White smoke reveals next pope: The Roman Catholic Church elected Germany's Joseph Ratzinger as its first new pope of the third millennium. It was done without an electoral battle, and without propaganda ... it was a miracle predicted by the omnipresent Google ;-D and the Media Dragon Joseph Ratzinger, elected pope today, from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. He chose the name of Benedict XVI ; Text of New Pope's First Speech. See sea of Google links on Benedict XVI
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: The Loner: Inside a Labor Tragedy
It was an intimate dinner with a high price tag. A half-dozen business chiefs had gathered at the Sydney home of investment banker Paul Binstead to meet the Labor wunderkind Mark Latham. The entry price was $10,000 a plate and, along with Latham, NSW Premier Bob Carr had ventured out to Binstead's home on Sydney's leafy north shore.
It was mid-July last year and the ALP fundraising machine was in full swing, trying to shore up the party's bank accounts ahead of the federal poll. But if Binstead expected Latham to be gracious over his generosity, he was to be disappointed.
Jumping out of his commonwealth car, Latham looked over the up-market residence before saying to Binstead: "Who did you have to rip-off to pay for this?" The incident left a sour taste, but for many in the ALP it was typical of Latham's dismissive treatment of business. Latham was sullen at best, rude at worst when he was guest of honour at party fundraisers. He turned on chief executives with alarming regularity and would often speak for just a few minutes before heading for the door, leaving embarrassed party officials to try to explain away his ungracious behaviour. While this churlish attitude was effectively hushed up by party minders before the October 9 poll, there has been a steady release of anecdotes and vignettes over the past few months. And there is much more to come.
Full of human drama and political intrigue, this is the inside story of the meteoric rise and the tragic fall of the man who was to be Labor's saviour.
• Steve Lewis: For Labor it's once more unto the breach [Like Ross Coulthart, Bernard Lagan has New Zealand roots. Rebecca Kaiser of Allen & Unwin fame describes Berno is a highly respected veteran political reporter who has covered Latham's career since 1988 ISBN: 1741145155; It's a far cry from Mark Latham's last public appearance, Latham on track: I am falling like a stone, like a storm being born again ... ; What a Champion ]
• · A Lad Made Good ; The AussieSeek World Radio Talk Back Community Forums ALP and Latham ; Bernard Lagan's exposé on Latham Latham's biographers
• · · Lagan was able to tap into the boss's E-mail, because it seems the boss had defied elementary Internet strategy and good practice ; A drop in criminal offences has a lot to do with heroin, and a little to do with heroes Why it's not prime time for crime ; Bob Carr yesterday spent $35,000 of your money on a series of boastful election-style radio advertisements making political mileage from the hard work of NSW police In yet another example of Government spin
• · · · By all accounts, Renae Lawrence was desperate for money. For death row inmates in Indonesia, execution usually comes on a deserted beach or remote jungle at the hands of a paramilitary firing squad. Fast food workers who couldn't resist fast cash; Death by firing squad is rarely fast ; Webdiary: Bali busts: our road to a new form of fascism
• · · · · Royal commission into shooting ruled out ; Rau cell had spy mirror, inspection finds
• · · · · · Sydney Airport's chief executive, Max Moore Wilton, has vehemently rejected criticism from the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, of the airport's proposed retail and car park redevelopment, saying her arguments are badly researched and outdated. Criticism flies over airport plan ; Telstra has announced this morning it will invest $A204.32 million in the Asian joint venture (IM)REACH Ltd. ; Two states will not buckle: NSW opposes GST funding compromise deal ; East coast towns welcome proposed railway line Carr scathing about proposed $3bn rail line