Saturday, June 07, 2014

Sat Jun 7th Todays News

Government is good at some important functions, but ultimately it is not for liberty or freedom. Government baulked at organising transport for a D-Day vet to get to anniversary celebrations, so the vet put his medals on his chest, grabbed his raincoat and caught a coach to France. We salute him. 

 US Government has, in the past, been a great defender of freedom. But recently, she has lacked judgement. Terrorists have taken her for a soft touch. And that is a terrible signal to send. But bureaucracy is the opposite of personal. It took more than six months for the Australian public broadcaster (ABC) to apologise to a journalist for explicitly portraying him as a dog fucker. In their defence, the journalist occasionally is balanced regarding conservatives and so the biased media may have felt he was fair game. Ultimately, they needed a court ruling to order them to apologise. They are so self interested and dull witted that they are offensive even before they give their 'thoughts.' 

 But while the media are often over the top in criticising anyone who might be conservative, they are blind to the faults of those who are not. And the revelations regarding union corruption which has enveloped the ALP are growing in there enormity. Only, it seems never to have been secret. The press have been so inept as to be liable for an allegation of colluding. That is not mere bias. A talentless hack can move from TV presenter to ALP Minister to early pension. But if that involved obscuring corruption to legitimate authorities then that talentless hack should face charges of corruption too. 
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For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball
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Hatches
Happy birthday and many happy returns to those born on this day, across the years, including
Matches
Despatches
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THE GREAT ESCAPE

Tim Blair – Saturday, June 07, 2014 (3:38pm)

A British D-Day veteran invades Normandy one more time: 
Bernard Jordan, 89, was told by staff at his Hove care home that he would not be able to travel to France for the ceremony because they could not organise transport for him.
However, the Royal Navy veteran refused to take no for an answer. Showing all the determination that got him through the Normandy invasion, he pinned his medals to his chest, grabbed his raincoat and caught a coach to France. 
Well done, sir.
(Via Brat)
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WHEN BOB BROWN LOVED COAL

Tim Blair – Saturday, June 07, 2014 (3:46pm)

A reminder of the former Greens leader’s fondness for coal-fired evil:



(Via Melissa)
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INDEPENDENT AUSTRALIA

Tim Blair – Saturday, June 07, 2014 (4:11pm)

Lefties rejoiced when their favourite ex-Liberal urged a split with the US: 
Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser has renewed his call for Australia to cut its close ties with the United States … 
One assumes Fraser and his fellow anti-Americans will be delighted by this, then: 
Australia risks seriously damaging its international reputation and being isolated in the global debate on climate change unless it rethinks its inaction on greenhouse gases, international experts have warned.
And a top adviser to the Obama administration on climate change said Australia could jeopardise its relationship with the United States if the Abbott government fails to fall into line on climate policy. 
Your call, US haters. Should Australia stand proud and defiant, or should Australia slavishly follow America? 
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THE RIGHT DECISION FOR OUR FUTURE

Tim Blair – Saturday, June 07, 2014 (4:52pm)

When it comes to Australia’s precious environment, we must always ask the important questions:
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Bolt report tomorrow

Andrew Bolt June 07 2014 (12:07pm)

On Channel 10 at 10am and 4pm.
Clive Palmer: the most dangerous man in Parliament.
My guest:  Senator-elect David Leyenhjelm, the man who could help Tony Abbott break the Palmer grip.
The panel: former Labor advisor Cassandra Wilkinson and former Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger. Plus a message to Malcolm Turnbull.
On NewsWatch: Hedley Thomas on how Palmer was spun - and could be unspun. And the AWU slush fund scandal becomes a story the media cannot ignore.
Plus Barack Obama’s amazing surrender.
The videos of the shows appear here.
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The dog that didn’t bark

Andrew Bolt June 07 2014 (10:00am)

Chris Kenny notes a curious public silence from ABC staffers on the ABC’s sliming of him as a “dog-f...er”:
During the public debate that developed after I launched legal action over the dog skit there were two noteworthy responses from ABC staff.
First, it was revealing that only two on-air staff went public with criticism of the Chaser boys’ skit or support for me.
The rest were either united in a groupthink belief that the skit was acceptable, or they believe ABC critics invite such a depiction, or they are cowed into holding the company line. And I don’t know which would be worst.
Second, and perhaps more ­illuminating, the private messages I received from senior on-air and managerial staffers were extremely critical of the Chaser boys and supportive of me, encouraging strength to my arm.
The ABC is too big and biased for a healthy democracy. 
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Collier: now for the AWU to be exposed. UPDATE: the witness list

Andrew Bolt June 07 2014 (9:00am)

Big call from former union official Grace Collier:
NEXT week, the tide could turn for Tony Abbott. The royal commission into unions kicks off in earnest…
Explosive testimony about the Australian Workers Union will be heard… These stories will go through the Labor Party like a bowling ball. Further, the Australian community will finally see the AWU for what it really is, the ­entity regarded by those in the know as the most corrupt union in Australia…
The AWU is not so much a union; it is more a business that uses the legal structure of a union to fund its core activity, which is putting people it can control into parliament. The AWU is the union ­employers clamour to deal with and they will pay for the privilege. In return, the AWU sells ­itself to employers, doing deals that leave workers worse off.
The AWU’s brand is this: it trades on simply not being the CFMEU… The truth is this: industrial peace is paid for when a corrupt employer pays a wad of cash to a union official from a weak union for his presence.
I certainly have no greater insight into the AWU than Collier, but I seriously doubt Bill Shorten is so stupid or immoral as to have himself been corrupt or knowingly connived at corruption. He may be singed by the inquiry but I would not bank on him being destroyed by it. That said, Collier follows these things closer than do I.
This call from Collier, though, seems right, even if Sinodinos is as decent a man as many tell me:
Thirteen days ago, Joe Hockey said Arthur Sinodinos would return to the frontbench. If this happens, Abbott will destroy much of the political advantage the royal commission will bring…
Sinodinos was a cloak of respectability [at Australian Water Holdings who] a bunch of grubs used to disguise their activity. Sinodinos heard nothing, saw nothing and said nothing.
Either he is a blithering idiot, or he sold his presence for a fee. If he is an idiot he should not be reinstated...
UPDATE
But to back up Collier, the witness list issued by the royal commission into union corruption contains some serious names, and go straight to allegations involving Julia Gillard:

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Ian Cambridge used to be a joint national secretary of the AWU:
Ian Cambridge, a former Australian Workers Union national secretary and a current Fair Work commissioner, told The Australian it was vitally important for witnesses to help an escalating investigation [into the AWU slush fund scandal] by detectives from Victoria Police’s fraud and extortion squad.
Mr Cambridge named his former AWU boss, federal president Bill Ludwig, among the people who should help police investigating the fraud allegedly committed in the 1990s by former union official Bruce Wilson [then boyfriend of Julia Gillard].
“I want it put on the record that I will fully co-operate with police investigations and I will provide police with all the information that I have,” Mr Cambridge said yesterday in Sydney…
In the mid-1990s, Mr Ludwig wanted Mr Wilson, then an AWU official in Victoria, prosecuted for the alleged fraud involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mr Wilson, who at the time was Ms Gillard’s boyfriend and client at the law firm Slater & Gordon, has denied wrongdoing.
Mr Cambridge publicly urged a royal commission into the corruption in 1995 and asked the then federal industrial relations minister, Laurie Brereton, to set up a far-reaching public inquiry. Mr Cambridge said yesterday he still stood by “what I said at the time”.
Wayne Hem is a former AWU official:
A UNION employee who was concerned about wrongdoing told the national head of the Australian Workers Union in June 1996 that he deposited about $5000 cash into Julia Gillard’s bank account at the request of her then boyfriend Bruce Wilson. 

The disclosure by Wayne Hem forms part of a contemporaneous and confidential 150-plus-page diary that was kept by the then AWU joint national secretary, Ian Cambridge, now a Fair Work Australia commissioner.
Athol James is a woodworker who Gillard told Slater & Gorden she’d hired herself to work on her renovations:
JG:  ...  I originally got glasswork and paving work done; that was because the way in which the glasswork and the paving were done at that time was causing water to go into the foundations. I contracted with a glassworker/ woodworker person called Athol James, who I found in the local newspaper, and contracted with a paving place that I got from the local newspaper after getting, I got three quotes and then picked the lowest one of them, so that got done first.
I then, I then got the floors done and I got Athol back to do that, so the front of the house, the old part was the original baltic pine floorboards…
PG: Right, and I take it the inquiry over the weekend may have extended to this work as well, the Athol James work, the glasswork, the paving, the floors and the sanding.
JG: Yes, I’ve got, I recall, I recall particularly dealing with Athol because he came back more than once and sort of lived at my place for a substantial period of time whilst he did the floors, I don’t specifically recall whether I’ve got a receipt from him, I think I do. I’ve certainly got his number and stuff in my address book from having used him.
Nick Jukes is a former executive at building giant Thiess :
Bruce Wilson’s brother-in-law [Thiess executive Joe Trio] admits he authorised $300,000 in construction company payments that bankrolled the secret slush fund at the heart of the Australian Workers Union fraud scandal.
But ... Trio ... maintains he knew nothing of the fraud committed under his nose by Mr Wilson and his bagman, fellow AWU official Ralph Blewitt, until told by the West Australian police fraud squad…
When the fraud came to light in 1995, Mr Trio and his boss at Thiess, Nick Jukes, refused direct requests from the West Australian Fraud Squad and the AWU to press charges against Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt.
Mr Trio and Mr Jukes ... told police that they did not wish to press charges because the union had, in fact, provided all the training services that Thiess had paid for.
Bob Kernohan is a former AWU official:
UNION whistleblower Bob Kernohan has spoken publicly of his final conversation with former protege Bill Shorten, in which the now Opposition Leader allegedly told him to “move on” from the AWU slush fund scandal…
Mr Kernohan - the former Australian Workers Union Victorian president said he was disappointed with the way Mr Shorten had reacted [in the mid-1990s] when details of the slush fund were starting to emerge…
“I called for an open audit of the Victorian branch books, Bill was part of all of that,” Mr Kernohan said. “When I asked Bill to support me, he looked at me and said, ‘Look mate, think of your future ... everybody else has swept this all under the carpet, move on’. ...”
A spokesman for Mr Shorten last night referred The Australian to a 2012 television interview in which Mr Shorten said his recollection of the conversation did not match Mr Kernohan’s.
“Mr Shorten denied this claim in 2012 - it is untrue,” the spokesman said.
Olivia Palmer used to work for Julia Gillard at Slater & Gordon:
Olivia Palmer, is a highly regarded former legal secretary who worked with Ms Gillard at Melbourne-based firm Slater & Gordon lawyers when the fraud involving the Australian Workers Union unfolded…
Ms Palmer - formerly Olivia Brosnahan - also provided evidence to detectives in Melbourne last week about her recollection of the firm’s role in the funding and conveyancing of a $230,000 terrace house in Fitzroy, in the city’s inner northeast.
The Kerr Street property was bought with cash from the AWU Workplace Reform Association by Ms Gillard’s then boyfriend, Bruce Wilson, in 1993. Ms Gillard, who had provided legal advice to Mr Wilson to set up the association, attended the auction.
Konstantinos Spyridis is a builder who worked on Julia Gillard’s Abbottsford house and first claimed she’d paid him for it:
[Former Labor Minister Martin] Ferguson said Mr Spyridis, a constituent in the parliamentarian’s Melbourne electorate of Batman until his retirement at the last election, had recently disclosed information about the work he had performed for the AWU and Ms Gillard. There is no allegation of wrongdoing by Mr Spyridis…
“He did raise with me the question of his previous involvement with the AWU and he indicated to me that he was being upfront about it, having done work on the AWU’s offices and some private work (at Ms Gillard’s house).
“I am not prepared to go into these details now. They are his interpretation of events. I would take seriously my obligations to talk to the inquiry if asked....’’
Ms Gillard has told journalists she paid for the renovations. However, in a tape-recorded 1995 interview during an internal investigation by her then employer, law firm Slater & Gordon, she said she could not rule out whether union money or slush fund money went into the cottage, saying “but I can’t see how it’s happened’’.
NOTE VERY WELL: Gillard says she did nothing wrong. She advised her boyfriend Wilson on setting up the slush fund but says she did not know how he used it. She says she did not benefit from any of his scams and has no memory of receiving $5000 from him. She says she paid for her renovations herself. Wilson says he did not do anything wrong. The royal commission is merely investigating claims and this does not mean those claims are true.
(Thanks to reader Bowlsy.) 
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Another HSU scandal

Andrew Bolt June 07 2014 (8:48am)

Just when you think the poor HSU members couldn’t have been gouged any more:

FORMER Health Services Union boss Kathy Jackson claimed expenses for a deluxe room at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, bar tabs worth thousands of dollars and bottles of Moet, according to union documents.
HSU documents provided to the royal commission into union corruption show a litany of suspicious expense claims, dating back almost a decade, during Ms Jackson’s reign as a branch secretary.
The commission will investigate whether these transactions occurred and were authorised by the union…
HSU3 branch secretary Craig McGregor - elected in 2012 to clean out the scandal-ridden union - said Ms Jackson needed to answer serious questions about spending while she was at the helm ... adding unapproved expenditures ­included:
MORE than $143,000 of members’ funds moved into the National Health Development Account ­between 2004 and 2010;
THOUSANDS of dollars paid to companies connected to ­employees, including Neranto Consulting, of which, according to company records, Ms Jackson and her former husband were then listed as directors;
A DELUXE room at luxury hotel the Bellagio booked under her name for $986.
THOUSANDS spent on bar tabs at top restaurants like the Ivy, including for bottles of Moet, gin and Veuve Clicquot…
Ms Jackson is being chased by the HSU for about $700,000 the union claims was transferred to an external ­unauthorised fund.
Jackson may argue that some of these were private expenses she later reimbursed. But if she did charge them to the union the questions are: were they authorised? And of what possible advantage is it to health workers to send their union boss to Vegas and buy her Moet? 
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Journalists find me guilty of charges trumped up by Turnbull

Andrew Bolt June 07 2014 (8:00am)

Malcolm Turnbull knows that in attacking media figures seen as friends of Tony Abbott he can reckon on the support of many journalists.
And that means journalists eagerly repeat Turnbull’s misrepresentations of the column I wrote that he made the excuse for his look-at-me media blitz this week
What the Sydney Morning Herald’s James Massola claims I said:
The comments came despite Mr Bolt accusing Mr Turnbull of destabilising Mr Abbott...
What I actually wrote:
I’m sure Turnbull isn’t contemplating any imminent challenge or is fostering destabilisation.
What the Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Hartcher claims I said:
[He] claimed the dinner was Turnbull’s way of strutting his stuff as a potential rival to Tony Abbott… It was based on fiction. Turnbull is not preparing a leadership challenge. If he were to attempt one now, he would be crushed.
What I actually wrote:
This is Turnbull, on the far Left of the Liberal Party, charming a constituency that hates Abbott and which would back Turnbull to replace him — even if it still wouldn’t vote Liberal.
If only Turnbull had spent half this charm fighting for Abbott’s Budget…
That said, a disclaimer: I’m sure Turnbull isn’t contemplating any imminent challenge or is fostering destabilisation.
Nor do I think the Liberals are considering any such switch at the moment, especially not to a man whose strategic nous is so lousy that he last led the Liberals into the toilet.
What The Age’s Michael Gordon claims:
The central grievance is Turnbull should have nothing to do with Palmer, but even Bolt now concedes that someone in the Coalition will have to court the Queenslander if the government is to get its budget through the Senate. Who better to start this process than someone Palmer respects and trusts?
What I actually said from the very start:
Palmer now opposes everything controversial in Abbott’s Budget… And if Abbott or his ministers want to negotiate, forget it. Palmer has banned any talks…
Yet there he was this week dining in Canberra with Turnbull, his mate, in a very public restaurant on Turnbull’s invitation and without Abbott’s knowledge.
Pure coincidence, Turnbull protested. Yet this sent an unmistakable message to Liberal MPs — replace Abbott with Turnbull as prime minister and maybe Palmer will play ball.
Turnbull underlined it on Channel 9 on Friday. “...we ought to be talking to him, engaging with him...”
What The Australian’s Peter van Onselen claims:
Abbott’s government is doing what it believes it must to fix the budget, but this also opens it up to populist attacks… Palmer’s ambition to take advantage of this may well dictate the approach his senators take to government legislation, making Senate gridlock the most likely outcome.
The question then becomes does Abbott tolerate his first-term agenda being thwarted, or does he stand up to Palmer…
Malcolm Turnbull came under deeply unfair attack from conservative commentators Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones… Bolt and Jones did a significant disservice to the PM by lashing out at Turnbull, creating leadership tensions when none existed, distracting from the budget sales pitch.
Abbott is unpopular, the Liberals’ vote is depressed, and Turnbull has a popularity among the commentariat (not the conservative commentariat, of course). These are facts, but Turnbull’s colleagues aren’t considering him for a return to the leadership, and with the Liberal Party having morphed into a conservative party, they are never likely to.
What I actually wrote (and, Peter, I have no duty to help the government’s sales pitch):
Palmer has the power to cripple the Abbott Government and destroy Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Turnbull’s rival… Abbott now faces a ghastly dilemma.  Does he stake everything on making a deal with Palmer, selling his soul as Julia Gillard disastrously did with the Greens?…
... replace Abbott with Turnbull as prime minister and maybe Palmer will play ball… [But] nor do I think the Liberals are considering any such switch at the moment...
It strikes me that commentators are endorsing the analysis I offered but shooting me on charges trumped up by Turnbull. 
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Conjugating freedom

Andrew Bolt June 07 2014 (7:55am)

Cassandra Wilkinson:
FREEDOM is a bit like one of those pesky irregular verbs. I ­deserve liberty; you deserve a balance of rights and responsibilities; that bloke ought to be locked up. I am a rational autonomous adult; you are subject to external influence; that bloke doesn’t know what’s good for him. 
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Palmer’s meeting over his mine under scrutiny

Andrew Bolt June 07 2014 (7:42am)

Tony Abbott’s strategy of keeping his distance from Clive Palmer may prove to be wiser than yukking it up with the man and calling him a “friend”:
CLIVE Palmer is at risk of being formally investigated by Queensland’s anti-corruption agency, the Crime and Misconduct Commission, as a result of allegations that he tried to use the lure of his political funds to “buy” the state’s ruling political party to advance his coal interests in the Galilee Basin. 

The CMC began studying late yesterday a key Supreme Court document after The Weekend Australian asked why the serious allegations by Premier Campbell Newman and Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney had not been brought to its attention.
Mr Seeney said yesterday he regretted not alerting the CMC two years ago… “I can see now that we should have reported it to the CMC at the time,’’ he said…
Section 87 of the Queensland Criminal Code states: “Any person who corruptly … offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempt to procure, to, upon, or for, any person employed in the public service, or being the holder of any public office, or to, upon, or for, any other person, any property or benefit of any kind on account of any such act or omission on the part of the person so employed or holding such office is guilty of a crime …”
Mr Palmer, who has strenuously denied any wrongdoing, has previously accused the Newman government and several of its cabinet ministers of corruption....
Mr Palmer launched defamation proceedings against Mr Newman last month after the Premier ... accused Mr Palmer of attempting to buy politicians across Australia.
In a legal document filed in the Queensland Supreme Court on Wednesday in response to the defamation proceedings, Mr Newman provided details of Mr Palmer’s alleged conduct in a key meeting on April 13, 2012…
Mr Palmer allegedly claimed in the meeting that he had prepared his own draft legislation for development of the Galilee Basin’s coal reserves and he wanted Mr Seeney to ensure this framework was adopted, rather than relying on the normal machinery of government, according to the Supreme Court document.
The document says Mr Palmer “explained to Mr Seeney that the proposed legislation would give him exclusive rights to develop ‘Port Palmer’ at Abbot Point and a railway in an exclusive rail corridor between the port and the Galilee Basin”.
Mr Newman’s document also states that when Mr Seeney told the tycoon there were processes to follow, Mr Palmer replied that “he had paid substantial sums to the Liberal National Party to have the LNP elected and that he had a lot more money to support the LNP in the future”.
According to the Supreme Court document, Mr Palmer said to Mr Seeney “words to the effect that he had supported individual candidates in the past and liked to support candidates that understood how business works”.
UPDATE
Palmer reacts:
Clive Palmer has called Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney a “f---ing liar” after being referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission over allegations he tried to convince the Queensland Government to act in a “corrupt” manner.
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Post by David Daniel Ball.

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4 her, so she knows how I see her





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“Screen Guide for Americans”: Ayn Rand, Walt Disney, & Ronald Reagan tried to warn America

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/screen-guide-for-americans-ayn-rand-walt-disney-ronald-reagan-tried-to-warn-america/

Conservatives in Hollywood are very difficult to find as most projects that have messages outlined in Ayn Rand’s Screen Guide for Americans will never get the “green light.” Many financial backers in the motion picture industry have an “agenda” driven by political ideology shaped by Cultural Marxism.
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We're in for a helluva' ride, America. Obama just named Susan Rice as his National Security Adviser and nominated Samantha Power to replace Rice as our U.N. ambassador. Samantha Power is married to Cass Sunstein, the very, very strange Obama pick for an early "czar" position who wowed us with his numerous bizarre claims including the wacko belief that animals should have the right to sue in court, that hunting should be banned as genocide, and that pet ownership is akin to “slavery.” But Mrs. Cass Sunstein’s character judgment in choosing her life partner is the least of America's worries. Information about Obama's new picks will be revealed in coming days. Pay attention to who they are; what they stand for; and what their records, associations, and statements reveal about them and their intentions. Especially consider Obama's chosen ones as evidence of his skewed thinking as he "fundamentally transforms" our great nation.

Here's just a taste, as summarized by The Daily Caller:

"In 2002, President Barack Obama’s new nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, proposed imposing a peace deal on Israelis and Palestinians militarily, even if such a policy alienated wealthy pro-Israel American Jews. 'I actually think in the Palestine-Israeli situation there is an abundance of information, and what we don’t need is some kind of early warning mechanism there,' Power said in an interview. 'What we need is a willingness to actually put something on the line in sort of helping the situation. And putting something on the line might mean alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import,' she added laughing, clearly referring to American Jews and suggesting they were a great obstacle to moving toward peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

"Isn't that lovely. Not only is she condescending toward American Jews, but her analysis also happens to be utterly wrong. The failure to achieve peace in the Middle East is not because wealthy American Jews have somehow manipulated America's leaders into thwarting peace, but rather because Palestinian leaders have consistently rejected generous Israeli peace offers for a state of their own. In fact, the wealthy American Jews that Power haughtily dismisses in the interview as obstacles to peace are very often staunch advocates of a two state solution. On another note, Power also once compared actions abroad to those of Nazi Germany. As the Washington Examiner's Philip Klein wryly noted on Twitter, 'Samantha Power is the UN Ambassador, who is supposed to represent US interests at the UN?'"

http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/06/thedc-morning-samantha-power-is-unsuited-for-the-job/

And these articles by TheBlaze, Breitbart.com, and Townhall should help wake up Obama supporters who naively and blindly (despite failure after failure and scandal after scandal) continue to give him the benefit of the doubt:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/05/who-exactly-is-samantha-power-obamas-new-u-n-ambassador-pick-everything-you-need-to-know/

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/06/05/Samantha-Power-Pushed-For-Apology-Tour

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/06/05/a-look-at-obamas-new-un-ambassador-radical-samantha-power-n1613587

Nah, America... I shouldn't have prefaced this post with a warning to hang on because "we're in for a helluva' ride." Sorry. That was crass and inaccurate. I should have just said about Obama's judgment and unchecked power, "America, we are so screwed."

- Sarah Palin
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Windows included Solitaire in Windows to teach people how to drag and drop.
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"We accept the love we think we deserve." -The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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69 years ago, more than 70,000 American soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation. We will forever remember the Greatest Generation’s courage and heroism.
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1953: Film Director Rossen Admits He Was Communist for 10 Years

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/1953-film-director-rossen-admits-he-was-communist-for-10-years/

Rossen appeared before the committee in 1951, but at the time he had invoked constitutional privilege in refusing to answer questions about his Communist affiliations. He said he had changed his mind voluntarily after a two-year search of his conscience.
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For the IDF's Bedouin scouts, every day is a fine day for tracking down terrorists and explosives.
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The plasma from the sun seen in the northern lights is not isolated to the North Pole .. it happens at night .. and it could be .. but .. I feel a simpler explanation, and Occam's razor suggests the simplest is correct, is that ET did it
As with all great literature, the actual reason begins with the line "He'd been constipated for a week" - ed
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Peace by Phillip Jensen
Phillip has posted the fact that "Most murders are committed by family members in the same household."
I would have preferred it for you to address the cultural asset of our faith, rather than the faux pillar of atheism that islamo fascism is faith. The lives of those who commit atrocities, when the public becomes privy to them, is of extreme secular humanism. Osama Bin Laden's compound had substantial amounts of porn, drugs and alcohol. These people are not living faithful lives, and to lift their actions to that status is a mistake and a straw dog, imho. But, those of faith who resist such evil .. some have died, some wounded, some lucky to escape, they have been blessed. Their faith speaks. In the fight between the IRA and UDL, God is not part. But his love, his healing, his hope .. shines clearly in those who resisted the murderous druggies. Embrace faith. Serve God and resist the devil. If you fight the devil you might end up merely dancing his tune. But if you resist him, you can be assured that the Lord has won. Our cultural asset is God. - ed
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June 7: Sette Giugno in Malta; Journalist Day in Argentina
Graceland
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Events[edit]

Births[edit]

Deaths[edit]

Holidays and observances[edit]

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“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Behold, I am vile."
Job 40:4
One cheering word, poor lost sinner, for thee! You think you must not come to God because you are vile. Now, there is not a saint living on earth but has been made to feel that he is vile. If Job, and Isaiah, and Paul were all obliged to say "I am vile," oh, poor sinner, wilt thou be ashamed to join in the same confession? If divine grace does not eradicate all sin from the believer, how dost thou hope to do it thyself? and if God loves his people while they are yet vile, dost thou think thy vileness will prevent his loving thee? Believe on Jesus, thou outcast of the world's society! Jesus calls thee, and such as thou art.
"Not the righteous, not the righteous;
Sinners, Jesus came to call."
Even now say, "Thou hast died for sinners; I am a sinner, Lord Jesus, sprinkle thy blood on me;" if thou wilt confess thy sin thou shalt find pardon. If, now, with all thy heart, thou wilt say, "I am vile, wash me," thou shalt be washed now. If the Holy Spirit shall enable thee from thy heart to cry
"Just as I am, without one plea
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bidd'st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come!"
thou shalt rise from reading this morning's portion with all thy sins pardoned; and though thou didst wake this morning with every sin that man hath ever committed on thy head, thou shalt rest tonight accepted in the Beloved; though once degraded with the rags of sin, thou shalt be adorned with a robe of righteousness, and appear white as the angels are. For "now," mark it, "Now is the accepted time." If thou "believest on him who justifieth the ungodly thou art saved." Oh! may the Holy Spirit give thee saving faith in him who receives the vilest.

Evening

"Are they Israelites? so am I."
2 Corinthians 11:22
We have here a personal claim, and one that needs proof. The apostle knew that his claim was indisputable, but there are many persons who have no right to the title who yet claim to belong to the Israel of God. If we are with confidence declaring, "So am I also an Israelite," let us only say it after having searched our heart as in the presence of God. But if we can give proof that we are following Jesus, if we can from the heart say, "I trust him wholly, trust him only, trust him simply, trust him now, and trust him ever," then the position which the saints of God hold belongs to us--all their enjoyments are our possessions; we may be the very least in Israel, "less than the least of all saints," yet since the mercies of God belong to the saints as saints, and not as advanced saints, or well-taught saints, we may put in our plea, and say, "Are they Israelites? so am I; therefore the promises are mine, grace is mine, glory will be mine." The claim, rightfully made, is one which will yield untold comfort. When God's people are rejoicing that they are his, what a happiness if they can say, "So am I !" When they speak of being pardoned, and justified, and accepted in the Beloved, how joyful to respond, "Through the grace of God, so am I." But this claim not only has its enjoyments and privileges, but also its conditions and duties. We must share with God's people in cloud as well as in sunshine. When we hear them spoken of with contempt and ridicule for being Christians, we must come boldly forward and say, "So am I." When we see them working for Christ, giving their time, their talent, their whole heart to Jesus, we must be able to say, "So do I." O let us prove our gratitude by our devotion, and live as those who, having claimed a privilege, are willing to take the responsibility connected with it.
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Hagar

The Woman Who Lost a Bottle But Found a Well
Scripture References - Genesis 16; 21:9-17; 25:12; Galatians 4:24, 25
Name Meaning - Hagar, an Egyptian name, closely resembles the root of the Arabic, flight, familiar to us as the history of Mohammed, descendant of Hagar. It may be taken as an adaptation of her original name to the principal circumstances of her life, and understood to mean, fugitive orimmigrant, which Hagar became.
Family Connections - While the Bible gives us no record of Hagar's genealogy, legend has supplied her pedigree, as being the daughter of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, the same who coveted the possession of Sarah in vain. This legendary source affirms that the Egyptian princess became so attached to Sarah that she told her royal father that she would accompany her when she returned to Abraham.
"What!" cried the king, "thou wilt be no more than a handmaid to her!"
"Better to be a handmaid in the tents of Abraham than a princess in this palace," the daughter replied.
Hagar would not stay behind and join again in the idolatrous rites of her home, so when Abraham and Sarah moved on, she went with them. Sarah was an active missionary of the faith of Jehovah among women, as Abraham was among men, and so Hagar became a convert to the worship of the true God. While this is a pleasing tradition, the likelihood is that Hagar was an Egyptian girl-slave whom Sarah secured for her household while she and Abraham were in Egypt. Hagar bore Abraham his first son, Ishmael, and thus became the foundress of the Ishmaelites and Arab peoples.
If Hagar was a slave girl then her mistress was legally entitled to do as she pleased with her. Knowing that it was humanly impossible for her to have children by Abraham, she gave her handmaid to him, that she might have children by her - a custom consistent with moral standards prevailing at that time. Abraham reminded Sarah that her word was law to her own slave and that he had no choice in the matter. Under Sumero-Babylonian law there is this clause in Hammurabi's Code -
If she has given a maid to her husband and she has borne children and afterwards that maid has made herself equal with her mistress, because she has borne children her mistress shall not sell her for money, she shall reduce her to bondage and count her among the female slaves.
But Sarah ran ahead of God in giving a Gentile idolater from a pagan country to Abraham to bear the promised seed. Poor Hagar - she became the helpless victim of Sarah's scheming! The whole affair was a sin before God - a sin all three were guilty of. Sarah distrusted God when she resorted to such a wicked expedient. As a child of faith, did she not know that God was able to raise up children out of stones unto Abraham? As for this "friend of God," in spite of current custom, he should have stoutly refused Sarah's scheme and obeyed the law of God, and believed the divine promise made to him. The attempt to secure the Child of Promise by Hagar was the result of a lack of faith in God's omnipotence. Then, Hagar, although the least free and the least responsible, should not have yielded to such an unholy alliance merely to gratify any ambition she may have had. What sorrow, anguish and loneliness Hagar reaped for her compliance in such a plan to forestall God's promise of an heir for Abraham (Genesis 15:4, 5).
Although the chapter recording the unworthy method of trying to fulfill a divine purpose is only a short one, yet like the shortest verse in the Bible, it is saturated with tears. Genesis 16 is made up of only sixteen verses and with such we have these three features -
The Folly of Sarah
We have already seen that Sarah's folly had its root in unbelief. She was impatient, and wanted the promised child without delay. Her unbelief became contagious for "Abraham hearkened unto her voice." The pious phrases she uttered were worthless. "The Lord judge" (16:5). She should have appealed for judgment to the Lord before she took the wrong step. She was a godly woman (Hebrews 11:11 ), but fell into the meshes of unbelief. With distrust there came dishonor. She confessed "my wrong," but Hagar was the real sufferer, and Sarah's sin bore bitter fruit, for when she gave Hagar to Abraham, she originated a rivalry which has run in the keenest animosity through the ages, and which oceans of blood have not quenched.
The Flight of Hagar
Strife quickly followed the human arrangement which Sarah had made. Having conceived by Abraham, Hagar chides the childless Sarah, and the jealousy begotten between these two women was transplanted to their maternal hearts and penetrated even their children. Ishmael came to tease and vex Isaac, and discord arose between Abraham and Sarah. The ill treatment accorded to Hagar by Sarah was not only cruel, but also irrational. Had Sarah not instigated the wrongdoing that was the cause of her jealousy? Therefore it was unreasonable for her to lay the blame upon another. As things were, mistress and maid could scarcely dwell together, so Hagar fled. Better a flight than a fight! Being compelled to flee was a thing forbidden to a bondwoman.
Far from home in "the way to Shur," the appearance of a calm and gracious angelic messenger from God must have been a relief to the poor, pregnant fugitive. As Hagar traveled further from her jealous mistress the Lord was at her heels, and said to her in her distress, "Return to thy mistress." Hagar had left her position as handmaid without notice and without permission, so she must return. Sarah had wronged her, but she was not permitted to retaliate by doing wrong herself. Two wrongs do not make a right. It was no easy matter for Hagar to return and submit herself to Sarah, but it was the only right course, and a divine revelation helped her to pursue it.
At that renowned well Hagar met God, and in awe cried, "Thou God seest me." He had given her counsel, and although not pleasing to flesh and blood, Hagar took it and went back to Sarah. Had she persisted in remaining in the desert she might have died in it. God gave her a promise that although the wrongdoing of her master and mistress had led her into a false position, yet His favor would rest upon her and she would have a son who would be the progenitor of a great multitude. The soothing promise of God was a balm for the wounded spirit of the poor and lowly handmaid. Though Ishmael, the name God gave Hagar for her coming son, might not be the Child of Promise as Isaac would be, yet he would be the child of a promise made to her.
Is it to be wondered at that she called the well where God spoke to her and revealed the future of her son "Beth-lahairoi," meaning, "The well of Him that liveth and seeth me"? It was there that the veil fell from Hagar's eyes, and she received the assurance that she was the object of God's special care. Dr. Alexander Whyte extols Hagar for her submission to God in this glowing fashion -
Hagar, by reason of the extremity of her sorrow; by reason of the utter desolateness and brokenness of her heart; and by reason of the sovereign grace and abounding mercy of God - Hagar, I say, stands out before us in the very foremost rank of faith, and trust, and experience, and assurance. Hagar, to me, stands out among God's very electest saints. Hagar has only one or two who can stand beside her in her discovery of God, in her nearness to God, in her face-to-face fellowship with God, in the instructiveness, in the comfort, and in the hopefulness of her so close communion with God.... The best and the most blessed of them all was not more or better blessed than was Hagar the polluted outcast on her weeping way to Shur. The pure in heart shall see God.
The Forecast Concerning Ishmael
In the strength of the revelation of God received in the desert, Hagar returned to her mistress and bore Abraham his child. Abraham was 86 years of age (Genesis 16:16) and then, when he reached his 100th year (Genesis 21:5 ), Sarah bore him Isaac. This means that for over 14 years Hagar and her son lived in the patriarch's home with all the tension and feeling there must have been as Sarah daily looked upon the son of her husband by another woman. After Isaac was born Hagar and Ishmael began to manifest their jealousy, and when Ishmael began to maltreat Isaac, Sarah could stand it no longer, and compelled Abraham to cast out the bondwoman and her child. As Bible names often set forth some feature of the character or history of those who bore them, so Ishmael meaning "God shall hear," was fully understood by Hagar when in the wilderness ( Genesis 21:9-21) God heard the moaning of her broken heart.
How painters and poets have seized upon this pathetic incident of the poor woman and her boy in the wilderness, thirst-ridden and ready to die! Take the painting called Hagar in the Wilderness - cold is the heart that can gaze upon it without deep emotion. The boy is pictured on his back, dying with thirst, while his poor but beautiful mother in an agonizing prayer, "lifted up her voice and wept," saying, "Let me not see the death of the child." Could anything be more poignant? True, Hagar had "despised Sarah" and "mocked Isaac," but surely she had not deserved such cruel treatment as this - death from hunger and thirst in a barren land!
But how Hagar's extremity became God's opportunity. When the last drop of water had gone, and Hagar tenderly places her almost dead boy under the shrubs, God heard the dying cry of the lad, and also the wail of Hagar's broken heart, for out of heaven came His voice, "What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not." Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water, and both she and her boy were saved from death. Abraham had given Hagar a bottle, but it was soon empty. God gave her a well, and the lad drank and God was with him, and he grew and became an archer in the wilderness. The last glimpse we have of Hagar is of her securing a wife for her son, out of the land of Egypt, her own land ( Genesis 21:21) - the land of idols and worldliness. Untaught by the piety and instruction of Abraham, and by God's mercy to herself, Hagar failed Him in the choice of such a wife for the boy whom He had blessed.
The practical lessons to be learned from the history of Hagar have been fittingly summarized by Dr. James Crichton in his article on Hagar in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia -
The life and experience of Hagar teach, among other truths, the temptations incident to a new position; the foolishness of hasty action in times of trial and difficulty; the care exercised over the lonely by the all-seeing God; the Divine purpose in the life of everyone, however obscure and friendless; how God works out His gracious purposes by seemingly harsh methods; and the strength, comfort and encouragement that ever accompany the hardest experiences of His children.
It only remains to be said that Paul uses the story of Hagar as an allegory to distinguish law from grace (Galatians 4:21-31 ). Hagar the bondwoman is contrasted with Sarah the freewoman, and Ishmael "born after the flesh" with Isaac "born through promise"; thence freedom and grace appear as the characteristic qualities of Christianity. Hagar represents the Old Covenant and Sarah the New Covenant which is superior to the Old with its ordinances. Under grace all within the household of faith live by faith, and Sarah represents "the Jerusalem that is above" - "our mother" (rv), which is the free spiritual city to which all children of the promise even now belong ( Philippians 3:21).
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Alphaeus

[Ălphē'us] - transient, chief or a thousand.
  1. The father of Levi or Matthew the Apostle (Mark 2:14).
  2. The father of James, one of the twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). Sometimes identified as the same person in No. 1 and also as Cleophas.
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Today's reading: 2 Chronicles 25-27, John 16 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: 2 Chronicles 25-27

Amaziah King of Judah
1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly. 3After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 4 Yet he did not put their children to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: "Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor children be put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin...."

Today's New Testament reading: John 16

1 "All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things...."
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Marybeth Whalen
June 6, 2011
Coming Attractions
Marybeth Whalen
"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow." James 4:13-14 (NIV)
I live life on fast forward, racing around with my to-do list in hand, eyes on the next thing that needs doing. I love setting goals and achieving them. Very little makes me as happy as crossing off something on my to-do list with a satisfying line of ink.
One day this summer I spent a lazy afternoon watching tv with my niece. She had a feature on her entertainment system that let you watch movie trailers to preview the movies first. We had started out the afternoon intending to select a movie but ended up spending quite a bit of time just watching the trailers. "Sometimes I spend all my time just watching what's coming and never getting to the main feature," she giggled.
Her words hit me as I realized that - too often - that's how I live my life. I focus on what's ahead and don't allow myself the simple pleasure of truly enjoying the main feature: this day, this moment, I've been given.
In my new novel, She Makes It Look Easy, the main character is someone who lives on fast forward too. She has set her sights on the kind of house she wants to live in, the kind of life she wants to have, the perfection she hopes to obtain. She seeks the advice of an influential neighbor in hopes of getting herself to that perfection all the faster. She doesn't stop to think that perhaps in her zeal to do more and better and faster she is losing the gifts and blessings that are in her midst right now.
Sad to say, this novel was born largely from my own experience. My life has been a continual learning process of reveling in today and suppressing the urge to try to lay hold of that elusive tomorrow.
A few months ago I got the very first speeding ticket of my life. As the officer who issued the ticket went back to his car I sat in stunned silence, unable to process what had just happened. My perfect record was tarnished by my inability to slow down and enjoy the ride.
Ever racing to the next thing, my habits had caught up to me. Instead of enjoying the scenery I had reduced it to a dull blur flying past my window. After the shock wore off, I realized the lesson: slowing down, pressing pause, will not only add to the life I live, it can also keep me from harm.
I have endeavored recently to be more deliberate about choosing to pause and see God at work, to catch the little winks He sends my way if I will only look up. I keep a list of these gifts He gives. I write in my journal about what I am learning. I seek Him through His Word and ask Him each morning to bring these truths to mind throughout my day. Sometimes in the roar of my life I stand perfectly still and just listen and smile and say Thank You, Lord. I am learning to focus on the main feature and quit speeding towards the coming attractions.
Dear Lord, today is a blessing from You. Help me to seek out what You have for me in it. I know that You hold my tomorrows in Your hand and in the meantime I can rest in the moment I've been given. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Visit Marybeth's blog and enter to win a copy of her new novel,She Makes It Look Easy.
She Makes It Look Easy by Marybeth Whalen. A novel for every woman who has looked at another woman's life and said, "I want what she has." She Makes It Look Easy reminds us of the danger of pedestals and the beauty of authentic friendship.
Visit She Reads and enter to win the "She Makes It Look Easy" kitchen gift package! Thinking of the fun that the main character, Ariel, had learning about organizing her home, we're giving away a fun kitchen set that will help you make this summer easier. Register to win a plethora of kitchen goodies (including a Wolfgang Puck Digital Multicooker!) AND an autographed copy of She Makes It Look Easy by Marybeth Whalen.
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:
Instead of focusing on a to-do list today, create a "to enjoy" list and check those things off instead.
Reflections:
What am I missing today because I'm focused on tomorrow? What gifts has God given me that are rushing past me as I race ahead?
Power Verses:
Proverbs 27:1, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." (NIV)
Matthew 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (NIV)
© 2011 by Marybeth Whalen. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org

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