comes to running a business. You know the basics like good service and a [...]

Israeli cool

WELLINGTON – An Israeli tourist tired of wolf whistles from road workers in New Zealand stripped off her clothes in a show of defiance, police say.
The woman was about to use an ATM in the main street of Kerikeri, in the far north of the country, when the men whistled, the New Zealand Press Association [...]

The cat among the pigeons

I wonder if I dare post this because the last time I wrote something about differentials in IQ results I was vilified by some of the usual suspects. None the less it is an interesting notion that having a meritocracy actually mitigates against social equality especially over several generations.
Dr Bruce Charlton said the domination of [...]