Retired general: Gays made Dutch weak in Bosnia

WASHINGTON — A retired U.S. general says Dutch troops failed to defend against the 1995 genocide in the Bosnian war because the army was weakened, partly because it included openly gay soldiers.

Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott traded bitter blows on health policy as the last Question Time until May descended into chaos.

Six MPs were ejected as debate raged between the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader over which side had better health credentials.

Mr Rudd and Mr Abbott have now agreed to go head to head on the issue at the National Press Club next Tuesday.

The stoush started when the Government attempted to ambush Mr Abbott by suspending Question Time in order to make Mr Abbott outline whether or not he would support Labor's hospital reform plans.

Steve Fielding, the Family First senator and creationist identified as more stupid than an earthworm by visiting English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, appears to have taken the classification literally and gone underground.

For days Canberra's ABC radio afternoon shift announcer Genevieve Jacobs had spruiked the senator's appearance on her bravely oxymoronic ''Pollies Without Politics'' segment.

A Liberal Senator has accused the Federal Government of turning the CSIRO into a political puppet on the issue of climate change.

Victorian Senator Julian McGauran made the comments following the release of a CSIRO report which concluded that climate change is affecting Australia and humans are contributing to it.

Senator McGauran says the organisation has been stripped of its independence and is doing the bidding of the Minister for Science, Kim Carr.

"Minister Carr without doubt has wandered through the CSIRO offices, intimidating the scientists and the executive to do as they're told," he said.

The rise of a new conservative grass roots fueled by a secular revulsion at government spending is stirring fears among leaders of the old conservative grass roots, the evangelical Christian right.

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The image above (Gus picture of a spider eating a fly that the spider has wrapped up in a cocoon) is representative of how we've manipulated our nature to believe and how we behave. We have augmented our natural needs of consumption into an art form, in which we cannibalise our environment by being too successful with bullshit — a concept allowed to be by our pinch of too much faith...

The New South Wales Greens have raised concerns about new gun laws which mean security guards can now carry high-powered firearms.

The new regulations were gazetted just before Christmas, and in parliament this week the Greens unsuccessfully tried to disallow them.

The Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says it is an unwarranted relaxation of gun laws.

"Security guards will have more powerful weapons," she said.

"Weapons that have been used in massacres here and overseas."

Under the changes a security guard will need authorisation from the Police Commissioner to be given access to the weapons.

(Gosse's Bluff, Australia)

The New South Wales opposition leader Barry O'Farrell has shrugged off reports of a back-handed insult from his party's federal leader.

Tony Abbott is reported to have told a partyroom meeting yesterday that the federal opposition would not win the next election by adopting a 'Barry O'Farrell-style small target strategy.'

The comments have been gleefully picked up by the state Treasurer Eric Roozendaal who brought a picture of a very small target into the Upper House question time.

He says it is a severe indictment.

"Even your pin up boy is saying what you are saying behind Barry O'Farrell's back," he said.

Silvio Berlusconi has been accused of persecuting the family of the murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. Walter Litvinenko, the former KGB agent's father, says the Italian PM’s chummy relationship with Vladimir Putin must be behind repeated delays in processing his request for asylum in Italy where he now lives. And the 71-year-old says his family have been harassed by local police, their business closed down - and are now dependent on charity.

Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry has thrown his weight behind calls for a Senate inquiry into the Church of Scientology, saying the church's teachings are putting Australians' lives at risk.

Professor McGorry, a world-renowned youth mental health expert, and two other respected Australian psychiatrists are supporting independent Senator Nick Xenophon's efforts to set up an investigation into the church's activities and its teachings on psychiatric care.

Professor McGorry says it is time to put the Church of Scientology under the federal parliamentary microscope.

US Vice-President Joe Biden has condemned Israel's approval of 1,600 new homes for ultra-Orthodox Jews in East Jerusalem.

Mr Biden, in Israel as part of US attempts to kick-start the peace process, said it was "the kind of step that undermines the trust we need".

Palestinian leaders also condemned the controversial move.

Israel insisted it was a procedural step with no connection to Mr Biden's visit.

from the ABC

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has apologised to his colleagues for not consulting them before announcing a Coalition plan for a paid parental leave scheme.

Facing Coalition MPs today in the wake of the announcement, Mr Abbott said sometimes it was necessary to make a "leader's call" over some issues, and "sometimes it is better to ask forgiveness than permission".

A joint partyroom meeting today saw almost 20 MPs speak about the plan, which would see Australia's biggest businesses taxed by an extra 1.7 per cent.