Monday, November 04, 2013

Mon Nov 4th Todays News

I have no interest in whomever Bieber sleeps with so long as he/she/it is legal. Nor Miley Cyrus. But a defence force girl humiliated through a scandal concerns me. It was politicised by then ALP defence minister so as to embarrass the defence forces who were getting toey. Losing soldiers to bad defence policy is upsetting to senior personnel too. We know it was bad policy because adults in the form of conservative government did not lose a soldier over about the same time the ALP did. 40 to nil is not a good soccer score. In this case, the score are soldier's lives. The young woman concerned in this particular scandal, and others involved in other scandals did not benefit from the spotlight. Like other victims of sexual abuse, they are entitled to a fair process sympathetic to their futures. Instead they were pawns in political battles that had little to do with them. Naturally, the press shy away from why this woman was treated differently to other such victims Australia wide. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Which is why the caretakers of the unknown soldier needs to be watched. 
Miranda Devine pays appropriate tribute to a highly decorated SAS soldier. Also UWS Vice Chancellor gets rewarded for her diligence doing what I would love to have done, but with equal opportunity never can. Opportunity knocks the Golden Eagle, which while not endangered, is protected by the US Government unless it flies into a bird killing wind mill. If Obama spoke on the issue, I'm sure he mis-spoke. Read a compelling story of a man who loves his work, by Tim Blair .. the man is an Egyptian executioner. He works with his hands, which is something the ABC should do, not broadcast news or current affairs, but community service for their crimes against culture and truth. Who doesn't love cooked, crispy Bacon? Certainly better than the journalist educator. Bruce Hawker describes for Bolt how he abused and used the willing press. A protestor gets legal aide for a trumped up charge .. I am threatened, my home is at risk, and no legal aide for me. 
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Hatches
Happy birthday and many happy returns Tegan Perkins Ftk and Carla J. Patterson. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
Matches
Despatches
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Tomb of the Unknown Soldier architect designed “non sectarian symbolism”

Miranda Devine – Saturday, November 02, 2013 (9:03pm)

ARCHITECT Peter Tonkin, who designed the Australian War Memorial’s Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier, has spoken out about the foiled plan to replace the iconic inscription “Known Unto God” with a Paul Keating quote.
He backs memorial director Brendan Nelson’s claim that Charles Bean, the WWI correspondent who first conceived of the memorial, had stipulated it not be “not sectarian in any sense at all.
“He wrote that very clearly in his purpose statement.”
The Surry Hills architect described his design as “full of non-sectarian symbolism”.
But he would not be drawn on the controversy over the God reference.
“My feelings on the matter are entirely private. I do think it’s a great shame there’s such a controversy about it all.”
Nelson consulted Tonkin over his remodelling plans to incorporate Keating’s 1993 speech.
“Known Unto God”, a staple of Unknown Soldier monuments around the world, was not included in the original 1993 design, but was added six years later on the suggestion of historian Geoffrey Blainey, then a member of the memorial’s council.
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Honour to meet man of valour

Miranda Devine – Saturday, November 02, 2013 (9:01pm)

I HAD the privilege of meeting Australian war hero Mark Donaldson last week. The SAS Trooper was the first Victoria Cross recipient in 40 years, recognised for courage under fire in 2008 during a Taliban ambush.
He told me he used to listen to Metallica in preparation for battle.
The extraordinary feats of the SAS in Afghanistan have barely been acknowledged, because of the need for secrecy, except in rare accounts of battles, such as Sandra Lee’s 18 Hours. Donaldson, like many SAS warriors, is wiry and slight, his physical capabilities tightly under wraps, his demeanour guarded.
But now he has opened up in his book, The Crossroads, about his journey from rebellious teenager with a green mohawk in Dorrigo, through the family tragedies which propelled him into the Army. It is an inspirational tale, and one we must honour.
As our presence in Afghanistan ends, we are in eternal debt to a magnificent new generation of fighting men and women, whose sacrifices and valour will be revealed in time.
* Hear more of Donaldson’s life and musical inspiration on my radio show today on 2GB 873, 4pm-6pm.
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Sydney’s unsung high achiever

Miranda Devine – Saturday, November 02, 2013 (9:00pm)

ONE of the most influential, yet unsung high achievers in Sydney is Janice Reid.
The vice-chancellor of the University of Western Sydney retires next month after 16 years in which she has built up Sydney’s black sheep institution into a thriving success and the lifeblood of Sydney’s vibrant west.
More than half its students are the first in their family to go to uni and she still gets a kick out of graduation.
Well done to a great Sydneysider.
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THIS IS BEAUTIFUL

Tim Blair – Monday, November 04, 2013 (3:25pm)

A German vogel schlitzer bites the dirt:



Meanwhile, in the US: 
More than four decades ago the golden eagle was awarded the same protections under US law as the country’s national bird, the bald eagle. Even disturbing their nests is a criminal offence.
The raptor is not considered to be under threat but scientists are worried about a recent increase in the number of golden eagles killed by wind turbines. Eagles in flight tend to focus on the ground below as they look for prey, unaware of the fast-spinning blades in their paths until it’s too late. 
(Via Colours and JF Beck)
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BIGGEST STUFF-UP IN THE WORLD

Tim Blair – Monday, November 04, 2013 (3:19pm)

Harvard professor and former Democrat adviser David Cutler explains why Barack Obama’s new healthcare program is such a brilliant, screaming, unfixable superdisaster: 
They were running the biggest start-up in the world, and they didn’t have anyone who had run a start-up, or even run a business. 
Yep. That might just be the problem, right there. And they were led by a lying President. No, wait; the New York Timeseditorial board offers a more nuanced form of words: 
Congressional Republicans have stoked consumer fears and confusion with charges that the health care reform law is causing insurers to cancel existing policies and will force many people to pay substantially higher premiums next year for coverage they don’t want. That, they say, violates President Obama’s pledge that if you like the insurance you have, you can keep it.
Mr. Obama clearly misspoke when he said that. 
Via Iowahawk the Great. Readers are invited to provide other examples of historical deceit, ending with the NYT’s delightful evasion.
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MAN LOVES HIS WORK

Tim Blair – Monday, November 04, 2013 (3:18pm)

Hajj Abd Al-Nabi is a people person: 
I love people, and people love me … 
Do read on.
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CAPITALISM COMPROMISED

Tim Blair – Monday, November 04, 2013 (12:20pm)

A friend of mine is so wonderfully right-wing that he makes me seem like some kind of Canberra-cuddling collectivist commie crybaby. Yet whenever we agree that the ABC needs to be defunded or privatised or dismantled and sold as scrap to nomadic Romani people, he always adds a caveat.
“I like their rural radio stations,” he says. “They’re good. We should keep them.”
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SAUSAGE POLICE

Tim Blair – Monday, November 04, 2013 (12:17pm)

The fundraising barbecue is a fine tradition. Trust Canberra to stuff it up.
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MORE OFF THAN ON

Tim Blair – Monday, November 04, 2013 (12:15pm)

When US President Barack Obama first proposed a universal health-care plan, many in Australia were surprised by widespread American opposition. They assumed that Obamacare, as it has become known, would function in much the same way as our own system. Why the hate?
Now that Obamacare is in place, reasons for opposition are clear. The president’s signature health-care policy is an incredibly twisted and complex piece of legislation, even by Washington standards.
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Comic for November 01, 2013
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Wendy Bacon betrays journalism to damn a sceptic

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (11:09am)

Global warming - propaganda, Media

Wendy Bacon, who actually teaches journalism students, does exactly what she damns - abuses, cherry picks, attacks an advocate as ideologically motivated and, gasp!, even criticises a journalist:

Given his influence, a consideration of how Australian media covers climate science needs to include an analysis of the strategies used by Bolt to persuade his readers they should reject the findings of the vast majority of climate scientists. These strategies include personal abuse, cherry picking specific findings to refute the entire body of findings of climate scientists, portrayal of advocates of climate action as ideologically motivated with totalitarian tendencies and criticism of journalists who report on climate science. He presents himself as someone who is fighting a battle to reveal ‘truth’ and ‘secrets’ which ‘warmists’ want hidden to protect their vested interests. Once the ‘facts’ are established a triumphal, mocking tone is adopted.
Hand Bacon a mirror.
But note. The one thing Bacon does not do and which she criticises in me is to establish facts, which she actually has the hide to present in scare quotes.
She damns but cannot disprove I single thing I have written about global warming. Indeed, at times she and her researchers present quotes out of context to claim I have plucked facts out of context, but even then she cannot disprove them. The best she can say is that a majority of warmist scientists don’t agree with some of what I write.
Duh.
But surely that is the fundamental starting point of any analysis of journalism: is it true?
If it is true, shouldn’t Bacon’s concern then be not about my journalism but that of those I criticise? Right now she’s just acting like an enforcer of group think, no matter how fact-free.
A TEST FOR WENDY BACON
Let me provide a fresh example of what I do that Bacon condemns - when she should instead support. 
Newspapers here on the weekend picked up this typical New York Times warmist propaganda:

Climate change will pose sharp risks to the world’s food supply in coming decades, potentially undermining crop production and driving up prices at a time when the demand for food is expected to soar, scientists have found.
In a departure from an earlier assessment, the scientists concluded that rising temperatures will have some beneficial effects on crops in some places, but that globally they will make it harder for crops to thrive — perhaps reducing production over all by as much as 2 percent each decade for the rest of this century, compared with what it would be without climate change.
And, the scientists say, they are already seeing the harmful effects in some regions.
The warnings come in a leaked draft of a report under development by a United Nations panel, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The document is not final and could change before it is released in March.
The report also finds other sweeping impacts from climate change already occurring across the planet, and warns that these are likely to intensify as human emissions of greenhouse gases continue to rise…
The warning on the food supply is the sharpest in tone the panel has issued.... [It] adds that over all, global warming could reduce agricultural production by as much as 2 percent each decade for the rest of this century.
Note already: even this report grudgingly acknowledges a “fact” (Bacon’s scare quotes) that sceptics such as me argued for a long time but which warmist scientists only now credit: that global warming will be good for crops in many areas. (In her report, Bacon criticises an article in which I stated “ global crop yields keep rising”.)
Note also: this is a news story on an unreleased IPCC report which isn’t finalised, could change and isn’t available for sceptical scientists and reporters to check. Parts of it have been released to a sympathetic news outlet. Smell a rat?
Now note further.
In fact, this food scare is not at all “the sharpest in tone” from the IPCC. The IPCC has flogged this same, tired scare for a long time. For instance:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2001 predicted global warming would cut wheat and rice production in India: 
Acute water shortage conditions combined with thermal stress should adversely affect wheat and, more severely, rice productivity in India even under the positive effects of elevated CO2 in the future.
That prediction of 12 years ago has so far proved completely false. The news from India a fortnight ago:

India looks set for bumper harvests of winter crops such as wheat, chickpeas and rapeseed in the wake of a strong monsoon that has left the soil moist and topped up reservoirs.
The crops will follow bountiful summer harvests of rice and soybeans due to the rains… With next year’s wheat output seen matching 2013’s strong 92.46 million tonnes, the government ... could allow more exports.
Worldwide it’s the same story - and one the New York Times failed to mention in beating up its scare about how “climate change will pose sharp risks to the world’s food supply”:

Global production of corn, wheat and rice have all more than doubled since 1970 as global warming occurred. Corn production, the current flavor of the week for Internet fear-mongering, has more than tripled since 1970. So, too, has global vegetable production as a whole.
The New York Times’ claim that “sweeping impacts from climate change [are] already occurring across the planet” is also false, contradicted last month by the very IPCC that the Times now cites as its source:

It was embarrassing enough for the IPCC in the summary released last Friday to admit there has been a 15-year pause or dramatic slowdown in global warming, and that its climate models didn’t predict that or the increase in Antarctic sea ice.
But now the IPCC can’t be sure at all we’re suffering from many extreme weather events, either. It even admits its past warnings of more droughts were “overstated”.
This is the kind of fact-checking I do which Bacon denounces.
How dare she teach journalism students.
(Thanks to reader Mr Jordan.)
UPDATE
Don Aitkin, foundation chairman of the Australian Research Council and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra, isn’t impressed by Bacon’s “research”, either, and especially not with the interview she did with a far too friendly ABC journalist:
I listened last week to an astonishingly ignorant radio interview of a professor of journalism who had measured the proportion of news stories in the Australian press that dealt with ‘climate change’ between 2011 and 2012 in the same three-month periods, and had discovered not only that the numbers declined over the period but that the proportion that seemed sceptical in tone had risen.
‘Quite extraordinary’, said the professor, and went on to say that scientists and journalists were both seekers after the truth, and when 97.4 per cent of scientists said that human beings were caused climate change, and they (the scientists) are truthful, why would newspapers be saying in effect that ‘climate change’ was a matter of open debate?
The interviewer asked whether or not that meant the press was ‘dismissive of the science’ and then, getting agreement, asked why it could be so. The professor then seemed to me to launch into an attack on Andrew Bolt, and argue that despite the (Murdoch) papers’ saying that they ‘accepted the science’, they were covertly allowing Bolt to lead a campaign against the science. She praised the Fairfax papers for refusing to publish sceptical letters, and finished with the plaint that Australia didn’t have a media consensus that reflected the scientific consensus.
I think I’ve reported the exchange faithfully, and you can hear it all here for yourself. Yes, of course it was the ABC.
The idea that the media should practise a ‘consensus’, and refuse to publish sceptical letters on any subject that depart from the consensus, strikes me as a monstrous position for someone in journalism to put forward. And the blinding ignorance both of the interviewer and the professor about ‘the science’ was a tribute to what I am increasingly calling ‘the religion of climate change’. If you believe in it, it doesn’t matter what the facts or evidence are.
The fabled 97.4 per cent of scientists who represent the fabled ‘consensus’ has been ripped apart again and again. [See here and here and here - AB] The paper by Lewandowsky that put it forward is one of the most embarrassing pieces of social science I have seen published, and I wrote about it here. Don’t they know anything about its (lack of) substance? And both need to know that the question is not whether human activity has any effect on the climate of the planet, but whether or not the effect is discernible, unprecedented, and potentially dangerous — matters about which there is no settled science.
But I thought it might be worth pointing out that no one needs to do the sort of study that the professor undertook. Much of it has already been undertaken, and by a number of different bodies. The graph below is an example of one such, undertaken by a group in the University of Colorado at Boulder. If you go to its website you can run a similar graph just on Australia, which is very similar to the line here portraying Oceania.

image
What it tells you is that there have been two high points for ‘climate change’ in the media. The first was when the IPCC published its 4th Assessment Report in 2007. The second was when the Copenhagen Conference was held, at the end of 2009. The two blips for Oceania alone I would put down to drought and then flood. At the very end of the graph you can see a little rise, presumably occasioned by the release of the 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC. My guess is that will quickly drop from sight. Incidentally, you can see another compilation, this time of press, blogs and related media, here.
There is no need to demonise Andrew Bolt. He doesn’t have to do anything other than pick up the fact that interest in ‘climate change’ has declined. Why has it declined? Because there has been a long pause in the warming, the models that portrayed doom have been shown to run too hot (they give too much weight to the power of carbon dioxide), and people are tired of paying too much for energy when there is no obvious reason to do so. ‘Climate change’ has had its day, and won’t recover unless there is a marked return to rapidly rising temperature, and even if that occurs, people will be wary. There has been far too much of boys crying ‘wolf!’ 
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Midgets once ran this country

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (10:16am)


And this is how Labor - and your government - was run. Troy Bramston culls the highlights from the campaign diary of Bruce Hawker, chief campaign adviser to Kevin Rudd:
- Hawker says former Labor powerbroker Mark Arbib was leaked documents by Julia Gillard’s office that “could be used against Kevin”. He also says that if Arbib had patched up his differences with Rudd, the June 2010 coup “might have been averted”.
- Weeks before Rudd’s successful challenge to Gillard in June 2013, Hawker was secretly working on “a transition plan” for Rudd and “suggestions” for party reform, “drafting” television ads and devising “a campaign strategy”. His preferred campaign slogan was, “Kevin Rudd: Proven Leadership"…
- Within hours of Rudd’s comeback, Hawker demanded that Labor’s polling be sent “directly” to him from pollster UMR. The diary shows Hawker is obsessed with polling. He even commissions polling to test policy ideas such as increasing tax on cigarettes.
- The relationship between Rudd’s travelling party and Labor’s campaign headquarters was dysfunctional. An audit revealed “significant problems”. The policy work was “poor”. The strategic advice was “ridiculous”. They did not have “confidence” in the field team. Barack Obama’s advisers thought some operations were “second rate”. Staff leaked information to damage the party. Rudd delayed setting an election date because he thought the campaign team was not ready. The discredited attack on the Coalition’s policy costings may have “destroyed” any chance of winning the election…
- There are many complaints about the election coverage of News Corp Australia (publisher of The Australian). Yet on many occasions, Hawker was happy to selectively leak information to The Daily Telegraph and other newspapers in the hope of securing favourable coverage.
- Rudd wanted to call the election for September 21 so he could attend the G20 meeting in Russia. Hawker wanted to go to the polls in August. They settled on September 7, although Labor’s pollster John Utting wanted to go later.
- After Rudd returned as prime minister, Hawker thought it “possible” the Liberals would dump Tony Abbott and bring back former leader Malcolm Turnbull. A plan was devised to deal with a Turnbull comeback. Labor even war-gamed it…
- Hawker offers personal observations about Rudd. He says he has a “silo brain” and can only process one thing at a time. Rudd lacked “discipline” when sticking to key messages, talked too much at press conferences and was sometimes “annoying”.
Midgets once ran this country. 
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The worst dribble isn’t the horse’s. We pay a legal service for this

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (9:58am)


First question: why do so many protests involving socialists turn out violent?
Second question: why should we give one dollar more to legal aid services?:
A TAXPAYER-funded law service has been labelled a “disgrace” for launching legal action against a police officer on behalf of a protester who was dribbled on by a police horse and left with a swollen foot at a socialist demonstration.
Police are outraged at the use of taxpayers’ money and have called the action by the publicly funded Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre - which is also against the State of Victoria - an “outrageous use of taxpayer money”.
A police horse was punched and spooked by a protester as the 100-strong demonstration at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre boiled over on May 29, 2011.
Protester Alexander Forbes attended the event, which was organised by Refugee Action Collective Victoria and supported by Socialist Alliance Victoria.
In a writ filed at the County Court of Victoria, Mr Forbes claims he was “salivated” on by a police horse, causing his clothing to become wet.
Mr Forbes was also upset that two people commented on the amount of horse saliva on his clothes following the drooling incident and that the horse stepped on his foot.
The 20-year-old is suing the state, along with fellow protester Mark Ryan.
One protester (not necessarily Forbes) tangles with a horse at the protest from 7:05:


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Will the ABC tell us the latest news about its pet anti-Murdoch oracle?

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (9:46am)


Remember how Tom Watson was flown in by activists to denounce Murdoch newspapers? Remember how the ABC treated Watson as an oracle and moral guide?

On Monday the ABC held an orgy of hatred against newspapers owned - like this one - by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. ABC Melbourne radio, ABC 24 and the ABC’s Q&A all interviewed Tom Watson, a British Labour MP flown here by activists to attack Murdoch.
Will the ABC now update listeners and viewers on Watson’s qualifications as a moraliser?
Tom Watson has been placed at the centre of Labour’s vote-rigging row in Falkirk after one of the candidates for the seat directly accused him of trying to fix the selection.
Gregor Poynton, a Blairite communications expert, said Ed Miliband’s former campaigns chief had used his power in the party to try to install his union-backed office assistant as the candidate.
Mr Poynton also claimed that Mr Watson had been involved in ‘all the shenanigans’, including trying to pack the Falkirk party with members of the Unite union to win selection for his assistant, Karie Murphy…
Mr Watson did not respond to messages but has previously denied any wrongdoing or involvement in the alleged ‘fix’ of the selection process in Falkirk.
(Thanks to reader David.) 
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Greens on the nose in their Tasmanian home

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (9:42am)


A ReachTEL survey confirms Tasmanians don’t much like that whole Green-Labor vibe, either, having had been exposed to the results for longer than the rest of us:

Statewide, 60.5 per cent of voters say the Government’s performance was poor or very poor on economic development – with the figure rising to 70 per cent in the northern seat of Bass.
The Government’s performance on job creation rated worse, with 68.5 per cent of voters nominating poor or very poor, rising to almost 79 per cent in Bass.
(Thanks to reader Peter.) 
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Pay to play with our wallets

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (9:37am)


You get the report you pay for, but not always the car industry you pay for:

AS the manufacturing future of Holden and Toyota remain uncertain, the car industry has published a new report which claims the Australian economy would be $21.5 billion smaller if the automotive manufacturing industry died in 2018…
However in a major embarrassment likely to undermine the findings, one of the firms involved in the latest study did a report earlier this year for another client that recommended taxpayer funding to industries should be cut.
The new report prepared by the Allen Consulting Group, using economic analysis from Monash University, found that the $500 million the car industry received each year generated a claimed $21.5 billion in economic activity.
This contradicts a report in April this year prepared by ACIL Allen - the company formed when ACIL Tasman merged with the Allen Consulting Group - which recommended taxpayer support be cut from struggling industries.
“Subsidies to particular industries are a tax on the remainder of the economy,” said the ACIL Allen report prepared for the Property Council Of Australia. “They have become more significant in the last decade, totally nearly $9 billion annually. The more successful industries, those that do not need subsidies, prop up the less successful ones.”
(Thanks to reader Peter off Bellevue Hill.) 
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Let’s not lazily assume we have “racial” differences

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (9:16am)


The New Racism is being challenged by part-Aborigines such as academic Anthony Dillon. (Before any New Racists try to sue me into silence, please note: “part-Aborigine” is Dillon’s self-description.)
Now he gets attacked by Tom Calma, a former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, and Pat Dudgeon of the National Mental Health Commission:
It is good that indigenous mental health is getting the attention it deserves, and we welcome a robust national debate. In that spirit, we address some inaccuracies in Dillon’s piece…
Dillon begins by stating most Aboriginal Australians are “virtually indistinguishable from non-Aboriginal Australians in how they think and act” simply by virtue of non-indigenous ancestry; further, that we are being “kept in a museum” by “left-elitist” leaders with a “romanticised” view of culture. He then takes two more breathtaking leaps over the evidence base....
Wait! Go back. Calma and Dudgeon should first give us the “evidence base” that disproves what Dillon says about Aborigines with non-indigenous ancestry and the Left-elitists with a more romanticised view of culture. Why should we simply assume Dillon wrong?

To simply note that Aborigines collectively have poorer levels of mental health on average does not address Dillon’s argument, which should be restated:

While such ideas may please those who embrace a romanticised view of Aboriginal culture, the majority of Australians indentifying as Aboriginal are very similar to Calma, Dudgeon and myself. That is, while having some Aboriginal ancestry, many are virtually indistinguishable from non-Aboriginal Australians in how they think and act.
Most importantly, they have the same fundamental needs and aspirations as other Australians.
An over-emphasis on cultural differences, while arguably justified in the past, does very little to address need in the 21st century. Indeed, it often creates need, whereby Aboriginal Australians are encouraged to see themselves as having different needs, which only other Aboriginal Australians are said to be able to address. Emphasising culture then becomes a barrier. To use the words of Australia’s first Aboriginal head of a government, Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles, the left-elitist mindset that puts a protection model over Aboriginal culture to keep people in a museum, is holding them back.
The majority of Aboriginal Australians live in urbanised settings. For those who live in remote Aboriginal lands (approximately 75,000), it is worthwhile exploring if their needs, cultural or otherwise, are different from those of other Aboriginal Australians.
We really need to stop seeing people as representatives of different “races”, as Black Steam Train argues. It’s lazy, dangerous, unjust and plain stupid. It is also an insult to our common humanity.
(Thanks to reader Baden.) 
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Importing more than a “handful” of trouble

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (7:56am)

Immigration, Islamism




ASIO’s report to Parliament last week exploded some sweet lies we’ve been told about our immigration program.
Here’s one: immigration brings only good things, like falafel.
Here’s another: there’s still only a “tiny, unrepresentative minority” of Muslim extremists here. A “handful”.
Handful? Check the ASIO report: “This year ASIO . . . investigated several hundred mostly Australia-based individuals who are advocates of a violent Islamist ideology.”
(Read full article here.) 
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Shorten throws away Rudd’s gift

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (7:52am)

Global warming - general, Politics - federal

KEVIN Rudd left Bill Shorten with just one gift among the Labor ruins, but the new Opposition Leader has thrown even that away.
Before the election, Rudd forced Labor to accept new rules to ensure he’d stay Prime Minister for as long as he kept winning.
Oops. But those rules also meant Shorten now can’t be replaced as Opposition Leader until he loses an election. To dump him, an almost impossible 60 per cent of his MPs must agree he’s brought the party into disrepute.
So Shorten has the job security to make an unpopular decision to save Labor from being smashed.
That decision? To scrap Labor’s promise to keep the carbon tax - either as a fixed-price or emissions trading scheme (ETS).
But Shorten last week caved in to Labor’s Left.
(Read full article here.) 
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Trading news … for what in return?

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (7:32am)


Not enough readers and viewers know that reporting politics is too often like being a postbox - but a postbox forced to make deals to get the best mail.
Bruce Hawker, Kevin Rudd’s spin chief, gives examples:

What about the rest of us, Bruce? July 3: 
WHEN we got back to the office we were straight back into work—deciding on the details and method of the announcement of the intervention into the NSW party. The announcement is scheduled for tomorrow, but Kevin wants to drop it to The Australian tonight. I can see trouble brewing—this is too big a yarn to allow one paper special treatment. It also means that neither the Sydney Morning Herald nor the Telegraph will get the best crack at a story that affects their state.
Trouble? How so?:


SURE enough, when Sam Dastyari found out that Benson was not getting an exclusive he became very worried and said that Benson would be cranky. Cranky was an understatement—Simon went ballistic.
How do you fix that? July 13:

SO, we decided yesterday to give the carbon tax-abolition story to tomorrow’s Sunday Telegraph. Fiona Sugden and I put the story together and I phoned Samantha Maiden, who will splash with it tomorrow . . . I also had a story that there were celebrations among (Malcolm) Turnbull’s staff and supporters when they heard that Kevin had been returned as PM. Apparently they had a meeting in a Paddington pub to work out how to maximise Malcolm’s opportunities. I also gave this to Benson, who will run it on Monday. I want to make as much mischief in the Liberal ranks as possible. It will hopefully force them to close ranks behind Abbott.
When information is treated as currency, the risk is obvious. What’s the trade? 
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We’re told the WA Senate vote ignored some votes. Very true

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (7:29am)


The Senate vote in WA may have to be held again because 1375 votes went missing in the recount. They aren’t the only votes that didn’t seem to count:
Official election results for the WA Senate, number of primary votes: 
Liberal party (513,639; 3 senators elected), ALP (348,401; 1 senator), Greens (124,354; 1 senator), Australian Sports Party (2997; 1 senator), Palmer United Party (65,595; 0 senators).
UPDATE
Any fresh election in WA is likely to hurt Labor - provided it is held soon:

TONY Abbott will use a likely re-run of the West Australian Senate election to pressure Bill Shorten over his refusal to allow an unconditional repeal of the carbon tax amid calls from within Labor for a shakeup of its upper house candidates.
But one danger is that the prospect of the new poll will make the Abbott Government reluctant to make hard decisions before then that would take the heat off Labor. 
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Fighting the fracking fearmongers

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (7:02am)


Fighting back against the green campaign to demonise fracking.
Former federal minister Peter Reith, chairman of Victoria’s Gas Task Force:

“There’s nothing wrong with fracking - the Americans are doing it all over the place,” Mr Reith said.
“There is a lot of evidence to suggest there is no proven case of fracking contaminating the water.
“Fracking is not the issue - the issue is whether or not we’re going to lose jobs...”
In Britain:

Public Health England (PHE) said in a review that any health impacts were likely to be minimal from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves the pumping of water and chemicals into dense shale formations deep underground….
“The currently available evidence indicates that the potential risks to public health from exposure to emissions associated with the shale gas extraction process are low if operations are properly run and regulated,” said John Harrison, director of PHE’s center for radiation, chemical and environmental hazards.

Reith on yesterday’s Bolt Report had a whack at the most successful green propaganda film on fracking:

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One good thing about guns

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (6:56am)


More guns can actually mean more peace:

In 2011, the U.K., Greece, Norway and other major maritime nations began letting their merchant ships carry armed private-security personnel for self-defense in hazardous waters. This overcame longstanding legal and cultural barriers such as stringent local firearms laws and fears of liability.
The result? Successful hijackings off Somalia fell by half to 14 in 2012 from 28 in 2011, and overall attacks dropped to 75 from 237. Through the third quarter of 2013, there have been just 10 incidents, with two hijackings. 
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Revolt against the scaremongers

Andrew Bolt November 04 2013 (6:46am)


A lot of sane people have had enough of the scaremongering:

MINING industry veteran Hugh Morgan has further inflamed the climate change debate by claiming that the world’s climate scientists will be remembered in a similar vein to the “Chicken Little” theorists who published the apocalyptic tome The Limits to Growth more than 40 years ago…
The Club of Rome - a group of mostly European scientists and academics - used computer modelling to warn that the world would run out of commodities, including gold, mercury, silver, tin, zinc, petroleum, copper, lead, oil and natural gas, within 30 years…
Mr Morgan, the former chief executive of Western Mining Corporation, told The Australian: “The book illustrates the dangers of academics talking about things they know nothing about.
“The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) will be remembered in the same way as the Club of Rome for its ‘Chicken Little’ approach.”
Mr Morgan’s comments came as former Commonwealth Bank and Future Fund chairman David Murray suggested last week that the world’s climate scientists lacked integrity, prompting an angry response from a leading body representing scientists.
(Thanks to reader Correllio.) 
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'Facebook rape' scandal engulfs NZ          
New Zealand police are being criticised for not taking action against a group of teenage boys who have been getting girls drunk, having sex with them and naming them on the internet.
"This is gang rape, full stop,'' said NZ Labour's women's affairs spokeswoman, Carol Beaumont.
"The fact that police have known for two years that these revolting individuals have been posting their 'exploits' on Facebook, and have identified victims as young as 13, but took no action, is astonishing.''
The group of Auckland teenagers, who call themselves the Roast Busters, have been using Facebook since 2011 to recruit others to join them in having sex with girls - some of them drunk - and then naming them publicly, TV3 reports.
"We take what we do seriously - some of you think this is a joke, it's not," says one of the teens in a video uploaded to Facebook.

"You try and get with the amount of girls we do. This is hard, it's a job, we don't do this shit for pleasure."
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Youtube video released by Anonymous
QUEENSLAND'S police minister says activists targeting Premier Campbell Newman over tough new bikie gang laws are "gutless cowards".
A Youtube video released at the weekend - purportedly by the activist group Anonymous - says Mr Newman's new laws are extreme.
The clip, featuring a masked figure, says the laws are an assault on fundamental human rights and warns: "We do not forgive, we do not forget, Campbell Newman expect us."
Police Minister Jack Dempsey said police are investigating the clip.
"We'll ensure the safety of everyone involved," he said on Monday.
"They are just gutless cowards. They have to hide behind a mask."
Meanwhile, police say they can't comment on how they are responding to reports Mr Newman and his wife received a number of menacing phone calls on the weekend.
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Justin Bieber
JUSTIN Bieber tried to sneak out of a strip club in Brazil while covered in a sheet Friday — but photographers caught him red-handed.
The 19-year-old pop star and a friend spent more than three hours in the popular strip club Centauros in Rio de Janeiro — before leaving with two women, sources said.
He jumped into the back seat of a car while the women, who covered their faces, were put in SUVs and escorted back to his hotel.
Bieber’s security team covered him with a bedsheet bearing the club’s logo as he walked out of the establishment — and one of his handlers sprayed photographers with water, demanding they stop snapping, sources said. 
The photographers, who had been tipped off about Bieber’s visit, confirmed it was the singer through his security team. 
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Jewellery & Gemstone Fashion DESIGN Gallery
CAA is pleased to present 'Hot Glass! New Work From The Furnace' Private View tonight in the gallery from 6-8pm. 
A world class exhibition featuring work by 27 selected National and International glass makers, dedicated to the best in contemporary blown, hot-worked and sand-cast glass! Also this will be the last exhibition at our Percy Street location, make sure you don't miss this dynamic exhibition!
www.caa.org.uk
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A collection of hand selected articles by Allyson Christy from Allyson’s Geo-Political Inspections
http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440/s/134a5810-4501-11e3-9573-12313928bf78
Why, yes of course, such language and subsequent dialogue is forthcoming from the White House. Why? A certain coaxing without being too obvious, quite suddenly necessitates manipulation away from Russia's willing and extended persuasion.
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Now Europe wants new rules BANNING powerful vacuum cleaners
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2486045/Now-Europe-wants-make-harder-clean-carpets-new-rules-BANNING-powerful-vacuum-cleaners.html
Under new European Commission (EC) 'ecodesign' regulations, any new machine that exceeds 1,600 watts will be banned from next September. That figure will fall further to 900W by 2017.
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Robin McGraw Shines a Spotlight on Domestic Violence | Reader's Digest
http://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/robin-mcgraw-when-georgia-smiled/2/
One terrible night, her mother’s fierce protective instinct taught Robin McGraw to stand strong.
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Caroline Glick
ffect enraged much of the Jewish leadership in the country. But I was right. And I am right. The Jews of South Africa need to leave, now. No less of an authority than South Africa's Foreign Minister just showed them the door.
What follow are two links. The write-up of her remarks, and the write up of Avigdor Lieberman's call for the immediate aliya of the South African Jewish community on his facebook page today.> C Glick.
South African minister: ‘The Palestinian struggle is our struggle’
http://www.timesofisrael.com/south-african-ministers-do-not-visit-israel-currently/
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane says ministerial visits stopped, Pretoria ‘curtailing contact’ with Jerusalem ‘regime,’ and ‘losing sleep’ over settlements
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/11/03/lieberman-warns-south-african-jews-to-immigrate-to-israel-before-its-too-late/
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Allyson Christy
"Whenever one seeks to gauge where America’s left is heading, it is instructive to look towards Europe’s leftist bludgeon, as they most always lead the way. Not only that, a preponderance of Euro nations, whose authentic roots lie in socialism and fascism, retain remnants of ‘laws’ which help to prop up the (so called) ‘liberal’ left’s ‘democratic’ facade. Hiding in plain sight.

That being said, how many realize that grabbing the “hearts and minds” of the kiddies is an intrinsic method to achieving totalitarian rule? To be sure, they are “prize” possessions, not unlike pimps view their whores.

For if this is not the case, then why is PENETRATING the educational system the sine qua non of radical, revolutionary leadership? Little more evidence is necessary, other than the proofs within the following commentaries." - Adina Kutnicki
HOMESCHOOLERS NABBED: Authorities Storm Class. The Remnants/Overreach Of Socialist/Totalitarian...
http://adinakutnicki.com/2013/11/03/homeschoolers-nabbed-authorities-storm-class-the-remnantsoverreach-of-socialisttotalitarian-roots-americas-left-watches-learns-waits-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/

Whenever one seeks to gauge where America's left is heading, it is instructive to look towards Europe's leftist bludgeon, as they most always lead the way. Not only that, a preponderance of Euro na...
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Dean Hamstead
"the laudable goal of ensuring that no Australian regulator will live in poverty comes at considerable cost. And rarely are those costs higher than in our rural industries.

Regulatory burdens absorb some 15 per cent of revenues for farm businesses, two to three times international best practice."
Fair toss of the pancake - 'only in Australia' elephant in the room
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/fair-toss-of-the-pancake-only-in-australia-elephant-in-the-room/story-fn7078da-1226752332424
FANCY a pancake? Well, you can't have one. Because they don't exist.
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Doctors support it, you can keep your plan, you can keep your doctor, premiums will drop by $2,500, it won't add to the debt.

Watch this heart-pounding video that exposes lie after lie…
ObamaCare, Deconstructed: The One Video That Tells the Whole Truth About ObamaCare
http://www.ijreview.com/2013/11/91808-obamacare-deconstructed-one-video-tells-truth-obamacare/
SHARE the definitive truth-telling video on ObamaCare.
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Craig Kelly
WARMISTS GO NUCLEAR – Let them eat yellowcake.

Is this the end game ?

Leading Climate change proponents are now calling a mass role out nuclear power around to tackle climate change.

Take the quote for James Hansen;
"They're (global warming believers) cheating themselves if they keep believing this fiction that all we need" is renewable energy such as wind and solar”

At least Hansen is being honest. If you believe in the prophesies foretold by the IPCC computer models, you either support going back to the stoneage – or you support the mass role of nuclear across the globe.

This may focus the minds of the zealots to accept that the fact IPCC computer models have been hopelessly wrong for the past decade and a half.

I can just see the Greens standing up and saying; "I believe in climate change, therefore I'm in favour of nuclear power"

Perhaps we will see the next Climate Change Conference (in an exotic trademark location - Fukushima likes nice) sponsored by the Nuclear power industry.
Climate change warriors: It's time to go nuclear
http://wtvr.com/2013/11/03/climate-change-warriors-its-time-to-go-nuclear/
Four top environmental scientists raised the stakes Sunday in their fight to reverse climate change and save the planet.
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Andy Trieu
Chillin at my old Uni for a interview for the Uni alumni publication. First question... How has your degrees helped u become a ninja....haha — atAustralian National University - Manning Clarke Leacture Theatres
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Check out these amazing TREE CLIMBING goats.

Found in Morocco, they climb these Argan tree in search of food. It's hard to imagine that animals with hooves could be so adept at climbing but these images are 100% real. Food is fairly sparse in this area, so they have to grab it when they can - even if it's high up in a tree!

The secret to their ability to climb lies in the shape of their hooves. The keratin reinforced hoof wall adds strength, while the soft textured sole provides traction and grip. It's also capable of deforming inwards to counter irregularities in the terrain. Their toes are capable of operating independently giving them more of a "grip".

These hooves evolved to allow the goats to climb rocky, mountainous areas - but they've shifted ecosystems to the trees!

Check out more photographs here:http://yhoo.it/16virRi

Hat tip to Natural Selection.
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David Bowles
My poems "Crockpot" and "Valley Haiku" were accepted for an upcoming edition of Illya's Honey. Super cool!
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What A Week Of Groceries Looks Like Around The World
http://www.nutritionnews.com/food/diet-food/what-a-week-of-groceries-looks-like-around-the-world/
Here's a novel way to plan your next trip. Taking a look at what groceries the locals buy is a good way to know a new place to visit, although I'd have second thoughts about the good old USA. […]
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Worrying will not empty the bowels of tomorrows movement. Everything in its time. - ed
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Developers Dismiss Sea Level Rise Claims – Plan To Build 30 New Luxury Hotels In The Maldives –...
http://notrickszone.com/2013/11/03/developers-dismiss-sea-level-rise-claims-plan-to-30-new-luxury-hotels-in-the-maldives-nasheeds-cash-machine/
The Maldives in the Indian Ocean have long been used by global warming alarmists to drive home the dangers of rising sea levels should polar ice sheets keep melting because of man-made global warming.
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Hugh Morgan recognises the IPCC Alarmists as latter-day Chicken Littles. Wake up Bill Shorten ( Greg Hunt!)
The NO CARBON TAX Climate Sceptics Blog: Chicken Little - The sky is warming; the sky is warming.
http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/chicken-little-sky-is-warming-sky-is.html
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Father,I thank You for every good and perfect gift that You have given me. I choose to honor You with every gift and every talent. Show me how to sharpen my skills in a way that always brings glory and honor to You in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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The word of God says,“He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work...”
(Exodus 35:35, NKJV) 
I urge you to sharpen your skills.It’s easy to fall into “destination disease.” That’s when you’re comfortable where you are. You’re not stretching, not learning anything new. There is nothing wrong with being happy where you are, but you have to remember that you have so much more inside of you. You were created to increase, to grow, to stretch and sharpen your skills.God bless you.
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Pastor Rick Warren
Right now and every hour week I’m teaching Paul's 5 Daily Habits For Happiness (Philippians 3) http://bit.ly/ZvjGI9
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It takes no courage to criticize. But it takes great courage to do what God tells you to do while loud voices demean you. Do the right thing!
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Leader: US, Most Hated Power among World Nations
http://www.tasnimnews.com/english/Home/Single/182671
تازه ترین اخبار ورزشی، حوادث، سياسی و اقتصادی ايران، افغانستان، آسيای مرکزی و ساير مناطق جهان را در اینجا بخوانید. می توانید کلیپ های صوتی و تصویری را از خبرگزاری تسنیم دریافت کنید.
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$1B in Nazi-looted art is found in Munich mansion
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/11/03/authorities-in-germany-reportedly-find-trove-nazi-looted-art/?intcmp=trending
Authorities in the German city of Munich have reportedly chanced upon a vast trove of priceless art that vanished during the Nazi regime and is today valued at about $1 billion.
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Norwegian trade union terminates contract with company having ties to Israel
http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=3e7e2c5a9ce7856f4b1195a01&id=05f83059b3&e=e700d051ce
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Iran attempts stranglehold on Israel’s population zones.
http://www.israpundit.com/archives/58224
Latest meddling since Obama opened nuclear talks By Aaron Klein Fresh from opening a new round of talks with the U.S., Iran is now using Hezbollah to tighten its grip over the strategic West Bank, which borders Israel’s major population centers. T
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This Just Might Be The Funniest Video About Israel You Will Ever See
http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/this-just-might-be-the-funniest-video-about-israel-you-will-ever-see
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The Threat We Face | FrontPage Magazine
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/david-horowitz/the-threat-we-face-2/#.UnajVtOyD4Y.facebook
What is the nature of the adversary we are up against?
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My Right Word: Frank Gaffney on The Insanity of Yielding Yesha
http://myrightword.blogspot.co.il/2013/10/frank-gaffney-on-insanity-of-yielding.html
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Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: UN can't tell difference between peace activists and Arabs who...
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/un-cant-tell-difference-between-peace.html#.UneByqXlpa8

UN can't tell difference between peace activists and Arabs who want Israel destroyed

The UN is holding a "Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East." As you can imagine, the seminar has nothing to do with peace in Egypt, Syria, Iraq or Lebanon.

The panel speaking today at the seminar "Youth activism, digital journalism and social media in the Middle East" reveals quite a bit about what the UN considers to be "peace."

Youth activism continues to be a driving force behind movements for peace, justice and democracy in Israel and Palestine, and across the Middle East. This panel will discuss how the acceleration in digital technologies and social media is affecting youth activism, and how the use of social media by youth activists has helped and/or hindered their causes.
Moderator: Mr. Ahmed Shihab Eldin, Producer and host, Huffington Post Live
Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
Ms. Rana Nazzal Hamadeh, Youth activist, Palestine
Ms. Sahar Vardi, Peace activist, Israel
Mr. Gökhan Yücel, Digital diplomacy expert and Lecturer at the Leadership, Politics and Diplomacy School of Bahçeşehir University

The Israeli representative, Sahar Vardi, is a far-left activist who refused to serve in the IDF and who participates in weekly anti-Israel protests. It seems clear that she really wants peace between Jews and Arabs, however misguided her viewpoint.

Contrast this with the Palestinian Arab representative, Rana Nazzal Hamadeh. She has this quote on herTwitter profile:

From you steel & fire, from us flesh, from you another tank, from us stones. So leave our country, our land, our sea, our wheat, our salt, our wounds- M Darwish

Does a demand that all Jews be ethnically cleansed from the area sound peaceful to you?

Can you imagine a Jew who says anything close to that ("leave our country, our land...") being invited to speak at any UN-sponsored conference, ever?

The fact is that any Jew who would speak like this would be considered an intolerant far-right bigot and would not be accepted in polite society. A Palestinian Arab who says this is honored as a leader on peace and justice.

There is a serious problem here.

The people who should properly protest this are the liberals. Hamadeh's attitude is the exact opposite of liberalism. But the acceptance and tacit encouragement of Arab violence is so ingrained in the "enlightened" Western world that nobody bats an eyelash.

(I tweeted Vardi asking if she agreed with Hamadeh's quote, but didn't receive a response yet.)
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Obama Official: US is an Islamic Country
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173507
Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council member tweets controversial opinion of US.
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Lieberman: Pogrom in South Africa ‘A Matter of Time’
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173541
South Africa’s anti-Israel and ‘classic anti-Semitic’ approach will lead to violence against Jews, Lieberman warns.
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Doctors Fight for Wounded Soldier’s Sight
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173539
Doctors fight to save eyesight of IDF soldier wounded in Gaza bombing.
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Netanyahu: Refusal to Recognize Jewish State is Root of Conflict
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173542
Prime Minister reminds Palestinian Arabs that recognizing Jewish State is precondition for peace on 96th anniversay of Balfour Declaration.
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America Spied On Israeli Drones, Papers Expose - Breaking Israel News
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/america-spied-israeli-drones-papers-expose/?utm_source=Breaking+Israel+News&utm_campaign=3890ff42ad-BIN+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b6d3627f72-3890ff42ad-83521013
“I can tell you with certain knowledge that [America] has been listening in on its allies, including Israel,” Yatom said, and “not necessarily in [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s tenure” as prime minister.
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November 4: Islamic New Year (2013, 1435 AH); New Year's Day in the Nepal Sambat calendar (2013); Unity Day in Russia
Jane Goodall
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Events[edit]

Births[edit]

Deaths[edit]

Holidays and observances[edit]

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“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Romans 13:1 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Behold, he prayeth."
Acts 9:11
Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven. The moment Saul began to pray the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the distressed but praying soul. Oftentimes a poor broken-hearted one bends his knee, but can only utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears; yet that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music; that tear has been caught by God and treasured in the lachrymatory of heaven. "Thou puttest my tears into thy bottle," implies that they are caught as they flow. The suppliant, whose fears prevent his words, will be well understood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but "prayer is the falling of a tear." Tears are the diamonds of heaven; sighs are a part of the music of Jehovah's court, and are numbered with "the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high." Think not that your prayer, however weak or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob's ladder is lofty, but our prayers shall lean upon the Angel of the covenant and so climb its starry rounds. Our God not only hears prayer but also loves to hear it. "He forgetteth not the cry of the humble." True, He regards not high looks and lofty words; He cares not for the pomp and pageantry of kings; He listens not to the swell of martial music; He regards not the triumph and pride of man; but wherever there is a heart big with sorrow, or a lip quivering with agony, or a deep groan, or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open; He marks it down in the registry of His memory; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the pages of His book of remembrance, and when the volume is opened at last, there shall be a precious fragrance springing up therefrom.
"Faith asks no signal from the skies,
To show that prayers accepted rise,
Our Priest is in His holy place,
And answers from the throne of grace."

Evening

"Their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, even unto heaven."
2 Chronicles 30:27
Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best. Prayer is an open door which none can shut. Devils may surround you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy's hand. We can never be taken by blockade, escalade, mine, or storm, so long as heavenly succours can come down to us by Jacob's ladder to relieve us in the time of our necessities. Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its merchandize is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from His holy place. Nor is prayer ever futile. True prayer is evermore true power. You may not always get what you ask, but you shall always have your real wants supplied. When God does not answer His children according to the letter, He does so according to the spirit. If thou askest for coarse meal, wilt thou be angered because He gives thee the finest flour? If thou seekest bodily health, shouldst thou complain if instead thereof He makes thy sickness turn to the healing of spiritual maladies? Is it not better to have the cross sanctified than removed? This evening, my soul, forget not to offer thy petition and request, for the Lord is ready to grant thee thy desires.
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Today's reading: Jeremiah 30-31, Philemon 1 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Jeremiah 30-31

Restoration of Israel
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. 3 The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.”
4 These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: 5 “This is what the LORD says:
“‘Cries of fear are heard—
terror, not peace.
6 Ask and see:
Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man
with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,
every face turned deathly pale?
7 How awful that day will be!
No other will be like it.
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be saved out of it.
8 “‘In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty,
‘I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
no longer will foreigners enslave them.
9 Instead, they will serve the LORD their God
and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them....

Today's New Testament reading: Philemon 1

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker— 2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,5 because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
Paul’s Plea for Onesimus
8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—10 that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me....
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Sheba

[Shē'bă] - seventh, an oath orcaptivity.
  1. Son of Raamah, son of Cush, son of Ham (Gen. 10:7; 1 Chron. 1:9).
  2. Son of Joktan of the family of Shem (Gen. 10:28; 1 Chron. 1:22).
  3. Son of Jokshan, son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:3; 1 Chron. 1:32).
  4. A son of Bichri who rebelled against David after Absalom's death. This worthless adventurer, who snatched at what he thought was a chance of winning the sovereignty of northern Israel, had his head cut off by the people of Abel (2 Sam. 20:1-22).
  5. A chief Gadite, dwelling in Gibeah in Bashan (1 Chron. 5:13, 16). Also the name of the Arabian home of the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1) and a city in Simeon (Josh. 19:2).
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November 3, 2011
The Spelling Train
Today's Truth
When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV).
Friend to Friend
My hands were clammy. Beads of sweat formed on my brow. A familiar knot in the pit of my stomach threatened to push me toward the restroom, and my dry tongue began cleave to the roof of my mouth. It was 10:25 a.m. In just five more minutes the dreaded event would begin.
When I was in the first grade, the one academic exercise I feared more than any other was the spelling train. It was sheer torture-at least for me.
"Okay, students," Mrs. March would say. "Everyone pick up your chairs and move them over to the chalk board. It's time for the spelling train."
Twenty first graders slipped their munchkin-sized chairs from their desks to form a semi-circle around our chief engineer. I always put mine at the end.
"Now remember the rules," she explained. "I am going to hold up a flash card. If you read the word correctly, you get to go to the front of the train. If you miss it, you have to go to the caboose."
She held up the cards one by one, and the class chugged along at a quick pace. Dog. Sally. Bob. Spot. Red. Blue. Mother. Stop. Run. Then it was my turn.
"Sharon, what is this word?"
Pause. Giggles.
Well, more often than not I had no idea. And when that happened, I would either guess wrong or sit in silence. I spent most of my time in the first grade spelling train in the caboose.
As the year progressed, I did move up into the passenger cars a few times, but usually I didn't stay there long enough to keep the seat warm. There was one particular word that kept me from ever visiting the engine: T-h-e. So Mrs. March decided she was going to help me. For two weeks she made me wear a name tag that read "THE" plastered on my chest like the scarlet letter. I can still remember kids coming up to me on the playground, pointing at THE on my chest, and saying, "Hey, what's that? Why are you wearing that? Is your name The? Are you stupid?"
Eventually I did learn how to spell the word t-h-e, but that's not all I learned. I learned that I was stupid, not as smart as everybody else, and just not good enough. But you know what? That wasn't true. Those were lies from the enemy. And it took many years for God to hold me by the hand and help me see myself as He sees me: a uniquely created, dearly loved, completely forgiven, and totally accepted child of God who is capable of doing everything He has called me to do by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That was more than forty years ago, and now I have found joy in stringing written words together. I've noticed that life has many unusual twists and turns when God is at the helm. He takes our greatest weaknesses and turns them into our grandest strengths. That's what happens when we turn our lives over to Him-we get out of the caboose and get to ride up with the chief engineer to places we never imaged possible. When we are weak, then He is strong.
Where are you in the train of life right now? If you're hiding in the back, listen closely and you just might hear God calling you up front where you belong.
Let's Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, it's amazing to think of all You have done in my life. You have taken my greatest weaknesses and turn them into my greatest strengths. When I am weak, through the power of the Holy Spirit I am strong. Thank You for working in me and through me. And help me never to believe the lies of the enemy that say "I'm not enough" again.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Now It's Your Turn
Additional Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 11:1-12:10
Can you think of one way God has taken one of your weaknesses and turn it into one of your strengths? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Let's share onwww.facebook.com/sharonjaynes.
More from the GirlfriendsDo you find yourself longing to hear God's voice - not as a once-in-a-lifetime experience but on a daily basis? If so, Sharon's new 15-Minute Devotional book, Listening to God Day-by-Day,will help you do just that. It is an expanded version of the smaller book, Extraordinary Moments with God. In it you will find 100 devotions to help you become a woman who detects God's still small voice in all of life. This is a warm, fun, tender look at recognizing some of the wonderful and unexpected ways God reaches out to us in the middle of our busy day. For more on the topic of today's devotion, see Sharon's book, I'm Not Good Enough...and Other Lies Women Tell Themselves.

Seeking God?
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Girlfriends in God
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Lysa TerKeurst
November 3, 2011
The Need to Know
Lysa TerKeurst
"Then Peter said, 'Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.'" Acts 3:6 (NIV)
I have a friend who is hurting. Life as she knew it has suddenly tipped over into a raging river of chaos and confusion. She can barely come up for air before another current rips her under.
If ever there was a drowning with no water involved, this is where my friend is.
Maybe you have a hurting friend too.
Yesterday, I sat down to write my friend a card and send her a little gift. I desperately wanted to love her through my words. My heart was full of care, compassion and a strong desire to encourage but I struggled to translate all I felt on paper.
As I prayed about it, the word "value" kept coming to mind.
Remind her she is valuable.
Remind her how much you respect her.
Remind her she is a woman who has so much to offer.
In Acts 3, Peter and John encounter a crippled man at the temple gate called beautiful. They stopped. They noticed. They decided to touch. Riches weren't available to them, but the ability to value was.
"'Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, walk.' Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up..." (Acts 3:6-7).
Peter and John didn't have silver but they had a hand to offer and they had value to give. The man in need was worth touching. The man in need just needed someone to give him a hand and help him up. After he got up, he went into the temple courts praising God and stirring up wonder and amazement about God.
The man who'd been in need became the man who had so much to give.
I want my friend to know she too can get up. She too can stir up amazement and wonder about our God.
Yes, she is valuable.
And so with imperfect words on a simple card, I wrote. "I just think you need to know you are so very valuable. I respect you and love you. Thank you for being you."
Who might need a card like this from you today? Why not stop right now before the moment slips away...
Dear Lord, thank You for reminding me how to love others. Help me to be Your hands and feet today. Give me Your heart so I can see who else in my path today needs some encouragement. For when I reach out, You reach in ... into my heart and bless me so. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
For a list of 10 wonderfully encouraging Bible verses to write in your note to your friend, click here.
Lysa will be speaking in more than 40 cities this year.Click here to see her schedule. She would be honored to meet you.
If you enjoy Lysa's devotions, be sure to sign up for notes of encouragement she sends out from her blog byclicking here. They are free and great for passing along to friends.
When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, you touch eternity because your purchase supports the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost. We wish we could, but we simply can't compete with prices offered by huge online warehouses. Therefore, we are extremely grateful for each and every purchase you make with us. Thank you!
Application Steps:
Who can you encourage today with a simple gift of handwritten words? We are all precious in His sight. Someone in your life needs to hear that today.
Reflections:
I want my friend to remember she too can get up. She too can stir up amazement and wonder about our God.
Power Verses:
Psalm 94:19, "When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul." (NIV 1984)
Psalm 139:14, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (NIV 1984)
© 2011 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
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The Best Policy

This week's reading: Psalm 130:1-8
Have you ever noticed the boldness of David and of other composers of psalms? They courageously questioned God (see Psalm 89:46) and went so far as to boldly outline for him what in their view he needed to do (see Psalm 123:3). As people well versed in Israel's history, the songwriters, we might expect, would have kept silent when it came to questioning God's ways.
However, the psalmists "got away" with what they said because they expressed their feelings with honesty. They knew their own weaknesses and limitations and understood God's strength and power and majesty. They knew who they were and where they were. But they also knew God.
Here, the songwriter acknowledges his own state as being in "the depths" (Psalm 130:1). Whether this refers to a physical, emotional or spiritual place doesn't matter. He's honest enough to recognize his desperate situation and to cry out to God for help. Simply acknowledging our need is the first step down the pathway of redemption.
But what does the songwriter need? He realizes that if God were to keep a record of sin, the psalmist would certainly be lost. With his rhetorical question "Who could stand?" (Psalm 130:3), he anticipates the words of the New Testament: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). In almost the same breath as his admission of sinfulness, the songwriter honestly expresses who God is. With God "there is forgiveness ... unfailing love ... full redemption" (Psalm 130:4,7). Finally, the songwriter acknowledges God's promise that "he himself will redeem Israel from all their sins" (verse 8).
Perhaps the apostle Paul had the words of Psalm 130 in mind hundreds of years later when he wrote to the church at Colosse, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things" (Colossians 1:19-20).
Because of Christ we can be honest with ourselves: God comes to where we are to redeem who we are because of who he is.

To Take Away

  • Do you think you're honest about where you are, who you are and who God is? How can you be sure?
  • When was the last time you thanked God for his forgiveness?
  • In what ways does your life show that you are forgiven and accepted by God?
Recommended Reading: Psalm 89:1-52; 123:1-4; Colossians 1:15-23
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New Men's Devotional BibleToday's reading is from theNew Men's Devotional Bible
by Zondervan

The New Men's Devotional Biblehelps apply God's Word to a new generation of Christian men. It includes a full year of all-new devotions by well-known and not-so-well-known men of God.


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Did Jesus Claim to Be God?

Today's reading: Matthew 10:40-42
A convincing piece of evidence of Jesus' divinity is his self-perception, revealed in statements like Matthew 10:40, in which he claims that he and God are one in the same. The Gospels record many statements made by Jesus that confirm he knew of his divinity; however, some interpreters claim that Jesus never intended to make such shocking statements. Do Jesus' words really confirm that he thought he was God?
On many occasions, Jesus made claims with unprecedented authority. Although God communicated his message through many prophets in the Old Testament, they all knew that their teachings were not their own; they were merely messengers (see Isaiah 44:24-26; Haggai 1:13). Jesus, however, knew he was more than God's messenger. Ten times in Matthew, Jesus corrected misunderstandings of the law or overruled Jewish custom by his own authority, saying, "But I tell you" (see, for example, Matthew 5:22,28,32). As seen in Matthew 10:40, Jesus equated himself with God. He also knew that the Father had given him authority, and he claimed that authority (seeJohn 5:25-27; 10:17-18; 17:2).
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Today's reading is from theThe Case for Christ Study Bible
by Zondervan

Investigate the Bible's most compelling claims: the existence of a compassionate God and the promise of eternal life through His Son, Jesus.


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