Brendan’s slightly out of sync. It seems appropriate somehow that the picture and the sound are slightly out of synchronisation on Brendan Nelson’s You Tube version of his travel diary. Having the lips move before the sound  gives an eerie feeling to his request that “when you see me, just sing out – say g’day and tell me what’s on your mind, tell me what you want done.” Brendan declares that his job “is to be the most effective voice for you” but it would help him achieve that goal if he took elocution lessons to ensure that the lips and voice box worked in unison. Either that or get a new internet technician at Liberal Party headquarters.

Cat in tree ban. The local government of Union Colony in Northern Colorado has decided not to rescue a cat with a tan mustache and the markings of a Siamese which sits in a tree at 1117 14th Avenue in Greeley. Nearby residents have grown concerned about the cat, which they believe has been in the tree for about 10 days but the fire department refuses to help because it is not a life threatening situation. I just thought that Jim Hart, see yesterday’s comments to Crikey, would like to know that.

No ticket to ride for beetles. Those intrepid crime fighters of the Australian Customs Service have struck again with two American men scheduled to appear in a Perth court today on smuggling charges. Their crime? Beetle smuggling. The fiends, who now face a maximum jail sentence of up to 10 years jail and a $100,000 fine, were caught with 1200 Tiger Beetles, up to 100 Water Beetles and about 50 other assorted beetles some of which were cunningly concealed in their luggage inside plastic yoghurt containers. Both men were arrested by Customs investigators and charged with exporting a regulated native species without a permit under section 303DD of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

ABC seeks viewing record? Stay by your tele folks, the ABC is going to bring you live and continuous coverage of all 15.5 hours of the Prime Minister’s Vision 2020 Summit next weekend. The telecasts on ABC1 and ABC2 are expected to set new ratings lows as the 1,000 talkers go head to head with the football.

The Daily Reality Check

Those fickle ABC lovers! A bloke gives them a bit of praise yesterday for being a serious minded lot of news consumers and they follow up by making the greatest load of drivel imaginable today’s most read internet story. Bob Irwin cops a million; a coffee fan in hot water for alleged bar code scam; two arrested after torso discovery; even a story about rugby league for goodness sake – “I didn’t dive” insists Ennis. Sydney Morning Broadloid readers have taken over the site of the national broadcaster!

The Pick of this Morning’s Political Coverage