UNDISPUTED talkback king Alan Jones is celebrating 10 years

UNDISPUTED talkback king Alan Jones is celebrating 10 years at No.1 for Sydney radio station 2GB.

The breakfast host has clocked up 83 consecutive survey wins on 2GB, plus dozens more when he ruled the airwaves on 2UE - but who's counting.

"I was No.1 at 2UE for another 15 or 12 (years) or something, so we've won, I don't know, nearly a couple of hundred surveys on the run I think.

"So this is just 2GB, but look I never count," Jones told AAP on Tuesday.

Jones has a stranglehold on the breakfast time slot with 15.1 per cent of the audience, according to the latest GFK survey.

While his show has dropped by 0.4 per cent, Jones' closest rival is ABC 702'S Robbie Buck at 11 per cent.

The secret to his reign, Jones says, is hard work.

"I have a tiny little team here but they're all very good.

"We work very hard and we try and keep in touch with our listeners," Jones said.

"We're not doing a program to make listeners happy, we are responding to concerns out there.

"In many ways they see us as a bit of a ombudsman," Jones said.

But while Jones is popular, he is also controversial.

In 2012, over 60 companies pulled advertising during the breakfast program after Jones said Julia Gillard's late father probably "died of shame" about her "lies".

He later apologised for the comment.

A year earlier, the broadcasting watchdog ruled that Jones had breached commercial radio codes by broadcasting factual inaccuracies and failing to give more than one viewpoint.

Despite this, Macquarie Radio Network's 2GB has now been Sydney's number one radio station for 80 consecutive ratings.

Jones says winning ratings isn't the reason behind his longevity in the radio industry.

"You don't work every day worrying about the ratings anymore than I suppose politicians worry about the polls. You've just got to worry about the quality of the work you do and try to make each program better than the last one."

And the show will go on for the 70-something broadcaster, who has no plans to retire anytime soon.

"I don't know what the word (retirement) means. I think I would be bored rigid."

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But that's where the good news ends

AFTER all the doom and gloom, there is finally a chink of economic light.

Consumer confidence has risen moderately in the past week, the first time since federal budget leaks started to emerge in April.

Retail spending has posted its longest run of positive monthly results in seven years; a strong economic growth result is expected from Wednesday's quarterly national accounts; and the Reserve Bank is showing no signs of raising the cash rate any time soon.

But that's where the good news ends.

Even though the weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index rose 2.9 per cent, it was still down 12 per cent over a six-week period, which is a worry for retailers in coming months.

The index coincided with a Dun & Bradstreet survey showing 59 per cent of businesses are concerned about the impact of the budget on their operations.

At the same time, the latest Newspoll showed barely any improvement in support for the coalition after two weeks of trying to sell its first budget and that Labor would be swept to power if an election was held tomorrow.

But Treasurer Joe Hockey remains adamant the budget will make the economy stronger and more resilient.

"It is going to lead to the creation of more jobs," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

Consumer spending rose 0.2 per cent to $23.2 billion in April, the month before the budget.

Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Margy Osmond said the 12th consecutive rise in spending would have given retailers a nice surprise.

"[But] we would expect May and June to be the deal-breakers in retail sales momentum," she said in a statement.

The RBA left the cash rate at its all-time low of 2.5 per cent at its monthly board meeting.

"On present indications, the most prudent course is likely to be a period of stability in interest rates," governor Glenn Stevens said in his post-meeting statement.

Economic growth has been firmer since the start of the year, partly as a result of very strong increases in resource exports, he said.

Balance of payments data for the the March quarter has shown net exports - exports minus imports - will contribute a much stronger than expected 1.4 percentage points to growth in the quarter.

Some economists upgraded their March quarter gross domestic product forecasts ahead of Wednesday's national accounts, which could see annual growth above 3 per cent for the first time in about two years.

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Cupcake on Condensed Milk Recipe

For this recipe you will need:

Flour 8 Art. L.
Egg 4 pcs.

Cupcake on Condensed Milk Recipe

Sugar 3 tbsp. L.
Sour cream 3 tbsp
Condensed milk 1 can
Baking soda 1/2 hours. Liter.

To prepare the cake for condensed milk is necessary to:
Condensed milk is poured into a bowl, pierce one egg, and add sugar, sour cream, flour, and salt, baking soda (you can repay it with vinegar or lemon juice). All are thoroughly mixed and poured into a mold with oiled tracing paper sprinkled with breadcrumbs. Put in the preheated oven. As soon as the cake rises and browns, fire bate and bake 35-40 minutes until tender.

http://www.worldsolu.com/2015/02/cupcake-condensed-milk-recipe/

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Breaking News

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Vivid lighting festival by ferry this long

PASSENGERS heading to Sydney's Vivid lighting festival by ferry this long weekend could get an extra bonus - free travel.

Industrial action by Maritime Union of Australia ferry workers means there'll be a four-evening "no-ticket" protest from Friday to Monday - when passengers won't have to buy tickets between 5pm to 3am because staff will neither sell nor collect them.

On Friday, the MUA will hold a stopwork meeting from 10am and 2pm to discuss the negotiations with employer Harbour City Ferries for higher wages and other issues related to working conditions.

Harbour City Ferries is disappointed the industrial action is taking place on the Queen's Birthday holiday long weekend.

"We want all of our staff to keep their jobs and to do that we need to be realistic about pay rises and other efficiencies within the business to remain competitive and live within our means," chief executive Steffen Faurby said in a statement on Tuesday.

A number of different proposals had been put forward during six months of negotiations with the union, Mr Faurby said.

"To be clear, no employee will have a drop in pay, despite union claims to the contrary. Our employees are paid 30 to 50 per cent more than our competitors, and while we are not looking at pay cuts, it is unrealistic to expect excessive pay rises," he said.

MUA Sydney assistant secretary Garrett said workers were being asked to take a pay rise below the rate of inflation.

The popular Vivid light show, which is taking place across the CBD and harbour foreshore, winds up on Monday night.

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Geyser was allowed to have two friends over every year

MORGAN E. Geyser was allowed to have two friends over every year for her birthday. This year, she'd celebrate on May 30. That is the day she and Anissa E. Weier, both 12 years old, would try to kill their friend during a sleepover.

On Monday, the two Waukesha, Wisconsin, girls were charged as adults with attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

Their victim, another 12-year-old from Waukesha, was stabbed 19 times by either Geyser or Weier or both, according to a criminal complaint. All three attended the same school.

Geyser and Weier were held on $US500,000 ($A540,979) bail each. The girls attempted murder, they told police, to pay homage to a fictional character who they believed was real after reading about him on a web site devoted to horror stories.

On Saturday, a bicyclist found the victim on the footpath, covered with blood, with injuries to her arms, legs and torso.

She had managed to crawl out of the woods, where the suspects allegedly had left her to die. She was rushed to a hospital where she was reported to be stable on Monday evening, but fighting for her life.

A Waukesha County Sheriff's deputy found Geyser and Weier hours later. A knife with a five-inch blade was in Weier's backpack, police said.

Police said suspects explained the stabbing referencing their dedication to "Slender Man", a character they discovered on a web site called "Creepypasta Wiki", which is devoted to horror stories.

According to police, Weier said Slender Man is the "leader" of Creepypasta, and in the hierarchy of that world, one must kill in order to show dedication to Slender Man.

Weier said that Geyser told her they should become "proxies" of Slender Man and kill their friend to prove themselves worthy of him.

The suspects believed that "Slender", as Weier called him, lived in a mansion in the Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin. The plan was to kill the victim and walk to Slender's mansion to become a proxy.

After school on Friday, police said, Weier said she and Geyser went to Weier's house, where she packed a backpack before they went to Geyser's house. With Geyser's father, they picked up the victim and all went to a skating rink in Waukesha.

They came home around 9.30pm, and went to sleep in Geyser's room.

Geyser and Weier originally had planned to commit the murder at 2am early on Saturday, according to the criminal complaint. They'd duct tape their victim's mouth, stab her in the neck and pull the covers over her to make it look like she was sleeping. Then, they'd run.

But the plans changed after they'd been out roller skating Friday night. Instead, they'd try to kill her in a bathroom at a nearby park the next morning. Weier knew there was a drain in the floor for the blood to go down, she told police.

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continue to invest and pursue opportunities in the region

TELSTRA wants to spread its wings in Asia and become a global leader in wireless technology, says Telstra chief executive David Thodey.

Mr Thodey believes the telco giant has to grow and be part of Asia.

"We want to be a great company in Asia," he told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia business lunch on Tuesday.

Mr Thodey told reporters later that Telstra already had a presence in Asia and would continue to invest and pursue opportunities in the region.

Telstra already has a joint venture with Telecom Indonesia.

The telco also has its sights set on becoming a global leader in software development, but wants to do it out of Australia.

Mr Thodey said Australia needed to do more to encourage innovation, but it was the responsibility not just of government but of everyone.

"If you could just capture the energy, I think this country could double its GDP (gross domestic product) - don't quote me on that," Mr Thodey said.

Mr Thodey said a country could not prosper just by saving.

It also had to grow by pushing the limits in a sensible way.

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