About

GLEN  - (Host)

A busy day today chasing down details of the reported tsunami following the large earthquake off Samoa.
Great work from the breakfast team staying up to date with a changing situation. Very glad to hear it didn’t turn out as badly as it could have - something you don’t know while broadcasting and so you have to treat it with the gravity it deserves. Better safe than sorry, as the recent Black Saturday bushfires showed. By the way, listen for an interesting chat about Australian disasters on the show tomorrow that suggests many Australian disasters have been much worse than they needed to be and that could partly be our fault.

—

Further to my previous warnings about online viruses and the like:

Microsoft today released free software that people can use to protect computers against viruses, spyware and other malicious codes in arsenals of cyber criminals.

Microsoft Security Essentials is available for download at microsoft.com/security_essentials and is built on technology that the global software giant uses in computer security programs it designs for businesses.

Computer security specialty firm Symantec downplayed the Microsoft offering, saying it is lightweight and isn’t tuned for new forms of attack being used by hackers.

But they would say that about their competition I suppose.

—

In the ‘ It’s a strange world department’ - from the wires:

Travellers on the metro in the US capital risk coming facing to face with Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, smiling and wearing an “I Love Guantanamo” T-shirt.

The irreverent billboard image of America’s number one enemy, just a short distance from the White House, is part of an activist campaign aimed at highlighting that Al-Qaeda uses the US detention centre as a recruiting tool

—

Meanwhile ….

Murder charges against a US Marine accused of slaying an unarmed Iraqi prisoner in Fallujah in 2004 have been dismissed.

Jermaine Nelson admitted one count of dereliction of duty. Sentencing is to be decided later.

Nelson was the last of three Marines to face charges in connection with the case, which related to the death of Iraqi detainees during fierce fighting in Fallujah five years ago.

Another Marine was cleared at a court martial earlier this year, while a former soldier was tried and acquitted of manslaughter by a civilian court in 2008.

Looks like no one killed that prisoner….

___

DEBBIE - (Sport)

Random sports relationship trivia uncovered this morning while doing legitimate research on the career of the Swedish tennis player Joachim Johannson:

“Pim Pim” as he’s apparently known, dated Lleyton Hewitt’s sister Jaslyn between 2000 and 2005. (That much I already knew.)

His next girlfriend was the Swedish Olympic hurdler, Jenny Kallur whose twin sister, Susanna Kallur is a former European Champion in the 100 metres hurdles. Their dad, Andres Kallur, was a top ice hockey player who won four Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders.

But, wait there’s more sport crossover to come.

Johansson is now engaged and expecting a child with Johanna Westerberg - a Swedish professional golfer who won her first tournament earlier this year, the Ladies Open of Portugal. As a caddy for his fiancee this year, Johansson earned the “Rookie Caddie of the Year” award.

Honestly, I wasn’t looking for any of this when I started googling Johansson. It’s just that he beat Lleyton Hewitt overnight in Malaysia and I wanted to know what had happened to him in recent years to cause his ranking to drop so dramatically to 446 in the world. He was ranked as high as nine back in early 2005.

He also held the record at one stage for the most aces in a match. He used his 6 foot 6 frame to full advantage in sending 51 aces sizzling past Andre Agassi in the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2005. Despite that effort, he lost the match.

Anyway, eventually I got to the story I was after. Johannson quit the tour early last year because of ongoing shoulder problems. He played a little at the end of last year and then a few tournaments early this year before switching to caddying for his girlfriend. His short term plans are to contest the Stockholm Open in a few weeks and then, if the shoulder holds up, he might make a full comeback to the tour in 2010.

Got to love the internet. After 20 minutes of websurfing I felt like I’d been briefed by Bruce McAvaney and read a Swedish women’s magazine.

GLEN - Host

It was only a matter of time. The banks have started their move on interest rates - onwards and upwards from here. Just watch.

The Commonwealth Bank has increased interest rates on its fixed-rate loans, a day after the Reserve Bank Governor said the official cash rate won’t stay at historically low levels for much longer.

The Commonwealth told brokers its one-year fixed rates will rise by half a percentage point, to six-point-1-9 per cent.

The bank says it still faces higher funding costs associated with its fixed-rate loans, even though conditions in global money markets are settling, after the global financial crisis

Its two-year fixed rate mortgage is going up by 30 basis points, while three-year fixed home loan rates will increase by 15 basis points.

It lifted the rates independent of any movement by the Reserve Bank, after earlier declining to pass on all of the RBA’s cuts.

—

Elsewhere, interesting to see your thoughts on the Polanski arrest in our online poll.

About 83% in favour of his arrest and extradition. Some do think differently though, as reported this morning on the wires:

Top film directors across the world rallied around Roman Polanksi, declaring themselves “astonished” at the arrest of the film-maker over a 1977 underage sex case.

Michael Mann, Wim Wenders and Pedro Almodovar were among more than 70 film industry figures who signed a petition in protest at the detention of the Polish-French director on Saturday in Zurich.

“We demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski,” the petition urged, coordinated from France by the SACD, an organisation which represents performance and visual artists.

“Film-makers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision,” the petition said, adding the arrest came as “astonishing news” to the SACD.

“It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary film-makers, is used by police to apprehend him.”

Names were piling up on the petition late Monday, and included directors Julian Schnabel, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Walter Salles and actress Tilda Swinton.

Polanski, who directed “Rosemary’s Baby”, “Chinatown” and “The Pianist”, was detained as he arrived to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich film festival.

The five members of the film festival jury said that the event “had been exploited in an unfair fashion”.

Posters were stuck on the cinema where Polanski had been due to receive his award, declaring “Free Polanski” and “No extradition”.

The director pleaded guilty three decades ago to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. His lawyer said he had refused to be extradited from Switzerland to the United States.

The 76-year-old fled the US in 1978 before sentencing on a charge in the underage sex case. He has never returned, even missing the Oscar award for “The Pianist” in 2003.

France’s Society of Film Directors also voiced concern the arrest “could have disastrous consequences for freedom of expression across the world”.

—

Today’s poll is about which city should get the Olympics with the IOC deciding its next venue this week.

Rio gets my vote. South America is way overdue and what an opening ceremony !

___

MARIUS - Politics

One of the continuing themes of current politics is the question of the extent to which Malcolm Turnbull is changing the Liberal Party and the extent to which the Party is changing him.

The Liberal Party - and the Coalition as a whole - are certainly changing in opposition.

Defeat at the last election left no doubt the voters wanted something different.

But there is still much debate about how the party - and parties - should change.

Malcolm Turnbull as leader is notionally the chief architect of the new order, but every worker on the project has an independent view and the word of the leader is likely to begin a debate but not end it.

The extent of independent thinking was revealed in the Australian when Peter van Onselen went to the trouble of ringing around the Liberal backbench to ask what they privately thought of the official Turnbull-MacFarlane line on an emissions trading scheme - that is: let’s negotiate with the government to get some concessions.

The alternative, the frontbench advocates of this line argue, is to face a double dissolution election which they will lose, leaving the Government free to introduce its own ETS, unfettered.

In private, it seems that view’s not going down well. In fact, the level of discontent is reflected in an overwhelming majority of Liberals privately rejecting that line and some publicly questioning whether they even support an ETS.

Malcolm Turnbull says support for an ETS is the policy the Opposition holds, having adopted it before the last election. But the Nationals Ron Boswell and Liberals Cory Bernardi and Wilson Tuckey have questioned that.

Bernardi and Tuckey have told NewsRadio that supporting the ETS was never put to the party room - it was just a private deal cooked up pre-election between Howard and his then Environment Minister, one Malcolm Turnbull.

On the ETS the Opposition joint party room now looks more like a brawl in a wild west tavern than a united political group.

And that figure you can see in the middle shouting to be heard is the Opposition leader, showing just how hard it is to lead when nobody wants to follow.

___

DEBBIE - Sport

Before you read any further, let me stress I’m glad Parramatta fullback Jarryd Hayne is available to play in Sunday evening’s NRL grand final.

You want the best players on the biggest stage in any sport; what’s more, I’m impressed that Melbourne captain, Cameron Smith, has the grace to say the same thing — despite the fact he got rubbed out by the judiciary and missed the big one last season.

But really, the apologists should give the it a rest now. It’s nonsense to suggest that Hayne couldn’t help ramming his knees into the head of Bulldogs winger Bryson Goodwin after a try had been scored last Friday night.

We’re talking Jarryd Hayne here: the master of elusive stepping, jinking, dodging and ducking.

Don’t tell me the evasion skills that have made him almost impossible to lay a hand on when he’s the ball carrier totally evaporate when he’s defending.

___

On a related theme, someone needs to come up with a better term than “eight point try” to describe incidents like that one involving Bryson Goodwin in Friday night’s game.

“Eight point try” doesn’t do the job, because it’s only worth eight points if both the conversion and the penalty kick are successful.

On this occasion, Hazem El Masri had a rare miss from the sideline, but got the penalty from in front to make it really just a six point try. And it’s certainly not a “penalty try”, as one newspaper report refers to it today. Why not call it just a “penalty after the try”, or “try plus penalty.”

Those terms are no more cumbersome than “eight point try”.

And definitely more accurate.

___

One of the main protagonists in a couple of Australia’s greatest athletics moments in the last decade has retired.

Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia was — and remains — the world record holder in the 400 metres hurdles. Twice at the world championships, in Paris in 2003 and Osaka in 2007, she was the main rival for Australia’s Jana Pittman-Rawlinson. I’ll always remember watching that race Paris race in 2003 and thinking the Russian was so far in front as they turned into the straight that Pittman had no chance. But Pittman kept closing, Pechonkina got the staggers coming off the last hurdle and the Aussie snatched an improbable victory.

In Pittman’s absence in 2005, Pechonkina won the world title, and then in 2007 they locked horns again. This time Pittman-Rawlinson passed her earlier in the straight, but Russian threatened momentarily to fight back. More spine-tingling stuff.

Allergies have apparently given Pechonkina as much trouble as our Jana’s given her over the years and she says she’s retiring because of ongoing problems with sinusitis and other allergy-related issues.

She’s going to pursue a career in banking….dare I say setting out the hurdles, instead of going over them?

Glen Bartholomew:

It was an epic weekend of football festivities that saw the hopes of long suffering St Kilda fans tragically dashed once more. The Saints were hanging in, clinging to the lead but you always felt that a Geelong run was imminent. St Kilda did well to hold them to the tight margin. A great arm wrestle, a close game, a deserving winner - what more do you want ?

Now what does everyone do ?? The post season depression/withdrawal begins ( and a lot more household jobs get done on the weekends ).

There’s always the NRL grand final this weekend. Whose idea was this late start on Sunday afternoon anyway? Is a Saturday afternoon Grand Final so terrible ? Seemed to work remarkably well for the AFL.
I know there’s a public holiday in NSW on Monday but let’s face it - it’s all about television, ratings and advertising bucks. Stupid to wait around all weekend for the biggest game of the year. Do love the fact that Melbourne is home to the decade’s most successful rugby league team - they’ve won more games than anyone else and are contesting their 4th straight Grand Final. Even better - they play a great brand of football that you can’t help but admire. I wonder whether the big dust storm that hit Sydney from the west last week was an omen. Go the Storm !

—

In media news, Reuters reports :
William Safire, the former speechwriter for Richard Nixon who won a Pulitzer Prize for columns on politics and language for The New York Times, has died aged 79.

Known for his conservative voice on The Times’ mostly liberal opinion pages, Safire received his Pulitzer for commentary in 1978.

In 1979, he began writing the newspaper’s On Language column, in which he examined the origins of words and phrases and their proper usage.

He served for a decade on the board that awards the Pulitzer, and retired from his twice-weekly political column in 2005.

Safire’s last column for the newspaper appeared just two weeks ago.

He joined the Nixon White House speechwriting team in 1968, before joining The Times in 1973.

He was credited with coining the phrases “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “hysterical hypochondriacs of history,” used by then-Vice President Spiro Agnew to describe the U.S. media.
Safire was married and had two children.

He wrote several novels including the bestseller “Full Disclosure,” as well as several nonfiction books on politics and language.

A Manhattan native, he was popular even with readers who took issue with his conservative political views in part because he enthusiastically engaged them and solicited contributions and input on the origins and foibles of modern language.
___

Marius Benson:

Paul Fletcher is the newest name in federal politics.

He is now two days into a public life which began with the fairly private process of being pre-selected as the Liberal Party’s candidate for that bluest of blue ribbon seats, Bradfield - the northern Sydney seat being vacated by the former Liberal leader, Brendan Nelson.

Throughout the pre-selection process candidates are warned that they are involved in an internal party procedure and should remain publicly silent, on pain of being tossed out.

That restriction is one that some candidates bridle against, impatient to get their views out to a wider world. Others, particularly some Liberal Party veterans like Bronwyn Bishop and Philip Ruddock, seem to find comfort in the inability to join in public debate on whether the time has come for them to declare an end to their long political careers.

But, at 45, Paul Fletcher is at the beginning of a political life and he is already being pointed to as evidence of a healthy future for the Liberal Party - and quite possibly a future leader.

Bradfield is the sort of seat that’s expected to produce leaders for the Liberals, or at least frontbenchers. And in political circles you can start a reasonably lively discussion by suggesting that the next Liberal Prime Minister is among those who are now quite junior in parliamentary ranks or even just entering.

Last week three Liberals - Malcolm Turnbull, Ian MacFarlane and Peter Costello - pointed out that it is likely they will lose the next election.

This is a statement of the obvious based on history and the polls - but stating the obvious is not something politicians always do, particularly if the perceived truth does not suit their political purpose.

In the year leading up to John Howard’s defeat there was no such open pessimism.

It lends weight to the view that the Coalition is in for a long-term period of re-building. A lot of the hard work in that process will be taken on by the new chums, Paul Fletcher among them.

And if the bookies were offering good odds on who will be the next Liberal Prime Minister, you could do worse than toss a few dollars on P.Fletcher MP as a prospect for somewhere around 2019.

Glen - Presenter

A lot of what looked suspiciously like good news about today: nuclear disarmament, AIDS vaccines, even Damir Dokic is in jail.
What’s going on ? A welcome end to a week that saw an amazing cast assemble in New York for the UN assembly.
Lots of talk - now what ?
How refreshing to see some plain talk and common sense from a US President who takes the UN role seriously.
Speaking of the somewhat over-exposed President, his ubiquity looks to have had another effect :
“ObamaVision”, the term coined by the media to sum up President Barack Obama’s pledge to bring hope and change to America, was this week deemed the most influential English word from television in 2009.

“ObamaVision” was first heard during last year’s U.S. presidential election campaign. It topped “financial meltdown” in the 6th annual list of Top 10 Telewords compiled by U.S. tracking group, the Global Language Monitor.

“Michael Jackson”, whose death in June triggered days of wall-to-wall news coverage, and “Susan Boyle” — the British singer who became an overnight sensation after appearing on a televised talent show — came third and fourth.

The Texas-based Global Language Monitor uses an algorithm to search printed and electronic media and the Internet for trends in word usage, and their impact on culture.

It issues its Top 10 Telewords to coincide with the official start of the U.S. television season in late September.

The 2009 list recognized a website for the first time this year, putting Hulu.com in 5th place; a joint venture between NBC Universal, Fox Entertainment Group and ABC Inc, Hulu.com was launched in 2008 and streams TV shows over the Internet for free.

The Top 10 Telewords of 2009 are:

1) ObamaVision

2) Financial Meltdown

3) Michael Jackson

4) Susan Boyle

5) Hulu.com

6) Vampires

7) Dar Dour (The Iraqi TV show spoof)

8 ) Wizards

9) “And that’s the way it is,” (the signoff of late U.S. news anchor Walter Cronkite)

10) Jiggle

Jiggle??

Really ?

___

Marius - Politics

Anthony Albanese, the effervescent Federal Transport Minister, has provided an interesting insight into the engine room of the Rudd Government and the nature of power.

He was speaking at the Financial Review’s self-described “Power Lunch”, at which the Fin’s “Power List” was presented.

So you get the picture: Power is our concern.

And as it turns out, “Albo” quite likes the stuff.

That’s illustrated by his view on any prospect of returning to the twilight world opposition after tasting the reality of government.

“How long would I be in Opposition for? Not one day. I’m out of there. I respect those who make that decision.”

In case you haven’t caught up with the Fin Review’s list of the most overtly powerful, it’s topped by three politicians: Rudd, Gillard and Swan.

But reflecting on the nature of power, Mr Albanese made the point that it depends on the individual rather than just the position. To illustrate that point he cited Kevin Rudd’s Chief of Staff, Alister Jordan.

“Alister Jordan - AJ in West Wing parlance: if you’ve got AJ, you’ve got the Prime Minister..they’re as one.”

And his two years enjoying power on the government benches Albo says have felt like a long time: “…..it seems a lot longer - and that’s not just that we all live in Ruddland where days last for 50 hours and meetings are held at 2am.”

So what keeps them going through the long, long slog of those early hours meetings…. coffee and triangular sandwiches curling on a plate?

Patriotism? Amphetamines?

Maybe some of the above - but the real drug is power.

___

Mark - Breakfast EP

Good luck to Gerard Whately and the ABC Victorian Grandstand crew who’ll be calling the big game at the “G” tomorrow.

Gerard is a regular on our network, especially in the AFL-starved states of New South Wales and Queensland, where thanks to ABC Sport and the AFL, we broadcast many calls of Friday night and Saturday games, while ABC Local Radio takes care of NRL duties.

Gerard was recently named Most Outstanding Caller (Radio) and was highly commended for Most Outstanding News reporter at the Australian Football Media Association Awards.

One of his co-commentators, Matt Clinch, was a joint recipient of the Clinton Grybas Rising Star Award, while Austinn (Aussie) Jones was highly commended in the Most Outstanding Special Commentator (Radio) category.

We all know who Aussie will be supporting on Saturday.

(For the uninitiated, he’s a St Kilda legend, winning a couple of All-Australian caps during his time at the Saints, where he played 226 games)

Speaking of radio calls of Grand Finals, my most enduring memory is of the famous and dramatic 1977 “tied” final between North Melbourne and Collingwood.

In those days, as well as the VFL (as it was then), ABC Local radio in Melbourne also had the rights to racing broadcasts.

There was a pretty primitive switching system which allowed either location (the races or the footy) to “take” the signal at crucial moments.

The exact details are a bit hazy…..it was 32 years ago….but this is how I remember it.

At three-quarter time, the ‘Roos looked gone for all money.

The Magpies were 27 points in front and appeared on-track for their first flag since 1958.

But “super-coach” Ron Barassi obviously said something pretty inspirational at the break, because North Melbourne powered back, kicking five unanswered goals and a couple of behinds.

Now Collingwood were staring into the abyss.

A minute before the siren sounded, Collingwood’s Ross “Twiggy” Dunne marked about 35 meters out from goal.

This was a moment of high drama.

He needed to kick a six-pointer for the Magpies to level the scores and stay alive.

The radio call went something like this, with the frenzied commentator struggling to make himself heard over the roar of 108-thousand people:

“Dunne’s on a slight angle out from goal…… He’s walking back slowly from the mark ….. He bends down and adjusts his socks….. “Twiggy” knows this is make or break for Collingwood…. The sound is absolutely DEAFENING….. Collingwood fans yelling for Dunne to kick straight, North supporters screaming for him to miss. Dunne’s not hurrying. He turns slowly and lines up….. Collingwood need a goal here or its all-over-rover…. HE’S RUNNING IN…. HE KICKS!! … THE BALL IS ON ITS WAY……IT’S LOOKING GOOD……THE BALL IS WOBBLING SLIGHTLY IN THE WIND…IT’S A…….IT’S A ……….”

There was a burst of static and a different voice came across the airwaves.

“Correct Weight, Caulfield — Race Seven, Correct Weight.”

——————

By the way ABC NewsRadio listeners in Melbourne will be able to hear the NRL preliminary final between the Storm and the Brisbane Broncos from Docklands stadium at 7:30 on Saturday night. In other rugby league states, tune into ABC Local Radio.

Glen - Breakfast presenter

A lot of what looked suspiciously like good news about today: nuclear disarmament, AIDS vaccines, even Damir Dokic is in jail.

What’s going on ? A welcome end to a week that saw an amazing cast assemble in New York for the UN assembly.

Lots of talk - now what ?

How refreshing to see some plain talk and common sense from a US President who takes the UN role seriously.

Speaking of the somewhat over-exposed President, his ubiquity looks to have had another effect :

“ObamaVision”, the term coined by the media to sum up President Barack Obama’s pledge to bring hope and change to America, was this week deemed the most influential English word from television in 2009.

“ObamaVision” was first heard during last year’s U.S. presidential election campaign. It topped “financial meltdown” in the 6th annual list of Top 10 Telewords compiled by U.S. tracking group, the Global Language Monitor.

“Michael Jackson”, whose death in June triggered days of wall-to-wall news coverage, and “Susan Boyle” — the British singer who became an overnight sensation after appearing on a televised talent show — came third and fourth.

The Texas-based Global Language Monitor uses an algorithm to search printed and electronic media and the Internet for trends in word usage, and their impact on culture.

It issues its Top 10 Telewords to coincide with the official start of the U.S. television season in late September.

The 2009 list recognized a website for the first time this year, putting Hulu.com in 5th place; a joint venture between NBC Universal, Fox Entertainment Group and ABC Inc, Hulu.com was launched in 2008 and streams TV shows over the Internet for free.

The Top 10 Telewords of 2009 are:

1) ObamaVision

2) Financial Meltdown

3) Michael Jackson

4) Susan Boyle

5) Hulu.com

6) Vampires

7) Dar Dour (The Iraqi TV show spoof)

8 ) Wizards

9) “And that’s the way it is,” (the signoff of late U.S. news anchor Walter Cronkite)

10) Jiggle

Jiggle??

Really ?

___

Marius - Politics

Anthony Albanese, the effervescent Federal Transport Minister, has provided an interesting insight into the engine room of the Rudd Government and the nature of power.

He was speaking at the Financial Review’s self-described “Power Lunch”, at which the Fin’s “Power List” was presented.

So you get the picture: Power is our concern.

And as it turns out, “Albo” quite likes the stuff.

That’s illustrated by his view on any prospect of returning to the twilight world opposition after tasting the reality of government.

“How long would I be in Opposition for? Not one day. I’m out of there. I respect those who make that decision.”

In case you haven’t caught up with the Fin Review’s list of the most overtly powerful, it’s topped by three politicians: Rudd, Gillard and Swan.

But reflecting on the nature of power, Mr Albanese made the point that it depends on the individual rather than just the position. To illustrate that point he cited Kevin Rudd’s Chief of Staff, Alister Jordan.

“Alister Jordan - AJ in West Wing parlance: if you’ve got AJ, you’ve got the Prime Minister..they’re as one.”

And his two years enjoying power on the government benches Albo says have felt like a long time: “…..it seems a lot longer - and that’s not just that we all live in Ruddland where days last for 50 hours and meetings are held at 2am.”

So what keeps them going through the long, long slog of those early hours meetings…. coffee and triangular sandwiches curling on a plate?

Patriotism? Amphetamines?

Maybe some of the above - but the real drug is power.

___

Mark - Breakfast EP

Good luck to Gerard Whately and the ABC Victorian Grandstand crew who’ll be calling the big game at the “G” tomorrow.

Gerard is a regular on our network, especially in the AFL-starved states of New South Wales and Queensland, where thanks to ABC Sport and the AFL, we broadcast many calls of Friday night and Saturday games, while ABC Local Radio takes care of NRL duties.

Gerard was recently named Most Outstanding Caller (Radio) and was highly commended for Most Outstanding News reporter at the Australian Football Media Association Awards.

One of his co-commentators, Matt Clinch, was a joint recipient of the Clinton Grybas Rising Star Award, while Austinn (Aussie) Jones was highly commended in the Most Outstanding Special Commentator (Radio) category.

We all know who Aussie will be supporting on Saturday.

(For the uninitiated, he’s a St Kilda legend, winning a couple of All-Australian caps during his time at the Saints, where he played 226 games)

Speaking of radio calls of Grand Finals, my most enduring memory is of the famous and dramatic 1977 “tied” final between North Melbourne and Collingwood.

In those days, as well as the VFL (as it was then), ABC Local radio in Melbourne also had the rights to racing broadcasts.

There was a pretty primitive switching system which allowed either location (the races or the footy) to “take” the signal at crucial moments.

The exact details are a bit hazy…..it was 32 years ago….but this is how I remember it.

At three-quarter time, the ‘Roos looked gone for all money.

The Magpies were 27 points in front and appeared on-track for their first flag since 1958.

But “super-coach” Ron Barassi obviously said something pretty inspirational at the break, because North Melbourne powered back, kicking five unanswered goals and a couple of behinds.

Now Collingwood were staring into the abyss.

A minute before the siren sounded, Collingwood’s Ross “Twiggy” Dunne marked about 35 meters out from goal.

This was a moment of high drama.

He needed to kick a six-pointer for the Magpies to level the scores and stay alive.

The radio call went something like this, with the frenzied commentator struggling to make himself heard over the roar of 108-thousand people:

“Dunne’s on a slight angle out from goal…… He’s walking back slowly from the mark ….. He bends down and adjusts his socks….. “Twiggy” knows this is make or break for Collingwood…. The sound is absolutely DEAFENING….. Collingwood fans yelling for Dunne to kick straight, North supporters screaming for him to miss. Dunne’s not hurrying. He turns slowly and lines up….. Collingwood need a goal here or its all-over-rover…. HE’S RUNNING IN…. HE KICKS!! … THE BALL IS ON ITS WAY……IT’S LOOKING GOOD……THE BALL IS WOBBLING SLIGHTLY IN THE WIND…IT’S A…….IT’S A ……….”

There was a burst of static and a different voice came across the airwaves.

“Correct Weight, Caulfield — Race Seven, Correct Weight.”

___

By the way ABC NewsRadio listeners in Melbourne will be able to hear the NRL preliminary final between the Storm and the Brisbane Broncos

Glen - Breakfast Host:

What chance an agreement in Copenhagen in December ? Is your optimism diminishing at the same rate as mine ?
News through today that U.S. groups pushing for a new international accord on climate control are scaling back their expectations for an end-of-year deal, openly talking about either pushing for an “interim” plan or a simple extension of negotiations set for December in Denmark.
With fewer than 75 days remaining before an international conference convenes in Copenhagen , some climate change experts are assessing the lack of progress and crafting what might be called a “Plan B.”
Reports out of Oslo and London also say a summit of world leaders has lowered expectations for a strong new U.N. climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen in December, with details looking ever more likely to be left for 2010.
Steady as she sinks….
Meanwhile, stand by for the battle of Pittsburgh as anti-poverty, globalisation, war and government protesters prepare to do battle with assembled security forces as the leaders of the G20 countries gather in the industrial city.
—
From the wires :
The former head of Boris Yeltsin’s security has dismissed a journalist’s claim that the former Russian president was found drunk and looking for pizza near the White House in 1995.

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Taylor Branch made the allegation as he was promoting his book detailing Bill Clinton’s presidency.

Branch said Yeltsin had been staying at Blair House, near the White House, when he was discovered late at night roaming by secret service agents, dressed in his underwear.

Couldn’t possibly be true…
___

Debbie - Sport

When Glen inadvertently back-announced one of my reports today with the words “Debbie Spillane looking at weather for us this morning” it made me laugh because, to me, it sounded closer to the truth than perhaps he realised.
Presenting sports bulletins in a grand final week feels not so much like “reporting weather”, as “reporting whether”.
As St Kilda and Geelong prepare for the biggest match of the season on Saturday, obviously they’re playing their cards close to their chests. They’re actively trying to prevent useful information getting out and they’re staging carefully choreographed media events where everyone gets access to the same one or two players or coaches mostly saying the same two or three things.
In terms of the lead sport story Monday to Friday in a grand final week, there’s just one game and two teams left to talk about. But to be brutally frank nothing’s emerging that’s really news. So the main storyline becomes whether Max Hudgton will be selected. Or whether Matthew Stokes will play. Or whether Nick Riewoldt’s knee is OK. Or even whether a helicopter hovering over a training session behind closed door will provide an insight into anything at all.
Looking at whether indeed.
Of course, a lack of hard news on a topic doesn’t prevent robust and extensive discussion amongst fans and pundits. And one of the time-honoured areas for discussion is who deserve to be favourites. (Teams usually prefer to address this in terms of who are the underdogs in an effort to put the weight of more expectation on their opponents.)
As St Kilda have been the best team throughout the season, it might seem odd that Geelong are favourites. But in the match-up between consistent season-long form vs momentum plus recent grand final experience, I’ll take the latter every time.
The flip side of this is that the Cats are under more pressure. On some levels it’s crazy to think of either side being under more pressure than the other when it comes to a whole season’s work going on the line. But consider this. Geelong have lost only 10 games in three years. If they lose a second grand final in a row, you’d have to start to think in terms of psychological scarring.
So my tip is Geelong. But you know, I do prefer the St Kilda storyline. If you’re sitting on the fence, move over. I’ll be waiting right there until Sunday morning when Scott Wales and I will dissect the GF into small pieces on Weekend Half Time.
And then from Monday I’ll be the “whether girl” for the NRL grand final between the Bulldogs and Melbourne Storm. (You heard it here first!)
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Looking at all the coverage of Sydney’s dramatic red dust storm last night a random sports-related angle occurred to me. Exactly nine years ago on the 23rd September we were smack-bang in the middle of the Sydney Olympics.
Red faces would’ve gone with the red dust if we’d been forced to reschedule morning events because of visibility and respiratory issues.
Would’ve kept us very quiet about air quality issues in the lead-up to Beijing….!

Marius - Politics

There are no certainties in politics any more than there are in daily life.

But there are likelihoods, and at times even extreme likelihoods.

As things stand, it is extremely likely that Kevin Rudd will win the next election.

Bookies are a remarkably good guide to the reality of the political outlook.

At the moment, they are inviting you to bet on the federal elections. Put your one dollar on Labor and, if they win, you’ll get $1.35 back.

That means the bookies rate Labor’s chances of winning at 74%.

Bet that one dollar on the Coalition and if they win, you’ll get $3.00.

In other words, they rate the Coalition as a one-in-three chance - and bookies are seldom wrong.

Speaking to News Ltd’s Glenn Milne last week, he mentioned that he had been dining with a shadow minister the night before, when the electoral outlook came under discussion.

The un-named frontbencher had written off the next vote - early or full term, Labor wins - and that is pretty much the universal view in political circles.

Saving the furniture is the main game in the Coalition household - and deciding what comes next, specifically who leads next after the coming defeat.

That’s the next agenda item for the realist-pessimist axis in the Coalition. In the meantime they might be tempted to put a few dollars on a Labor win at the next federal poll.

The odds aren’t good but the result, in the view of most, is assured.

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Mark - Breakfast EP:

Good grief!

Spring has sprung…and with a vengeance.

Cricket-ball sized hailstones in Crookwell, earthquakes in the ‘burbs of Melbourne, nasty fires in Queensland, gale force winds and huge dust storms originating in South Australia and inundating Sydney, Canberra, Broken Hill and large parts of New South Wales.

I did a couple of live ‘crosses’ to Glen during the Breakfast program, describing the situation in Sydney.

Amazing stuff. An eerie red glow, appalling visibility, ferries stopped, airport at a standstill…and fine reddish-brown dust everywhere.

(I was thinking of a holiday to outback South Australia…I didn’t think outback South Australia would come to me!)

Check out some of the photos my colleagues and I took this morning from the ABC building.

Even our international partners at CNN couldn’t believe the pictures they were seeing and rang me for an on-air chat.

There hasn’t been a dust storm like this in Sydney in 70 years.

But for me it was a case of deja vu.

(No, I’m not over 70!)

But 26 years ago I was walking home from school in Melbourne on a stinking hot afternoon with a couple of mates when I looked up at the sky.

To the south, it was clear and sunny.

To the north loomed an enormous grey cloud — a grey cloud that was travelling very, very fast towards us…..

And then it went dark.

Streetlights went on, we were coughing and spluttering, and visibility was suddenly down to about 20 meters.

We dashed into the closest building…which happened to be a 7-11.

“Geez….I think the world’s ending!” said a mate of mine.

“At least we can have a cold Slurpee before we die!”, remarked another.

Twenty minutes later, we emerged from the shop.

And Melbourne was covered in fine, reddish-brown dust, and the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees.

You’ve probably seen the famous vision of that 1983 dust storm rolling across Port Phillip Bay.

It was shot on 16 millimeter film by ABC newsreader Graham Evans, who lived in a high-rise block near St. Kilda beach.

He saw the great big cloud coming from the north, realised something was up, and grabbed his camera.

Years later, he told me that he still rubbed his hands with glee everytime that vision was shown on television….as it meant another royalty payment.

Speaking of St. Kilda….Go Sainters! (It’s about time…)

Here are some views of this morning’s dust-storm in Sydney, taken by ABC NewsRadio staff … A few hours later, the dust had moved 750km north - as these pictures from NewsRadio’s Brisbane studios show …

Click on the images for larger versions

Glen - Breakfast Host:

OK, I’m only going to say this once (let’s face it… I’ll probably end up actually saying it a thousand times in the next 100 days):

Copenhagen. That’s CopenHAYgan! OK? Not the German way CopenHARgan- but rather the Danish way. Funnily enough.

The ABC’s Standing Committee On Spoken English or SCOSE:

“Copenhagen koh-puhn-HAY-guhn (usual international pronunciation)
The capital of Denmark.

In Danish, spelled Kobenhavn.

Germans, but not Danes, pronounce it koh-puhn-HAH-guhn, as in song ‘Wonderful Copenhagen’ sung by Danny Kaye.

Use the usual international pronunciation.
Added 22-02-2007″.

Enough said.

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Mark - Breakfast E-P:

Australian politics is often described as “robust”.

It’s a word Kevin Rudd used to explain his recent expletive-laden tirade against a group of Labor backbenchers.

“I think it’s fair to say, consistent with the traditions of the Australian Labor Party, we’re given to robust conversations…. and I make no apology for the content of my conversations or the robustness with which I express my views” he said on Sunday in New York, when asked about dropping the “F-bomb”.

However, Mr. Rudd’s profanities, Bill Heffernan trying to shirt-front the Nationals Barnaby Joyce, even former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans’ reported penchant for throwing ashtrays and Mark Latham’s troubled relationship with taxi-drivers….all seem to pale into insignificance compared to the political bile that’s being put on full display in France this week.

Overnight, the trial began in Paris of the former Prime Minister, Dominique De Villepin.

He’s accused of plotting to destroy the career of the man who’s now the President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy.

The complicated case goes back to 2004, when the two men were arch-rivals for leadership of the ruling conservative Rally for the Republic party.

This is what the BBC’s Hugh Schofield told us in Breakfast:

“Outside the courtroom, a taste of the venemous personal battle that this case has become. For Mr. Villepin, that he’s on trial at all, is the President’s doing”:
DOMINIQUE DE VILLEPIN: “I hope that the demands of justice will be met. I am here by the will, I am here by the obsession, of one man — Nicolas Sarkozy — who is also President of the French Republic. I will emerge free and with my name cleared in the name of the French people. Some would have you believe that there is no such thing in our country as a political trial. I would like to believe it to…yet here we are in 2009…and in France.”

As Schofield explained,
“By temperament, background, looks and politics, the two men could not have been more different. Diminutive, hyperactive, pro-American, Nicolas Sarkozy made no secret in the last years under President Chirac of his impatience with the existing order. He wanted radical change. For him, de Villepin represented everything bad about the old order — a languid, establishment figure….a career diplomat who’d never once faced election. De Villepin in return regarded Sarkozy as brash, populist, maybe even dangerous for France.”

The central allegation is that De Villepin tried to manipulate a judicial investigation — or at least failed to intervene when he knew allegations to be false — in order to dent Mr Sarkozy’s chances of winning the 2007 French presidential election.

“For the defence”, Schofield says, “it is Sarkozy - two and a half years into his presidential term - who is now wreaking his personal revenge.”

If found guilty, Dominique De Villepin could go to jail for FIVE YEARS!

Boy, and you thought John Howard and Andrew Peacock loathed each other…

“Robust” plus-grande!

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Debbie - Sport:

Must admit to doing a double take this morning when the word “denouement”* rolled languidly off the tongue of Jim Maxwell in his report from the seventh one day cricket international in England.

It could’ve been just the Norman influence in the Chester-Le-Street location playing a role. But I couldn’t help suspecting he’d won some sort of bet by dropping the word into a report. I will follow up this theory on Monsieur Maxwell’s return to Australia, and advise you of the “denouement” at some future date on this page.

*(The Macquarie Dictionary defines denouement as “the final disentangling of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel”)

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Mark - Breakfast EP:

A special welcome today to the people of the Tamworth area of New South Wales.

That’s the latest region of this wide brown land to get its own ABC NewsRadio frequency - 91.7 on the FM band.

The new service will be launched today by our Drive Presenter John Barron and the Federal Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy.

ABC NewsRadio is Australia’s only 24-hour continuous news station. We’re also the fastest growing radio network station, with frequencies being turned on each month.

By the end of 2010 there will be over 80 frequencies to choose from, and it means ABC NewsRadio will be able to be heard by 95 percent of the Australian population.

So, good folk of Tamworth, if you want a break from all that Yodeling, Yeee-hah! and twangy guitars, you know what frequency to tune that radio dial to.

We’re able to draw on lots of different sources — within the ABC and from our external partner networks — to bring you the most informative and fast-paced Breakfast program on radio.

With news bulletins every 15 minutes and breaking news as it happens - including news, politics, sport, finance, weather and traffic - ABC NewsRadio Breakfast guarantees you’ll be a step ahead throughout the day.

Here’s what you missed if you weren’t listening this morning from 5:30am:

* 2 Russian Presidents — Dimitry Medvedev speaking to CNN about Iran and one of his predecessors, Mikhail Gorbachev, telling the BBC, on the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, that Margaret Thatcher and France’s Francois Mitterand were initially against German unification — extraordinary stuff!
* 2 US Presidents - Barack Obama talking to CNN about the economy, his domestic battles over healthcare and electoral fraud in Afghanistan, and one of his predecessors, Bill Clinton, shooting the breeze over brekkie with one K. Rudd.
* Speaking of which….Glen got all the latest on the PM’s US sojourn from the ABC’s North America correspondent Lisa Millar in New York
* We also heard from Climate Change Minister Penny Wong and Shadow Minister Greg Hunt on the government’s latest proposals to take to the Copenhagen meeting, while Marius Benson pulled the day’s politics apart with SKY News Political correspondent Kieran Gilbert and previewed some of today’s evidence to the Senate inquiry into the government’s fiscal stimulus spending with Economist Dr. Andrew Leigh of the Australian National University.
* Glen also discussed the latest controversial research about links between cancer and HRT with Dr. Elizabeth Farrell from the Australasian Menopause Society
* We previewed tonight’s Four Corners program on homelessness with reporter Sarah Ferguson….
* Deb had all the latest finals wash-up from the AFL and NRL and the goal-fest that was Manchester v Manchester (United vs. City) plus Jim Maxwell’s cricket pronouncements (see above!)
* Plus all the latest weather, financial news with Dave de Garis from NAB, and the situation on the roads around the nation with Paul Latter from the Australian Traffic Network.

Better tune in tomorrow…..

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