Is she Miss USA or "Miss Hezbollah USA"?

Some right-wing American bloggers are convinced Rima Fakih is the latter.

When the sparkling tiara was placed atop the Lebanese-born Shiite Muslim's long, dark tresses on Sunday night, making the 24-year-old marketing executive from Dearborn, Mich., the first Muslim woman to win the Miss USA contest, it was just much for some conservative commentators. 

The Federal Opposition is in damage control again after Joe Hockey's appearance at the Press Club descended into what even his own colleagues admit was a "shemozzle" yesterday.

Last week Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told the House of Representatives that Mr Hockey would use yesterday's lunchtime speech to give details of the Coalition's proposed budget savings.

But Mr Hockey's speech did not contain any concrete detail on the savings, a task that was left to finance spokesman Andrew Robb, who briefed journalists on the cuts after Mr Hockey made his exit.

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced that a new package of sanctions against Iran had been approved by the major powers and would be sent to the UN Security Council later in the day.

In case anyone overlooked the significance of this action, which followed by one day the announcement by Brazil and Turkey of the successful conclusion of their negotiations with Iran, she added: "I think this announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide."

from Crikey .....

Tony Abbott's struggle with the truth

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

Treasury secretary Ken Henry says there is reason to be sceptical about some of the doomsday predictions sparked by the proposed resources tax changes.

In his annual post-budget address to economists, Dr Henry has argued similar predictions have been made in the past by the mining industry and have not eventuated.

He says some of the commentary around the tax has been confused and incorrect, and he has taken aim at the mining industry's outcry.

"In the last four decades numerous predictions have been made of large scale unemployment and the death of manufacturing, decrying deregulation, decrying tariff cuts and decrying mineral booms," he said.

Google has admitted that for the past three years it has wrongly collected information people have sent over unencrypted wi-fi networks.

The issue came to light after German authorities asked to audit the data the company's Street View cars gathered as they took photos viewed on Google maps.

Google said during a review it found it had "been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open networks".

The admission will increase concerns about potential privacy breaches.

These snippets could include parts of an email, text or photograph or even the website someone may be viewing.

"Well, obviously oppositions have to do two things. First of all, they have to mount an effective critique of the Government and I think we’ve been doing that. Second, they’ve got to present as a credible alternative, they’ve got to convince people that life would be different and better if there was a change and that’s what we’re doing, I hope"

--------------------------

The US government has demanded immediate clarification from BP over its commitment to pay for costs caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Obama administration said it wanted to be sure BP would honour commitments not to limit payments for damages to a US statutory cap of $75m (£50m).

Meanwhile, BP says oil dispersants applied at the source of the leak on Friday have begun to take effect.

Mississippi has become the third US state to have oil wash up on its coast.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8684912.stm

We need to talk about Kevin. Not the homicidal sociopath of Lionel Shriver's grisly best-selling novel, but the Kevin who, until a few weeks ago, was the most popular prime minister of all time.

The fall has been spectacular. Flying too close to the sun, the wax in the wings melted and Icarus plummeted to earth. So contemporary wisdom would have it.

Yet there is rather more to it than that. In the past 18 months there has been a relentless media campaign to destroy the Rudd government, the most savage onslaught upon a federal Labor administration since the Whitlam years.

from Crikey .....

Guthrie wins out in unfair dismissal case, judge slams Harto & Blunden

Andrew Crook writes:

The New South Wales Government has announced it will block the proposed Bickham coal mine in the Upper Hunter Valley near Scone.

The mine has been strongly opposed by locals in the area, who say their farming activities and horse studs would be adversely affected for little gain.

Premier Kristina Keneally says the project was assessed on its merits and they did not stack up.

She says she will amend government policy to stop similar proposals in the future.

"The Government will not allow the Bickham coal mine proposal to proceed," she said.

Volunteers cleaning a beach in Louisiana

Nobody heard him, the dead man,

But still he lay moaning:

I was much further out than you thought

And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking

And now he's dead

It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,

They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always

(Still the dead one lay moaning)

I was much too far out all my life

And not waving but drowning.

- Stevie Smith

from Crikey .....

Fee gouging: banks may take it up the class (action)

Adam Schwab writes: