Monday, July 08, 2013

Mon Jul 8th Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Joshua Park Praest and Gaetano Mastrangelo. Born on the same day, across the years. A day in which, in 1758, French and Indian War: French forces defeated the British at Fort Carillon on the shore of Lake Champlain in the British Colony of New York. 1808, Joseph Bonaparte approved the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter intended as the basis for his rule as King of Spain during the Peninsular War. 1898, American con artist and gangster Soapy Smith (pictured) was killed in Skagway, Alaska, when an argument with fellow gang members turned into an unexpected gunfight. 1994, Upon the death of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il became the Supreme Leader of North Korea. 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched in STS-135, the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program. Everything that has happened had a beginning and an end. Your rule is benevolent, but even so, you must take care of those sudden, erupting gunfights.
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Opposition’s Bishop smashes Labor and ABC propaganda

Piers Akerman – Monday, July 08, 2013 (12:05am)

ANOTHER weekend of nonsense from the recycled Kevin Rudd Labor minority government and its media stooges, led by the ABC.
First, novice Immigration Minister Tony Burke grabbed an Opposition policy and said people arriving illegaly by boat who had destroyed their identity documents would be placed at the back of the “queue”.
That’s a hoot. Labor and the legions of lawyers, bleeding hearts and Fifth Columnists encouraging the lethal illegal boat traffic have been claiming for years that there is no “queue”.
Then Burke tried to claim that Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had the Opposition’s border control policy in mind when he said that countries not take unilateral action that could jeopardise anti-people smuggling operations.
Veteran Opposition spokesman on immigration, Scott Morrison, smartly pointed out that the Indonesian leader probably had Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his sights and was referring to Rudd’s unilateral dismantling of the Howard government’s successful border control policy.
That seemed to fire up veteran Labor apologist Barry Cassidy who pointedly asked deputy Liberal Party leader Julie Bishop whether she “took on board” the Indonesian president’s “expressed wishes” on unilateral action.
Bishop was in top gear as she batted away the ABC Insider host’s humbug (see video here) saying she could understand why Indonesia would want such a provision in a communique with Rudd “because when Kevin Rudd was prime minister, he unilaterally took action to change Australia’s laws that had worked to stop the boats and without referring to Indonesia, without going through the Bali process, he weakened our border protection laws and that has sparked this whole crisis”.
She continued, reminding Cassidy that there had been “thousands and thousands of people” and “750 boats under Labor’s watch”.
She also noted that “what we must never forget is that hundreds and hundreds of people have died at sea trying to make this dangerous voyage to Australia”.
Bishop had to remind Cassidy that the Coalition had policies that worked in place for years.
She said the Opposition would not take unilateral action and that it had promised Indonesia that “we will have a no surprises policy in relation to any matters that we introduce, should we be in Government, that effect Indonesia’s national interest...”
How different from Labor which has gone every which way on boats and live cattle, without any consultation with our largest near neighbour.
Cassidy tried to push her but Bishop stuck to her guns, saying the Indonesians were “aware of our policy and it won’t be unilateral action. We will continue to work through the Bali process.
“After all, the Bali process came into being under John Howard.
“So it is only Kevin Rudd who has taken unilateral action when he weakened our laws and sparked this crisis in 2008.”
Cassidy tried twice more to blow the dog-whistle for his ABC audience in his attempt to paint the Opposition as antipathetic to Indonesian views but Bishop rejected his line of questioning easily.
“We will continue with our policies that worked when we were in government,” she said. “That includes turning back boats where it is safe to do so. In the same way it was done under the Howard government it would be done under an Abbott-led government.”
Finally, she spelled it out as you might to a child: “Barrie, it is an inescapable fact that these are Indonesian boats, flagged and registered in Indonesia with Indonesian crews leaving from Indonesian ports.
“Australia is within its rights to turn the boats back in our waters, in international waters where it is safe to do so. And retired Brigadier Gary Hogan and a former head of the navy in David Richie both said this week that our policies can work.”
Cassidy couldn’t stop trying, even indicating that the Opposition’s approach could be “insulting and offensive to the Indonesian government”.
But Bishop returned his volley, sticking to the facts: “We have a very cordial relationship with Indonesia and we will continue to do so. Both the former head of the navy and a retired Brigadier who has just finished a three-year stint in Jakarta has agreed our policies can work”.
Score, Labor and ABC, nil. Bishop and the Coalition, ten.
It was a lot better than watching the Wobblies get smashed on Saturday night. 

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GAME CHANGED

Tim Blair – Monday, July 08, 2013 (7:01pm)

The man in the blue tie scores a big poll reversal: 
This week’s Morgan Poll, the third since Kevin Rudd became Prime Minister, shows another significant swing to the ALP. The ALP 54.5% (up 3% since last week’s multi-mode Morgan Poll of June 28-30, 2013) is now further ahead of the L-NP 45.5% (down 3%) on a two-party preferred basis.
The ALP primary vote is 41.5% (up 2%), ahead of the L-NP primary vote at 39.5% (down 1%) …
If a Federal Election were held today the ALP would win comfortably according to this weekend’s multi-mode Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention with an Australia-wide cross-section of 3,521 Australian electors aged 18+. 
Essential’s numbers still have Labor behind, however.

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IN BRICKNESS AND IN HEALTH

Tim Blair – Monday, July 08, 2013 (5:43am)

It’s been a brilliant year for throwing your money at pointless and ridiculous art.

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PETER’S PRINCIPLES

Tim Blair – Monday, July 08, 2013 (5:22am)

Peter Garrett indicated at an early stage that he wouldn’t be taking his maverick musical politics to Canberra. After agreeing to stand for Labor in 2004, the formerly fierce individualist became a meek team player.

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FOR SALE

Tim Blair – Monday, July 08, 2013 (4:51am)

Old Mercedes. Mostly driven on weekends. Spare parts scarce. No luggage space.

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HE SHOWED THEM

Tim Blair – Monday, July 08, 2013 (4:46am)

A dispassionate appraisal of our current Prime Minister.

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ANDY MURRAY WINS

Tim Blair – Monday, July 08, 2013 (2:29am)

So far as final sets go, Wimbledon wasn’t bad. Intriguing fact: the first British men’s winner in 77 years survived the1996 Dunblane massacre.
UPDATE. In other foreign sports news, soccer has a new meaning for header.

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Essential poll - Labor 48, Coalition 52

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (5:28pm)

Essential Media shows Labor’s bounce-back has stalled - Labor 48 to Coalition 52.
The Morgan Poll goes off the reservation, claiming it’s Labor 54.5 to Coalition 45.5.  I don’t believe that for an instant. 

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Rudd demands new Labor rule so no one can do to him what he did to Gillard

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (5:03pm)

Kevin Rudd announces that Labor will in future have its leader elected jointly by members and the parliamentary team, 50/50.
This could mean the members want one leader, and the MPs another.
A leader who wins a general election stays as leader for the term, unless he brings the party into “disrepute”, and Labor MPs sign a petition for a change.
A leader who takes Labor to defeat then faces a leadership ballot afterwards.
Rudd says it’s to ensure that in future Labor will have a leader that the people voted for, and not installed by faction leaders.
What is good for Kevin is good for the party. This means that if Rudd wins the next election, he cannot be toppled, whatever he does.
I am not convinced this is a good idea. MPs know best who would lead them best. They also know when, say, a Doc Evattt has gone nuts. This change would also have stopped MPs from replacing Bob Hawke with Paul Keating - a move that proved a success. It would, Rudd, explains, also have stopped Gillard from replacing him. Ironically, it would have meant Rudd could not have replaced Gillard as he did.
But this helps Rudd to nullify the Liberal taunt that if voters choose Rudd they’ll end up with someone else afterwards.
From Rudd’s need comes a reform which, if he wins the election, gives him more power than any Labor leader before him.
UPDATE
No one at the press conference has yet asked Rudd to explain why the rule is so good if it would have meant he could not have replaced Gillard a fortnight ago.
Isn’t Labor’s poll bounce proof that changing leaders can work?
UPDATE
A journalist does now ask that question. Rudd dodges it.
UPDATE
Rudd denies this is driven by revenge. He also refuses to say whether he would stand for leader if Labor loses the next election.
UPDATE
Bottom line for Labor. Kevin Rudd is asking for a rule change so no one can do to him what he did two weeks ago to Julia Gillard.
Pardon? 

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Tribe menaces ambulance

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (4:01pm)

I do not know anything more than what’s reported here, but it’s clear some kind of dangerous tribalism is at play - with the ambulance service treated as part of a hostile “them”:

A GROUP of men has turned on paramedics in Melbourne’s north after they reportedly became angry about the time it took the crew to attend a call for assistance.
Paramedics were called to a house in Kelmscott Close, Roxburgh Park, just before 1am today to treat a female patient for minor injuries.
As they were treating the woman, they were confronted by an aggressive man and then a car with three men turned up, 3AW radio reported.
Note: by “tribalism” I do not necessarily mean the tribalism of “race”, although that is one obvious possibility. The dynamic really is of the “us” versus the “them”, with even professional helpers treated as the enemy.
UPDATE
An ambulance spokesman tells the ABC that when the ambulance returned with police protection the crew transported a woman with only minor injuries and a man who demanded also to be taken but had injuries so light that he required no treatment at all.
I think some description of these people would help us to understand what could be a very important social challenge. The failure to include any such descriptors in any of the reporting may signal an equally important problem, perhaps related.
UPDATE
Surname Boulis. They deny being aggressive. See them here:

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The Left’s benign racism gives boat people their green light

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (11:37am)

Our boat people disaster was caused largely by the Left refusing to treat boat people as fully formed adults, intelligent enough to work out how to get what they want and as capable as anyone of doing whatever it takes to get it, including lying. It’s a kind of benign racism.
David Marr gave an example of that naivety on ABC1’s Insiders program
ONCE again there is the notion of doing something to punish those people who inexplicably and foolishly throw away their identity papers at the point of being rescued or coming on to land at Christmas Island. There is talk of putting them at the back of the queue.
Gerard Henderson on the same program:
PEOPLE don’t throw away their passports inexplicably. They throw it away deliberately. They are advised to destroy their passport. So people coming by boat, by and large, we don’t know who they are ... it is very hard to determine whether or not they have a genuine claim.
In 2009 I noted the same naivety - the same patronising view of poor little Third Worlders - just after Kevin Rudd’s fatal decision to scrap the laws that had stopped the boats:

The ABC then claimed one asylum seeker told it Rudd’s “softening of asylum seeker policy . . . had no influence on his decision”. But a fuller transcript showed he’d denied nothing.
Again Rudd’s apologists tried. The ABC’s Jon Faine, The Monthly’s Sally Warhaft, and The Sydney Morning Herald’s David Marr agreed mere Afghans could never have known of Rudd’s changes.
The evidence even then was that asylum seekers were smarter and better informed than the Left assumed:

An Iraqi refugee in Indonesia has told the ABC ...  he plans to attempt the boat journey even though his refugee status is already confirmed, because he has heard he is more likely to be accepted by Kevin Rudd’s Government than its predecessor....
In 2001 he left from Lombok to Australia before the Australian Navy intercepted the boat he was on and turned it back to Indonesia. But from family already in Australia he has heard that the country and its leader have changed.
“Kevin Rudd - he’s changed everything about refugee. If I go to Australia now, different, different,” a second asylum seeker told the ABC.
“Maybe accepted but when John Howard, president, Australia, he said come back to Indonesia.”
He says Kevin Rudd will not send him back to Indonesia and that is why he will be getting on a boat again.

UPDATE
People smugglers seem in no doubt that boats can be turned back and the Coalition will be more effective than Labor:

PEOPLE smugglers are using the election to scare people into buying boat tickets to Australia, asylum seekers have revealed.
About 6000 people are in Indonesia waiting to get refugee status, or to get on boats to come to Australia, and several told News Limited that the people selling the tickets have been offering discounts or using fear tactics to up their sales
.Lately the people smugglers are touting that the election will mean it’s harder to get to Australia - because the rules will be tighter or boats will be towed back - to encourage people to take the dangerous trip sooner.
UPDATE
An extraordinary apologia for the boat people - by a News Ltd journalist - is fact-checked by Samuel J, who could have added crime statistics for further effect.
(Thanks to reader Peter.) 

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The return of the green Nazi

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (11:21am)

As I have often warned, the far Left is actually closely related to the far Right. Both believe in sacrificing individuals to the collective, reason to romance.
One example I’ve mentioned a couple of times:

The Nazis drew heavily on a romantic, anti-science, nature worshipping, communal and anti-capitalist movement that tied German identity to German forests. In fact, Professor Raymond Dominick notes in his book, The Environmental Movement in Germany, two-thirds of the members of Germany’s main nature clubs had joined the Nazi Party by 1939, compared with just 10 per cent of all men. The Nazis also absorbed the German Youth Movement, the Wandervogel, which talked of our mystical relationship with the earth.
Peter Staudenmaier, co-author of “Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience”, says it was for the Wandervogel that the philosopher Ludwig Klages wrote his influential essay Man and Earth in 1913. In it, Klages warned of the growing extinction of species, the destruction of forests, the genocide of aboriginal peoples, the disruption of the ecosystem and the killing of whales. People were losing their relationship with nature, he warned.
Heard all that recently? I’m not surprised. This essay by this notorious anti-Semite was republished in 1980 to mark the birth of the German Greens—the party that inspired the creation of our own Greens party. Its message is much as Hitler’s own in Mein Kampf: “When people attempt to rebel against the iron logic of nature, they come into conflict with the very same principles to which they owe their existence as human beings. Their actions against nature must lead to their own downfall.”
Now another example:

image
Reuters photographer Carlos Barria spent time documenting Mongolian neo-Nazi group Tsagaan Khass, one of several ultra-nationalist groups that have expanded in the country. The 100-plus members of Tsagaan Khass have recently shifted their focus from activities such as attacks on women it accuses of consorting with foreign men to environmental issues. The group is rebranding itself now as an environmentalist organization fighting pollution by foreign-owned mines, seeking legitimacy as it sends Swastika-wearing members to check mining permits.
(Thanks to reader Nilk.) 

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Did Mark Scott hear his ABC’s latest global warming groupthink?

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (11:16am)

ABC managing director Mark Scott in May denied his former chairman, Maurice Newman, had complained about ABC “groupthink” on global warming:

He was talking broadly around the media. It wasn’t a specific criticism of the ABC.
That was an amazing misstatement. Newman actually wrote directly to Scott to complain specifically about the ABC coverage. As The Australian reported last December:

Mr Newman, who retired from the ABC’s top job in March when his five-year term ended, said the broadcaster had been “captured” by a “small but powerful” group of people when it came to climate change groupthink…
In his written complaint to ABC managing director Mark Scott, Mr Newman raised the issue of personally “offensive and defamatory” material and content [on the Science Show] that compared climate sceptics to pedophiles “more generally"…
“The ABC is not being frank and open about the way global warming is portrayed on its various platforms, although the sense of imbalance is becoming more overt, I feel.”
Newman also wrote:
In March 2010 as chairman, I addressed an in-house conference of 250 ABC leaders… I blamed group think and used climate change as an example…
Jonathon Holmes, the presenter of Media Watch, was so angry “he could not concentrate"… I was interviewed by PM and teased as to whether I was a “climate change denier or not as obvious as that?” ...
I retain a deep affection for the ABC. But, like the BBC, there are signs that a small but powerful group has captured the corporation, at least on climate change.
Last week came an astonishing example of the groupthink Newman described and Scott denied.
Take this extract from an astonishingly alarmist ABC Catalyst program on global warming which interviewed no sceptical scientist and made no mention of the 15-year failure of the globe to warm as predicted:

NARRATION

The big surprise is how fast the change is occurring. For every degree rise in air temperature, the water cycle is intensifying by percent. That’s double the climate-model predictions.
Dr Susan Wijffels


The intensity of the storms are likely to go up, because the moisture in the atmosphere is actually the feeder energy stop that drives storms. And we expect droughts and floods to amplify as well.
NARRATION
And that’s what’s happening. These days, when it rains, it really pours. In January 2011, Toowoomba set a terrifying example of what can happen when too much water comes down too fast.
Man
The house… We are moving!
NARRATION
The town experienced an inland tsunami as 100mm of rain fell in under an hour.
Dr Lisa Alexander
You get very intense rainfall events in a very short period of time, like you did in Toowoomba.
But wait. Heavy rain in Toowoomba in 2011 is cited as evidence of a dangerously heating planet?
Even the warmist Climate Commission has admitted the 2011 floods in Queensland actually had nothing to do with global warming - a finding not mentioned by Catalyst:

The floods across eastern Australia in 2010 and early 2011 were the consequence of a very strong La Niña event, and not the result of climate change. That is, the underlying cause of the floods is a natural part of climate variability, which is part of the reason why Australia has always been a “land of droughts and flooding rains”. The extent, if any, of the influence of the warming planet on the intensity of the these heavy rains and floods is simply unknown at this time. There is no evidence that the strength of La Niña events is increasing due to climate change.
Scott should explain why his ABC presented such an extraordinary program which denied the science of global warming to push a scare instead.
UPDATE
Meanwhile, Labor’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation hands your money to a $1 billion wind farm backed by rich foreigners, who will charge Australians extra for power. What a grotesque waste of money.
UPDATE
A rare admission from the CSIRO that man-made warming might actually be good for the planet:

image
(Thanks to readers CalJ, GeoffR and Peter.) 

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Never mind Rudd’s past. Hear his promises

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (11:06am)

Kevin Rudd’s first ad isn’t just against the “negativity” of Tony Abbott. It also seeks to draw a line between Rudd and the negativity of Julia Gillard.
That makes it doubly effective, but I’m not sure all that forget-the-past stuff can work for long. Voters are entitled to judge a government as much by its past as its promises. In fact, its past is a key predictor of its future.
UPDATE
In his ad, Rudd says he wants to make sure “your local hospital has a decent emergency department” (at 0:16). Didn’t he promise six years ago that Labor would fix those emergency departments?

Why, after six years of Labor, do emergency wards still need fixing?
(Thanks to reader Andrew.) 

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Howes turns on Shorten over union corruption rules

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (10:21am)

Paul Howes dumps Bill Shorten, accusing him of going soft on corruption, and praises the Coalition instead:
Australian Workers’ Union boss Paul Howes has called for tougher penalties for union corruption and criticised the government for not matching the Coalition’s policy to bring the penalty regime for unions in line with corporate law.
Mr Howes said the increased penalties for union officials introduced last year by his predecessor and Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten did not go far enough.
He told The Australian Financial Review Labor should adopt the Coalition’s policy.
“I can’t see any reason why anyone in the [union] movement would fear having the same penalties that apply to company directors. If you’re a crook, you’re a crook,’’ Mr Howes said…
“I can’t understand why the penalties in the Corporations Act weren’t pushed through when the government legislated earlier this year.’’
Mr Howes was aware the comments will intensify the ill-feeling between himself and Mr Shorten. The pair fell out over Mr Shorten’s part in rolling Julia Gillard as Labor leader…
Mr Howes’ comments also represent a departure from the ambivalence he first showed towards Tony Abbott’s policy which the Opposition Leader flagged following Fair Work Australia’s investigation into the misuse of members’ funds by Health Services Union bosses, including MP Craig Thomson.
What else might Howes say about Shorten?
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hills.) 

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Why is Rudd spending this money on ads, not the disabled?

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (10:08am)

Reader mem is absolutely right about these political ads, selling a product that’s not for sale outside one trial site in Newcastle:

Amongst the increasing number of advertisements being funded out of federal government departments is one for Disability Care.The advertisement features adults and children with a range of conditions all saying they are looking forward to “Disability Care” for assistance.To my knowledge there is yet to be any definition of who will qualify, what they will qualify for and how many people can be assisted.Surely such advertising is misleading and pre-empts the development of the guidelines and the budget. What responsible government would allow these advertisements to proceed? Not another stuff up because the Labor Party has jumped the gun to win votes.
Why not simply give the advertising budget to disability groups to offer things like respite care?  This is just about seeming, not doing. 

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Rudd lets Indonesia make us take its boat people

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (9:47am)

Boat people policy
image
KEVIN Rudd should have asked Indonesia’s President a simple question about boat people when they met on Friday.
Would Indonesia take back the 101 “asylum seekers” our navy was at that very moment rescuing less than 80km off Indonesia’s coast?
Even as the Prime Minister met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bogor, HMAS Larrakia was saving people from a boat just a few hour’s sailing from Java. But although our navy picked up those people from an Indonesian vessel in Indonesia’s search and rescue zone, it did not return them to Indonesia.
HMAS Larrakia, instead, ferried them to Australia’s Christmas Island, more than three times further away. HMAS Taxi at the people smugglers’ service.
Nothing better demonstrates the farce of Labor’s border policy caused, above all, by Rudd, himself. 

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Penguins smile and wave at the warmist scare

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (9:19am)

Global warming - dud predictions
THE ABC had surprising news last week - for anyone who’d fallen for its previous penguin alert.
“The little penguins of Phillip Island are experiencing a baby boom,” it reported. “Last summer’s breeding season was the best in a generation” because a warmer autumn meant the penguins “breed much better”.
Yet the ABC last claimed global warming was starving the colony’s penguins.  

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The money is still on Abbott

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (8:35am)

Reader Jonno:
It’s astonishing that Centrebet still have Labor $4.15 (drifted out from $3.85 in last week) and Coalition $1.22 in what seems to be a very tight 2 horse race. Maybe it will tighten with successive polls if they continue to maintain the Rudd bounce but it seems rather odd. That said 2 months ago Labor were paying $9.60!

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Campbell Newman struggles - to massive 59 to 41 lead

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (8:09am)

Despite being so fiercely criticised in the media, Campbell Newman’s government holds a commanding lead:

THE first-term problems of the Newman government will give Kevin Rudd more ammunition to fight the conservatives in Queensland, with the latest Newspoll revealing a drop in support for the state’s Liberal National Party…
The Queensland LNP’s primary vote has slumped five points - from 49 per cent to 44 per cent…
On a speculative two-party-preferred basis, the latest results reduce the LNP to 59 per cent, compared with its outstanding performance in the March 2012 election when it registered 62.8 per cent and its first-term low of 56 per cent at the end of last year.

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Rudd fails his Tampa test

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (6:39am)

Boat people policy
Labor has for the second time failed its Tampa challenge - admitting a ship diverted to Australia by boat people plucked from Indonesia’s search and rescue territory:
The Maltese-flagged oil and chemical tanker Sichem Hawk ... went to the aid of the 34 asylum-seekers and two crew in international waters between Java and Christmas Island…
Basarnas, the Indonesian search and rescue agency, ... made plans to send boats from Peucang Island, southwest Banten, to take the rescued people off the tanker to Indonesia. But as the Indonesian boats were making their way to the Sichem Hawk, the master radioed that he was turning back to Christmas Island for the safety of the passengers and crew…
It is the second time in a year that asylum-seekers have threatened self-harm to force a merchant vessel to take them to the Australian territory rather than a foreign port; in August the MV Parsifal diverted to rescue 67 asylum-seekers, some of whom allegedly stormed the bridge to compel the captain to take them to Christmas Island.
Compare and contrast.
John Howard’s Tampa in 2001:

Tampa had diverted from its course to Singapore to answer emergency calls from a sinking Indonesian vessel, the KM Palapa 1.

Kevin Rudd’s Sichem Hawk last Tuesday:

The Maltese-flagged oil and chemical tanker Sichem Hawk ... went to the aid of the 34 asylum-seekers and two crew in international waters between Java and Christmas Island....  Sichem Hawk ... was en route from Australia to Singapore.
Howard’s Tampa:
Arne Rinnan, the Tampa’s captain, said five men had stormed the bridge and ordered him to take the group to Australia, threatening to throw themselves overboard unless he agreed. “They flatly refused to go back to Indonesia and they were threatening to jump overboard,” Captain Rinnan added. “It could have been turning into a really ugly situation.”
Rudd’s Sichem Hawk:

Basarnas, the Indonesian search and rescue agency,… and the national water police made plans to send boats from Peucang Island, southwest Banten, to take the rescued people off the tanker to Indonesia. But as the Indonesian boats were making their way to the Sichem Hawk, the master radioed that he was turning back to Christmas Island for the safety of the passengers and crew. According to Basarnas, the asylum-seekers were threatening to kill themselves if the plan to hand them over to the Indonesians went ahead.
Howard’s Tampa:

PRIME Minister John Howard decided to turn away the Tampa freighter, carrying more than 400 asylum-seekers, despite receiving advice his decision could be in breach of international law… But the Tampa was ordered not to enter Australian water, then seized by authorities before it docked at Christmas Island and the asylum-seekers were taken aboard an Australian navy vessel. Most were taken to Nauru to process their asylum claims, while more than 100 were granted asylum in NZ.
Kevin Rudd’s Sichem Hawk:

The 36 people delivered by the Sichem Hawk to Christmas Island last Thursday are now in detention on Christmas Island...
Howard’s Tampa:

John Howard’s stand on the Tampa is generally seen in retrospect as a political masterstroke that stopped the boats and helped him to secure the 2001 federal election. But to leaf through newspaper clippings from those intense days of late August and early September 2001 is to be reminded that his government took a high-stakes gamble and came close to losing.
After Kevin Rudd’s Sichem Hawk:
The number of men, women and children in detention on Christmas Island is well beyond contingency capacity of 2724. At last head count on Thursday night, there were 3092 people detained but that was before the weekend run of boats that delivered more than 500 asylum-seekers. On Saturday, Customs officers unloaded boat after boat for 13 hours straight. There were a further 520 asylum-seekers detained on Nauru and 199 on Manus Island as of Thursday night. On the mainland, there were another 6249.
Under John Howard:

“We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come,” Howard said in an October 2001 campaign speech. Months earlier he refused to let 430 asylum seekers rescued by a Norwegian freighter enter Australian waters.
Under Kevin Rudd:
There are other contradictions in Indonesia’s position that a competent Australian government would try gently to fix up.... At the moment, asylum-seekers on boats, alone among all the people of the world, get to choose where they are disembarked, no matter how far away that is, and they all choose Australia.
They should be disembarked in the waters of the country where they are found, or, if in international waters, at the nearest safe port. That is normal maritime practice for everyone except the people on illegal immigration boats.
Rudd had his chance. Typically, he missed it.
UPDATE
Greg Sheridan unspins Rudd’s spin:

As late as his interview with the ABC’s Leigh Sales last week, Rudd canvassed once more naval confrontation between Australia and Indonesia over Abbott’s policies.
Yet on ABC’s Q&A, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a senior adviser to Indonesian Vice-President Boediono, said Jakarta would not co-operate with such a policy but it certainly would not lead to confrontation, “as some people have said”.
This is as clear a repudiation as you could imagine by the Vice-President’s office of Rudd’s highly inflammatory and irresponsible talk about military confrontation.
Similarly, Rudd is having wholly undeserved success in spinning the line that because his joint declaration with the Indonesian President talked of countries avoiding unilateral actions that prejudice a regional solution (to issues of illegal immigration by boat), that this showed Jakarta’s deep opposition to Abbott’s policies.
In fact, every country in the region has unilateral policies. Singapore point-blank refuses to take any boatpeople. Is Rudd suggesting Singapore is in conflict with the Indonesian government?

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Rudd’s wife makes fortune from workless Britons

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (5:19am)

Kevin Rudd’s wife is making a motza from the British policies Rudd deplores:
In a return lodged last December for her international job placement agency Ingeus UK, [Therese] Rein, one of seven directors, states that the country in which she is usually resident is the United Kingdom. Clearly, unlike her spouse, Rein does not fear life under Tory policies.
Last week as justification for his backflip on the ALP leadership Rudd warned of the need to stop Tony Abbott because “his alternative economic policy is to copy the British Conservatives—launch a national slash-and-burn austerity drive and drive the economy into recession as happened in Britain"…
Well every cloud has a silver lining, especially if, like Rein, you’re in the welfare-to-work industry in Britain. For while Rudd might rail against the evils of “Cameronite” policies, a company ultimately 50 per cent owned by Rein’s Australian company Ingeus has bagged contracts worth $1.2 billion under the Tories’ “Work Program”. The policy is intended to secure jobs for the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups.

That is a staggering amount of money, and British Labour is wondering what Britons are actually getting for it:
THERESE Rein faces multi-million-dollar contractual problems with the British government after her jobseeker company, Ingeus, failed to deliver on promises to get sufficient numbers of long-term unemployed back to work.
Ingeus ...  faces having some of the lucrative contracts axed before the end of the year…
Opposition works spokesman Liam Byrne noted that, in many parts of the country, taking part in the scheme was indeed “worse than doing nothing"…
Its reputation has been tarnished, especially among the poorest and most disadvantaged, after it coerced some unemployed people to work unpaid for 30 hours a week for up to six months in charity shops and big-name retail outlets.
This “workfare plan”, detailed in Ingeus’s tender document, is mandatory for the claimants to maintain their pound stg. 71.70 a week jobs benefit.. . Ingeus told The Australian “all work experience is voluntary, with the duration determined by the individual"…
Joanna Long, a member of the lobby group Boycott Workfare, told The Australian that the unemployed had no real alternative but to work for free with no job at the end of the period.
“It is deeply concerning someone so closely connected to the Australian Labor Party is helping to erode labour rights in the UK,” Ms Long said…
The latest figures, released last month by the Department of Work and Pensions, underscore a poor performance, dramatically below the government’s target that Ingeus and others would find work for 30 per cent of applicants, which was a minimum figure the government expected would be “significantly exceeded”.
Instead 130,000 of the 1.2 million people who joined the Work Program since June 2011—13.4 per cent—have found employment, a figure well below that which the government believed would have found work without any intervention at all.

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Back in charge of insulating the rest of the economy

Andrew Bolt July 08 2013 (12:11am)

The price of Rudd’s rush-rush:

FALLOUT from Kevin Rudd’s home insulation scheme has devastated the industry, which now employs about 1000 fewer people than before the government rolled out the program four years ago as part of its stimulus package.
Insulation Council of Australia chief executive Dennis D’Arcy said ...  before the scheme about 5000 people had been employed in the industry “and now we would be lucky to have 4000”.
“The industry has not recovered...”
And in a scathing letter to the Prime Minister, Insulation Australasia chairman Scott Gibson ... says there are “hundreds” of small and medium-sized insulation companies that “continue to experience the financial nightmare” and businesses should be compensated for their loss...
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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בוקר מסתיימים הצילומים לפרויקט התיירות הבינלאומי שהתקיימו במהלך השנה החולפת, במטרה להראות את פניה היפות של המדינה היקרה שלנו ולהביא לפה עוד ועוד תיירים. 

מפסגת המצדה - בוקר טוב ישראל! 

!From the top of Masada - Good Morning Israel
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Visit the Memorial during NAIDOC Week from 7 July to 14 July to learn about and reflect on the significant contribution that Indigenous Australians have made to our nation’s wartime history. NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. As part of the nationwide celebrations and reflections, the Memorial’s regular gallery talks will focus on commemorating the role of indigenous servicemen and women.
Join our free Gallery talks at 11.30am every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
https://www.awm.gov.au/events/gallery-talks-3/

Studio portrait of Aboriginal servicewoman, QF267190 Lance Corporal (L Cpl) Kathleen Jean Mary (Kath) Walker, of Stradbroke Island, Qld, a communication worker with the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS). L Cpl Walker enlisted on 5 December 1942 and was discharged on 19 January 1944. She later changed her name to Oodgeroo Noonuccal and was a well known Australian poet, actress, writer, teacher, artist and campaigner for Aboriginal rights. Oodgeroo was best known for her poetry and was the first Aboriginal Australian to publish a book of verse.
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P01688.001
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LABOR’S GRUBBY LIES & HYPOCRISY EXPOSED.

Last night we had Kevin Rudd on TV claiming Australians “are sick and tired of negative politics” and “I believe people want all of us to raise the standard.” 

Meanwhile Labor are down in the gutter, sending out a postcard (authorised by Bob Carr) full of blatant lies and negative politics, asking people to sign a letter saying they “Oppose Tony Abbott’sand the Liberal’s Plan to increase the GST” - this is despite the fact that there are NO plans to increase the GST whatsoever, and rate of the GST can only be changed by agreement with the all the states.

A bit rich coming from the party that promised faithfully before the last election there would be NO carbon tax, then gave us a Carbon Tax, and have just increased the rate of the Carbon Tax, and plan to increase the Carbon Tax again it next year.

This is just further proof of the complete hypocrisy of Kevin Rudd.
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Molokini Crater, Hawai'i!
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Difficult Audience.What Do You Do?
Speaking to a broken heart is like giving nourishment to a starving child. Speaking to a hard heart is like correcting a rebellious teenager. So how do you do it?
Start On Your Knees.Remember, not only can you not do it, God doesn't expect you to. You are the instrument; you're not the power.

Only God can break the "rock" of a hard heart. If the heart is that of a callous non-Christian, only God can show him his need. John 16:8 refers to the Holy Spirit of God, not the human spirit of the preacher, when it says, "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." If the heart is that of a cold Christian, prayer remains the starting point. If Jesus prayed for them, we should too (John 17:20). Start with your knees on the ground.God bless you.

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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
PRAY ALONG.
Father,I thank You for taking the limits off my life.I thank You for sweeping away the ashes of my past and giving me something beautiful in their place. I choose to give them up to You and receive Your healing and restoration in my life. I renounce old mindsets and negative labels and commit to renew myself by Your Word. Thank You for transforming me into Your likeness in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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4 her
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As we chased this storm through Nevada along this mountain range, Miguel and I stopped to catch this scene as finger rays started bursting out. The sun was lowering fast and the clouds faster, so we had to be quick. The wind was howling and the power lines directly over us were eerily humming low and steady.
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Pre-Wedding ( Fadi + Karmeen ) Nohadra - North Iraq. from Diamond Films on Vimeo.
 cultural progress. Do these people look like they would have been happier under the economic sanctions, which were an alternative to war? So poorly managed by the UN and it's notorious 'oil for food' program? There is light at the end of the tunnel. I wish this couple a happy wedding day and a wonderful life together.>
Plus it must be nicer to live in a nation where the price for a woman of being pretty is no longer facing rape by the leader or their sons .. and where a man may not be killed for being inconvenient. - ed
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Just a reminder that tickets to the most anticipated Doctor Who event of the year, the official Doctor Who 50th Celebration, will go on sale tomorrow from 11am BST via the official Celebration website here: http://bit.ly/DWCelebration
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Because of the short runway at Princess Juliana International Airport large planes fly right over the tourists head on Maho Beach.
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Trouble Along the Way – Trailer
- Film Clip -

At this link:
http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/trouble-along-the-way-trailer/
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When it comes to saving lives, a great leader does not think twice. This afternoon, an ‎#Israel Air Force pilot and navigator survived a sudden plane crash in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.‎#IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, was one of the first to arrive at the scene, working side by side with IDF rescuers to evacuate the survivors from the sea. 
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LEADING KIWI SCIENTIST THOROUGHLY DEBUNKS CLIMATE SCARE 

July 6, 2013: "GLOBAL WARMING, alias CLIMATECHANGE [the NON-EXISTENT, incredibly expensive, THREAT TO US ALL, including to our grandchildren]", by David Kear, PhD, FRSNZ, CMG, Whakatane, New Zealand. Dr. Kear is a South Pacific geologist, United Nations consultant and former Director-General of NZ Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research, Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

"The widespread obsession with Global-Warming-Climate-Change, in opposition to all factual evidence, is quite incredible. It leads to unfair treatment of some citizens, and a massive bill for all, for nothing useful."

Read the whole document:

http://nzclimatescience.net/images/PDFs/keargw2.pdf
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John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, Reap the Wild Wind
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For sale at explosive prices! ‎#Hezbollah terrorists store their weapons in civilian houses, endangering ‎#Lebanese civilians by turning their villages into makeshift military and terrorist bases. Keep an eye out for the ‎#IDF’s new Hezbollah website coming later this week.
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Pastor Rick Warren
Worship is a witness when it's clear, understandable, and heart-felt.

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The age of global warming is over. I refer, not to any warming of the planet that may or may not be occurring, but to the world’s apparently serious and broadly shared belief in dangerous, man-made global warming and of equally serious attempts to implement policies of enforced decarbonisation to deal with it.
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Soapy Smith

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