For scientists, today is D-day: the long-awaited moment when they fire the first sub-atomic particles round the world's largest particle accelerator in search of the keys to the cosmos.  

from Crikey ….. 

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes: 

That hissing sound is the Peter Costello bubble deflating. 

Former NSW planning minister Frank Sartor says he feels cheated, claiming Premier Nathan Rees has made a mistake in dropping him from the front bench. 

The new Premier Nathan Rees has made a guarantee to the people of NSW - he will work every waking hour between now and the next election to give taxpayers the standard of services they deserve. 

At a media conference after being sworn in as NSW Premier after the sudden departure of Morris Iemma today, he agreed that he was short on parliamentary experience but said that he brought a lot of life experience to the job. 

Outgoing New South Wales premier Morris Iemma has announced he is leaving politics altogether. 

At a press conference to explain his reasons for leaving his position as premier, he said he was also resigning as member for Lakemba to concentrate on being a husband and father. 

Sarah Palin is part of a frontier myth that goes back to the earliest years of the Republic: the beautiful, intrepid frontierswoman, shoulder to shoulder with her man, firing at the redskins circling the wagon and dispatching the roaring grizzly with a steady aim as it towers over her infant's cradle.  

from Crikey ….. 

Richard Farmer writes: 

The parliamentary theatre of the absurd

Senator McCain, 72, touted what he said were decades of working across the political aisle to solve problems, contrasting his record with that of Democratic nominee Barack Obama whom he faces in November's election.

'That's how I will govern as president. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again,' he said.

Greens Leader Bob Brown has accused Family First Senator Steve Fielding of inexperience for killing off the luxury car tax bill before it could be further debated. 

Senator Fielding sided with the Opposition this morning to oppose the bill, which would have raised taxes on cars over $57,000 from 25 per cent to 33 per cent. 

"The State, completely in its genesis, essentially and almost completely during the first stages of its existence, is a social institution, forced by a victorious group of men on a defeated group, with the sole purpose of regulating the dominion of the victorious group over the vanquished, and securing itself against the revolt from within and attacks from abroad.  

The world arrived here more than a century ago with the gold rush and later the railroad. Yet one aspect of American life did not come to town until 1996, the year Sarah Palin ran for mayor and Wasilla got its first local lesson in wedge politics. 

Palin's daughter is pregnant, get over it. 

The 17-year-old daughter of Alaska governor Sarah Palin is pregnant. If not for the fact that Senator John McCain has chosen Palin to be his running mate, would we care? I doubt it. 

from Crikey …..

Union buster Iemma writes for scab Herald 

Russia's conflict with Georgia is the sign of a 'weak' Russian nation, not a newly assertive one, and Moscow now has put its place in the world order at risk, the top U.S. diplomat for relations with the country said in an interview yesterday. 

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone is to work as a consultant for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. 

Mr Livingstone, who has long been a supporter of Mr Chavez, will advise pro-government mayors in the capital Caracas on urban planning.