The deputy leader of pork-barrelling, Mark Vaile, has criticised the Audit Office for making public its 1200 page audit of the Regional Partnerships Program, a claim Labor called "an outrageous slur" on the independence of the Auditor-General. 

On Remembrance Day 2007 – Veterans Day in America – the great and the good bowed their heads at the Cenotaph. Generals, politicians, newsreaders, football managers and stock-market traders wore their poppies. Hypocrisy was a presence. 

No one mentioned Iraq.  

Labor fudging election figures: Minchin 

The federal Coalition says its tally of Labor's election promises proves the Opposition is no more economically conservative than the Government. 

 

 

Bush Vetoes Major Domestic Spending Measure 

 

 

from Crikey ….. 

A world class exhibition of weaselling 

Mungo MacCallum writes: 

Howard rejects inflation concerns 

Prime Minister John Howard has spent much of the day fending off questions about whether his election promises will fuel inflation. 

Mr Howard announced more than $9 billion worth of promises yesterday at the Coalition campaign launch in Brisbane. 

A high profile terror case was abandoned before it got to trial today after a judge found that two ASIO officers had kidnapped and falsely imprisoned a young medical student, Izhar ul-Haque. 

Mr ul-Haque's lawyer, Adam Houda, later accused authorities of launching a politically motivated and "moronic prosecution" against his client. 

We want to help Australians get ahead: PM 

Prime Minister John Howard has told the audience at the Coalition's official election launch in Brisbane that the best years of the nation lie ahead. 

'This election is about the future of our great nation, not the past,' he said. 

It’s never easy to be a Christian, but lately it’s been tough for the wrong reasons. 

Confessing Jesus Christ as the Son of God has earned folks censure, exile, dispossession, torture, and death in most times and places.  

Howard planning spending spree: Labor 

Federal Labor is warning that Prime Minister John Howard will go on an irresponsible spending spree at the Coalition's election campaign launch tomorrow. 

from Crikey ….. 

So often there is one moment in an election that becomes emblematic of that campaign.  

Howard to pitch for family vote 

The Federal Coalition will unveil measures to improve housing affordability and give extra support for carers in a range of family-friendly policies at its official campaign launch in Brisbane today. 

The whole bloody thing is turning into a fiasco. I'm still amazed that the Australian media haven't arced up more on the obvious double-violation by ASIO in that they undoubtedly used improperly held US intel to make their adverse security classification. Quick refresher time: A Defense document shows that Army analysts wrote a report on the Halliburton protest and stored it in CIFA [US Army's Counterintelligence Field Activity]] 's database. It's not clear why the Pentagon considered the protest worthy of attention--although organizer Parkin had previously been arrested while demonstrating at ExxonMobil headquarters (the charges were dropped). But there are now questions about whether CIFA exceeded its authority and conducted unauthorized spying on innocent people and organizations.

 

The neo-conservative project is crashing.