from Crikey ….. 

Pollie bludgers: Should they stay or should they go? 

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes: 

Former prime minister John Howard has hit out at several of the Rudd Government's policies while giving a major speech in the United States. 

Mr Howard has given an address at a gala dinner for the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. 

For more than a decade the Howard government told us we had choice. Now the Liberal Party has a choice. Marise Payne('…and Libs need to be more liberal', March 5) reminds us that the party was once a broad church, essentially the creation of Robert Menzies who knew the way back from the former United Australia Party was to create a party of the 'moral middleclass'. 

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC), which produces 40 per cent of the world's oil, appears set to ignore US President George W Bush's 11th-hour demand that the cartel increase oil output at its ministerial meeting. 

Mr Bush, whose nation is the world's biggest energy consumer, said it would be a 'mistake' by OPEC not to hike production to help bring down record-high oil prices of above $US100 when the organisation meets in Vienna on Wednesday.

US President George Bush told Russian president-elect Dmitry Medvedev by telephone that he hopes they can have a 'close working relationship', the White House said. 

Chuck Norris supports our troops. This means Huckabee will bring them all home honorably.  

Mike Huckabee Ad: "Chuck Norris Approved" 

Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson's approval rating as preferred prime minister has sunk to a new low of just 7 per cent in the latest poll out today. 

The Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper has Dr Nelson's rating slipping two points from its previous low of 9 per cent. 

More than any other issue, the question of ‘who is a Jew’ has repeatedly roiled relations between Israel and American Jewry.  

Psychologically, it is an argument over who belongs to the family. In the past, the casus belli was conversion: Would the Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to any Jew coming to Israel, apply to those converted to Judaism by non-Orthodox rabbis?  

Israeli troops turned heavy firepower on rocket squads bombarding southern Israel Saturday, killing 54 Palestinians in the deadliest day in Gaza since the current round of fighting erupted in 2000.  

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in the clashes, the military said.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his handpicked successor Dmitry Medvedev on his projected presidential poll victory, at a rock concert on Red Square. 

"I congratulate (Medvedev) and wish him success," Putin said, standing beside Medvedev in front of a cheering crowd under the pouring rain. 

Gus: Turnbull 'saved' $40 million …..

Malcolm Turnbull says the $10 million grant was only one fifth of what was requested for the trail. (AAP: Mark Graham). 

The Federal Government says Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull has some explaining to do over an generous grant he made at the start of last years election campaign.

Bush has bankrupted America... financially and morally. And he seems proud of it... 

Gates said he sympathised with the Turks’ concern about cross-border raids by Kurdish rebels ….. 

Gates warns Turkey not to invade Iraq - USATODAY.com 

For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report. 

Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails.

To cancel one high-level Franco-German meeting is unfortunate.

To cancel two in less than a week implies a bank of freezing fog is descending over the Rhine.